Rage Against The Machine: Special Edition (Dan & Chloe Book 1)

by Flamank, Nathan L.

  Dan grinned, ‘Okay, okay, but this is completely different to what’s happened with Rufus, I don’t really know if we can pull it off, we could die.’

  Chloe slipped in up close to Dan and kissed his chin. ‘Then we die together.’

  ‘Like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Jesus I’m getting old.’

  ‘I still love you though, so what’s the plan?’

  Dan opened and closed his mouth a few times to work the ache from his jaw.

  ‘The cameras and everything downstairs that show what happened to Grace need to be destroyed, I’ll do that, you find something a little less blood stained to wear, freshen up, then get the car sorted, we’re out of here before nightfall. Once you’ve done that wait outside for me, being in here is not good.’

  ‘What about Rufus; is he dead?’

  ‘Not yet, but he’ll soon wish he was.’

  ‘Okay, meet me out front when you’re done.’

  Dan was in the cellar when his mobile started to ring, he saw it was Terry and answered.

  ‘Have my associates arrived yet?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘They should be there very soon, so what’s what?’

  ‘It’s bigger than Rufus, there are others involved.’

  ‘There always is bro, so what does that mean for you and Chloe, you want new identities, I can do that you know?’

  ‘I’ll need new IDs but I’m not hiding, we’re not hiding, we’re going after them.’

  ‘What? Have you totally lost you mind?’

  ‘Maybe, but after what I’ve seen here and after what Rufus has told me I can’t just walk away.’

  Terry sighed, ‘So, what? You’re going to go on some kind of personal crusade to uphold truth and justice?’ Terry laughed with bitter sarcasm. ‘Jesus Dan-dan you always were a sap-head.’

  Dan ignored his brother’s remark and outlined quickly on the phone what he needed and what he expected from his brother.

  ‘Fuck Dan, you’re talking about a war here.’

  That’s exactly what I’m fucking talking about, you only now get that? Fuck, this cunt here raped and sodomised his own niece, and according to Rufus that’s nothing compared to what some of the brotherhood has done over the years, you expect me to just turn my back on that, to be as complicit as every other motherfucker walking around out there, burying their heads in the sand at the sickness around them?’

  Terry sighed with resignation, ‘No Dan, I don’t expect that, it’s just if they’re half as bad as you think they are you’ll both be walking in to something neither of you could ever be prepared for, its crazy and goddamn dangerous.’

  ‘Look Terry, I haven’t got time for this, you gonna help me or not?’

  ‘Of course I’ll help you, you’re blood; how could I not help you. I’ll catch a flight up; I’ll be there before teatime.’ This time it was Terry who cut the call. Dan looked down at the bloodied body of Rufus, he was still breathing but he was in a bad way. Literally hundreds of tiny neat cuts covered Rufus’ entire body, the Stanley knife lay bloodied in the toolbox.

  A pair of electrician’s pliers was also covered in blood as was a hammer. Rufus’s feet looked like pounded beef.

  Dan started to work his way through the room, gathering up all the cameras and tapes; the pictures of Chloe and her lingerie that Rufus had taken from her flat. Dan put everything he found in to black bin bags and carried them up the cellar stairs. It took several trips but after twenty minutes he had cleared the room. Now all he had to do was take it all outside and burn it; he knew there was a can of petrol in the small boot of the Ferrari and that would get the fire started nicely.

  Chloe used a handful of skin-wipes she’d found in the case to wipe at her bare breasts, out here in the sun; its rays warming her bare flesh she could almost forget about the slaughterhouse inside. She wiped each nipple in turn, liking the cooling sensation on her hardened buds. She discarded the wipes and squatted down and found her black bikini top, it wasn’t what she really wanted to wear but it was clean and would do in a pinch. Chloe fastened it in place and adjusted her ample breasts in the cups and zipped the case shut. She slipped on a pair of sequined black plimsolls and stood up straight. She still wore the very, very short skirt and she’d decided to forgo knickers. Most of her stuff was dirty anyways.

  Overhead a crow cawed as it alighted on the roof and Chloe looked up at the bird and smiled to herself, even here, it this terrible place nature could still show its beauty over mankind. She’d like to one day live far from civilisation with only nature and Dan for company; people could vanish for all she cared.

  Chloe put the case behind the front seats and picked her pistol up from the passenger seat and once more secured it at the rear of her skirt.

  The car had been tidied, ready for their escape. She sat on the warm bonnet and let the sun warm her skin.

  She heard Dan approaching and turned to see him dragging three large bin bags from the house.

  ‘You’ll find a can of petrol in the boot, can you fetch it for me.’

  ‘Sure thing,’ she replied and slid off the smooth surface of the Ferrari and walked around to the rear of the sports-car.

  Dan dragged the bags in to the middle of the gravel driveway and turned to Chloe; she was leaning in to the boot and with her legs parts he could clearly see her ass cheeks and smooth, shaven pussy; for once the image didn’t stir any desire in him, this place was too evil to entertain such thoughts.

  Chloe retrieved the can out of the boot and closed the lid securely. She walked over to Dan and he looked down at her breasts. ‘A nipple’s making a run for it.’

  Chloe put the can down and adjusted her bikini top.

  ‘Back in a minute,’ he said and went in to the house, he reappeared shortly with four more large black bags filled with everything he thought was important from the cellar. He piled everything together.

  ‘There are pictures and your underwear in this lot.’

  ‘Burn it all.’

  Dan opened the petrol can and poured its contents over the bags, dowsing everything with the acrid smelling flammable liquid. He then put the plastic can in to the mix; when this ignited it would burn fast and heavy, nothing of any use would be left. He knew that modern forensics meant that the police might be able to retrieve something from the discs but that wasn’t his concern. All that really mattered was burning anything with their fingerprints on and Chloe’s belongings. Grace was dead and there was nothing that could be done about that, if the police found footage then they’d have an idea of what happened but nothing more substantial.

  Dan removed the lighter he had found downstairs from his pocket and was about to light it when he saw the small city car coming up the drive.

  Chloe went for her gun but Dan waved her away, ‘I’m expecting these two; don’t say anything to them okay?’

  ‘Okay.’

  The car pulled up on the other side of the Ferrari; well away from the black bags and two men got out. Dan didn’t recognise them but they looked hard; not physically imposing but there was a dead-look in their eyes and he knew instinctively that Terry had sent the right men for the job. Their scary personas were triplicated when you realised that they were twins.

  Chloe stepped closer to Dan and put her arms over her breasts and Dan put his arm around her shoulder holding her tight.

  The twins stopped near and glanced briefly at Chloe before deciding Dan was the person they were here to see.

  ‘I’m Dan, this is Chloe.’

  The twin on their left nodded, ‘We know who you are, Terry told us.’

  ‘And you are?’ Dan enquired.

  ‘No names, just tell us where to go.’

  Dan nodded, ‘He’s in the cellar, the door’s open on the left of the foyer.’

  The twin who had yet to speak said, ‘It’s a man?’

  ‘Is that a problem?’ Dan asked.

  Both twins smiled, ‘No problem,�
� they said in unison.

  Dan told Chloe to wait there and showed the twins in to the house. He stopped with them at the entrance to the cellar steps and said, ‘There’s a dead girl down there too, she’d covered up by a sheet, she’s his niece, he’s raped her; a lot, I’d say he used other things on her too. Her insides have been torn up and he killed her by breaking her neck.’ Dan retrieved a wedge of money from his pocket and the first twin shook his head. ‘No need, we owe Terry a favour.’

  ‘Okay, I told you all that to make sure you get the idea of what kind of man he is; whatever you do to him down there, make sure it lasts and that it hurts, a lot.’

  They nodded.

  ‘Have you worked him over?’ The second twin asked.

  Dan nodded, ‘Yes, he’s in a very bad way, cut to shit and he’s missing a few body parts, but he’s alive and he’ll know what’s going on.’

  ‘Good, we’ll get to work now.’

  Dan nodded and the twins started down the steps.

  Dan turned around and saw Chloe stood in the doorway.

  ‘How much of that did you hear?’

  Chloe shrugged, ‘All of it.’

  Dan crossed the foyer and stepped out in to the sunshine, ‘Chloe, I did some terrible things down there and...’

  Chloe interrupted him; ‘Rufus deserved everything he got,’ Chloe put her arm around Dan’s waist. ‘What are they going to do to him?’

  ‘I can’t begin to imagine.’

  They walked over the pile of bags and Dan told Chloe to stand well back. He took a duster from his back pocket and lit it, it burned slowly. Dan tossed it at the pile of bags and with a loud whumph the pile ignited and was quickly an inferno. Chloe had to stand back by the Ferrari; so great was the heat. Dan joined her and together they watched everything burn.

  Later, as the sun was nearing the distant tree line Chloe sat in the Ferrari waiting for Dan. The drive was full of cars and two large nondescript vans courtesy of Terry and his goons. They’d arrived a couple of hours ago and Dan had told her to wait in the car, the look in is his eyes made it clear it wasn’t really a request and she hadn’t seen him since. She’d dozed in the car for a while and now she felt tired and groggy and needed to stretch the aches from her limbs; the Ferrari wasn’t suitable for long periods of sitting still.

  Chloe opened the door and got out; she picked the pistol up from the dashboard as she got out of the car. Sweat stuck to her skin and as she stood up she felt tiny rivers run down her breasts and back. She stretched her arms up high and jumped when Dan said, ‘That’s what I call a view.’

  Chloe offered up a small smile as Dan came out of the house followed by Terry, she noticed how Terry made a big effort not to look at her.

  ‘Hey Chloe.’

  ‘Terry,’ she replied and gave Dan a quick kiss.

  ‘What now?’ Chloe asked Dan.

  ‘We’re out of here, we’ll meet up with Terry back in London soon enough. The house has been professionally cleaned, there’ll be no sign we were ever here.’

  Chloe looked at the vans, ‘What are they for?’

  Terry spoke up, ‘We found a lot of computers in there, if you two are gonna go through with this crazy-shit idea they may be of help later on, God knows what’s stored on them.’

  Chloe nodded. ‘What about Grace?’

  Dan shook his head, ‘We have to leave her where she is, same goes for Rufus, they’ll be found but the police won’t really know what happened down there, they’ll figure out quick enough that Rufus had raped and killed Grace; his DNA will be all over her, but they’ll be at a total loss as to how Rufus died. There’s nothing we can do about it.’

  Chloe bit her lip and nodded. ‘When will we meet up with Terry again?’

  ‘A couple of days, we need a chance to recover after this slaughterhouse. Terry has things to organise too; he’s going to help us out.’

  Chloe thanked Terry, ‘What about the guy we have captive?’

  ‘We’ll deal with him when the time’s right.’

  Men started to come out of the house and started to load the vans with computers and boxes of paperwork. None of them looked at Chloe as they went about their chores; she figured Dan had had a word with them or Terry. The twins came out and didn’t look at anyone; they got in their car and drove off.

  ‘They scared the shit out of me,’ Dan said as he watched the car pull out on to the main road.

  Terry laughed, ‘Bullshit Dan, nothing scares you,’ Terry said.

  Chloe looked at Dan, was he really that much of a bad-ass? It wasn’t the impression she got, when she first met him he appeared to be scared out of his wits. Maybe she had gotten a lot wrong about Dan and she felt a strange tingle deep in her groin, and she felt ashamed that such a thing was possible so close to what had happened here. She shivered and Dan noticed.

  ‘You okay?’ Dan asked her.

  ‘Yes, fine, just be glad to get away from here.’

  Terry said, ‘Dan, why don’t you both take off, there’s nothing more you can do here. Give me a call when you want to drop by.’

  Dan hesitated.

  ‘Go, Rufus is dead, nobody knows about you guys, just get out of here, clear your heads before we regroup.’

  Dan nodded, ‘Okay, thanks Terry.’

  ‘No thank you.’

  Chloe didn’t know what that might mean and right then she didn’t really care, she just wanted away from this charnel house.

  ‘Thanks Terry,’ she said and quickly got in the car and waved impatiently for Dan to follow her lead. Dan shrugged at Terry and climbed in to the Ferrari. He started the powerful engine and drove down the driveway; gravel flying up in its wake.

  Terry watched them until they disappeared from view.

  Two days later; once more Dan found himself wound tight and nervous; this time for totally different reasons; he was about to meet Chloe’s parents, it had been her idea (she’d argued that they were potentially in danger and she wanted to make sure that they were okay, and if she had to she would get her parents away somewhere safe) and he couldn’t think of a plausible enough reason to get out of it.

  After leaving Rufus’ house behind they had found a new hotel to check in to, Chloe had spent two hours in the bath and then they had both collapsed exhausted in to bed and didn’t stir until late yesterday when Chloe had told him of her desire to see her parents and that he had to come along too. ‘I’ve not seen them for ages, and what with the fire and everything, they’ve been really worried,’ she had explained to him. ‘Besides you may as well meet them now and get it out of the way.’

  ‘I’m not sure now is the best time,’ he had replied but she had shrugged that off.

  Dan had given up trying to talk her out of it. He told her that he had some to calls to make and that he needed to check in with Terry. Chloe had said okay and spent the time he was making calls talking to her parents where she informed them that Dan and she would be coming to see them tomorrow, which was now today and Dan felt stressed and overdressed in a suit that Chloe had made him buy yesterday before they left Edinburgh. They’d spent a couple of hours shopping along Princes Street and then once more crashed out at another hotel. They hadn’t been intimate since before their assault on Rufus’ place and now sitting in the car nearing Chloe’s parents’ house he wondered and not for the first time since the events in Edinburgh if things had changed between them. Chloe had been quiet, and although she had kissed him several times she hadn’t taken it any further and he was a little worried that maybe now she was seeing him for who he truly was and that she didn’t like what she saw, but that made no sense when he thought about it, she had to still feel the same way or why bring him to meet her parents? Unless her motive was solely to get her parents squirreled away safely out of harm’s way?

  Dan pulled over to the curb when Chloe instructed him to. ‘My parents live at the end of this road.’

  ‘Okay, so why have we pulled over?’

  ‘You don’t have to worry
Dan; I still love you like before, maybe more so.’

  Dan was gobsmacked that she had been able to read his thoughts so easily.

  ‘But with what happened at Rufus’ and seeing my parents I’ve been a little stressed, and now we’re here I feel a lot better, a lot like my old self so stop worrying. How do I look?’

  Dan smiled and ran a hand through her hair, ‘More beautiful than ever.’

  ‘You smooth talker.’

  She did though; she was wearing a black knee length skirt, black silk blouse with the top button open and black high heels.

  Chloe lifted her skirt so that he could see her hold-ups and black knickers.

  ‘I’m even wearing underwear.’

  ‘I should hope so, we are about to visit your folks.’

  ‘I don’t look too drab?’

  Dan laughed. ‘No honey.’

  Chloe undid another button, ‘Can you see my tits now?’

  ‘Only if you bend over.’

  Chloe winked at Dan, ‘Then I shall try to bend over for you as much as possible.’ Chloe gave him a kiss, running her tongue quickly across his bottom lip.

  ‘Come on studly; let’s go meet my folks.’

  Dan pulled out from the kerb and turned in to a drive when Chloe pointed it out to him.

  ‘We should have come in a taxi, the Ferrari is too flash,’ Dan said.

  ‘Nonsense, besides my dad’s a petrol-head.’

  Dan parked the car and switched the engine off and put his knuckles to his closed eyes.

  ‘Jesus, your dad; I’m about to meet your parents, oh God!’

  Chloe unclipped her seatbelt and patted his leg, ‘Dan relax; it’ll be fine.’ Chloe looked at the house and smiled, ‘Come on, there they are.’ Chloe climbed out of the car, she left her door open and all but skipped to greet her parents. Dan watched as they all hugged. Dan looked at his image in the rear-view mirror and said, ‘Put it in reverse and leg it.’ He saw Chloe beckoning him to hurry up.

  ‘Too late,’ he told his reflection and got out of the car; he closed his door and then walked around to her side and closed her door too. He took a deep breath and then walked to Chloe and her parents.