by Tony McHale
“So what did you do?”
“Hold on,” said Jed as he steered the Land Rover onto the rough track leading up to the cottage. Charlie had only previously driven his hire car along this track and he remembered it being far from a smooth ride and now in the Land Rover they were being thrown all over the place.
“Are you saying …” Charlie tried to keep the conversation going, while trying to either not bang his head on the roof or smash his face into the dash board. “Are you saying you killed this kid without any proof?”
“No … We had proof all right – Beck le Street proof. After he realised I could be his father … and he’d created a scene at The Black Dog that was when your mum started to find things out. So I arranged to meet up with him. Have a drink with him … a father and son drink. You know like we never had. I took him into Whitby and we hit a few pubs. Pubs where nobody knew me. I said I wanted to apologise for not telling him I was his father. He wasn’t happy. He was rude and aggressive and that was before he was drunk. I tried to keep calm, I didn’t want him fighting with me, I wanted him to tell me the truth. Eventually the aggression turned to maudlin. I brought up Belinda … by now he was very drunk. I said it was a shame he didn’t walk her home that night, if he had have done she could still be alive. Then he started to tell me how much he missed her. How he’d do anything to get her back. How he wished he’d walked her home. I asked him why he didn’t … why didn’t he walk her home. By now he was crying … ”
“And he admitted it?”
Jed shook his head.
“He couldn’t stopped crying and he was talking … rambling. He muttered something about doing what he did because he never had a father. He never had anyone to keep him in place. Tell him what to do … how to behave. He never had a dad that watched him at sports day, or went camping with him. He threw all the blame on me and … and I couldn’t argue. I hadn’t been there. I hadn’t done the things dads should do. And maybe it was all my fault. Maybe the only thing that was bad about the boy was the fact I wasn’t there.”
“You weren’t there for me, but I didn’t rape anybody,” said Charlie.
“But you didn’t need me. Aaron did.”
Charlie knew he was right … he’d never needed his father, because he didn’t believe his father ever needed him.
“Then I asked if Belinda felt the same …” Jed continued, he’d started the story and he wanted to get to the end.
“And?”
“He said he was sorry … he was really sorry. She didn’t need a father because she had him. He was like a father to her … Better than a father … Because he cared about her … really cared about her. And he wanted to show her how much he cared … that’s all.”
“Did you tell him he was wrong?”
“No … I just let him talk and cry. He wanted to tell me. He said that she wanted him to kiss her. It was her … Then he admitted … well maybe not to begin with … but she wanted to kiss him … he knew that. It was her fault what happened to her. She asked for it. Like the girl at school. She asked for it. So he gave it to her … They both liked it. And it all came out. How Belinda liked it the most … she really liked it, but he knew she would have to lie about it. She would have to tell somebody she didn’t like it … then he’d get the blame … He’d be the one they’d blame and all the time it was her.”
The Land Rover came to a halt outside the cottage.
“I could have killed him there in the pub. He didn’t care about what he’d done … To him it was Belinda’s fault.”
Charlie didn’t know how to react.
“She was my daughter … my daughter. And we knew this wasn’t going to be the end for Aaron … this was just the beginning.”
“So you took the law into your own hands.”
“We did what we had to.”
Jed climbed out of the Land Rover.
Charlie followed him, his head reeling from what he’d heard. He stood for a moment taking in the damp air thinking what should happen next. If his father was telling him the truth, then he needed to report this to the police … now. But this was his father; you don’t shop your own father. He needed to digest this, take it in and then decide what to do. As Jed joined him, Charlie spoke:
“I don’t need to go and see Aaron’s grave.”
“As I said … I’m doing this for my own peace of mind, not yours.”
“Okay show me in the morning … when I can see it.”
“You’re worried about turning me in aren’t you?”
“Yeah … I’m worried.”
“Well don’t be … I’ll turn myself in in the morning.”
“Why would you do that?”
They stood there outside the cottage with the mist blowing around them.
“Because it was wrong! What we did was wrong! You know what’s right and wrong Charlie … you always have.”
“I learnt it from you.”
“And you can still tell right from wrong. But for a time … I didn’t. I lost my way. I lost my way.”
Jed’s hand went to his mouth and he bit his index finger, then continued.
“This can’t go on. This needs to stop. Then maybe we might find out who killed Caroline.”
“You really don’t know?”
“I swear to God I don’t know.”
“But she found out about Aaron being killed?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“For a moment I talked about turning myself in … to the police.”
“Why?”
“I couldn’t live with it. Each day … it got worse and worse. I told the others what I was going to do. Of course I couldn’t … because it would incriminate them. Tyler must have told Cassie and she came storming in demanding to see Caroline. She told her everything and that it was her job to stop me going to the police. Whatever this needed to be kept to ourselves.”
“How did she react?”
“How do you think? She fell apart. She couldn’t believe it … She said I had to turn myself in … and I explained why I couldn’t. I couldn’t destroy the others. That must have been when she decided to change her will. I could see in her eyes, that this was the last straw … She could not forgive me any more. But I still loved her … I still believed I could make it right. I’ve made some huge mistakes … but I always loved her … will always love her. Like I always loved you. It was just I didn’t know how to tell you. I didn’t know what to say.”
Charlie felt his innards churn. Jed had never said anything like this in his life. He’d never been so demonstrative.
“I’m sorry … really sorry that I didn’t try harder. I just didn’t know how to.”
They were standing quite close to each other and Charlie could see the tears glisten in his father’s eyes. The mist was now quite dense, so much so the cottage wasn’t clearly visible. Jed took a step closer to Charlie and he put his arms round him and for the first time hugged his son. Now for the first time he needed him.
“I’m not asking for forgiveness,” Jed said in Charlie’s ear, “… I don’t deserve it.”
“Deserve it or not … you got it dad … you got it,” replied Charlie quietly.
They stayed in the embrace for a few moments and then walked together towards the front door of the cottage.
Charlie turned the key in the door and pushed it open and then stepped back to usher his father in.
Jed stepped forward and there were two loud bangs as two shotguns were discharged.
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
As soon as the door swung open and a figure had started to step into the cottage, both Tyler and Lucas pulled on their triggers. They both had been using large bore pellets in their shells and the impact had hit Jed mainly in his left leg and left arm, causing his clothing to be shredded a
nd his arm and leg to have gaping open wounds.
With the wide spread impact of the pellets Jed almost flew backwards out of the cottage crashing on to the ground.
Charlie instinctively slammed the door shut and locked it, hoping it would buy him some time before whoever it was in there could get another clear shot. He then immediately rushed to his dad, quickly trying to figure out what to do. He had no idea who had shot him or why. He just knew they were still in the cottage and they had guns. He decided the best thing would be to get him back to the Land Rover and get the hell out of there, because there was no way they were going to be able to defend themselves. Flight … and rapid flight at that, was their only option.
Jed was trying to swallow the pain, but he couldn’t. It was screaming out of his mouth. Charlie looked at the blood and ripped tissue on his arm and his leg knowing whatever happened next wouldn’t be easy.
“I’m going to get you up dad … I need to get you up … get you to the Land Rover.”
Jed was still screaming in agony as Charlie struggled to get him to his feet.
Inside the cottage Tyler and Lucas were wondering what had happened. They could hear the scream of pain and just assumed it was Charlie. They had no idea he’d returned with a second person. But if they’d have thought logically, they might have asked themselves whose vehicle had just arrived. Charlie’s hire car was parked outside so where had the other vehicle come from? But they were satisfied they’d hit their prey. Hit it and it was down.
Tyler got out of his armchair and headed for the door. He tried to open it, but it was locked from the outside. That was the first moment he doubted that Charlie was by himself. The door had opened, they’d fired, the person they’d hit had disappeared backwards out of their sight, there was no way they could have locked the door. So there were two people outside. One must have been Charlie … but was that the person they’d hit?
“I need some keys,” hollered Tyler. “Look for some keys.”
As Tyler shouted at Lucas, Charlie was trying to get Jed to his feet, but he soon realised this wasn’t going to happen.
“Hold it there dad … hold it there. I need your keys … for the Land Rover.”
“Pocket,” was all Jed managed to say as his head titled slightly to his right hand trouser pocket.
Charlie put his hand in his father’s pocket and pulled out the keys. He rushed back to the Land Rover, jumped in and started the engine.
Tyler and Lucas were having no joy finding any keys and the panic that things weren’t going their way increased ten fold when they heard an engine start.
“What’s happening? Is he fucking Superman?” said Tyler.
Lucas wasn’t sure if he was serious or not.
“There must be two of them,” shouted Tyler. “We need to get out there.”
“I’ve seen this in the movies.” At which point Lucas walked over to the front door, pointed his gun at the lock and fired. The wood of the door round the lock shattered, pieces splintering away, but the lock remained firm.
Charlie felt the spray of some of the splintered wood as he struggled to get Jed into the Land Rover. He’d moved the vehicle next to Jed and was now heaving Jed up, trying to get him in the passenger side. Jed was still screaming in agony and Charlie knew he was in danger of passing out any minute. Loss of blood and extreme pain, it was only a matter of time before his body said enough’s enough.
Lucas pointed the gun at the door again and once again fired. More wood splintered, but still the lock remained intact.
“Leave it … leave it!” screamed Tyler and started to pull Lucas by the arm as he headed for the window. “Go first, I’ll hand the guns through.”
Lucas started to climb through the window.
Jed was half in the Land Rover and half out. In the cold misty night, Charlie was sweating profusely. After the second shot, he heard movement in the house, but he had no idea what it meant. He just knew he needed to get them out of there.
Lucas took the guns from Tyler, who then started to climb through the window.
“Stand on the track,” he ordered. “If they come round the corner blast ‘em.”
Charlie had got Jed rather awkwardly onto the passenger seat and now he was manoeuvring his legs in so he could shut the door. This last effort to get Jed on board caused him to scream like a dying animal before passing out. Charlie wasn’t sure if he’d died or not. It was quite possible the shotgun pellets had actually damaged vital organs. Whatever he still had to believe he could save his dad, so he secured him in the seat with the safety belt, then slammed the passenger door shut and climbed into the driver’s seat.
Tyler took up his place on the track next to Lucas. He checked his gun was fully loaded and before he’d had time to catch his breath round the corner of the cottage came the Land Rover. Tyler and Lucas raised their shotguns.
Charlie saw them in the beam of the headlights and immediately he recognised them both and immediately spotted the guns. He had a split second to decide whether to try run them down and risk getting shot before managing to turn them into roadkill … or just get the hell out of there.
Charlie had seen what damage the shotguns had done and decided not to hang around. He swung the wheel to the right and veered off the rough track onto a slope that pitched straight onto the moorland.
As soon as Tyler and Lucas realised what was happening they opened fire, but didn’t score a hit. Instead they watched the vehicle disappear into the mist.
“Shit … shit, shit, shit!!!” Tyler screamed as headed for his pick up parked in the clump of woods next to the cottage. Lucas was following close behind.
What Charlie wanted to do was find a road. He calculated that there should be one straight ahead, the one that ran across the top of the moors. He just had to keep going, but that wasn’t so easy because he could hardly see with the beams of the headlights bouncing back at him in the mist. He was worried he would hit a boulder or a pothole and render the vehicle useless, but he just had to take that risk.
As he drove he struggled to get his mobile phone from his pocket. He no longer was concerned about whether his father turned himself in or not; they needed the police here – now, to prevent them from being killed.
Charlie with one eye on the terrain ahead and the other on the mobile, managed to dial 9 – 9 – 9. He was about to hit the “Call’ button, when the Land Rover lurched forward and the left hand side of the vehicle went down a hole in the ground. Charlie grabbed the wheel, trying to keep the vehicle going forward and in doing so dropped his phone. He managed to keep going, but his phone was on the floor and he couldn’t stop to look for it; that was far too risky.
* * * * *
Tyler’s pick-up bounced onto the moors with both men looking for some sign of the Land Rover. Tyler may have known the moors better than Charlie, but in the mist it didn’t matter how well you knew them, you could land yourself in trouble.
“Over there,” shouted Lucas as he pointed to the right. And sure enough there were a pair of headlights. Tyler swung the wheel and headed towards them. Lucas loaded the guns.
Charlie swung the vehicle this way and that, narrowly missing a large rock, large enough for a child to imagine he’d conquered Everest if he’d climbed it. Still there was no road in sight. He glanced at his father who was still unconscious, medical attention wasn’t just necessary it was urgent. Charlie decided to try another direction and started to head left. He had no idea where he was going.
The headlights Tyler and Lucas were following suddenly disappeared. They’d gone.
“Where’d they go?” shouted Tyler. “Where’d they go?”
“They were there … I saw them.”
“We both saw them.”
Then suddenly out of the mist heading straight for them was the Land Rover.
Tyler swung th
e wheel to the right and managed to avoid a head on collision.
Charlie for a fraction of a second had frozen when he was suddenly confronted with the headlights of the pick-up. Then he decided the best form of defence was attack and drove straight at the vehicle. This was the point at which Tyler lost his nerve. Gripping the steering wheel he swerved to avoid the collision, because ultimately Tyler wanted to stay alive as much as Charlie. Charlie knew if someone wanted to live, then they were easier to beat. If they were prepared to die, then winning was much tougher. And Tyler certainly wanted to live, so he ended up with his pick-up broad-siding to a halt and stalling, while Charlie continued further into the night.
In Charlie’s mind he believed he was heading back towards the cottage. If that was the case, then he could get back on the track and make their escape.
Tyler swung the pick-up round and proceeded to give chase. Tyler had thrown caution to the wind and floored the accelerator. The pick-up was roaring along. Lucas was leaning out of the window trying to spot the fugitives. Suddenly he saw them ahead.
“There they are … They’re there!”
“Shoot them! Fucking stop them!” Tyler ordered.
Lucas leant out of the window and let off a round. He obviously missed because the Land Rover kept on going. He fired again. Still the Land Rover kept going.
Then they hit a real dense patch of mist and the rear lights of the Land Rover just disappeared – vanished.
“Where they go?” Lucas wanted to know.
“Just keep looking.”
But with the thick mist even Tyler knew it was suicide to go at speed, he would almost certainly hit something. So he slowed right down.
Ahead of them the Land Rover was motoring along. One of the shots had grazed the top of the Land Rover, but had not damaged it. In the dense mist, Charlie had veered off to the right, hoping they wouldn’t know which way he’d gone.
Then crunch!
The vehicle stopped viciously, throwing Charlie forward, causing him to bang his head on the windscreen. The safety belt Charlie had secured earlier kept Jed safe in his seat. For a moment Charlie was dazed and wasn’t sure where he was. Then he shook his head, trying to regain his senses. What had happened?
