Running scared, p.19
Running Scared, page 19
Shaking his head, Sylvester pulled on a pair of heavy-duty gloves and prised the disgusting article out of the growling dog’s mouth. After dropping it into a bin and slamming the lid down on it, he walked over to Ryan, his expression grim, and rested his hand on the roof of the car.
‘Looks like someone’s got it in for you, son. First the motors, now this. You sure you don’t know who’s behind it?’
Still feeling nauseous, Ryan thought about who he could have pissed off enough to make them want to kill him. Danny Harvey’s reputation as a ruthless bastard had kept most of the chancers who dabbled in their line of work from making any serious attempt to muscle in on their established territory, but some new faces had recently appeared on the scene, so it was possible that one of them was trying to take him out of the game. But why send him a rat? That type of message was usually reserved for grasses or dirty dealers, neither of which applied to Ryan. He knew Adam hated him, but if Adam wanted revenge he’d have done something when Danny cut him out of the business, not three years down the line. And he definitely couldn’t see Nic doing something like this. Not only would she die if she saw a rat – alive or dead – she was still pressurizing him to have a baby, so killing him would deprive her of that.
Unless she was already pregnant and just wanted him out of the way?
He dismissed that thought as fast as it had come to him. As cold-blooded as Nic could be, she enjoyed the prestige of being first lady in her dad’s business too much to relegate herself to the position of first daughter, forced to watch from the sidelines as her mother reclaimed the top-bitch role when Danny took back control – which he would if Ryan was off the scene.
But if it wasn’t Nic or Adam, maybe he needed to start looking at his crew. Most of the men had been with Danny from the start and had proved themselves to be loyal and trustworthy, but there were a few new additions who hadn’t yet been tested to any great degree, so it was possible that one of them had designs on taking over. Danny would be all over it like a rash if he heard what was going on, but Ryan wasn’t about to involve him and have the men think he was incapable of handling his shit without his father-in-law to hold his hand.
Aware that he needed to be extra cautious until he found out what was going on and who was behind it, he rang his dad as he drove away from the garage and told him he was on his way over.
26
Lexi had tried to wriggle out of going to Six’s room that evening, but Debs was having none of it, so she eventually caved in and agreed to go for one drink. It was the first time she’d been in his room on the top floor, and she was surprised that not only was it almost double the size of hers, it also had a tiny balcony and a fire escape that led down into the backyard. His bed was curtained off, giving the impression of a separate living room; and his sofa was big and comfortable – the kind she could imagine herself curling up on with a book and a glass of wine at the end of a shift. The floor lamps that were dotted around gave off a cosy glow, and soft rock music was drifting out through four tall, thin speakers that were standing in the corners of the room.
Feeling light-headed within seconds of arriving, thanks to the smoke coming from the spliffs Six and his mates were passing around, Lexi smiled when one of the men handed her a can of beer. She took a seat on the sofa between Debs and a biker type called Eddie, who had a bald head with a skull tattooed onto it, and one of the longest beards she had ever seen, and listened as the men, who all seemed to have been roadies like Six, chatted about the good old days when the real gods of rock and roll and punk ruled the stages and airwaves.
The chilled atmosphere reminded her of Hebden Bridge, where everyone had prided themselves on being a free spirit and a little bit eccentric, and which had felt more like a commune than a community, and she felt herself relaxing more and more as the night wore on. Debs was clearly enjoying herself too, and Lexi noticed that she and Six seemed to be chatting more to each other than to anyone else, and making good-natured jokes at each other’s expense. She wished the woman would stop thinking of him as a brother, because she was convinced they could be happy together – far happier than Debs would ever be with any of the fuck-buddies she brought home from the club on Saturday nights. But Debs either couldn’t see the chemistry that was so blatantly obvious to everyone else, or she was choosing to ignore it because she was scared of getting hurt again. Either way, she was missing out, because Six was a really nice guy.
Wiped out by midnight, and worried that she would sleep through her alarm in the morning if she didn’t get going, Lexi said her goodbyes and headed back to her own room. Falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was woken by her phone ringing on the bedside table half an hour later.
‘Hello?’ she croaked, answering it with her eyes still closed.
‘Hey there beautiful,’ a man replied, his voice a soft drawl. ‘How did you like the flowers?’
Eyes snapping open, Lexi sat up and looked at the screen, but the number was withheld. ‘Who is this?’ she demanded.
‘Don’t you recognize my voice?’ he asked.
‘No, I don’t,’ she said, only certain that it wasn’t Theo or Ryan.
‘Oh, come on, you’re not even trying,’ he chuckled. ‘Shall I give you a clue?’
‘I’m too tired for games, so just tell me or get lost,’ she said, not caring if she sounded rude.
‘Why didn’t you take your flowers home?’ the man asked. ‘Didn’t you like them?’
Skin crawling at the thought that, whoever he was, he must have been watching her when she came out of work – or, worse, when she got home – Lexi tried her hardest to place his voice, but it wasn’t ringing any bells at all. Two males worked the day shift at the home, but they were both older than this man sounded, and one was Scottish. She hadn’t given her number to any men apart from Theo since moving back to Manchester, and it definitely wasn’t her ex, Kyle, because she’d have known his fake-posh accent anywhere.
‘Still trying to figure out who I am?’ the man said. ‘Let me give you that clue . . . party.’
Relaxing when she realized it must be one of Six’s friends, and that Debs had probably told them about the flowers and got them to ring her to wind her up, Lexi said, ‘Nice try, Eddie, or Luke, or whichever one of you it is; you nearly had me there. Now thanks for a great night, but I’m in bed, so, bye.’
Lying down after cutting the call, she switched her phone to silent when it immediately started ringing again, then sent a quick text to Debs asking her to tell the guys to stop because she was trying to get to sleep.
Less than a minute later, a tap came at her door, and Debs called, ‘Lexi? Are you OK, hon? I just got a weird message off you. Lexi . . .?’
When another knock came, Lexi reluctantly got up and opened her door. Debs and Six were on the landing, and she gave a mock-exasperated sigh at the sight of them.
‘Seriously? I told Eddie, or whoever it was, that I was in bed, so if you’ve come to get me to go back to the party, forget it.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Debs said, confusion on her face. ‘The guys left about ten minutes ago.’
‘Yeah, right.’ Lexi gave a disbelieving smile.
‘It’s true,’ said Six.
‘You must have given them my number then,’ Lexi said, still convinced it was a joke.
‘I wouldn’t do that,’ Debs insisted. ‘Why? Has one of them called you?’
‘I thought they did,’ Lexi frowned, less certain now. ‘He asked if I liked the flowers and why I hadn’t brought them home, and you’re the only one who knew about them, so I assumed you’d put them up to it. I know how funny you think you are when you’ve had a drink.’
‘Hon, I’m nowhere near drunk enough to do something daft like that,’ Debs said. ‘Didn’t you recognize his voice?’
‘No. He wanted me to guess, but it didn’t sound familiar at all.’
As soon as the words had left her mouth, her phone lit up on the bedside table. Picking it up and seeing the withheld number, she said, ‘I think it’s him again.’
‘Answer it,’ Debs said, walking in and sitting on the edge of the bed.
‘I don’t want to,’ Lexi said, flopping down beside her. ‘If he knows about the flowers, it must be the guy who sent them.’
‘Don’t start worrying,’ Debs said, squeezing her hand. ‘It’s probably Theo messing about.’
‘No, it wasn’t him, and it wasn’t Ryan either,’ Lexi said with certainty. ‘But it must be someone I know – or used to know.’ Face paling as soon as she said that, she muttered, ‘Oh my God, what if it was Adam? Nic’s brother,’ she elaborated when they both looked at her blankly. Then, to Six, she said, ‘Remember when Ryan turned up the other day and I asked you if you’d seen that other car?’
‘The flashy undercover one? Yeah, I remember. You said it was someone you hadn’t seen in years.’
‘That was Adam.’
‘What’s this?’ Debs looked at each of them in turn.
Remembering that she hadn’t told Debs or Six the full story on the day Ryan called round, Lexi told them now about Nic’s threatening phone call and Adam driving past an hour or so later. And then, keeping the details to a bare minimum because it still filled her with shame to think about it, she told them about the night of Adam’s party.
‘Bloody hell, no wonder you’re so freaked out,’ Debs said. ‘What a pair of nasty bastards. She wants a good slap, and he wants locking up, the dirty pervert.’
‘Why don’t you ring that Ryan bloke and ask him to have a word,’ Six suggested.
‘No.’ Lexi shook her head. ‘I don’t want Nic thinking I’ve been contacting him behind her back. She’ll make his life hell.’
‘He’s married to her, so I’m sure it already is hell,’ Debs snorted. ‘But seriously, hon, this isn’t funny. If I was you, I’d call the police. They must still have the assault on record, and they’ll warn him off if he’s harassing you.’
‘He never got charged so I doubt they kept it on file,’ said Lexi. ‘And sending me expensive flowers is hardly going to look like harassment, is it?’
‘OK, but if he sends anything else or tries to contact you again, please think about it,’ Debs urged. ‘I don’t want to scare you, but he’s got to be a bit deranged if he actually thinks you’d be interested in talking to him after he tried to rape you.’
‘That is a bit fucked up,’ Six agreed.
‘This is Nic’s fault,’ Lexi said bitterly. ‘I always knew she was a vindictive bitch, but giving him my address and number is low even for her.’
‘Well don’t give them the satisfaction of knowing they’ve got to you,’ Debs counselled. ‘Ignore any calls from withheld numbers until they get the message that you’re not interested.’
‘Yeah, I will,’ Lexi agreed. ‘Anyway, it looks like he’s given up for now, so I’m going to try to get some sleep.’
‘She’s kicking us out,’ Six said, nudging Debs.
‘No shit, Sherlock.’ She rolled her eyes and got up.
Saying goodnight, Lexi locked the door and climbed back into bed. Convinced now that it was Adam who had sent the flowers, she felt sick to her stomach when she remembered the message on the attached note. I forgive you . . . as if she was the one who had done him wrong, the twisted bastard. As for Nic, she was equally as despicable for sending him here. Even if she’d never experienced it herself, she had to know how disturbing it would be for a woman to suddenly be confronted by her would-be rapist.
Angry, she decided she would ring Nic in the morning and have it out with her. She didn’t really want to involve the police, because she doubted they would do anything since nothing had actually happened, but maybe the threat of it would be enough to make Nic and her vile brother see sense and quit with the stupid games.
27
Adam was furious. Hearing Lexi’s voice after all those years had given him a massive buzz, but then she’d gone and ruined it by mentioning the names of men she had obviously been with a short time before he rang her. That had pissed him off big time, and the two glasses of whisky he’d knocked back after she hung up on him had ignited a raging fire inside his gut.
In need of someone to vent his anger on, he got up from behind his desk and yanked the office door open. Head pounding along with the distorted music that was blasting out through the club’s crappy speakers, he glanced over to the table where he’d left Dave, Loz and Jonesy – the three fuckwits who made up his crew, along with Wes, who hadn’t come back after picking up his money earlier. Clenching his teeth when he saw two fresh bottles of house champagne sitting on the table, which he guessed they must have ordered as soon as he left them to go and make his call, it took every ounce of willpower he possessed to keep from marching over and smashing the bottles into their greedy, piss-taking faces.
As high as he was, he knew the men would fuck him up if he tried anything stupid like that, so he snapped his gaze off them and looked around the crowded room for someone else to target. Most of the girls were occupied, some on the stage, others on punters’ laps; but when he spotted one sitting alone in a corner, he made a beeline for her.
‘What d’you think you’re doing?’ he demanded, snatching the glass she was holding out of her hand before grabbing her arm and pulling her to her feet. ‘Since when do I pay you to sit on your arse and drink my profits?’
‘I’m on a break, and it’s only lemonade,’ she said, fear and pain flaring in her tired eyes as his fingers dug into her bony arm. ‘Sue said it was OK.’
‘Is Sue the boss?’
‘No, but—’
‘No was the right answer,’ Adam hissed. ‘There’s only one boss here, and that’s me. Now get your arse into my office while I decide what to do with you.’
He pushed her ahead of him through the club and into the office. Closing and locking the door, he slipped the key into his pocket and then walked to his seat behind the desk and sat down.
‘Give me a good reason why I shouldn’t sack you?’ he said, staring at the girl who was visibly quivering in front of him.
‘Please don’t,’ she pleaded. ‘I really need this job.’
‘How much do you need it?’ he asked.
‘I really need it,’ she said, nervously licking her dry lips. ‘I – I’ve got a little boy, and his dad doesn’t help me out at all. No one does.’
‘Don’t bore me with your domestic shit, I ain’t your therapist,’ Adam sneered. ‘I said how much do you want this job?’
The penny dropped, and the girl put on the sexy smile she used on her punters as she walked round the desk and straddled him.
‘Not like that,’ Adam said, roughly pushing her off and twisting her round. ‘Lean over the desk.’
Unzipping his fly when she’d done as he said, he threw her short skirt up over her hips and ripped her G-string to one side.
Going limp after several thrusts, he pulled out with a roar of frustration.
The girl straightened up and tugged her skirt back down before stumbling around the desk.
‘If you tell anyone about this, I’ll ring social services and report you for leaving your kid alone while you fuck strangers for money,’ Adam warned before she reached the door. ‘And I’ve got the CCTV tapes to prove it.’
Turning, her face drained of colour, she whimpered, ‘Please don’t report me, Mr Harvey. If they take my boy away I’ll—’
‘What?’ Adam sneered. ‘Kill yourself? Go ahead, love, you’ll probably be doing him a favour. Now keep your mouth shut and I might do the same – yeah?’
She nodded and scuttled out, and Adam sank down onto his chair and slammed his fist down on the desktop. He was confident that she wouldn’t dare tell anyone what he’d done, but he could have landed himself in deep shit if he hadn’t had the threat of reporting her to social services to hold over her. And it wouldn’t matter that she was a prostitute. If she’d cried rape, like those other tarts had, his dad would disown him and cut him out of the business for good. And without the money he got from that, he’d be destitute within a week.
Nerves jangling, stomach churning, Adam took a wrap of coke out of the drawer and snorted it straight off the grimy desktop. Grimacing when it burned his nose and exploded in his brain before racing through his bloodstream, he wiped his streaming eyes on his shirt sleeve and breathed in and out several times to slow his pounding heart.
In control again, he pondered what to do about Lexi. Every bad thing that had happened to him over the last ten years was a direct result of her making that accusation, and now it was time for payback.
28
Ada Briggs had always been a light sleeper – which was just as well now her ageing pug, Walter, was becoming increasingly incontinent. Up and out of bed as soon as she heard his claws clipping across the laminate flooring – no doubt leaving a trail of urine in his wake – she pulled on her dressing gown and let him out into the front garden. At 2.30 a.m., the silence on the usually noisy road was blissful, and she lit a cigarette – one of her guilty night-time pleasures – as she waited for Walter to do his business.
When ten minutes had passed and Walter was still squatting in the same place, but hadn’t yet done anything, which told her he was probably bunged up again, Ada released a sad sigh as she stubbed out the cigarette and dropped the dimp into the paper bin. His bowel movements were becoming worrisome, because he seemed to have diarrhoea one day and constipation the next. The vet had put it down to age the last time she’d taken Walter in, but she suspected something more sinister was going on, and the thought of losing him filled her with dread.
Unable to bear watching him struggle now, she walked over and gently picked him up, saying, ‘Come on, old fella; let’s get you back in the warm, shall we?’
As she stepped over the threshold, something hit her hard in the back and sent her flying. Losing her grip on the dog as she went down, she cried out when he skidded across the floor before smashing into one of the bicycle frames that were propped against the wall. Unsure what had happened, she was scrambling to get up and go to him when a foot came out of nowhere and connected with her jaw, and the pain made her feel as if her head had exploded before everything, mercifully, went black.
