Tam had already done the handover of the van and had been given a new set of keys. He headed towards the new van that he had been instructed to take to Stranraer, and his head and eyes were beginning to ache. The bright lights of the oncoming cars had dazzled him, and all Tam wanted to do was lie down across the seats and have a half hour kip. Steff wouldn’t like that. It would mean the job taking longer and, at best, Tam wouldn’t get paid. He didn’t have to think of the worst thing; Steff had left that warning hanging there.
He pressed the button on the key and opened the door before climbing in. Tam glanced at the stereo and smiled when he realised that it was DAB radio.
‘Nice one, at least I can listen to Absolute Nineties,’ he said under his breath.
Cranking up the volume, he began tapping the steering wheel as Run-D.M.C blared from the speakers. He loved this song. His sister always said that he was born in the wrong year as he was always listening to nineties music.
Tam pulled out of the deserted car park and began his journey to Stranraer. Goran would be waiting and would report back to Steff if he was late.
Glancing in the mirrors, Tam couldn’t help but allow the curiosity to creep in about what exactly it was that he was transporting back and forth. Drugs, he told himself. What else? Tam was slowly learning that ignorance was bliss and it paid well.
The road was dark, and Tam hadn’t seen many other vehicles pass by. He lowered the volume in case Steff or Donnie tried to contact him. He didn’t want to miss their calls.
A sound from behind his seat caught his attention, and he glanced in the mirror before remembering that he couldn’t actually see into the back. He wasn’t allowed to look in there. The less he knew, the better. But the sound grew, a scratching, a shifting sound. Tapping.
‘Oh fuck,’ Tam hissed. He wasn’t transporting drugs. He was transporting a fucking human. Again. ‘Nah, fuck this, man. No amount of money or fear is worth this.’
What if he was taking another man to be executed by them? He’d blocked the memory of that first night out, but the guy’s face was like a permanent scar on his brain.
Tam saw a lay-by up ahead and decided to pull in. He had to look, had to see what was in the back. Maybe he was being paranoid. Maybe the tiredness was playing tricks on him.
He parked the van in the lay-by and switched off the engine and the lights. He was in the middle of nowhere, blackness around him. The sound didn’t stop; the scratching and movement from the back of the van increased. He got out, stood by the back doors with his phone in his hand. He switched the light on so he could see inside.
With shaking hands, Tam gripped one of the handles and pulled the door open.
‘What the actual fuck?’
There he was, standing in the middle of the night on a deserted road, staring into the back of a van that now resembled a dog rescue vehicle. A cage was bolted to the floor, and inside was a girl. She was tied to the cage, her wrists and ankles bound by ropes and cable ties. Her eyes wide with terror, she stared out at him.
‘Louise? What the fuck?’