His nose hadn’t stopped bleeding for what seemed like hours. Luckily, the skin between his nostrils was still intact, but he knew his nose was broken. That Mackie was a bastard, but Steff had been backed into a corner with this situation. With Tam having told the Firm what he and Donnie had made him do on his first job, it was no wonder they’d retaliated.
‘You better not take the piss out of us, Black. Drive this van straight to the fucking place. No stopping, no detours. We’ll be behind you. Any funny business and we’ll chuck you in that fucking machine too. Got me?’ Cammy said.
Steff nodded and gritted his teeth. He had no one to call on to help him here; he really was chained to doing this.
Steff took a breath and pulled away from Susie’s house. Looking in the side mirror, he saw Susie standing at the door, watching him go. When Demi came back to Glasgow, and with Donnie dead, Steff knew his game would be up. He’d not live to see the end of the year.
Approaching Westlands, Steff felt his stomach flip. He drove into the plant and parked in their usual spot in front of the main door. The staff weren’t around. The place looked closed. But Steff had a key, which he always kept in his wallet. Of course, this wasn’t the first time visiting. He and Donnie had got rid of a lot of people here.
He killed the engine and glanced in the mirror. Cammy and the rest of the Firm got out, and Steff looked up at the CCTV camera. It wasn’t flashing to indicate it was working. It never was, not since Donnie and Steff had set up payment to the owner. They paid for his silence and their anonymity. They’d fooled Tam into thinking that they had evidence of his involvement of the first job he ever did for them. Steff sighed; he wouldn’t have the footage he needed to prove he was being forced into getting rid of a body.
Cammy rapped on the window with the knuckles of a gloved hand, and Steff got out of the van. Cammy stared at him for a moment and then smiled. ‘Nose a’right?’
‘Let’s just get the fuck on with this so I can go home,’ Steff said, moving around to the back of the van.
He opened the doors and helped the rest of the lads – all except Tam and Chud – to pull Donnie’s body out. Steff opened the door, and they all went inside. Carrying dead weight even with the help of four other men was tough.
Steff saw the machine and began guiding them towards it.
‘This place fucking stinks,’ Mackie said.
No one responded to the comment. What else was there to say? He was right. It smelled of death.
They put the tarp down on the ground, and everyone stood still, catching their breath. Tam went to the machine and opened it, but then he froze on the spot. Everyone did.
‘What the fuck?’ Chud said, crouching down next to the tarpaulin-wrapped body. ‘Did you hear that?’
A groan, so quiet Steff may have missed it had he not been silent himself. A second groan, a little louder. Laboured breaths.
‘Jesus,’ Chud said. ‘The bastard’s still alive.’
Steff felt sick to his stomach.
‘So?’ Cammy said. ‘You think he gave a fuck about Demi or Louise, knowing what was going to happen to them when he had them caged up on their way to fucking Amsterdam? I don’t think so.’
Another groan, louder this time, along with a slight movement. The sound was drowned out by the incinerator starting up.
‘Right,’ Cammy said. ‘Let’s do this.’
‘No fucking way,’ Steff said.
They ignored him as they all lifted Donnie towards the machine and placed him inside. Tam shut the door, and they all turned to Steff.
‘You know where the button is,’ Tam said, gesturing towards the very button he had been forced to press.
‘I said no,’ Steff said. ‘You lot can fuck right off.’
Tam sniggered and shook his head before taking a step close to him. ‘You’ll press that fucking button or end up in there with him.’
Steff fell silent. He wanted to knock Tam out. But he was outnumbered and the young lad was right. He fully believed that they would put him in next to Donnie if he didn’t co-operate.
‘Don’t think for one second it won’t happen, Black.’ Cammy’s voice echoed around the plant, and Steff closed his eyes briefly.
‘Just think of him as a big deed coo.’ Dunny laughed, and Thomson sniggered.
Steff moved past Tam and stood in front of the machine. This was it. He was sending his brother to death in the worst possible way. This wasn’t right. Steff didn’t know a life without Donnie in it. Growing up and Donnie being the oldest, Steff always felt like he lived in his brother’s shadow. And Mel was always competing for their dad’s attention, but she was never good enough. Not one of them was. Donnie was the golden child. All Steff had wanted was to be with Layla. Maybe he could still have that chance.
‘Push the fucking button!’ Cammy shouted.
Steff had been warned enough. As much as it pained and humiliated him to take orders like that, he realised that it was the only thing keeping him alive at that moment.
‘We’re not an unreasonable bunch, Steff. We’ll give you a week to pack up your shit and fuck off after you cremate what’s left of your brother. Any longer than that…’ Cammy left the words hanging.
Steff didn’t need an explanation.
Tam stood face to face with Steff, pushing the boundary of personal space. Steff was forced to stand back against the machine, but Tam didn’t let up. He pushed closer, and Cammy, Dunny, Mackie and Thomson followed. The only one of the Firm not to join in the intimidation was Chud. He was always the softer one of them all. The biggest, yet the quietest. A gentle giant.
‘Fucking do it, now!’ Cammy shouted.
Reaching out, Steff pressed the button and turned his back on the machine. The sound it made as it started to burn his brother inside was something he’d never forget. The one thing he couldn’t get out of his head was what his old man would have thought of him. He’d have called him for everything, allowing that to happen to family.
Steff tried to avoid eye contact with Cammy, but his enemy made sure to get the last words in.
‘There, that wasn’t that hard. Was it?’
‘Just remember, Steff, you’re the one who murdered Donnie. The weapon that smashed him over the back of the head was delivered by your hand, or so DNA will suggest. And you knew about his business. So if you want to keep yourself out of the spotlight, I’d suggest you keep your fucking mouth shut and don’t bother showing your face around Barrhouse again. Or Glasgow for that matter.’