‘So you don’t know if the reporter is dead or not?’ Sarge was interrogating Bizzy.
They had met in the library as soon as the sun started to go down.
Bizzy shook his head. ‘No, Sarge, I had to make a run for it. There was a couple walking their dog, came from nowhere.’
‘This’ – Sarge said loudly, startling Mal who was sitting in the corner, taking everything in – ‘is what happens when you don’t follow the plan!’
‘But Sarge, I—’
‘No, Biz – you went out there because you were riled up. Bloodlust, that’s all it was. Insubordination and lack of discipline!’
‘I stopped Dan Gunnarsson getting to the heart of his story,’ Bizzy insisted. ‘We don’t want anyone thinking too much about things and putting two and two together.’
‘Don’t try to make out you did this to protect us, Biz,’ Sarge said, his eyes screwed up, one finger pointing in the air. He opened his eyes, lowered his hand and moved closer to Bizzy. ‘If you were trying to protect us, then Dan Gunnarsson would be dead now. Instead, he’s going to be able to give the police a description of you. If the fucking couple with their fucking dog haven’t already!’ Sarge picked up a can of cola that was sitting on the desk and flung it across the room, its contents spraying in an arc as it went. ‘No, you attacked Gunnarsson because you wanted to kill someone because I said you couldn’t kill Remy in the clinic…’
‘If I’d done Remy like I suggested,’ Bizzy said, ‘then he wouldn’t be fucking out and about now, would he?’
Sarge launched himself at Bizzy, grabbed him by the throat and pressed him hard against a wall. ‘You’re a liability, Biz,’ he snarled.
Mal shrank in his chair. He knew now that he’d made the right decision to leave. Why had it taken him so long? He should have gone with Remy, left these two psychos behind back then. He just had to keep his cool for another twelve hours, when his bus would leave from Victoria Coach Station. He wished it was him and Layla going together. She’d be proud of him for making the break. He could feel it. This time tomorrow, he’d be up in Scotland, looking for somewhere to sleep for the night and making plans for a whole new life. He ran his hand over the jacket pocket which held his ticket, double-checking it was zipped up tight.
‘You’re not always right, Sarge.’ Bizzy spat the last word.
Mal’s eyes widened.
Sarge hit Bizzy across the face and yelled, ‘You got a fucking death wish, soldier?’ He took out his gun and pressed it hard into Bizzy’s face. Bizzy winced against it, trying to turn his head away, but it was jammed between the gun and the wall and Sarge pressed harder.
Mal waited, eyes averted, until Sarge had regained his composure. ‘Enough of this,’ he said finally, removing the gun from Bizzy’s face where the muzzle had left a red circle.
‘Enough!’ he repeated. ‘Kill him if you want to kill someone.’ Mal cringed, looking up slowly, expecting to see a gun pointing at his head.
Instead, Sarge directed his finger towards the large, slouched figure sitting on the chair next to the librarian’s desk, his hands taped behind his back, a steady stream of blood dripping from his face.
‘Do you hear that?’ Sarge turned rapidly and went down on his haunches in front of the man in the chair, jabbing his gun towards him.
The Janus clinic porter turned his head slightly towards Sarge. His face was a grotesque mask of bruises and swellings, his eyes swollen, the skin around them stretched shiny and purple.
‘If it wasn’t for you, George, Remy would still be in Tier Four. He was your responsibility. You didn’t do your job. So that’s why this is happening.’ Sarge waved the gun in a circle. ‘And you still insist you don’t know where she was taking him?’
George lifted his head very slowly. ‘Fuck you,’ he said, flecks of blood spraying from his lips.
‘You’re no use to us.’ Sarge stood up, looked at Bizzy and nodded.
Mal couldn’t understand these two any more. Only a few minutes ago they’d been at each other’s throats. Whatever it was that bound them together, he didn’t get it. It convinced him that he was making the right move. He had to keep his mouth shut and his eyes open – stay out of trouble, just until the morning.
Mal turned away as Bizzy took a piece of wire from his pocket and approached George from behind. Mal only wished he could have closed his ears to the monstrous sounds that came next, sounds that he knew he’d struggle to forget for the rest of his life.
A few moments of silence passed before Sarge spoke again. ‘Call her.’
Mal turned back to see Abigail on the chair opposite George, her face pale and her eyes wide and unblinking as she watched the pool of blood slowly spreading at George’s feet. She didn’t move as Bizzy took her phone from the desk where it was sitting in front of her, just out of her reach. He winked at her before finding a number and hitting dial.
‘We can’t use you as bait, Grace,’ Shannon said, horrified.
The two women sat opposite each other at the small table in the cabin that was to be Grace’s new home. It was small but solid, and the smell of wood was comforting. The stove was warm still after Shannon had shown her how to heat water for tea.
‘We’re going to have to,’ Grace replied. ‘We’ll let Diros think I’m hiding out in the library because I’m on the run. I’ll wait in the woods, and when I see them arrive, I’ll call the police.’
‘Are you sure Diros’ll come?’ asked Shannon. She looked over to Remy and Shuggie who each sat on one of the twin beds either side of the door.
‘They think I’m boxed off in Siberia, but Grace is still a threat because she’s the only one who knows the truth,’ Remy said. ‘They want her gone.’
Gone. The word sent a shiver through Grace.
‘I don’t like it,’ said Shuggie, ‘but I agree with Grace, it’s the only way we’re gonnae get them. After what you’ve told me this afternoon, they sound like a bunch of bad’uns who know exactly what they’re doing.’
‘Diros have hidden all their crimes. The police aren’t looking for anyone else. So how are you going to convince them that these are the real perpetrators?’ asked Shannon.
It was a good question.
‘I’m going to contact the police and tell them all the information we have on Diros so far. Remy, have you got that list?’
Remy sighed, resigned. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small scrap of paper. ‘I wrote down as many as I can remember. Tell the police if they look in more detail at these attacks, they should find evidence to prove that Diros were involved.’
Grace imagined him sitting up all night at the campfire, trying to recall the actions of those three men.
‘It’s not all of the crimes, because I wasn’t with the gang when they did the others,’ he added.
‘I’ll tell them to look at the reoffences,’ said Grace. ‘And Myriam’s death and the Payback couple.’
‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ Shannon asked.
‘It’s a risk I need to take or Remy and I will never be safe. This way, Diros are arrested and Remy and I have our names cleared.’
‘What if they find you before the police get there?’ Remy asked. ‘They’ll be armed. Is there any way we can get a gun?’
Shannon nodded. ‘We have two under lock and key in the office, just in case anything goes off in the compound.’
‘So how do we get them to meet us at the library? We don’t know how to contact them,’ said Remy.
‘Shannon and I have already talked about this. Shan’s going to ring—’ Grace stopped talking and bit her lip.
‘I’m going to ring Dan,’ Shannon continued, ‘and tell him that Grace has gone missing and ask him to report on it, in the hope that she’ll be found. I’m going to drop a subtle hint about where she might be, the library, and hope Dan runs with it.’
‘What do you mean a subtle hint?’ asked Remy.
‘I’ll say Grace told me about a library from when she was a kid, keep it vague, but suggest she might be hiding there.’
‘Do you think Dan will try to find her himself?’ he asked.
‘No, because he doesn’t know anything about the library,’ Grace said. ‘He doesn’t know anything about my past, so he won’t be able to find me. It’s a coded message for Diros. They’ll know exactly where it is.’ Her shoulders dropped. ‘Dan wouldn’t come anyway and I don’t want him to.’
Shannon tapped Grace’s hand briefly across the table and Grace sat up straight and sniffed.
‘And you’re sure Diros will be watching NewsFlex?’ asked Shuggie.
‘Yes,’ said Grace with certainty. ‘They want to find me and they know Dan is my husband.’
‘I still think I should go with you,’ Remy said.
‘No, it’s too risky. If Diros see you, Remy, you’re dead.’
‘So are you!’ he replied.
‘Yes, but if the police see you, then you’ll be back in custody. Diros will convince them, will be able to prove to them, that you’re in their gang. You said it yourself, they have evidence.’
‘She’s got a point,’ said Shuggie and then turned to Grace. ‘I’ll go with you.’
Remy sighed heavily and nodded.
‘And there’s no way we can get the lads from the camp there?’ Shuggie asked Shannon. ‘I mean, four or five of them. The lads will be able to hold them until the police arrive. I’m not sure us four are a match for the three of them.’
‘You know we can’t, Shug,’ Shannon told him. ‘The lads are all bio-chipped. So if they go missing from the Agrarian, it’ll only be a matter of time before they’re found. They’ll all be sent to eco-labour camps and we’ll be arrested for assisting offenders. It’s not fair to put them in that position. We’re taking a risk with just you coming along.’
Shuggie looked frustrated.
‘Can’t you take the chips out, Shannon?’ asked Remy.
‘Look, I really want to help, but I don’t want to lose my job. This is my life here, my home, the kids…’
‘Of course, I’m sorry.’ Remy’s eyes darkened. ‘I wish we could just kill the three of them and leave them there.’
‘You slept there for God knows how long,’ Grace said. ‘Your bio-evidence is all over that place. Go ahead and kill them, but I guarantee you’ll get done.’
‘Kill them and dump the bodies then,’ he said angrily. ‘They’d kill us given half the chance. Think of all the people they’ve murdered!’
‘Then they’ll have turned you into exactly what they wanted you to be and exactly what you don’t want to be – a cold-blooded killer,’ Grace said. ‘Remy, you have to be as far away as possible before the police get there, otherwise this will all have been for nothing.’
‘You can stay here as long as you like,’ Shannon told Remy. ‘Stay here, hide in plain sight until your tattoo has worn off. Maybe we can get you out of the country for good then.’
‘It’s for the best, mate,’ said Shuggie.
‘Okay, let’s do this,’ said Shannon, taking her phone from her pocket. ‘I’ve got Dan’s number from the other night when he rang looking for you.’
Grace felt a jolt of regret.
Shannon sat waiting for an answer, staring at the others as she listened. Finally, someone answered.
‘Dan, it’s Shannon, listen, Grace…’ She stopped speaking, her eyes moving from side to side as she listened.
‘His name is Dan Gunnarsson. He’s a reporter with NewsFlex,’ said Shannon.
Grace felt her chest tighten.
‘I’m here with his wife, hold on.’ She held her phone out to Grace. ‘Dan’s in hospital.’
The hairs on the back of Grace’s neck stood on end as she took it and put it on speakerphone. ‘This is Dan’s wife.’
‘I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but your husband was attacked late last night,’ came the voice down the line.
‘Who am I talking to?’ Her chest felt so tight she could hardly make herself heard.
‘I’m Leon, one of the nurses on the critical care ward. I’m here with Dan now.’
‘Critical care? Is he… is he okay?’
‘He’s stable. He’s in a much better place than when he came in,’ Leon said pleasantly. ‘However, there is some swelling on the brain, so he’s in an induced coma…’
‘Oh God.’
‘…He’s in the best place and we’re taking good care of him. At least we have a name now,’ said Leon cheerfully. ‘He didn’t have a wallet or any ID on him, so the police suspect it was a mugging, but it was pretty vicious. The paramedic said it could’ve been much worse, but a couple disturbed the attacker and he ran off.’
‘Do you know who attacked him?’
‘Ah, you’ll have to speak to the police, love. I don’t know about things like that.’
‘Can I come and see him?’
‘Of course, but as I said, he won’t be conscious for a few days.’
Leon gave her the details and she ended the call.
‘A couple disturbed the attacker,’ she repeated, her voice choked with emotion.
‘If you need to go to him, then we can do this…’ said Remy. His words were resigned, but there was something in his voice that steeled Grace. Her old life – it was over now.
‘No. He’s in a coma but he’s stable. He wouldn’t even know I was there.’
‘You don’t know that, doll. He might be able to hear you,’ said Shannon.
Grace shook her head. ‘This was Diros’s doing. Dan’s lying in hospital, out of it, vulnerable… We have to get to them before they find him and complete the job they started.’ Whatever the state their relationship was in, she wasn’t going to let Dan be murdered.
Shuggie nodded. ‘She’s got a point, Shan.’
‘But how the hell are we going to find them now?’ asked Shannon.
At that moment, Grace’s phone rang. She took it from her pocket. No caller ID.
Her mouth went dry. ‘They might have found us.’
She switched on speakerphone again and answered. ‘Hello?’
There was a strange gasping sound on the other end of the line.
‘Hello?’ she repeated.
‘G… Grace!’
‘Abigail?’ Grace cried. ‘Abigail, what’s going on? Where are you?’
‘They know…’ Her voice was slurred. ‘They know he’s out… of Siberia…’
Anxious glances passed around the cabin.
‘Grace…’ Her voice was plaintive now, but then she started a low, moaning cry.
‘Abigail, where are you? What’s going on?’
‘They… they’ve… killed George.’
There was a smacking sound on the other end of the line, and Abigail cried out.
‘Abigail! Abigail!’ All they could hear on the other end was her heart-wrenching wails.
‘Bring Remy to the library now, or she dies too.’
It was Bizzy’s voice. Grace felt her skin crawl.
The line went dead.
‘They’ll kill her,’ Remy said definitively.
‘They know you’re coming,’ Shuggie said. ‘You can’t just hide in the woods now.’
‘We can’t let her die,’ Remy said.
‘Can we call the police?’ asked Shannon.
‘No,’ Remy told her. ‘One sight of them and Diros will kill her and run.’
Grace stood up. ‘Looks like this is on us.’