Page 33 of Chaos & Carnage

“There,” she mumbled, pointing to the left.

I elbowed the switch; the room coming alive in a rich glow. Her bed was on the back wall, half of it hidden under a hundred little cushions. Ripping the duvet to one side, most of them fell across the floor, the tiniest of soft dunks as they hit old floorboards. I slid Alice’s naked body in, pulling the thick duvet back over the top of her. She turned sideways, her eyelids drooping, then snapping open.

“Go to sleep little, Al.”

“The kittens…”

And as if on cue, the little box of blankets beside her bed rustled.

“I’ll feed the kittens.”

“You don’t know how.”

“You showed me last night, babe. Where’s the stuff?”

She wafted a limp arm towards a bag at the corner of the room.

“You won’t remember.” Her voice was growing fainter. Sleep about to take her like I just had.

“I can remember, Al. There’s no way I would forget last night.”

Reaching forward, I kissed her forehead and felt the flutter of her eyes. There was nothing of Alice I could forget. Absolutely nothing.

Chapter Fourteen

“Where the fuck were you last night?” I asked, plonking the spanner into my brother’s open hand.

“Just out, Caleb.”

“At the vets?” I twisted out the bolts holding the top of the Harley engine secure.

“Yeah.”

“All night?”

“Till quite late.”

“Then what d’you do after?”

“Just went for a ride, clearing my head.”

I pulled on the top of engine head, the mass of metal not budging, and held out my hand expectantly as Cade passed the oil spray towards me. He looked tired. But not drained, tired. Content tired. And there was something he wasn’t telling me.

A vibration turned both our heads. The phones that sat not too far apart from each other on the garage floor, lighting up. Cade reached across, reading the message as I eased the engine head from the Harley in front of us.

“Indie wants us at theDog.”

“When?”

“Now.”

“Fuck’s sake,” I grumbled. “This,” I waved my arm over the Harley in pieces on the chop shop garage floor, “needs finishing. We’re already behind. Maybe you can skip visiting Demon’s dog tonight and help me finish it up?”

Cade stared at me, the side of his cheek twitching where I knew he was chewing on the inside. Aye, something was up with him, and I was going to fucking find out what.

*****

There was a distinct lack of bikes in the car park of theDog on the Tynethat night. I counted each one when I went in. Magnet, Fury, Reap, Tony Cannelloni and Sicknote. The lights in the pub and Kings’ clubhouse were on, but very few shadows moved across the windows.