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“It’s Alice. Something going down at the vets. She’s trapped.”

“Trapped like locked in?”

“No. Trapped like there’s men there and she’s hiding.”

“Shit. Magnet, Fury. On me.”

And then we were all thundering down the stairs, racing through the pub to the carpark. Brothers watched us go, some calling out, others watching on in surprise. But there was no time to stop and explain. Bikes roared to life around me, Fury’s big truck joining the orchestra of deep, angry growls.

“Follow me,” I shouted over the noise. “I’ll get us there the quickest.”

Indie nodded from the passenger seat beside Fury and then we peeled out, the three Harleys leading the way, guttural screams as we pushed them like a Japanese racing bike. We ate up the road, obsidian tarmac and streaks of white as we raced into the night.

My bike was vibrating hard, the engine working more than it ever had been, and still the dial on the speedo crawled up. What I would give right now to be on a Kawasaki or a Suzuki. Fuck even a Honda. Behind me, the other bikes were deafening, and I could feel them right there on my tail, lights from their headlights spilling over my boots.

The ride seemed to take forever. Time ticked painfully slowly, like we were sucked up in a vacuum and riding through mud. But soon the row of terraced houses came into view, lights lighting up the one at the end like a Christmas tree. I slowed the engine, waving at the others and pulling over at the very top of the street.

“What are you doing?” Caleb yanked his helmet off angrily. “The vets are down there!”

“I know. I know. But we don’t know what is going on inside. Or how many?”

“And they’ll hear us if we get any closer. Three Harleys and a pimp-my-ride tow-truck aren’t exactly discreet,” Indie added. “Chaos is right. We leave the bikes and the truck up here and we continue on foot.”

I nodded a thank you before turning back to my brother. He’d cooled off a bit, but was still agitated, his hand stroking through his hair again and again.

“Where’s the entrance and exits on the premises?” Indie asked, his eyes focused on the property right at the end.

“Two. The front door’s alarmed and usually bolted from the inside. Back door doubles up as a fire exit.”

“Turn handle on the back?”

“Aye. But Alice won’t have locked it yet. She always leaves that door till last.”

“Yeah. But that opens straight into the operating theatre.” I scowled at Caleb’s knowledge of the building, but that quickly faded, anxiety choking away the notes of anger in my soul. “If they’re in there, we’re walking straight into them.”

“Then we need to creep in through the front.” Indie rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Right, here’s what we’re going to do…”

A few moments later, Caleb and I slid down the side of the building, ducking under the windows so that our shadows didn’t give us away. Indie, Magnet and Fury waited at the front, concealing the crowbar they’d grabbed from Fury’s truck. We paused at each window on the side of the building, listening for voices, trying to pinpoint where the intruders might be. But it wasn’t until we got to the third window that we could hear something. A whimper, a sob. I wasn’t sure. But there were definitely voices.

“They’re in the operating theatre,” Caleb murmured to my back.

“The minute we go in, we have no cover.”

“We could text Alice?”

“No. We can’t risk them finding her. I’ll go in. I’ll shout for you when I need you. But ring Fury and tell them I need them through the front door on my count.”

We ducked under the window, moving soundlessly, Caleb’s phone pushed to his ear as he whispered instructions. When we were positioned at the back doors, my brother grabbed my arm.

“Wait. You have no weapons.”

“I am the weapon, remember?”