Page 90 of Indie

Another stab hit me hard.

“Then it has to be Gary. I want to know where he lives. I’ll be back as soon as I can get off this fucking island. I want everyone ready to go when I get back.”

“Who’s everyone?”

“You, the twins, Reap, Magnet and Demon.”

*****

I’d been sitting at the start of the causeway staring into the darkness. The night sky was clear, millions of stars twinkling, and with less light pollution from the island, you could see so much further out into space. It would have been a beautiful place to sit and watch the sunrise. But I was desperate to leave, my eyes straining, searching for any sign I could cross before the safe crossing times.

Eventually, the display on my mobile ticked over. 2.45 am. The time Northumberland County Council said it was safe to cross. And cross I did. The wheels of the bike hissing, spray kicking up from receding waters and puddles that trapped the north sea, just like it had done to me. I wasted no time pushing the Harley over the wet road and up the other side, leaning into a corner of the windy road as much as I dared with the heavy bike. This was the one night I regretted my choice of ride, wishing for something faster, something that could break the 100mph barrier quicker and didn’t sound like it was having a heart attack, or leak oil like it was mortally wounded afterwards.

It was the quickest I’d ever made it home from Lindisfarne, testing out the Harley’s top speed down stretches of the A1, slowing for the speed cameras, and I was lucky that there had been no police around to clock me.

The clubhouse was lit up like a Christmas tree when I roared into the car park, hardly letting the bike safely settle onto the kickstand before jumping off and running inside. Magnet, Fury, Reap and the twins were sitting around a table, coffee cups spread out. Reap had a swollen eye and a cut on his eyebrow, but the rest seemed unscathed.

“What the fuck happened to you lot?”

“Kids are upstairs,” Fury muttered, holding something against his jaw.

“You’ve been to Gary’s and got them without me?” Adrenaline and anger surged, pushing together, a volcanic eruption waiting to blow.

“We didn’t need a murder tonight, Indie. What’s happened to Emmie is going to attract a lot of police attention that we can’t just get rid of. It won’t just get swept under the carpet. So, we went ourselves and took the kids.”

“We still had to shake the information out of the Aces,” Magnet added. “They weren’t too forth coming with it. Lucky for us, half of them had knocked themselves out on fuck knows what.”

“Yeah. Hospital issued drugs and laughing gas. They’d cut some of the drugs up. But seems they’d started sampling,” Reap sipped on his coffee.

“Are the kids ok?”

“Bit shaken up. Don’t understand what’s going on. Suzy’s up there with them.”

“Where’s Demon?” I scoured the pub, and I hadn’t noticed his bike or van outside.

“Him and Ciara have taken Emmie’s dog to the vets. It’s taken a kicking, too.”

“And Beanz?”

“Dunno, Indie. We called at his and he’s nowhere to be seen.”

“We good to start on something stronger now, Indie?” Fury asked. “Might be good to have an alibi. I want to be tight when the police come calling.”

I nodded and then left them to it, walking through the pub to the big industrial kitchen at the back and checking the doors were closed. Then, taking my mobile phone from my bike jacket pocket, I scrolled through the contacts till I came to an entry with only one letter. The phone rang for a while, taking its time to connect and making me pace backwards and forwards.

“Indie. It’s five o’fucking clock in the morning.”

“I’m sorry, V. Need to call in a favour.”

The man on the other end groaned.

“What do you need?” he asked after a moment’s hesitation.

“Someone gone. And an alibi.”

“When?”

“In the next week or so.”