This began and ended with the blades safely hidden in Andrea’s bag, a perfect hiding place it seemed. Even with the blades Sarah’s problems abounded. She felt certain Simon would come for her at least once more. For now she was the antidote to his malady, although nowhere near ready or capable of sating him again. Opportunities for using the blades distilled down to two scenarios and both presented problems. First, she could only imagine Simon distracted enough with her naked, which meant hiding two small and very sharp blades would be difficult. And then given the opportunity, what would be her point of attack? What could she do to him with a razor in each hand, realistically? She knew what she might do but nothing was going to be instant or have any guarantee of success. There would be a high probability of collateral damage.
With all these myriad thoughts there was another she persistently tried to ignore, that scratched from deep inside of her. A realisation that in Simon there was an echo of herself, something of innocence prised free too early.
SIXTY-TWO
Brian set the second round of cokes onto the table. ‘We have three new arrivals, three guys. A meat axe I saw at the house last night and two others I’ve not seen before. One looks solid and the other a thin guy. Looks like a rat on stilts. You got the knife on you?’
Adam leaned to the side and patted his back pocket.
‘Right then, keep it there. This is not the time or place. If anything kicks off you’re going to be too busy running. Got that?’
Adam confirmed and they waited, half on edge, half watching the TV, but nothing happened. The rhythm and sounds of the bar continued as they had. The news on the abduction started repeating itself. The three new arrivals sat around a table partly seen through the arched doorway. Brian stretched out his legs and yawned.
Adam spun his phone on the table, his hands shaking. His whole body felt light with nerves. ‘What do you think they’re waiting for?’
‘Nothing probably. They know what we’re here for and why, but they don’t know what we know. As long as we’re not out causing trouble they’re happy.’
‘So what should we do?’
‘The same.’ Brian’s attention moved to the screen. ‘They’re just here to intimidate and watch. Hopefully someone will be along soon to find out what we do know. Then it’ll be down to my ability to piss off a stranger in no time at all.’
Adam did not think that would be a problem. He could not believe how relaxed Brian was. ‘How do you do it?’
‘Piss people off?’
‘No, this. Sit here cool as can be knowing there are three guys just there and the two blond guys probably not far away. Or for that matter fire a gun at someone knowing they will fire one right back at you. That you may die and it might not be nice, lose an arm or leg, or God knows what. Get burned.’
Brian looked at him. ‘You don’t think about it.’
‘That’s it, you just don’t think about it?’
Brian’s head moved up and down. ‘You put it out of your head. You just get on with it. Get through it, do your job. What else am I going to do, go home? Wait for the police to get their arses in gear? There’s no point bleating about this unlucky life, you get on with it.’
From the lower bar they heard the door open, then felt cold air around their legs. The hub of conversation lowered. They both saw the shoulder and left side of a short broad man. They could see him talking to the three foot soldiers. Their eyes flicked up to Adam and Brian and then back to their conversation.
Then the new arrival turned and confidently walked up the steps. He was wearing a leather jacket, had a square face heavily creased and pinched, small dark eyes that fixed on Brian as he swung a chair around the table and faced them.
‘My name is Hakan,’ he said. ‘Do you mind if I join you?’ He leaned forward and held out his hand.
Habit almost had Adam standing. He stopped himself and decided to sit tight, to say and do nothing, his eyes on the man, struck by the thought this man might know where Sarah was right now. Brian did not say anything at first, ignoring Hakan’s outstretched hand. He finally acknowledged the question.
‘Sure, join us but we’re in a miserable mood and I’d rather not shake hands if you don’t mind.’ Brian smoothed down the ends of his moustache with a thumb and index finger.
Hakan let his hand drop and sat down, leaning back into the chair. Adam fidgeted, looking across at his phone and willing it to ring.
‘I was wondering why you are here in this place?’ Hakan’s tone was light and conversational. ‘We have not seen you before.’ He briefly appraised Adam and returned his attention to Brian.
‘Minding our own business. Sorting a few things out.’ Brian looked disinterested at the TV, which was running highlights of the press conference. Hakan turned to watch as well. Then they both turned to each other across the table.
‘A terrible thing,’ Hakan said. ‘I can only imagine what her father must be going through. So careless of him to leave such a pretty child in the street unattended. Don’t you think?’
‘Unattended?’ Brian answered. ‘Makes her sound like a bloody suitcase. As for the father I expect he’s out looking for whoever took her, at a guess.’
‘Maybe, Mr Dunstan. I am sure you do not mind me calling you that.’
Brian folded his arms. ‘It is my name.’
‘Good,’ Hakan continued. ‘You say you are minding your own business. Then it seems I misunderstand your meaning. Because you broke into my property last night and attacked my employee. Then you attacked two of my colleagues on the beach. That is not minding your own business, surely?’
Brian snorted and nodded at Adam. ‘That’s bruises under his eyes my friend, not fucking war paint. Your two buddies started that fight. As for the guy at your house, he was impatient and careless.’
Hakan sighed and crossed one leg over the other. ‘So what is it you are here for?’
Brian leaned forward. ‘Well, I thought that was kind of obvious. For a start a ten-year-old girl, pretty, you just saw her on TV. And a woman, pretty as well. Then of course there’s the big fella, I’d like a few words with him. Your pal, no doubt. I’d guess about six foot four, was seen by half the country driving a Rover two nights ago. Now what was his name, let me think, ah yes, Simon Thompson.’
A thin smile stretched across Hakan’s face. ‘You are very abrasive, Mr Dunstan. Such a lack of tact and utter ignorance, so English. No wonder you are losing this country to foreigners, when all you can do is sit in pubs and swear.’
‘Is that so? Well I’ll have you know we’re very proud of our country’s distinguished legacy of being invaded by foreigners, thank you very much. It’s what makes this such a rich and civilised culture.’
‘An interesting perspective.’ Hakan looked around the empty bar. ‘So how is the search for your daughter coming along?’
‘Well ain’t that the funny thing. I’ll admit we were a little stuck. Weren’t we?’ He glanced at Adam who instinctively nodded. Brian barely paused. ‘We know this Simon character is near here, but just can’t figure exactly where. We know he wasn’t working alone after your blond buddies fucked up Peterborough, so we got to thinking, whoever’s directing things can’t be that bright. So we thought to ourselves, how about we sit in that pub where Simon grew up. Maybe they’ll come to us like they did the night before. And fuck me, hey presto! Not just the goons but the brains of the operation, how about that?’
‘Very amusing, Mr Dunstan. You are assuming of course that I am somehow connected with your daughter’s abduction.’
‘Well that would be my assumption, and not desperately hard to come to either, you’re here for a start. But then I’d pick you out in a crowd.’ Brian theatrically appraised Hakan. ‘When did you last look at yourself in the mirror mate, do you cultivate that look? Sit in bed nights reading bad guy magazines, fashion tips for the undersized crook?’
He paused and looked hard into dark impassive eyes. He kept pushing. ‘And of course now we know the house down the road is yours, I guess that about seals it.’
‘You really are the funny man, Mr Dunstan, and not so stupid as you look. I cannot be held accountable for the past tenants in my properties, surely? I am merely here to look out for my own interests.’
Adam was finding it difficult to take his eyes off Hakan, who sat almost totally still with a constant fixed humourless smile. The man’s whole physicality put Adam in mind of a dam in the seconds before it explodes.
‘I’m counting on you looking after your interests.’ Brian’s voice now had a harsh edge. ‘How much do little girls fetch these days? White girls at that, with all the risk involved? If I were you I’d be here protecting my interests as well.’
Hakan brushed an invisible speck from his trousers and rested one hand on his knee. ‘I trust you will be making your point soon, Mr Dunstan?’
Brian shifted in his seat. He actually had no point to make. He was only looking for a reaction. So he made one up, plucking at the separate strands of information and thoughts accumulated over the last day. ‘My point is we already know you have a boat ready, Simon’s probably on his hands and knees scrubbing the decks as we speak. What is it, some yacht he’s delivering? Maybe a luxury one for some sheik or oligarch? Nice idea I gotta say, get the child out of the country on a VIP pass. Your only exposure is poor old Simon. I bet the minute he sets sail you scatter like leaves in the wind, while back in poor uncivilised Blighty we’re left chasing sex offenders and reports of blonde white girls spotted in every city across Europe.’
Then something did change, an almost imperceptible shift in the air, a collective tension that made it heavier. The possible truth of what he had said dawned on Brian, sensing the realisation in Adam too. He quickly back-tracked through the detail in his mind.
Hakan leaned forward, the leather creaking. He balanced the tips of his fingers on the edge of the table. ‘A very good idea, I agree,’ he said. ‘I might even consider it if kidnapping and extortion is a field I ever move into.’ He looked at his watch. ‘But I must go now, for all your entertaining conversation, Mr Dunstan.’
He did not move, sitting motionless save for a slight tremor in his shoulders, as if working to contain the forces pushing at the dam. ‘You have however proven yourself to be a nuisance. I certainly cannot afford to have you running around causing trouble in this place.’ He gestured slowly and proudly to the bar. ‘Yes I own this as well. So I will detail for you two options which are as follows. You will both now leave. This is going to happen regardless. You will walk calmly out of here,’ he nodded in the direction of the ten o’clock door, ‘and climb into the car driven by my two friends. They will drive you into Doncaster, completely free of charge, where you will be at liberty to find your own way home. The only other option is the same, except you refuse to leave quietly. In which case my colleagues will fetch you and place you in the car. If you then come back…’ He looked from Brian to Adam and back. ‘Well, let us just say I will not be happy. Feel free to talk among yourselves, you have two minutes.’
He stepped back the chair and stood, turning to walk away, but Brian was not finished. ‘You mean you’re going to leave and not tell me who set up my daughter? You could at least do that, give me something to do when I get home.’
Hakan’s mouth opened as if to answer. Then closed, changing his mind. ‘I have no idea, of course, Mr Dunstan. But a man of your intelligence would surely find it easy to figure out.’ He walked back through the arched door and down the steps, stopping to exchange a brief word with the men before leaving the pub.
Adam stared at the empty chair, not able to comprehend all that happened in the last few minutes. He felt cold inside and heavy with a sense of impending doom. Hakan and these men were not just bad guys. These were men that earned a living from selling children and were not about to give it up without a fight.
Brian faced him, placing a hand on each of his shoulders. ‘Listen and do exactly what I say. You know if any part of what I just said is true we can’t get into that car?’
Adam absently nodded, registering the change, a cool efficiency. There was something different in Brian’s eyes.
‘What’re you going to do, mate?’ Brian asked.
‘Run,’ Adam answered and started to move his legs from under the table. Brian stopped him.
‘Not yet. In a few seconds they’ll come up the steps. I’ll do my best to stop them but you have to fucking run. Sarah, Andrea, your life could depend on it.’
The urgency in Brian’s voice was seeping through his daze. ‘Don’t stop Adam, don’t look back. Get into suburbia and run, change direction and change direction. Do not run in a straight line. When you can’t run anymore, run some more. Then you hole up in a different hotel and knock yourself out. You dig up anything you can on this Hakan guy.’ Brian reached around and retrieved the phone from the table, pushing it into the front pocket of Adam’s jacket. ‘Ring Boer with what you find. He’ll know what to do.’
Adam felt as if he was floating above his own body, looking down at the scene and not part of it. ‘What will you do?’ he asked.
‘I’m going to give them something to worry about. If it’s just these three I might get my one-on-one time with the blonds and that might get me on the fast track. Your job is to get out of here. Don’t fuck about with that knife. If anyone gets in your way clench your teeth and go through them. Don’t stop.’
Over Brian’s shoulder Adam saw two men step into the upper bar, the large one with a plaster across his nose and the tall thin one Brian had described as a rat on stilts. They stopped and watched.
Brian glanced across at them and returned his attention to Adam. ‘Wait for me to stand then move behind me and go. As soon as they react I’ll be into them.’
Brian smiled a broad, beaming smile that lifted his moustache up at the ends. It was a smile like a warm sun on a cold day. Adam imagined Brian commanding men; they would feel there was nothing they could not do, not with Brian at their side. He could do it.
Brian slapped his shoulder. ‘You’re good, Sawacki, it’s been a pleasure.’ And then Brian was up, walking around the table and standing nonchalantly, hands at his side, opposite the two men.