CRASH (A Logan Brothers Novel) (13 page)

“
And what about the long term?
Won't it prove more lucrative for you in the future?”

“
Perhaps,” he conceded, “but
it's too much of a risk. I chose, in the end, to play the safe
option.”

“
You?” I spat. “It was
your decision?!”

“
I had the final word, yes.
The size of my investment gives me that power. I understand it is a
setback for you, but this is business I'm afraid. You'll learn that
as you mature.”

As I mature! The decrepit old
fuck.

“
Now please, I really don't
have anything more to say.” He gestured to the door and then turned
his head back down to some papers on his desk without giving me a
second thought.

Oh he'd give me a second
thought. I'd make sure of that.

....

I sat back down in my Hummer, my
phone in hand. I dialed and waited for the pick up. It rang three
times before I heard a voice, hard to decipher amid the noise.

“
Crash...hold...I'm...call...back.”

Well that made no sense.

A waited a moment and the phone
rang. I picked up and heard Kyle's voice clearly this time, the
chatter behind him now soft in the background.

“
Crash, what's up?” His tone
was typically frosty.

We still weren't getting along,
not as we used to. He only picked the phone up in case I had positive
news for him about the club. Otherwise I'm sure he'd have just
ignored it.

This time, however, I would make
him happy.

“
I need to talk to you
urgently,” I said. “Where are you?”

His voice picked up at the rush
of my words. “At a party.”

“
Where?”

His words stiffened slightly
again. “With Alice at her halls.” She was always a sore spot
between us.

“
OK, I'm coming there now.
Which halls is it?”

“
Dulwich.”

“
Right, I'll be there in 20.”

I shut the phone off quickly and
gunned the engine.

Time to get this family back
together.

....

I pulled into the parking lot
outside of Dulwich halls. There were students swarming the place,
getting typically wasted for a Friday evening.

I stepped out of the car as a
few drunken jocks showered praise on it.

“
Whoa, cool Hummer man!”

I had no time for them.

I pressed on forward towards the
main door. It was being held open by a block of wood, allowing anyone
to enter and join in the party raging inside.

There were stairs to the
immediate left on entry, with a wide hall in front and doors to the
right. The hall was sparsely populated with small pockets of people,
drinking punch from red paper cups and chattering wildly.

I walked through and towards the
source of the sound, turning through a door into a large space,
pulsing with guys and girls and their raging hormones. There was a
long table to the side, massive bowls of orange liquid inside.

God only knows what the fuck
they put in there.

Next to the orange poison there
were countless bottles of spirits and mixers and stacks of plastic
cups. I cut a path straight for it and snatched a half empty bottle
of Smirnoff, pouring a couple of shots into a cup and sinking it in
one.

I breathed deep. Better.

My eyes fell over the crowd in
front of me, scanning for my brother.
Where the fuck was he?

A tap on my shoulder gave me my
answer. He stood to my left, his face stern as usual but with a look
of hope to it, as if he'd finally get the news he was waiting for.

I wouldn't disappoint him.

“
We need somewhere quiet to
talk,” I said. “Somewhere private.”

He nodded and walked me back
into the main hall. Alice was there, talking to another girl over in
the corner. Kyle walked towards her and they spoke for a moment. She
had this look on her face, like she didn't trust me, didn't like me.
I guess I deserved that.

He turned and tilted his head
towards the stairs, walking up them with me following. I'd never been
inside a college building like this before. It was like one massive
party, one massive sleepover. I could see doors open along the wall
at the top of the stairs, college kids lying around on beds and on
the floor smoking and drinking and laughing.

They spilled out into the
corridor, guys throwing footballs down the length of it, girls
slapping them on the arm and telling them off for almost taking their
heads off. It was a world far removed from my own, from the way I'd
grown up. Ever since I was a late teen, I'd been managing bars and
casinos, never a moment to relax and completely let loose.

A small sense of jealousy hit me
as I looked on at the scene, one immediately quenched. No, this
wasn't for me. I had far bigger fish to fry.

Kyle stepped through a door at
the end of the corridor and into a dorm room. It must have been
Alice's, the floor and walls and beds coated with bright colors of
pink and purple. There were two beds in there. Alice must live with a
room-mate.

I laughed in my head.
I doubt
Kyle spent much time over here then.

He sat down on the bed to the
left and I took the other, sitting opposite each other. It was quiet
now with the door shut, the pounding noise from downstairs largely
stifled.

He looked at me, his face set.
“So what's the emergency?”

I stared back at him. We'd been
at loggerheads for too long over all this shit. It was time to unite
together for mutual gain. I couldn't keep doing this alone.

“
I know I haven't been the
greatest brother,” I said, conceding what most would look at as the
truth. “And I know I told you I'd find a replacement for you at the
club.”

He nodded slowly, his eyes still
fierce. “Yes, you did. That was some time ago Crash.”

“
I know, and I'm ready to put
it all right.”

His eyes softened slightly, that
hopeful look growing stronger.

“
You remember I said I was
working on something big? That I wanted to bring you in on it with
me?”

“
I do.”

“
Well I've hit a major snag,
and I need your help. It's time we put the past behind us Kyle. You
help me, and you can step away from that club and never look back. I
give you my word on that.”

“
What do you need?” he
asked, his tone growing in interest.

“
There's a man who needs
convincing of something. You're going to help me do it.”

“
That's all?” he asked.

“
That's the start,” I said
quickly.

A silence fell as we looked on
at each other, bridges being built as we spoke.

“
OK, count me in.”

A smile spread over my face.
“Excellent.”

We stood simultaneously and
walked into the middle of the room, stretching out our hands in
unison and shaking tight.

“
I knew you'd come to your
sense eventually,” he said, grinning. “Come on brother, lets
drink together. We haven't done so in ages.”

“
In a moment. I need to make a
call. I'll join you downstairs shortly.”

“
The work never stops,” he
said, his expression more relaxed than I'd seen it in months. It was
good to see the real Kyle again.

“
And it never will.”

He laughed as he turned away
and walked towards the door, shutting it tight at his back and once
more plunging the room into silence.

I took out my phone and dialed.
It immediately clicked to life.

“
Jones, I have something for
you to do. It must be urgent.”

“
Yes Mr Logan. What is it?”

“
Have you heard of Walter
Lithgow? He's a powerful investor and businessman.”

“
I have.”

“
I need you to find some dirt
on him, fast. And Jones, it needs to be good.”

“
I understand Mr Logan. I'll
get on it immediately.”

“
Thank you Jones. Call me when
you have something.”

The pieces were coming together. 

Elle

My mind was beginning to blur as
I stood in the middle of the tumult, drinks being downed around me.
It had been a long week at college and I was exhausted after coming
back from dance class. A party as wild as this one wasn't exactly
what I needed right now, but who could say no to Tess?

Alice was now taken with Kyle,
and I got the impression that Tess was now latching onto me as her
substitute. She was impossibly persistent, and wouldn't take no for
an answer when all I wanted to do was crash out on my bed and watch a
film on my laptop.

“
Oh come on babe, it's only
downstairs. A couple of hours at least. Come on!”

I didn't know why she cared so
much. I mean, it wasn't like she was lacking in friends. Then again,
it felt pretty nice that she was so keen for me to be there. I'd
really fallen on my feet with my new group of friends round here.

I'd been there for a couple of
hours now, though, and thoughts of my warm bed were beginning to
dominate my mind. Kyle was there with Alice, so I knew they'd go back
to his after. That meant I'd have the entire room to myself for the
night.

Bliss.

I managed to duck away from
Tess' eyes as I sneaked through the crowd towards the door. As I came
out into the hall I saw Kyle just rounding the bottom of the stairs
and moving in to kiss Alice. He had this glowing smile on his face,
his step so light, like a weight had just been thrown from his
shoulders.

I smiled as they kissed. They'd
seemed so glum every time I'd seen them recently, so it was nice to
see them happy for once.

I passed by them, their passion
blinding them to everything else in the hall, and climbed wearily up
the stairs. There was a lot of activity on my floor outside my room.
But I didn't care. No amount of noise could stop me from sleeping
tonight.

I stopped as I reached my door.
There was a voice coming from inside, a guys voice.

What the fuck.

I listened closely. It was a one
way conversation, some guy on the phone. I couldn't work out who it
was through the door, the voice muffled.

Seriously, Alice needs to
start locking the door. Probably some random guy looking for some
privacy to make a call.

Well, he'll have to shift it.
I need my bed.

I turned the handle and opened
the door quickly, ready to reprimand the guy with some choice words.

My heart literally stopped.

Standing right there next to my
bed was Crash, sliding his phone into his pocket. His face crinkled
into that same expression I'd last seen on him as he saw me - one of
shock, one of surprise - as he saw me.

“
What the hell are you doing
here?” I kinda shouted it. I didn't mean to be rude, but what the
fuck?!

His face as stuck in a frown. He
seemed equally as shocked to see me as I was to see him.

“
Do you live with Alice?” he
asked. “Shit that makes so much sense now.”

The door hung open to my back
and I heard a drunken voice shouting from behind me.

“
Hey Elle, is that your new
guy?” It was Tom, some football jock, surrounded by his jock
friends. The guy was a sleaze.

I didn't deign to answer him,
but just turned and shut the door.

“
Who was that?”

I swiveled back around to see a
look of interest on Crash's face. Or was it jealousy. I was too tired
to know right now.

Maybe being tired and not giving
a shit was a good thing. Frankly after what happened when I last saw
him I might have just died on the spot had I been fully awake and
sober. Right now I didn't care.

“
Just a random guy from round
here. He's friends with Alice.”

“
Alice?”

“
That's what I said.” Wow,
that was frosty.

“
Well what does Kyle think
about them being friends?”

“
I don't know. What does it
matter? Can a girl not have guy friends just because she's got a
boyfriend?”

He had this look on this face. I
couldn't place it.

“
So, you haven't really
answered my question,” I said again. “Why exactly are you in my
room?”

His face loosened. “I came to
see Kyle and we needed some privacy to talk. Alice said we could use
the room. Is that not OK?”

“
It's fine, I guess.” I
couldn't remember the last time I had been this defensive and
downright snappy. It wasn't usually my personality.

Whatever they'd spoken about,
though, it was obviously good news for Kyle the way he'd looked when
coming down the stairs.