Authors: Allan Guthrie
Tina said, "I'd never dream of describing this as boring."
"Well, fucking pay attention." Cooper faced Joe. "Jesus Christ, my leg hurts," he said. "But I'm man enough to ignore the pain. Maybe later we'll see if you are, Joe. A bullet in each knee, huh? Look forward to that. And an elbow or two. What do you think? Still leave me with a bullet for each of your balls. Then we'll see how much of a man you are.
"Okay. Where was I? When the damn buzzer went that night I wasn't a happy chicken. Gary was awake, having a wee drink, or I'd have been even more pissed off. Not a good start, Joe.
"I got out of bed. Asked who the fuck was waking me up this time of night. And I heard your sweet voice, Joe. Kind of faint. There was a roar in the background. Like a storm. Wasn't raining that hard, though. I asked you what the din was. Football fans, you said. Came in handy, knowing that. I buzzed you in and lit a fag and waited in the doorway. The draft was blowing a gale round my legs. Just had my underpants on, but I wasn't worried about being assaulted. It was only you, Joe, and I'd heard you didn't like sex."
"Who told you that?"
"Patience, Joe. You'll find out. Anyway, when you said you wanted to talk about Gemma, I nearly shat myself. I tried to stay cool. Stuck my hand down my pants and had a good scratch. When you started blethering about pussy snorkels I knew you were in a bad way. Kept rubbing your palms together, far too enthusiastic about this new muff diving equipment. I let you rabbit on. If you wanted to tell me something about Gemma, I wasn't going to hurry you along. In your own good time, pal. I could wait. I was calm. Focussed.
"I started giving you some advice about parenting. You cut me off. Told me Gemma was dead. Just like that. Nice, eh? You don't know what that did to me."
Cooper scratched the side of his face with his gun. "You have no fucking idea." He paused for a moment, then carried on: "Ruth called after you'd gone to bed. I was still up, drinking a last glass of whisky. She'd been drinking, too. Don't know what or how much, but enough to get shitfaced. She threatened me. Can you believe that? Under Scottish law, a verbal threat is an offense and I could have contacted the police and had her jailed. I explained that to her, but she was so drunk she just laughed. That hurt my feelings. I'm sensitive, you know. Still. Her daughter was dead and I'm a reasonable guy. I thought I'd give Ruth a bit of rope. And with any luck, maybe she'd hang herself."
He stared at Joe. Joe remained absolutely still. His gaze didn't flicker.
Cooper rubbed the gun over his chin again. "I put the phone down and thought about what she'd said. Well, I had to. TV was crap. Pay a fucking fortune for an LCD TV, all very well, but it doesn't improve the quality of the shite they make you watch. Anyway, I couldn't concentrate. I had a bucketful of adrenalin still shooting around in my bloodstream. By the time she rang again, I was dressed. She asked if you were there, said she was going to tell you. Said it was about time you knew."
"Knew what?" Joe said.
"Keep what's left of your fucking hair on, Joe," Cooper said. "I'm telling you." He sucked in a lungful of air and let it out slowly. "I calmed her down. Said I'd come and see her. Told her to hang on, keep it together, I'd see her in a while. You see, I like you, Joe. If you want to know, I like you more than I like Ruth. And there's no way on earth I wanted you to find out."
"Find out what?" Joe said.
"No fucking way. Poor guy, you'd just suffered a bereavement and there's Ruth wanting to rub salt in your wounds. Why the fuck are you two so cruel to each other? Don't know if you remember, but I asked you once why you stayed together. You just said, fuck it, she's Gemma's mum. We're married, got a kid together. It's got to mean something. Nothing else does.
"Then you'd go and bang that whore next to you. Why do you do that, Joe? She gives good head, you tell me. You think that's a good enough reason?
"Anyway, I never wanted to get you into trouble. That was the whole point. Me," — he banged the butt of the gun against his chest — "trying to protect you." He waved the gun at Joe. "You know that. But what choice did I have? It was either that, or have you find out…
"I'm running ahead of myself. I haven't slept much since this all kicked off. Maybe an hour at a time. When I nod off, I dream about Gemma. Believe that? I haven't once dreamed about Ruth. Sign of a clear conscience, eh?
"So, that night, I drove across town to your flat. Ruth was in a state. She was so far gone, actually, that she asked me to leave. Claimed she didn't want to see me. Didn't want me touching her. A pile of emotional stuff like that. I waited for her to calm down. I just stood there. Motionless. Like I was on a job. She didn't respond too well. She kicked me, in fact. Bruise is still there. On the shin. Same leg you've fucking smashed up. She called me all sorts of unrepeatable names.
"Well, I was under pressure, you have to understand, and I snapped."
He let out a long breath. The silence stretched. Joe heard himself breathing.
Cooper said, "I hit her once. To get her to shut up. She dropped. Must have been out before she struck the floor. Back of her head bounced. Looked a bit nasty. No way she was going to get up for a while. I checked her out. No blood. Start of a swelling, though. She was breathing. I thought she'd be well pissed off when she woke up. And then she'd definitely tell you everything.
"I wasn't thinking too clearly, I suppose. Sat down at the table. Poured myself some vodka. Knocked it back. I've always found alcohol highly inspirational. I called Mr. Park here. Left a message. Had another vodka. Drank it slower. Ruth didn't move. She looked peaceful, bless her.
"Mr. Park phoned me back within five minutes and I explained the situation. He had a handle on the whole concept before the words came out of my mouth. It was like talking to God, I swear."
Park raised his eyebrows.
Joe said, "What was it you didn't want me to know?"
"Fucking patience is a fucking virtue, Joe." Cooper stabbed the air with his gun. "All right?" After a long silence he lowered the gun and held it by his side. "As I was saying, if I can get on with my story, I'd finished off the vodka by the time Mr. Park arrived. He went on ahead to check the coast was clear. I followed him downstairs with Ruth slung over my shoulder. I'd found your car keys in her handbag. Nobody saw us inside the building and if anybody saw us outside, they haven't told the police. Anyway, I was dragging her alongside me, you know, with her arm draped over my shoulder. Probably looked like she'd drunk too much."
"When did you realize she was dead?" Joe said.
"Oh, I knew she wasn't dead," Cooper said. "She was breathing. Actually, she woke up just before we reached the car. Could have been a problem. Luckily I spotted your baseball bat and had an idea."
"Jesus help you," Adam said.
Cooper pointed the gun at Adam. "Interrupt me again and I'll arrange for you to put in a good word for me first. I'm just getting to the good part."
Joe placed his hands on the floor. Park moved towards him.
Cooper swung his arm towards Joe. "Stay where you are."
Joe presented his palms to Cooper and leaned backwards.
"I'm fed up telling you, Joe. Don't you want to hear the rest?"
Joe said nothing.
"Well?"
He nodded.
"Say it."
"I want to hear the rest."
"Ask nicely."
"Please."
"Okay," Cooper said. "Just keep fucking quiet and stay still. That too much to ask? You don't hear me whining and I've got a fucked up leg that hurts like a bitch and an elbow that isn't much better."
"I'll be quiet."
"Right. Mr. Park, myself and Ruth got in your car. Mr. Park said he knew somewhere suitable. Somewhere we could dispose of Ruth. No security cameras. She moaned a bit. She was concussed, I think. Didn't know much about what was happening. We drove to a small industrial estate. Nicely secluded. No cameras. We checked to make sure. Dragged Ruth out of the car. She couldn't stand on her own. Mr. Park tried holding her up, but I couldn't get a proper swing. In the end, we let her drop to the ground and I walloped her a couple of dozen times with your baseball bat. Really put my back into it. When we were sure she was dead, we put her in the boot and drove your car back home."
The silence in the little church was total. Nobody moved a muscle. Even Adam had stopped shaking. If Cooper wanted stillness, he'd got it.
Joe said quietly, "What was it you didn't want her to tell me?"
"I haven't finished my story. Next day, I arranged for Mr. Park to follow you. When he told me you were at the airport, I drove out to meet him. I still had Ruth's keys. Mr. Park had the bright idea of getting one of the airport staff to write down your flight number. I popped the scrap of paper in your glove compartment. Took your car for a spin and left it somewhere conspicuous with the boot open. Found a phone box and told the police about the car with the boot open and the body in it and hung up. Then Mr. Park drove me home. You know, I haven't had a good night's sleep since."
"That's a shame," Tina said. "I really feel for you."
"What was it you didn't want me to know?" Joe said.
"Two things, actually, Joe," Cooper said. "First of all, me and Ruth have been fucking each other's brains out on a regular basis since university."
Steel fingers pressed hard against Joe's temples. But he was amazed at how little surprise he felt. "And the other thing?"
"Ah," Cooper said. "That's going to really hurt." He smiled. "You ready?"
"Tell me. Can't be that bad."
"But it is, Joe. It's very fucking bad."
"Tell me."
Cooper screwed his face up as he shifted his weight from one buttock to the other. "You really fucked my leg up, Joe. That wasn't nice."
"You going to tell me?" Joe said. "Or are you just going to whinge about your leg?"
Cooper nodded slowly. "It's about Gemma," he said. "She's not your daughter." He paused. "She's mine."
Joe sprang forward.
"Stay there," Cooper said, arm fully extended, gun inches from Joe's forehead.
Joe stared at the man in front of him. He didn't recognize him at all.
"You thought you had nothing to lose," Cooper said. "How wrong were you?" He chuckled. "Okay, Joe. Time to get down to business. You have a preference for which kneecap goes first?"
Joe heard a roar from his right and saw Adam swinging the baseball bat. Cooper turned. A shot rang out, halting Adam's forward momentum. The bat fell out of his grasp and Joe lunged for it, catching it on the bounce. In the same movement he swivelled on his knee, bringing the bat round in a curve. Cooper's eyes registered disbelief a split second before the bat struck him on the side of the face with enough power to knock him onto the floor. The gun fell out of his hand. As Park stooped to pick it up, Tina kicked him under the chin. His head snapped back and blood sprayed out of his mouth. Tina kicked the gun towards Joe. Then she booted Park in the face again.
One hand on the bench, Cooper tried to pick himself up.
Joe bent over him and hit him on the back of the head. Joe's side exploded with pain.
Cooper slumped.
Park's eyes darted from side to side. His hands were cupped over his mouth, blood dripping between his fingers. Tina kicked him again and his nose crunched.
Gingerly, Joe stooped to pick up the gun. He pointed it at Park. "Tie him up," he said to Tina. She used the strip of blanket that had acted as Sally's gag to bind Park's hands behind his back.
Joe turned to Cooper. "Give me one good reason not to kill you."
Cooper said nothing.
On his back, fingers spread over a widening red circle at top of his thigh, Adam said, "He's lying."
Joe nudged Cooper with his foot. "Are you?"
Cooper's voice sounded like he'd drunk an entire bottle of Bunnahabhain. "Every word I told you is true. Deal with it, Joe."
Deal with it? Joe looked at the gun in his hand. He lifted it towards his face. Smelled burnt gunpowder. Wondered how it would taste.
"Don't you fucking dare," Tina said.
"Don't believe him, Joe," Adam said. "You can get a DNA test."
Joe knelt down and shoved the gun into Cooper's mouth. Cooper clamped his jaws together. Joe pulled the gun out, then rammed it back in again. He heard something snap. He grabbed the back of Cooper's head and shoved again. After only a few seconds of sustained pressure, Cooper's mouth jerked wide open and he wailed. As the gun slid between his parted lips, he closed his eyes and started to whimper.
Joe wondered if he should make a speech. He didn't think Cooper deserved it. Pull the trigger. Get it over with. Blow a hole clean through the fucker's head. Pull the trigger. What was he waiting for? His finger tightened.
From outside, a voice cut through the silence. "Put down your weapons and come out with your hands up." Sounded like that policeman, Grove. How had he got here so quickly? Ah, well. It scarcely mattered any more.
The foyer door sprang open and Ronald Brewer said, "Drop the gun, Joe. For God's sake, drop it."
Joe wondered about this. Some people didn't seem to want him to kill Cooper. What difference could it make to them? What did they expect him to do? Let Cooper hang around here on this shithole planet for a while yet? Maybe have another kid with Sally? Maybe she'd sleep with someone else. Maybe Cooper would sleep with his kid. Maybe his kid would turn out to be someone else's.