Ecstasy Lake (27 page)

41

I opened the door and went in first. ‘Hello, Coy,' I said. He was on the far side of the back seat, grinning at us. His hand was gripping his big silver pistol, which was wearing its long black suppressor like an evening tie. Tasso followed me in and closed the door. The car moved off. I looked to see who was driving. I wasn't surprised, but Tasso was.

‘What the fuck are you doing here?' he said.

Jenny, Hiskey's mother-in-law, didn't reply. She negotiated a couple of corners and pulled into the racecourse grounds through a gate that should have been locked. No one was around. She parked the car and turned to us. There was enough natural light to see her eyes. They were bright with adrenalin, or something.

‘Do what you need to do, Peter,' she said to Coy.

‘What are you doing, Jenny?' said Tasso.

‘Taking what's mine.'

‘Where's Harry?'

‘Harry's safe, don't worry.'

‘I want to see him.'

‘You will. We haven't harmed a curly hair on his little head. Yet.'

Coy had shoved his pistol between his legs and produced two plasticuffs. He put one on me and pulled it tight. Then he fastened the other to Tasso's wrists, looping it through mine so that Tasso and I were bound together at the wrists. Coy produced a scanning wand.

‘You wouldn't be stupid enough to have brought a gun or a phone or a transmitter with you, would you?' he said. ‘Get out.'

I grabbed Tasso's wrists to keep us steady as we extricated ourselves from the car. It was still a pleasant evening outside. A plane flew in low overhead, its landing gear down and navigation lights on, its passengers no doubt enjoying the view of a staid and strangely tortured city in the last of its light. Coy waved his wand over us from top to bottom and then hand-frisked us for good measure.

‘How come you weren't in Truro this morning?' I said. ‘You missed the shootout.'

‘I haven't been there for days. I had other things to do.'

Tasso and I were facing each other, compelled to do so because of the cuffs. He was staring into the middle distance. I couldn't catch his eye.

‘This guy is a weak shit,' I said to him, nodding at Coy. Tasso made an effort to focus on me and didn't succeed. ‘He's a mummy's boy. Look at his girlfriend. A big fat mummy substitute.'

Coy hit me in the side with his fist. It hurt. I staggered and doubled over. Tasso held me up.

‘I'm going to have fun with you, West, before the end,' said Coy. He spoke to Jenny through the window. ‘They're clean, darl.'

‘Let's go then.'

‘Take off your shoes and get back in the car,' Coy said to us.

We did as we were told. Coy picked up the shoes, put them in the car boot and joined us in the back seat.

‘Where's Harry, Jenny?' said Tasso again.

Jenny started the engine. ‘We're going there now.'

We drove to a modest, freestanding house in Glenelg. Jenny used a remote to open the garage door and we drove in. The door slid down behind us.

She led us into the living room, carrying a briefcase. Tasso and I walked side by side, our hands clasped together in front of us and negotiating our steps so we didn't trip each other. In another situation it might have been funny; even then it occurred to me that we were almost doing the tango. Coy followed behind, smirking and holding his silver pistol with its long black suppressor. He was carrying a sports bag. The living room lights were blazing and the curtains were drawn. On the floor, playing with an aluminium saucepan, was Harry, and next to him was Fern, pretending to drink from a toy plastic cup. They looked up as we entered. Fern's face was heavy with fear. Coy closed the door behind us. Tasso fell to his knees, and I fell to mine.

‘Harry,' he said. He held out his hands, and mine followed.

‘
Dada
,' said Harry. He jumped to his feet and ran over. Then he looked at me and had second thoughts, and stopped. He eyes were as big as teacups. ‘It's okay, Harry,' said Tasso. Harry came on. Together, Tasso and I put our arms over Harry's head, and somehow Tasso managed to hug him. Harry's face was buried in Tasso's chest, so all I could see was a mass of curly dark hair attached to a tiny body. He was wearing a blue T-shirt and a disposable nappy, which, to my unpractised eye, looked pretty full. Harry finished his hugging and broke away. He ran back to his kitchen set and poured an imaginary fluid from his saucepan into a cup, talking to himself in his own language. Fern watched him. He carried the cup to Tasso, carefully so the imaginary liquid wouldn't spill. He offered it to Tasso with a serious face, and Tasso accepted it with a smile.

‘Thank you, Harry.' He pretended to sip. ‘It's good.' Harry beamed.

‘That's a very touching scene,' said Jenny. She grabbed Harry's hand and led him back to Fern. ‘Keep him quiet,' she told her. She put her briefcase on the table.

Fern was wearing the same simple, knee-length dress she had been wearing when she had taken Harry from the hotel. She was sitting crookedly on the floor with her legs doubled up beneath her. Her feet were bare, but around her left ankle was a black, hard-leather strap, like something you would see on a kinky website. Secured to the strap was a meaty chain that ran along the floor and was fixed with a padlock to a wall-mounted electric heater. She looked like she wanted to vomit. She handed Harry her cup.

‘More please,' she said, forcing a certain amount of life into her voice.

‘What have you done?' Tasso said to her. His voice was soft but venomous. She looked at him at last.

‘I'm so sorry, Tasso,' she said.

‘You're
sorry
? You stole a little boy from his mother and handed him to these two psychos'—he gestured at Jenny and Coy—‘and you're
sorry
?' Jenny was sitting at the table with a grim face. She opened her briefcase and took out a laptop.

‘I was so
angry
with you, Tasso,' said Fern. Her face was flushed. ‘You hurt me more than you will ever know. All these
years
.' She smeared tears across her face with an angry sweep of her hand. ‘All these
fucken
years.'

‘Yeah, well it's been a fucken waste of time for both of us. And look at us now.'

‘I'm scared, Tasso.'

‘Don't blame me.'

‘I
do
blame you. You don't understand, do you?'

‘I don't want to understand, Fern. This isn't the time.'

‘When would be a good time?'

‘Shut the fuck up, both of you,' said Coy. ‘There won't ever be a good time.'

‘Let them talk, Peter,' said Jenny, who was waiting for her computer to boot up. ‘I'm finding it quite entertaining.'

‘You wouldn't let me go, Tasso,' said Fern.

‘Drop it,' said Tasso.

‘No, I
won't
drop it.' Her chin was quivering. ‘You wouldn't let me have a life, Tasso. You gave me things, you gave me jewellery, you paid for everything. You're very generous with money. But all I wanted was you, for myself, and a fucken
family
.' She changed positions. Now she was kneeling. ‘I'm not stupid. I realised a long time ago that those were the two things you would
not
give me. But you couldn't give me away, either, you couldn't let me go. I tried to leave and you wouldn't let me. You had to own me. And then I find out you've got a
son
.' Harry had given up brewing tea, or whatever it was, and was staring at Fern with his huge eyes. She gave him a deep, infinitely sad look. Then she picked him up and hugged him. He looked scared. ‘You cannot imagine the pain I felt,' she said to Tasso. ‘The pain I feel. And he's so … he's so beautiful.' She hiccupped three or four sobs. Harry struggled to free himself and eventually she released him. He wanted to run to Dada, but Fern held his arm. He started crying, too.

‘Jesus, what is this?' said Coy to Jenny. ‘A fucken creche? Do we have to listen to this?' He waved his gun in the general direction of Fern and Harry. ‘Shut the fuck up, both of you. Settle him down or I'll shoot him,' he said to Fern.

Fern's eyes widened. ‘You wouldn't.'

‘I would.'

She fought to compose her face. She got to her feet and picked up Harry. ‘He needs changing.'

‘Too much imaginary tea, maybe,' I said, trying to get her to smile. It didn't work.

‘The nappies are in the bathroom,' said Fern. ‘Unchain me.'

Coy looked at Jenny, who nodded. ‘Go with them and don't hurt them,' she said. ‘Give me the gun.' Coy wasn't keen on giving Jenny the gun. He had a staring match with her but it was no contest. He handed it over.

‘Sure you don't want me to shoot their kneecaps, just to make sure they don't jump you?' he said.

‘I'll do it myself if I have to,' said Jenny. She gave Coy a key, and he used it to unlock Fern's chain from the heater. Fern took Harry, dragging the chain behind her, and Coy followed.

Jenny sat, Coy's gun next to her on the table. We were still on our knees.

‘This your place?' I said to Jenny.

She nodded. ‘Investment property. Between tenants. You can sit if you want.' She motioned to a two-seater.

I looked at Tasso, who shrugged. We got to our feet and staggered to the couch. Somehow I felt better sitting up. I started to think about how we could deal with Jenny. Perhaps it showed on my face because she picked up the gun.

‘Don't think I won't shoot you,' she said. ‘I know exactly how to use this thing. I've shot thousands of rounds.'

The skin on her fat face was strangely inert. It formed no lines. When she talked her mouth moved but the skin around it somehow absorbed the movement without seeming to move itself. Her eyes peered out through slits, like gun ports in a bunker.

‘Let's talk business,' she said. ‘You have something I want.'

‘Money?' said Tasso.

‘No.' For a moment her eyes opened wider than a crack. This is not about money. It has
never
been about money. I want the lease.'

‘The lease?'

‘The exploration lease. You've put in an application. I've put in an application.'

‘You mean Black Hill?'

‘Yes, Black Hill. I
own
Black Hill.'

‘Since when?' Tasso looked puzzled.

‘Since she and Coy threatened to shoot off Frank Hardcastle's kneecaps,' I said.

Tasso looked at me.

‘How do you know that?' said Jenny.

‘Never mind.'

She levelled the pistol at me. ‘Tell me.'

‘I bugged Hardcastle's office.'

‘You bugged his office? Shit.'

‘I heard you and Coy threaten to kneecap Hardcastle unless he signed the company over to you. Coy has a fascination with kneecaps.'

‘Frank was going to freeze Sonia out,' said Jenny. ‘He was fucking her but wasn't going to give her a share. I couldn't allow that. We bought him out. It's legal.'

‘Apart from the threat of kneecapping.'

‘But Sonia would have inherited Hiskey's share,' said Tasso.

Jenny snorted. ‘What was left of it after he gave most of it to Coy and Harlin.'

‘Coy owns part of Black Hill?' I said.

‘He does.'

‘Jesus, talk about a rogue's gallery.'

‘So between the four of you—Harlin, Coy, Sonia and you—you own Black Hill outright,' said Tasso.

‘Correct. And Harlin has forfeited his share; he'll never claim it. So it's just me, Coy and Sonia.' She smiled, at last, by tightening her gun ports. There was a nasty glint of gold among her neatly arranged teeth. Then the smile was gone. ‘We own a company that's currently worth jackshit. It's worth jackshit because you and Hiskey stole from it.'

‘That's not …' said Tasso.

She held up her hand. ‘Please, Tasso. Let's not. We know about the find. We know it's worth billions. That find belongs to me, to Black Hill. I'm entitled to it. I want it. I want you to give me the exact location of the find.'

‘I give it to you, you let Harry go. Is that how it works?'

‘Yes. If you give me the exact location of the find, I'll let Harry go.' She looked at me. ‘Plus we'll need the tapes from Hardcastle's office.'

‘You let Harry go, you'll get everything you want,' I said.

She shook her head. ‘Uh uh. You give us what we want,
then
we let Harry go.'

‘What guarantee do we have you'll let him go?' said Tasso.

She shrugged. It was impossible to read her impassive face. ‘None. But what's the alternative?'

‘What about us?' I said. ‘What about Fern?'

She smiled again, and there was another flash of gold. Fern came back, carrying Harry. Coy was behind them and he shut the door. Harry twisted in Fern's arms so he could see his father.

‘Dada?'

Tasso did his best to smile at him. Harry held out his arms but Coy jabbed Fern in the ribs. ‘He can play with his fucken pots,' he said. He re-padlocked her chain to the heater. Fern settled Harry on the floor and did her best to distract him. ‘He's hungry,' she said. ‘He needs food.'

‘We don't have any,' said Jenny. She looked at Tasso. ‘Let's get this done quick. Dragging it out will only put the boy in harm's way.'

Fern was holding it together, but only just. She looked at Tasso with red eyes. ‘What does she want?'

‘She wants Hiskey's find.'

‘Well, for fuck's sake,
give
it to her. It's only gold.'

‘Of course I'll give it to her,' said Tasso. ‘But you know that as soon as I do, we're dead?'

‘What do you mean?'

‘I mean they can't let us live. We would go straight to the cops. They know that. And Jenny would never get what she desperately wants, which is a goldmine. We're dead meat. We only have their word they'll let Harry go.'