Double Cross (37 page)

'What the hell . . . ?' McAuley gasped.

'Oh, didn't I say?' I said. 'Byron didn't work for the
Dowds. That money was put in his bank account by
Owen Dowd to make you think otherwise. But when I
worked at TFTM, I saw Trevor coming out of Gideon
Dowd's office. And Gideon's brother Owen told me that
one of your men was passing on information. So it has to
be him.'

Trevor looked from me to McAuley like he didn't
know what to do.

'Are you staying or going?' I asked impatiently.

Trevor took off like his shoes were on fire. Honour
amongst thieves.

Three against one. Plus the two outside. Much better. I
could breathe easy now!

I glanced down at Byron. There was a small pool of
blood around his neck and head. One bullet and Byron's
life was over. One thrust of a knife and Rebecca was gone.
Life was too precious to be so fragile. Or maybe life was
precious because it was so fragile.

'All of you.' I waved them out from around the table.
'Walk over to the door, please.'

McAuley stayed his men with one gesture of his hand.
'Suppose we stay where we are?' he said. 'Suppose I don't
think you've got the balls to shoot anyone?'

He reached for one of the guns on the table. I aimed
and squeezed the trigger in the space of less than a second.
The gun McAuley had been reaching for shot off the
table, propelled by the bullet from my gun. Splinters of
wood flew off in all directions. McAuley and his mob
flinched away from the ricocheting debris.

'Suppose the next bullet goes straight through your
heart?' I told McAuley. I might not have shot a gun at
living targets before, but that didn't mean I didn't know
how to shoot. My dad had seen to that. 'Now all of you
– move.'

I swept the rest of the gun hardware onto the floor
with my arm. I certainly didn't need one of McAuley's
men getting any bright ideas. If we all headed out of
the warehouse, then I could get a signal, phone the police
and we'd wait for them to arrive. And maybe, just
maybe I might make it out of this in one piece. Scott
and Dave led the way, followed by McAuley, with me
following behind all three of them. The moment
Scott and Dave were through the office door, they
sprinted off in opposite directions. There was no way I
could stop them. I ran in front of McAuley and slammed
the door shut before he could pull the same stunt. Never
taking my eyes off McAuley, I locked the door behind
me.

McAuley's men were somewhere in the warehouse, just
waiting to pounce once I left the office. They couldn't get
in. We couldn't get out.

Now what?

'Half a million pounds to the one who kills Tobey
Durbridge!' McAuley shouted out.

Bastard! What a time to raise his voice.

The slamming against the office door started almost at
once.

'Sit down on the ground,' I ordered McAuley, my gun
in his face.

He did as I said, a look of intense satisfaction on his face.
'You're dead, Durbridge. Deal with it. And when I get
out of here, I'm going to take care of your girlfriend too.'

'You already took care of Rebecca,' I said bitterly.

'The Dowds needed to be taught a lesson.'

'Rebecca had nothing to do with her family's business,'
I told him. 'She was innocent—'

'She was a Dowd,' McAuley dismissed. 'I had hoped to
swap her for my merchandise, but you refused to play ball,
so I had to opt for plan B – which was fine with me. And
you made it so easy to get to Rebecca. Thank you, Tobey.
I couldn't have done it without you.'

My index finger stroked over the gun trigger. Shooting
McAuley would be a public service.

'But we both know Rebecca wasn't your girlfriend,'
McAuley continued.

At my puzzled look, his smile broadened. 'No, I'm
talking about Callie Rose Hadley. I was aiming at you that
day at the Wasteland when she got in the way instead. But
next time . . .'

I raised my fist and brought it down against McAuley's
face. I forgot I was still holding his gun. Blood started
gushing from his nose almost immediately. McAuley cried
out in pain. The pounding on the office door grew more
frantic. It didn't matter whether McAuley's minions were
trying to save him or earn the reward money he'd promised,
I'd be just as dead. I looked down at the gun I was
holding. The Glock 23 felt heavy and seductively
comfortable in my hand. The pearl stock, warmed by my
body heat, fitted snugly against my palm. I now held
McAuley's custom-made semiautomatic.

A real, honest-to-God gun in my hand.

A proper killing machine.

Or was that me?

'You're dead, Durbridge – and there's nothing you can
do about it.'

I pulled Eisner's bag of white powder out of my trouser
pocket and dangled it in front of McAuley's face.

'You know what this is?' It was a question that didn't
need answering. Of course McAuley knew what I was
holding. This stuff paid for his white suit and the blood all
over it. It paid for the drug houses he had all over
Meadowview, and for Ross Resnick's life and my sister's
pain. McAuley revelled in the stuff I held in my hands.
The harder life got in Meadowview, the more profit there
was to be made. Simple economics.

McAuley's eyes narrowed. He spat blood out of his
mouth and wiped the sleeve of his jacket across his nose
before speaking.

'You want your cut?' he asked. 'Is that what this is all
about? You want to go into business for yourself ?'

I said nothing. McAuley took my silence to mean that
I was listening to him.

'You're a smart guy, Tobey. I could use someone like
you working for me. I could show you what it's all about.
In five years you'd be rich beyond your wildest dreams.'
McAuley's voice flowed like warm honey. 'And whether
you like it or not, you need me. Rebecca died after a
meeting with you. What d'you think the Dowds are going
to make of that? I'm the only one who can protect you.'

He really thought he had me. I walked around him, my
gun still pointed at his head. The banging on his door was
getting more insistent. I had about a minute, if that, before
the door gave way. McAuley tried to twist his body to
follow my movements. My gun against his temple soon
persuaded him not to. But he wouldn't stop talking.

'You and me, Tobey, we live in the real world. We
know the way things really work. Those that don't know,
don't want to know. It's too much for them to take in.
Life in Meadowview doesn't happen to them, so it doesn't
happen at all. But we know different, don't we?'

Standing behind McAuley, I pulled the top of the small
plastic bag apart. The top of the bag gaped open like a
transparent mouth.

'It's that knowledge that has made me rich,' McAuley
continued. 'And it will make you even richer than me,
'cause you're a smart guy, Tobey.'

'You don't get it, do you, Mr McAuley?' I said. 'This
was never about money. This was about you. Why d'you
think I did all this? I know you tried to kill me and Callie
got hurt instead. All I cared about was bringing you
down.'

'Then why didn't you just go to the police?'

'The police were my last resort. I didn't know how
many of them were in your pocket. Besides, it's not
exactly the Meadowview way, is it?'

'Seems to me that wouldn't've stopped you.'

'You're right. If there was no other way to get you then
I would've taken my chances with the police.'

'Don't you see, Tobey,' said McAuley, 'you and I are
the same. We go after what we want and we're ruthless
about getting it.'

'In your dreams, McAuley. I'm nothing like you.'

'No?' He smiled. 'Look at yourself. Tell me that gun in
your hand doesn't make you feel powerful. Tell me this
situation isn't giving you the adrenalin rush of your life.
Tell me otherwise and I won't believe you.'

I didn't want to hear any more. I couldn't think straight
with his words dripping like poison into my ears. Time to
shut him up.

'Open your mouth,' I ordered.

McAuley tilted back his head. 'What?'

'You heard,' I said. 'Open up.'

He slowly did as I'd asked. I tipped the whole bag of
white powder into his mouth. He writhed on the ground,
kicking frantically as he tried to spit it out, but I clamped
my hand over his lips, forcing him to swallow.

'This stuff means so much to you?' I hissed. 'Choke on
it.'

His eyes raged against mine, but I couldn't hear or feel
a thing. I kept my hand against his mouth and my gun
against his head. He was the one who'd tried to shoot me
down in cold blood, only he'd hit Callie instead. He was
the one who'd decided I was a danger to him because I'd
unknowingly delivered Ross Resnick's finger to his wife
Louise and the police had become involved. If he'd just
left me alone, none of this would be happening.

The door was beginning to splinter. It was all over.

Outside the door there was a loud unexpected bang.
Then another. And another. Gunshots. Each shot was
loud as the devil's shout and reverberated right through
me. Did McAuley's men have guns salted away
throughout the warehouse? Maybe they'd got tired of
banging on the door and were shooting out the lock.
Another gunshot, louder than before . . . closer than
before. I pressed my gun against McAuley's head, my
finger on the trigger. He was coughing and retching. He
could dish it out to anyone who wanted it and could pay,
but he sure couldn't take it. The door burst open. I was
ready. When I went down, so would McAuley.

Standing in the doorway was . . . Dan.

He had the P99 in his hand and two dead men at his feet.

'Get out of here, Tobey,' he said grimly. 'The police
will be here any minute. The guards outside must've
woken up by now.'

'Dan . . .' I stared at him. 'I thought . . .'

'I know what you thought. Go, before I change my
mind.'

'But I can't just leave . . .'

'Yes, you can. You need to go,' Dan ordered.

'McAuley's got more men on their way.'

'The police will get here first.'

'Dan, I don't understand. What made you change your
mind?' I couldn't help asking.

'I'm damned if I know,' he said. 'I owe you. You owe
me. Everything is screwed up. Tobey, there are times, like
now, when I hate your guts.'

'Then why?'

'The McAuleys of this world can't always win. Not all
the time,' said Dan. 'And you and me, we were friends
once.'

'We were friends,' I agreed. 'Once.'

Dan walked over to McAuley, watching with contempt
as he vomited all over his suit, white powder smeared
around his lips and frothing in his mouth.

'Dan, you don't have to stay here. Come with me,' I
said.

He shook his head, adding with a defeated smile,
'Tobey, haven't you figured out by now, this is my proper
place. But don't worry about me. McAuley and I have
some business to take care of. Then it's every man for
himself.'

I wanted to argue with him, but it would've been futile.
I looked from Dan to McAuley, who was still retching. I
didn't know if McAuley had brought it all up and I didn't
care any more. I just wanted to be away from here. Away
from all of them, including Dan. They made me heartsick.
I went to walk past Dan, but he put out a hand to bar my
way.

'Give me McAuley's gun,' he said.

We regarded each other. Laying the gun in Dan's open
hand, I carried on walking. Would I feel the bullet tear
into my back or hear the gun go off – which would be
first? I looked straight ahead as I left the room. I could see
nothing but Callie's warm, brown eyes smiling at me. I
held onto her image. If Dan was going to kill me, then at
least I'd die with her on my mind, at least I'd die happy.

I got McAuley for you, Callie, I thought with a grim
smile. I got him.

Just as I'd promised her and myself when I'd cradled her
in my arms at the Wasteland.

All this because of packages and deliveries and Ross
Resnick and money. Thanks to my greedy impatience, I'd
let myself get caught up in it. And thanks to my naïvety,
so had Callie Rose. And because of me, Rebecca . . .

Rebecca.

Forgive me
. . .

Who was I talking to? What was I hoping for? I was
seeking absolution in a warehouse filled with blood. I
blinked as I walked out of the building and into the moonlight.
I was still standing. But only just. Behind me a single
gunshot sounded. I flinched instinctively. The sound had
come from inside the warehouse, from McAuley's office.
Without turning round, I carried on walking away just as
fast as I could. In the distance, I heard sirens approaching.
I ran for cover, ducking out of sight behind some bins and
staying there until the police cars had passed by.

I walked all the way home, my head down, my gaze
turned inwards. I turned into my street, my whole body
aching. But I didn't stop outside my house. Instead I went
up to Callie's, intent on seeing her again. But I didn't
knock and I didn't ring her bell. I just stood, staring at the
closed door.

I did it for you, Callie.

But in doing so, I'd lost myself. I wasn't the same person
as before and I couldn't bear to watch Callie turn away
from the person I'd become. And she would turn away,
maybe sooner, maybe later, but it would happen.

Slowly I trudged up the path to my house and went
indoors.