The Front (44 page)

       
‘Well, no one told us we’d be out this long, did they?’ Mal said, flicking an accusing glance at Ged. ‘I’d have brought me Charlie if I knew!’

       
‘Oh, so that’s what it’s all about?’ Ged snorted in disgust. ‘You’re coming down? Well, that’s just great, that is! You’re nothing but a pair of junkies!’

       
‘Piss off!’ Mal retorted angrily. ‘I ain’t no bleedin’ junkie! Anyway, it’s your bleedin’ fault we’re here. I was only doing you a favour in the first place, so I don’t know where you get off callin’ me a junkie, y’ cheeky cunt!’

       
‘Have you forgotten who we’re following?’ Ged yelled back at him.

       
Sam rubbed his throbbing head. ‘Shut
up
!’ he moaned. ‘I should have stayed at bloody home.’

       
‘Yeah, well – you might end up walking back if this petrol goes any lower!’ Lee moaned, banging on the gauge.

       
‘Oh, belt up about the fucking petrol,’ Mal snapped. ‘There’s probably a bleedin’ tankful! That gauge probably ain’t working, anyhow, knowing this heap of crap!’

       
Ged threw his hands up in despair. ‘Right, that does it! If you’re just gonna carry on with yourselves, you’d better pull over and let me out!’

       
Lee immediately swerved towards the kerb. ‘Right, then! I will!’

       
‘What the fuck d’y’ think you’re doing?’ Mal screamed at him, grabbing the wheel and forcing him back onto the road. ‘My Suzie’s in that car . . . Now move it!’

       
‘Oh, it’s “my Suzie” now, is it?’ Lee sneered. ‘Well, I’m— Ooowwww!’

       
‘Fuck was that?’ Mal yelped.

       
Ged had shot his hand out between their faces, catching Lee with the back and rebounding with a sharp smack onto Mal’s cheek with the palm.

       
‘What d’y’ do that for?’ Mal’s voice was high with indignation.

       
‘You’re doing my fuckin’ head in!’ Ged screamed down his ear. ‘Now just
SHUT THE FUCK UP
!’

       
They drove on in silence, slowing as the BMW, which was three cars ahead of them now, veered right off the roundabout. But just as they reached the lights, they changed to red, and Lee was forced to stop as a huge lorry trundled across his path.

       
He cursed under his breath as the BMW disappeared. The second the lights changed, he rammed his foot down and shot out onto the roundabout.

       
He spotted a flash of silver as the BMW took a sharp left, immediately disappearing from view again. He needed to put his foot down to catch up, but the car in front was doing a steady twenty-five and didn’t seem to want to speed up. Pulling right up to its bumper, Lee honked his horn, waving at the driver to get a move on. The driver glared at him in his rear-view and carried on as before. Lee slammed his hand down on the horn, giving a continuous blast as he flashed his lights. It was only when the other driver saw how many men were in the car that he decided to pull in to the side, and Lee roared past, throwing the car around the left turn as he wound his window down to flip a furious ‘V’ back at the car.

       
He couldn’t see the BMW at first and thumped the wheel angrily. Then he saw its brake lights in the distance.

       
‘They’re stopping,’ he said, nodding down the road to where the other car was manoeuvring into a parking space outside a pair of closed park gates.

       
‘Pull in!’ Ged said. ‘Back here where we can still see them.’

       
Lee quickly pulled into a space about ten cars behind and turned off the lights. All they could do now was wait for the men who had Suzie to make their next move.

In Vanda’s car, now parked four spaces back from the Escort, Paul was calling DCI Jackson. He told him where they were and listened as Jackson explained what he was organizing – reiterating again that Paul was not to approach them or attempt to do anything heroic.

       
‘What’s happening?’ Jane asked when he’d finished his call.

       
‘We’re just to watch, and let him know if anything else happens,’ Paul told her, adding despondently, ‘And we’re not to move out of the car.’

       
‘Oh, so you fancied getting shot, did you?’ Eddie asked, raising an eyebrow. Knowing how seriously DCI Jackson was taking this, he was beginning to realize the potential danger they were in.

       
‘What?’ Jane squeaked, twisting around in her seat. ‘Have they got guns?’

       
‘And you got me to follow them?’ Vanda’s eyes were wide with shock. ‘Well, thanks a lot!’

       
‘Don’t worry,’ Paul reassured them. ‘They haven’t spotted us or we’d know about it by now. Just stay calm, it’ll be all right.’ He glanced at his watch, wondering how long it would take Jackson and the ARU to get here – and, more importantly, what would happen when they did.

       
‘Wonder what the Dragon Master’s got up his sleeve?’ Eddie said, as if reading his thoughts. Rubbing the condensation from his window, he said, ‘Do you think we should get in the front?’

       
Paul nodded. ‘Good idea. We’d see better from there. And if anything did happen . . .’ He let the words trail off.

       
‘Like what?’ Vanda barked at him.

       
‘I’m just saying if –
if
– anything happens, we’ll be first in line,’ Paul explained. ‘Not that I think it will,’ he added quickly. Turning to Jane, he said, ‘Mind swapping?’

       
‘I suppose not,’ she said. ‘But how d’y’ suggest we do it? It’s not exactly the biggest car in the world!’

       
‘And your backside ain’t exactly the smallest!’ Vanda flipped back good-naturedly.

       
‘Funnee!’

       
‘Take it in turns,’ Paul said, shifting across to the door to make room. ‘You come through here, Jane, then I’ll go over there.’

       
The exchange took place with a lot of difficulty and giggling. When they were in the front, Paul and Eddie leaned forward on the dash to watch the other cars.

       
They couldn’t see the BMW as it was too far ahead, but they could see the blacked-out windows of the Escort. So far, no one seemed to be making a move.

       
‘What d’y’ reckon they’re up to?’ Eddie asked.

       
Paul shrugged. ‘Maybe they’re waiting it out to make sure they’re not being watched. They can’t just sit in their cars all night, though, whatever they’re doing.’

       
‘Hang about,’ Eddie said, pointing down the road. ‘They’re on the move.’

Max got out of the BMW first and scanned the road as Jake climbed out the other side. Then The Man got out and offered his hand to help Suzie. She hesitated for a second, then decided it was best not to offend him by refusing.

       
She was still uneasy, but she was also beginning to feel a little flattered. It was an odd sensation – almost perverse, she thought. But he was treating her so nicely, as though she was a lady – and she was beginning to quite enjoy it.

       
Mal had never treated her like this in all the time she’d been with him. His idea of being nice was calling her ‘doll’ and making crude remarks about their sex life in front of his friends. He only ever said he loved her if they’d had a fight – and only then to soothe his conscience and make sure he got his dinner on time. Mal wasn’t much of a man at all, she decided, putting her hand into The Man’s.

       
He gave her a knowing look as she stepped out of the car, and she blushed – ashamed to be letting her imagination run away with her. Especially given the circumstances. They
had
kidnapped her!

       
The men stood together on the pavement, having a quick discussion about what they would do once they got to Hulme. Suzie stuck closely to The Man’s side throughout – keeping as much distance between herself and Jake as possible.

‘Did you see that?’ Mal screeched, bouncing about dementedly in the Escort’s front seat. ‘In danger, my bleedin’ arse! The slutty little fucking whore bitch! She was holding his fucking hand! I’ll kill her!’

       
No one said anything. They were all confused now. It certainly looked as though Suzie was all right – she didn’t look half as frightened now as they’d initially thought. And she hadn’t been forced or dragged out of the car. And she was sticking pretty close to the big guy.

       
Ged still wasn’t altogether convinced that everything was as it seemed. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he knew there was no way that Suzie would have been carrying on with this man in secret. She never left the flat for any great length of time, so how could she have got into a relationship with anyone? And bad as Mal was, Suzie adored him. Ged couldn’t work it out right now, but he was prepared to keep an open mind until it was sorted out.

       
Mal wasn’t so convinced, and he went into a blind rage as he watched Suzie brush against The Man’s arm.

       
‘Right! That does it!’ he yelled, grabbing the door handle. ‘I’m gonna find out what’s going on. I can’t just sit here and watch the back-stabbing little whore slagging about with that goon! I’m gonna make her tell me what she’s playing at!’

       
‘Sit fucking still!’ Ged told him. ‘No one’s going anywhere till we think this through!’

‘There’s someone hiding round the corner back there,’ Jane squawked, pointing through the back window to the end of the park fence.

       
‘Where?’ Paul and Eddie asked, turning to see what she was pointing at.

       
At first they couldn’t see anything in the dark, but then Eddie spotted the faint glow of a cigarette.

       
‘She’s right,’ he said quietly, trying not to alarm the women further. ‘It could be nothing, but we’d better keep our eyes open. It could be one of that lot on the lookout.’

       
‘You don’t think they’ve spotted us, do you?’ Vanda whispered fearfully. What had started off as a good laugh was quickly becoming a potentially life-threatening situation – and she was trapped in this car!

       
The theme tune from
Rocky
suddenly began to play.

       
‘What the fuck is that?’ Eddie yelped. He almost laughed when Paul took his phone from his pocket with a sheepish grin. ‘Shit! You nearly gave me a bleeding heart attack!’

       
‘Hello?’ Paul answered, trying to keep an eye on both directions at once. ‘Yes, sir. Mmmm. Mmmm. Right.’

       
Snapping the phone shut, he breathed a sigh of relief. ‘He’s one of ours.’ He nodded towards the shadowy figure on the corner. ‘There’s an ARU around the corner, and DCI Jackson says we’re to get Jane and Vanda out of here.’

       
Eddie nodded, his whole tone becoming noticeably more serious as he quickly motioned to Vanda. ‘Swap places with Paul, love.’

       
‘What are we doing?’ she asked, shaking visibly as she moved to let Paul climb through into the back.

       
Eddie reached across and patted her shoulder as she took the driving seat. ‘First thing you’re going to do is stop worrying,’ he told her. ‘You’re not in any danger, I assure you. Even if we were spotted now, there’s a skilled Armed Response Unit sitting not thirty feet away from us who’d take them out like
that
!’ He snapped his fingers. ‘Now, sweetheart, I’ll tell you exactly what to do, so don’t worry. I’ll be right here on the floor next to you.’

       
Vanda tried to start the car as Eddie had instructed her, but she was so nervous, she stalled three times. She was almost crying when she felt Eddie’s strong hand cover hers on the wheel.

       
‘Just take it easy,’ he said, smiling up at her reassuringly. ‘Start it up, nice and calm . . . That’s right. Now, move out slowly and take that turning.’ He pointed towards a right turn just a few feet ahead. ‘Turn in, then reverse out and drive back up the road towards the end. When you get there, turn right and don’t stop until you’re at the back of the police vehicles. Okay?’

       
Vanda’s eyes were wide with fear. ‘But if I go that way, I’ll have to drive past that car!’

       
‘Don’t worry about that,’ he told her. ‘They’re watching the others – they probably won’t even notice you. If they do, they’ll only see two women. They’re not going to think anything of it. Believe me, Vanda, you’re safe. But the sooner we get you out of here, the sooner our boys can deal with whatever’s going on. Now, just take it easy, that’s right  . . .’

‘Someone’s coming,’ Lee said, turning to look at the car that had pulled out of a space some way behind them.

       
‘So?’ Mal snarled. ‘People
do
live round here, you know. Anyhow, I’ve got more important things to think about – like what I’m gonna do to that little bitch when I get my hands on her!’

‘There’s a car coming,’ Max said, turning his face away from the road and kicking at a stone.

       
‘Don’t freak out,’ The Man chuckled. ‘Bwoy – you are jumpy! This ain’t where the action is, dude! Anyhow, it’s going the other way now.’ He turned to Suzie. ‘You on the phone at home, Red?’

       
‘Er, yes,’ she said.

       
He took out his mobile and opened it before handing it to her. ‘Give your man a ring. Make sure he’s in.’