The Tied Man (54 page)

Thanks to Nat, each of her special friends would have their own handcrafted nightmare waiting for them on their doorstep; every dirty little secret laid bare to the world, from assaults and endless galleries of child porn to tax fraud and insider trading.  And then there was Blaine herself, who would possibly need an entirely separate, alphabetised and indexed charge sheet by the time the courts had finished with her.  I knew that sometime in my undefined future, there would be statements and trials that would come from this and I would have to unpack all the shit again, but Lilith would be with me.  I would get through.  All would be well.

Just before I disappeared up my own arse,  Gabriel produced the largest spliff I’d ever seen and lit it from the stove top.  ‘I was saving it for a special occasion.  First go, old chap?’ he asked me, and moved up another step in my estimation.  I took the deepest draw I could manage, and felt the pain in my knee recede like the tide.

‘That all right?’

I nodded and held my breath for as long as I could manage, then exhaled slowly so that the smoke formed pale blue rings that drifted softly to the ceiling.

‘Impressive.’ Gabriel took the blunt from me, just as Ed returned to the kitchen.

‘Bloody hell, Benson and Hedges are making ‘em bigger these days,’ Ed said as Gabriel attempted to hide the evidence under the table.  He turned to Lilith and me.  ‘Right then. Her Ladyship’s  on her way to the front door.  You sure you still want to do this?’

Lilith was already on her feet. ‘Yes,’ she said, before I had chance to think better of it.  My mouth went dry, and I wondered if I’d manage to speak at all.  I wished I’d kept hold of the spliff.

*****

A young female officer brought
Blaine
up from the wine cellar, and to my utter joy the bitch was plasticuffed and looked as rough as shite;  I reckoned a night spent with a few hundred dusty bottles and at least a dozen big bastard spiders would do that to a woman.  Her beautifully coiffed hair had collapsed and hung in rats’ tails around her face, and her make-up had run and collected in the lines around her mouth and eyes.  For the first time since I’d met her, she truly looked her age.

‘Once I’ve spoken to my lawyer, I’ll
consider
speaking to you.  Or at least one of your senior officers,’
Blaine
said to Ed, and went to walk straight past us without a glance.  My worry about being able to speak vanished as I realised I had to wipe that bloody imperious, shit-eating look off her face.

‘Ah, that’ll be Nicholas Van der Lande Q.C, will it? Member of the
Inner
Temple
, charming wife, unbearably cute kids, and a liking for snorting a few lines off an underage Lithuanian’s arse, with the photos to prove it? 
That
lawyer?’  That stopped her pretty fucking sharpish.  I took a quick drag of my cigarette so I had sufficient ash to tap onto the rug. ‘I think you’ll find he’s a wee bit busy this fine morning.  Have you considered legal aid?’

And with that, I knew I was done with her. Everything else I’d ever wanted to say no longer mattered, because from the look in her eyes she
knew
.  Knew where that information was hidden, and knew what else was hidden with it.  I could pass out now, or even just puke on her shoes, and it wouldn’t matter.  Maybe even try both at the same time.  I’d done it.  I watched her struggle to find her composure, or even just enough breath to speak.

‘Oh, this is possibly the most foolish mistake you’ve ever made, Lilith.’
Blaine
said, without even glancing sideways at me.

In response to this barely-veiled threat, Lilith gave
Blaine
an apologetic shrug and smiled.  ‘What can I say? My computer geek is better than your computer geek.’ 

‘All of this effort, just for
him
?  Do you have any idea just how broken he actually is? You disgust me, Lilith. You’re taking in a stray dog that’ll bite you as soon as look at you,’
Blaine
spat.  ‘So, is your little moment of misplaced triumph over now?  Because I’m quite bored with it already.’

‘Not quite.’  Lilith strolled over to where the portrait now stood, still covered in its sheet and propped up against the dining table.  ‘I’d hate you to miss the unveiling.  Happy birthday.’  She pulled the sheet away, and we waited for her patron’s response.

Blaine
screamed.  The woman who could calmly inflict pain like a leading li
ght in the Spanish Inquisition
gave a screech of such despair that anyone listening might have thought Lilith had just smacked her one. Which in a way, she had. 

The thick layer of cheap white gloss that covered the entire canvas hadn’t had time to dry, and the sheet had stuck to half of it, but it still did the job.  Not a trace of
Blaine
remained; just dripping, stinking paint that was starting to drip and puddle onto the floor.

‘All those months, all that work…  My ‘Bresson’… What have you done?’
Blaine
whispered, and actually had to wipe tears from her eyes. 

Lilith stood next to
Blaine
and admired our handiwork.  ‘Finished it,’ she smiled.  ‘Now fuck off.’

‘Well? How did it go?’  Henry asked.  He’d been washing up to pass the time, and the kitchen was immaculate once more.

Finn grinned. ‘Lilith told
Blaine
to fuck off.’

‘You know, I had something so lyrical all worked out in my head,’ I said.  ‘The perfect combination of elegiac and pithy, and then she started crying over a sodding second-rate
painting
and I really don’t think I could be bothered anymore.’

‘Ach, she was amazing really,’ Finn said.

Henry dried his hands.  ‘So the flying monkeys are finally without a mistress?’

‘What?’ Gabriel frowned.  There was no trace of the spliff, and he and Nat had a particularly mellow air about them.

‘Wizard of Oz,’ Finn explained. ‘Henry’s favourite movie.  Jesus, little man, you are actually the gayest gay man in the universe, you know that?’

‘Well you’re the one that got the reference, dearheart,’ Henry said. ‘And now the cellar’s vacated, I can break out the champagne, if anyone’s interested?’

*****

We were handed a bottle each, and grabbed whatever we could to drink from, and for the next half-hour we toasted everybody and everything we could think of. 

‘I need codeine, and I need to pee,’ I announced, after we’d raised our glasses, mugs and teacups to Bran, Noblest Hound Who Ever Lived.  ‘I’ll just be a minute.  You want a couple bringing back?’  I asked Finn.

‘Wouldn’t say no if you’re headed that way,’ he replied, which meant he was in agony.  ‘You want me to come with you?’

‘What? To
pee
?’

‘God, no, not that bit – I mean, Coyle, if he’s still here…’

‘It’s okay,’ Gabriel said.  ‘I heard Ed talking.  They’re bringing over a couple of reinforcements before they think about moving him anywhere.’

I drank the last mouthful in my teacup and picked up the remainder of the bottle as refreshment for the long journey to my room and back.  ‘See? I think we both know how secure that room is.  So stay there, rest your knee, and I’ll be back before you know it.  I’ll be fine.’

Champagne
, fatigue and freedom had made me giddy, and I didn’t care.  Every step I took now was one step closer home.

‘Too long,’ I said.

Nat checked his watch.  ‘Mate, it’s been three minutes.’

‘Still too long.  And I get it, okay?  She’s fine and I’m paranoid and she’ll be back here any second, but I’ve lived in this shit-tip for too long, and I need to check.’

‘I’m coming with you, then.  Here, give me your hand.’

We were halfway to Lilith’s room when one of Ed’s junior taskforce came belting along the corridor to meet us. 

‘Have you seen him?’ he gasped.

‘Who?’ Nat asked, but I already knew because nothing was ever going to come to any good in this place.

‘Big guy, black hair.’ Sarge and the others are on the way back for him.  I was checking on him and he said he was having a heart attack, and it sounded real.  I know I wasn’t meant to, but…’

‘
Shit no no no no no…
’

‘…As soon as I opened the door he just barged past…’

‘You stupid fucking twat!’  From deep within the hall, Lilith screamed because Coyle had her now, and I knew where he had taken her.

I thought the officer was about to shit himself on the spot.  ‘What do I do?...’

‘Go and get Ed.  Get whoever you can down to the cellars. What the fuck are you waiting for?  Go!’

I began to run for the stairs.  My knee didn’t matter now.  I felt nothing except fear, because Coyle had Lilith and he was going to kill her.  Nat began to run beside me, but I stopped and shoved him back.  ‘You won’t make any difference by yourself.  Get the others.’  He hesitated, and I pushed him again.  ‘Unless you’re prepared to kill the bastard, go and get help!’

*****

I could smell Coyle before I saw him.  In the shadows of the cellars, his rank, roid-soaked sweat hung in the air like trench gas.

The dungeon door was ajar; only Coyle O’Halloran was dumb enough to attempt an escape by backing himself into a glorified cave.  My fears for Lilith were realised when I saw her strapped to the wooden cross by her wrists, her eyes wide with terror.  Her captor stood between us, flailing an oil lamp around as though he was trying to ward off a pack of wolves.  I took a step forward.

‘Stay back, or I’ll snap the bitch’s neck.’  The madness had entirely overtaken him now, and his threat was real.  There was a fair chance the bastard would do it by accident, because she was standing on the very tips of her toes, and already struggling for breath. 

‘You okay, sweetheart?’  I asked and she managed an impressively calm nod.

‘She’ll not be okay in a minute,’ Coyle spat.  ‘Now be a good fag, and go tell the gardai that I’ll be needing a way off here, quick as you like. Fuckin’
go
!’

I was just trying to figure out how I could get to Lilith without getting my own neck snapped when the great dumbfuck threw his lamp at me in an attempt to speed me on my way, and things became just a little more urgent.

The lamp shattered on impact with the floor.  Glass fragmented into a thousand shards and the oil spattered across the flagstones and onto the drapes that lined the chamber for that authentic medieval vibe.  Flames began to lick at the ancient fabric and in moments the whole room was lit with flickering, ruddy light as centuries of dust, and dry-as-bones cloth and wood began to catch.

Coyle laughed with delight as acrid smoke snaked around the bedpost.  ‘Would you look at this?  That’s some pretty fuckin’ impressive shit right here  - whole place is about to go up, Finn-boy!’  Behind him, Lilith began to gasp for breath;  I needed to get her out, even if it killed me.  ‘Ooh, sounds like she’s goin’ to choke herself and save me a job. 
Now
will you go? ‘Cos you know what?  Your sweetheart’s not going anywhere until you do.  I’d rather stay here with the wee whore and burn to ash than do another stretch for Her Ladyship.’

Flames reached the canopy of the four poster, and the whole thing went up in one great flare; there was no way I was leaving Lilith down here now, and Coyle was beyond all reason; I was just going to have to make the bastard fight me.

I had faced Coyle O’Halloran five times in my life.  The first time, I was thirteen, whippet-thin against his already-adult bulk, and just discovering that there was a fine line for some men between being repulsed and aroused by a kid being battered to a bloody pulp.  I’d lasted less than a minute as he launched at me with a fist that hid a length of lead pipe, but it was his last victory.  Afterwards, I’d had my face stitched back together in a stinking pub toilet by the first of many doctors who’d forgotten the words to the Hippocratic Oath, and realised that if I was going to beat Coyle, I would have to get him too mad to think straight, and move faster than his fists. In my present condition, I really didn’t fancy my chances, but he stood between me and Lilith and I’d run out of options.

I stood my ground.  ‘You sure about that, big fella?  I reckon a bit of jail would be right up your alley, if you get me.  Y’know, a chance of a bit of decent cock for once in your life, instead of just getting’ blown by your ma for your birthday.’

Coyle twitched and shuddered like a thing possessed.  ‘
Shut your filthy fuckin’ hole,
’ he hissed.  I was nearly there.

‘Ah, come on, you’re a man in denial. I’m guessin’ you’d be the cleanest fella in the prison from all the showers you’d take.’

‘
Fuck you
.’

‘Ah, there we go.  I’ve been watching you all these years, darlin’, so don’t try and hide it now.  All this time, and all you’ve ever really wanted is to stuff your dick up my arse, you great poncin’ queen.’ Just in case the man was struggling with the message, I blew him the tenderest kiss I could manage, and mouthed the magic word.  ‘
Fag
.’