Double Cross (15 page)

Several loud bangs sounded, like lots of cars backfiring in
quick succession. Each noise made me jump. I looked
around. The whole world reduced speed to ultra slowmotion.
Every colour, every sensation was heightened
except . . . except all I could hear now was my heart
strumming. The world was slow, my heartbeat was fast.
Strange combination.

All around us, people scattered like points on a
compass. I could see their mouths move, watch their frantic
expressions, but still the only sound was my own heartbeat,
growing ever faster. It was like a drum inside me beating
its own time. What on earth was going on? I looked
around. Men with guns. Men with guns on either side of
the pitch, shooting at each other. And all of us in the
middle.

Get down, Callie.

Drop down.

Get down. NOW.

Two Cross men had their guns drawn and were
shooting past us in the direction of the road behind us. I
turned just in time to see McAuley, sitting in the back of
his car, the back window all the way down. Flashes flared
from inside the car. Bullets?
Bullets.
My head turned this
way and that. Tobey was shouting at me, his mouth
moving oh so slowly, too slowly to make out the words.
But he was trying to tell me something important, something
urgent. That much was evident in his eyes. And he
was pulling at me.

Stop pulling me.

Dan was already on the ground.

GET DOWN, CALLIE . . .

From inside his car, McAuley fired his gun. And his gun
was pointing straight at us. The gun jerked in McAuley's
hand. He'd fired. And again. I didn't have time to warn
Tobey or push him out the way. I stepped in front of him.

'Godsake, Callie. Get down.' I hit the floor, trying to pull
Callie with me, but she stood stock-still in front of me,
staring across the park. I scrambled in front of her, pulling
harder on her arm. Furious, I looked up at her, wondering
why the hell she wasn't moving. Godsake! Bullets were
now whizzing around us like mosquitoes round a blood
bank. Godsake . . . Callie looked down at me. And that's
when my world crashed to an abrupt halt.

A dark crimson stain was spreading out over the front
of Callie's sky-blue shirt. More gunshots. Something
glanced off the side of Callie's head and she toppled, her
body falling like a house of playing cards.

'CALLIE . . .' I threw my body over hers, trying to
protect her from stray bullets. McAuley's car screeched
down the road, burning rubber as it went. The two Cross
men who'd made a great show of strolling across the grass
towards us were now racing back to their own car.
Moments later, they too screeched out of sight. Everyone
ran for their lives. Dan, who'd dived down beside me at
the sound of the first bullet being fired, picked himself up
and bolted. Within moments there was no one left on the
Wasteland except me and Callie.

I sat up, pulling Callie with me. The crimson stain was
growing bigger, covering more of Callie's shirt. There was
a circular hole on the left-hand side of her shirt, just below
her shoulder. Blood ran down the side of her head, from
her temple past her ears.

'HELP US! SOMEONE HELP US!' I yelled out.

Callie's eyes were closed and her breath left her nose
and mouth with a strange rattling sound. I looked around
at all the closed windows of the flats and houses that
surrounded the Wasteland on three sides.

'PLEASE. SOMEONE HELP . . .' I pulled Callie to
me, rocking her back and forth in my arms as we both sat
on the ground.

Digging into my trouser pocket, I brought out my
phone with one hand, laying it on the ground so I could
dial the emergency services for an ambulance without
letting go of Callie.

'Callie, hang on,' I whispered in her ear. 'Help will
soon be here. Just hang on.'

The clouds separated and sunlight bathed us, so bright I
was momentarily blinded. The rattling sound Callie was
making suddenly stopped. No . . . She lay limp in my
arms. And her sudden silence was far, far worse. In the
distance I could hear the sound of a siren. Someone somewhere
must've phoned for help after all.

'Callie?' I whispered.

She lay so still, like a broken doll. My hands and clothes
were covered with her blood. I hugged her to me, her
cheek against mine, rocking her gently back and forth.

I've got you, Callie. I've got you. I'll never let you go.
Never.

You and me, babe, against the world.

The hospital corridor smelled strongly of disinfectant.
Irregular beeps sounded all around me. Footsteps
constantly hurried past me, but no one stopped. They
wouldn't let me stay with Callie, no matter how much I
pleaded. The paramedics who arrived in the ambulance
didn't even want me to travel with them, but I held onto
Callie's hand like we were super-glued together. Once we
arrived at the hospital, Callie was whisked away to theatre.
A nurse took me into a small room and asked me a
number of questions about Callie's medical history, most
of which I couldn't answer. I phoned Callie's mum, but
she wasn't answering her mobile so I had to leave a
message. I phoned Callie's home, but Meggie wasn't in
either. No one was where they were supposed to be. All I
could do was leave messages to say that Callie had been
shot and was undergoing emergency surgery at Mercy
Community Hospital. Not the sort of message I wanted to
leave, but what choice did I have? I was ushered into the
waiting room, which was heaving with people. There
were no more available chairs so I leaned against the wall,
texting my mum to let her know what had happened as I
knew her phone would be switched off whilst she was
working. She was somewhere in this hospital, but I didn't
go looking for her. I needed to stay put so I could find out
how Callie was doing the moment she was out of surgery.

Callie had been shot.

She might die.

Please don't let her die . . .

Even now I was still trying to work out what had
happened. Images flashed like a series of snapshots in my
head. The two Cross men in the fancy white car, they had
to work for the Dowds. And McAuley and his men
turning up at the Wasteland at exactly the same time, there
was no way that was a mere coincidence. It hadn't kicked
off in Meadowview like that in years. And now Callie was
fighting for her life with a bullet in her. Maybe two. It was
only just beginning to sink in.

Please don't let me lose her. Not now.

Not now . . .

Some instinct had me looking up, then around. My
instincts hadn't let me down. Two officers were fast
approaching, weaving their way through the others in the
waiting room to get to me. They both wore suits, but I
knew they were the police. One was a middle-aged Cross,
the other a younger Nought, in his mid-twenties at a
guess. The middle-aged Cross copper already wore a smile
beneath his pencil-thin moustache. His dark eyes were
watchful and shrewd. The Nought copper wore his blond
hair buzz-cut. They got closer, their eyes never leaving
mine. They were poised – that's the only word for it,
poised – like they thought I was about to do a runner. I
straightened up off the wall, then stayed perfectly still.
When at last they reached me, they both stood directly in
front of me. I wasn't going anywhere, even if I wanted to.

'You're the one who came in with the gunshot victim?'
asked the Cross copper.

I nodded. 'Her name is Callie Hadley.'

The Cross copper extended his hand. 'I'm DI Omari
Boothe. This is Sergeant Paul Kenwood.'

Warily, I shook the detective's hand. Sergeant
Kenwood nodded in my direction, his blue eyes frosty, his
hands staying firmly at his sides.

'What's your name, son?' asked the detective inspector,
his tone even, as if he was asking for the time. Sergeant
Kenwood dug out a notebook and pen from his pocket
and flicked it open decisively.

'Tobey Durbridge.'

'Age?'

'Seventeen.'

'When are you eighteen?'

'In two months.' Why did he need to know that?

'Address?'

I told him.

'And the girl you came in with, you said her name is
Callie Hadley?'

'Callie Rose Hadley, yes.'

'D'you know her address?'

'She lives next door to me in Johnstone Street, at
number fifty-five.'

Sergeant Kenwood was scribbling furiously in his notebook,
even though I hadn't said much.

'Can you tell us what happened?' asked Detective
Boothe.

'I'm still not quite sure.' I shook my head. 'One
moment Callie and I were watching a football match and
the next moment bullets were whizzing round us like
midges. It all happened so fast. A matter of seconds.'

'And where was this?'

'The pitch at the Wasteland.' I glanced at Sergeant
Kenwood. He had yet to say a word. Perhaps they were
playing chatty cop, silent cop.

'Who was doing the shooting?' asked the detective.

'No idea. When the bullets started flying, I was just
trying to keep my head down.'

'What was Callie doing?'

'She was standing in front of me. I think . . . I think she
froze.'

'How many gunshots were there in total?'

I shrugged. No idea.

'Under five? Under ten? Under fifteen?' prompted
Detective Boothe.

'Maybe under ten,' I replied. 'I wasn't exactly trying to
count them.'

'Did the shots all come from one direction or different
directions?'

Careful, Tobey . . . I considered. 'Different directions, I
think. That's why they seemed to be all around us. But I
can't be sure.'

'Did you see any cars in the vicinity?'

I frowned at Detective Boothe and shook my head. 'I
was watching the football match, so I wasn't paying attention
to anything but that.'

'You didn't see anything?'

'No. Sorry.'

'Is Callie Hadley a friend of yours?'

'Yes,' I said warily. 'She's my girlfriend.'

Sergeant Kenwood snorted derisively at my words.

'D'you have a problem with that?' I asked belligerently.

'No. But she does, if you're the best she can do,'
Sergeant Kenwood retorted. He looked at me like he
wasn't looking at much. 'If that was my girlfriend lying on
an operating table with a bullet or two in her, I'd want to
get the bastard who did it. But all you Noughts in
Meadowview have acute three-monkeys disease – see no
evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.'

'All us Noughts in Meadowview have to live here when
the police are nowhere around,' I replied.

'We can protect you,' said Detective Boothe quickly.
'You and your family, if that's what's worrying you.'

'I don't need protecting because I didn't see anything,'
I insisted. 'I wish I had, but I didn't.'

The two coppers exchanged a look. They didn't believe
a word.

'Is there anything else you can tell us about what
happened?' asked the detective.

Pause.

'I—'

'Tobey? Tobey.' Callie's mum, Sephy, made a bee-line
for me. 'What happened? Where's my daughter?'

'She's still in surgery,' I explained at once. 'I'm waiting
to hear more.'

'You're Mrs Hadley?' asked DI Boothe, surprised.

'Miss Hadley,' Sephy corrected.

Both coppers looked Sephy up and down, before
turning their speculative gaze to me.

'This boy claims that your daughter is his girlfriend,'
said Sergeant Kenwood.

'She is,' Sephy dismissed. 'They've been friends for
years. Could someone please tell me what's going on?
Tobey, your message said Callie had been shot.'

'Your daughter was caught in the crossfire during an
earlier incident,' said the detective before I could reply.
'I'm just trying to ascertain the facts from this boy, who
was with your daughter at the time. But he claims he
didn't see a thing.'

'Tobey?' Sephy turned to me, her eyes blazing, frown
lines like train tracks marring her face.

'Don't you think I would say something if I could?' I
protested.

'I don't know,' said Sephy. 'Would you?'

We regarded each other. I had to force myself not to
look away. We both knew the way things worked in
Meadowview.

'I need to see my daughter,' Sephy said at last, turning
away from me. But not before I caught the intense disappointment
clouding her eyes. It stung.

'Miss Hadley, if we could ask you one or two questions
first,' insisted DI Boothe.

'Your questions will have to wait. I want to see my
daughter,' Sephy insisted.

'It'll just take a minute, I assure you,' said the detective.
'Could we start by confirming your address, please?'

They led the way out of the waiting room. I could see
their silhouettes through the frosted-glass window, but I
was too far away to hear a word. I edged closer so that I
wouldn't be across the room when Sephy came looking
for me. I stood near the doorway, dreading the inevitable.
After a minute or two, she came back into the waiting
room, alone. My heart bounced at her approach. I knew
full well what was coming.

'Tobey, I don't want any crap from you,' Sephy warned
me, her voice hard with intent. 'Tell me what happened.
And the truth this time.'

We regarded each other. Even though I towered over
her, she still scared me to death. I admit it. Sephy was a
lioness trying to protect her offspring and I was getting in
her way.

'It's like I told the coppers, I hit the deck and stayed
there when the bullets started flying.'

'And you didn't think to pull my daughter down with
you?'

'I tried. It all happened so fast,' I said feebly.

'Did you see who did the shooting?'

I didn't reply. I couldn't lie to her, but there was no way
I could answer the question either.

'Tobey, I asked you a question. Who was doing the
shooting?'

Silence.

'I see,' Sephy said quietly. 'You told those police
officers that Callie was your girlfriend. Did you mean a
girl who just happens to be your friend or did you mean
something more than that?'

'I meant both,' I replied quietly.

'But not enough of a friend for you to man up and do
the right thing?'

'That's not fair—'

'Fair?' Sephy leaped on the word. 'My daughter
has been shot. She could
die.
Don't you dare talk to me
about "fair".'

What could I say to that? Nothing. Sephy looked me up
and down, her expression bathing me with complete
contempt.

'You know what? Callie can do without your so-called
friendship. So why don't you go home? You're no use to
anyone here. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find
out what's happening to my daughter.'

She was already turning round and heading out of the
waiting room to find the nearest doctor or nurse. I caught
up with her.

'I'll come with you.'

'No, you won't, Tobey,' Sephy turned to tell me. 'If
you don't think enough of my daughter to tell the police
who did this to her, then I have no use for you, and
neither has Callie. Go home.'

Without waiting for my reply, Sephy strode away. After
a few steps, she turned back with a look in her eyes I'd
never seen before.

'Oh, and Tobey?'

'Yes?'

'You're no longer welcome in my house.' Sephy
regarded me to ensure I'd got the message.

'Yes, Miss Hadley.'