First Light (29 page)

I was unnaturally cold and it sounded as though someone was speaking my name from the end of a long tunnel.
My eyelids felt cemented together and my head throbbed with sickening pain. As my eyelashes parted, the unwelcome white light made me wonder if I was dead, but the smell of salt and seaweed was deeply familiar to me and I quickly understood I wasn’t staring at the doorway to heaven, just a cold morning sky in Clanots Ocean.

Finally, my vision began to clear and a shape formed above me: the village butcher, Mr Reynolds, his silvery hair blending into the sky above him. He spoke my name again. His dog licked my face.

I tried to speak, but all that escaped was a groan.

‘Veronica? Oh thank goodness. I’ve called an ambulance. Stay still, dear.’

‘Kal?’ I managed. Even the sound of my own voice was torture on my head.

‘Shhh, dear don’t speak. You’ve been badly hurt.’

My eyes fell shut and several curses ran through my head for the poor old man who was just trying to help me. Why couldn’t he just tell me where Kalen was? I couldn’t remember what had happened, but I knew something was wrong. I kept my eyes closed. Soon enough, sirens sounded around me, joining in with the crashing in my brain. More people stood above me now. I could hear them all talking. I called out for Kal, wanting them all to shut up so I could hear him. I just wanted to hear Kalen’s voice.

When the throbbing began to subside, I let my eyes blink open. The white room suggested I was in hospital, the drip attached to my hand confirmed it. I lifted my hand to my head and felt it was wrapped in a bandage.

‘Ronnie?’

I was so pleased to hear Rachel’s voice.

‘Ronnie, I’m here, darling, can you hear me?’

I managed to nod and she squealed with delight, ‘Don’t speak, love, the doc said you have to take it really easy, but the police will be here later on, they want to question you about what happened.’

My vision was still slightly blurred, but I could see she’d been crying.

‘Rachel, where’s Kal?’ I struggled.

‘Who?’

‘Kalen.’

‘Oh him. Is that who did this to you?’ she demanded, standing up as if to make a declaration of war. I tried to grab her, but collapsed back onto the bed. The pain in my head made it almost impossible to move.

‘He was with me,’ I winced. I had to stop her from running straight out and telling the world Kalen had attacked me. I forced some volume into my voice. ‘Some guys with baseball bats jumped us and–’

She was by my side again, hushing me and stroking my hair, all the while cursing Kalen and his friends. So, it wasn’t good timing when a knock at the door revealed Denver and Ace holding a bunch of flowers.

Rachel was her usual dramatic and deafening self, immediately getting up from the visitor’s chair to yell at them. In the world according to Rachel, they had brought this on us and until they’d come to town nothing bad had ever happened to her sister. Mercifully for my head, a nurse came running in and told them all to get out. Before they did, though, Ace managed to get across the room to me. He kissed my forehead and whispered he’d come back later.

‘Ace, where is he?’ I pleaded, grabbing his arm before security led him out. Ace shook his head sadly and mouthed that he didn’t know.

 
I was alone in my room then, muted sounds of my sister’s abuse carried from outside the closed door. Everything had got completely out of control and now Kalen was missing.

***

It was all surface stuff: a few scratches, bruises and a slight concussion. But there were no broken bones or internal bleeding, so I was allowed to leave two days later. My arm was in a sling, but it was only a sprain. I'd lied to the police. I told them I had no clue who'd attacked us, because I knew that's what the boys would have told me to do. It's what Kal would have wanted me to do. Still, I wasn’t the best liar and I didn't feel good about it.

Rachel was too busy to pick me up. After she realised I was going to be okay, her concern had lessened somewhat. I told her I’d get Mae to give me a lift home, instead, getting myself on a bus and heading straight over to the mansion for some news on Kalen. I couldn’t understand why I was okay and he was gone. It didn’t make sense.

When I arrived, Laith was the only one home.

‘I was wondering when you’d show up.’

I tried to ignore the cold reception. ‘Is he okay?’

He shrugged from the barstool where he sat with a can of cola clasped in both hands. He stared at the blank wall in front of him. I shivered. The house was silent, even the television in the kitchen was off. It became obvious I was alone with him.

‘Where are the others?’

‘Searching for him.’ He looked at me intensely. ‘You know, if K hasn’t turned up by now, it’s likely he’s dead.’

I sucked in a breath and he smiled widely. If he had it in him to laugh, I’m sure he would have. He wanted to scare me, that was for sure.

‘Why would you say that?’

‘You know about us,’ he stated.

‘I don’t know anything.’

Laith leant forward, his eyes glistening. ‘You can’t lie to me, Ver-on-i-ca.’

I flinched. He sat back, his grin growing wider until he looked almost deranged. ‘You think you can lie to one of us? You can’t. I’m particularly good at that side of things. K is more about the action, he lacks a bit in the smarts department. Well, he must do, because here we all are,’ he waved his hands dramatically towards the room, ‘stuck in this poor excuse for a town, waiting to be found. I’m just surprised it was civilians that finally managed to take out the all-powerful Kalen. Ironic really, don’t you think?’

‘Enough,’ a deep voice sounded from the back doorway. I looked over with relief to see Nash glaring at Laith.

‘Hi, Nash,’ my voice trembled annoyingly. I tried to be polite, more grateful for the interruption than he would know, but I was still alone in the house with the two boys I felt least comfortable with. The two
assassins
, I corrected myself.

‘Hey, Ronnie, I’m glad you’re okay. Perhaps you’d like to come with me? We have a lead.’

‘Really?’ I perked up immediately, ‘I really want to help, what can I do?’

‘Come. Laith, stay. And – try to think happy thoughts.’

‘Bite me, N,’ he muttered, turning away from us.

I hurried across the room towards Nash and followed him outside without looking back. The Audi sat with the engine running.

‘We have to take the car, D has the bike, but then, I don’t think K would want you on the bike with me,’ he half smiled to himself.

‘So you think he’s okay?’

‘Ignore Laith, he’s just a cranky shit.’

I nodded, though I was conscious he hadn’t really answered my question.
How well they all seemed to do that
. I slid into the passenger seat of the car. Nash was taking a while so I looked in the rear-view mirror. I saw him slip a gun into the back of his jeans before he ran round and jumped into the driver seat. I gulped, my hands were clammy.

‘Where are we going?’

‘To meet Ace and Denver, they have a lead.’ He reached out and lifted my chin. ‘Chin-up Ron, we’ll find him. Oh, by the way, I drive pretty fast. Brace yourself.’

‘Kal drives fast, I guess you all do,’ I babbled nervously.

‘No one drives like me,’ he winked and then the engine roared to life and I gripped the seat beneath me as he sped onto the main street.

‘So what’s happened?’ I managed to squeeze out the words through gritted teeth as I flinched around each curve in the road.

‘Denver did some digging and found out the guys who jumped you both a week ago were boasting about locking him up somewhere. Some storage garage. I checked the listings of lockups and found one listed to a Michael Corleone. Not too creative but I’m fairly sure we’re not dealing with a group of Einsteins.’

I stared at him blankly.

‘It’s a film reference, Ron,’ he said, looking between me and the road, as if waiting for some penny to drop. ‘Um, not a movie fan, huh?’

We swerved around a corner. I closed my eyes. The thought of Kalen locked in a garage was better than some of the scenarios I’d considered, but it still caused bile to rise in my throat. Nash chatted as he raced along the motorway, ignoring the loud honking from irked drivers as he wove in and out of lanes.

‘Why did you come back for me?’

‘I didn’t, I was coming for Laith, I thought we might need him. Numbers and all that – Laith does have some uses. But when I overheard what he was saying to you, I changed my mind.’

‘So why bring me? Don’t you think you’ll need him now?’

‘It was a spur of the moment thing, Ronnie. I’m sure K will be pleased to see you.’

‘I dunno about that,’ I mumbled.

‘Yeah, maybe you’re right.’ His mouth pulled to one side, as he undercut a lorry that was doing sixty miles an hour in the fast lane. ‘He might be annoyed at me, come to think of it, especially if it all kicks off and you get hurt, or if he’s in a bad way, a way he won’t want you to see him in. Wow I really didn’t think that one through! Ha!’

‘Nash.’ I pleaded, desperate for him to stop thinking the worst.

‘Sorry, Ronnie, let’s just get there, see how it all pans out. We may have the wrong place anyway.’

As it turned out, I was certain they didn’t have the wrong place. I’m not sure if was better or worse that way, because as Ace busted the lock that secured the garage, the smell hit us before we saw what was inside.

I had a hamster once – Cotton. Tame as a kitten. He used to scurry around my bedroom, tire himself out then return to his cage to sleep. Till one day Rachel left my bedroom door open and he didn’t come back. We only found him in the end by following the smell, which finally led us to a radiator he’d managed to get stuck behind.

The moment Ace lifted the garage door the stench reminded me of finding Cotton’s body, but the odour was so bad I knew nothing so small as a hamster would have caused it. The boys looked at one another with expressions that made my skin crawl.

33 –
Broken

Ace found a light switch and the dark room glowed yellow.
All that sat in the huge container was a chair, some rope and some dark stains on the floor. Kalen wasn’t there.

Denver crouched down and touched one of the marks, rubbing the residue between his fingers. ‘Blood,’ he said flatly, ‘some new, some old. They must use this place a lot.’

‘Gang central,’ Nash muttered, kicking away a pile of boxes.

‘Where is he?’ I asked, my voice breaking.

‘You shouldn’t have brought her,’ Denver said to Nash without looking up.

‘I see that now. Laith was being – never mind. Yes, I realise she shouldn’t be here. Ronnie, let me take you home.’

I backed away from them. ‘No! I want to know what’s happened. Are we going to keep looking?’

Denver unfurled so he was standing. ‘From the looks of things, they bring people here to torture them. Typical gang mentality – keeps people scared of them. The guy Kal had a tussle with in the bar has gone into hiding, as have his cronies. They probably know we're looking for them.'

'Well, have you asked around? Maybe I can–'

'I've done more than ask around Ronnie, but short of torturing random civilians until I find someone who knows something, there are limits to what I can do.’

I felt dizzy. Ace was next to me in an instant.

‘Deep breaths, Ron, this doesn’t mean anything.’

‘He’s right. It would be worse if there was a body,’ said Nash matter-of-factly.

I flinched and caught Ace shooting Nash a dark look.

‘We’ll keep looking. Go home. We’ll contact you if there’s any news,’ said Denver.