Running on Empty (23 page)

Belinda was already kneeling beside Sean, her mouth open, tears in her eyes. He quickly checked for a pulse, a pointless exercise, but something he had to do anyway, just to be sure.

Robbie stood motionless beside them.

‘Jesus fucking Christ’ he repeated, over and over.

Pat knew they were in a race against the clock.

The Saracen commander would have radioed the incident of the crash back to base on arrival. They’d be expecting him to remain in contact, and alarm bells would ring should he not report back soon. Pat knew they had a matter of minutes.

He grabbed Belinda by the arm, and began to pull her in the direction of the concealed escape vehicle , thirty yards further down the road, hidden by a sharp bend.

Reaching the vehicle, he opened the rear door, bundled Belinda inside and quickly followed, while Robbie jumped into the drivers seat, and gunned the engine. The car took off at high speed, taking a left onto a small asphalt road, towards an unmanned border crossing leading to the Republic.

Pat lay in the darkness, mulling over the events of the past, as he had done a thousand times before. He didn’t regard himself as a hero, but he didn’t regard himself as a villain either. It was just something that had to be done, at that time, in that place.

Belinda, against the advice of Pat and others, returned to the North about two months later. It was her sister’s wedding, she said, and she was a bridesmaid, and nothing was going to keep her away. The wedding car was intercepted as it made its way to reception, and she was taken in for questioning.

They had no proof, but they suspected. That was enough.

She was kept in a cell, blindfolded, her hands cable tied behind her, for three days. On the third day, her captors entered the cell. They told her of a typed up confession, awaiting her signature. When she refused, they began taking it in turns, kicking her in the stomach and lower abdomen. Because of the blindfold, she never knew who, or how many. She couldn’t brace herself, because she couldn’t see the blows coming. After some time, minutes? hours? the beating stopped. She was brought to the infirmary, suffering from severe internal bleeding. In the end, the only option was the removal of her womb. A week later, she was released without charge.

His thoughts returned to Sean Fahey, standing there in front of that Saracen. He’d seen a lot of things in his life, but the courage shown by Sean that morning took some beating.

A fist hammered on the steel plate reinforced door to the apartment.

‘Hey Gorgeous, come on man, let me in, it’s me, Joey’.

An inspection slot slid back.

‘Feeney, you motherfucker, you’ve got some balls showing up here. Have you got some sorta death wish? And who’s the bitch. Didn’t I tell you never to bring anyone here? I’ve a good mind to pop a cap in your ass right now. Are you fuckin’ crazy, you lowlife?’

‘Come on, man open up, I need to score’. You know I’m good’.

The slot slid shut, and the door swung open. The unmistakably large, two hundred and thirty pound figure of Gorgeous stood blocking the doorframe.

‘Don’t you hear too good, motherfucker?’

‘Hey, come on Gorgeous, it’s me, Joey you’re talking to. We’re just looking for a little action. This is Melody. She’s cool’.

Gorgeous reached out, grabbing Joey by the arm, and dragged him inside. As he and Melody were linking arms at the time, they both fell sprawling onto the floor of the apartment.

‘Like, I said, you’ve got some nerve showing up here, you little shit. You’re already in hock to the tune of fifteen hundred dollars. You better have some greenbacks on ya, or I’m lookin’ at a dead man’.

‘Come on, Gorgeous. You know I’m always good for it. You know I always pay up. Me and Melody just want to get high. You know you’ll get fixed up. You fix us up, and I’ll fix you up, you know that’.

Gorgeous’ attention turned to Melody.

‘Well, Melody here might be able to work off a dime bag. Come on sis’.

He grabbed her by the arm, and dragged her into the next room.

Joey sat on the floor, his back to the wall.

‘Well sis, you gonna show Gorgeous a good time?’

‘Hey, hey, don’t be so rough, I can undress myself’

‘I’ll do it any way I like, bitch’

‘Hey, no, not that, I don’t like it like that’

‘You want that dime bag, you’ll do it whatever way I say, you got that?’

Joey buried his head in his lap, and used his hands to block out the rising sounds of whimpering, then screaming, emanating from the bedroom. When Gorgeous had finished, he stood up, buckling his belt.

‘Get high, baby’ he said, tossing her a dime bag he’d fetched from the bedside locker.

‘Now, what the fuck we gonna do with you?’ he asked, returning to Joey, ‘I sure don’t wanna tap your sorry ass’.

He stood towering over him, mulling over the possibilities.

‘I outta put a bullet in your thick head, but that wouldn’t get me back my fifteen hundred’.

Then, his eyes lit up.

‘Joey, my boy, you’re gonna work off that money, that’s what you’ll do, and I have just the job to do it. I’ve a little errant I want you to run. I need you to go pick up a package, see.

You ever been to Nebraska, boy?’

*****

Sally Carmichael lay sleeping in the bed, breathing softly through her open mouth. A figure walked slowly, unobserved, down the hospital corridor. He reached Sally’s room, and quietly turned the handle, slipping inside. He approached the bed, and observed her for a few moments, before taking a seat on the chair opposite her. When she woke up some time later, she became aware of the tall, shadowy figure sitting in the chair. Her jaw was mending now, and she’d regained the ability to talk a little, although it hadn’t escaped her attention that she sounded a bit like a duck when she did so.

‘And…you…are?’

‘Hi there Sally. My name’s Dave, Dave Gallagher. I’m a friend of a friend, so to speak, and I’m here to keep an eye on you, to watch over you. Make sure whoever did this to you won’t try again’.

‘And ..you..gonna..stop..them..alone?’

He pulled back the front of his jacket, to reveal a handgun sitting in its holster.

‘Well, I’m sure going to try’ he answered.

‘Friend..of..who?’

‘Well Sally, let’s just say that my friend is an uncle of your friend, do you understand?’

Sally nodded. She would have smiled, if it had been possible for her to do so.

So, Tom must have made it after all.

‘I won’t be here all the time’ he continued, ‘but there’s a few of us. We’ll take it in shifts to keep an eye on you until we’re told otherwise, until we’re told by our mutual friend that everything is sorted, and it’s safe’.

Sally nodded again.

So, Tom hadn’t forgotten.

A single tear left the corner of her eye, weaving a lonesome path down the side of her cheek to the white linen pillow.

*****

Brad Johnson sat at his desk, drumming his fingers on the table. He picked up the phone, and dialled.

‘Hi, Brad Johnson here. Is Mandy Travers around?’

‘No, she’s out on the road at the moment. Is there anything I can help you with?’

‘Oh, I was just wondering about an apartment in Aliston, wondered if anything had shown up’

‘I was there with her this morning. We did a full sweep of that room with a metal detector. Nothing. If there had been anything, someone did a real professional job in tidying the place up, that’s for sure’.

‘Ok, thanks’.

He dialed again.

‘Hi, Brad Johnson here, could I speak to Mark Fielding please?’

‘I’m afraid Mr. Fielding is out at the moment, sorry’.

‘Do you happen to know if Charles Longston is back in work?’

‘Oh, I’m afraid Mr. Longston hasn’t been in work for a number of days’.

He dialed once more.

‘Hi, is that Mrs. Feeney?’

‘Yes’.

‘Detective Johnson here, Mrs. Feeney. I haven’t heard from your son, Joey. I was just wondering if he was about?’

‘No Detective, Joey hasn’t been home for a couple of days. But that’s Joey all over. He’ll show up soon I imagine. I’ll get him to contact you when he does’.

‘Ok Mrs. Feeney, I’d appreciate if you’d do that, thanks’.

Brad sat staring at the phone on its cradle.

Now, there’s a strange thing,
he thought,
not a mention of her other son. Last time we spoke she was pleading with me to find him. Now, not a peep. Why? Because she knows where he is, that’s why. She’s heard from him, or heard from someone who knows where he is.

He picked up the tractor manual, then threw it back down as quick. He stood up, grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair, and headed out.

Brad sat in the car, staring at the hospital building for a few minutes, before finally getting out. He still didn’t like going in, but it felt a bit easier than the last time. He walked down the corridor, and into Sally Carmichaels room.

‘Oh, who are you?’

‘I might ask the same question’.

‘I’m detective Johnson, from downtown. And you are?’

‘Andy Keogh, from fourth precinct’.

‘And might I ask who assigned you here?’

‘Oh, I’m not here officially Detective. I’m just a friend of a friend, so to speak. I’m here to keep an eye on Sally. Make sure she stays out of harms way, if you like.’

‘Oh, ok. I just wanted to have a little chat with her, but I see she’s sleeping. I can call back another time’.

And with that, he made his way towards the door, as Sally opened one eye, and watched him leave.

So, he made it to Ireland, after all. Don’t know how he did it, but he did. And, someone, somewhere is calling in favors.

Pat Feeney entered the bedroom, and pulled back the curtains.

‘Rise and shine lad, we’ve a busy day ahead’.

‘Is there a shower I can use?’

‘Right down the hall, last door on the left’

Tom made his way down, wearing a pair of borrowed boxers. It felt a bit strange wearing someone else’s underwear, but needs must. After finishing showering and shaving, he got dressed and headed to the kitchen.

‘Well Tom, how do you feel?’

‘Better since the sleep and shower thanks’.

‘Ok Tom, there’s a couple of things you need to know. First, Belinda isn’t here. She headed off to her mother’s for a few days early this morning, so there’s only the two of us here. Would you like some cooked breakfast?’

‘No thanks, I’ll just have a cereal’

‘Right, well there’s some nice strawberries in the fridge, if you want to put them on top’.

‘Er, no thanks, I kind of got a turn against strawberries a while back’.

‘Fine. Well, there’s another small matter I think you might need to know. Your friends from America, the ones who’ve been tracking you down? I em, think they might be on their way over here’.

‘What? How could they possibly know I was here?’

‘Well, because I sort of…. told them’.

‘You what?’

‘Look Tom, and I’m speaking from experience when I say this, you can only run so much. The chances are that somehow, eventually, they’d put two and two together, and come looking for you anyway. It’s better that if they’re going to find you, they do it on our terms. Believe me, this is one area I know what I’m talking about. Anyway, do you want to spend the rest of your days looking over your shoulder, wondering? Trust me, we’re better off facing this down now’.

‘But, you don’t know these guys. These people are professional killers. They’re trained to do this type of thing’.