The Evil And The Pure (38 page)

“I don’t blame you,” Tulip
said. Then, a few seconds later, “Not for
that
.”

“Just for everything else,” Kevin chuckled, trying to make a joke of it.

“Yes,” Tulip said sombrely. She looked at him seriously. “Where does it end?”

“Where does what end?” Heart pounding, playing for time.

“We can’t go on like this. I’ve taken more than I deserve – much more – because I love you and don’t want to see you come to harm. But I can’t do this forever.” Tulip ran a finger over her wounds. “Set us free, Kevin. You should do it out of the goodness of your heart, but if you can’t find any there, do it because it makes sense. If we continue, it’s only a matter of time before somebody like Gawl McCaskey goes too far.”

“That won’t happen,” Kevin said, shivering. “
I tore Clint a new arsehole in the church today, told him never to set us up with McCaskey again. And I’ll ensure Big Sandy is always with us going forward. I won’t make any arrangements with new clients without him.”

“That’s just sidestepping the problem. One night a man will come who doesn’t worry about Big Sandy, who won’t care if he’s killed
, just as long as he can kill first.”

“I won’t let anyone harm you,” Kevin promised, starting to cry. “I’d die myself before I’d let that happen.”

“Maybe that’s what you want,” Tulip whispered, eyes locked on her brother’s. “Maybe that’s where all this ends for you, both of us butchered, together forever.”

“No,
” Kevin moaned. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close. Tulip didn’t react. “Don’t say such things. They’re not true.”

“Not yet,” Tulip muttered.

“Never,” Kevin swore. “I love you. I live for you. I don’t want you to die.”

“But if you couldn’t have me? If I said I was leaving?”

“You know I couldn’t go on without you,” he wept.

“But could you bear to let
me
go on without
you
, or would you try to take me down with you rather than let me walk away?”

Kevin didn’t answer. His eyes were blinded with tears and his throat had constricted to the point where he could hardly breathe.

Tulip pushed clear and wrapped the towel around herself. “We have to resolve this. Things have changed. We can’t go on as we have been.”

“What’s changed?” he wheezed. “McCaskey? Is that what’s bothering you? I swear, he’ll never –”

The doorbell chimed, cutting him off. Tulip stared at Kevin as the chimes died away. She appeared to be on the verge of saying something, then smiled and shook her head. “It’ll hold. Go see who’s at the door.”

She walked through to her bedroom, Kevin staring after her uncertainly. The doorbell chimed again. He
cursed, then slipped on a robe and padded to the door. The bell chimed again. He looked out the peephole and saw a middle-aged woman in a dark coat. He didn’t recognise her. He opened the door but kept it on the latch. “Yes?” he barked, thinking she was a Jehovah’s Witness.

“Kevin Tyne?”

“Yes.” More cautiously this time.

“I’m from social services. I’d like to talk with you about your sister.”

Heart palpitations. Explosions inside his head.

“Mr Tyne?” His eyes swam back into focus. The woman was st
aring at him. “Are you all right?”

“Yes.” Forcing a smile. “This isn’t a good time. Could you come back –”

“I need to speak with you now,” the woman said. “We’ve received a disturbing report which I must investigate immediately. If I have to I’ll call the police, but –”

“No,
” Kevin cried, unlatching the door in a terrified hurry, opening it wide. “Please come in, I –”

Before he
could finish, Gawl McCaskey stepped in front of the woman, put a hand on Kevin’s chest and sent him tumbling. As Kevin sprawled across the floor, he saw McCaskey pass a baggie to the woman. She smiled grotesquely and Kevin saw rotten teeth, dark rims around her eyes, the hunger of a junkie in her smile. Disgusted at himself for letting such a cheap fake take him in.

“Get out,
” Kevin shouted as the woman scurried away and McCaskey closed the door. “Get out or I’ll –”

McCaskey was across the room and over him in an instant. Grabbed Kevin’s throat and half-hauled him to his knees. Kevin choked and slapped at the
larger man’s hands. McCaskey bent so his face was close to Kevin’s. “I’m here for yer sister,” he snarled. “No more hotels. Home visits from now on. And ye’re gonna stay out of the room while I’m fucking her. Beat off in private, ye sick wee prick.”

“I’ll… kill
… you,” Kevin wheezed, face turning purple.

“Will ye fuck,” McCaskey laughed, letting Kevin go. “
Where is she?”

“No,
” Kevin croaked, eyes burning with hatred. “You can’t have her, not after what you did last night. Get out or –”

McCaskey’s right fist connected with Kevin’s jaw. He flopped backwards, teeth smashing together, lips splitting, brain shaking in his skull. He blacked out for a second. When he re
covered, McCaskey was standing over him, glaring coldly. “I’m off t’ fuck yer sister. If ye’re as wise as ye’re yellow, ye’ll stay well away.”

McCaskey turned
, paused, glanced down one last time. “If ye get any bright ideas, like phoning the cops or asking yer pal Big Sandy t’ teach me a lesson, just bear in mind the amount of shite I can drop ye in, and what life in prison will be like for a sister-abusing fuck like yerself.” Then he went striding through the flat, calling softly, “Tulip, Tulip, come out, come out, wherever ye are.”

The door of Tulip’s bedroom opened.
She caught sight of McCaskey advancing. Froze. Looked for Kevin. Saw him on the floor, bleeding, crying, trembling. Read the situation instantly. Calmly stepped back inside her room, McCaskey following eagerly, closing the door, blocking Kevin’s view.

Kevin lay on the floor, weeping and shaking, listening to the muted sounds of McCaskey fucking Tulip. He wiped blood from his lips and tears from his eyes. Crazy thoughts of grabbing a knife from the kitchen and killing McCaskey. But he was weak, feeble, gutless. In the end he just lay where he was, moaning softly.

McCaskey was beaming when he walked out ten minutes later. “A grand wee fuck,” he murmured. Kevin saw Tulip approach the door of her room. McCaskey didn’t appear to have hurt her this time. The intruder stopped at the front door. Coughed to get Kevin’s attention. “Ye won’t get rid of me now that I have a taste for her. Best to accept that. I’ll phone next time. If ye try anything clever, ye’ll regret it.” He saluted Kevin cynically, opened the door and exited.

Tulip stepped out of her room when she heard the front door close. She was naked, dark fingerprints on her shoulders where McCaskey had gripped her tight, but otherwise unharmed. She stared numbly at Kevin. He stared back, sobbing.
Without saying anything, Tulip returned to the bathroom, where she ran another bath. Closed the door before getting in, cutting Kevin out, leaving him lying on the floor like a beaten dog, wretched, terrified, powerless, alone.

Gawl entered his shithole of a flat feeling like the master of the world. Everything falling into place, finally coming into his own after all these years, rising late in the day to snatch at greatness. His plan not yet fully formed, but confident he could manipulate all the pieces into place, just as he’d manipulated the Tynes.

Thinking about his three sessions with Kevin and Tulip as he sat on the edge of his bed and treated himself to a swig of cider. Saturday, more interested in the sex than in how the pair might fit in with the break-out. Kevin Tyne irritated him – a weak fool, dancing around like something out of a ballet, jerking off – but Tulip was fascinating, not drawn by her average looks but by her
innocence
. She was a multi-fuck whore but her eyes were pure, the eyes of a child unstained by the world. The paradox amused and excited Gawl, innocence and sluttishness a rare, intoxicating mix.

Sunday,
after much thought, he decided to play rough, testing his theory that Kevin couldn’t deal with violence, that he’d crumble when challenged. If he was to use the Tynes, he had to be sure he could bend them to his will. Their cooperation wasn’t essential – he planned to use them without their knowledge – but he’d need them afterwards if he was to keep Fr Seb under his thumb. So he bullied them, tore into Tulip, slapped her around a bit, left his mark.

Monday,
the clincher. Humiliate Kevin, threaten him, watch him break, make him servile. Gawl part of their lives now, a dark, hated but incontrovertible part. In Kevin’s mind Gawl stood terrible and bleak, a monster to be feared and obeyed. In time Kevin would figure out a way to deal with Gawl – flee the city or hire someone to kill him – but he would have no time. Before he could think the matter through, he and Tulip would be submersed in Gawl’s world, the world of the break-out. Gawl would keep them meek by keeping them off-balance. Throw them in deep and make himself their life buoy. They’d have to cling to him to survive and later he could shrug them loose when they were of no more value, just as he planned to shrug loose Phials and Fr Seb… and Clint if he had to.

Almost at the
moment Gawl thought about Clint, there was a knock at his door and the dealer was there, entering in a huff, anxious, fidgeting. “Where the fuck have you been? I called round three times already. What’s going on?”

“Sit down,” Gawl smiled. “Get ye a drink?”

“Vodka,” Clint sniffed, pulling his jacket tight around his frame. “It’s freezing in here. Why don’t you get an electric heater?”

“
It’ll be plenty hot in hell, so we’d best enjoy the cold while we can.” Gawl tossed Clint a half full bottle of vodka, sat and had another swig of cider. Clint stayed on his feet. “I went t’ see the Tynes,” Gawl said.

Clint had been raising the bottle. Stopped. Lowered it. Stared at Gawl incredulously. “After all the
fuh-fuss Kevin made? Are you muh-muh-mad?”

“They were delighted t
’ see me,” Gawl laughed. “I’m growing on them.”

“He’ll set Big Sandy after you.
If that buh-bastard gets involved…”

“Kevin won’t be
setting anyone after me,” Gawl said softly. “Right now he’s shitting his pants, and he won’t start thinking till he stops shitting, and by then it’ll be too late because we’ll have made our move and he’ll have t’ play along.”

“You’re not making
suh-sense,” Clint frowned.

“We’re gonna u
se the Tynes as a distraction t’ help free Phials.”

Clint put
down the bottle of vodka and sat, no longer feeling the cold. “Why do you have to tuh-terrorise them? Surely we should get them on our good side if –”

“Did ye know about Fr Seb and Tulip?” Gawl cut in.

“What about them?”

“She was one of his
little playthings.”

Clint
’s eyes widened. “No.”

“Don’t act so shocked,” Gawl
snickered. “He’s had younger than her, the horny auld goat.”

“But he’s her priest.
”

“Maybe he was trying t’ bring God closer t
’ her,” Gawl smirked, then grew serious. “We’re gonna use Tulip t’ keep Fr Seb in line, right? She’ll be his piece of pussy while we’re in hiding, when I can’t set him up with whores. We can also use her t’ threaten him with if we have t’.”

“How?”

“Parry’s a twisted fuck but he tries t’ do the right thing. If I say I’ll kill her if he doesn’t play along, he’ll do whatever the fuck we tell him t’ save her life.”

“But you wouldn’t really
kuk-kill her, would you?” Clint asked, shaken.

Gawl stared at him hard. “We’re talking millions of pounds. I’d kill my own mother – if the bitch wasn’t already dead – f
or that much money. Ye would too.”

Clint for
ced an uncertain smile. “I suppose.” He picked up the bottle of vodka and tossed back a shot. Shivered and grimaced. Looked at Gawl sideways. “Tell me about the pluh-pluh-pluh-plan now?”

Gawl smiled. “Aye.” Leant forward. “There’s still a few points I have t’ get straight in my head – maybe ye can help me wi
th ’em – but here’s the start of it. We break him out t’morrow…”

Big Sandy called to the lab early, before eleven, intending to scare Phials awake. But when he arrived, Fast Eddie told him Phials was already up and playing host to Clint Smith. Big Sandy asked if Smith knew anything about the deadline. Fast Eddie said he’d quizzed the dealer yesterday and Clint was ignorant. Big Sandy tempted to take Smith to one side, explain a few religious facts of life to him, but he wasn’t sure he could control his temper and he didn’t want to do anything to jeopardise the Phials deal. Smith could wait until after the weekend.