Fury - Page 76

“Fucking bastards,” he cursed, nudging his brother beside him, who followed his arm to where it pointed.

“The fucking Notorious. Fucking wank stains.”

Eventually, the fire brigade extinguished the flames, but the aftermath wasn’t pretty. The shells of four Harleys now stood in the carpark. Any leather now completely melted away, metal, charred or turned to white skeletal frames, the heart-shaped engine of the Harley cracked and burnt. It was a massacre. The side of the building was stained black where the fire had licked up the wall but mercifully hadn’t taken hold of the building.

“No more fucking bikes to be parked against the pub,” Indie grumbled.

On the road outside, a police car pulled up. A lone police car, the officers inside either brave, stupid or just plain suicidal.

“What the fuck does he want?” Indie mumbled at my side as Jake walked towards us.

“Any ideas what happened here?” he asked.

We all shook our heads.

“Electrical fault,” I answered, shoving the t-shirts with the Notorious’ emblem on further up the back of my jacket.

Jake sighed. Why he asked, I didn’t know. He knew not one of us would talk to the police.

“What you doing here, Jake?”

“Got a call to a fire on the radio. Heard where it was, thought I’d be the best officer to respond.” And we both knew he was full of shit. “You heard Alfred Fischer died the other day?”

I hadn’t. I’d heard nothing. And Jake knew that. I shook my head.

“How do you know that?”

“Heidi emailed me. She thought I should know as I helped with the investigation.”

I tipped my chin, not responding, knowing that he was trying to injure me with those words, and knowing it was fucking working.

*****

New Year’s Day

“Fuck! This is the best lamb ever, Mamma Dot.”

“Language Magnet. You’re at the dinner table. Mind ya manners,” my mam scolded.

My elbows knocked Demon, who scowled in my direction. Across from me, Reap cut at a potato, his elbows pinned against his sides as we all sat squashed round the kitchen table. Six men in leather, my mam and sister, all crowded around a table meant for six normal sized people.

“Would have been nice if Indie’d been here,” my mam grumbled.

“He’s with Emmie and the kids, mam. He’s got other things on.”

My mam frowned. “I know, son. I know he has his ol’ lady now. Just would be good to have him here. And where is Suzy?”

“She’s not feeling well. Gone to bed feeling sick.”

“Really?” Mamma Dot raised an eyebrow, a little smile pulling at her face.

“Aye. The events of last night seem to have got the better of her. She’s exhausted today, so I thought I’d just let her chill.”

The doorbell rang, the sound shrill. My mam glanced up and then shrugged.

“I guess Suzy didn’t want to miss Mamma’s good lamb after all.” My mam rose to her feet, the hint of a smile turning to a full beam.

She waddled off, and the scraping of cutlery on plates in the kitchen continued, everyone silent. But behind me, I could hear voices. Voices that weren’t familiar. Something not quite right. And the others had heard it too, their forks stilling, their heads looking up over the top of mine.