Another bloke came in, grey-haired and stoop shouldered and Shap pretended to read the refreshments menu he was holding, while he watched him ask for his key.
*****
Stone had directed Janine to drive to an abandoned storage depot within sight of Manchester Airport. Here and there loomed old freight containers, rusting and daubed with graffiti. The rough ground was strewn with weeds and old gravel tracks criss-crossed the area. Janine had never been here before. She wondered how Stone knew about it. Barbed wire surrounded much of the perimeter and she had seen notices which suggested that re-development work was imminent, along with weather-beaten signs warning of guard dog patrols.
After telling her to stop and turn the engine off, Stone had issued his demands. ‘I am not going down for murder,’ said Stone. ‘You’ve got to tell them. And you’ve got to get me some protection.’
Janine’s voice felt unreliable. ‘It doesn’t work-’ she began.
‘Now!’ he shouted, making her jump. ‘You don’t have much choice, do you, lady?’
‘Put the gun down. I can’t do anything until you put the gun down.’
‘No!’ His face was contorted.
‘Just-’
‘Shut it.’
‘Please, put the gun down.’
‘Shut up.’
‘Please, Lee, please put the-’
‘Shut up!’ He yelled. ‘Shut the fuck up!’
There was a powerful crack, a whoomph of air. The front windscreen shattered, lines crazing across the glass. He’d shot the gun.
Janine started to tremble uncontrollably. Her heart thundered against her ribs. Her ears hurt. She had felt the impact of the blast through her bones, in all her soft tissue. Oh, God, help me, she prayed.
Stone still held the gun. She watched in the mirror which was still intact. ‘You gonna listen to me?’ She could barely make out the words, her ears singing and buzzing.
‘Yes,’ she said hoarsely.
‘Sulikov rang us, on my mobile. He said the girl had died of an overdose. We had to take the car and get rid. We didn’t know he’d killed her. Then, well, job like that, putting her in the water, you get all wired up. Needed to burn some of the adrenalin off. But we didn’t kill her.’
‘But you ran over Ann-Marie.’ She regretted the words as soon as they had left her mouth.
‘Shut up,’ he shouted again. ‘Shut up and listen.’
She gripped the steering wheel to stop her hands from shaking.
‘When you let us out, I rang Sulikov back. We needed to get right away.’ He paused. She saw him blink momentarily, his face drawn and tired in the reflection. She realised he was at breaking point. ‘He goes ballistic, yabbering on in Polack, but he knew we’d be bad news hanging round here. He was going back to Poland – says he’ll take us across the Channel. There’s some warehouses not far from us, an old tunnel. He says he’ll meet us at the other side. We go all the way in. He’s standing at the top of the steps, yelling at us hurry up. Then he opens up. Fucking Terminator. Jez goes down. I legged it. He’s firing after me. Soon as he knows where I am, he’ll be after me next. You’ve got to get me protection.’
