showed Heavey was a key player in the acquisition and supply of underage girls to the porn movie industry. There was a suggestion that Heavey tried the girls out himself. Rink’s good work had closed down Heavey’s outfit, and was set to put the sick-minded bastard behind bars. We couldn’t jeopardise the trial with a no-show of the key witness.
‘I’m hopin’ that I’ll be called to the stand tomorrow. Soon as I’m done I’ll head up your way.’
‘I’ll keep you posted. Don’t know where we’ll be this time tomorrow. If you can get me the name of the owner of the Dodge, it could lead us anywhere.’
‘OK, leave it with me.’
‘Thanks, Rink.’
‘No problem, man. You keep safe, y’hear? An’ take care of that pretty face of Kate’s.’
‘I get the message, Rink. It’s OK to look when there are no guns pointing at her, right?’
‘There’s hope for you yet.’
I hung up and lifted my sack of groceries. When I set off walking again things seemed a little better. Rink was right – as usual. It did no harm to appreciate Kate for the beautiful woman she was. I was a free spirit now. It was two years since my divorce from Diane, so I wasn’t beholden to her any more. The problem was, it was also eighteen years to the day since we’d married. Something like that takes some getting over.
I was mulling that thought over when I heard the roar of an engine. Instinct made me snatch at the SIG beneath my shirt-tails and I came close to drawing and firing at the clutch of men on the back of the pick-up truck. Instead I merely hung my head and concentrated on keeping hold of my grocery sack. Anyone who’d looked me in the face was already dead. I doubted any of the men on the back of the pick-up would see anything more than a guy on his way home from the store.
As they passed I took a look at the men on the back. They were young hot-bloods. If they weren’t hunting me through the woods they’d likely be sitting round swilling beer and heckling the local cops. The two inside were older, but they had the same look as their younger friends, only a little more grizzled and world-weary. Not one of them looked my way.
The thought of following the vehicle to wherever they were heading skipped through my mind, but the feasibility of following on foot was laughable. The image they portrayed, I guessed that they were familiar faces in town, so I decided to wait. I could always ask around later.
Then I saw the two dark SUVs coming towards me.
The first SUV was banged and scraped all along the side: the one I’d barged out of the way when breaching their roadblock.
The second of the vehicles would still contain the blood and brain matter of the two I’d shot and I wondered who was so desperate that they’d drive such a vehicle back. Of course, there was at least one man who didn’t have a ride: the big guy I’d pistol-whipped, then stolen his truck.
The second SUV was slowing as it neared me. The man had never seen my face, so I wasn’t concerned that he was slowing down because he’d recognised me. Maybe he was simply looking for someone to vent his frustration on. Adjusting my bag of groceries, I quickly dipped a hand under my jacket and pulled free the SIG. Concealing the weapon behind the bag, I continued walking.
The SUV was almost parallel with me now. It was now travelling at a crawl and the driver had sent it over the central markings so that it headed directly for me. My pulse picked up exponentially. My finger tightened on the trigger.
‘Hey, asshole!’ a man shouted at me from the passenger window. ‘You gonna move your fuckin’ ass? Can’t you see we’re trying to pull in?’
Two things were apparent in the split second it took to relax the tension on my gun’s trigger. I was standing at the entrance to an alleyway and the man shouting at me wasn’t the same one as I’d brained with my gun barrel.
If it was possible, this man was even bigger and more powerfully built than the
‘I’m hopin’ that I’ll be called to the stand tomorrow. Soon as I’m done I’ll head up your way.’
‘I’ll keep you posted. Don’t know where we’ll be this time tomorrow. If you can get me the name of the owner of the Dodge, it could lead us anywhere.’
‘OK, leave it with me.’
‘Thanks, Rink.’
‘No problem, man. You keep safe, y’hear? An’ take care of that pretty face of Kate’s.’
‘I get the message, Rink. It’s OK to look when there are no guns pointing at her, right?’
‘There’s hope for you yet.’
I hung up and lifted my sack of groceries. When I set off walking again things seemed a little better. Rink was right – as usual. It did no harm to appreciate Kate for the beautiful woman she was. I was a free spirit now. It was two years since my divorce from Diane, so I wasn’t beholden to her any more. The problem was, it was also eighteen years to the day since we’d married. Something like that takes some getting over.
I was mulling that thought over when I heard the roar of an engine. Instinct made me snatch at the SIG beneath my shirt-tails and I came close to drawing and firing at the clutch of men on the back of the pick-up truck. Instead I merely hung my head and concentrated on keeping hold of my grocery sack. Anyone who’d looked me in the face was already dead. I doubted any of the men on the back of the pick-up would see anything more than a guy on his way home from the store.
As they passed I took a look at the men on the back. They were young hot-bloods. If they weren’t hunting me through the woods they’d likely be sitting round swilling beer and heckling the local cops. The two inside were older, but they had the same look as their younger friends, only a little more grizzled and world-weary. Not one of them looked my way.
The thought of following the vehicle to wherever they were heading skipped through my mind, but the feasibility of following on foot was laughable. The image they portrayed, I guessed that they were familiar faces in town, so I decided to wait. I could always ask around later.
Then I saw the two dark SUVs coming towards me.
The first SUV was banged and scraped all along the side: the one I’d barged out of the way when breaching their roadblock.
The second of the vehicles would still contain the blood and brain matter of the two I’d shot and I wondered who was so desperate that they’d drive such a vehicle back. Of course, there was at least one man who didn’t have a ride: the big guy I’d pistol-whipped, then stolen his truck.
The second SUV was slowing as it neared me. The man had never seen my face, so I wasn’t concerned that he was slowing down because he’d recognised me. Maybe he was simply looking for someone to vent his frustration on. Adjusting my bag of groceries, I quickly dipped a hand under my jacket and pulled free the SIG. Concealing the weapon behind the bag, I continued walking.
The SUV was almost parallel with me now. It was now travelling at a crawl and the driver had sent it over the central markings so that it headed directly for me. My pulse picked up exponentially. My finger tightened on the trigger.
‘Hey, asshole!’ a man shouted at me from the passenger window. ‘You gonna move your fuckin’ ass? Can’t you see we’re trying to pull in?’
Two things were apparent in the split second it took to relax the tension on my gun’s trigger. I was standing at the entrance to an alleyway and the man shouting at me wasn’t the same one as I’d brained with my gun barrel.
If it was possible, this man was even bigger and more powerfully built than the
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