“He says they’re not here.”
A dog appeared at the window of the cottage next door and barked furiously at the strangers. Campbell climbed into the driver’s seat.
“Do you believe him?”
“I don’t know,” Campbell said as he started the engine. “But we can’t hang around. I think I put his back up.”
Worry darkened Coyle’s battered face. “McGinty’s going to shit a brick if we don’t get Fegan.”
“Probably, but he’s going to shit a fucking
if we get lifted by the peelers.”
Something beyond the river caught Coyle’s eye. “Here, who’s that?”
Campbell followed the direction of his pointing finger to the far side of the bridge. “Jesus, it’s her and the kid. No Fegan, though.”
“He must be away in the car.”
“Your powers of deduction are impressing the shite out of me today, Eddie.”
“Go fuck yourself.”
“Hang on,” Campbell said. He put the van into reverse and backed out onto the road, twisting the wheel so they faced the bridge. He could hear the dog barking over the engine’s clatter. The van roared as he swung it round the tight bend and onto the bridge where Marie McKenna walked with her daughter, oblivious to their approach.
Campbell veered to the other side of the road, ignoring the blaring of an oncoming car’s horn. The woman’s startled eyes found him as he stamped on the brake pedal. She looked in all directions for a place to run, but he was on the footpath before she could move. The little girl gaped up at him.
“Let’s not have a fuss, Marie,” Campbell said, clutching his side.
“What do you want?” Her eyes were everywhere.
“Don’t run. It’ll go bad if you run.”
Tears sprang from Marie’s eyes and her daughter hugged her thigh.
“It’ll be all right,” Campbell said. “Just get in the van. No fuss, no bother. Okay?”
“Please, let Ellen go. There’s people in the cottage there. They’ll look after her.”
“Sorry, Marie.” He stepped closer. “Both of you in the van. Now.”
The shrouded sun had sunk well beneath the treetops of Glenariff Forest, a few miles south of Portcarrick, and a chill clung to the air. The only sounds were the gathering wind in the leaves above, the pattering of heavy raindrops and Marie McKenna’s frightened sobbing. She sat in the middle of the van’s cabin, holding her daughter close. Eddie Coyle leaned against a tree watching Campbell’s lopsided pacing.
“Call me back, for Christ’s sake,” Campbell said to the mobile phone in his hand. The signal was poor and the thick spruce canopy didn’t help, but they’d had to get off the road and decide what to do. It had been almost thirty minutes since McGinty had promised to call him back with a plan.
“I won’t do the kid,” Coyle said for the fifth time since they’d pulled into the gap in the tree line.
Campbell spun to face him. “Will you shut the fuck up about that?”
“I’m just saying, that’s all.”
Campbell crossed the clearing and stood toe to toe with Coyle. “Yeah, well you saying it isn’t fucking helping. You’re going to make her panic and then Christ knows what’ll happen. So do me a favor and shut the fuck up, all right?”
“Shove it up your arse,” Coyle said.
Campbell could smell his sour breath. “Just fucking try me, pal.”
Coyle’s bloodshot eyes flickered with anger and fear. Campbell was ready for him to move when the phone rang.
“Yeah?”
“All right,” McGinty said, ‘here’s what we’ll do. The Bull has an old farm just past Middletown, not far from the border. He was using it for fuel laundering until it got shut down, but it’s kennels now. You know, for the dogs. He has a big pit with seating and everything in an old barn.”
“Christ,” Campbell said.
“You know what these old country bastards are like. Bloodthirsty fuckers. He wants them brought there. I’m heading down now. I’ll try and make sure it doesn’t go to shite, but his blood’s up. He’s seriously pissed off about Father Coulter. He’s going to see to Fegan himself.”
Campbell looked at Marie clutching her daughter to her breast. “What about the woman and the kid? After, when it’s done?”
He could swear he felt McGinty’s breath on his ear. “I don’t know. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
“All right, it’ll be a couple of hours till we get to Middletown. I’ll call you for directions from there.”
Campbell hung up.
“Well?” Coyle asked.
