‘In a fucking drawer…’ I was sticking to my hunch: ‘Somebody’s dabs are on this, maybe the person I’m looking for.’ I placed the shooter in the bag with the passports and paperwork. ‘I need to get this lot to Fitz, soon as…’
I felt an adrenaline rush as I headed for the door. I knew I had, potentially, the weapon used to murder my brother in my hands. My thoughts mashed. Did this mean Radek wasn’t the killer? There was no way he would hold on to the gun if he’d offed my brother, so what the fuck was he doing with it? There had to be an angle, but I couldn’t see it.
‘Gus,’ Hod called me as I reached the door. ‘You better check this.’
‘What is it?’
He pointed to the window. I walked back to the desk, looked out into the street — the black Pajero had pulled up. Behind it was a minibus disgorging a stream of hefty blokes; they headed straight for the house.
‘Shit.’
‘And you’re the one holding a shooter,’ said Mac.
‘Are you off your fucking nut? We can’t use that, it’s evidence.’
Hod stepped forward, nodded. ‘He’s right.’ He put a fist on Mac’s shoulder. ‘Have to be old school, mate.’
‘I knew we should have got fucking well tooled up,’ said Mac.
I tied a knot in the carrier, said, ‘Just stay calm…’
The front door opened, the sound of voices came rattling in. Heavy boots shook the floor beneath us. ‘Come on,’ I whispered, ‘follow me.’
I retraced the way we’d come in, watching over the banister to the blokes below. Their voices grew louder, blasting my ears with a language I didn’t understand. They seemed to be filling up the rooms at the front of the house, but I couldn’t be sure. I heard the bus’s engine ticking over outside and then the driver engaged the clutch and put it into gear. The diesel engine purred loudly then took off. A few seconds later the front door slammed.
‘They’re all in,’ said Hod. His voice was too loud; I flagged him quiet.
Mac nudged him with his elbow. ‘Shut up, man… You want to get us killed?’
I peered out the window. ‘Think we can jump.’
Hod shook his head. ‘We’re too high up… and I’ve got these fucking bruised ribs.’
Mac leaned over, whispered, ‘Don’t be fucking silly — jump.’ He patted his space-hopper guttage. ‘This doesn’t mean I bounce, y’know.’
I checked out the window again. The ground below looked frozen solid. I knew they were right: we’d break our legs. I felt my chest constrict; the most intense need for nicotine seized me. I couldn’t think. Mac and Hod stared at me. As I turned from them, I caught sight of a white hoodie moving on the stairs below.
‘Fuck, it’s Radek.’
Mac and Hod shifted over the banister, jerked back. They looked at each other briefly then returned their gaze to me. I felt my jaws clench. My mouth dried over. The image of Andy, the tongue cut out of him, came back to me once more. Fucking hell, this nut-job didn’t mess about. Something sparked: ‘Right, come on. Back this way.’
‘Gus, Gus…’ said Hod. He pointed to the stairs. ‘That’s the way down.’
‘I fucking know,’ I grabbed him by the arm, ‘but we’re going this way.’
I ran through to the large room at the back of the house. An old sash window looked out over the roof of the extension. I edged my fingernails under the ledge, tried to open it.
‘It’s stuck.’
‘Fuck off,’ said Mac. He came over, made to raise it. It still wouldn’t move.
Hod stayed at the door, watching through the gap. ‘He’s coming… Hurry up.’
We struggled with the window. ‘It’s painted down,’ I said.
Mac nodded, his cheeks inflating as he went to pull the sash ropes. I brought out the jemmy and slid it under the frame. Mac shook his head: it would be too noisy.
Hod rushed into the middle of the room, brought a finger to his mouth. ‘Sh-h-h-h…’ He pointed to the door.
Mac and I stood still. All three of us followed the sound of Radek’s footsteps outside the door.
I held the jemmy in my hand but my palm was sweating now. It slipped through my fingers before I could get a grip. The sound of its clatter as it fell halted Radek in the hall.
I looked at Mac, then to Hod.
Both their eyes opened wide.
My heart seemed to stop beating.
The silence stretched; we all looked to the door. I expected it to fly open and Radek to burst in with a sawn- off, blast us through the walls. A floorboard creaked outside on the landing. The muscles in my stomach clenched, then released as Radek’s footsteps continued up the stairs.
Hod nodded, moved towards us. I knew we had only a few seconds before Radek discovered we’d been in his room. I slid the jemmy under the window. The wood was rotten and the metal bit away at it.
‘Fucking hell,’ said Mac.
‘This isn’t happening,’ said Hod.
I dug deeper with the jemmy; the metal tip ate more and more wood. I thought I’d be on the other side of the window before long.
‘Are you fucking digging through it?’ said Mac.
‘Shut the fuck up!’
I kept on and the jemmy found a grip. I leaped onto the handle and the window sprung open.
‘Get out!’
Mac threw out the bolt-cutters, clambered over the edge and lowered himself onto the extension. Hod and I followed. It was a felt roof and it started to give beneath us. There was little run-off and the surface had iced over. My worn-out Docs struggled to find purchase. I saw Mac start to slip, keel over.
Hod grabbed him. The pair staggered onto the roof’s edge like a pair of pissheads. We stood over the guttering as Radek let out a howl. He roared out to the house. As I looked back I saw him through the window: he was leaning over the banister, his face flushed red, his arms slicing the air.
‘Fucking move it,’ I yelled.
Mac knelt down, lowered himself onto his gut and swung round his legs. I stood over him watching. His feet were a couple of yards from the ground and as he let himself go his jacket and T-shirt rolled up against the wall. He landed with a thud and fell backwards. He’d hurt his ankle, grabbed his foot up in his hands.
‘Shit, you all right?’ I said.
He nodded, waved me away. ‘Aye, aye… Come on, get doon.’
Hod lowered himself onto his backside, his ribs still too sore to touch the edge. He made a more athletic leap and landed squarely on his feet. Little more than a wince crossed his face.
As I readied myself to jump, I grabbed a last look at Radek. He was racing down the stairs. He hadn’t seen me. I stood on the edge of the building, about to leap, when the neighbour’s dog started to bark and throw itself at the fence. It didn’t bother me until I saw the Czech bring his run to a halt and dive to the window. He clocked me face on, started to scream in my direction.
‘Shit…’ I said.
I dropped myself over the edge. My knees buckled but I stayed up, shouted, ‘We’re rumbled… Run like fuck!’
Chapter 34
Because we’d jemmied the back door, there was nothing to hold the droves of Czechs from pouring through it, and onto our heads. The neighbour’s dog went madhouse, saw something was up. Mac pushed me in the back and got me headed for the gate. Hod was already there. By the time I reached it he’d pegged it all the way down
