Something shot past her, something big, moving at high speed. Alicia’s mouth dropped open. She leaned forward into the car quickly, then leaped back as a huge dog knocked her to the ground.
But the car was rolling forward towards the broken fence. She’d released the handbrake.
Becca tried to scramble to her feet, and fell. The car was going to go over, go in the water.
Lewis!
The dog was snarling as the woman struggled, then it yelped, and she jumped free.
Someone was running past her, a big man, and he vaulted the fence and let himself down towards the water, hanging onto the mesh, reaching for the car door. The bonnet dropped down, then the car stopped, hanging almost vertically, caught on the fence.
Becca managed to free her arms from the belt and crawled forward. The car was slipping, she could hear the creak of metal as the remains of the fence started to give way. The water, deep and dark, flowed past below. She looked for something to grab, something to hold to stop it going over, but it was beyond her reach. There was nothing else to do.
‘Where is he?’ the man was shouting.
‘The boot!’ Becca yelled back, and he was swinging himself across, grabbing the lock, pulling it open. Then he was in the boot, pushing Lewis out ahead of him.
Becca reached forward to grab him, grab his clothes, anything.
The man in the car half threw Lewis onto the concrete, then as the fence gave way, he shouted and grabbed at the concrete edge.
The car fell, leaving him hanging there.
Lewis was half on, half off the concrete and she could see him start to slip. She grabbed his top as the man who had pulled him out hauled himself up on the remains of the fence.
Alicia was standing above them. She was holding a knife and there were dark stains on her hands as she kicked, and kicked, trying to make the man fall, make Becca let go of Lewis, trying to force them into the water. Becca rolled, trying to keep hold of Lewis, trying to avoid the kicking feet. Alicia stamped on her arm, making her scream and curl up, then she saw the foot draw back to deliver a kick that would come straight to her face.
She had no way to protect herself. It was a death kick.
But it had given the man enough time to haul himself up onto the safety of the concrete. He was lying beside Becca on the ground and his hand closed round the ankle of Alicia’s other leg, and pulled it away. She screamed and lost her balance, staggering towards the edge.
She grabbed at the broken fence, pitched sideways, and fell. Her hand briefly gripped the mesh then she dropped into the fast-flowing water. Becca heard her scream once, then there was nothing.
Out in the estuary, the car slid under the water. Becca lay there watching as its lights faded then went out. She didn’t move. She was done. She had nothing more to give. Beside her, Lewis was moaning.
Now the car was gone, there should have been darkness, but there was a faint greyness in the sky that allowed her to see.
Dawn. The night was over.
The man pulled himself to his feet and looked down at her and Lewis. ‘Take care of him,’ he said abruptly. It was no surprise to her to see Russ, the homeless guy from the pub. She’d known it was Russ as soon as the dog raced past her.
Russ and Champ.
‘Toby?’ Becca said. He was around somewhere and still dangerous.
‘He’s going nowhere.’ There was almost a chuckle in Russ’s voice as he turned and walked away.
Lewis moaned again. Becca couldn’t think about Toby now. Russ was dealing with him. Lewis was soaked and he was cold and he was probably in shock, whatever that meant. She couldn’t get his wet clothes off. She pulled off her jacket and wrapped it around him, but she wasn’t sure what good that would do.
Then she heard voices, and turned. Everything went cold and still. She wasn’t strong enough to fight any more, and she had to. There was only her to protect Lewis.
Russ wasn’t here to help her. Russ was here to help himself and his mates. He was one of them.
Standing there with Russ, looking down at her, was Johnny Dip.
Chapter 47
‘Nice one,’ Johnny Dip said to no one in particular. He came slowly across to where Becca was crouched over Lewis.
‘Fuck off.’ Becca only had her voice to threaten him with.
‘Just checking,’ he said.
Russ came back. He was pushing someone ahead of him – Toby, whose leg was dragging as if it would no longer work. Russ was holding him with his arm screwed so high up his back he must be in agony. Becca hoped he was in agony. His trousers were torn and bloody. Champ was following closely, his eyes fixed on the man. The dog was limping, but Becca heard a low growl.
Toby looked at Becca. ‘I tried to stop her,’ he said. ‘You’ve got to tell them. I tried to stop her.’
She wanted to spit in his face but she didn’t have the energy. She didn’t say anything. There was nothing that was bad enough. She wanted him to be under the water with Alicia. No, under the mud. Drowned in the mud, that was where they both belonged.
For Andy.
She couldn’t worry about that, not now. There was something seriously wrong with Lewis. He was soaked from the water but he’d stopped shivering. She was pretty sure that wasn’t because of her jacket making him warm. In the dim light, his lips looked blue. She didn’t know what to do for him.
Nothing seemed real. As she watched, Russ started dragging Toby towards the broken fence, the
