The Reachers Collection

Chapter 15-2

“Guys please!” Charlie begged. The garage light was starting to hurt his eyes. He shouldn"t have had that beer, it was messing with his head and now he couldn"t think straight. “Nobody is double-crossing anyone. Nobody is killing anyone. Now sit down and shut up!” He glanced at Rachel like an exasperated parent.

Both men fell silent and took swipes at each other with their body language instead.

Roxy jumped onto the bonnet of his car. “So what"s the game plan?” He asked Charlie directly.

The plan was to take his medication and then work out how to get out of the city alive. He wondered what they would say if he told them that. Roxy would call him out, John would walk away and Rachel, well she would probably stay with him until Pinky"s boys caught up with them. Charlie had to rest against the boxes for support. The air was growing thick around him. He was hot–too hot.

“We"re not telling you anything!” John barked when the silence started to drag.

“Oh, for crying out loud. If you don"t want my help I"m not keeping you here. Go on, feel free to find your own hole to crawl into, one big enough to fit your giant ego in.”

In desperation Charlie raised his hands. “Enough! Please. We"ve got to get Rachel to a church I know about in the morning. There"s a convent she can go to where Pinky would never find her. Then we"re getting the hell out of S"aven.”

“What about the money?” Roxy asked.

“There you go, the real reason he"s helping us!” John added.

“What money?” Charlie said.

“You said Pinky had offered you thirty grand for her, how are you going to get it?”

“I"m not.”

Roxy started to laugh. “You"re bullshitting me.”

“Leave it,” John growled.

“Leave it? You two need to raise a quarter of a million and you"re turning away from an easy thirty grand. What the hell is wrong with you? Jesus, there was a time when you boys would take the girl, the money, and the kitchen sink.”

“Yeah well times change,” Charlie looked down at his leg in case Roxy still didn"t get it.

“Did they have to remove your spine when you were in surgery?”

“That"s it!” John was ready to strike.

Charlie pulled him aside. “Leave it.”

“He doesn"t get to say s**t like that,” John growled.

“But he"s right. You know he"s right.” Charlie stared his brother in the eye. He was too scared to take the job. Too scared to realise that he was past it. Too scared to make the gamble with another life in his hands. He stared at John, feeling like a coward and a fraud. His brother had stuck by him through everything for nothing.

John shook his head. “He"s not.”

“I am right. You guys may be suffering some kind of brother amnesia but I remember how you guys worked, how we all worked together. You never backed down from a difficult job, you never took the easy way out, and there is no way Charlie would save the life of a girl he barely knows over his own daughter,” Roxy said.

Rachel couldn"t believe it. The thought of Charlie sacrificing his own daughter made her heart sink. She glared at Charlie, feeling like it was her own flesh and blood he was putting on the line. Charlie wanted to explain himself, but it was too late.

“Get the f**k out!” John yelled at Roxy before he could stir up more trouble.

“This is my f*****g garage, you get out!”

“Shut up!” Rachel screamed. Her voice hit them in waves, slapping each one into silence. “You"re all acting like goddamn children!”

Each man stared at her as though they had never seen her before. The plain girl who had shifted so easily into the background was now in charge.

“I am not going to a convent,” she told them. “So factor that into your plan.”

“The convent is safe…” Charlie started

“I spent half my life in a convent, Charlie. I know exactly what it is.”

“Not all orgies and ritual sacrifice then?” Roxy chirped.

“Do you think I"d be so set against going if it was?” Rachel sighed.

Charlie rubbed his face desperately. “Then I can"t keep you safe.”

“You don"t have to,” John suddenly said. “She saved me tonight, she can look after herself.”

“So what, you want to go after the money. Put Rachel"s life on the line?” Charlie dared John to say he did.

“I want to go after the money,” Rachel told him sternly. “I"m prepared to put my own life on the line.”

“Yeah, well, I"m not,” Charlie said.

“Charlie…” Rachel started.

“No. I"m not having your blood on my hands as well.”

“Come on Charlie, she"s not going to get hurt,” Roxy shouted.

“You don"t know that! We didn"t think Sarah would get hurt, but she did.”

“Sarah got hurt because you…”

John moved. He was so quick. Before Charlie knew what was happening his brother was between them both, staring Roxy down. This time Roxy backed off. He shook his head at them both.

“You know what, John, I"m not going to say anything. You know it already. You know exactly why Sarah died. And if Charlie is out of the game then what the hell are you still doing here? You don"t need him,” he said.

For months Charlie had been waiting to hear those words from someone. Roxy was right. John didn"t need him, none of them did.

He was by the door before he realised he was leaving.

“Charlie, wait,” Rachel called.

“I need to clear my head,” he replied. And he left.

* * *

She had a suspicion Roxy had caused it all. Even if he hadn"t, he was loving every minute of the drama. Charlie had been gone a while and it didn"t look like he was coming back. Rachel guessed where he would be. The outburst and the lack of control had nothing to do with what was said and everything to do with the withdrawal he was starting to feel. She felt guilty for not going after him and foolish for thinking she could make any difference.

Beside her John"s eyes were fixed on the garage door. His confidence had taken a beating. He may have been a deadly killing machine, but Roxy was wrong, he did need his brother. She put her hand on his, trying to ignore the urge to delve into his thoughts.

“If it makes it easier I can just go to the convent and bail after a couple of days.”

He shook his head. “What you did tonight, could you do it again?”

“Yup, if you let me get my hands on Roxy I might even be able to just put him to sleep,” she whispered.

John nearly laughed at that. “Charlie will be back when he"s sorted his head out.”

Roxy rifled around the boxes. He opened one, shook his head and pushed it towards Rachel. Then he reached for another. Rachel glanced inside. It was filled with blank identity passes. A pass like that would get her into London. She had no identification, nothing to prove she was even British. Neither of them was looking at her. She sat down idly beside the box and lifted one of the passes. She wasn"t a natural thief, but she needed a backup plan.

“Ah, here we go,” Roxy removed a bottle from one of the boxes. He twisted the bottle cap off and smelled it before he drank it. “You know it"s not as bad as everyone says it is.” He handed it to John and if looks could kill Roxy would have been flayed across the garage. “Rachel, drink?”

She took the bottle out of politeness and after stealing from the man she felt she owed him the courtesy. It tasted like fire. She gasped as it burned through her throat.

“God, that"s awful,” she gasped, but she took another mouthful, savouring the warmth in her chest. The liquid settled in her empty stomach and she started to swoon.

“Easy there, sweetheart, I know it has been a rough night, but there"s no need to go crazy.”

“This isn"t a rough night,” Rachel replied. “Eventful, tiring, maybe even fun, but not rough.” She felt her eyelids starting to flag, it was always like this with her–she could push herself so far and then she"d just drop. “Definitely tiring.”

“At least that is something I can do for you.”

Roxy flung open the passenger seat door and ushered her inside. He made a pillow for her from a rolled up tapestry and used another to cover her tiny body. They smelt of smoke, which actually counteracted the general stench of the industrial estate. She settled into them as her body started to surrender.

“Get some rest, pet. Everything will be better in the morning.”

He closed the door, cocooning her in a dull silence. She shifted on the back seat until her body relented. It was better than sleeping in a doorway somewhere. It was better than being at home. Her eyes buckled. She thought about Charlie and about saving a little girl. There was a future somewhere on that road, one she could live with.