The Charlie Cobb Series

Chapter 21

21

Danny Platt had only just found a bearable position when he was thrown sideways across the boot. He hit the rear of the backseats and bounced up into the parcel shelf.

He landed on his right arm, pain shooting up into his shoulder.

The car had come to a sudden stop. He waited in the dark, listening to the chug of the diesel exhaust. He’d heard a crunch of metal and a smash of glass. Had Price totalled his car?

Danny hoped he’d died at the wheel. His mum had taught him to forgive other people. No matter what. Even the gangs on the estate who'd forced him into dealing, down in the tunnels. The place where he'd seen Rudenko's man shoot Ken, the local bookie.

“Hate is like throwing dust into a strong wind,” his mum always said. “You know where the dust is going to end up,”

He knew his mum was right. Yet right now, he hated Price. And he hoped the guy burned alive behind the wheel. Even if it meant he had to burn too. It was probably better than whatever lay ahead.

Panic rose inside Danny’s chest again at the thought of what Rudenko's men were going to do to him. The boot was claustrophobic. There wasn’t any air. And the handkerchief stuffed inside his mouth made it feel like he was suffocating. His whole body ached, the ties so tight he felt sure they were cutting deep into his skin.

Danny tried to compose himself. To listen. He heard boots on concrete. The driver door opening.

A pause.

Then the boot lock popped. Footsteps approaching the rear of the car. The cop? No, sounded bigger. Heavier.

One of Rudenko’s guys then. Coming to get him.

Shit. This is it. This is f*****g it.

The boot of the Mondeo opened. Early morning light spilled in.

Danny squinted. He saw a large figure stood over him. A gun in his right hand. The man reached in with his left. Ripped the neck ties away from Danny’s wrists and ankles. Followed soon after by the tie around his mouth.

Danny spat out the wet handkerchief.

His brain screamed run, but his arms and legs were too numb to carry out the command.

The man reached in again and grabbed him by the front of his hoodie. He hauled him out as if he weighed nothing. He put Danny down on his feet. Legs like jelly.

Danny looked up at the towering figure. It was Charlie—Breaker—or whatever he was called.

“What are you doing here?" Danny asked.

“Thought I’d finish you off myself,” Breaker said. “Just to make sure.”

Danny swallowed hard and stepped back. “Make it quick, yeah?”

Breaker paused a moment. He burst into laughter. “I’m pulling your leg, you soft bastard.” He held up the gun. “This is Price's backup.”

Breaker guided Danny around to the front of the car. The black BMW they’d stolen in China Town sat sideways across the front of the Mondeo. Its right-hand side crumpled. The front end of Price’s car even worse.

“Get in,” Breaker said.”We don’t have long before he wakes up."

Danny looked through the windscreen of the Mondeo. Price’s head was off to one side, moving slow and groggy. “Where are we going?” he asked Breaker, walking around the passenger side of the BMW. The feeling returning to all four limbs.

“We’re going to court,” Breaker said. “That’s if you still wanna testify?”

Danny looked at Breaker, fear replaced by an anger coursing through every vein. They’d threatened him, his sister and his mum. “f**k yeah,” he said.