Cold Revenge (Willis/Carter #6)(29)

Douglas sat around the fire pit with the others, smoking weed and drinking beer, before he took Cathy into his bed. He could see it annoyed Nicola but he didn’t care. He was keeping this whole way of life going; everyone was there because of him. Cathy sat up in bed afterwards and talked non-stop, about her excitement in life, all the countries she wanted to go to, all the money she wanted to make.

‘And you will do it all, I believe you.’

They went out to join the others.

Ash walked over to the bungalow.

‘How’s your mum?’ asked Millie, sitting at Douglas’s feet, joint in her hand.

Millie inhaled deeply and then ejected the smoke in a fit of laughter that she couldn’t control, it was contagious, and soon they were all laughing. Ash didn’t join in. His mother had been sectioned. She’d gone into town and exposed herself and ranted and screamed and been taken away.

‘Stop it!’ Nicola stood and went across to Ash. ‘We don’t mean it, Ashy baby.’ She tried to kiss him, but he turned away.

Douglas laughed and, as Ash turned to leave, he picked him up bear-hug style and carried him through the sliding doors into the sitting room.

‘Nicola, Millie, come on, you owe Ash a birthday present, he’s sixteen, he deserves to have a little female attention.’

Ash tried to laugh, tried to get away. His arms were held tight by Douglas as the others came in from the patio to watch.

Nicola came across as Douglas held him tightly, and began kissing him as he twisted his mouth away. He began fighting harder against Douglas but the grip only increased. Ash was angry now but still trying to show he understood it was a joke. He asked to be let go, he asked again. Douglas kept on ignoring him and laughing and he called Gavin over to help him hold on to Ash. Millie undid his flies and wriggled his jeans down.

She picked up his penis, floppy and small, and began sucking. Ash tried to kick her away but she kept returning and every time his cock grew harder and stronger. Nicola came to suck him and Ash was caught in the agony of embarrassment and sorrow and disgust and unstoppable orgasm.

Ash tried to laugh it off afterwards as he hung about for a beer. When he finally got away, he walked back over to sit in his van. A horrible feeling of doom hovered over him. He curled up on the bunk where his mother slept and he stared out of the window. Douglas’s warning was clear. Ash had decided he would phone his gran again and push her to take responsibility for his mum. That he was dispensable to Douglas was obvious, and he was alone, isolated. Ash knew he had to go and get his mum settled and then he had to come back for Heather as soon as he could. Now Ash had nothing left but fear in his heart.

In the morning Douglas slept in. It was late by the time he decided to face the job of disposing of Darren’s body.

Douglas came out into the sitting room where Stephen was already up and drinking coffee. Yvonne was in his lap, still sleepy. Stephen and Cathy had slept together on the floor of the sitting room and their mattress and sheets were still spread out. Gavin was still dozing, Cathy sat up and pulled her T-shirt on over her head before searching for her knickers. Douglas could smell them, with their rancid smell of yesterday’s sex and sweat and mess and dirt, and he nudged Stephen with his foot.

‘Get washed. I need your help.’

Douglas went outside to check on his van and smelt it as soon as he got near. The nights were getting hot. The body was in a bag, swimming in its own juices.

‘It stinks.’ He turned to see a figure standing behind him. It was Saul the farrier. ‘What you got in there?’

‘It’s not what’s in there, it’s what’s under the van and on the tyre. I went to a slaughterhouse in the week where they were washing the yard, and most of it went over my van.’

‘The van looks clean to me.’

Douglas always went through the car wash with it once a week.

‘It’s underneath,’ he said.

Saul nodded but he didn’t take his eyes off Douglas.

‘When’s your next party?’ asked Saul.

‘Why? Are you coming?’ Douglas smiled.

‘I don’t have to come, I can hear it from where I am, can’t I? I was thinking of putting livestock on the fields. I can’t do it if your party-goers are going to trespass and worry the sheep.’

‘Next party is in a few weeks. We may have a few friends over before that but I’ll keep them out of your fields, make sure they don’t barbecue any of your sheep.’

‘They’d better not, otherwise they will be next in the fire,’ Saul said, without a smile.

Douglas watched Saul walk back; he hopped athletically over his gate and strode away up the field. Douglas went back inside the bungalow. Nicola was planning the evening. It was going to involve plenty of drink and drugs. Douglas didn’t want to waste time now. He needed to deal with his problem in the van. He looked at Stephen and called him out.

‘We have work to do. We’ll take Gavin too.’

‘Now?’

‘Yes, sooner we go, sooner we get back and enjoy the evening, work has to come first.’

‘What is it? Weed? Pills?’ Stephen asked.

‘Something like that.’ He could see by Stephen’s face that he knew it was going to be like last time. Stephen and Gavin were the two that Douglas trusted most. Ash accepted everything Douglas asked him to do through fear. Stephen did it for the excitement it gave his over-privileged life. He wanted to bum about his whole life and inherit when it came to it. Gavin was all about the drugs and the drink and the sex, he didn’t care what he did to get it.