Cold Revenge (Willis/Carter #6)(30)

Cathy was told to go and get Ash. She found him in his van.

‘Ash?’

‘Leave me alone, please.’

‘I just wanted to say don’t worry, it’s no big deal.’ He didn’t turn around. ‘Don’t worry about anything, Ash, the sex thing, it was just a laugh. Don’t take any notice, it’s just what they do. They think it’s funny. They wouldn’t mind if someone did it to them, so they don’t really get it.’

He turned around and looked at her and realised that Cathy wasn’t alone. Douglas was behind the door. Douglas stepped out and put his arm around Cathy’s waist.

‘How’s it going?’ Douglas asked.

‘I was just telling Ash you need him. And I wanted to see if he was okay,’ she answered.

Ash sat up. He was stripped to the waist, his skin brown, his wiry body changing into brawn from the work on the farm.

‘He’s all right, of course he is, he got sucked off by two women. My God, you’d have to pay a lot of money for that. You should ask Heather if she wants to see how it’s done, Ash. Ask her if she wants to watch and learn.’ He laughed and Ash turned away.

‘I’m only kidding, for feck’s sake! I’m sorry, Ash. Thought you’d find it funny. Hey, didn’t mean to upset you, little man. I have great plans for all of you. Never doubt that, Ash.’

Douglas laughed and moved Cathy in the direction of the bungalow.

‘Ash, get your arse into gear. I need you,’ he called back over his shoulder.

Ash had to sit in the back of the van and he couldn’t stretch his legs out because the old bag that was tied with string and stretched in places was taking up all the space. The curve of a skull, the shape of a shoulder pushed against the bag as the dead body rocked with the movement of the vehicle.

‘Who is it?’ asked Ash. Gavin glanced across at Douglas.

Douglas looked in the mirror at Ash.

‘It was someone who tried to stitch me up over a deal. He pulled a knife on me; I stuck him first.’

Stephen laughed. ‘Fuck him!’

‘Yeah.’ Gavin laughed too.

‘Does it matter who it is?’ asked Douglas. ‘Don’t we all stick together? If you or Gavin here have any trouble with anyone, then Stephen and me are going to be at your side and, you remember that, we are chained together, where one link goes we all follow.’

‘To hell and back.’ Stephen grinned and ended with a whoop out of the window.

‘Saul noticed the smell,’ said Douglas as the van fell silent.

‘He’s a fucking queer weirdo,’ said Gavin. ‘He watches us, you know, at the yard. I’ve seen him sometimes, at his window upstairs. I reckon he watches us a lot.’

‘What do you think, Ash, does he watch us?’

‘I think Saul is okay.’

‘You think so?’ Glances were exchanged between the others.

‘I don’t know,’ Ash said, back-tracking.

‘No . . . well, we’ll see. We may have to stop him spying on us,’ Douglas said, glancing across at Gavin.

Ash sat quietly for the rest of the journey. As they blasted down the road the movement of the van caused the body to roll slightly and release more odour. Stephen opened his window right down to get rid of the smell.

Douglas pulled off the main road and took the road back to Lambs Farm.

‘Stay here,’ Douglas said, as he got out to make sure they were alone.

This wasn’t ideal for Douglas, it was still daytime: it was light and hot, but he couldn’t wait. Next time, he told himself, he wouldn’t sleep on it; it had been an unnecessary risk. He should have buried Darren by himself but he had to be sure everyone was involved.

He opened the back of the van, Ash got out and Douglas handed Stephen and Ash shovels.

Gavin and Douglas slid out the plastic sheet that the body in the black bin liner was resting on and placed it on the ground. Douglas sent Gavin into the back of the van to unhook a cart from the side. He dropped it off the back of the van and they loaded the body inside the high-sided rectangular trolley used to transport bags of horse feed.

‘Stephen, go up there with Ash to dig out the chest.’

Ash knew where he was going, as he was in the same field as last time. The soil gave way easily. They went back down to the van to help bring up the body. The field was steep.

Gavin dragged it up the field, pulling the dead weight behind him as Douglas pushed the cart uphill. They reached the grave and tipped him in from the crate. Douglas reached in and cut through the plastic and Darren’s body squelched out from his bin-bag womb.

He ended up on his front. The stench of decomposing flesh was overwhelming. Stephen began to vomit. Gavin and Ash started filling in the grave.

Saul the farrier looked out of his window and saw the flames rise acrid and orange, black soot and firing sparks ripping up into the air with a haze of heat around them. Ash’s van was on fire. He watched Truscott come running up the lane, scrabbling across the field, and he saw Nicola and Douglas come out onto their patio and start to walk across. Saul moved to his kitchen and looked over to Heather’s house. He could see her at her bedroom window, she was hitting the glass with the palm of her hands until suddenly he saw her father appear and the curtains were pulled shut.

He went back to watch from his sitting-room window. Now the flames were in danger of setting the whole hedge alight. But nothing was going to put this fire out now.