For Your Own Protection(74)

The lights at the junction ahead were red. Michael was at the front of the queue of traffic.

Matt unclipped his seat belt. ‘I’m getting out.’

He leapt from the car, sprinting down the line of traffic. Drivers and passengers stared at him aghast as he flashed past their windows. Matt prayed the lights wouldn’t change to green before he reached Michael’s car.

They didn’t.

Matt skidded around to the front of Michael’s car, placing his hands on the warm bonnet as Michael looked on, first in horror, and then in confusion.

Matt ignored the cacophony of car horns as the lights changed to green. ‘Michael,’ he panted, ‘we really need your help.’





CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE


Michael powered down the driver’s side window. ‘You’d better get in,’ he shouted.

Matt slid into the front passenger seat. ‘Sorry about the dramatics.’

Michael cranked the car into gear. ‘Okay, okay,’ he shouted into the rear-view mirror, as several more horns blared. The car leapt forward, past the lights. ‘It was you who just pulled up outside my flat?’

‘Yes, me and Sean.’

‘I’m sorry I bolted like that. I thought you were someone else.’

‘I know the full story.’ Matt peered into the side mirror to confirm Sean was following. ‘I know about Samson. About the money and the drugs.’

‘You know about Alex and Rachel, too?’

‘Yes. Nick Samson, he’s taken Beth and Charlie.’

Michael’s eyes shot across to Matt, shocked. ‘What? Sean didn’t tell me . . .’

‘We only found out this morning.’

‘I’m so sorry, Matt.’

They passed through another busy intersection, and again Matt checked Sean was keeping up with the pace.

‘That’s why we came to speak with you. We need your help to get them back. Samson wants to exchange Beth and Charlie for the money and the drugs, at twelve noon. We’ve managed to get the drugs together . . .’

Michael reacted with surprise. ‘James has come back?’

‘No. We’ve sorted something else out. But it’s the money we’re having a problem with. We have twenty thousand that James left behind. But we need thirty more.’

‘I can help with that,’ Michael said, without hesitation.

Matt was taken aback by the swiftness of his offer. ‘Are you sure?’

‘One hundred per cent certain.’

‘Wow, that’s . . . well . . . fantastic. We’ll pay you back, of course.’

‘No need,’ Michael said. ‘Believe me, there’s nothing I’d rather do with the cash. If it helps me to sleep better at night, then it will be worth every penny. I’m sick of all this, Matt, I really am. The lies, the money, the drugs. It’s got to stop.’

‘How quickly can you get it?’

‘I have it already. It’s in the boot. Forty grand’s worth, won at Samson’s casino. I want rid of it. It’s blood money.’ Michael threw him a smile as they pulled up to a roundabout. ‘I couldn’t be happier to help, believe me. You know why I’m driving around with forty thousand pounds’ worth of used banknotes in my boot? Because I was about to run away. I was about to abandon everyone to this . . . this mess, and do what I thought offered me the best chance of survival. But surviving isn’t living, is it?’

Matt knew just what he meant.

‘I couldn’t do it, Matt. I couldn’t leave everyone. I wanted to see Rachel at the hospital, to say goodbye. But she’d left me a message, in my suitcase. It made me realise I had to stay. But I still didn’t know how I could help. How I could try and make things right. But now here you are.’

Matt didn’t need to understand everything Michael was talking about. But he did understand one thing: whatever his motives, whatever miracle message had convinced him to help, for Beth and Charlie it could be the difference between life and death.

It was fast approaching the agreed time for the rendezvous. Up ahead, a police car cruised from the opposite direction. Matt glanced at the two officers as it passed.

If only we had the support of the police.

But Sean had been clear, and he was right. Matt had to trust his judgement.

‘Where should I be going?’ Michael asked, as if suddenly snapping out of autopilot and finding himself behind the wheel without direction.

Matt regathered his thoughts as he watched the patrol car in the side mirror as it disappeared from view. ‘I don’t know.’

‘You don’t know where you’re meeting for the exchange?’

‘They said they’d call us, half an hour before.’

Michael checked the dashboard clock. ‘So, in just under an hour.’

Matt’s phone rang. It was Sean on his hands-free.

‘Matt. Is everything okay?’ Sean said.

‘Yes, fine. I’ve just been explaining things to Michael. He’s got the money and he wants to help.’

‘That’s good to hear. Have you heard back from Harvey yet?’

‘No.’

There was a slight pause. ‘We’re running out of time.’

‘I know, I know. Maybe I should give him a call. See how things are going.’