ASBO: A Novel of Extreme Terror(51)

Andrew’s heart froze, along with every other muscle of his body. The next several seconds passed like an eternity as Frankie and his family fumbled about in a flailing scuffle.

Frankie pushed Bex against her mother and stepped away from them both. Andrew saw the blood immediately. Then he saw the scissors jutting out from his daughter’s stomach as she fell to the floor in shock. Pen looked down at Bex and let out an inhuman wail. She lunged at Frankie again, aiming her sharp fingernails at his remorseless eyes.

Frankie struck out with his knife. Pen stumbled right into it. There was no sound as the blade entered the soft tissue of her throat and for a moment Andrew wasn’t sure if the injury was as real as it looked. When blood spurted, high enough to coat the ceiling, the reality of the situation became undeniably real.

“Stupid bitch,” said Frankie, looking down at Pen as she slumped to the carpet. “Dom, Jordan, pick up Michelle. We’re leaving.”

Andrew dropped to his knees, oblivious to the fleeing youths who had made his life hell before destroying it completely. The only thing that existed in his life right now was Penelope and Rebecca, and both of them were dying on the living room floor.





Chapter Nineteen


“Shit man. This is bad. Why the hell did you do that, Frankie?” Davie struggled to keep up with the others as they ran deeper into the estate, passing by rows of houses that became progressively smaller and unkempt. Usually Davie would have been faster than the lot of them, but with his throbbing concussion he could manage no more than a lolloping run.

Frankie slowed down ahead and allowed Davie to catch up. “Bitch had it coming,” he said. “She came at me like a nutcase, you saw it.”

“I saw you drive a knife into her neck when you could have just as easily punched her.”

Frankie shrugged. It was an awkward movement to make while running. “It’s done now. No point stressing about it.”

Davie reached out and grabbed his brother’s jacket, dragging them both to a stop. “You’re trippin’. The police will be after us all within the next two minutes. There’s two women bleeding to death because of you!”

Frankie huffed. “Because of us.”

Davie shook his head, dismayed by the suggestion that he was in any way to blame. “What the hell did I do?”

“You distracted me enough that Andrew could take a shot at me. Everything went schitzo after that. If you’d just kept your gob shut then everything would have been okay. I was just about to let them go. Figured I’d scared them enough to get the message.”

“Bullshit,” said Davie, hoping there was no truth to his brother’s words. If there was then Davie was indeed responsible. “You told everyone you were going to kill the guy.”

“Course I did,” said Frankie. “I wanted Andrew to shit himself. I weren’t going to do it, though. You think I’m a complete muppet or something?”

Davie shook his head. He was feeling dizzy again and couldn’t wait to find his way to bed. Were his actions really the cause of what had happened? Davie wasn’t sure he could live with himself if they were. He stared at Frankie and concentrated on his brother’s reactions. “You were really just going to let them go?”

Frankie put a hand on Davie’s shoulder and looked him dead in the eye. “I swear! They were just at the breaking point where they would have been never said a word to no one for fear that I would come after them again. The pigs would never have ever known. Now though…”

“What are we going to do?”

Frankie patted Davie on the back and got them both moving again. Up ahead, the twins and a semi-conscious Michelle were waiting for them. “We’re going to go see a mate of mine and lay low for a while at his gaff. We’ll get our stories straight and decide what we’re going to do then.”

Davie nodded. “Okay. Who’s this mate? Can we trust him?”

“Yeah,” said Frankie. “It’s him I’ve been dealing product for. Well, his old man, really, but he’s in the nick for a stretch.”

“Maybe, we should just go home instead. Get mum to tell the police that we’ve been home all night if they ask.”

“You really want to rely on that drunk bitch to keep a story straight?”

Davie shrugged and looked down at the ground. “Guess not.”

They caught up with the twins and Michelle at the end of the street, just as they passed by a group of shops and a grotty old pub called The Trumpet.