ASBO: A Novel of Extreme Terror(64)

Chapter Twenty-Four


Davie waited anxiously for Frankie to get off the phone. His brother was clutching the mobile so tight to his face that it was threatening to crack his skull. Davie didn’t know who was on the other end of the call, or even what was being said, but he could tell one thing for certain: things were bad.

“No f*ckin’ way!” Frankie screamed into the phone. “I can’t believe it. How the hell did it happen?”

After several more minutes of shouting and cursing, Frankie ended the call and put the phone back in his jean pocket. He then proceeded to stand there saying nothing, staring at an invisible spot in the sky. His twitch was acting up again and his whole face seemed to be breakdancing.

“What is it?” Davie asked. “What’s happened?”

Frankie lowered his gaze slowly until it focused on his brother. “Jordan’s dead.”

Davie could not have cared less about the twins, but the shock of hearing something so unexpected hit Davie in his stomach like a lead-filled boxing glove. There was no way Jordan could be dead.

I saw him last night.

Frankie elaborated. “That f*cker bowled up to him at the hospital and gutted him like a fish.”

Davie suddenly felt hot; a fire in his stomach radiated throughout his entire body. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You mean Andrew did this?”

Frankie nodded angrily. “Dom heard a nurse give a description to the police. It was definitely him. Fucker’s dead meat.”

Davie still couldn’t believe it. Andrew committing murder was insane. “What was Jordan doing at the hospital anyway? He should have known Andrew would be there with his family.”

“He was getting his face checked out. Dom said he almost fainted this morning because it was so infected. He had no choice but to go the hospital.”

“Is Dom still at the hospital now? What about Andrew?”

“Dom’s out looking for the piece of shit as we speak. He’ll kill the guy if he finds him. Works out well for us, actually.”

Davie couldn’t understand how calm his brother was being. Hadn’t Jordan been his friend? “What do you mean it works out well for us?”

Frankie shrugged as if the answer was obvious. “Because the guy’s a problem and needs dealing with. If Dom gets to him first then we don’t have to worry about him coming after us.”

“You think that’s going to happen? You think Andrew is planning to do the same to us as he did Jordan?”

“Seems likely,” said Frankie. “The reason Jordan was alone when he got stabbed was that his brother had gone to look for that guy’s family – to see if they were still alive and whether or not we’re facing a murder charge.”

“And are we?”

“Yes and no. The girl’s okay, apparently, but the old dear snuffed it about the same time that Jordan did. Messed up, if you think about it.”

You don’t have to think about it to see that the whole thing is f*cked up, Frankie. I could have told you that from the start.

“So you see,” said Frankie, “if Dom gets to Andrew first he’s doing us all a favour. The police are after his ass, his wife is dead, and he has nothing else left to lose by coming after us.”

“He still has a daughter,” said Davie, holding on to the fact that they had not taken away absolutely everything from the man.

“Yeah he does,” Frankie nodded, “good thinking, little bro. We still have something to use against him if we need to.”

“Fuck sake, man!” Davie felt like beating the shit out of his brother. If only he could have. “Have you not done enough damage? I can’t believe you’re still thinking about hurting people.”

“Chill the f*ck out!”

Davie shoved Frankie hard in the chest. “No, you chill the f*ck out! I’m so out of here. You can go right to hell for all I care.”

Davie turned away from his brother and started walking.

“You get back here right now!” Frankie shouted after him. “We need to stick together with that psycho on the loose, you hear me?”

Davie turned back around and started marching back towards his brother. “You don’t get it, do you, Frankie? The only psychopath here is you. You belong in jail, man. They should never have let you out”

Frankie pulled out his gun and pointed it in Davie’s face.