True Colours:The You Don't Know Me Trilogy Book 2(59)

'What are they going to tell us?' Dan asks. 'They won't put their jobs  on the line for the truth. Let's just get back to Lambeth. I need to  think.'

***

I slip into a daze during the journey back, aware of Dan checking on me  every now and then, of Clive making calls, confirming that Beefy's been  found with nothing more than a mild concussion. When we finally arrive  in the garage, Dan ushers me out of the car and waits with me while  Clive does his best to rouse Sara, propping her up as she staggers to  the lift. Upstairs, I insist that I'm fine, certainly fit enough to put  my sister to bed in the guest room. By the time I leave her, she's  snoring like a pig, blissfully unaware of the chaos she's just caused. I  console myself with the fact that she'll have one hell of a hangover in  the morning. As far as I'm concerned, she deserves it.

Downstairs, I join the men at the breakfast bar.

'Are you okay?' Dan touches me on the back.

'Fine.' I let out a jittery breath.

'We'll call the police.' He turns his mobile in his hands. 'Boyd's gone  far enough.' He's about to say something else when the phone begins to  buzz. He checks the screen, his expression icing over. From where I'm  sitting, I can see it's an unknown number.

'Boyd?' I ask.

'I don't know.'

'Put it on speaker.'

He shakes his head. 'If it's him, you shouldn't have to listen.'

'I'm not an idiot, Dan. I told you not to keep me in the dark. Now answer it.'

With a sigh, he complies. Laying the phone on the counter top, he raises  an index finger to his lips, warning me to stay silent before he  accepts the call.

At first, there's nothing but the sound of breathing. My stomach knots.  At last, I hear a voice. The Scottish lilt is unmistakable.

'I'm not happy.'

'And I don't give a shit,' Dan growls. 'How did you get this number?'

'I have my ways. You won't trace this phone, by the way. A stolen mobile  is a wonderful thing. Use it once and chuck it in the river. Is Maya  there?'

I cringe at the sound of my name coming from that mouth.

'No.' A hand slides across my thigh. 'Why are you calling?'

'I'd just like to make sure we have no outside involvement.'

'Attempted kidnap is a crime.'

'If you say so, Mr Foster.'

'If I say so? You've gone a step too fucking far.'

'But still  …  if you know what's good for you.'

Chewing at his bottom lip, Dan glares at the phone. In silence, I watch as the flecks of copper seem to glow in his eyes.

'Are you threatening me?' he demands slowly.

'Just giving you some advice.'

'And I'll give you some back,' he snaps. 'This has gone far enough,  Boyd. Maya's not interested. She's with me. Get that into your thick  head.'

'Marry in haste, repent at leisure.' Boyd laughs. 'And that's some advice for you, Maya.'

Dan's face floods with confusion. I can only guess he hasn't seen the newspaper yet.

'And anyway,' Boyd goes on. 'It's not just about Maya any more. You've  been poking your nose into every part of my life, dragging up my past,  and I don't like it. I feel violated, Mr Swanky Pants. You've been  playing dirty, trying to destroy me.'         

     



 

'You need to be destroyed.'

'Do you know what he's been up to now, Maya?'

'She's not here.'

Ignoring him, Boyd pushes on.

'Bribery. He's been bribing women to lie about me.'

I turn to Dan, pinning him down with a good glower, wondering what the  hell he's been doing, and when he's had a chance to do it. I can only  suppose he made a few calls from Bermuda  …  behind my back.

'You abused those women.'

'Really, Daniel. You shouldn't believe everything you're told. An old  soak of an ex-copper isn't a trustworthy source, believe you me. And not  a single one of those women blabbed. Doesn't that tell you something?'

'That they're terrified of you.'

'Or maybe there's nothing to blab about.' Boyd pauses, his breath coming  fast and heavy. He's clearly agitated now. 'You need to stop your witch  hunt, Mr Foster. It's going nowhere. And another thing, you need to  leave my friends alone.'

'You don't have any friends.'

'Oh, yes I do. And you upset them last night, marauding your way through  Isaac's lovely little club. That wasn't very gentlemanly. We've seen  your true colours now, haven't we, Daniel? I wonder if Maya knows what  you're really like. Does she know what you did to that boy? That you  threatened an elderly man?'

Both elbows on the counter, Dan lowers his head.

'They're not innocent.'

'Maybe not. But you can't prove a thing. So, you can go to the police if  you like and then we'll see what happens. Isaac's ready to press  charges, by the way, and so is the feckless kid with the broken nose.'

'I don't care.'

'Really? So, what do you care about then? Or should I say who?'

Another prolonged silence hangs over us before Boyd begins to work his  way through a list of the people in our lives, pausing between each  sentence, making it perfectly obvious that he's in the know.

'How about the old farties who live at your house? Or the ditzy teenager  and her deadbeat mum? How about Clive and his delicious girlfriend,  Lucy?'

Dan's fists tighten into balls.

'And how about you come out of the shadows and deal with this face to face?'

Boyd laughs again.

'And how about Maya's family? Or yours? Your two sisters? Or  half-sisters, should I say? They both have children, you know. Think  about it, Daniel, old boy. Take your nose out of my business, call off  your private detectives  …  and leave the police out of it.'

The line goes dead.

It's me who speaks first.

'What have you been up to?'

'You heard him.' Shoving back his stool, Dan paces across the kitchen, leans against a work surface and stares at the floor.

'And I want to hear it from you.'

He runs his fingers through his hair. 'We got a few names. Women he'd  … '  He can't bring himself to say any more. 'We thought we could get them  to talk. But they won't.'

'Boyd told you to back off,' I remind him.

'I know that. I thought we could nail him.'

'You obviously can't.' My thoughts shift. 'And how does he have your phone number?'

'No idea.' He shrugs. 'I can't work it out. The bastard's always one  step ahead.' He thinks for a minute. 'Maybe we should just go to the  police.'

'No,' Clive interrupts. 'You heard what he said. You'll be the one who  ends up in prison, not him. And no amount of money's going to keep  everyone safe.'

'It's bluster.' Dan scowls.

'And you're prepared to test that out?' Clive demands. 'Just do what he  says, Dan. Back off for a while. And do it properly this time. You've  got no choice.'





Chapter Twenty-Six


He slipped out of bed at first light. Vaguely conscious of the movement,  I sank back off to sleep, dreaming of shadows and darkness and despair.

When I eventually wake again, I lie on the bed, recalling the events of  yesterday, eventually remembering that my semi-comatose idiot of a  sister is right next door. And that's enough to rouse me. Getting up, I  pull on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, freshen up in the bathroom and  make my way downstairs. I find him sitting at the counter, ploughing  through a bowl of muesli. Sitting up straight, he beckons me into his  embrace.

'Where have you been?' I ask. I'm sounding pathetic and I don't like it.

'What's the matter? Can't my woman survive without me?'         

     



 

'Your woman can manage perfectly well, thank you.' I punch him in the  stomach, making no impact whatsoever. 'Where have you been?'

'Can't you guess?'

I take a few seconds to examine him. Dressed in jogging bottoms and a T-shirt, he's clearly sweaty and flushed in the face.

'Out for a run.' He skims a finger round the hem of my shorts, catching  my bare flesh here and there. I tingle inside. 'Life might be a mess,  but I've got to stay fit.'

'I hope you took security with you.'

'No. I left security right here. Outside the door.'

'Dan.'

'What?' He pouts.

'You're a target, just like everybody else.'

'Don't be ridiculous.' With a grimace, he takes a sip of coffee. 'Besides, I can handle myself.'

I dig my face into his neck, drinking in his musky smell.

'Mmm. I actually love your sweat. It's all manly. Is that disgusting?'

'Utterly.' He smiles archly. 'If your sister wasn't in bed upstairs, I'd fuck you right now on this breakfast bar.'

'Why don't you chance it?'

We smile at each other like a pair of teenagers, and I'm sure he's about  to rise to the challenge when we're disturbed by a slammed door.  Peeling myself out of his grasp, I take a seat by his side.

With her hair unkempt and her make-up smudged, my sister stomps down the  wooden staircase. Stopping for a split second, she eyes us warily.

'Good morning, Sara.' Dan slides an arm around my back. 'Sobered up?'

'Sort of.' Unsteady on her feet, she slopes over to join us.

While the seconds crawl past in silence, Dan goes back to his breakfast  and Sara settles herself down at the opposite side of the counter. I  really ought to offer her a cup of tea, but I'm not sure it's a good  idea to turn my back on these two. The air's suddenly charged.

'I'm sorry,' she begins. 'For yesterday.'

'Do you actually remember any of it?' I ask.

'Not really. I was supposed to meet James.' She shakes her head and  winces. 'But he bailed, and then I called you  …  and then I was in a  bathroom.'