Brutal, page 13
Nick pulled a face and took a step back.
‘Get on with it, then. But don’t try anything, ’cos I’ll be out here listening.’
Frank nodded and closed the door. Alone at last, he leaned his back against the wood and inhaled deeply, soaking up the familiar scents of the soap and the pine toilet cleaner in an effort to clear the smell of the cigarettes and the men’s combined body odours out of his nostrils.
‘Oh, Maureen, what have I done?’ he whispered, squeezing his eyes shut. ‘What the hell have I done?’
‘Who you talking to?’ Nick barked, rattling the handle. ‘You’d better not have another phone in there, or I swear to God I’ll blow your fuckin’ head off!’
Frank quickly unlocked the door and held up his hands to show that he didn’t have a phone.
‘I was talking to myself,’ he said, falling against the door frame when the man barged past him and scanned the room. ‘And it was force of habit to lock it, but I’ll leave it open this time.’
‘Nah, I ain’t taking chances,’ Nick said. ‘Do what you gotta do, and hurry up.’
Frank couldn’t pretend that he needed to sit down with the man watching him, so he unzipped his fly and tried to urinate instead. But nothing happened.
Losing patience, Nick booted him in the back of his thigh.
‘I told you to hurry up, dickhead!’
‘I can’t go with you watching me,’ Frank croaked, putting his hand on the wall to keep his legs from buckling.
‘You trying to tell me you’ve never had a slash in front of another bloke?’
‘Not one who’s aiming a gun at me, no.’
‘Right, fuck this,’ Nick said, pushing Frank back out onto the landing. ‘You’ve had your chance, so don’t bother asking me to fetch you up again.’
Evening crawled into night, and Frank’s body stiffened as he sat rigidly in his chair while the others watched a seemingly endless stream of Christmas films. Irena had nodded off, her head resting on Karel’s chest, and Frank guessed that the men, who were halfway through their second bottle of whisky, wouldn’t be too far behind if their drooping eyes were anything to go by.
Karel had placed the shotgun on the coffee table, and a plan began to form in Frank’s mind as his gaze drifted to it. It was closer to them than it was to him, and Nick still had the handgun stuffed in his waistband. But if both men closed their eyes, even for a second, he could easily grab it and use it to secure his escape. And once he was safely out of here, he would warn Evan and Marie to get out of their house and then call the police.
Karel suddenly stretched and sat up straighter, killing Frank’s hopes of getting his hands on the gun.
‘I’m going to bed,’ he said, nudging Irena awake before standing up. ‘Go and get it warm for me. We’re having the big room at the front.’
‘That is Frankie’s room,’ she told him quietly as she sleepily rose to her feet.
‘It’s ours now,’ he said, narrowing his eyes as he added, ‘Unless there’s a reason why you don’t want to sleep in there with me?’
‘His wife die in bed,’ she said. ‘And I do not want to sleep with death.’
‘I’ll have that one, then,’ Nick said, covering a yawn with his hand as he, too, stood up.
‘What about him?’ Irena nodded in Frank’s direction.
‘He’s going in the cellar,’ Karel said, gesturing for Frank to get up.
‘Is too cold,’ Irena argued.
Karel narrowed his eyes.
‘Why do you care if he’s cold?’
‘I do not care about him,’ she replied evenly. ‘But if he freeze, we lose everything. I have wait long time for you to leave prison and join me here, and I have suffer, so I do not want to risk him die before he sign papers.’
Karel pursed his thick lips thoughtfully. Then, nodding, he said, ‘OK, he can sleep with his dead wife. Nick’ll stay with him and keep an eye on him.’
‘You can fuck that right off,’ Nick protested.
If Frank had been in any doubt as to who was in control, Karel made it clear when he seized his friend by the throat and stared into his eyes.
‘Who’s the boss here? Me or you?’
‘You,’ Nick spluttered.
‘Dead right,’ Karel said, releasing his grip and patting the man’s cheek none too gently. ‘And don’t forget it again, or you know what’ll happen.’
‘I still don’t see why I’ve got to kip with him,’ Nick muttered, rubbing his throat, on which the imprints of Karel’s fingertips were blossoming. ‘Give him some shit to knock him out if you’re scared he’s going to escape.’
‘Right, here . . .’ Karel took a small clear plastic bag containing tablets out of his pocket and tossed it to him.
‘You don’t have to do that,’ Frank said. ‘I’ve already told you I’m not going to try anything.’
‘And I’ve already told you it’s better to be safe than sorry,’ Karel relied smoothly, putting his arm around Irena’s waist and picking up the shotgun before ushering her out of the room.
‘Just you and me now, Frankie boy,’ Nick grinned, shaking four of the tablets out of the bag before sliding his gun out of his waistband. ‘Here you go.’ He handed the tablets over. ‘Take them, then open your gob so I can make sure you’ve swallowed ’em.’
‘I can’t swallow them dry,’ Frank said tersely. ‘I need water.’
‘Get ’em down your fuckin’ neck,’ Nick barked, swinging his arm back.
‘OK!’ Frank conceded, ducking his already injured head. ‘I’ll take them.’
‘Good lad,’ Nick sneered, watching as Frank stuffed the tablets into his mouth. ‘Keep this up, and you an’ me are gonna get along all right.’
Frank flashed him a venomous look as he forced himself to swallow the foul-tasting tablets. Karel was a dangerous man, he’d already seen that, but Nick was a dangerous idiot, and Frank would have to tread very carefully with him if he was to stand a chance of getting through this.
20
Frank’s head was throbbing when he woke up, and he was confused to see that he was still dressed when he sat up and caught sight of his reflection in the dressing-table mirror. Frowning when he noticed a trail of dried blood down the side of his face and an angry-looking scab on his temple, he gingerly touched it and winced. It was really tender, and he wondered if he’d had one too many whiskies last night and taken a tumble.
The distinctive beeping of a reversing vehicle coming from outside cut through the fog in Frank’s brain, and he shoved the quilt off his legs and staggered over to the window when he heard male voices. Squinting in the bright daylight that assaulted his eyes when he drew the curtain aside, he frowned when he saw three men unhooking a shabby caravan from the back of a Transit van. About to open the window to ask them what the hell they thought they were doing, he hesitated when another man emerged from the porch below and pointed toward the back of the house. The man suddenly turned his head, and Frank inhaled sharply when memories of the previous day rushed back to him at the sight of his face.
At the sound of the key turning in the lock behind him, Frank snapped his head round and stared at Irena when she walked in carrying a steaming cup.
‘Oh, you are awake,’ she said, hesitating by the door. ‘How are you feel?’
‘How the hell do you think I feel?’ he snapped.
Irena’s eyes widened. Immediately feeling guilty, Frank sank down on his chair and raked his hands through his hair.
‘Sorry,’ he apologized. ‘I didn’t mean to shout.’
‘Is OK,’ she said, eyeing him warily as she came further into the room and placed the cup on the bedside table.
‘No, it’s not,’ Frank countered, gazing over at her. ‘Nothing about this is OK, and I’m really struggling to believe you’re doing this of your own free will. You said you loved me.’
‘It was lie.’ Irena shrugged.
‘If that’s true, why lie to Karel about us?’ Frank asked. ‘If you getting with me was part of the plan, he’d have been all right with it, but you denied anything happened when he asked you.’
‘I do not need to explain myself to you,’ Irena said, turning to the door.
‘No, you don’t,’ Frank agreed. ‘But I don’t really need you to, to be honest, because I can see what’s going on. Karel’s forced you into this, because he controls you, same as he controls that other one – Nick, or whatever his name is.’
‘You are wrong,’ Irena insisted. ‘Karel is passionate man, and you mistake this for control. But you know nothing.’
Frank could tell by the proud tilt of her chin that she didn’t want to believe – or admit – that her relationship with Karel might not be everything she’d convinced herself it was.
‘I’m not trying to upset you,’ he said softly. ‘But I don’t believe that everything we had was a lie. You might have set out to trick me, but I think your feelings changed when you got to know me, and you started to enjoy being here. Am I wrong?’
‘Yes,’ she said, bluntly. ‘Karel is only man I love.’
‘Then why sleep with me, when you knew I’d have let you stay in Jo’s room for as long as you needed without strings?’ Frank asked. ‘And why did you have to drag Evan into it? If the plan was to get in here and take the farm off me, why couldn’t you leave him out of it?’
‘He got in way,’ Irena said. ‘And I do not want to talk any more. Drink tea. I will bring food later.’
‘I know you’re scared I’ll tell Karel what we did, but I’m not going to do that,’ Frank said before she stepped out onto the landing. ‘All I ask in return is that you think about what you’re doing, and if there’s any small part of you that still cares about me, please help me to get out of this before it goes any further.’
Irena glanced back at him and chewed on her lip as if she wanted to say something. But just as Frank thought he had got through to her, someone called her name, and she quickly left the room, locking the door behind her.
Frank turned back to the window and saw Irena walk outside a few seconds later and go over to Karel. Unable to watch when the man pulled her up against him and kissed her full on the lips, Frank got up off the chair and walked round the bed to get the drink she’d left for him. Now that he’d remembered the tablets Nick had forced him to take, he sniffed the steaming liquid before taking a tentative sip. It smelled and tasted normal, and he assumed they must be reserving the drugs for night-time use, to make sure he was incapable of escaping.
Confident that the tea was safe to drink, Frank carried the cup back to his chair and watched through the net curtain as the Transit van was driven away and the caravan was pushed out of sight down the side of the house.
When Irena headed back inside a short time later, and Karel and the other men disappeared from view, Frank gazed out over the barren landscape and wondered how the hell he was going to get through this. The idea of marrying Irena and making a new will in her favour was ludicrous, and he couldn’t believe that Karel thought it was going to be that easy. But they knew damn well that he would do anything to protect his children, so there was nothing he could do to stop them.
‘Yet.’
The word slipped out from Frank’s lips and took him by surprise, but it reminded him that all was not yet lost. It took time to organize a wedding – even one where there would be no genuine guests to cater for. They would have to apply for a licence and book a slot at the registry office. And, while they waited, they would have to keep him alive – which would give him time to find a way out of this.
21
Frank was still at the window when the Transit van came back two hours later, and he sat forward in his seat when it reversed onto the drive. Nick walked into view and opened its back doors, and Frank’s eyebrows rose when four young women climbed out and looked around as if they had no idea where they were.
Karel strolled out from the porch, and Frank saw that he was grinning as he approached the group. One of the girls smiled back at him, and Frank guessed she was trying to impress him when she flicked her long black hair over her shoulders and straightened her back.
Irena had obviously noticed, too, because she marched over to the group with a tense expression on her face and quickly ushered the girls inside.
Curious to know what was going on, Frank rushed to the door and pressed his ear against the wood.
Downstairs, Irena had lined the girls up in the hallway.
‘Why are we here?’ one of them asked, gazing around in confusion. ‘This is not what I was promise.’
Nick walked in before Irena could answer, and said, ‘OK, ladies, hand your shit over, then Reeny’ll get you settled in.’
‘I need to call my mother and let her know I have arrive,’ another girl said, clutching the holdall she was carrying to her stomach.
‘Don’t worry, we’ll let your folks know you got here safe and sound,’ Nick said, holding out his hand. ‘Come on . . . give it up.’
‘I think there is mistake,’ the first girl piped up. ‘Alexander promise me apartment in city, so I am not stay here.’
Nick snapped his head round and stared at her through narrowed eyes.
‘You’ll stay wherever I say you’re staying,’ he said, all trace of joviality gone. ‘Now shut your gob, and hand your bag over. Unless you want me to take it off you? In fact, why don’t I do that anyway?’
‘Get off me!’ the girl protested, her voice high-pitched with fear as she clung on to her bag. ‘I want see Alexander, or I will—’
Nick lashed her across the face with the back of his hand, and then grabbed her by the hair.
‘Let’s get one thing straight, bitch,’ he spat. ‘I’m the boss here, and you’ll do as you’re told if you ever wanna see your family again.
‘And that goes for you lot, an’ all . . .’ He looked at each of the others in turn. ‘You owe us a shitload of money for fetching you over here, and you’ll be working for us till it’s paid off. Now quit your snivelling, and get your fuckin’ arses upstairs before the rest of you get what she’s about to get.’
At the sound of footsteps stumbling up the stairs, Frank pressed his ear harder against the door. He could hear crying and guessed that the girls were beginning to realize they’d been tricked. It sounded exactly like the scenario Irena had described when he’d found her that night, and it sickened him to think that she had drawn on the suffering of previous victims in order to fool him into taking pity on her.
The group reached the landing, and Frank listened as Irena ushered them past his door.
‘What is happen to Viktorya?’ one of the girls asked fearfully, at the sound of a muffled scream from down below. ‘Why is that man hurt her?’
‘Go into room, and do not make noise,’ Irena replied quietly. ‘She will be OK.’
A door opened and then closed, and Frank moved over to the wall that divided his and Evan’s bedrooms. He could hear the girls whispering tearfully to each other on the other side, but he couldn’t understand a word they were saying. Wherever they were from, it didn’t appear to be the same country as Irena, because she’d addressed them in English. From the brief glimpse he’d had of them, they all appeared to be in their late teens or early twenties, and it broke his heart to think how scared they must be right now – and how worried their parents were going to be when they didn’t hear from them.
Nick had taken the girl into the living room by the time Irena went back downstairs after locking the other girls into Evan’s old room. The door was closed, but she could hear the slaps, threats, and screams as clearly as if she were in there with them. It was a harsh introduction to a life she had neither asked for nor expected, but the girl would quickly learn that these men tolerated nothing less than absolute obedience.
Cold air circled Irena’s ankles when the back door suddenly opened, and she looked round as Karel walked in. Hesitating when he heard the girl scream, he said, ‘What’s going on?’
‘One of the girls was argue with Nick, so he take her in there,’ Irena told him.
Karel stalked past her and burst into the living room. The girl was on her back on the floor, her bottom lip was split, and both eyes were swollen. Standing over her, Nick raised his fist to deliver another blow, but Karel grabbed him before he had the chance to land it, and threw him across the room where he landed heavily on the sofa.
‘What the fuck?’ Nick squawked, leaping up to his feet.
‘Who said you could touch her?’ Karel roared, slamming him up against the wall.
‘She was gobbing off, so I was teaching her a lesson,’ Nick spluttered, his face flushed and sweaty. ‘What was I supposed to do? Let her make a prick of me?’
‘Look at the state of her . . .’ Karel said angrily. ‘How the fuck am I meant to send her out like that?’
‘It ain’t my fault,’ Nick argued. ‘She should’ve done as she was told.’
‘I would have dealt with her.’
‘You weren’t here.’
As the men continued to argue, the injured girl hauled herself up onto her knees, and Irena could see the pain on her face when she clutched at her ribs. It reminded Irena of the beating Nick had given her before dropping her off at the end of the lane that night. He’d told her that it would make her cover story more realistic, but she had quickly realized that the violence was turning him on, and she remembered fearing that he was going to rape her. She had been saved by the intervention of one of the other gang members that night, just as this girl had been saved by Karel today. But others hadn’t been so lucky – and there would be more of those in the future, she was sure.
Karel’s mobile beeped, and he released Nick and pulled the phone out of his pocket. There was silence while he read the message on the screen, then he jerked his chin up at Irena, saying, ‘Go and clean her up. I need to make a call.’
Irena helped the girl to her feet and led her into the kitchen. Livid bruises were blooming around her eyes, and her lip looked as if it might need a couple of stitches. But Karel would never allow her to be seen by a doctor at this early stage, so Irena sat her down at the table, then filled a bowl with warm water and added a liberal pouring of salt before taking a roll of cotton wool out of the drawer.
