Ember sat in the booth she had scrubbed clean, in the exact same seat she’d been in whilst talking to Jasper.
Rain lashing against the blackened pavements outside, she stared at the empty space where her friend had been alive and well some two, maybe even three, hours before. She’d sat in the silence for so long she’d lost count.
She remembered the muffled sound of Harry’s voice as he’d called his daughters to tell them he was on his way home, insisting they lock everything up until he got there; and that they let no one in in the interim. But, as yet, he’d said nothing to her. Instead, he too now sat in silence in the same seat he’d been in the entire time.
Her mind was on a constant loop of the events, of what she could have done differently. It had poured with rain the first night she’d met Jasper too – the night she’d lost Liam. It had been Jasper who’d called her having found Liam’s phone, having chosen the most frequently used number.
The second she’d got the call, she’d pounded through the streets, her clothes sodden from the downpour, her hair plastered to her face.
The crowd around him in the alley had been small as they’d awaited the emergency services. Jasper had been the one to spot her and cross the street to meet her half way – a stranger who, in that moment, felt like the only person she knew in the world.
At first she’d felt nothing as she’d elbowed her way through the few bystanders to fall to her knees beside Liam. Like a waxwork, he’d lain cold and pale and lifeless on the alley floor, the bite wounds to his throat looking like make-up from some kind of macabre special effects horror film. Because none of it felt real as she’d waited for him to blink, waited for him to move, waited for him to respond as she’d shaken his body, as she’d pleaded with him to wake up.
Jasper had assured her the emergency services were on their way but, as he was already dead, it would be quite some time. In the meantime, the bystanders had been trying to protect his dignity from passers-by, and from bodysnatchers who would find other uses for him.
It had taken six hours for the authorities to finally come to collect his body. And when they had, they were a disposal service only. With no witnesses, there was nothing more they could do. She’d had to sign to say she was the next of kin, had seen him being removed, and to agree to cover any costs for his cremation if she chose to reserve a memorial place for him.
Then he’d been taken away.
Barely able to stand from the cold and the pins and needles in her legs, Jasper had escorted her to her aunt. When he’d built up to doing so, he’d handed her the small cardboard box with the engagement ring in it that he’d found in Liam’s inside coat pocket alongside his phone. And Jasper had waited with her and her aunt until she’d cried out every tear to the point of passing out with exhaustion.
‘I’m sorry, Ember,’ Harry finally said, breaking the silence that had dominated the space between them. ‘I’m so sorry.’
‘They’re cowards, Harry. Bullies and cowards.’ She stared over her shoulder at him. ‘Who else beats a seventy-two year old to death?’
Harry dropped his gaze.
‘We’re going to the authorities,’ she said. ‘We’re going to the authorities now.’
His eyes flared with alarm. ‘We can’t. You know we can’t.’
‘So we do what? Roll over? Agree to this? We can’t, Harry.’
‘What choice do we have? The authorities aren’t interested in us and the Hordas clan know it.’
‘But that’s exactly how they operate: their power is based on fear. People don’t report it because they think it’s pointless.’
‘No, people don’t report it because others have tried and those they care about have paid the price for it.’
‘Or that’s nothing more than rumours – yet another scare tactic. We can’t be taken in by it. That’s how they win.’
‘So you’re going to call their bluff? Is that it? With my family on the line? It’s OK for you, you’re out of here soon. You don’t have anyone to care about.’ His gaze was instantly fiercely apologetic. ‘Ember…’
She shook her head. She stared back at the empty space where Jasper had been sitting. ‘They murdered Jasper right in front of us. I’m not going to pretend that didn’t happen.’
‘You think they’re going to come rushing here with forensics? With the body already gone? And you having cleaned up? How will that implicate you, Ember? You know reporting this could jeopardise your chances.’
‘I don’t care about that right now.’
‘But Jasper would. You know he would. Ember, it would achieve nothing. All it would do is bring a whole heap of worse trouble. I can’t risk them coming for my daughters. I can’t risk them coming for all of you. We’ve been lucky to avoid it for this long. We can’t win this, Ember. I know too many people over the years who have tried and failed. The Hordas clan are untouchable.’
‘No one’s untouchable. At least let me try. Maybe get some advice.’
Harry moved over into Jasper’s seat to sit in front of her. ‘How many of these cases do you think they get a month? You know how many places are under protection rackets around here. All that will happen is we’ll go onto some list, being pushed further and further down in priority. Even if they did pursue, it’s our word against theirs now. And in the interim, we’ll be right in the Hordas clan’s grasp with them knowing we grassed.’
She shook her head. She stared back out into the darkness, bypassing her own reflection.
‘The authorities don’t give a shit,’ Harry continued. ‘You think they don’t get a few backhanders from the Hordas clan and vice versa? You know the conspiracy theories – that the authorities are using the gangs to keep order so they can focus their resources on Blackthorn, and in turn the authorities turn a blind eye.’
‘But what if that’s all they are, Harry: conspiracy theories? Created by those who want you to believe it. People like the Hordas clan whose power thrives on people believing things like that because it stops us doing anything. But we can’t just sit back. We have to try and fight this. If they’ve come here, they’re coming into this area. We can’t hand it over to them. Our decision is setting the marker. We can’t give in to them.’
Harry shook his head wearily. He clutched it in his hands for a moment before looking back at her, his eyes grave. ‘I have two daughters and nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide. I say we put up and shut up. In days you’ll be gone. I won’t be. You report this and all you’re doing is leaving me with the aftermath of your decisions. Do this one thing for me: let me deal with this my way. You want to help? Get yourself out of here so I have one less to worry about. Don’t ruin it now because, believe me, it’ll change nothing for the better. All it’ll do is make everything worse.’