Henry felt a shimmer of apprehension.
The mood he’d picked up a few seconds before had suddenly gone a few shades darker, was now almost black. Confusion, alcohol, a cop, a crowd, a violent incident. Not a good combination.
Once, many years ago, when he’d been a young PC on mobile patrol, he’d been surrounded by a gang outside a chip shop and they had refused to let him drive away. Two lads were at the front of the car, two at the back, and with about ten others they had started to rock the car, building up enough momentum to roll it over — with him inside. That had been pretty scary; he’d been in lots of similar situations since and had learned that in such cases cops should be in and out as quickly as possible, unless they outnumbered the crowd. Situations were easily inflamed.
He stood up, knowing he wouldn’t be allowed to help the injured lad. A can of beer was thrown at him, glancing off his arm. Then about ten people circled him, venom in their eyes.
‘You stand back,’ he said evenly, firmly, without any fear in his voice. ‘This lad needs treatment — and so does she.’
The girl who’d toppled over was sitting up, staring in puzzlement at the palm of her hand, which was covered in blood from the ugly gash at the back of her skull.
Another can hit him, thrown from behind the people around him. Hyenas on a wildebeest.
Out of the corner of his eye, Henry saw the police car that had been parked near his Audi emerging with blue lights flashing. It screamed up and stopped outside, the PC getting out, his extendable baton drawn.
A hail of beer bottles and cans, like weapons from a medieval battle scene, arced at him. Using his baton like a baseball bat, he smashed a couple away with amazing accuracy.
Somewhere in the distance there was the wail of a siren.
Still Henry was surrounded.
‘You shot him,’ one shouted. ‘The cop shot him.’
If he’d had the time, Henry would have exhaled a pissed-off sigh and answered back.
‘Yeah, you must’ve,’ another one chorused.
The constable shouldered his way roughly through and stood his ground next to Henry. His face showed fear, but he wasn’t going to back down. He held the baton across his chest, ready for use.
‘We’re here to help,’ Henry said forcefully. ‘This lad needs sorting, so you guys back off and let me look at his wound.’
‘You heard — get back,’ the PC echoed.
Two cops had a slightly sobering effect. Overwhelming one was easy. Two made it harder, though not impossible.
The sirens grew louder. Two types — ambulance and police — like a mismatched stereo.
Henry glanced at the boy. He was still now — not dead, but probably going into shock. There was a lot of blood from the wound.
Henry said, ‘Is Runcie here?’ It was a question thrown to everyone. No one replied. ‘I said, is Runcie here?’ he demanded again. ‘Runcie Costain?’
Suddenly the music from inside, the boom-boom, was turned off. ‘I’m here,’ a voice bellowed from the door.
As one, the kids turned, and there he was at the threshold of the front door — all five two of him, but built like a pillbox, with eyes to match, oblong slits, and a flat head of closely cropped hair.
Henry had crossed his path only a few times. He was a much more cautious operator than the previous heads of the family and had streamlined the business with layers that made him almost untouchable. Until now.
Henry shouted, ‘You know me, Runcie — so get this lot to back off. This lad needs attention and I can’t help him if they’re in the way.’
‘You heard, get back you lot,’ Runcie ordered them.
‘He fuckin’ did it,’ one of them growled, just loud enough.
Another beer can was tossed half-heartedly at Henry.
‘He’s a cop, dick-brain,’ Runcie said to whoever. ‘Back off.’
Muttering angrily, the little crowd slowly stepped back a few paces, but not with any enthusiasm, staying within striking distance.
‘Oh God,’ the prostrate youth moaned.
‘My head, my friggin’ head,’ the fainting girl said, now with both hands covered in blood. She swooned again and dropped back, hitting the step with her head in exactly the same place, deepening the wound.
‘See to her,’ Henry told the PC. ‘Towels,’ he said to Runcie, who nodded and disappeared into the house.
He did not re-emerge, nor did any towels.
A very long minute later an ambulance and a police van arrived at the scene. Police numbers increased by one. And the music from inside the house went up to full volume.
The plug dangled in Henry’s hand. Silence resonated around the living room. Henry’s ears rang, there was still a drum beat in his head.
‘I said, where’s Runcie?’
The four teenagers sprawled on the settee sneered at him, hate in their eyes. The ones standing around with glasses or smokes in their hands did the same.
Runcie had done a runner, that much was obvious. Henry assumed he’d done the sums, realized that the visit by his boys into Cromer territory hadn’t gone well, hence the drive-by, and had either gone ‘to the blankets’, to coin an old Mafia saying — gone into hiding — or had gone to tool up for more retaliation. Although Runcie hadn’t been officially informed that two of his relatives had ended up on mortuary slabs, Henry was under no illusions that he probably now knew that the worst had happened in Blackburn.
Henry had scoured the downstairs of the house, now he was going to have a look upstairs.
Having ripped the plug for the music system out of the wall, he took the lead in his left hand, the plug in his right and tore the wire out of the plug so there was no chance of the noise restarting.
‘Party’s over,’ he announced, trying to hide his glee. It was one of the best feelings a cop could have. This was something he’d done a time or two in his long career and it always gave satisfaction: spoil a good party.
‘What! You can’t do that.’ This was from the lad who had kicked out at him and whom Henry had upended.
He glared at the young man. ‘Just watch me.’
He dropped plug and wire onto the floor. ‘Where’s Runcie?’ It was the third time of asking.
‘Don’t know no Runcie.’
‘All right — time to clear out,’ he announced.
A few more cops had appeared on the scene and the partygoers were more subdued and compliant now, but still vociferous.
Both the boy who’d been winged and the girl who’d cracked her head open had been taken to hospital, and now Henry was pretty much in control.
The force helicopter was up, the registered number of the Nissan had been circulated and a few road checkpoints established, and he had informed everyone necessary.
He was hoping to have a little quality time to take stock of things, get a proper plan put together. . but he didn’t want to miss the chance of grabbing Runcie, hopefully before both factions met up and more blood was spilled.
Runcie had gone, probably straight out of the back door.
Henry went upstairs.
He found a couple of naked teenagers in a back bedroom, busy with each other underneath a duvet, oblivious to what was going on. They stopped in mid-thrust.
‘Out!’ Henry said, jerking his thumb. ‘Now!’
The small box room was empty and there was a main bedroom at the front, the door closed. For politeness’ sake, he knocked and entered a nicely furnished room with a king-size bed and subdued lighting.
Henry turned the light switch and brought proper illumination to the proceedings.
Unless Runcie was hidden underneath the bed, he wasn’t there.
But there was a woman in the bed, on the floor around which were several empty bottles of champagne, paper plates with scraps of half-eaten food and overflowing ashtrays. And not only cigarette stubs.
The woman’s long black hair was dishevelled, make-up skewiff. She propped herself up and blinked at Henry, unperturbed.
Cherry was Runcie’s long-time lady friend and she was a stunner. Henry had met her a few times in passing. Because he made it his business to know about the Costains, he knew she had been a stripper, lap dancer and hooker, not necessarily in that order, and sometimes a combination of all three. She had only recently retired from these ‘games’ to become a lady of leisure at Runcie’s side after having spent a couple of years on his payroll. She’d been promoted to his bed, official eye candy.