Page 12 of Fury

“Suzy not fed you?” I asked, watching the lean man pick the same corner of tinfoil off another of the plates at the top of the pile in the box that I held in my arms.

“Nah. She’s gone to bed. Not feeling well.”

“Shame. You’re getting none of this either!”

“Howay, Fury. Be nice. I’ll ring your mam and tell her you’re not giving me any.”

“And she’ll tell you to piss off an’all.”

I moved away, Magnet’s arm sliding out of the box of dinners as I moved behind the bar and into the kitchens at the back of the pub. Indie followed, recognising the glare I gave him.

“What’s up?” he asked, as the big doors swung shut behind us.

“Intel from the raid on Trouble,” the box squeaked as I pushed it across the steel top of one of the benches. “The men in masks who hit Tez’s club were looking for Ciara,” I continued, watching Indie’s features darken.

“Any idea why?”

I shook my head. “None. Could be the Polish. We know they’ll be back to sort out the beef they have with us at some point. But the dancing girls didn’t mention any unusual accents. My bet is on another club. The Aces or the Notorious, or someone else, looking to target the one thing that’ll make Demon go berserk.”

“What do you mean, one thing? Demon goes bat shit crazy for the slightest little thing.”

“Yeah. But this would be next level bat-shit crazy. He’d go after anyone and everyone if anything happened to her. You know it and I know it. And that would blow any alliances we have with the other clubs clean out of the water and make us a sitting duck.”

“You really think that was the agenda for this morning’s raid?” Indie looked tired, and the oldest I’d seen him in years. I was sure his hair had turned even more grey than when I’d seen him in the early hours of this morning.

“It’s what I would do.” I shrugged.

Indie winced, pushing his hand through the crop of grey hair and smoothing it over one side of his head.

“We can’t tell Demon.” He said eventually.

“Agreed.”

“Who else knows?”

“Just the twins.”

“Keep it that way. In the meantime, step up security on Demon’s place. Cameras, alarms, whatever we need. Keep Ciara protected. And that will protect us all from Demon.”

*****

“Where the fuck is Beanz?” Indie barked, glancing around the table at the fully patched brothers who’d gathered for church.

No one answered. Everyone looking at the person next to him, hoping someone else would have an answer.

“I ain’t seen him for a while now,” Magnet said eventually, breaking the silence.

“I want him found,” Indie ordered. “Chaos and Carnage. Go round to his after we finish. Find him and bring him to me.”

The twins nodded in unison, like it was something they practised every day to get completely right.

“And the rest of you, we need to be bringing more money into the war chest. So, lean on our sponsors, see what additional funds you can get. And for those that pay us to keep their secrets, the fee just went up. I want more prospects.”

Leather clad brothers nodded in agreement, a mumble of acquiescence around the big oak table.

“What about our current prospects?” Big Red, the huge club treasurer with the crop of bright red hair, asked from a few seats away.

“Neither one of them has run for the hills when the Hand returned. I say we patch them in. All in favour?”