Page 57 of Fury
“Those cabinets are locked. How do you know what’s in them?”
He tipped his head sideways, studying me.
“I know they’re locked. I’ve spent all night trying to find the keys for them. But if this place is anything like the other office, I’m going to bet there’s a whole load of paper client files in there. An information security risk, Gordon. Do you know how much the company will be fined if we have a data breach because someone breaks in and takes shit?”
“Well, I’m sure when you get your cameras put up everywhere, there’ll not be a worry. Mark tells me the Byker office is riddled with them. I see you’ve made friends with certain bike club members, too?”
Gordon watched me and I tried to keep my expression settled, but inside my stomach cartwheeled. I didn’t know whether he had an inkling about what I’d been up to, but he seemed to know about my affiliation with the Northern Kings, or at least Fury. There was a look in Gordon’s eyes, cold and hard and frightening. I didn’t know my half-brother that well, but I’d bet right now he was a danger to me. And the person behind those threats. And now I was so much closer to the truth than I had been before. I needed to get out of here. Quickly. But without raising anymore suspicions than I’d probably already done.
I faked a yawn, covering my mouth.
“Looks like you could sleep now,” Gordon commented.
“Yeah, feels like it’s catching up with me. Think I’ll head back to the hotel for an hour or two. I’ll ring a taxi.”
“I can drive you, Heidi,” he offered, smiling stiffly.
I fake smiled back, the tension in the surrounding air gripping at my throat, my heart hammering in my chest.
“Thanks Gordon, but you just got in. Don’t want to inconvenience you.”
“It’s no convenience.” He reached into his pocket, and I could hear the rattle of keys.
“Really. It’s fine. I’ll pick up some breakfast on the way back, too. You’ve probably got loads to do. Thanks though.”
I picked up my bag and grabbed my overcoat from where it draped precariously, one side over the arm of the office chair, the other sprawled onto the floor. I moved to the doorway where Gordon stood, unmoving.
“You should come for dinner one night,” he said as I approached him. “We’ve barely seen you since you’ve been here. Sure, Tom would like to catch up, too.”
“Yeah. Yeah. That would be nice.”
Gordon stepped to the side. “We’ll get something sorted, then.”
I nodded and stepped out of the office, doing my best not to sprint to the doors. I listened to my footsteps, trying desperately to keep them relaxed and regular, the floorboards underneath creaking, their groans muffled by the plush carpet. And then I pushed through the office doors and into the frosty morning air, my breath sending white plumes in front of me. I walked a few metres, my footsteps quickening until I was running. The bottom of the residential street opening onto a busy main road, the heaving breaths in my chest matching the rush hour roar of the traffic.
Chapter Twenty Seven
“Why the fuck haven’t you been answering the phone?” Indie’s voice growled down the other end of the mobile I’d reluctantly shoved to my ear.
“Cos I was out doing business last night, ya radgey fucker.” I was knackered. By the time I’d got to bed, the sky in the east was morphing into a deep red, the dawn chasing the night over the north east coast. “Club business, mate, before you ask.”
“Thank fuck for that,” Indie sighed, “because your other business is here to see you.”
“Who, and here where?” Fucking cryptic messages after a few hours’ sleep was not helping my mood.
“Heidi is here at the Dog.”
“Heidi is at the Dog?”
“What are you? An echo? Get the fuck down here.”
“She ok?”
“Nah, I’m not sure. Rocked up here asking for you and looking spooked and currently drinking coffee in a booth in the corner.”
“Shit. I’ll be right there. I’ll just get the bike out.”
“Ya bike’s here, ya dafty. How much did you drink last night?”