Page 59 of Fury

“Yeah, course you would. But I only found the key by chance. Hidden on a hook under the desk, where no one would find it.”

“Seems sensible,” I reasoned, “if someone broke in, the drawers or the desktop would be the first place I would look.”

“Yeah. But having another safe hidden under that same desk is weird.”

“Well, you wouldn’t want a safe in plain view. Wouldn’t be very safe.”

Heidi shot me a look, the stubbornness back in her eyes, the blue smouldering with annoyance, the look I was most used to. And now I didn’t know which one I like the most. Scared, vulnerable Heidi or rip-your-dick off Heidi.

“In the safe were some other documents. The funeral plans, which were pretty hefty, but also some wills of customers. Each will left a small proportion of the estate to Gordon. Not the business, Gordon. And the rest left for the church.”

I thought for a moment, a suspicion forming in the back of my head, not quite coherent enough to grab onto it, just there, lingering, fading in and out of focus.

“Which church?”

“St Robert’s of Gateshead.”

“Fuck.”

“What? What does that mean?”

“That’s Father Leverett’s church. Our church.”

“Bikers go to church?”

“You saw us there yesterday.”

“I know. I thought that was just for a funeral.”

“We go to church. Some of that is to guarantee us a place in the afterlife, but mostly, we need allies, and the church is a good place to start.”

“Why do you need allies?” Heidi cocked her head, her eyes hard again.

“Everyone needs allies, doll. The church has power. In abundance. It’s good to be on the right side of it when you need it. Anyway, you’re getting distracted.”

She shook her head, and then nodded, some internal conversation with herself. “Right. Yes. Father Leverett and Gordon. What do you reckon? A scam?”

“And fraud,” I answered. “But that’s not what made you so frightened, is it? That’s not what you came here for, babe, is it? Not even for the cameras.” Heidi tipped her chin up, a look of defiance, just not quite convincing enough. “What happened after that?”

“Gordon. He caught me in his office rifling about. Told him I was retrieving my shoe from under that desk. And he was just weird. The threats, Fury, I think they’re all him. And now I think they’re all real….”

“And you’re scared?”

Heidi bit down on her lip, a flicker across her face, a sudden glossing of those eyes, clearing in a second, but enough for me to see. Maybe I liked the vulnerable Heidi more? Not the rough executive Heidi.

“How do you want me to help?” I asked. “You want me to confront your brother?”

“No. I. I dunno. I have no evidence. Just those contracts and the wills.”

“Don’t suppose you took a copy?”

She shook her head. Around us, the pub was filling up fast with leather clad brothers looking worse for wear. Many barely out of bed longer than I had been, and most of them only having left here a few hours ago, sleeping off a skinful on the pub floor into the best part of the day. It was church. Again. They’d been every fortnight. After yesterday’s threat from the Hand, they were now every week, more if this war crept closer. But it was already knocking on our doors and hardly any of these brothers knew that yet.

“Ok. I’ll get hold of them,” I squeezed her hand, and her fingers curled round mine in response, and fuck how I liked that feel of her hand in mine. “I need to go upstairs now, doll.” I rose, kissing her on her forehead. “Suzy here will look after you. Eat your breakfast.” I patted her leg. Heidi scowled.

“It’s dinner, not breakfast time. And I don’t need looking after,” she replied stiffly as I waved Magnet’s petite blonde towards us.

“Yeah, doll, in here with this lot, you really do.”