Blood and Ashes Read Free Page B

son-in-law, Adrian was no stranger to a gymnasium, so they could look after themselves. It was only Millie and the two kids I was worried about.
    I was uncomfortable about walking away from them. But I couldn’t believe that there was any truth in Don’s concern. How could a dead man be a threat to him or his family?
    Don was hurting; he was stricken with grief and grasping at anything that would make sense of Brook’s seemingly pointless death. In the same circumstances, some people raged at the world, or at their cruel god, while others looked for excuses. Don was clutching at old hatreds in order to add reason to his pain.
    But then he wasn’t the only one allowing hatred to shadow his judgement, was he?
    Someone must have sent that bloody email.
    I stopped walking and looked across at the cat. The old tom mirrored my movement. We stared into each other’s eyes. I was the first to blink. The cat sat down and began licking its old wounds. In my pocket, I again flexed my fist.
    The cat stood up and slunk forward, and now I was the one who matched it step for step.
    I got the message. The time for licking wounds was done, and I should get back to doing what I did best.
    I was near to the Seven-Eleven where I’d left my car. On my right was an open lot full of weeds. Beyond it the forest that encircled Bedford Well swayed under the bitter wind, undulating like a pitch-black sea. Across the way, the cat was all that stood between me and the forest on that side. The cat had come to another standstill, but this time it was staring past the convenience store to where I’d parked the Audi. Its shoulders hunched and its ears flattened on its head; its mouth opened in silent challenge, baring teeth that glinted red under the moon.
    Suddenly the cat bolted, heading away into the cover promised by the forest. But I wasn’t going to run.
    I continued forward, to meet the two men who were resting their weight on my car. Once again, I flexed my hand, pleased to find that the bubbling warmth flooding my body had anaesthetised the pain.
    It was near to four in the morning: too late for revellers and too early even for dayshift workers to show up at the convenience store. Their black SUV was parked a dozen yards away, and yet they chose to sit on the bonnet of my car. They were waiting for me and there was no good reason for it. I didn’t need the cat’s reactions to tell me that these men were dangerous.
    ‘You mind, guys? The car’s a rental and I have to pay for any damages.’
    Both men pushed off the Audi, one of them, stocky with a shaved head, leaning back as though inspecting the paintwork for scratches. The other, a tall man, who looked like he’d been constructed from too many bones and sun-dried leather, lifted his chin, his nostrils flaring.
    ‘Fee-fi-fo-fum . . .’ he said in a surprisingly melodious voice.
    I smell the blood of an Englishman, I finished the thought. I’d heard plenty like it since my move to the States.
    The second man finished his inspection of the paintwork, then used his sleeve to buff out an imaginary scratch. Then he turned his attention to me, holding an empty palm towards the car. His smile was wide but colder than the wind gusting round the parking lot. ‘No harm done, buddy.’
    ‘No harm, no foul,’ the tall one echoed as he picked at a patch of dry skin on his bald head.
    Taking the car keys from my pocket, I aimed them at the Audi and disengaged the locks. Nodded amiably at both men, then moved to go round them.
    ‘A moment if you please.’ The second man was shorter than me, but he was heavier built, and I noticed he had self-inflicted prison tats on his fingers. He stepped in the way, barring me from the car. He raised his ink-mottled hand and touched it to my chest. The contact was little firmer than a caress, but it sent a jolt through my body. Not because he held an electrical device – or any weapon – but because I’d allowed him to do it. The rule I’d always followed