Andy McNab - Payback

‘We ought to talk about it.’

‘What?’

‘You know what I mean, Danny.’

Danny felt the fear return. ‘Kev?’

Fergus nodded. ‘I know you’re thinking about him; so am I. And I saw what happened.’

‘I don’t want to know the details.’

‘I wasn’t going to give you the details. But we do need to-’

‘Deal with it?’ snapped Danny. ‘That’s your answer to everything. Something terrible happens, someone gets killed, and you just say deal with it! Well I can’t, not this time!’

Danny had tears in his eyes. He was hurting, and angry, and afraid. And as much as he mourned the death of Big Kev, one look at his grandfather lying slumped against the tree, his face grey, his leg covered with congealed blood, told Danny that it could just as easily have been Fergus who had died.

And Danny couldn’t bear the thought of that. The events of the last few hours had shown him just how much his grandfather meant to him now. But that wasn’t easy to explain, not to a man like Fergus Watts; a man who seemed to have spent his entire life keeping his emotions in check.

Danny stood up. ‘I’d better get going; it’ll take a while to get to Abergavenny.’

‘Wait,’ said Fergus, pushing himself up a little further. ‘We’ve never really talked about this sort of stuff – and you’re right, I’m not great at it. But Kev was a good mate; you’ll be lucky if you find two or three as good in your whole life. He was the last of mine, and I’ll miss him. And I’ve got to live with the fact that if we hadn’t turned up, he’d probably be starting another game of golf right now.’

‘But how do you? How can you live with it?’

Fergus paused before answering. ‘I’ll think about the laughs we had. The good times. And I’ll remember that he died to save us. Paid me back for saving him all those years ago.’

Danny couldn’t hold back what he wanted to say. ‘And what if it had been you? I’m sorry about Kev, really sorry, but… but I don’t want you to die. It took me seventeen years to find you and… and…’

‘I know, Danny,’ said Fergus gently. ‘And I’m not planning on dying just yet. I don’t want to lose you either…

‘You’d better get going,’ he added after a long pause. ‘And be careful.’

‘I will.’

As Danny turned to go, his grandfather wiped away a single tear that was rolling down his cheek. He felt embarrassed, stupid, and he was glad that Danny hadn’t seen it. Fergus Watts didn’t do this sort of thing. He had no idea who the tear was for. For Big Kev? For the grandson he had come to love? Or for himself?

He heard Danny moving through the branches and smiled. ‘You won’t get rid of me yet,’ he whispered.

Elena was desperate to get rid of her dad. ‘No way! You are not coming with me!’

‘But I got nowhere else to go, darling, and no money.’

Once Elena had recovered from the shock of seeing Joey standing there beaming at her, they had moved into the bus shelter, and they had been arguing for a full five minutes since then.

‘You should have gone back – I thought you had gone.’

Joey sighed. ‘Yeah, well, there’s something I didn’t quite get round to telling you about, darling. I can’t go back to Nigeria – bit of a misunderstanding with the police.’

‘What did you do?’

‘Some money went missing, quite a lot of money. It was nothing to do with me, darling, honest. But once you get a reputation like mine-’

‘And a record like yours!’

Joey breathed hard. He’d been living rough for the past couple of nights and it didn’t suit him. He was tired, hungry and broke, and he was certainly no Fergus Watts. Prison had been bad enough, but surviving out in the open, sleeping on benches – it was more than he could handle.

‘The truth is, babe, if I go back home they’ll lock me up and throw away the key. And prisons in Nigeria are a whole lot tougher than here. I won’t survive.’

Elena looked at her watch. She was going to be late.

‘Where is it you’re going anyway, darling?’ asked Joey.

There wasn’t time to think up a convincing lie. ‘To see my friend, Danny. He needs my help.’

‘Him? Again? That boy’s always in trouble.’

‘Yeah. Like you.’

‘Let me come – I helped you before, I can do it again. Your dad’s always here for you, darling.’

‘No, Dad, no way. No, no, no!’

Considering everything that had happened to him in the past twenty-four hours, Danny didn’t look too bad, as long as no one studied him closely. He had washed his hands, arms, face and hair in an icy-cold Welsh mountain stream and had Kev’s Barbour done up over his own clothes to cover the dried bloodstains. The?60 in notes had also had a wash and was now drying in Danny’s underpants, next to his skin. Fergus had told him that was the way he used to dry his socks when out in the field.

Danny was waiting across the road from the car park cafe, standing in the doorway of a closed down antiques shop. From there he had a good view of everyone leaving the station. He was feeling weary after a seven-mile tab to Brecon, where he had caught the bus for the forty-five-minute journey to Abergavenny.

He took the mobile from a pocket in the Barbour and re-read the text he had received a few minutes earlier: b there in 10

He was looking forward to seeing Elena, even though their meeting would have to be brief. At least they would have the time it took to go to the superstore he had spotted to buy some new clothes, food and drink, and the bandages, painkillers and antiseptic needed to treat the GSW. And at least they would be alone.

Danny glanced down the road in the direction of the station. The train must have arrived, as a number of people were walking up towards the car park. Elena was easy to spot – there were not many black faces in that part of Wales. But Danny waited, wanting to be certain that she was not being followed. He watched her walk to the cafe and go inside and then looked carefully at the other pedestrians. It seemed fine: no one hovered by the door, or stopped and waited a few metres further up the road. But still Danny waited. After a few minutes Elena came out with two mugs of tea and sat down on one of the wooden benches outside the cafe. Danny had one more check in both directions and then crossed the road to meet her.

He sat opposite her on the bench. ‘Journey OK?’

‘Yeah, no problem.’

‘I’m glad you’re here.’

‘Danny, I need to-’

‘I could really do with this.’ Danny wrapped both hands around the closest mug, lifted it to his lips and took a sip. He grimaced. ‘No sugar.’

‘That’s not yours.’

‘Oh, right. You given up sugar then?’ He reached for the other mug.

‘Danny, listen-’ Elena didn’t get any further. She looked to her left and then raised her eyes to the heavens. ‘Oh, no.’

Danny turned and saw the man approaching, a man he remembered only too well.

‘Hello, Danny. Nice to see you again, son.’

‘Dad, I told you to wait,’ said Elena, standing up. ‘I wanted to talk to Danny.’

‘I did wait, darling. But I’m desperate for that cup of tea. You two lovebirds take a little walk while I sit here.’

Joey reached for the mug Danny had been holding a few seconds earlier and took a long swig. ‘Mmm, there’s nothing like a proper British cup of tea.’

The way Danny glared at Elena made words unnecessary. He gestured for her to follow him and they walked off, leaving Joey to his tea.

Danny was almost speechless with fury. Almost. ‘What the hell is he doing here? Does he know what’s happened? I can’t believe you brought him!’

‘I didn’t have a choice,’ snapped Elena. ‘And if you’ll listen for a minute instead of shouting, I’ll explain.’