Andy McNab - Meltdown

'Sleeping like babies.'

'Give them another burst and then clear out. Danny's on the way down with Teddy. I want him to see exactly what we've done for him.'

Teddy spotted the two sprawled-out bodies the moment Danny eased him around the turn at the landing above.

He froze. 'Are they… are they dead?'

Danny shook his head. 'Stunned. They'll be out for quite a while.'

'But when they do come round… they might-'

'They'll get out, Teddy, that's what they'll do. And they won't come back.'

They moved slowly down the stairs. When they reached the landing, Teddy stopped by the two bodies.

Mr Muscles was snoring beneath Blubber Man, who still had blood oozing from his face.

Teddy's own face contorted in anger. He leaned on Danny and then viciously kicked Blubber Man in the guts.

'Bastards!'

Blubber Man didn't even stir, and Teddy was ready to get in a few more kicks, but Danny pulled him away.

'Steady on. A few more of those might just wake them,' he told him. 'Let's get you to hospital.'

The atmosphere in the office at the coach yard was thick with tension. Will had never before even considered challenging his brother's unspoken leadership and authority. But seeing Teddy's bruised and battered face, and the way he kept flinching as he got another jolt from his cracked ribs, somehow made him seem vulnerable and a little pathetic.

And Will was determined to take advantage of his brother's sudden vulnerability.

'Why should we bring in Watts? He's done his job; he's got rid of the threat. We can pay him off and let him go.'

Teddy was on the defensive, but he'd made up his mind on what he wanted, telling his brother he'd decided to bring Fergus in on 'all aspects of the business' so that he could oversee their complete security and protection.

'We don't know that what happened last night was anything to do with the attacks here,' he said. 'They might be totally unconnected.'

'So there are more people out there who know about Meltdown? Is that what you're saying? So who's telling them?'

'I don't know!' Teddy flinched as a stab of pain shot through his ribs. 'Maybe a dealer has got word on us; maybe it's one of our own. I don't know, Will. All I do know is that I want to bring Watts in. We don't need to tell him everything, just enough. And we'll test him out before we say anything.'

'It's a crazy idea, a total non-starter. We've got our own team,' insisted Will. 'They've always looked after us well enough. What happened in the apartment was a one-off; we're safe now.'

'Our team?' said Teddy. 'Albie? And the rest of them? They were OK when we got going but you know Albie's become a liability.' He paused. The medical staff at the A amp;E department had patched up Teddy's physical wounds, but the image of Siddie Richards with a bullet hole in his face would not fade from his mind. 'Look,' he said, failing to conceal his impatience. 'We're going to need someone like Fergus.'

Will's face was flushed with anger. 'And how do you know you can trust him?'

'Because he killed someone for me last night! He committed murder to keep me alive! Isn't that enough?' Teddy shifted in his chair to ease the pain from his ribs. 'Watts will do whatever we ask of him as long as the money's right. He said as much last night. That's all he's interested in.'

Will was still glaring at him, obviously intent on saying a lot more.

Teddy levered himself to his feet and crossed the room to where his brother was standing.

'Will, you weren't there! I nearly died!' Danny drove into the yard and parked up. As he got out of the silver Mazda, he saw Storm standing by the stairs to the office. She was frowning but still looked stunning in a designer suit and high-heeled boots.

'If you've come to look at the computers again, you'll have to wait.' She smiled and then glanced up towards the office. 'They're arguing. I don't know exactly what the problem is, but Teddy's in a terrible state – he's in such pain, and his face looks terrible. Whatever happened to him must have been awful.'

Danny closed the car door as he considered his answer. 'He's just not used to trouble. It's probably not as bad as it looks.'

'But what happened? They said you were there.'

Danny wasn't giving away a thing. 'What did they tell you?'

Storm shrugged. 'There was this guy – some sort of gangster – who was trying to take over the travel business. He beat up Teddy but then your granddad came in and scared him off.'

That's about it,' said Danny. 'He won't be back, anyway.'

'Then why is Teddy still so scared?'

'I don't know, Storm. You'd better ask him.'

He could see that Storm was puzzled by his evasion. She stared into his eyes, and frowned, searching for the truth.

He returned the look, realizing as he did so that he was quickly becoming as accomplished as his grandfather at telling lies. It went with the territory.

Storm's searching look suddenly turned into one of her most dazzling smiles and her brow cleared. 'Would you like a cappuccino? The twins want me out of the way for a while and if d be nice to have some company. There's a place down the road that's good. We can walk.'

Danny smiled. 'Yeah, why not.'

As they walked towards the gates, they heard a shout from the workshops.

'Storm!'

They looked back and saw Albie standing in the open doorway.

'Oh, what does he want now?' whispered Storm as he came striding over. She moved closer to Danny, almost as though she was silently looking for his protection.

When he reached them, Albie glared briefly at Danny and then focused on Storm, forcing a smile. 'You all right?'

'Fine, thanks, Albie. You?' Storm's voice quavered a little.

Albie nodded but said nothing more. He just kept smiling at her. The silence went on and on, but Albie had obviously run out of conversation. He just stared at Storm with barely disguised adoration.

Storm glanced at Danny and then turned to head towards the gates again. 'Bye then, Albie.'

'Where you going?'

'We're, er… we're going for a quick coffee.'

'I'll come. I'm not doing anything.'

Danny could almost see Storm searching for a plausible excuse to get rid of Albie. But when it came, it sounded pretty lame and a very obvious putdown. 'We… we have to talk about business, Albie.'

'What about later then?' insisted Albie. 'Late. When I finish work. A drink? Or a club maybe?'

Storm smiled. 'Another time, eh?' Albie watched them until they had passed through the gates, his eyes burning into Danny's back. Then he walked slowly back towards the workshop.

Inside, two of the guys who doubled as security and general workers around the yard were leaning against one of the newly cleaned coaches.

They instantly recognized the look on Albie's face. They'd seen it before and they knew better than to say anything as he passed them. They watched him head across to a greasy metal work-bench and pick up a large monkey wrench.

He held it in his right hand and hit it against the open palm of his left hand a couple of times. Then his eyes flashed and he raised the monkey wrench above his head and smashed it down on the workbench. The bench crashed to the ground, the legs collapsing under the vicious blow as nuts and bolts and tools went flying like shrapnel in every direction.

Albie dropped the monkey wrench on the concrete, then turned and glared at the two guys, his eyes daring them to make a comment. The argument in the office was still raging and Will was giving as good as he got. But there was more than twenty years of history between them to overcome.

Teddy was the older brother by a full twelve minutes. He'd always made the major decisions and Will had gone along with them. It worked that way. It was easier. But not this time.