New Story - With new ideas and directions to hand. I'm writing this and posting it straight onto Steemit - You can not get more exclusive than that! 42

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Please remember this story is being written and posted 'live' every day. I am writing today's episode and posting it here without benefit of a read-through, let alone an edit. I don't usually work this way and this experiment is exciting and different for me, not my normal work-ethic at all. To that end, please forgive me any typos, grammar errors and anything that you may think should have been picked up in an edit - it WILL be picked up in the edit.

I've already spoken with a publisher about getting this story published - possibly after Christmas, we'll see how it goes.

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Images from Google (licenced for reuse) and Pixabay

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“I found him like that. I tried to… to wake him up, but look,” she said. She pointed to the needle sticking out of his arm.

Then she pointed to the syringe lying on the side of the sink, next to Nigel’s grey face. “That’s the needle he used last. I… I helped him, but I swear he only had a little bit. That baggie was half-full when he’d finished. He was hurting… I gave him a little bit… just to help him get through til you got here. He was crying cos it hurt. I’m sorry. I tried to help him…”

“Mr Fitz-Stanley, I think the scumbag did this and then made an excuse so he could get away. He said he wasn’t taking Nigel because he was covered in shit. I don’t see any shit,” the first guy that arrived at the house said.

Ash stepped back so the men could all get closer to see for themselves.

Nigel’s dad went into the room. He looked around, taking in everything. He looked at his son’s face and Ash saw the flicker of pain cross his eyes. It came and went so fast that if she hadn’t been looking for it, she wouldn’t have noticed it and she doubted his men saw.

“Is that what happened, kid?”

Ash looked up at the imposing man and took a moment to think.

“Mike came upstairs. He had to come upstairs so your guy could get in without him knowing. Justin had told Mike to come and fetch Nigel, that was how he got him here for when you came. Nigel wanted me to get some more gear for him but I told him I wasn’t well enough to go out after the kicking Mike gave me, but we could make this one hit last.” She pointed to the empty baggie.

“He wanted to get away from Mike. That’s why he was here. Mike found where I’d taken him from the scrapyard and he gave me a kicking.”

Fitz-Stanley looked at Ash. He nodded. “Go on, kid. Fuck off downstairs.”

Ash went to go downstairs but stopped, turned back and went to the bedroom. She fetched a clean sheet and took it to the bathroom. Without a word, she placed it on the side of the bath and went downstairs.

Fitz-Stanley looked at the sheet and watched Ash leave the bathroom, head down and hunched over, almost hugging herself.

A few minutes later, one of Fitz-Stanley’s goons came into the room, followed by two of the others carrying Nigel’s body wrapped in the sheet Ash had supplied.

On their way out, the other two grabbed Mike by his feet and dragged him out of the house. They obviously didn’t care about whether his head smacked the ground as they pulled him over the doorstep – it did, and made a sick-sounding crunch. Robin winced. Ash didn’t.

“That’s gonna be a bit tender,” Robin said. “And it’s gonna really hurt when they get him to the steps.”

Fitz-Stanley laughed. “It won’t hurt for long, I can promise you that.”

“Shame,” Ash said.

Fitz-Stanley looked at her and nodded. “Well if it helps, just for you, I’ll make sure he suffers a bit longer. You’ll have to take my word on that, though. Are you good with that?”

Ash took a second to think. “Yeah, I’m good with that.” She nodded, then looked up into Fitz-Stanley’s eyes and though he stared at her, her eyes never dropped from his.

He grinned at her.

“As always, Justin,” Mr. Fitz-Stanley said. “I owe you.”

Justin nodded. “Not just me, this time,” he said. “I’ve got two apprentices.”

“Yeah, so I’ve noticed. When they complete that apprenticeship, give them my number. OK?” And he walked out the door.

They watched Fitz-Stanley’s shadow pass both windows before they relaxed a little.

“Turn it off,” Ash said.

Robin looked at her, puzzled. “Turn what off?” he said.

“This,” Justin said and took a small device from the side of his table. It had been covered by a notebook and hidden from sight.

He showed Ash that he’d turned it off and she nodded.

“How did you know?” he asked.

“That you’d be recording everything and probably sending it to Fitz-Stanley?” she said, wrinkling her nose at him and giving a slight sideways smile.

“Once a copper, always a copper. You can’t help yourself. It’s been ingrained so long, I bet you didn’t even have to think about it. I saw the package from Amazon and I guessed it would be new kit.”

Justin sat back in his chair. “You clever bleeder!” was all he could manage.

“Yeah,” she said. “Gimme that.” She reached for the device and took it from him, turning it over in her hands, she made sure it was turned off. She took the battery out and then took it into the back room.

“Don’t break it!” Justin called.

“Not gonna break it.”

She came back without it. “I’ve put it in its box, in a drawer, out of sight.”

“Why would you do that?” Robin said.

Ash sat down on the sofa.

Justin studied her for a moment. “Because she’s got something to tell us. Something important and she didn’t want Fitz-Stanley to overhear it by accident.”

Ash nodded.

“I’ll go and make us a cuppa, I think I need one after that,” Robin said.

“Got any pop?” Ash said.

“Since when do you drink pop?” Robin said.

“Since now. Since I’m allowed to be a kid again,” she said. “At least for a bit.”

“Not quite, kid,” Justin said. “You’ve got a bit more to tell us, yet.”

“Yeah… a bit more.”