Vanished by James Delargy (free novel 24 TXT) 📕

time. If the quad wasn’t going to help him, he needed to set off on foot. He didn’t know how much time until—

‘What the fuck?’

The voice and the disruptive weight of the bag on his back almost caused him to fall off the quad. He turned towards it. Amidst the struggle and roar of the engine, Ian had returned, his truck and the Maguire’s Toyota parked neatly on the road. Ian was staring at him; Naiyana was staring at Stevie’s body.

He scrambled off the bike. From the bag he pulled out the rifle. Ian took up a defensive stance, his head cocked.

‘Mike?’

‘It wasn’t me. It was Lorcan.’

Ian narrowed his eyes at this, glancing at Stevie’s body.

‘Lorcan wouldn’t do this,’ said Naiyana, shaking as she spoke.

‘He did,’ said Mike, hearing nothing but fear and guilt in his voice, his mouth drying up without gum, the companion that steadied his nerves.

‘So what’s in the bag?’ asked Ian, flicking his eyes towards the coal bunker. ‘Where were you going?’

Mike tried to straighten up and look threatening but still felt tiny compared to Ian.

‘Fuck you! You were meant to be protecting us. You got Stevie killed!’

‘Put down the gun, Mike. Let’s talk.’

‘Fuck talking!’

‘That gold is ours. It’s not yours to take.’

Mike laughed. A single, cold laugh that was as dead as the air. ‘There’s only two of us now. You were selling half this morning, weren’t you? Take that money, I’ll take this. I’m getting out,’ he said, the rifle swinging towards Naiyana.

He didn’t think that he squeezed the trigger. Maybe it was the waving of the gun that did it. Or the pressure. Or his fingers swelling up. Whatever it was, the rifle went off.

He heard the scream and the report, frozen to the spot as if all his momentum was consumed within the bullet. Then he felt the barrel being nudged out of the way and a fist strike his jaw, causing his world to deafen in shock and pain.

105

Naiyana

She heard the bullet. She even swore that she could see it in slow motion, but that was her eyes and brain adding falsities to the storyline, filling in the gaps. It zipped past her, the echo deafening her moments after.

She staggered back a couple of steps but watched Ian leap forward, punching Mike in the jaw. They both went down, fighting over the rifle.

In truth it wasn’t much of a fight. Mike was too out of shape and looked as if he had never traded blows in his whole life. He took a catalogue of brutal punches as Ian tried to rip the rifle from his hands. A blow to the gut caused one of his hands to release its grip. Another forced the second away. Scrambling to his feet, Ian gasped for air, aiming the rifle at Mike who was wheezing in the dirt, coughing and moaning.

Ian glanced at her.

‘Are you okay?’

She nodded. Her heart was thumping like a bass drum in her chest but yes, she was okay. There was even something else. A warmth, a glow that welled up inside her that someone had stood up for her in a time of crisis. Over the past week she had been standing up for Lorcan. He’d used her as a human shield. His own wife. Now the crucial decisions were in Ian’s hands. It felt good to not be in charge. At least for the moment. She didn’t know what would happen next. Things couldn’t go back to how they were but she hoped he had a plan. Or that they could come up with one. A way out. Maybe Lorcan could fill in for Stevie, make as much money as they could and then she’d leave. With Ian. Not Lorcan. That ship had sailed.

Ian was now gazing at Stevie’s body, the rifle still aimed at Mike. She watched as he squeezed his eyes tight as if coming to a decision, before squeezing the trigger and shooting Mike in the head.

He turned to her. Her brain went into scramble mode. Was he going to kill her next? Remove her from the equation. And then her family? Did she mean that little to him? Was she a fool to think she did?

He began to walk towards her. She glanced around but there was nowhere to go. She had made her choice. The wrong choice. A fatal choice.

‘Please. Ian, I—’

But he just wrapped his arm around her, holding her close, drowning out everything that had happened in the last few minutes, enveloped in the damp darkness of his chest. He kissed the top of her head.

‘It’s okay, Nee. It’s okay.’

106

Naiyana

13 Days Ago

Curiosity had briefly taken over but without the safety of the moonlight, the darkness made her tense. The brick-walled, tin-topped shack was in disrepair, the humming causing the roof to gently rattle like a one-note orchestra. Again she chided herself for prowling around alone at night. Whatever the noise was, Lorcan wasn’t the cause. It would do until tomorrow. She put her hand out feeling for an inner wall to guide her way out but only found a wooden stanchion.

Which immediately gave way.

Followed by a terrible screech. From all around. The building was collapsing.

On her.

She dropped to her knees, throwing her arms over her head and neck. An instinctive reaction. And entirely useless. She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for impact. Disjointed thoughts of Dylan alone in bed flashed through her mind; then Lorcan; then her family and her last bitter words to them. Love, hurt and anger bubbled around her skull as if trying to construct an emotional shell to shield her from the upcoming pain. It wouldn’t help. She was going to die out here, alone, victim of her own stupidity.

Something caught hold of the back of her jumper. Suddenly she was in the air, dragged from the building and dumped with a thud on the ground outside.

Her eyes remained closed, absorbing the shock of the landing. She heard the squeal