Nothing but Meat: A dark, heart-stopping British crime thriller by Adrian Kendrew Page B

will.’
    Simone reached out and held Stevens upper arm and pulled him
gently but forcefully towards the car. ‘Please get into the car Mr Stevens.’
    Stevens tried to shake himself loose. ‘What about the band? I
have to open up.’
    Simone was wired, she wanted to get him into the car and back
to the station but part of her wanted him to run so she could take him down.
‘I’m not going to ask again,’ she said. ‘If you don’t comply I will arrest
you.’
    Stevens glanced down the road as if he was debating whether
to flee when he said, ‘Oh Victor, over here.’ He motioned to another man who
was heading towards them. West turned to face him ready for trouble and when
the man was no more than five feet away West held his hand out and said,
‘That’s enough sir, we are the police, don’t come any closer.’
    Simone barely looked at the man called Victor; she kept her
focus firmly on Stevens. She knew West would have Victor covered if there was
any trouble but she was ready for anything and moved her free hand subtly
towards her baton. The part of her that wanted Stevens to run was still rampant
inside her, prowling around her being like a vicious dog that hadn’t been fed.
She was primed and ready; if there was going to be trouble it was going to go
their way.
    ‘What’s going on Gary?’ asked Victor.
    ‘They want to take me to the station.’
    ‘Did you do anything wrong?’
    ‘Of course not.’
    ‘Then go,’ he said calmly.
    ‘Will you open up the hall tonight?’
    ‘I came here to talk to the band; they’re too loud, we’ve had
complaints. I’ll take care of it.’ He held his hand out. ‘Give me the keys Gary
and go answer their questions.’
    Simone met Stevens’ wild eyes; he was scared and confused.
‘Take your friend’s advice,’ she said. Still holding his upper arm tightly, she
used her free hand to open the door of the Mondeo. ‘Get in,’ she said. ‘Now.’
    ‘Okay, okay, I will.’ Stevens threw the keys toward Victor
and climbed into the backseat of the car. A group of longhaired kids had
gathered on the doorstep of the church, they stood by their guitar cases and
smoked cigarettes while they watched the show.
    West met Victor’s calm gaze and said, ‘Be on your way.’
    ‘Thanks to you too,’ he said and headed towards the church
hall. ‘You lot are too loud,’ he said as he approached the kids. ‘We’ve had
complaints.’
     
    They drove to the station in silence, not wanting to talk to
Stevens until the tapes were rolling in the interview room. Simone noticed West
look at his watch again and caught his eye as she moved through the traffic.
West acknowledged her questioning look and said quietly, ‘Supposed to visit the
old man tonight. This better be fucking worth it.’
    Outside, the station was seething with reporters from
hundreds of newspapers, television and radio stations. West told Simone to
drive past the station without stopping. ‘Do you have a blanket in the car?’
she asked.
    He shook his head and said, ‘Pull over here.’ West jumped out
of the car as soon as it stopped and went into the boot. He opened the back
door of the car and tossed his suit jacket into Stevens’ lap. ‘Put that over
your head,’ he said to Stevens who had a distinctly worried look on his face at
the prospect of stepping out of the car in front of the waiting media. They
drove around the block and when they pulled up the cameras flashed crazily at
the car. Stevens struggled to cover his face with West’s suit jacket and as he
stepped out of the car he fumbled and panicked and the jacket slipped from his
head. West gripped his arm and pulled him through the throng of reporters while
Simone stood close to him and helped him cover his face again. But it was too
late, both West and Simone knew that by the evening the television stations would
have likely named the man who was taken in for questioning and the paparazzi
had their shots for the morning editions.
     
    The