Seeker by Andy Frankham-Allen

followed by the revving of whatever vehicle Jimmy had jacked to get them to Manchester.
    â€œWeak-assed cock-sucking bitch,” Willem hissed at the mirror, and it seemed as if, for a second, his reflection glared back at him accusingly.
    * * *
    As Jimmy guided the white van away from Will’s house, Lawrencia watched it grow smaller through the wing mirror. She was careful not to actually look back, in case Jimmy noticed. Her heart was beating fast, and she kept her hands tightly between her knees so that Jimmy would not see how much she was shaking.
    Her brother thought he understood what she was going through, but he had no idea what kind of a man Jimmy actually was. She would have given anything to have returned home on her own, just her and Curtis. But in truth there was no way in hell Jimmy would have let her. He was many things, and a few of them were even good, but he was not the kind of man who would allow his son to be brought up by another man. Even if that man was her brother.
    She lowered her head.
    â€œCheer up, babe, your bro came through, so let the good times roll.”
    Lawrencia lifted her head and looked over at Jimmy, and forced a smile, hating herself even more. Soon she’d be doped up, and would be able to forget the pain eating away at her insides. It was a temporary release but the only one she had to look forward to.
    In her heart of hearts she knew that she could never even begin to tell Will how he’d recently lost the chance of another nephew or niece.
    * * *
    â€œGood night, then?” Ste asked, trying to navigate his way across the now crowded office.
    Willem looked up from trying to re-arrange the seating; the small office really wasn’t designed for any decent meetings. With one table, two chairs and a couple of filing cabinets it was pretty much crowded. Trying to fit a third and fourth chair was proving quite a task. He managed to squeeze a third chair in so far, with a fourth still sitting in the hallway outside, waiting it’s turn to be compressed.
    He was glad that Ste had agreed to attend the meeting. Truth was, if Ste had refused, as was his right, Willem would have found someone else to stand in as a witness, but he preferred it to be Ste. He’d come a long way in the time they’d known each other, turned into a very confident and sharp man. When he got back from his weekend away, Willem decided, he would have to make sure he got Ste a big something, as a thank you primarily, for his birthday. He just had to remember to make a note of that intention in his diary once the meeting was over.
    â€œIt actually was,” Willem said, in answer to Ste’s question, “what I remember of it.”
    â€œSweet,” Ste said, grinning like the proverbial feline from Cheshire. “A few cans and a webcam, what could possibly go wrong?”
    Willem raised an eyebrow at that. For some reason he felt like he was back in school, coming in with stories of his first sexual conquest and being egged on by the most promiscuous of the class. Only he never did share stories of sexual conquests in school, mainly because he never had any. Knuckling down and getting the best grades was all he cared about back then. Now, he reflected, perhaps Jake had been right, he’d missed a big chunk of the whole teen bonding experience.
    â€œYour laryngitis seems to have cleared up some,” Willem pointed out.
    Ste shrugged, and placed his glass of water on the table. “Quick healer, mate, my body hasn’t become dependent on drugs to get better. Good immune system,” he said, and coughed. “Still, not completely gone,” he added with a grimace.
    â€œSo I see.”
    Ste sat down and started leafing through the sheets of paper that were on the desk. “What’s next, then?”
    â€œWell,” Willem began, giving up on even considering a fourth chair, “I want you to take notes, make sure we get everything said down. Don’t