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“It’s B’s place. Ripley should be here with him,” Zak replies, as I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket.
I pull it out as we reach the second floor and turn left toward Bowser’s flat. It’s a message from Mitch to call him as soon as I can. I send a quick reply to say give me thirty and then shove it back in my pocket.
Zak knocks the door, two short raps and a bigger, louder one. After a minute, there’s the sound of feet padding across the floor then the door opens.
“Zak, Maddox, and you must be Roxy,” Ripley greets, as he opens the door wide, and we step inside. I see Ripley eyeing Roxanne and the bat she’s twirling unconsciously in her hand.
When he looks to me as Zak and Roxanne pass him, he raises a brow to which I shake my head, then as I step past him, I whisper, “You’ll see.”
“Fuck,” he mutters, following me into the small lounge come kitchen.
Bowser is sat at a small two-seater round table but gets to his feet as he looks up and sees us all.
“Maddox, Zak, what the fuck is going on?” His eyes flick to Roxanne’s, just as Ripley’s did, before coming back to mine.
Roxanne steps to the side, resting the end of the bat on the floor and her hands folded over each other on the top of the handle.
Fuck, it’s sexy as hell!
I need to pull my head out of my own pants and fucking think.
“You need to see something, B, and you better be ready to answer truthfully, man,” Zak says, and I pull out the photo and lay it on the table in front of him.
Looking down at the picture in front of him, we all watch for any reaction. We didn’t need to look too carefully either. Just like with Star, the colour drains from his face, then he slumps back in his chair.
“Where the fuck did you get this?”
“Doesn’t matter where, just fucking explain,” Zak demands, and some of that anger from the last time they saw each other is still there.
Bowser rubs the stubble on his chin, then says, “You better sit down, this could take a while.”
None of us move to sit, and realising this Bowser relents.
“Theo never told you the story of how we met, and that was a decision made between me and him.He”—Bowser stabs a finger at the guy in the picture—“was my brother.” He flips the photo over and now points to the words written on the back. “But as this says, he’s dead. And it was me that killed him.”
Fuck, that’s some heavy shit. Zak isn’t my blood brother, but I can’t imagine hurting him past the odd punch, some meant and others playful, so to kill your own brother is something I wouldn’t ever want to experience. But if my brother did something that hurt me or someone I loved equally as much, then I wouldn’t hesitate.
“Accident or intentional?” Zak asks, and it’s the exact question I was thinking.
“Oh, it was completely intentional. I shot him at point blank range while I looked him in the eye. He was the first person I ever killed.” He fiddles with the edge of the picture, and I hear Ripley behind me clinking bottles a second before four beers are placed on the table. Each of us, including Roxanne, take one, swallowing down a large mouthful before Bowser continues.
“There was only two years between me andTodd,” he spits the name out, and it’s clear he still harbours a deep hate for his brother. “And we were always close until he hit puberty. He met some lad called Aaron, a couple years older than him, and they became close, spending all their time together, getting into trouble with the cops and later with girls. When he was about 15, there were rumours that he and this other lad had raped some girl, but it was brushed under the carpet, and nothing was ever done about it.
“Over the years, there were half a dozen other accusations against them both, but again nothing came of it. Then one night, I followed him and Aaron to a derelict house, or so I thought anyway. It turns out it wasn’t derelict at all but some meeting place for their little club of sick fucks.” He gulps down nearly half his beer and takes a deep breath. “I watched as a car arrived and two guys got out, greeting my brother and his mate. They laughed and joked as they opened the boot, and I was expecting them to pull out a box of beers and snacks. I never fucking imagined they’d lift out some kid, a girl, bound and gagged.”
“What the fuck, Bowser!”
Ignoring my little outburst, he carries on. “She can’t have been more than twelve or thirteen, and she fought as they carried her inside the house. At first, I was in shock, then when I came to my senses, I called the old bill. I sat outside that fucking house for nearly an hour waiting for the cops to turn up, and all that time all I could think about was that poor girl and what they were doing to her. I felt sick. When I finally heard a car approaching, I was relieved to see it was the old bill. But it was short lived because one of the guys came out to meet them, they chatted for a couple of minutes and then got back in their car and drove away.”
Roxanne has been quiet till now, but I see the utter devastation on her face as the final veneer from her old career falls away. Everything she’s ever believed in has been a lie. All these years she thought she was living on the good side of life. It hurts me that it’s hurting her to finally see the truth. But, fuck me, am I happy to see the real her return.
“Who are they? The coppers, do you know them?” she demands, banging the bat on the floor.
Bowser looks to her, and there’s some pride in his eyes as he says his next words. “Not anymore, Roxy. They are as dead as Todd is. Him, his friend, the two other guys that were there that night and both coppers that came then left turning a blind eye. I fucking made sure of it.”
“I still want their names,” she tells him, to which he nods.
“I want to know why you’ve never told us about this before?” I ask.
