Chapter 4

Kevin was putting his jacket on when a flash of light and the noise of a car from down the yard made him cast a glance out of the window.
He froze. What the devil…? The police? What did they want? They couldn’t have any suspicion about… this soon?
He turned off the light in the living room and stood, half hidden behind the curtain, while he watched the yard.
A police officer got out and opened the car’s backdoor. Much to his bewilderment the passenger, who stepped out from the backseat was … Kristin?
She looked disheveled and red-eyed. The female officer who’d driven the vehicle said something to her, and at that moment another car drove into the yard: Kristin’s old Ford.
When it stopped, a male police officer got out, and the three of them apparently exchanged a few words while they looked up to the window.
He took a few steps back, but then saw all three of them turning to the doorway where the stairs led up to the apartment.
As Kristin was accompanying them, he couldn’t very well pretend not to be at home, as she had her own key.
Quickly he stepped forward toward the door and turned the light back on but kept his jacket on.
A moment later the door to the apartment was opened, and Kristin stepped inside, followed closely by the two uniformed police officers – a female and her male colleague.
“What the devil…?” Kevin burst out, as if he hadn’t already seen the three arriving, and now was extremely surprised to Kristin’s company.
“Yeah, well, I’m sorry, but you see…” Kristin made a vague gesture with a hand toward the two police officers.
The officer who’d transported Kristin stepped forward and presented herself. “My name’s Natalie Welch, and this is my colleague, Gary Howell,” the lady-copper stated. “We’re from the Petersville Police.
Your girlfriend has had a nasty experience, so we thought it best for her not to drive the vehicle home by herself.”
Kevin was one big question mark. “What happened? he asked.
“She’ll fill you in with the details herself,” Natalie Welch said, “but we’ve got a single question for you first. It’s about an episode on the road, west of Petersville. We have a car with two people who’ve had a – well a dramatic experience, and Kristin has explained she recognized the vehicle as identical to one visiting this garage earlier on. Their names are Carl Sims and Juan Padilla. Do they sound familiar?”
“Not at all. Well, two guys drove up here earlier, in a dark Hyundai. They were relieved that someone was still here, as their oil lamp had started blinking, and they had a long road ahead to get home. So, I gave their car some oil. What’s happened to them?”
“We won’t go into that right now. Thank you for your help so far, anyway. The police crime section will probably be in contact later with a few more questions, but for now we’ll leave you alone. Your girlfriend greatly needs your care.”
Natalie Welch gave a friendly nod as she and her partner retired to the door.
Kevin politely bade them goodbye and stayed in the open door until the two police officers had reached the entrance door below and let themselves out.
Then he turned around, closing the door to the staircase with a slam.
“And now can I have an explanation as to what you’ve dragged me into?” His hands were on his hips, and he stared at Kristin, furiously.
“I… why, nothing. I was just driving along the road, and then saw this car halfway down the ditch. There was no one else, so I stopped to see if I could be of any help. Then, when I came nearer, I recognized the vehicle from this afternoon, and I noticed it was…”
Kristin hid her face in her hands and couldn’t help crying once again at the memory. “It was full of bullet holes. And as I crept down the ditch to see if there was anyone inside… oh. They sat in there, and they were both dead. And there was so much blood and…” she broke off, sobbing.
“Well, but why did you tell the police that I knew them? Couldn’t you just have driven on and pretended not to have seen anything? It wasn’t your business, after all…”
“Pretend to…? But I couldn’t!” Kristin looked at him, her face streaming with tears. Her look was frozen in shock at this totally insensitive suggestion.
“No? But you’re fully capable of getting me into this mess. Oh, you big stupid idiot. You fucking big Bulky!”
The fist came so suddenly, it made it impossible for Kristin to prevent the blow. It hit her full power just beneath her left eye, sending her flying back toward the dining table.
The pain was unbearable, and her eyesight flickered. She still glimpsed Kevin, though, standing in front of her, prepared to follow up on the first blow.
Something inside her head seemed to explode. Whether it was the consequence of the continual shocks the evening had presented so far, years of humiliation and subjection – or something quite different that possessed her – she didn’t take the time to consider.
Before she even thought about it, she’d rolled sideways from her half lying position by the table and was on her feet in an instant.
Her face was a distorted mask of rage, blood ran from her nose and down her shirt, and her left eye was almost closed, following his beating.
Without any warning she stepped in front of Kevin and dealt him a blow, her fist clenched.
The rage behind it was so violent, it toppled him. He went right down, hitting his head on the corner of a dresser as he fell.
A second later he was on the floor, moaning with pain while he held his head in both hands.
Kristin looked down at him coldly, still possessed with a frenzy she’d never known she was able to muster.
“If you really think I’m that big – maybe you should show a little more respect. You steaming pile of shit, you!! I might just decide to sit down on you, big and fat as you call me. And that might be fatal, considering my weight. You think about that!”
She accompanied the remark with a final kick at the prone figure, and Kevin uttered a scream, trying to roll away from her.
Kristin, still trembling with fury, turned on her heels and went out to the bathroom where she studied the damage to her face in the mirror.
She found a clean cloth and carefully washed the wounds in cold water. Bending her head backwards and with the help of the cool water she managed to stop the nose bleeding. Then she gently dabbed the damaged skin.
She noticed her blouse was smeared in blood and left the bathroom to fetch a clean one from the bedroom closet.
On her way she noted that Kevin was still lying on the floor. He was badly damaged, but his loud moaning told her that he was still alive, and making his presence known, indeed.
From a drawer she took a pair of large sunglasses and put them on, hoping they would hide the damages enough for her not to cause too much stir.
Then she fetched a bag and filled it with a change of clothes. On the top she placed her purse with her driver’s license.
Finally, she glanced around the room, a sort of farewell to the dreams of a good life she’d had when she and Kevin first moved in less than a year ago.
She didn’t really know what to do next, just hoped something might turn up.
With the bag flung over one shoulder she left the bedroom.
As she slipped through the living room, she cast a cold glance at her boyfriend.
He was staring at her from his huddled position on the floor. He didn’t dare address her, this fury who had possessed his former timid and obedient girlfriend.
Kristin slammed the door behind her as she left, he heard her steps down the stairs, and a moment later the sound of the front door closing behind her with a firm slam.

Kevin got up onto his knees cursing and moaning, and from there he succeeded in getting to his feet. This he hadn’t seen coming. Never!
Despite his pains he acknowledged that he was now in a dangerous position that had nothing to do with his immediate injuries. He had to act – promptly!
With the support of the table, he managed to edge out to the bathroom. He moaned at the sight that met his eyes in the mirror.
Well, there wasn’t much time for repairing. Just wipe away the worst of the blood, and then he had to leave.
Still dabbing his face carefully with a handkerchief, he found his cell and keyed in a number.
“Yes? This is Kevin. Say, something unexpected has come up. We need to meet earlier on than arranged. Half an hour? I’ll bring the goods, and then you’ll have to take over – okay?”
After a confirmation he disconnected, picked up his car keys from a drawer and left the apartment, locking the door behind him.
Much to his relief he felt his strength returning. He still had a headache and some soreness lingered, but nothing he couldn’t handle.
Down in the yard he unlocked the gate to the garage and walked to the far end where an old, outworn wreck of a vehicle stood.
The boss had allowed him to putter about it in his free time. Not that he expected it to ever be driving the roads again, but because he thought it would be amusing for Kevin to make repairs on it, and at the same time get him to learn quite a lot about motor repairs.
Kevin fully agreed. He’d actually been happy here.
He glanced round the repair hall with a feeling of nostalgic melancholy. Then he opened the backdoor to the worn-out car, bent down and lifted its backseat.
From the space beneath the seat, he pulled up a sports bag and tossed it over one shoulder.
Then he left the large room, locked its gate, and walked to the car he, as an employee, had the boss’s permission to drive on a private basis.
Having pressed the bag down into the spare wheel in the trunk he closed the tailgate and got in behind the wheels.
Putting on the safety belt he once again picked up his mobile and keyed a number.
“Hi, it’s me. Kevin, right! Say, I need to ask you for some help. I’ve got a bit of an emergency, to put it mildly, and I’m worried the local coppers will soon be on my tail.”
He listened for a moment. “No, it cannot wait. I’ll just sketch what happened.”
He repeated what the two police officers had told him, and then added Kristin’s version of the events.
“So, as you can see, I’m trapped: Partly because the police have me in their sights. And partly because the Organization will be convinced that I’m behind the attack on their two representatives. That puts me in fatal danger! You have to help me out. You promised…”
The voice at the other end of the connection uttered a few calming words.
“That late? And so far as in the city? Can’t you just fetch me out here…? Well, okay then, that’s a deal. See you in a couple of hours then. I’ve just got a crucial errand to run first.”
Kevin disconnected and placed his cell on the passenger’s seat before he started the engine and swung out to the road.
He’d made sure that everything was okay. The headlights and the taillight were in order, and the brake light functioned fully as well. No point in taking a chance on being stopped because of a simple flaw, he thought, while driving fast, but carefully observing the speed limit.
Barely half an hour later he reached an old barn, a large ramshackle building placed a good distance away on a field.
He turned his car up the lumpy gravel road leading to the building and was relieved as he noticed his contact’s vehicle was already parked behind the barn.
He stopped his car and switched off its engine, and at the same time a tall, heavy built man stepped out from the barn’s gloomy inner.
Kevin got out and walked ahead to meet him.
“What’s with the sudden rush?” the man wanted to know.
“Nah – nothing that’ll affect you lot. It’s something… personal.” Kevin instinctively touched his eye, that at this point was badly swollen.
“I see. Troubles with the mistress of the house, I gather?” The man in front of him chuckled.
You should know…  “Oh, this – no, just a clumsy stumbling on the carpet – and I was unfortunate enough to hit the corner of a dresser on my way down.”
“Hmm, anyway as long as we’re here, we’d better get our little transaction done with. You have the wares?”
“Yep, right here!” Kevin walked to his car and opened its tailgate. From the spare wheel he brought out the sports bag and handed it to the courier.
The transaction was split up in separate parts, so the same people weren’t in possession of the goods as well as the payment at the same time. Therefore, the buyer paid up front and then got the commodities a few hours later.
It wasn’t the way it worked in the city, but the system functioned fine out here. At the same time, it had the advantage that more people were involved. That way the transactions became less conspicuous, as the same person wasn’t active all the time.
The two men took a short leave before getting into their respective cars and driving down the bumpy gravel road.
At the main road they parted and drove in opposite directions.

Kevin headed toward the highway and city. He allowed himself to speed up a little further than he’d dared when he still had the merchandise in his car.
He was never directly involved in what he was actually transporting. But from various remarks he’d pieced together that this time it concerned about 44 pounds of cocaine.
Under no circumstances would you want to get stopped by a police patrol that might want to give the car a closer look.
He sagged back in his seat with relief on nearing the highway. His car was clean at this point, nothing illegal could be found. In about an hour he’d be in the city and at the agreed meeting place. Then, with a bit of luck, he would get help to get out of the situation he’d found himself in for far too long.
Had he been able to go back and do it all over, he’d have done so. But it was impossible. It started with the dream of getting rich fast: He’d let himself be tempted at the gaming tables to put in far too much money, more than he could in any way afford.
Unfortunately, the great wins failed to happen. Instead, he had a visit off a brutish rocker-type, who had several suggestions as to what accidents he, Kevin, might experience if he failed to pay his debt. Even though the people behind the gambling had been more than willing to lend him money over and again.
Too late it dawned to him it was a criminal organization that was behind it. Far too late.
When he had meekly explained the rocker-type that he didn’t have any money, he was presented with another suggestion: He could do his creditors a favor by just running a couple of errands for them now and again. Each time some of the money he owed would be cut down accordingly. The alternative was painful mutilation – or worse.
And so, he started as a kind of courier for a big narcotics-organization. They gave the orders, and he obeyed.
It was hopeless right from the start, and he soon realized he was caught in a trap. He wasn’t for a moment in doubt of being inveigled in criminal acts that were probably to do with large amounts of narcotics, and that he was facing a long time in prison, should he get caught. However, if at any point he tried to get around it by speaking about the Organization, he would subscribe to his own death sentence.
So, he tried returning to the gambling – and lost again. His situation worsened. Until this evening where he realized he was in life-threatening danger. And all of this because of circumstances he’d had no influence on.
Still, he’d be the first person to be suspected by the Organization of being behind the killings of their two representatives.
In this analysis Kevin took it as a matter of course that the person that shot the two gang-members had done so for the sake of the money, and that it was now gone.
Equally evident was that the Organization would believe it was him, Kevin, who’d robbed the money. For whom else would know they were driving on the country road, carrying a lot of money with them, at that exact time and place?
He hadn’t a clue as to who was behind the attack. But he knew without any doubt that his explanation wouldn’t be trusted in the city as far as you could throw a corpse. If he didn’t get away immediately, vanish from the scene completely before the news got to the city, he was as good as dead.
He sighed. It was his luck that he had a contact, a person no one knew about.
This guy could get Kevin to disappear miraculously if the danger came too close. As was the case right now.
Because of that, the evening’s dramatic events actually might contribute to turning the situation around to his benefit. At last, he had the chance to be set free of the mess, that to this point had locked his life off for several years.
He’d never wanted to become a courier. He’d been forced into it against his will. And now, he got the opportunity to leave this part of his life that had been almost like prison – with his life intact.
The person he was about to meet had promised to help him out, should he get into real trouble. This was in return for the contribution Kevin had given him, in the form of information.
He turned on the radio and softly hummed along to an old pop song, while a tiny smile started twisting the corners of his mouth.

An hour later, Kevin turned his car down a gravel road toward the forest right outside the city and drove toward the meeting place he’d agreed to. At first, he couldn’t spot his contact, but as he got closer, he saw the figure step out from some scrub just before the wood.
Kevin drove toward him and lowered his speed further as he drove to the edge of the path and stopped.
Getting out of his car he spotted his contact’s vehicle: A large motorbike, discretely hidden by the same bushes its driver had been standing behind.
“Well, so you made it!” The figure, dressed in black leather clothes came toward him. He was holding his helmet in one hand, and the moon lit up his face and his friendly smile.
“Yeah. What a relief you were able to meet me so fast. I don’t know what else I could have done.” Kevin returned the smile.
“You look somewhat battered. Did you have an accident?”
“Nah, just an unfortunate fall. It’s that other thing that makes me shit my pants.”
“Well then, let’s see how we can solve the situation, shall we. Come over here a moment.” The leather dressed figure stepped back behind the bushes and waved for Kevin to follow.
Curious on what solutions might emerge behind the bushes Kevin followed.
The person ahead turned around for a moment, remarking.” You see, the thing is…”
In one sliding move he pulled forward something from the inner of his jacket – a dark, compact thing, that he now directed toward the young man.
For a moment Kevin thought it was something the guy wanted to show him and was just about to step forward in order to have a closer look, when the fire from the small machine gun hit him directly in the chest. He was dead, even before his body hit the ground.
“… that you’ve become a millstone around my neck,” the black garbed guy finished his sentence.
After a short glance down at his murdered victim he shrugged his shoulders, slightly regretful. Then he packed his weapon into the bottom of one of the two motorbike bags hanging across the backseat. He placed it beneath various clothing, packed as if for a longer ride that needed overnight stays.
Leaving his virtual hide for a moment he walked to the car, Kevin had parked on the verge of the wood path, opening the car door he cast a glance around inside it.
There was the mobile… He grasped the phone and took it with him as he returned to the crime scene. Here, he placed the mobile on the ground, found a big stone and repeatedly smashed it until the cell was destroyed completely, crushed into lots of tiny parts that he gathered with both hands and put into the pockets of his leather coat.
He would get rid of them in single parts, thrown into different trash containers on his way. It might become a problem if, during the investigation, they found the phone numbers Kevin had contacted.
Finally, he put on his safety helmet and dragged his bike down from its kickstand, straddled the bike and drove away calmly.
At some point the body would be found, of course.
Yet another gangster-killing, alas.
He smiled vaguely behind his helmet as he reached the main road and sped up.