Shadows Creed (Shadows Creed #1)

Ice cream factory

Zacky didn’t think he’d ever driven a car that ran as smoothly as the Bentley did. Matty had done wonders on it. The tires hummed on the bitumen as they shot down the highway and along the coast. The five of them were silent, lost in their own little worlds. The only sound was the scratching of Brian’s pen on paper and Johnny’s snoring. The kid was exhausted from all the excitement.

The mechanic glanced in the rear view mirror at the youngest of his friends and was reminded, jarringly, of the elder brother.

“Luke would’ve loved this,” Jimmy’s voice startled him a little and he looked at the tall male who was seated next to him, for once all parts of his body remaining inside the vehicle. He was unusually sombre and quiet and that could only mean that he was taking their escape very seriously.

Zacky grimaced. “Yeah. He’d be totally in this.” His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “In fact, it would’ve been his idea.”

Jimmy nodded, stroking his beard. “Exactly.” He gazed out at the passing scenery. “You know where we’re meeting Shads?”

Dan spoke up from the back. “There’s a run-down ice-cream factory twenty miles outta town. Kayla’s Creamery.”

Zacky flicked his eyes to the mirror to meet the soldier’s gaze. “He message you?”

“Yeah. It’s off the main highway.” Dan leaned over and held his phone out to Jimmy. “Check the route.”

Jimmy squinted at the screen then pointed out the window. “It’s the next left, V.”

Zacky gave a tight nod as he returned his focus on the road.

Brian commented, drily, “An ice cream factory, hey? Not much use for one out this far.”

Jimmy chuckled. Zacky just rolled his eyes and then silence settled once more between them. Johnny still snoring continuously.

* * * * *

Matthew leaned his head back against the corrugated iron and stared through his lashes at Matt Berry who was just staring back at him a world weary expression in his eyes.

“You know how we’re gonna explain this shit, Shads?”

“No.”

M Berry sighed and began to pace. Matthew tracked his movements without speaking, just waited whilst keeping an ear out for their friends’ arrival. The two men were holed up in the front office of the ice-cream factory. It had been abandoned for three years, bankrupt or something like that. Matt Berry had arrived at just about the same time as Matthew and they’d barricaded themselves in.

The younger male was on edge and other than the obvious, there was one other thing that neither of them had dare bring up. Even though over a month had passed, it was still raw. The staged execution…the very real mental fallout for both of them. It was tough. And then the fact that Jason had no clue that his brother was still very much alive. Matthew knew that had to be hard for the other twin.

“They’re going to be pissed,” Matt murmured.

“They’ll get over it.” Matthew looked away then frowned as his phone began to vibrate. He tugged it out of his pocket and his expression darkened. Matt looked over at him.

“What?”

“It’s your twin.” Matthew held the phone up to his ear. “What do you want?” The colour drained from his face a second later, causing Matt to start forward. Matthew held up his hand for him to wait.

“What the fuck, Jason? You. Let. Her. Go.” He spat the words, as it felt like an iron fist was squeezing his heart. He closed his eyes and exhaled in a rush. “Don’t. Don’t do this.” The fingers of his free hand curled around the butt of his gun. “I will hunt you down…” He swore angrily as Jason disconnected the call on the other end.