Five Beautiful Boys

A Daring Rescue Attempt

Four hours later, Mikey sat in the back seat of Frank's car alongside Ray, his hands handcuffed behind him; the tinted rear windows making it almost impossible for anyone outside to notice his situation. As the car pulled out into traffic for the twenty minute journey, Mikey looked from his knees to Ray and back again. All three were smartly dressed in brand new suits with matching shirts and ties, although, he got the impression that Ray's suit didn't quite fit him, which surprised him, as it appeared that Frank had excellent taste and had reached the conclusion that looking his best was important to him. Even when he was dressed casually the previous night when Frank had cooked for him, Mikey had noticed his appearance and been impressed by his attention to use of colour and textures. It was obvious to anyone who bothered to even spare a passing glance that Frank cared about his appearance.

Frank had explained his plan to Mikey only half an hour earlier. Naturally, Mikey had refused to help, astonished by the idea that he had even assumed for a moment that he would acquiesce to his demands. But that was before he had been shown the trigger mechanism and been told about the bomb planted in both Gerard's home and office. The tiniest flick of a switch and it would all be over for his brother. Frank had taken great pleasure in reminding him that his brother was no longer needed for their plan to succeed as they had all the codes they needed to access the bank and security systems. Of course, Mikey was more than aware by this point that no longer needing Gerard also meant that they no longer needed him and if he didn't do what they asked, the result could only be both their deaths.

Mikey had initially welcomed the idea of being taken somewhere; it was a chance to escape, possibly the only chance he'd get.But all his hopes were dashed at the production of that tiny black box with the chrome switch. He didn't dare risk anything that could bring harm, or worse, to Gerard.

Mikey glanced again at Ray, sitting silently next to him, wearing glasses and his hair slicked back with gel, he looked so different.

"What?" Ray asked gruffly.
"Nothing," Mikey replied looking away, not wishing to engage either of them in conversation.
"You think you're better than us?" asked Ray, pointedly. "Fancy lawyer looking down his nose at criminal scum?"
"No!" Mikey answered quickly. In truth, he didn't know what he had been thinking, other than being worried about Gerard. It only occurred to him now that around these men the only thing he had felt was fear. "I wasn't thinking about you at all."
"Were you thinking about me?" Frank laughed from the driver's seat.
"I..." Mikey paused, hesitating to answer. He had thought about Frank, he had thought about both of them, but merely observations, not judgements. "I was thinking about Gerard."
"Aww, that's sweet!" Frank laughed again. "Isn't it, Ray?"
"Yeah, whatever," Ray shrugged touching his gelled hair and frowning at the unfamiliarity of it.
"No, it's a good thing, it means that our boy here will do his job properly, if he's worried about his brother and what might happen if he doesn't."
"I'm not your boy!" Mikey snapped back.
"Listen to me, Mikey," Frank began sourly, "you're impeccably dressed, just a bit too beautiful to be real, a tiny bit nervous and handcuffed. You ought to be glad it's Ray in the back with you and not me!"

Mikey's mouth dropped open slightly and he gasped with surprise at the openness with which Frank had just addressed him.

"He's serious, you know," Ray added with a mischievous grin.
"I know he is," Mikey replied looking down at his knees once more.

Frank slowed the car to halt. Mikey looking up nervously as he did.
"Right," Frank turned and looked at both men seated in the back of the car, his face hardened with determination. "Everyone remember the plan? And who they are?"
Ray nodded grimly. "I'm David Tanner, you're John Brooke and he's Simon Mellor."
"Okay, Simon?" Frank pushed the point.
Mikey looked up and nodded bleakly; there was little he could do but agree to help them.
"Okay, Ray, remove his handcuffs."
Mikey leaned forward as Ray reached behind him and unlocked the cuffs around his wrists.
"Don't forget," Ray whispered into his ear as he removed the cuffs, "you say or do one thing out of place and Gerard is dead.Got it?"
Mikey nodded; it wasn't the sort of thing he was likely to forget, but he had long since realised that they liked to torture him with the idea.