Again ~ A Luke Brooks Love Story

Chapter 21

PAISLEY'S POV:

About three streets away from Luke's house, when my anger had died down a bit, I realised how dark it was. It wasn't particularly late but the sky was heavy with dark grey clouds. It also dawned on me how heavy Ava's pushchair was and how far away my flat was. I had sort of been counting on a lift home from one of the boys but clearly that wasn't going to be happening.

I wasn't too far from Luke's house, trying to walk as fast as I could without bumping the buggy around and wake Ava when I first though I heard something behind me. My head whipped round, quick as a wink to see a scuttle in the bushes which ran right along the side of the path. I tried to tell myself it was a bird or a fox out for a night time stroll but I had an uneasy feeling in my stomach that just wouldn't go away. I quickened my pace a little, suddenly not caring about the weight of the pram. Ava was still dead to the world so I felt it was safe if the pushchair got knocked around a bit.

At the end of that street, I thought I heard it again. This time when I turned around, I saw a shadow pass under the streetlamp. Now I was convinced I was being followed. Why someone would want to follow me, I had no idea but I was sure of it. I felt fear in my chest, not just for me but mainly for Ava. She was my daughter, utterly defenceless and it seemed I had walked her into another dangerous situation. As if living where we do wasn't enough or having an uncle in prison, now I had some loony chasing us home. I could hear the footsteps behind me now; they were no longer attempting to hide it. Of course, they knew that I knew they were there. I still had this tiny hope that it was one of the boys, playing a drunken trick on me but I knew in the back of my mind that they couldn't walk that stealthily or creep around like my tail was. They weren't that malicious.

I could see my high rise now, looming tall nestled among the others. It would take me five minutes, if that, to get there then I could be away from whoever was following me and safely into my flat. Whether I dared to leave it again in the morning or not was another question.

Right until we got to the entrance, they didn't try anything. I knew they were there of course but it was just like having a shadow who skulked around behind my back. At the foot of the stairs I heard them clear their throat. From the sound, it was unmistakeably a man which is what I had been thinking all along. A little stereotypical perhaps but obviously correct in this case. Not for the first time, I found myself wishing the lift worked. I headed up the stairs as fast as I could, banging my shin on a few and bumping Ava's push chair a couple of times.

At the top of the second flight, I caught a glimpse of my follower. It was a tall but wiry man. They were very pale and had a large amount of stubble. He was wearing a black hoodie and grey trackies with a black beanie pulled over his head. I recognised him at once.

Radleigh Lund.

His gran, Wendy lived next door to me. She was a lovely woman though a little clueless when it came to her Grandsons dealings. Radleigh was into drugs mainly as that's where all the money was, though I also heard rumours of prostitution. He was leader of a gang. They weren't like schoolboy arsonists; they were a proper calculated gang of criminals, shipping drugs and call girls up and down the country. Radleigh was also known to have a crazy rage and had pinned a man against the wall by the throat, just a few weeks ago in the lobby. I had never spoken to him nor did anything to upset him so I had no idea why he was chasing me. He normally only went after girls if their boyfriend or partner had done something to offend him or his honour. I had no boyfriend so why I was in this position, I didn't know. There was no way I could have pissed him off myself; I had never even spoken to the man.

When I got to the third floor and looked round again, I saw a glint of silver pass under Radleigh's jacket. It glittered in the moonlight which streamed through the reinforced windows.

My heart plummeted and my pulse increased. Radleigh had a knife. This was serious business. He was catching up too. I knew that he would have caught up to me by the time I got across the landing to the next flight. Instead of trying, I hammered on the door of the nearest flat. Nobody answered but I knew they were in there. With the time I had wasted with trying to get help, Radleigh had reached me. He put one hand around my throat like he had to the man earlier and shoved me against the wall. Ava's pram was flung to the side and she started crying. Radleigh didn't notice; he was too full of rage and anger.

"He's done us in!" he bellowed in my face. "Your bloody brothers gone and grassed us up!"

I spluttered for breath. Radleigh released his hold on my neck making it easier for me to breathe again.

"I'm going to prison for a very long time when the police catch me," he said quietly yet menacingly. "What does a few more years mean?"

Radleigh Lund had just threatened to kill me.

"P-please" I coughed out.

Radleigh laughed evilly, displaying every one of his pointed teeth. In a swift second, he pulled his hand back and plunged the knife deep into my stomach.