“Tough. Maybe not as tough as last year. You leading for the ambulance crew?”
Keith nodded. “Apparently. I’m ahead with Luke about three miles behind. Is your friend Rayah, the teacher, single by the way?”
Jonny frowned. Keith was married and about fifty, so he had no idea why this was being asked. And he had no idea how to answer.
“I’m not sure.” Possibly the accurate answer. Just not the right one for him.
“Luke was asking. Well, kind of. He keeps talking about her. His sister’s kid’s in her class at school and Luke picked him up the other day. Think he was talking to her for a bit.”
They ran passed a group of kids handing out sugary sweets for instant energy. Jonny ignored them, knowing anything like that was likely to make him vomit, or maybe that was just because of what Keith was saying.
He did not like the idea of Rayah going out with Luke. Luke was a player; a paramedic and a semi-pro footballer with ideas way above his station.
“Why’ he not asked her out?” He tried to remain calm.
“I think he reckons she’s a bit out of his league. And he thought she might be seeing someone. To be fair to the kid, he’s not interested if they’ve already got a boyfriend. You know her well, though, right?”
“Yeah.” He didn’t want to say any more. “You guys did a good job of looking after Will the other week.”
Unsubtle change of topic.
“He’s a tough bloke. The explosion knocked him out but he barely had a scratch on him.” Keith clearly hadn’t noticed the swift diversion. “Have you heard any more about the body that was found?”
“Unidentified male. Gunshot to the head was the cause of death, through the back as well.”
“Execution?”
“Looks like it. There has to be a connection between it and the body on the moors.” It had, of course, been the subject of conversation at the station, the focus when there was a lull or whatever card game they had been playing was finished.
“It’s a bit much. Two bodies in Severton. We haven’t had anything like that since Felley Manor was owned by this gangster back in the Seventies, some Northern mobster. He had a couple of his enemies offed and disposed of their bodies in Underwood forest”
“I didn’t know about that.”
“Probably because it was about a decade before you were born and they weren’t local. It was just before the church bought the manor. Weird shit goes on in that place.” Keith was starting to slow as they crossed the next mile marker. Jonny figured that he’d be leaving him behind any time soon, which was no real issue.
“You carry on, son. I think I’ll have to slow my pace.”
And there it was. Jonny said a few words of encouragement and upped his speed, keen to get to Rayah and his kids, needing to see them and make sure that Luke was nowhere near her.
“I’m not entirelysure how this happened.” Rayah looked around the room and shrugged. “But I’m pretty sure that for once, it wasn’t my idea.”
Jonny stretched his legs, not sure if moving was something he’d ever be able to do again. The big seize up had started and he knew from experience that no amount of hot baths or saunas or light stretching would cure what he’d stupidly put his body through.
Alex Maynard, the rat-bastard, sat across from him, smiling smugly over a beer. He’d somehow ended up coming first in their mini-competition, although the firefighters had won overall. Jonny was pretty sure that Alex wasn’t actually human, that he was some form of robot programmed to attain ridiculous physical feats.
“Who invited everyone here?” He leaned over to Rayah to mutter into her ear, longing for the right to pull her closer to him and mark his territory.
“I have no idea. It wasn’t either of us. Maybe Jake.”
“Why didn’t he suggest the farm? That’s bigger. And it doesn’t have kids living there. Unless you count the goats.”
Rayah giggled. “Jake probably does. Do you want me to get rid of everyone?”
He did. He wanted everyone to clear off so he could spend time with Rayah putting his hands all over her body while she rode him, because there was no way his legs would even cooperate to be able to fuck her properly. Plus, Luke was there and he kept giving her the eye.
“No. They’ll all go soon. Especially the ones who did the race.” Apart from Alex, because the man could probably go and do another Iron Man tomorrow.
“If they’re still here in another hour I’ll get rid of them. You did amazing today.”
