Page 45 of Compulsion

He dropped the cigarette and ground it out under his boot. “Why’d you leave, Max?” His voice was deceptively calm. “Why’d you run like some scared fucking rabbit?”

“Pension scheme wasn’t good enough,” I muttered. “Why do you care?”

“Because no one runs, Max. Not from me. Not until I fucking tell them to.”

I couldn’t think of any more snappy replies. Peck’s nasal breathing and my own harsh gulps were the most prominent sounds. The noise of the seafront traffic in the background was no more than a hum, and the rest of the world seemed very far away. Peck’s hands hung loosely at his sides, and I assumed he wasn’t armed. We weren’t in one of those ultra-violent London gangster movies, were we? This was real life. But that could still be just as shocking. And this was a confrontation I knew I’d been running from.

“It’s over,” I said and took a step back toward the door. “I’ve got nothing to do with that shit anymore.”

“Yeah?” Peck clasped his hands together and cracked a couple of knuckles. Maybe I was in one of those movies after all. “That’s not for you to say.”

“It is—”

“Not!” Peck growled, shocking me further. “You were one of mine, Max, and I needed you there. Now, if you’re expecting me to find you a place here instead—”

“What? No!” It was my turn to snap. “I quit, Peck. Totally. I’m out of the whole mess.”

He frowned at me. “Yeah, right. It doesn’t work that way. You still need it, Max. The money, the fun, the hits.”

No. “No!” My protest was hoarse and loud in the quiet yard. I couldn’t help seeing how vulnerable I was, yet I couldn’t let this drop. “That’s not me anymore. In London, back here… it’s not me.”

“Just words.” There was a tight edge to Peck’s voice. “I said you had a smart fucking mouth, didn’t I?”

“What you just said….” My head ached and I knew I should be running, not blabbing from that smart mouth of mine. “Asking me if I want a place here instead. What are you doing here?”

“Out of the whole mess,” he mimicked my higher voice. “That’s what you said. Change your mind?”

“Tell me,” I said urgently. “Are you planning on running the same racket here in Brighton? Is that why you’re here? So the Medinas can expand their business?”

“You should know. You’re fucking one of them. Don’t you perverts have pillow talk?”

I ignored the homophobia. I knew Peck wasn’t going to discover equal opportunity tolerance any time soon. “Seve oversees the club, that’s all.”

Peck laughed again, and really damn loud. “He’s the main man, Max. He’s family. Mr. Medina has high hopes for him. Why else do you think I have to keep parasites like you away from him?”

I can’t have kept my expression as clear as I’d hoped, because he laughed again.

“So there is pillow talk. Fuck me. You dirty bastards. So are you the bitch, Max? Are you the one takes him up the arse?”

“For fuck’s sake. That crap never worked on me before, Peck, what makes you think it will now?”

He peered at me. “Can’t believe your boyfriend hasn’t told you all about the plans. He was up in London earlier this week, didn’t you know? Seeing his uncle. Happy families, catching up.”

I felt genuinely nauseous. I really didn’t want to throw up in front of Peck, but I had to swallow hard to keep down the bile. “Just fuck off. I’m going. I quit then, and I’m not interested now.”

“Sharp mouth,” he repeated, then paused as if thinking something over. “Loose tongue too?”

There was a sudden pregnant silence between us. And then I realized what he was really after. He didn’t want me to work for him again; he wasn’t even looking for a punching bag for his gay bashing, though I was sure he’d make an exception for me. No, he wanted to find out if I was a danger to him—if I’d reported it all. If I’d turned Honest Citizen. He didn’t know I’d just kept my head down and hid. Or rather, I had until now.

“You were there that night, weren’t you?”

“What the fuck?”

I shook my head impatiently. He knew exactly what I meant. Astonishingly, I found myself moving toward him and my hands balling into fists. No way would I come out of it with all my limbs intact if I went head to head with Peck. My body just seemed to be running ahead of my common sense. “Baz was working for you, wasn’t he? Maybe he still is. Did you send him after Stewart?”

“Who the fuck’s Stewart?” But awareness was flickering in his small eyes. “One of your pathetic bum buddies?”

I knew in that instant that Peck had definitely been behind the attack on Stewart. “He was stirring up trouble, wasn’t he? So you got rid of him.”