Against the Clock, John Carson [digital ebook reader txt] 📗

‘We’ll follow your lead, pal.’

‘I have to go and open the garage door from inside. I won’t be a minute.’ Mann stepped off the bus, and the three others and the dog got up and alighted into the cool night air.

Muckle looked around at the lights from the airport across the way, separated by a high chain-link fence. The workshop garage was over on the left, at ninety degrees to the main building, joined by a brick breezeway. Where the ‘monster’ had appeared to Dougal Dixon, the ex-bus driver. The maintenance shed was on the right.

‘I can imagine this might be a bit creepy if you came here on your own without a German Shepherd,’ Shug said. ‘Not for me, like,’ he added.

‘Of course not, Shug,’ Vern said. ‘Windowsills, yes; dark yards, no.’ She grinned at him.

‘You’re just giving him ammunition, Vern.’ Shug nodded to Muckle.

‘You know I love you, Shug,’ she said, putting her arm around him and smiling.

The garage door started clanking up electronically and the headlights from the bus lit the inside of the garage.

Marshall Mann wasn’t there.

Muckle walked over to one side, Sparky on a short lead. ‘Marsh?’ he said, but there was no answer. Shug was by his side.

‘Christ, look at that,’ Vern said. She was looking at the green house in the distance, now looking black.

‘What is it?’ Muckle said, coming back out with Sparky. The dog, sensing something was up, started growling.

‘Over there, at the house,’ she said.

In an upstairs window there was the faintest light, then a person came into view, dressed in what looked like a white gown and with long black hair.

‘I’m going to check it out,’ Vern said.

‘Not on your own, Vern,’ Muckle said.

‘I’m just going to have a look. See where Marshall is and then come along.’ She started walking back along the dark road, and soon she was swamped by the darkness and she appeared only as a dark shadow.

‘He’s gone,’ Shug said, coming back out. ‘Where’s Vern?’

‘Over there, in the dark. There’s somebody in that house.’

‘Who?’

‘Well, we didn’t sit down for tea and crumpets, but it looks like a fucking ghost.’

‘Away. You’re having me on.’

‘Am I? Have a look for yourself.’

Shug looked at the house in the dark and saw the faint light with somebody standing in the window. Then the light went out and the person was no more.

‘Fuck me. She shouldn’t be going along there on her own.’

‘I told her that, Shug, but she’s a tough ex-copper who can handle herself.’ Muckle turned to look back in the garage. ‘Come on, let’s have a neb in here. Marshall can’t have disappeared.’

They walked forward to the open garage door in front of the bus. Inside, other buses were parked up for the night, five in total. There was a door at the far end.

‘He came in through the door on the right, came back here to press the button to lift the door, and then what?’ Shug said.

‘There’s the door that leads through to the office. Check it out, Shug, and I’ll check this door along here.’

‘Aye-aye, Captain.’ Shug walked along to the door, going in the opposite direction to Muckle. He tried the door handle and it turned. He looked round to tell Muckle, but the big man was already out of view round the front of the buses.

Shug stepped through and pulled his phone out, switching on the torch. The hallway turned left and he saw a door with the word office painted on it. The light reflected off the glass in the door. The handle was locked.

He carried on down the hallway and it turned a sharp right. Another hallway. A door faced him. He walked along, the light bouncing off the white walls. The hallway turned right again and there was another door. He tried the handle and it opened into the canteen.

He stepped inside and heard the low buzzing of two vending machines that spewed weak light into the room, barely illuminating the tables and chairs. There was a door over on the right and a quick look showed him the maintenance workshop.

He turned back to the room and saw another door tucked away in the corner.

Shug walked towards it.

Thirty-Eight

‘Sparks, play the fucking game. There’s grease or oil on the floor here, pal. You nearly had me on my arse again.’

Sparky pulled him round the corner to a door. Muckle got him to sit while he opened it. There was the brick breezeway he had seen from the outside. Had Marshall come along here? Muckle walked along and opened the door at the far end. It opened into another, smaller workshop. There were tools in here and a garage door over on the left.

There was no sign of Marshall, so Muckle about-turned and walked back the way he had come. The bus’s headlights were still illuminating the garage entrance as it sat outside.

He crossed over the bay and went through the door that Shug had gone through, taking out a small torch. He followed the hallway round and went into the canteen. He checked the maintenance workshop, but it was empty.

He swung the torch about. ‘Shug?’ he said, without actually shouting it.

Nothing.

He walked over to what looked like a steel door, but it didn’t have a handle on it.

Shug was nowhere to be seen. Had he nipped out the open garage door where the bus was waiting? No, he wouldn’t do that, not without telling Muckle.

Another sweep of the room and all he saw was the two vending machines.

His torchlight caught something lying on the floor.

A half-eaten chocolate bar.

Shug was gone.

Muckle turned and made his way back to the garage bay, switched his torch off and started sprinting along to the dark house at the end of the road.

Sparky sensed something was up but didn’t start barking. He stopped for a second and sniffed the ground. Muckle was sure the dog had picked up Vern’s scent.

He moved again and Muckle started running faster. This had been his