The Piggy Farmer (The Barrington Patch Book 3), Emmy Ellis [electric book reader txt] 📗

sighed. “Give over, it’s only Ted and Felix. Move your arse, will you, I need to get past.”

“Ted and Felix?” He was parroting her again, annoyed with himself for doing it, and stepped aside to let her out, so bewildered he wished he hadn’t agreed to record Jason’s confession. Wished he hadn’t agreed to any of this. “What do they want?”

Cassie moved past him, the trolley wheels creating a right old noise on the concrete—thank God the factory was away from any houses and no one would hear it. At her boot, she opened it. “Help me dump this wanker on there.”

Jimmy swallowed. Joined her. If his breathing could just go back to normal, that’d be grand.

A car rounded the corner, further spiking his adrenaline; it flooded his system and threatened to send him keeling over. The small runaround parked beside Jimmy’s, the driver’s door opening, the interior light splashing on. It was Ted and Felix all right, men people wouldn’t have thought were involved in this side of the Grafton business.

Then again, look how tight they were with Lenny.

He should have known they’d be in on shit to this degree. Hindsight was so spiteful the way it taunted you for not seeing, not putting two and two together at the time, and it laughed at him for being such an oblivious fool.

The old men approached, Felix standing next to Jimmy, Ted by Cassie. All four of them stared into the boot, Jimmy hating what was beneath that material—not Jason, although he disliked him, but the body, the mess.

“Thank God you saw the bleedin’ light with this one.” Ted poked a finger towards the shrouded Jason, clearly visible from the glow in the boot. “I’m glad you rang. I’m more than happy to see what Marlene does to him.”

Fucking hell, does she mutilate dead bodies or what?

“You never did like him, did you?” Felix said.

Ted shook his head. “He was a trumped-up twat like his mother.” He nudged Cassie. “No offence, like, but why your old man thought it was a good idea for Jason to be your right hand is beyond me. Trying to take over the patch. What a dickhead.”

“We’ve got Jimmy to thank for getting the confession.” Cassie patted Jimmy’s shoulder. “And he held up well at the squat.”

“Champion.” Ted smiled at him. “I like you, Jim, always have. How’s Shirl?”

Was that some kind of threat? Jimmy wasn’t sure how to take it so nodded. “She’s all right, ta. You?”

“All the better for being here, lad.” Ted rubbed his latex-gloved hands. “Come on then, let’s get going.”

Turned out Jimmy didn’t need to help after all. Old they might be, but Ted and Felix lifted the body bag out and all but threw it onto the trolley. Jimmy winced at how that must hurt, then remembered Jason wouldn’t feel a thing. The cousins manoeuvred the trolley into the factory, whistling in harmony, and Cassie closed the boot, the light dousing.

“This is usually their job, taking people to Marlene,” she said. “And they dispose of the bodies afterwards. Anyroad, like Ted just said, come on, let’s get going.”

He followed her into the factory, hating being there, asking himself if he’d fallen asleep at the squat and was only dreaming, but the floor was too solid beneath his feet, the surroundings too real. Cassie closed the door and led the way to another one, which stood open. Inside a small room, Ted and Felix stood by a steel machine. Jimmy trailed Cassie inside and gazed around. A sink unit was off to the right, and some tall plastic boxes with lids stacked on top had been placed by a thingy (he couldn’t think what it might be called, his brain blank) that stuck out of the machine. A steel hose? On top was a large chute with steps leading up to it.

Where was Marlene?

“Okay, let’s have a gander at him.” Ted pulled the zip down on the body bag and parted the fronts so the space created a white elm leaf shape. “Oh, fuck me, would you look at the state of him.” He laughed, his cheeks going red, his grey fringe wafting.

Felix leant forward. “You used your weapon again, Cass.”

She nodded. “Of course I did. He needed the pain.”

There she is, all casual again.

“That must have been right sore.” Felix grimaced and squinted. “What’s up with his lip?”

Cassie shrugged. “I split it with a barb and sewed it back up.”

Felix shook his head. “Blimey, girl, I worry about you.”

“No need.”

“Um, what else did you do to him?” Felix bent even closer and inspected the shin and sliced trousers. “That’s a fair-sized hole, that is.”

“Eight-inch nail. There’s holes in his arm, hand, and heart an’ all.” Cassie folded her arms. Was that a defensive move or one that said: And? I have to answer to you because?

Ted laughed even more. “Good. He deserved the agony. Horrible little twat.”

Felix wiped his brow. “You shot him. With a nail gun.” He closed his eyes for a second. “Does Gina know?”

“Not yet.” Cassie tapped her foot. “Are you trying to tell me something or just being fucking nosy?”

Felix held both hands up. “No, no, only asking, making conversation, like.”

“Probably better if you don’t.” Cassie gave one of her weird tight smiles. “I’m not in the mood.”

Ted and Felix stared at each other, raised their shoulders simultaneously, and got to work, taking Jason out then undressing him, Ted using a penknife to cut around the material near the nail heads in the arm, then slicing the rest away. He used pliers to wrench the nails out. All the while, Jimmy watched, everything so surreal. And Marlene still hadn’t turned up. What was keeping her? If the old men dumped the bodies, why did the woman even need to be