Breaking Waves: Phil Tyler Thriller Series Book 1 (Phil Tyler Thrillers) by Barry Litherland

Author:Barry Litherland [Litherland, Barry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bleaknorth Publishing
Published: 2022-02-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

There are days when life takes against you for no reason. You don’t know how you’ve caused offence, but you have, and life takes it badly and pursues you and trips you and kicks you until you can’t move. Then, just when you think it’s gone away and you’re lying curled in a foetal ball, feeling sorry you were born, you hear it come back to level one final kick before it finally departs.

That final kick came in the form of a phone call. It’s ten o’clock at night, it’s Wayne, and he sounds slurred.

‘I’m down at the Moonlight Bar,’ he says. ‘You should see the mindless fuckers in this place. Do you fancy a pint?’

The Moonlight Bar?

Shit.

I’ve got my coat and I’m heading for the lift before I realise that I’ve left my mind behind. It catches up as I pass the first floor, and I start to put my thoughts in some kind of coherent sequence. What the hell is he doing at the Moonlight Bar? That’s Mackie’s place, the place Tyrone works, the place where they throw knives at your head, the place where Manny hangs out – literally. What the fuck...’

I pass the rest of the journey down there imagining how many drinks Wayne will have consumed and what state he’ll be in.

By the time I walk through the door to be hit in the face by the bright lights, deafened by the sudden blare of music and nauseated by the heat of innumerable bodies, Wayne has already cleared himself a space near the bar. He’s dancing slowly with an invisible partner. People are looking at him and laughing, but Wayne hasn’t noticed. He’s moving round to the music and his eyes are closed. From the end of the bar, Manny is watching, monolithic. I think I can hear his knuckles crack.

Wayne sees me and he’s pleased.

‘Phil,’ he shouts, really loud, and now everyone’s looking at me, including Manny.

He turns to the bar and orders a couple of drinks; then he takes me by the hand and shoulder and dances with me. I try my best to break away, but he’s clinging on and swaying, and now he’s singing too. I haven’t had a drink, so I feel very conspicuous. Besides, my evening hasn’t exactly put me in the mood for dancing.

‘For fuck’s sake, Wayne, what are you doing here?’

I break away and lean against the bar. Wayne staggers over and leans next to me.

‘Two whiskies,’ he says. I shake my hand towards the barman, but he ignores me and pours them anyway. Money is money, I guess.

‘What a fucking shithole,’ Wayne says.

‘Why are you here?’ I ask again.

‘Have you seen the fucking dickheads in this place?’

One or two of the dickheads are staring at him, and they don’t look happy. I don’t risk eye contact.

‘I came to see my big brother,’ he slurs. He turns to the throng beside and behind him. ‘I came to see Tyrone. Where’s Tyrone?’

No one answers.

‘Miserable fuckers,’ he says.

I glance at Manny.

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