Den of Stars by Christopher Byford

Author:Christopher Byford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2017-11-15T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

No easy way out

Misu ground her spent cigarette between railway sleeper and boot heel, waiting for the brief desert breeze to pass. The showgirls all looked at one another, attempting to make sense of these revelations, scraping the words between them in the silence. Elizabeth slowly redrew her opinion though remained awkwardly steadfast with arms crossed.

‘So you’re on the level.’ She pouted.

‘I’m hurt you would think differently,’ Misu stated, which was ironic seeing as she actually did hurt from the scuffle.

Katerina drummed her fingers against the carriage side. The cargo inside was a moot point in all of this, though she found herself attracted to staring once more. ‘You can’t blame us for your … well, previous history I was going to say.’

Misu wrinkled her brow whilst covering her eyes from the midday sun. ‘You really are lucky I’m an accommodating individual. Anyone else would have had you all out on your asses for questioning the boss.’ She nodded in understanding though, a smile cracking through severity. ‘Also lucky I’m forgiving as well. Still, seeing that I would have no doubt done the same in your situations, I can’t scold you all too much.’

Katerina peered into the gloom of the carriage, reviewing its interior. Bale after bale of contraband sat tightly wound in stacks of pending disaster.

‘How much?’ Katerina morbidly asked.

‘Plenty.’

‘A sprig of that stuff is too much in my opinion,’ Corinne grunted. ‘And we’re in possession of twenty bales at my count.’

‘Twenty-three to be exact,’ Misu corrected.

‘Is it really that dangerous?’ Elizabeth had leant inside, and brushed her fingers through one of the bale’s surfaces. It was swatted away with sharp smack. Instead, she retrieved a loose spring from the carriage floor, tilting it in the sun.

‘Chew a stick and find out,’ Colette offered.

‘I’m not that stupid,’ Elizabeth stated. Instead, she sniffed it cautiously.

Corinne eased her fingers until it was relinquished. ‘You really don’t want that.’

The plant was quickly dropped and crushed beneath a boot heel. When satisfied, Corinne, while trying to keep composure, let her feelings be shown. All this while she had defended Misu from the gossip. Not only was it true, but all this had been carried out without Corinne’s notice as well.

Her. Of all people.

* * *

‘Yes, I roped you all in on this without your permission.’ Misu attempted to put this to rest. ‘We’ve got bad cargo, which makes us a mark for some of the worst kind of folks out there. We’re currently in a rush to deliver it in the hope that Wilheim doesn’t send our manager back in a shoebox. So I get it. You’re angry and you have every right to be. If I thought things would be different then I would have told you all from the outset.

‘But this is the here and now and we’re at a crossroads. I’m going to save Franco. Even if I have to stroll into whatever nest Wilheim’s concocted by my lonesome, I’ll be doing it. We call ourselves family and for a time we were separated but that bond never broke.

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