The Wolves of London by Mark Morris

Author:Mark Morris
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Titan

EIGHTEEN

DAWN CHORUS

‘Why does he call you Monroe?’

It was the first time either of us had spoken for several minutes. After being abandoned by Benny we’d begun to walk back towards what Clover claimed was the A25. She’d told me that halfway to Guildford, Benny had taken an abrupt left down a minor single-track road surrounded by woodland. Ignoring Clover’s demands to know what was going on, he had driven for two or three miles before pulling into a lay-by and cutting the engine. It was during the ensuing row that I had started to come round.

Clover turned her head to look at me now, half-amused, half-puzzled. ‘Is that really all you can think of to say?’

‘I’m curious, that’s all. It’s never Clover, always Monroe. It just seems odd.’

Clover shrugged and faced front again, staring into the darkness. ‘That’s Benny for you. He’s a hard man, who thinks that showing affection is a weakness. He’s protective towards me, and he hugs me like a daughter whenever he sees me – but he never uses my first name. When I was younger it was always “Miss Monroe”; now it’s just “Monroe”. It’s his way of keeping his distance, holding me at arm’s length.’

I snorted. Trees and bushes formed shifting black walls on either side of us, the rustle of leaves and the scrape of branches in the wind made ominous by the fact that we couldn’t see them.

‘Funny way of showing his protective side – by kicking you out to fend for yourself.’

‘It was my decision. Benny’s a proud man. He’d already decided to kick you out. There was no way he was going to lose face by going back on that.’

‘Not even if it meant leaving you at the mercy of the Wolves of London?’

‘Like I say, it was my decision. What could he do? Force me at gunpoint back into the car? Shoot me if I refused?’

‘I see your point.’ I hesitated, then said, ‘Do you think he’d have shot me if I’d refused to get out of the car?’

Clover was silent for a few seconds. Far off in the darkness I heard the mournful cry of a bird.

‘Who knows?’ she said finally. ‘Maybe. Benny’s unpredictable. I’ve known him for years, but I wouldn’t claim to know him, if you get what I mean? With people like Benny, it’s all about self-preservation. They’re loyal and protective up to a point, but they would never lay their life on the line for you. If Benny thought you were a threat he’d kill you as soon as look at you.’

I wondered, not for the first time, what had prompted him to take me under his wing in prison all those years ago. Had it been a whim? Had he thought I might be useful to him in some way? Or was it pointless trying to work out his motives because, as Clover had said, he was unpredictable?

‘Back at the house, and then in the car, was the first time I’ve seen him flustered,’ I said.

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