Zodiac's toy by John Jones (best free ereader .TXT) 📖

him, guests. They had no idea whether he had the right to walk on or not. He could be staff for all they knew, so said nothing.

There was a function going on, a tea-dance, and the music was coming from the top-deck. He wound his way up there to find a dance-floor with couples sashaying around to the music, a small crowd clapping them. Ray guessed it must be a dancing club or society who were having an outing or event. He found the DJ who had two decks either side of a mixer.

The man looked to be in his early sixties, drinking from a carton of pineapple juice as the music played and he surveyed the dancefloor.

"Excuse me," said Ray. The DJ saw him and put down the carton, stepping across and angling his ear to Ray who raised his voice slightly.

"Are you the DJ that's doing the function for a stag-do on the weekend for a Wayne..." he forgot he didn't know Wayne's second name. "Wayne. He's having a stag-do on here at the weekend. Are you the DJ?" The man thought for a second.

"Yes. Yes that's me," he said, and Ray gave him the piece of paper and the man just looked at it, then nodded. "Alright, thanks," Ray went to walk away, but then the music stopped and the DJ spoke into a microphone.

"There he goes, Pisces cunt. One tough nut to crack". The dancers stopped. The audience ceased to clap, but then the dancing couples stood closer together and started stepping around each other as if in some sort of artistic contemporary dance.

"Okay, each couple will represent two fish, and they will swim around and around each other," said the DJ, and they did. The couples stepped and spun. The audience outside the dance-floor looked confused, not knowing what was going on, but onward they stepped and around they went as Ray made his way slowly to the exit. The couples then gradually stopped, and looked at each other confused.

"What, oh, er sorry," said the DJ, and the ragtime music started up again. Ray walked slowly back to the train station, and was soon again sat at a window seat. The graffiti came again on the other side. 'Gemini'...'Gemini'...

 

Eventually when he got back to familiar territory, he decided he would go back to Caroline's to pick up the photograph.

There was nobody in when he got there, so he made himself another cup of tea, helped himself to some food, texted Caroline to tell Wayne he'd given the DJ his list, took the photograph from beneath the bed and thought he had to go and face Lee at some time, so left the house, closing the door behind him.

All the way home, it wasn't the prospect of facing Lee that played on his mind, but the zodiac had his lack of belief hanging by a thread.

There was always a rational explanation. It's got to be science and nothing else, he thought, and plenty of people thought that way, he guessed. Perhaps he needed another rout through the phone to reinforce his beliefs.

As he neared the high-rise, a youth was on a mobile phone, walking in the opposite direction, talking loudly:

"What was that Leo? plenty of people believe. More than you would think. Those that don't may be a toy. A piece on our giant board-game. We will have fun with them". Ray just stopped and looked at him as he walked past. He took out his phone and while he waited for the internet to come on, his mind just repeated: Coincidence coincidence coincidence...

Then the scientists on his small screen and the sceptics reassured him as he made his way up the stairs. He put the photograph in Shane's and felt a shot of adrenalin as he knew he would have to face Lee.

He found him in his 'office'. His empty office, standing staring at the safe, the only thing the police didn't take.

"Here he is," Lee said, "the fucking grass".

"I didn't grass Lee. I didn't call an ambulance".

"Look, when I woke up after that cunt Fred spiked my coffee, I saw you and you mentioned an ambulance, and then what happens? an ambulance and police car show up and cart me and everything away. I went to the hospital to get checked, then I spent the night in a fucking cell because you called an ambulance".

"I didn't Lee honest".

"Just like you didn't throw a phone at Gary. Fucks sake Ray do you take me for a fucking idiot?" Ray just sighed in despair.

"I can't trust you Ray,” Lee continued. “I want to but I can't". There was a moments silence.

"Why would they take everything but the safe?" Ray asked.

"Don't know. Two fucking pigs tried to carry it, and found it too heavy I think, so they left it. Actually I remember one of them saying something about scales of justice...not balanced in Ray's favour. Oh yes, I remember thinking why did he mention your name? but they took everything else, like, everything. Nothing here is worth fuck-all now. Probably thanks to you".

"Lee it must have been someone else 'cos it wasn't me".

"Oh just get out! go on fuck off!" Lee yelled, waving him away. Ray complied, and sheepishly walked back into Shane's flat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 44

 

Ray was soon leaving the flat, picture in hand, heading into town. He was seriously tempted to just buy a cheap frame and put it in, but resisted, and it wasn't long before he was entering a framers inside a little gallery that sold giclee prints and some originals with a side business of framing.

It was fairly small inside, the type of shop where it was difficult to browse because the person behind the counter would just watch you, or ask if you needed any help the second you stepped inside. As Ray approached the shop, he saw that several pictures in the window featured bulls. In fact, he noticed, they all did.

Walking in, a little bell above the door jangled, and all the pictures inside also featured bulls.

He stopped and looked around at them for a few moments, a sinking feeling inside him, then got the framer to choose a good frame for him.

As the photograph was six by eight inches, there was already several styles of frames ready-made, and the framer picked out one that he thought would work nicely.

"...and this will complement the photo nicely.."

"It'll what? doesn't matter, looks good," Ray said holding it in both hands. It was fairly big for the size of the photograph with a cream mount. He left, glancing at the bull pictures as he went.

 

Back at the high-rise, he found a painted over nail on the wall in the kitchen and hung the picture up, standing back to admire it.

He was still admiring it a few minutes later when Lee walked and saw it.

"What's this?"

"It's my wedding present to Caroline. She gets married on the weekend".

"Great," Lee muttered, "anyway, I need your help. A favour, and you'd better do it if you want me to believe you're not a grass".

"Lee, I didn't..."

"Nevermind. Fred and Les are still alive, and in intensive care in the hospital. We're gonna pay them a visit. I heard they got fucked up by a Ram".

"Yes, they did. I saw it. See, there must have been witnesses who saw it as well, so someone told you a Ram attacked them. Someone else must have called an ambulance".

"You'd still better help me get revenge on those fuckers. I'm not gonna kill them, I'm just gonna make sure that they stay in hospital a lot longer. I want you to conceal a knife".

"Lee! No, I won't do it. If I get caught then I can't go the wedding and how's that gonna look on me? The whole family's coming up and if they know I took a knife into a hospital they'll disown me".

"They already think you're a useless fuckwit so it won't make much difference. Look, I'm still not convinced you didn't grass me up, get the ambulance here knowing they would bring the police, so prove it to me and just do this one thing. All you have to do is conceal it. I'll deal with them, you're just taking the weapon in. That's it. If I get caught with it then my ass is getting chucked back inside, but if you get caught you'll just get a caution or something. Come on Ray just do this one thing for me". Ray's shoulders slumped.

"Alright," he muttered. "when?"

"Now". Lee went into the bathroom and looked through the blades in the bath.

"Think I'll stab them in the thigh. Or maybe the shoulder. Or slash them a few times on the face. Fuck it I'll just decide when I'm there". He picked out a four-inch paring knife.

Back in the kitchen, Ray was shrugging on his jacket and Lee handed him the knife.

"See, it's not that big you can easily conceal that". Ray just took it and put it in his inside pocket.

 

They hardly spoke as they walked down to the hospital, Ray gradually becoming more and more apprehensive, his face colouring slightly more red, unnoticed by anyone.

"How are you gonna find them?" Ray asked.

"Intensive care shouldn't be too hard to find".

"They're not just gonna let you in are they? unless you're family or whatever".

"Fuck, they might have a police guard," said Lee. "Fred had just got out of prison and was caught stealing from me, so chances are there's a copper up there as well".

"Look Lee, if you wanna take the knife then..." but Lee just headed towards the hospital grounds, and Ray hurried after him.

Nobody paid them any attention as they walked into Accident and Emergency. That was except for a nurse who was helping a teenager slowly get up from a plastic chair. Spying Lee she dropped the patient who crashed down and cried out.

She hurried across to them.

"Are you here for those criminals up in intensive care?" She looked at Ray's jacket where the knife was concealed and smiled.

"Because you go down the corridor, turn right, and take the lift to the fifth floor. Turn right again when you're there. They're towards the back. There's a policeman there though. Go easy on them. Nah, whatever, do what you like, so says Leo". She then looked rather confused, and hurried back across to the patient who was struggling to get back on the chair.

Lee just stared at her, then at Ray.

"Strange," he said, "how did she know? Who the fuck's Leo?" Ray sighed.

"Let's just go," he said, and Lee followed him, past day surgery, past a pharmacy, past orthopaedic outpatients and around to the lift, which was a smooth ride up to the fifth floor.

When the doors slid open, there he was in a plastic chair, reading a newspaper, the over-weight moustachioed policeman.

"If I can't get past him, sneak past, go in and stab the cunts," Lee whispered.

"What!" but Lee approached the entrance. The policeman put down his paper and stood up. As he looked to where he was placing it Lee glanced at Ray and nodded to the entrance.

"Lee Sherwin," the man said, "I recognise you".

"Fuck".

Ray found himself at the double-door entrance with an intercom. He felt he could do nothing but press the button. Either he stood there and did nothing, in which case Lee would berate and possibly assault him later on. Or he could go inside and do nothing. Tell him he'd bottled it. Lee would believe him, because he would be right.

"Hello," came a metallic voice.

"Hi, I've come to see Fred and Les".

"They can't have visitors". Opposite the intensive care unit was the entrance to operation theatres, and a doctor came out and went across to the double doors. He pressed his card against a sensor and both doors opened.

Lee saw his chance and aimed a fist at the policeman's