A Necessary End Read Online Free PDF Page A

that’s what. Fucking bastards.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œThey just laid into us, that’s all. Don’t ask me why. I don’t know how cops think. Can I have some wine?”
    Mara poured him a glass of Barsac. He took a sip and pulled a face.
    â€œSorry,” she said. “I forgot you don’t like the sweet stuff. There’s some beer in the fridge.”
    â€œGreat.” Paul hauled himself up and went through to the kitchen. When he came back he was carrying a can of Carlsberg lager and he’d stuck an Elastoplast on his hand.
    â€œWhat happened to the others?” Mara asked.
    â€œI don’t know. A lot of people got arrested. The police just charged into the crowd and dragged them off left, right and centre. There’ll be plenty in hospital, too.”
    â€œWeren’t you all together?”
    â€œWe were at first, right up at the front, but we got separated when the fighting broke out. I managed to sneak by some cops and slip down the alley, then I ran all the way through the back streets and over the moor. I’m bloody knackered.” His Liverpudlian accent grew thicker as he became more excited.
    â€œSo people did get away?”
    â€œSome, yes. But I don’t know how many. I didn’t hang around to wait for the others. It was every man for himself, Mara. The last I saw of Rick he was trying to make his way to the market square. I couldn’t see Zoe. You know how small she is. It was a bleeding massacre. They’d everything short of water cannons and rubber bullets. I’ve seen some bother in my time, but I never expected anything like this, not in Eastvale.”
    â€œWhat about Seth?”
    â€œSorry, Mara. I’ve no idea what became of him. Don’t worry, though, they’ll be all right.”
    â€œYes.” Mara turned and looked out of the window. She could see her own reflection against the dark glass streaked with rain. It looked like a candle flame was burning from her right shoulder.
    â€œMaybe they got away,” Paul added. “They might be on their way back right now.”
    Mara nodded. “Maybe.”
    But she knew there’d be trouble. The police would soon be round, bullying and searching, just like when Seth’s old friend Liz Dale ran away from the nut-house and hid out with them for a few days. They’d been looking for heroin then—Liz had a history of drug abuse—but as far as Mara remembered they’d just made a bloody mess of everything in the place. She resented that kind of intrusion into her world and didn’t look forward to another one.
    She reached for the wine bottle, but before she started pouring, the front door burst open again.
    II
    When Banks went downstairs, things were considerably quieter than they had been earlier. Richmond had helped the uniformed men to usher all the prisoners down to the cellar until they could be questioned, charged and released. Eastvale station didn’t have many cells, but there was plenty of unused storage space down there.
    Sergeant Hatchley had also arrived. Straw-haired, head and shoulders above the others, he looked like a rugby prop-forward gone to seed. He leaned on the reception desk looking bewildered and put out as Richmond explained what had happened.
    Banks walked up to them. “Super here yet?”
    â€œOn his way, sir,” Richmond answered.
    â€œCan you get everyone together while we’re waiting?” Banks asked. “There’s a few things I want to tell them right now.”
    Richmond went into the open-plan office area, the domain of the uniformed police at Eastvale, and rounded up everyone he could. Themen and women sat on desks or leaned against partitions and waited for instructions. Some of them still showed signs of the recent battle: a bruised cheekbone, torn uniform, black eye, cauliflower ear.
    â€œDoes anyone know exactly how many we’ve got in custody?” Banks asked