The police officers left immediately, explaining that this was now a case of high importance and the sooner they could get back to the station to attempt to track the phone call, the better. No-one remaining in the office knew what to say; all that could be heard over the deafening silence was the quiet sobs coming from the two teenager girls. Dynasty had been thinking, though, and she had an idea.
"Sir?" She cringed at the sound of her voice, altered by the lump in her throat. "Could you get me brother down here?"
Bolts of pain thundered through his head every couple of minutes, and it made him feel the rushed phone call was hardly worth it, especially now the phone was being smashed to pieces right in front of them. Dexter's reaction was mild compared to what Kevin had expected, but he felt incredibly guilty about one thing; Connor came back to conciousness the same time as the flat owner, so ended up bearing the brunt of his anger, too.
"You two just don't get it, do you?" He snarled, towering over them, eyes sparkling with rage. "Where's the phone?"
Connor, still disorientated, warily whispered to Kevin: "I reckon you've just made things a whole lot worse for us, mate."
"You'd reckon right, pretty boy."
"Oh, shut up!" shouted Kevin, the intense bravery he found earlier surging back to him. "It's under the pillow, over there. It doesn't matter what you do to it, or us, because the police will be able to track it. You can beat us up, you can even kill us if that makes you happy, but the police will find you. You won't get away with it, and you will rot in jail with your best pal Steve-O, because that's where you both belong!"
And Kevin barely had time to catch his breath before the fist flew.
The protective brother hidden inside Barry Barry automatically switched on as soon as he saw his little sisters red-rimmed eyes and tear-stained cheeks. He glanced round nervously at the teachers, wondering what he could have possibly been caught out for but noticing Mr Chalk, sat on one of the chairs next to Mrs Mulgrew, it hit him. "Dynasty? Have you been crying?"
"Shut up." said Dynasty, rather snappily. She stood up and grabbed the photograph from the table. "Do you know about this? And if you lie to me, I swear to God I'll kill you."
If he didn't have such a solid reputation to keep, the eldest Barry would have paled at the sight of the two boys covered in blood. In all honesty, this whole situation scared him, and that didn't happen much. They had only been at the docks in the first place because he was too much of a coward to get his own back on Steve-O by himself; he used them as scapegoats. "Is that.. Connor and Kevin?"
Christine said: "We think they have been taken by some of Steve-O's friends, trying to get revenge." The last word spiralled off her tongue, full of bitterness.
He sighed, closing his eyes for a split second.. and in doing so, subconsciously admitted knowledge to the sister who knows him too well.
"You do know something, don't you! Tell me."
He weighed it up in his mind. Tell his obviously terrified little sister where her boyfriend is, potentially save the lives of two fairly innocent boys or confess his limited knowledge and face up to the mess he was going to be in. "Look, I'm sorry, yeah?"
That was too much for Dynasty. She tried to convince herself that, for once, Barry might not be involved. Fury overtaking her, she ran over to him and starting raining half-hearted punches down on him. "You idiot! Why are you always involved?"
When Dynasty was gently pulled away by Christine, Barry took a deep breath. "I don't know where they are or anything, and I never knew this was going to happen!" He gestured to the picture, still in his hand. "A couple of days after Steve-O got locked up, I got a phone call from his brother, Nicky. You know who I'm on about, Dyn?"
"Yeah. He's a head-case. What about him?"
"He came up to Scotland the day you had Steve-O arrested. When he found out, he went mental. I only told him Kevin and Connor were involved because he was going to come round the house and try and get you to change your statement and all that, but I knew you didn't need him getting at you, so I said it was the lads' fault." All eyes were on him, and the majority of them were glaring. All pairs except the ever neutral Michael Byrne. "Nicky made me text them from my phone, getting them to come to the docks. He hit them over the head and then I left. That's all I know, I swear."
Mr Byrne, having heard the full story, finally let his emotions show. "You let him attack and kidnap them? Barry, that's low, even for you."
That angered him. "You have no idea, do you? Not even you, Dyn. I know what he's done to you, and he deserves to be in prison, I don't disagree with you, but do you know what it's like to try and please everyone? Steve-O looked out for Dad when they were inside together, he's done a lot for our family and I couldn't be seen to be throwing that back in his face. He's still got mates inside, he could of got Dad in some serious shit! I'm sorry for what he's done to you, I should never have let that happen, and I'm sorry for letting Nicky take the lads but there's nothing I can do. I thought he would just rough them up a bit, give them a bit of a scare!"
Dynasty sat down, feeling completely drained. She was only just getting over the rape, flourishing in her lovely relationship with her lovelier boyfriend, and now this. She knew how important Steve-O was to the family, and how intimidating he could be, even to someone as strong as her brother. "Can you get them back? Please, Barry. Kevin said they were in Scotland, and the flat owner's called Dexter. There's only so many places they could be."
"I could ring Nicky. Try and get something out of him, but if I do find anything out... you didn't find out from me, do you know what I mean?" Part of him couldn't believe his own actions. He was about to become everything he hated - a potential grass. The other part, though, wanted to see his sister happy and if that meant family loyalty came before 'friends', then so be it.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket.
"That should be in storage." said Michael, automatically.
"Do you want me to ring or not? Because as much as I feel sorry for them, I really don't want to be doing this." Barry threw back, scrolling through his contacts, finding Nicky Malone, taking a deep breath, and secretly hoping there would be no answer.
His hoping failed. He answered.
"Barry?" The voice crackled through the speaker phone. "What's up, mate?"
"Nothing, nothing, everything's good." The first lie of many to come, Barry suspected. "Where you staying, like? Didn't really have much chance to speak to you the other day, it was all a bit rushed."
"Are you with the cops?"
"Don't be daft. What do you think I am, a grass? I'm just wondering." He glanced over at Dynasty, who looked to be hanging on every word. Imogen looked disgusted by the mere sound of the kidnappers voice, and Christine, Daniel and Michael were listening intently. "So, er, you got a flat or something?"
"I'm kipping with that Dexter fella. He's helping me out with getting me brother out of jail. When's your sister going to drop the charges, mate? These lads are doing my head in."
"Are they okay? I mean, you haven't done anything mental to them, have you?"
"Couple of beatings, here and there." Even Barry felt ill at the chillingly casual delivery of that sentence. "What do you care?"
"No, no, I don't, why would I? I'm just saying, don't hurt them. What's the point in getting Steve-O out if you're going to go straight inside?" This wasn't getting anywhere, but delving straight into awkward questions would only rouse suspicion.
"It isn't my fault they can't take a couple of punches. I know their type. They focus more on their hair and getting girls than being tough. They're not like us, mate. I don't know why you're bothered."
"I'm not bothered! Do what you like, I couldn't give a shit about those little weeds." Barry looked up at the teachers, winking cheekily to let them know he wasn't being serious. "Listen, why don't you let me come up there? I'll talk to them. We need to get them to drop the harassment charges, and they're not going to do that if you're beating them up round the clock. I know what gets under their skin. Honestly, mate, text me the address and I'll come down there. Five minutes with me and they'll be down that station changing their statements."
"Why do you think you'll do a better job than me, like?"
"I don't!" Frustrated, Barry had to stop himself from hanging the phone up. He had made progress and looking over at Dynasty, huddled next to Imogen with tears gleaming in her eyes, he knew he couldn't let her down now. "I just know them, don't I? Text me the address and I swear I'll have this over with and Steve-O out within days."
"Fine. I'll text you it now." The inhabitants of the offices hearts simultaneously jumped; could they really allow themselves to raise their hopes, when they could be shattered at any minute. They were talking about criminals here. "But I swear to God, Barry, if you're with the coppers I'll kill you."
It was the second death threat Barry Barry had received today, but as he ended the call and opened the incoming text complete with the address needed to make his sister happy, he felt good; the goodness intensified by the warm hug he found himself on the receiving end from. Dynasty's wild curls tickled his face, but he embraced the hug and let the erratic beat of his heart slow. For once, he was going to try and be the good guy.
AN: Not sure about how I ended that. Too cheesy? Sorry if you think it was!
So, No-Name has been unmasked - Nicky Malone! Let me know what you think of this chapter. I know there was a lack of Connor/Kevin, but I ended up doing this whole chapter a different way to how I intended it to be. Hope it worked!
Thank you for all the reviews and reads, I think we can all agree that you are the best.
And, this wasn't even meant to be as long as seven chapters! It started off as a bit of a one-shot, but I'm glad you're all enjoying it anyway! xx
