knocking him off balance. Max stumbled backwards as more punches came his way. As he landed with a thump he expected to get a kicking but could see his assailant was now under attack from someone else. He blinked through the darkness. He couldn’t believe his eyes.
‘Dad?’ asked Max from his prone position as Pasco landed a second right hook on his assailant. Max’s mouth dropped open.
‘Get to Daisy, Max. She needs you,’ said Pasco, as he dodged the retaliating blows. The man was far younger than Pasco but for the moment they seemed evenly matched.
Max rolled over. Daisy was still running but the woman was in pursuit and was gaining on her fast. Max scrambled to his feet and set off at speed, taking to the path in a bid to catch up. Daisy wasn’t looking back, she may not have known she was being chased. Why were they being chased at all? Who were these people and what the hell was that stupid French goon caught up in? Max pushed himself to run flat out in a bid to reach the woman before she reached Daisy.
Max was soon gaining on them. Daisy was nearly at the small car park and thankfully there were some streetlights but there was nobody else about. Ottercombe Bay at night was dead and there were no properties nearby. Max pulled his phone out of his pocket whilst still running but it was a difficult manoeuvre. He hit Jason’s number and put it to his ear – it was really awkward to run like this.
‘Answer the bloody phone, Jason.’ His breathing was heavy as he watched Daisy disappear off the path and onto the main pavement into town. He expected the woman chasing her to follow but instead she stopped at a parked Astra and got inside. Max slowed for a second; Daisy was out of immediate danger. He filled his lungs with air but continued to jog along. The woman was obviously doing a runner, it had just looked like she was chasing Daisy because she was running in the same direction. The relief he felt was overwhelming.
He slowed to a walk and was considering running back to help Pasco or continuing after Daisy when Jason answered his call. ‘Jason, I’m up on the headland with Daisy, we’ve been attacked by two people and … shit!’ Max shoved his phone back in his pocket and sprinted after the Astra now heading after Daisy and not out of town as he had expected it to. This running lark was tiring; he was fit but cars, even old Astras, went much faster.
The wind was gusting straight at him, which hindered his speed as he tried in vain to keep the car in his sights as it sped off, skidding slightly when it took a bend too fast, and disappeared from sight. He pushed himself to keep going but he simply couldn’t maintain this pace for much longer.
Max was considering stopping because he had no idea which way Daisy or the car had gone when he heard the sound of screeching tyres and scraping metal up ahead and it spurred him on. He turned the corner near the Mariner’s Arms and saw the car rammed up against the railings. He carried on running and the scene became clearer. The car had been stopped by a stinger, a belt of studs purposely thrown under the tyres to puncture them. Two police cars were in the pub car park. He turned his attention back to the road suddenly realising there were two armed officers shouting at him to get down. Max stopped, lay down and did exactly as he was told. His heart was thundering in his chest, and drawing in air was difficult when you were lying face down on tarmac.
‘Hang on, that’s Max,’ shouted Jason from nearby. ‘What are you doing?’ he added, approaching him. Max slowly rolled onto his side and looked up to see an automatic weapon pointing at him and Jason next to the armed officer with his hands on his hips.
‘Hiya, mate,’ said Max, breathlessly. ‘The bloke you’re looking for is up on the headland fighting with Pasco.’
Jason got on his radio but someone more senior was already directing officers into a car and they screeched away. Jason helped Max to his feet and he watched as the woman was removed from the Astra, handcuffed and escorted to the other police car.
‘Where’s Daisy?’ asked Jason.
Max closed his eyes. That was going to be his question. ‘I don’t know.’
‘I need to sort things out here. Can you find her?’
Max nodded and set off towards Locos taking in big gulps of air as he walked. His mind was awash with questions. He had no idea what he’d witnessed, who those people were or where the hell all the armed police had sprung from. His only comforting thought was that Daisy had avoided a confrontation, but where was she now?
He took out his phone and dialled her number. It went to voicemail. He took a deep breath and started jogging. When he reached Locos he could see there were no lights on, which wasn’t a good sign, but he would go and check inside anyway. He slowed to a walking pace and checked all around the building. ‘Daisy!’ He knocked on the door but there was no reply. He was standing on the platform thinking through his next move.
A click behind him got his attention and for a second he expected to see the stern-looking man from the headland with a cocked gun. As he turned around the door of the carriage opened and a frightened-looking Daisy emerged, glancing around her like a startled animal.
Max had a million things running through his head that he wanted to say to her but instead he opted for pulling her into a hug and holding her tightly. He could feel her trembling. After a bit Daisy gently pushed him away.
‘What the cocking hell is going on?’ she asked.
‘I wish I knew. Come on, I’ll walk you home and we’ll get Jason to fill in the blanks in the morning.’ He needed to track Pasco down too and check he was all right but getting Daisy home was his priority and she didn’t need anything else to worry about right now.
Daisy locked up the carriage and they walked slowly across the car park giving Max a chance to fill her in on what had happened to the woman who had chased her whilst Daisy explained how she’d cut down a side street to get away. As they reached the sea wall they could see more police cars had appeared and there was a flurry of activity around the pub, which was lit up like Christmas.
‘Poor Monty, he won’t be happy about all this,’ said Daisy, turning to walk home.
‘I dunno, he’ll be charging them top dollar for fancy coffees. He’ll be raking it in.’
They neared Daisy’s road and heard a car approaching behind them. As it went past they could see it was yet another police car. The car screeched to a halt, slammed into reverse and sped back towards them. Daisy and Max stopped walking and watched two officers leap from the vehicle.
‘Max Davey?’ said one of them.
‘Yeah,’ said Max, looking bewildered.
‘Max Davey, I am arresting you on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of drugs under section 4 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Get in the car please, sir.’
‘What?’ said Max. The policeman opened the car door and gestured for Max to get in. ‘Actually, nothing makes sense tonight. Let’s go, boys.’ Max shook his head and willingly got in the police car. One officer got in next to him, the other got in the driver’s seat and they drove off leaving Daisy shivering on the pavement.
When Daisy woke the next morning
