Read Eoin Miller 01 - Faithless Street for Free Online

each time, in the courts, like, with suits
and ties.”
    “That’s the way to do
it.”
    “That’s what my dad
said. Every year he’d get a new hotshot solicitor, someone who wanted column
inches, and every year we’d win a few and lose a few. I can tell you, it was
taking years off my old man’s life, but he wouldn’t quit.”
    “What happened?”
    He took a long time
to answer. He sat sipping at his coffee and I saw his jaw clenching through his
cheeks. When he did answer, it was with a voice that had fought against
emotion, “Planning permission. They got us on planning permission. After 30
years of fighting, they finally took a look at all the original paperwork.”
    “You said you had
planning permission though?”
    “Aye. For this house,
and for ten others, we did. But all the other settlers who came? Not a chance.
There were too many of them too soon and, well, I guess we didn’t think of it.”
He paused again, choked up. “They came in with bulldozers and tractors, they
tore through most of the camp, wiped it out. Then they put up that fence over
there, make sure we knew our place.”
    “And your father?”
    “Cancer. He was
diagnosed during the last round of legal fights, his own guts were eating him.
He lived just long enough to see the fence go up.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    His eyes were cold
when they met mine, “Sorry for what? For my father? Or for coming here to help
them take what’s left?”
    ***
    Before I could turn
the conversation to the fire, we heard noises outside. People had gathered
together and were talking loudly, all at once.
    A teenager burst in
on us. He looked like a younger version of Shannon. “Dad, there’s more fucking
pigs here.”
    He stepped back out
through the door without ever acknowledging my presence. Shannon looked at me
and shrugged before climbing to his feet. “You brought some friends then?”
    I followed him
outside, where a crowd had gathered to shout abuse at the new arrivals.
Becker’s car was inching its way towards us, trying not to hit the people who
stepped in the way. The two marked cars were following close behind, their
lights were flashing but they’d kept the siren off.
    Great.
    Just great.
    I walked through the
crowd and stepped in front of Becker’s car. He waved when he saw me, but I
shook my head. I walked round to his side and waited while he rolled the window
down.
    “What the fuck?”
    “I told you I was
driving round.”
    “Yes, you . Not you and two shiny friends. You
bring me along to try and do things the easy way, then you come rolling in like
the fucking Sweeney.”
    “I should send the
uniforms away?”
    “You should send the
uniforms away.”
    He nodded and relayed
the message on the radio. We both watched as the marked cars started inching
backwards, looking for a safe place to turn around. The crowd cheered, but it
was only a muted success, as far as they were concerned there were still two of
us on the camp. I caught a glimpse of the teenager again, who I figured for
Shannon’s son.   He was stood at the
edge of the crowd staring at the car, his eyes were focused with anger.
    I told Becker to go
back down to the road and wait there unless I called him. I gave him Shannon’s
name and asked him to run a background check while he waited, then I turned
back towards the crowd.
    Shannon was waiting
at the front, his face stayed locked in determination until Becker’s car was gone,
then he turned to me, “You trying to show how brave you are?”
    “It’s more a case of
confirming my stupidity, probably.”
    He cracked a smile
and nodded for us to walk.
    He led me through the
camp, nodding at everyone as he passed, stopping to greet each of the women by
name and ask after their children.
    “Do you know Tom
Bennett?” I asked as we walked.
    He nodded, “Sure.” He
was going to leave it there, but saw that I wanted him to elaborate, “He was
one of the first people to move onto the estate.”
    “Did you meet people
as