Read You Against Me for Free Online Page B

what a lovely evening for a bail bash.’
    The woman moved away, frowning slightly.
    Mikey shrugged Jacko off again. ‘I hate this place.’
    ‘I know, I know.’
    ‘I hate him too. Look at him – surrounded by suits and still untouchable. He’s getting away with everything!’
    Jacko sighed, opened his coat, pulled out a bottle and passed it to Mikey. ‘I also located the drinks cabinet. I think you’ll find this twenty-five-year-old malt whisky will clear your mind.’
    Mikey took three long gulps. It flamed in his throat, warmed his belly. It was good to sink inside the feeling that somehow this was all going to work out. He took another gulp, and another.
    Jacko smiled. ‘Better?’
    Mikey nodded. He was thinking of his mum with her morning Valium. For the first time he understood why she talked about taking the edge off the terror.
    ‘He’s the centre of attention,’ Jacko said, ‘so we need to stay calm and move on to phase two.’ He winked. ‘You get to do what you’re best at, Mikey, and talk to girls. We need tactical intelligence – does he do martial arts? Is he left or right-handed? Has he got brothers and are they here? The usual stuff. I’ll keep a visual and gather data as I tail him. We both need to suss out the best location for phase three – preferably somewhere dark and quiet with good escape routes.’ He checked his watch. ‘We’ll reconvene on this position in an hour.’
    Mikey felt momentarily dizzy. He rubbed his eyes. It would be great to pretend this was an ordinary night, that they’d crashed some random party, that he was here on the pull.
    Jacko pressed the whisky bottle on him. ‘Keep this, it’s doing you good. Think of the Vikings, Mikey. Free booze. Posh birds. We’re here to plunder.’
    Mikey shook his head as Jacko walked backwards away from him. ‘The Vikings?’
    ‘Yep. And don’t worry, the face-to-face thing’s gonna happen. We’ll perforate him at the end, when it’s quiet.’ He tapped a finger to his head. ‘Stay frosty.’
    Mikey took another swig of whisky and watched the clouds. Soon it would rain again. A downpour would be good – wet people rushing back to cars, the whole party ruined. Tom Parker would be left alone. An easy target.
    Mikey scanned the lawn, looking for him, but he’d gone now, the circle of men broken up. There was the drunk girl again, moving slowly along the fence, staring at her own feet. She wouldn’t be any help.
    But there – who was that? On the bench, underneath that tree. Lanterns swayed above her, people everywhere, and her simply sitting there, the one still point. Mikey put the whisky in his pocket, plucked two beers from a waitress and smiled. He knew this girl. She’d opened the door to him earlier. She was Tom Parker’s sister.

Seven
    When he got to the bench, she looked up, but didn’t smile.
    ‘Mind if I sit down?’ he said.
    She shrugged, as if she didn’t care either way, and slid along to make room. He put the beers on the bench between them. ‘One of these is for you.’
    ‘No thanks.’ Her voice was softer than he remembered.
    He took out his tobacco and rolled a thin one, offered it across. ‘Smoke?’
    She shook her head.
    ‘So,’ he said, ‘not in a party mood then?’
    ‘Not particularly.’
    ‘Missing revision?’
    He meant it as a joke, but she didn’t get it. ‘It’s not that, it’s just, I never expected it to be so …’
    She let the sentence drop.
    A group of girls cheered as some Lady Gaga song suddenly blared from the speakers outside the marquee. They started dancing, singing along to the words and pointing their fingers at the sky. A couple of boys stood watching and one of the girls wiggled her arse at them. Adults stood about on the grass, leaning towards each other in deep conversation. It was like there were two parties happening at once.
    ‘Your brother knows a lot of people,’ he said.
    She sighed. ‘Never underestimate the power of curiosity.’
    ‘Are any of