Blacklight Blue by Peter May Read Free Book Online

than met the eye. Of something personal and pervasive. He turned back to Kirsty. ‘Finish packing.’ I’ll phone for another cab.’
    It was a further ten minutes, working his way through the Strasbourg
annuaire
, before Enzo finally got a taxi firm to answer his call. Only to be told that it would be up to an hour before a car would become available.
    ‘I’m not waiting here.’ Kirsty stood by her fold-down bed, like a child, clutching a sports bag stuffed with toiletries and underwear and a change of clothes. ‘We can take a short-cut through the park, and maybe pick up a cab on the Avenue de l’Europe.’
    ***
    There was a traffic circle two hundred metres to the west of the apartment, and beyond that the brooding darkness of the Parc de l’Orangerie. They left foot-trails in the snow all along the sidewalk. There was precious little traffic on the roads. Temperatures were forecast to plummet, and all this wet snow would soon turn to ice. No one wanted to be out on a night like this. And those who were had taken every available cab.
    They rounded the circle and crossed the street, and Enzo hesitated at the edge of the park. The path leading into it was half-obscured by leaves and snow, and vanished very quickly among the trees. ‘I don’t like this. Let’s just walk around it.’
    ‘It’s okay, Dad. I’ve cycled and jogged through here a hundred times.’
    ‘In the dark?’
    She made a face. ‘No one’s going to be out in weather like this. And, anyway, it opens up once you get through the trees. Honestly, it’ll take us twice as long to go around it.’
    She took his arm with her free hand as they plunged off into the dark making virgin tracks in the snow. The path dipped a little before rising again through the trees. Across a stretch of open parkland to their right, Enzo could see the streelights along the Quai de l’Orangerie, and the headlamps of the occasional passing car. They had covered, perhaps, half a kilometre before he heard what sounded like footsteps following in their wake. He stopped and put a finger to his lips and listened. Nothing. Only the dead sound of the night, muffled by the snow.
    ‘What?’ Kirsty whispered. But he just shook his head and hurried them on. The park seemed to close in around them, suffocating and claustrophobic in the falling snow. He increased his pace, and Kirsty struggled to keep up.
    And then there it was again. Only this time he didn’t stop. He took his daughter’s hand and started to run. At first she pulled back, but then she heard it too and glanced behind them to see shadows emerging from the dark. Now she needed no encouragement, and they ran as hard as they could towards the distant lights.
    But suddenly the lights were not so distant. They were straight ahead of them, shining in their faces, blinding in their intensity, and they pulled up sharply, breathless and afraid. A flashlight came on behind them and, by its light, they could see four youths up ahead in hooded jackets. Two of them had flashlights, and Enzo saw a baseball bat hanging ominously from the hand of another. Two other youths approached from behind, their flashlight trained on Enzo, and he saw more bats. He put a protective arm across the front his daughter and steered her backwards to the side of the path.
    ‘What do you want?’ He let his bag drop to the ground.
    ‘A bit fun. What do you say?’ The face of the youth who spoke was hidden by the shadow of his hood. The young men had formed a half circle and were slowly closing in.
    Enzo said, ‘I’ve got a six inch blade on my hip, and I know how to use it.’
    ‘I’m so scared.’
    ‘You should be. There are five of you. And you’ll take me down. I know that. But one of you, maybe two, are going with me. Count on it.’ He paused to let the thought sink in. ‘Who’s going to be first?’ There was an almost imperceptible hesitation in their forward movement.
    ‘
Putain
.’ It was one of the others. ‘Just give us