The Spread: Book 1 (The Hill)

gave an appreciative whistle. “This is a thing of beauty.”
“Yes, I know! Can you see what’s wrong with it, please?”
“Hang on. I can’t see anything off-hand. The battery’s connected. Nothing seems unplugged. I’m no expert, but it all looks fine. You have an alarm, right? It would’ve gone off if anyone tried to mess with your engine. Yeah, look, the alarm is wired right here. Huh.”
“What?” asked Tom. “What is it?”
“Some alarms are connected right to the car battery, which means if it goes flat the alarm won’t go off. This one seems to be wired to a backup, though, which means it will definitely go off if someone tries to mess with your engine. There must be some kind of fault. Sorry, mate.”
“Impossible. It’s less than a month old.”
“You’d be surprised. With all the computers onboard, brand new models are just as likely to fail as something older.”
“Since when are you a mechanic, Loobey?”
“I’ve been reading a lot of Top Gear magazine lately.”
“Wow, then you deserve a diploma.”
Ryan pictured Loobey sitting in the hospital all alone, with nothing to do while he waited for his cancer treatment except read magazines from the newsagent. Why hadn’t his friend told him about his illness?
I could have been there for him. Hell, I would happily quit my job to attend all of the hospital visits.
Ryan had been planning on leaving his job for a while – digging gardens and laying flagstones stopped being fun pretty quickly – and the thought of getting married had caused him to look at his life through a wider lens. There had to be more to life than poor pay and long hours.
Loobey slipped in behind the Stelvio’s steering wheel, the car’s suspension rocking gently. It was impossible to see what he was doing in the dark, but he soon returned to join the rest of them. “I can’t figure it out. Thing’s as flat as a pancake.”
“This is outrageous,” said Tom, storming back inside the cottage.
“Where are you going?” asked Ryan.
“To get my phone.”
“There’s no signal.”
“Then I’ll walk until I get one.”
Brett seemed to agree with the idea because he shrugged. “Emergency calls go through on any network. He might catch a signal if he’s lucky.”
“So we’re calling an ambulance now?” Loobey ran a hand over his patchy skull. “This is gonna end up on the local news. Mancs go crazy in Scottish Highlands.”
Brett groaned. “Christ, I hope you’re wrong.”
The door clattered against the wall as Tom came storming back out onto the driveway. “I will seriously strangle someone in a minute.”
“What is it now?” Brett demanded.
“My phone’s dead too. What is going on here?”
Brett adjusted Sean’s weight across his shoulders. “Hold on, I think I have my phone on me.” He shuffled a hand into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a large black phone. He raised it in front of him and thumbed the home button. “Mine’s flat too, but it’s hardly surprising. It’s the middle of the night.”
“Mine’s plugged in in the bedroom,” said Loobey. “You want to go grab it, Tom?”
Tom stormed back into the house while the others waited in tense silence for his return. Out of all of them, Tom was usually the one with the least of a temper. Tonight, it seemed like he might actually strangle someone.
Note to self. Don’t get between a posh boy and his toys.
A minute later, Tom returned, still fuming but now appearing slightly anxious. He held up a phone that must have been Loobey’s and shook his head. “It’s dead. It was on charge… but it’s dead.”
“The generator’s still running,” said Ryan. “I can hear it. The lights are on inside.”
“Maybe a fuse went,” said Loobey. “The sockets might be on a separate circuit to the lights.”
Ryan didn’t know much about electrics, but he knew how to flip a fuse. He eyed the generator beside the shed. It was rattling away without issue. “That must be it. I’ll try and find the fuse box.”
Tom folded his arms. “So where does that leave us? We have no phones and no transport. We’re two miles from anywhere and it’s the middle of the night. Do I go and get help?”
“I don’t think anyone should walk off in the dark,” said Brett. “I was lucky to only sprain my ankle. It’s treacherous on these hills.”
“He’s right,” said Ryan. “You walk about in this dark and you’ll break a leg.”
“Wanna shleep,” said Sean.
Brett let out a lengthy breath. “It’s not a good idea to let you sleep, Sean. You might have a concussion.”
“Or the idiot has OD’d,” said Tom. “This is all his fault.”
Loobey was shivering, despite being the only one who was wearing a coat. “Does anyone mind if I go back inside?”
“No,” said Ryan. “I think that’s what we should all do while we think about this.” He looked at Brett to see if he agreed.
Brett gave Loobey a strange look, like he was trying to work something out, but then he turned to Ryan and nodded. “We’re going to have to wait this out. We can check the car out properly in the morning and send someone on foot if it still won’t start.”
Tom fingered at his bandaged ear and sighed. “What about Sean?”
“We’ll have to watch him,” said Brett. “Any luck and he’ll improve.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“Then we’ll have a lot of explaining to do.”

Chapter Four
Loobey had expected to struggle this weekend, under no illusion that he would feel rotten the entire time. Unable to get hammered with the lads, or even enjoy himself that much, it had been an impossible situation from the get go, but no way had he been willing to miss Ryan’s stag do.
Ryan was his best friend and always had been. If not for him, Loobey would have remained the quiet fat kid at school. Large Lewis, the punchline to every joke. Ryan was one of few who never joined in the insults or said anything mean. In fact, Ryan had eventually