‘We all share it as a family or not at all. I have Miriam’s address, I’ll post it back to her. If you do accept your share, Jake, there is just one condition I have to make.’ Now Tony was smiling again.
‘I don’t have a share in this, Tony, this is your inheritance …’ Jake stopped halfway through his sentence. ‘Hang on, what condition?’ What condition could Tony possibly have? What did he mean?
Tony seemed like his old self again, now he had talked it through with the two people he trusted most in the world.
‘You buy Sharon a bloody cookbook!’ They all burst out laughing. Everyone agreed Sharon’s cooking was awful.
‘I’ll go with that, mate, I’m being slowly poisoned to death. Half the time, even she won’t eat it!’
‘Elle, we’re going to buy you a little bungalow by the sea, near Minnie. That way, you can play all the bingo you like. Jake, you start looking for houses with Sharon. I’m going to get my own apartment, so I can have some privacy.’ He smiled at Elle and winked at Jake.
They both knew what he meant. Somewhere to take his lady friends!
***
Tony heard refusal after refusal, over the next couple of days, until he was fed up. Elle was constantly thanking him for his offer, but refusing to take it. It was his money, and he should enjoy it.
Sharon was pleased when Jake had told her what Tony had said. She couldn’t believe it.
‘He wants to buy you a house, Jake, why not take it? What’s the problem?’
‘The problem is, Shaz, it feels like he’s buying me off. Thanking me for our friendship. How can I ever pay him back? People don’t just buy houses for people, forget it.’
‘No, Jake, Tony’s not buying you off. He knows if the boot was on the other foot, you would do exactly the same for him. As for your friendship, you’re not just friends because he has money now, and is buying you a house. You were his friend as a child, when he was in prison, and now when he’s in turmoil. Think about it … Tony doesn’t show his feelings, maybe this is one way he thinks he can.’
Maybe Sharon was right. Jake didn’t want to insult Tony by turning him down, but he also didn’t want him thinking he only wanted him for his money. He didn’t care if he had money or not. He was Tony, his brother, who he loved.
‘He said I should buy you a cookbook,’ said Jake, laughing at Sharon.
She leaned over and lightly slapped the back of his head. ‘Bloody cheek,’ she said. ‘And wait till I see him, he’s going to get the same.’ They were both laughing.
***
Jake went round to Elle’s; he wanted to talk it all through with Tony, again, just in case he had changed his mind.
‘Jake, mate, we’re going out later when Elle gets back from the shops, so don’t make any plans.’ Tony could hardly sit still.
‘What are you so excited about?’ said Jake. ‘Where are we going when Elle gets back?’
‘I’ve got an appointment with the estate agent for them bungalows in Southend-on-Sea. She can’t refuse me, now. She doesn’t know yet, so we’ll just say we’re driving her up to meet Minnie, okay?’
‘Oh, okay.’
‘By the way, this is for you.’ Tony handed a piece of paper to Jake. ‘Do what you like with it.’
Jake looked down at the slip of paper he held. It was a banker’s cheque, made out in Jake’s name, for two hundred and fifty thousand pounds.
Jake was speechless. He stood up, put his arms around Tony and hugged him. ‘Thanks, brother,’ he managed, and that was all that needed to be said.
THE HEIST
It had been the heist of the century! It was all over the news – everyone was talking about it wherever you went, in pubs, offices, factories and shops. The television news was full of reports, theories and interviews with police top brass regarding the great jewel robbery that had taken place in Amsterdam.
Everyone knew that Amsterdam was one of the largest diamond exporters in the world and now they had been robbed of millions and millions of pounds worth of diamonds and other jewels. Not one gun had been used, not one person threatened. The vaults had all been broken into when no one was there. It had been a brilliantly masterminded robbery. Some thought it was an inside job, others admired the skill of the thieves and speculated about how it had been achieved.
Members of parliament were outraged and already talking about how, when these men were caught, they would be facing at least twenty years in prison.
Tony and Jake took in the news headlines, then looked at each other. Diamonds? That was what Tony had heard the Italian and the bossman discussing. Surely, the bossman hadn’t had either the brains or the guts to pull off something like that.
New Scotland Yard were working with the police in Amsterdam and had set up their own incident room, in England. They all felt there was an English connection. In fact, the police knew fine well there was, there had been talk about something big going down for a while and now they knew what it was.
All police leave was cancelled. The chief superintendent who was leading the case wanted his best officers on this, night and day. He was working with the Dutch police and was embarrassed at having to take orders from them, since it had been proved his own countrymen were involved.
Police were swarming the streets of London, visiting their trusted informers, hoping for information about who might be involved. They visited every known jeweller in the area that they knew dealt in black market goods. No stone was left unturned.
Tony and Jake had no real idea about who had been involved in the heist itself, but they had their suspicions. There were some notorious East End burglars that were known for big jobs like that.
The police were waiting for the diamonds to start flooding the market; they reckoned whoever had stolen them needed to get rid of them quickly. Jewellers were closed down because they couldn’t or wouldn’t give any useful information, but the police knew them well for all of their dodgy dealings. It was chaos.
The usual well-known suspects were taken in for questioning. Eventually, the police had dredged up a few leads and arrested one man, who it turned out had been a getaway driver. He, not wanting to shoulder the blame on his own, had pointed the finger at one of his associates.
Even that small success was a relief to the police, they had been left red-faced by this embarrassing burglary. Still, at least they could tell people they were getting somewhere, now.
The chief superintendent knew he needed to come up with something more, and fast, to satisfy his superiors. His neck was on the line.
***
Eddie came around to Elle’s one night; he was a regular visitor, so Tony thought nothing of it, until he told him that the bossman wanted to see him.
Tony telephoned Jake. They both had some idea what this might be about, and both of them decided to go and meet with him, together. If nothing else, they were curious.
It had been a month since the burglary. More men had been arrested after the first two, but although the police had caught some, both in England and Amsterdam, they knew they hadn’t caught the ringleaders.
Tony and Jake followed behind Eddie in their car to go and meet the bossman. It seemed Eddie was the bossman’s number one, these days. He always seemed to be doing his bidding.
Tony noticed, yet again, that the club hadn’t changed; if anything, it looked even worse than when he last saw it.
Tony looked at the old, once-feared bossman, surrounded by all his usual bodyguards. He felt the man had everything in the world and he envied him a little, despite his own recent good fortune. He also felt he, himself, could do so much more with the cheap, empty club that his boss used more for his own recreation than he did to make money. It was full of overweight, cheap prostitutes. And potential. And it was the potential that Tony hated to see wasted.
The room was filled with cigarette smoke and the ceiling was yellow and nicotine-stained. This man has no class, Tony thought to himself. He wore half-decent suits, but he had no class. He was just
a fat old man in a half-decent suit, dirtied by cigarette ash.
The bossman waved everyone but Eddie, Tony and Jake out of the room.
When just the four of them remained, he looked at Tony and Jake and said, ‘I need you two boys to collect a parcel for me. No questions asked. Do you think you’re up to it? Are you both more than a couple of well-known leg breakers?’
Tony looked at Jake; even though this man wanted something from them, he still didn’t have the decency to speak to them respectfully. He was still insulting them.
Bearing in mind the diamond heist and the meeting he had attended, Tony had some idea what this parcel was likely to be: the thirty diamonds the bossman had discussed with the Italian.
‘I feel you’re the one man I can trust with this, Tony. You know about the little chat I had with that greasy wop, that’s why I sent for you. I presumed you would bring him with you.’ He looked at Jake with distaste. ‘Will you do it?’
‘I’ll think about it,’ said Tony. ‘Can I let you know tomorrow, when we’ve talked it over?’
The bossman opened his mouth to protest, but Tony cut him off.
‘This is a big risk, high stakes. Surely you don’t expect an answer right now? There’s a lot to think about, starting with how much you’re prepared to pay.’
‘All expenses, plus two thousand pounds each.’ The bossman felt that was a good enough offer for these two.
Tony and Jake left and went back to the car; Jake was already angry, and shaking his head.
‘No way, Tony, he’s setting us up. No, he’s setting you up. He wants us to be mules, carrying his merchandise through customs for him. He’s fucking joking, no way. Two thousand for twenty years inside prison, does he think we’re stupid? Let him collect his own parcel. Better still, let him send Eddie, he seems to be his number one arse-licker at the moment.’
They talked it over nonstop, but as much as Jake opposed the idea, he could see Tony was thinking about it.
‘Are you crazy, Tony? Those guys who did that job are looking at twenty years. No, we get caught and we’re done for. You can’t be considering this.’
‘Let’s go and see Elle, she’s still in the middle of packing up her stuff ready for when she moves,’ said Tony.
Jake couldn’t believe Tony was changing the subject. That usually meant he’d made his mind up. Jake knew, as much as he didn’t want to believe it, that for some bizarre reason Tony was going to pick up these diamonds and hand them over to the bossman.
‘Okay, mate, you win. Whatever you decide to do, I’m with you, and no arguments. Okay?’
‘That’s your choice. You’re a married man, you have your wife to think of. Me, I have no one depending on me. Think hard before you make the decision, I don’t want you or Sharon on my conscience.’
Jake was right; Tony had made up his mind to do it, though God only knew why. After all, he didn’t need the money.
Sharon was fussing around, buying things for their new house. The sale would go through quickly, as there was no mortgage to be processed.
Elle was busy packing up her life in boxes. She had lived in that same house for most of her days. It was full of memories – she had fostered many children, some of whom she still kept in touch with. It was just the usual stuff – Christmas cards, mostly – people tended to move on.
The new bungalow Tony had bought her was beautiful. It was in a new complex and everything in it was brand new, too. She hadn’t wanted to take his money, she reckoned he would need it someday, but he was adamant, and she felt it was easier to agree.
If nothing else, she thought, should he ever need financial help, he can always use the house as collateral. It’s an investment for him.
Jake went around the bookies where Tony was working. Eddie was hanging around, as usual. He was addicted to gambling, not a day never passed without him betting on some three-legged donkey or other. Jake didn’t like Eddie much. He appreciated Eddie and Tony had history, but Jake had always kept him at arm’s length.
‘Are you sure it’s not just jealousy, Jake?’ Sharon had said, one evening, when he had discussed Eddie with her. ‘Tony will always put you first, you know. Eddie’s just a friend, that’s all.’
‘I know, Shaz, maybe you’re right, I don’t know.’ Maybe he was a little jealous; Eddie had been in Tony’s life long before he had.
‘I’ve been to see the bossman,’ said Tony to Jake, while they were alone in the car. ‘I’m going to Amsterdam. That sleaze is testing me, and yes, probably going to set me up. He’s given me two plane tickets to Amsterdam, but I’d rather go alone, take my chances.’
Looking at the dashboard, Jake sighed. This was stupid, it was as though Tony was pressing a self-destruct button.
‘Well, I don’t know about you, Tony, but I could do with a break to get away from the women in our lives discussing wallpaper and house moves. Let’s do it.’ Jake held up his hand and gave Tony a high five.
***
They arrived in Amsterdam early and only planned to be there a few hours. They went straight to the address they had been given. It was a large house, surrounded by offices.
Tony had decided not to take his gun, mainly because knew he wouldn’t get through customs with it. When they walked into the house, they were slammed against the wall, palms on the wallpaper, feet apart, and searched by the men that were waiting for them.
Once they had been patted down and the men were satisfied that they were clean – no weapons, no wires – they were shown into another room.
A man sat at a desk. Before him was a briefcase, and he calmly pressed in the combination.
‘Sorry about the search,’ he said. ‘No offence, boys, but you can’t be too careful. There are a lot of thieves about.’ He spoke with a Dutch accent and laughed at his own joke.
Tony and Jake said nothing. The atmosphere was tense; something wasn’t right.
The Dutchman took a small velvet bag out of his briefcase and put it on the table. ‘Count them.’
‘No, your word is as good as your bond, we have to trust each other, after all,’ said Tony. He picked up the velvet bag and put it in his pocket. He could see the surprised look on the Dutchman’s face.
‘Are you sure you won’t count them?’ he said again.
Tony looked at Jake; now they knew something was definitely wrong. Why was this man insisting they counted the gems? Tony handed the bag back to the Dutchman.
‘You count them; I don’t want you thinking I’ve got sticky fingers. Count them out to me, then we can both be sure.’
The Dutchman’s smile left his face; he wasn’t happy, but he was prepared to go along with it. He loosened the drawstring top of the small velvet bag and tipped it up.
Thirty uncut diamonds poured out of the bag and on to a soft, velveteen cloth. The Dutchman picked them up one by one and counted them back into the bag, watching Tony and Jake’s faces as he did it. Then he handed the bag back over to Tony.
‘Don’t lose them, boys,’ the Dutchman said, then he nodded to one of the other men in the room to show them both out.
No sooner had they left than the Dutchman took a glass of whisky from one of the other men in the room. A second glass was placed on the desk he sat at.
The bossman walked out of a side door and sat opposite the Dutchman, picked up the drink, and gulped it down.
‘It’s a shame you didn’t get his fingerprints on them,’ said the bossman. ‘Still, they should keep the police happy and off our backs. This whole thing has got out of hand. The police need a name.’
The bossman had decided that, if Tony succeeded, that was all well and good, and if he got caught, it would be Tony and Jake going to prison and not him. As a gesture of goodwill, Ralph Gold, who had introduced the bossman and the Italian, had also given him fifty thousand pounds in cash to do with as he pleased.
***
‘That fat bastard bossman has just sold us down the river to save his own neck, Jake,’ said Tony. ‘Couldn’t
you smell his cheap tobacco smoke, coming from the next room? He was there and he was desperate for us to put our fingerprints on those diamonds.’
They were walking down a high street towards a taxi rank. ‘So, Tony,’ said Jake, ‘what do we do? He’s going to look great, isn’t he? He’s going to give his friends at the police station the information they want, and he’s got two mugs, meaning us, to take all the blame. Now what?’
They got into a taxi and were driven down the high street towards the airport. Tony was looking out of the car window on one side, Jake was looking out of the other. Not a word was spoken, especially in front of the taxi driver.
‘Excuse me, can you stop here, please?’ said Tony, suddenly.
The driver pulled in.
‘What’s going on?’ said Jake.
‘Wait here, I’ll be back in a minute.’
Jake watched as Tony got out of the taxi and walked across the street and into a large shop. The sign said ‘chocolatier’.
Inside, Tony saw the shop was filled with all kinds of exotic chocolates, none of them the kind you could buy from the local supermarket. This store only sold handmade, exclusive chocolates – very expensive ones.
‘Do you sell those oddly shaped chocolate truffles?’ he asked the sales assistant. ‘I’m not sure what they’re called, but they’re very special.’
An idea had crossed his mind; he didn’t know if it would work, but, given the circumstances, he was prepared to try anything.
‘Yes, sir,’ said the man behind the counter, in perfect English. ‘A very good choice. Would you like to try one, to see if they are to your liking?’
This really was a specialist shop. How many stores do you go in where they are prepared for you to eat their chocolates before you buy them?
‘I’m sure they’ll be fine, thank you.’
‘What size box would you like, sir?’
‘What size do they come in?’
‘We have two sizes: twenty truffles or forty truffles.’
‘I’ll take a box of forty, please,’ said Tony. ‘And could you wrap them? They’re for my grandmother.’
Dangerous Games Page 17
