Old Crackers

by Peter Bates

  “Terrific, Norman. Good thinking, mate.”

  “It’s the least I can do for you lads. Anyway, I hope that it helps, but I have to get back to the rubbish now.”

  “Cheers, Norman, but don’t go too far away from a phone today, we may well be calling you back.”

  “I hope you do, Terry, and by the way, give my very best regards to Frank, Reg, and Roy.”

  Terry clicked off the mobile phone, and slowly scanned the faces of his friends around the table.

  “You heard what he said.”

  “We certainly did,” grinned Roy. “We really couldn’t have had a better result if we tried.”

  “That means he’s on his way back, and we think that we probably know the true reason why.”

  “What’s next?” asked Reg.

  Roy twisted his wrist and stared at his watch.

  “We don’t know for certain if we’re right, lads, but if we are, we need to get moving. Let’s get parked up down on the front with a good view of the dock and wait somewhere close for The Lady Gabrielle to come back into the harbour. After that we’ll have to play it by ear, but one way or another we’ll have to track him to wherever he goes. Have we all got cameras and binoculars, and well charged up mobile phones?”

  *

  “Is it too early for a beer?” asked Jed Thomas.

  Ted smiled. “It’s never too early for a beer, boss.”

  “Not with you guys it isn’t,” laughed Thomas. “Where do you fancy going then lads?”

  “Down on the front somewhere,” suggested Tony. “I like it down there, and it’s good to see what’s going on.”

  “There’s a new one in South Shore,” offered Paul. “Well, it’s not exactly new but it’s changed hands, been renamed and also been done up a bit. It’s called the Green Parrot and a mate of mine said the beer was good. He says that they do great grub as well, so if we’re feeling a bit peckish, we can have a quick bite whilst we’re there.”

  “OK, we’ll try it,” agreed Thomas. “The Green Parrot it is then. I’m definitely not driving tonight, so one of you lads will have to take me, just in case I get pissed.”

  “No problem, boss,” offered Graham. “You and I can go in mine. If I have too many beers, we’ll just get a cab back home. It’s only a ten-minute trip at the worst, and I could leave my car around the corner in the car park overnight if I need to.”

  “What about you lads?” asked Thomas.

  “Tony and Paul can come in mine,” said Ted. “Tony can pick me up in the morning and take me for the car if we have one too many tonight, and that seems to be the most likely outcome.”

  “Let’s go,” muttered Thomas, slowly standing to his feet, and then strolling to the café exit door before turning to face the others. “By the way, you’d better pay for the coffees and snacks, Paul. You’re getting a free lift, so it’s the least you can do.”

  The short drive to the Green Parrot took a little less than ten minutes, and parking at this time of the evening was quite simple, enabling both cars to be positioned reasonably close to its front doors. There was always more space for parking in the South Shore area than there was in the central ones. Paul was greatly relieved that the Green Parrot had passed its first test when Jed Thomas instantly took a liking to the place, and unusually said so before they had even selected a table.

  “Good decision, Paul. We’ll sit at the table that’s up against the green coloured wall over there, and Tony can get the drinks in.”

  As per custom, Thomas sat down first, immediately choosing a chair with its back to the side wall, and offering a full view of the pub’s interior and its front entrance door. A fire exit door was set into the exterior wall close to the very end of the bar, and reasonably near to where they were sitting.

  “Mmm, not bad, not bad at all.” Thomas nodded approvingly with a smile as he scanned the saloon and bar area. “And it’s not too busy yet. The next test will be the beers.”

  The beers quickly arrived, and Tony set down a large metal tray on the large circular table, before placing them on and around its enamelled surface.

  “Good beer.” commented Graham with a big grin.

  Paul nodded, but elected to maintain an expressionless face until he heard any comment from Jed Thomas. The boss’s opinion was crucial.

  “It is good,” Thomas finally spoke in a low voice. “Good pub, good beer. Well done, Paul.”

  Paul’s face lit up as he heard the words. Praise from Jed Thomas was definitely rare, but most welcome.

  “Thanks, boss. I thought that you’d like it here, and I’m glad that you think the beers good too.”

  “All of that’s fine,” nodded Thomas impatiently, “but now it’s down to business. Anyone heard anything from Harrison yet?”

  All four heads around the table shook slowly from side to side.

  “I don’t understand it,” said Thomas. “Maybe it’s simple. Maybe they just don’t have any bottle.”

  “I’m beginning to think the same thing,” added Graham. “If some of our relatives had been wiped out by them, we would have turned them into mincemeat by now. On top of that, we nicked their drugs and they must have worked it out by now that it was probably us. It wouldn’t surprise me if they left town and went somewhere else. I think that they are really scared of us lads.”

  Jed nodded his head firmly and added, “You’re all right. If it had been the other way around, they’d now all be under the ground. Like Graham, it wouldn’t surprise me if they had folded or moved elsewhere. They made a lot of noise around these parts for many years, but now they’ve simply slipped off the map.

  “OK, lads. This is what we’ll do. Do a bit more asking around with the young lads out on the street, see if there have been any sightings of them. I’m thinking seriously now about moving into the drugs market on a regular basis. We got a big chunk for what we nicked, so maybe we should have a dabble at it. If Harrison’s no longer supplying for this area, there must be a big hole in the market that we could fill. What do you think?”

  “Go for it.”

  “I thought you’d say that,” grinned Thomas, “and as it happens, I’ve got some on order from a local guy. It’s due in tomorrow, so we should get our hands on it around tea-time.”

  CHAPTER 43

  Frank and Reg travelled together, closely followed by Norman and Terry. Although there was only one main and direct route to Fleetwood, the two cars steadily moved through moderately light traffic along the coastline and then through the town until they approached the docks area. The town itself wasn’t too busy and the two cars steadily threaded their way through several minor roads and finally parked together on a side street, just fifty yards from the promenade road that ran close to the shipping and anchorage zone.

  “How are we doing for time?” asked Reg as he stepped out of the car and turned to face Frank.

  “It’s about time you bought yourself a watch,” grinned Frank. “It’s about four-thirty, Reg. At a guess, I’d say he’ll be back around five to five-thirty. It just depends on how far out he was before he turned back to port. That bit we don’t know.”

  “Well, we certainly don’t want to be late, that’s for sure,” commented Terry as he and Roy joined them at the side of the road.

  “If he does have the bag with him, where do you think he will take it?” asked Roy.

  “I’m not sure,” replied Terry. “Unless he diverts the ship on his way back, which I doubt very much because that would be extremely obvious to any tracking equipment, he’ll have to unload it here and then take it by road. I reckon that’s what he’ll do. If he’s already got rid of it out at sea, somehow, we’ll not stand a chance of tracing it, but I doubt very much that he’s done that. His crew would have all been witness to it, and he’s unlikely to risk being seen by them, unless the crew are involved as well, which is unlikely. We’ve certainly got to keep our eyes skinned from the moment that the boat docks. The bag must be sizeable, and spotting him with a large one s
houldn’t be that difficult. After that, it’s probably a case of us being to follow him wherever he goes without being seen, and hope that his destination is not too far.”

  “Somehow, I don’t think it will be,” commented Frank. “He won’t want to be on the road any longer than he needs to be, and it’s very likely that the pick-up man won’t be far away. We may have to move very quickly and keep our phones on. Make sure also that you have your cameras in your pockets in case we end up following on foot.”

  “OK, lads, let’s make our way across the road to the harbour railings. If we split up into two groups of two, about fifty yards apart, we won’t look so obvious. Then we just wait and see what comes up. Frank and Reg may as well stay together, and Roy and I will do the same. Until we see him, we’ll keep that way and stay in contact with each other on the phones. At the moment we don’t know where his car is parked up, but it’s virtually certain that he’ll be using one. I can’t see the drop-off taking place in the town, much more likely in a reasonably remote place, so we’ll have to be on our toes. We’ve all done it before, so we know what we need to do. The old ‘case crackers’ are at it once more.”

  Roy laughed for a good twenty seconds, and then allowed his eyes to settle one at a time on those of his friends. “Don’t forget, lads, that the whole thing could be absolutely nothing. We know that the guy has form, and we know that he must have a genuine reason for coming back early. There may be some other reason that we don’t know about. This is just a hunch, and hunches were something that we used to be good at many moons ago. If it’s nothing, fine, we’ll all meet up in the pub as usual and share a few drinks. If it’s more than that, we’ll see where it takes us all.”

  *

  Alf Kennedy took his eyes off the many instruments in his small control cabin and turned his head sideways to watch the rolling waves as they crashed into the side of his boat and threw the white spray high across the wooden decks. This would probably be the last time that he would gaze at the rolling water, and see nothing but horizon in all directions. This was how he’d spent his life, and very soon it would be gone forever. There would soon be a new life ahead of him, and he would have a huge lump of tax-free cash to spend. He’d still do some work, but it would be on the land and it wouldn’t be as demanding as being constantly at sea had been. He would be able to put the smile back on Gabrielle’s face. God knows she’d suffered enough in recent times and he could soon put that right. He would never be able to tell her the truth though — her principles would never accept the reason why he had suddenly got stacks of money in the bank. She was scathing of drug dealers and constantly complained about their effect on children and young adults. Before he returned, he would have to think of an acceptable reason for the money suddenly being available. Somehow, he would have to work something out that was untraceable — maybe a long-lost relative in Australia, or even just a find.

  Alf lifted his eyes from the sea and gazed into the cloudy sky for a few moments. He could say that he had found an unmarked box floating somewhere in the ocean, filled with cash. That would be much better than the long-lost relative idea and would certainly be untraceable. It wasn’t a bad idea for a starter, and who knows, before he returned, he might yet think of something even better.

  Alf had been surprised at how easy the pickup had been. The coordinates were absolutely spot on, and there were no other boats visible in the area when he met up with the contact that Amel had set up for him. He’d expected the delivery man to be in a larger boat, but it was small and single manned, and would have been undoubtedly speedy if necessary. It wasn’t until Alf received the coded signal from the boat that he realised for certain that it was the one that he would be picking up the bag from. Its driver was anonymous, heavily clothed in robes and with a grey face mask that only allowed his dark eyes to be seen. The man clearly knew him by sight, and somehow must have received a picture of his face from Amel. Alf couldn’t remember Amel actually photographing him at any time, but obviously, he must have done for the handover to take place so easily. Whatever he had done, the pick-up was smooth and took less than two minutes, once the two boats had drawn alongside each other.

  Now it was almost done, and all he had to do right now was to get the boat back home, carry the unmarked sack to his car, and wait for the phone call from Amel about the delivery of the bag. He would never have to do anything like this again, but who knows, if Amel was pleased, he might even give it another whirl. It was a damned sight easier than fishing.

  CHAPTER 44

  Roy Baldwin and Terry were cold. Standing on the edge of a harbour in a stiff eastern wind for any length of time was not something that either man would have done out of choice. Like Terry, Roy was wrapped up well in a thick all-weather coat and two woollen jumpers, but still felt its bitterness biting through the clothing and into his skin. For the third time in the last two hours, Roy once more lifted and then pointed his state-of-the-art binoculars on a distant ship, quickly focussing them sharply on the boat’s bow. Despite the cold, this time Roy allowed himself a big smile, there in large blue letters, the words The Lady Gabrielle stood out like a bright signal.

  “Bingo!” he muttered to Terry, and quickly replaced the binoculars with his mobile phone.

  “Reg. I don’t know if you or Frank can see it, mate, but the boat in the distance is The Lady Gabrielle.”

  “I’ve got it in my sights as you speak, Roy. I can see its name OK, but can’t see the face of the captain at the moment. I think that’s just a matter of time, though, and there’s no reason why it wouldn’t be him.”

  “Good lad. I reckon that he’ll be onshore in about half an hour or so. We’ll hold our positions for now, then when we’re one hundred percent certain it’s him, we’ll get in the cars and get ready to move. Don’t forget that if it is him, he’ll be carrying some sort of large bag other than a normal one. When we start to follow him on the road, we’ll rotate our vehicle positions and also give him plenty of space.”

  “OK, Roy. Good plan. So, if I read you correctly, we’ll stay where we are right now until Alf Kennedy is back on dry ground, and then follow him at a discreet distance. With a bit of luck, his car won’t be very far away. I’ll be glad to get out own motor running, the heater back on, and get myself warmed up.”

  “What if his car is parked far away from our own two cars?” questioned Terry.

  “That’s a good point,” agreed Frank. “We don’t want him gone before we’ve even got back to them.”

  Roy scratched an ear, a thoughtful look spreading quickly across his face as he stared firstly at Frank, and then at Terry. “It’s going to be difficult,” he said, “so why don’t we just all wait until we know for sure that it’s him, then Frank and Reg can go and sit in their car. We’ll follow Kennedy on foot and once we’ve pinpointed his car, we’ll phone Frank and confirm the motor’s details and exactly where it is, so that he and Reg can set off immediately. All Frank needs to do then is to call us on his mobile and keep us updated on his route whilst he is following. We couldn’t be more than a few seconds behind, so we’ll soon catch them up.”

  “That’s better,” agreed Reg. “The last thing we want to do now is to lose him and drop him off the hook.”

  “I agree,” said Terry, “but there’s one thing that we haven’t sorted or even addressed yet.”

  “What’s that?” asked Roy, a puzzled expression appearing on his face.

  “We haven’t made any plans for if and when the exchange of dope for cash does go through, wherever it may be. These days, we’re not exactly in a position to arrest the dealer that he’s supplying or Kennedy himself. Don’t forget too, that if he does bring in a bag of dope, it will probably be worth a small fortune, and it’s odds on that at least one of them will be well armed at the handover.”

  “Roy’s right,” nodded Frank. “If we do a good job and there is a deal going through, there’s nothing physically we can do about it except watch. There’s no way we can tackle them,
even if there were no firearms involved.”

  “Look fellas. At the moment we don’t even know for sure that Kennedy is involved with sneaky drug imports. Don’t forget that we’ve just made some conclusions and guesses that he might be, and that if we’re correct, the lad is simply acting as a well-paid go-between.”

  “I guess we’ll soon find out,” smiled Reg. “If the lad’s innocent, best of luck to him. If he’s not, he deserves whatever the law dishes out to him. Trafficking that stuff causes misery and mayhem to all those that use it, never mind all the bad things that it does to the young kids in our very own town. There are a lot of nicer ways to make a living, if that is what he has now chosen. Another thing, if this is what we think it is, there may yet be a way of stopping them in their tracks.”

  “You’ll have to let us know later, Reg, because I guess that we’ll find out the truth very soon,” added Frank, as he glanced briefly at his watch. “I reckon, we should be setting off soon. The boat will be coming into the harbour now.”

  *

  Alf Kennedy could scarcely conceal his excitement. The money that he was going to make very soon was mind blowing. It would certainly be worth carrying on with the fishing, if that’s what a fishing trip brought in. For future trips he would give Gabrielle some waffle that the fishing had picked up and the nets were filling. After this trip he’d keep most of the money to himself and just stash it all away in one of those fancy overseas bank accounts. So long as they had enough to get by comfortably on, she didn’t need to know about the growing pile that would soon be his.

  With a big smile on his face, he turned the engines right down and slowly drifted through the harbour entrance and edged towards the docking bay. The large white bag was by his side on the cabin floor, still covered by several empty brown sacks that he’d draped across it. When the time was right, he’d wait for the small crew to clear completely, and then carry it the short distance to his car, which was very close to the dock, in an allocated private space. Clearing out the small catch would take no more than five minutes, and then he’d be free to collect the bag and go directly to his car. His men were still tying up the retaining ropes to several iron posts when his mobile phone pinged.