~o~
It was early evening, winter was fast approaching and the nights were starting to draw in. Tony had just finished an unrewarding day at work; he slipped out of the main showroom, where he had spent a few idle moments admiring a newly delivered Porsche 911. After the warm showroom, the cold air bit against his shoulders and pulled his thin jacket tighter round his skinny frame. He looked around, just in case any of Jimmy's lads were in the vicinity, he had already started to get back into debt with them and was keen to avoid any contact until he could come up with some more money. He ducked down the shadowy alley between the showroom and the bank. The street lights which had just come on, cast a beam of reflected light down the narrow walkway. It shone on the damp concrete highlighting the small puddles from the afternoon rain. As Tony took his first steps into the half-light, the pad of his feet echoing against the walls, he saw a figure in front of him, he knew the face and did a quick about turn. Unfortunately for Tony he had been followed down the alley by a large and dangerous looking character. It was another of Jimmy's heavies.
Darren cracked his pocked marked face with a sneering smile.
"Going somewhere Tony, old son."
Tony tried to make an ineffective run for it but a heavy hand with a grip like steel grabbed the scruff of his neck. His head was banged against the wall, not too hard, just enough to emphasise the trouble the young defaulter was in.
Tony wiped the back of his hand across the blood which was trickling from his nose. He looked at it in astonishment.
"Guys, guys, no need for rough stuff, I’ve got another check from the old girl, just waiting for it to clear."
The lie sounded reasonable to Darren and Kev, but they had no interest in cheques, cleared or otherwise.
"No mate, don't worry about no cheque. See, Jimmy would like a word... He thinks you’ve been avoiding him. Jimmy don't like that. Know what I mean?" Darren squeezed his vice like grip on the back of Tony's neck. He winced as his neck muscles cramped. Darren's weight sank Tony down to his knees wetting his trousers from the puddled walkway. The two emissaries hauled Tony back onto his feet.
"Let's take a ride." chuckled Kev. "The boss is waiting; he gets a bit mental if he's kept waiting too long, know what I mean?"
Tony was pushed into the back seat of an E class Mercedes, silver still with the new car smell. He heard the central locking click shut and noticed the child locks on the back door. There was no chance of making an escape so he sat back and looked around. The car was opulent, way too good for thugs like these or even for Jimmy Costard. He felt sick when he realized that the money he had spent with Jimmy could probably have bought the car. They made an unhurried U turn and headed out of down. Tony had expected that he would be taken to Jimmy's warehouse in the industrial centre and as the car made its way towards the deserted woodlands down in the valley, he remembered the rumours about shallow graves and started to panic. A moist sparkle of nervous sweat joined his already blood smeared upper lip.
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