by Vance Huxley
“Not a chance. I’m sleeping in the shed or whatever with the rest of the Troopers.” Magpie glowered. “I’m not shacking up with one of you randy basteds just for cover.”
“You can stay here.” Sparkler waved a hand round the bedroom. “There’s two bedrooms and I’m supposed to be a local bodge-it, scrabbling to get by, so I’ll rent one out.” He shrugged. “Pick a Trooper to act the boyfriend and he’ll be here anyway if anyone gets nosy, but he lives in the other room or the storeroom with the rest of us. We’ll squeeze up to leave an empty room.” Magpie nodded and the group started to work out exactly what they had to do. This should be spook work, but the spooks had failed. Now Beebi’s Basteds had the job, and none of them liked failure because that might mean being put back in some Trooper Unit. They wouldn’t take well to scrabbling about some complex busting heads and taking shite from a Super.
* * *
Within days the Troopers were stir crazy from living in the storeroom and one bedroom of the scruffy little repair shop without letting the neighbours know. Beebi let a few go out to visit the local Diva palaces and see if they could pick up gossip. He sent the men who got a bit antsy without a regular ration of pooching, which meant Bells for one. For the rest their only relief came when they stood over-watch on Magpie. Only half of them could take a turn at doing that since the rest didn’t know her sex. They knew Magpie had gone undercover, but not how, and as the days stretched past a week Bobby seriously considered extracting some men until later.
The first real break came as Magpie walked home after work. She’d just started through an alley when a voice called from behind her. “Eyup love, wait fer me.”
Magpie slowed just a little, her eyes searching the shadows, and slid a thin knife into her hand. She glanced back. “What do yer want?”
“That’s not friendly. I just wanted to walk yer home.” The youth came closer, smiling, and tried to put an arm round her. “It’s not safe wandering around the streets all alone when it’s getting dark.”
Magpie avoided the arm, and gave a small head-shake to the shadow down low by a rubbish skip at the alley entrance. No point in killing the shite for this. “I’m not alone. My boyfriend is coming to meet me.” She sniggered. “He’s a big bloke. You don’t want yer arm round me when he gets here.”
“I ain’t afraid of no bloke on the complex. If he gives me shite I’ll get the rest of the lads to call round, see how big he is then.” The youth smirked. “No need for that if yer a little bit more friendly?” Magpie avoided his arm again, and wondered if she really would have to kill the stupid shite.
“Oy, nark it. That’s my bird.” Hood’s deep voice echoed in the alley and Magpie smiled, though she still had the knife ready. This youth might just pull a notsi.
The youth did start towards his pocket, but hesitated and unknown to him that kept him alive a little longer. Siflis had Beebi’s silenced pistol, Hood wore brass on the hand in his pocket, Magpie had her blade, and Bells would be just outside the alley behind them acting as backstop. The youth glanced around and must have decided shooting might attract attention. “Yer might be making a mistake. Do you know who I am?”
“The basted trying it on with Susanne, that’s all I need. Just back off. Come on Susanne.” Hood put out an arm, wrapping it around Magpie when she moved down the alley to join him.
“Watch yer back, big boy. Next time I might not be on my own.” The youth looked at Magpie and smirked. “I know where to find yer tomorrow. See yer then.”
Hood twitched but Magpie put an arm round him. “It’s all right. The boss won’t allow any shite from the likes of him.” She glanced back. “Sod off before he loses his rag.” The youth retreated, muttering, while Magpie and Hood stood watching him go. She elbowed Hood. “You can let go now.”
“Sorry.” Hood grinned. “When you put your arm round me I thought you’d got comfy tucked in there.”
“Piss off.” Magpie sniggered. “Boyfriend? When did you get the job?” She’d avoided picking anyone to stand in as boyfriend despite or maybe because of a lot of flickin from Bells.
“When you said your boyfriend was a big bloke. I’m the biggest bloke who happened to be nearby.” Hood frowned after the youth. “He seemed to think I should know him.”
“Overinflated ego. There’s six of them trying to break into the protection racket at the market but so far the other two gangs are keeping them out. They haven’t enough muscle.” She squeezed Hood’s bicep. “Hmm, maybe we’d better talk to Beebi. Now let go of me. I want to get home and back into proper clothes.”
“Oops, I forgot.” Hood grunted at the elbow in his ribs and Magpie scowled at the chuckle from the shadows by the skip. “How come he followed you?”
“I might have smiled at him a couple of times, just to get him to brag a bit. Typical youth, they can’t see past the skirt and blouse.” Hood made a non-committal noise so Magpie elbowed him again. “You can keep your eyes ahead as well.”
“Hey, I’m a boyfriend, I’m supposed to notice what you wear.”
“Ha, boyfriends tend to wonder more about what they can’t see, and you can forget that. It’s illegal to get into another Trooper’s underwear.”
“Underwear?” Hood moved to try and avoid her elbow, but not far enough. Behind them Siflis wore a rare smile because he thought if anyone else had said and done what Hood just had, Magpie might have used a knife instead of an elbow.
* * *
Bobby really liked the idea of a small gang of chancers who were trying to muscle in. He let a couple of Sandman’s squad out to cruise the market nearby, just in case this arse got heavy in public, and asked Magpie to find out more. With Magpie’s other information on the local gangs demanding protection in the market, Bobby finally had a way into the local underworld. The Troopers who were getting stir crazy spent several nights out and about, working off their surplus energy and frustration while thinning out the local heavies.
This time the youth didn’t wait for Magpie to leave work. “Hello gorgeous. Have yer weakened yet?”
Magpie rolled her eyes. “What, in the head? Do you really want to be stomped?”
“Ha, we’ve just taken another three stalls.” The youth looked over at the stallholder. “Another week and we’ll be making an offer to yer boss. Maybe we’ll give him a special rate if you’re a bit more friendly.” He picked up an apple from the display and bit into it, staring a challenge at the stall-holder. The man frowned but looked away. His current ‘insurers’ had lost three of their five enforcers in a week. One fell from an accommodation block and two were found in a skip with their throats cut. Worse, a lot of the potential replacements around here had been having accidents as well.
“I keep warning yer, the answer is no and he really will stomp you.” Magpie kept a little smile on her face. “Now let me work. You’re scaring off customers and then my boss won’t be able to pay.” The youth swaggered off and Magpie sighed loudly, but her boss kept his face turned away. That confirmed it, the stallholder expected a takeover soon. She hoped so, because Beebi wanted her to say no and hint yes to the would-be gangster, while more and more she was tempted to knife the slimy little toad.
* * *
Magpie didn’t have to wait long, just two days. “Now yer might want to be more friendly.” The youth waved the creds at Susanne and put them in his back pocket. “I’ll bet yer boss would up yer wages if he got a discount.” She looked down, avoiding his eyes. “Just a little delay on the way home for a bit of fun, and I can get his insurance halved.” Susanne looked over at her boss and he turned away. “Or I can arrange for three or four of us to meet yer boyfriend in a dark alley, and he can have a nasty accident.”
“No.” Susanne barely whispered, still refusing to meet his eyes. “Don’t hurt him.”
The youth leaned closer. “Well then you can start by calling me Slash.” He leaned a little closer. “Well?”
Susanne sighed, and gave him a shy smile. “All right, Slash.”
>
“That’s better. When do yer get off?”
“Five, but I mustn’t be very late or he’ll come looking.” She tried to look nervous and just a bit excited.
“Don’t worry, just a little taster this time.” He chuckled. “Maybe yer boss will let you off early?”
“Not this time. People will notice.” Slash went to put an arm around her. “No, not here. People will see. They’ll talk.”
“Don’t worry. In a few more weeks none of them will dare. Then maybe I’ll tell yer bloke to piss off.” Slash laughed. “We’ll have a few more heavies then, so he’d best listen.”
“No, don’t. I’ll do what yer say but don’t do that to Fenn.” Hood had suggested calling her Susanne, so Magpie had made up his name.
“All right, for now anyway. See yer in the same alley, and don’t give me no crap. Is he coming to meet you again?”
“No Slash. Not tonight, but I can’t be very late.” Another little smile hinted she might be looking forward to this, just a bit.
“Oke, see yer later, gorgeous. Or more of yer later.” Slash swaggered away as Susanne kept her eyes down to hide her anticipation.
Susanne worked the rest of the day without smiling or even speaking to her boss, showing her annoyance because he hadn’t helped and shame at what she had agreed to. Avoiding him wasn’t hard, he didn’t want to meet her eyes even when she bid him goodbye. She dragged her feet a little on the way, and even more when she saw Slash lounging in a doorway.
Slash leered. “Come on, anyone would think yer didn’t fancy this. This room is empty so we can get cosy.”
“Not in a room.” Susanne wasn’t going into a damn room with the shite. Anybody could be waiting. “In the alley, just a quick taster yer said.” Slash laughed at the hint of fear in her voice.
“C’mere then. Just in the doorway.”
Susanne hung back. “No, you’ll pull me in there, then Fenn will come to find me.” Her voice dropped. “You’ll shoot him in there, in private.”
“Only if we aren’t done by then.”
“Hey, I told yer about that sort of thing.” Susanne knew the shock showed on her face as the large figure blocked the end of the alley, because she’d practiced the expression.
Slash turned with a snarl on his face. “What are yer doing here?”
“Luckily, I decided to come and meet my bird.” The man paused. “Though I was coming to see you and yer mates later.”
“Why?” Slash tensed, hand in his pocket on a weapon and ignoring Susanne entirely.
Fenn shrugged. “I heard you needed muscle, and the two of us wondered what the pay is?”
“Two?”
The reply came from behind. “We work as a team.” Slash whirled, glaring at the shorter but definitely muscular figure now blocking the other end of the alley.
He turned back as the first man spoke. “But I’m in charge. My name is Fenn.” He smiled but the result looked more of a threat. “My woman isn’t in the package, all right?” He beckoned. “Susanne?” She ran up the alley and he put an arm round her. “So can we do business?”
“Maybe. Not here.” Slash reassessed. This Fenn looked a real brawler, and the other man had that look as well. The Cutters were looking for more muscle because there seemed to be a shortage. That Susanne looked a bit scrawny anyway, not exactly Diva material so no real loss. He’d only pushed because she seemed a bit frightened and possibly interested. He’d thought she’d give it up under pressure. Slash pointed at the room behind him. “I’ve emptied this place and he won’t be back until morning so if yer come back in two hours, after dark?”
Fenn nodded, his arm tightening slightly around Susanne. The little shite had intended a lot more than a taste. He smiled slightly at her wriggle and wordless protest, letting the smile broaden for Slash. “We’ll be here. No fancy stuff or it’ll be bloody.”
“Straight business, though if yer want to bring her?” Slash intended flickin the basted a bit, but for a moment thought he’d made a mistake.
Fenn turned the snarl back into a smile and relaxed again. Susanne looked up at him. “I don’t want to Fenn, but if yer want me to come and it’s just business?”
The gangster smiled. “Two hours.” Slash turned, hesitating because the end of the alley had cleared with no sign of where the second man might be. He shrugged before heading off to collect the rest of the Cutters, all six and the two new heavies. If the meeting didn’t work out, he might still get his fun with the girl. Behind him, Susanne elbowed Fenn twice before he let her go, though she smiled just a little when he couldn’t see.
* * *
The blonde Diva coming towards Scar wore a big smile and a short skirt. He shook his head. “Sorry darlin’ but I don’t pay.”
She kept coming. “It’s been a slack night, how about a freebie?”
The young man shook his head, regretfully. “Not now, I’ve got to stay here. Though maybe later?” Scar started to turn at a slight scuffing but arms came around his face, cutting off sight, his air, and most his hearing. That all became irrelevant as a sharp pain under his ribs drove higher, until all pain went away. Hood bent to lower the body, then unwrapped his arms from around the man’s head.
Magpie wiped her blade on the corpse’s jacket front, nodding towards the shadow watching from a nearby yard. She slid the cleaned knife into the sheath hung down her back under the blouse before taking off the blonde wig. Magpie replaced it with the black Susanne wig from Hood’s pocket, waiting impatiently as he adjusted it. “Are you putting him in the skip in the alley?”
“Not yet, Siflis says there’s a heavy outside the door with Slash. Whether we clean up depends on how the meeting goes.” Hood looked at her skirt. “That’s a new one, a bit shorter than usual.”
“Stop it!” She blushed a little. “I made a mistake when I bought it. It was supposed to show a bit of leg, not make me look like a Diva!”
“It’ll make leading that little shite to the slaughter a lot easier.” Hood scowled. “That’s if we get an agreement.” As they headed down the alley Snook slipped out of the shadows in the yard, leaving Scar’s hidden backup in a crumpled heap. He pulled Scar’s body into the yard and stood in Scar’s place.
Slash stood in the doorway glancing both ways as Bells appeared at the other end of the alley. Any questions about what the sentries said died as he saw Magpie’s skirt. “Yer never wore that to the market, girly. Yer a real Diva?”
“Behave. Did your partners get here yet?” Hood nodded over towards Bells. “We’ve talked it over and Susanne told us how much of the market you’ve got. You need us.”
“We’ll see. I’m supposed to search yer.” He leered at Magpie. “Really carefully.”
“No you aren’t unless I get to search you first, and all your partners. We’re all armed to the teeth, so any pooching goes both ways, right?” Hood glared and Slash shrugged.
“Worth a try. If you come to work for us, do we get to share?” Hood stared until Slash turned away and rapped on the door. “If you start it, remember there’s others out here as well as this one on the door. The heavy scowled and Hood sneered at him. “You’ll never get away.” Slash opened the door and raised his voice. “They’re here, and the bird. Diva I reckon.” Hood, Magpie and Bells followed him in.
Five cautious minutes later the three Cutters agreed to employ two extra heavies. For the third time Slash suggested Susanne should be part of the deal and this time Hood shrugged. “Just you and just once to seal the deal.”
“Fenn! No!” Magpie clung to him, horrified.
Hood ignored her. “Where’s the bedroom?”
“Through there is the kitchen, with the bedroom up the stairs. You mean it?” Hood nodded and Slash grinned, then leered. “Don’t take long gorgeous.”
“No Fenn, I won’t. Not with him!”
“Go on Slash, I’ll have a word and she’ll be up.” The youth left and as the door closed behind him Hood turned to Magpie. “You’ve got to understand,
sometimes we have to change the rules.”
“But I don’t want to.” She looked at the door. “He’s a creep.”
“Oke, we’ll change the rules.” Both grinned as they finished the charade, letting Slash get out of hearing. Hood turned to the remaining two Cutters. “Slash is a liability. He keeps his brains in his pants and has a loose mouth.”
Carver and Cutter, the two leaders, stared for a moment, baffled. Then Cutter laughed. “If you were flickin him, Slash won’t take that. Remember you work for us so tell the Diva to get her ass up there and we can finish up and go home.”
“Wrong.” Hood moved aside. The pair stared into the muzzle of the Kraut automatic, held by a grinning Bells. “You work for me.” Hood pulled out a pistol. “Dump all the hardware and sit on your hands. Before you get cute, the sentries and their backups have all carked it. Any time now someone will shoot the one on the doorstep with a silenced pistol so you’re the last two.” A soft thump outside the door signalled the demise of the guard.
Carver hesitated. “Three, and you’ll kill us anyway if we disarm.”
“Two because Slash won’t be walking back down the stairs, but we need you. Though we can manage without?” The two young men disarmed and sat on their hands. As they did Bells passed the Kraut for Hood to hold in his left hand, pulled a knife and went through the door into the kitchen. A short while later a voice upstairs rose in a sharp query before cutting off abruptly.
Bells came back down, wiping the knife on a piece of Slash’s shirt. “Sorted. Have you explained?”
“Not yet. You pair are still the Cutters, and you’ve just hired some new heavies.” The two men looked at each other, baffled. “We want to keep our heads down, because after the last bomb we made it out just ahead of the Troopers.”
“It was you!”
“No, you bledrin Homer. We had a nice bit of business, so why would we want to stir up all that shite? I’d like to know who it was?” The two would-be gangsters looked at each other and shrugged. “I didn’t think so. Nobody knows but they ruined our business which is why Susanne ended up working on a stall. Now we need time to get set up again, and a bit of income. About half that market will do it.” Hood grinned. “We’ve got the muscle. You two can be our public face in case anyone got a vid of us, but only if you don’t piss us about.”
