by Zoe Sharp
“You mean the Gadatra boy?” Langford demanded lazily. “Don’t worry about him. He’s got too many areas of weakness to be a threat, and I know just where to apply the right pressure so he’ll fold.”
“And what about the girl, Miss Fox?” Mr Ali’s mention of my own name made me draw in a breath more sharply than prudence called for.
“Her?” I could hear the note of disbelief, turning to discomfort. “I know she managed to blind-side me, but you really feel she’s a problem?” His inflection made it a question.
“She could be. From what I hear she was instrumental in getting Mr Garton-Jones thrown off the estate. If she finds out about us . . .”
“You worry too much, Ali. If anything, she’s done us a favour. After all, we were just doubling up on the same job, weren’t we? Anyway, I wouldn’t bank on Streetwise being gone long. Garton-Jones knows when he’s on to a good thing, and these community schemes are never up to much.”
There were more footsteps, the sound of chair legs scraping back. I tensed like a deer, ready to flee, but unable to resist the temptation to stay. “So, what happens if they come back?”
“Well, the way things are hotting up, they could be just what we need. Besides, everyone has their price, and I’m sure with the right “financial inducements” shall we say, certain people could come round to our way of thinking, if you know what I mean.”
Mr Ali’s voice became resigned. “How much do you need?”
I could feel rather than see Langford’s artfully casual shrug. “I don’t know,” he said, almost sly. “Let me make some approaches, and I’ll get back to you. Speaking of cash, though,” he went on, and the insolent tone was back again in full force, “where’s my pay packet for this week?”
Other voices approaching outside stripped my attention away from the conversation in the inner office. I looked around wildly and realised there was absolutely nowhere to hide. I scuttled away from that door and headed for the outside one, managing to open it, slip through the gap, and have it closed again in a flash.
“Can I help you?” It was a man’s voice, flat with suspicion, and right by my shoulder. It made me jump.
I turned to see a middle-aged bloke in a dirty green fluoro jacket and a yellow hard hat standing only a couple of feet away.
“Erm, no thanks, mate, I’m all sorted,” I said, smiling at him, but getting no similar response.
“What are you doing here? I didn’t see you come in.”
God, did nobody have any trust in humanity any more? “Bike courier, mate,” I said, keeping my voice cheery. I patted the top pocket of my leather jacket as though to indicate safely secured paperwork. “I’ve just dropped off a package with the bloke in the office there,” I jerked a thumb to indicate the Portakabin I’d just left. “Big Asian bloke. He signed for it.”
He was starting to run with me on this one, but the last vestiges of wariness remained. “What was it, then?” he asked.
I shrugged, trying to stay casual, even though any minute now Langford and Mr Ali could emerge from the Portakabin behind me and expose me for the liar I was. I wondered if people really did end up buried in concrete footings.
“No idea, mate. They don’t tell me, and I don’t ask,” I said blithely. “I just had to get the thing here from Manchester before close of play, and that’s what I’ve done.” I checked my watch, just to prove it. “Anything else is not my problem.”
He nodded, still mistrustful, but unable to put his finger on anything concrete. Until I’d taken two or three steps away from him, that was.
“So where’s your bike?” he called after me.
I froze, painted on a smile and turned, indicating the gloopy mud underfoot with a grimace. “I left it out on the road,” I said. “You think I’m bringing my nice Suzuki through shit like this?”
He gave me the first sign of warmth as he nodded. “No, s’pose not,” he said and waved his hand, dismissing me. “All right then. Off you go. In future, just make sure you check in with the foreman before you go wandering around on site, will you? It’s against the regs.”
“No problem, mate. See you.” I tried my best not to run the rest of the way to the road, but it was a close thing. Once I was out of the site I had to stamp my feet to get rid of the mud galoshes. Then I jogged back round to the trading estate and retrieved the bike.
All the time I was waiting for the sounds of pursuit. I didn’t know how soon the man I’d bumped into would mention my presence to Mr Ali. If he mentioned it at all.
I wished I’d pretended to own a different make of motorbike. At least then if they decided to come looking for me, they’d have been on the wrong track to start with. Damn. Why couldn’t I have said Kawasaki, or Honda? Even a lowly MZ would have been better than admitting to a Suzuki. Mind you, then I’d have had less reason for not wanting to trail it through the mud.
I rode back to Lavender Gardens by a circuitous route, and arrived with a headache from constantly squinting in the Suzuki’s vibrating mirrors for any sign of stalking Transit vans.
There weren’t any.
I had to assume, for the moment at least, that I’d got away with it.
Once I’d locked the bike away and recovered from Friday’s usual clamorous greeting I had chance to think about the conversation I’d eavesdropped on. What was Mr Ali paying Langford to do? What wheels were turning? And what was it that people were beginning to suspect?
I cast my mind back to Nasir’s outburst in Shahida’s living room. He obviously knew more than he was telling, but about what?
And why did Langford think he and Garton-Jones’s men were doubling up. Doubling up in what way? Streetwise were being paid to clean up the estate. I hadn’t liked their methods, and neither had anyone else, so they’d gone. How had that left the way clear for Langford’s mob? Unless he was doing the same thing . . .
It occurred to me, slowly, that maybe Mr Ali was paying the vigilantes to keep Lavender Gardens clear. The only thing was, their actions had misfired badly when Fariman had been stabbed. Maybe Mr Ali wanted to be seen as the public-spirited hero, but only after Langford had successfully done his job. When he’d cocked up, the builder was suddenly understandably keen to put as much distance between them as he could.
It wasn’t unreasonable to assume that as Nasir worked for Mr Ali, he’d got wind of the plan somehow. But what was his connection with Roger? And why was Mr Ali taking it upon himself to clean up the estate in the first place?
I shook my head. I needed more information before I could even begin to draw any watertight conclusions. Much as I thought I was pushing my luck, I rang Jacob and Clare again.
By the time I put the phone down ten minutes later, I felt easier in my mind. Intrigued, Clare had suggested that she have a rummage through the Defender’s archives first thing in the morning, and photocopy anything on Mr Ali or Langford that seemed relevant. I could collect what she’d got, she told me with a grin in her voice, when I went round for supper at the weekend.
With the promise of Jacob’s cooking to lure me, that wasn’t a difficult offer to accept.
Ten
The next day, which was Friday, I was due to work a late shift at the gym. I rode out of Kirby Street around four in the afternoon, and got my first inkling that maybe getting rid of Garton-Jones hadn’t been such a good idea, after all.
It was fortunate I wasn’t caning the bike, because as I stooged round a corner I found the gap between the cars parked down either side of the street was blocked by a group of teenage Asian lads. Some were leaning on the cars, while the others were just milling about.
I pulled the clutch lever in, tucked two fingers round the front brake, and coasted slowly to a halt about twenty feet away, eyeing them guardedly through my visor. A few of them saw me coming and shifted to one side, but there were half a dozen who stayed put, hands on hips, heads tilted. You didn’t need a master’s degree in body languages to be able to read their stance.
For a few moments, w
e faced each other off, while I did a furious mental search for alternative routes out of the estate. There weren’t any. Even if I could have turned the bike round quickly in the space available, which wasn’t easy with a steering lock that relied on speed to make it viable.
One of the boys took a couple of swaggering steps forwards, beckoning me forwards exaggeratedly with both hands. He was mid-teens, difficult to put an age on accurately, with peroxide blond hair that was startling against his olive complexion, and orange wraparound sunglasses.
I knocked the gear lever down into first, but didn’t let the clutch out. There was no way I wanted to just ride at them. There was no guarantee they’d shift. In fact, I stood more chance of hitting one of them and dropping the bike, and that wasn’t likely to turn into a healthy scenario, particularly for me.
I got out of it by sheer luck. A police Astra turned into the other end of the road and came cruising towards the boys. They dispersed quickly, not ready quite yet for an all-out rebellion against authority. The two burly coppers inside glared at all of us suspiciously as they crawled past, but obviously didn’t feel inclined to leave the safety of their vehicle to investigate further.
I took the opportunity when it was offered, letting the clutch out with a handful of revs and shooting through the empty space left by the Astra, before the boys had chance to close ranks behind it.
I glanced in my mirrors as I accelerated away down the street. With the police car safely round the next corner, I expected to see the boys moving out into the road again. Instead, there was no sign of them. I even stopped, turning to scan the area behind me, but it was eerily deserted. Had the police car spooked them? Or was there more to it than that?
They’ll mark you out, O’Bryan had said. They’ll make it personal. Yeah, well, I thought, trying to shrug off the itch that had suddenly developed between my shoulder-blades, maybe he was right.
As I was early for work, I did a quick detour through Lancaster and down onto St George’s Quay to drop in at the flat. I left the bike next to the kerb outside and bounced up the wooden staircase to the place I called home.
The flat is on part of the first floor of an old warehouse. Before I moved in it had been a gym, which I suppose could be considered ironic, given my current means of employment.
I’d been there since I first moved to the city. My landlord had ripped the machines out when the place had closed down, but that was as far as he’d gone by way of refurbishment. I’d been the one who’d organised putting a kitchen of sorts into what had been the gents’ changing room, and converted the office into my bedroom.
The area might have moved upmarket over the last couple of years, but the flat itself was pretty basic. The whitewash on the walls peeled with the damp, and few of the windows closed without gaps. The only heating came through overhead pipes and was erratic at best. There was rumoured to be a central boiler somewhere in the basement that was so decrepit it made Stephenson’s Rocket look as modern as a nuclear fusion reactor.
Despite the fact the heating system operated regardless of my presence, the flat felt cold inside, unlived in. I pushed open the front door against a pile of mostly junk mail, and slid through the gap.
I picked up a few more clothes to stuff into my rucksack, having very much discovered the luxury of Pauline’s washing machine. I sifted through the post quickly, but found nothing of any note apart from an irate card from my landlord, complaining because I’d changed the lock without telling him and had omitted to give him a key. In fact, I’d been forced to fit new locks over a year ago, when the place got turned over, and I wondered briefly why he’d wanted to gain access now.
I moved to the telephone. I’d given Pauline’s phone number to most people who needed to know it, but even so the answering machine light was flashing to tell me I’d one message. I hit the button idly, while I tossed invitations to visit discount sofa factories and take out gold credit cards unopened into the waste paper basket.
When the tape rewound and started to play, however, it brought me to an abrupt standstill.
“Charlie, we need to talk.” Sean’s voice, unmistakable, abrupt. He paused, as though I’d been there when he’d rang, and he was waiting for me to pick up.
When I hadn’t done so, he sighed audibly, and went on in a quiet tone that was somehow more ominous than any shouted threat could have been. “Don’t even think about running again, Charlie. I meant what I said last night. You can’t hide forever, and we’ve unfinished business. So call me.” He reeled off a mobile phone number which I didn’t bother to write down, then rang off.
My legs folded me gently onto the sofa of their own volition. For a few minutes after the answering machine had clicked off, I just sat there, staring at it stupidly. How on earth had Sean got my number? Did he know where I lived? If he knew I was at Pauline’s why hadn’t he rung me there? Or was he just being cunning?
Suddenly, I needed to get out of there. I turned the lights off and yanked the door shut behind me, turning the key in the lock with hands that fumbled. I almost ran down to the bike, kicking it into life with clumsiness born of haste.
All afternoon at the gym, I was jumpy, and nervous. Attila wasn’t in, and being on my own made things worse. I suppose I was expecting something to happen, but it wasn’t until ten o’clock, when the last punter had cleared out, that things started going seriously awry.
I was just contemplating the usual untidiness of the stacks of dumbbells and the careless scattering of the heavy leather lifting belts when, in the best horror film tradition, all the lights went out.
For a moment I was totally unsighted by the darkness. The memory of the network of fluorescent tubes strung across the ceiling was flashed in to my retinas. I panicked at my own blindness, instinctively recoiling. I reached for the counter behind me, and ducked down.
I squeezed my eyes shut, willing them to adapt. They did so with frustrating slowness, like waiting for an old Polaroid picture to surface out of the emulsion.
After a few moments that felt like hours, I opened my eyes again and, blinking, I discovered I could make out the outlines of the nearest weights machines. I crabbed along until I found the opening to behind the counter, and edged through it, not stopping until my back hit the office wall.
All the time, I was waiting for the sounds of rapid entry. If this was just a blown circuit breaker, or a power cut, boy was I going to feel a right prat.
Then, muffled by the dividing walls, came the faint noise of glass shattering as someone smashed one of the windows in the changing rooms.
For a second I tensed, then the realisation hit. There were steel bars fitted on the inside of all the windows in the gym, clearly visible from the outside. No way was anybody going to get in that way.
But, a little voice in the back of my head piped up, the gap between the metal bars was plenty wide enough for them to toss an old vodka bottle full of Unleaded through, now wasn’t it?
I carefully got to my feet, groping for the fire extinguisher Attila kept on a wall bracket just behind the counter. It was dry powder, I remembered. You could use it on just about any type of fire.
I yanked the plastic safety tab out of the squeeze lever handle, and hefted the nine kilo cylinder onto my shoulder, staggering out cautiously from my place of comparative safety.
I got as far as the start of the corridor that leads to the changing rooms, when the main door behind me lurched open. There was no attempt at stealth, it just slammed back against the frame.
The shock of it made me wheel round, gasping. I caught the briefest glimpse of two figures in the doorway, silhouetted by the sodium light from the car park behind them, casting eerie elongated shadows onto the gym floor.
It was impossible to tell an identity, but as one of them started to bring his right hand up, I recognised the shape of the object he was gripping in his fist.
A gun.
Before he’d got chance to take a bead on me, I’d twisted on the balls of my feet and start
ed to dive for cover. The people who’d trained me had drummed it in from the start that to move will save your life, when to freeze will get you killed. So, it was a reflex reaction, elevated by the surge of adrenaline that rushed through my system like a flash flood.
Even as I started to shift, I knew I wasn’t going to be quick enough. Instinctively, I shut my eyes and flinched my head, as though that was going to make a difference.
The sharp crack the gun made as it was fired was terrifyingly loud inside the confines of the building. At the same instant, the noise exploded into a reverberating clang like a giant struck bell. The fire extinguisher bucked in my hands. Something thumped me hard on the side of my neck, and I went down.
I lost my grip on the extinguisher as I fell. It landed with the valve downwards, bouncing hard enough on the handle to puncture the CO2cartridge inside and pressurise the contents. Suddenly, my view to the doorway disappeared in a hissing cloud of powder.
