“Fill it…” He demands.
The manager once again does as he is told, stuffing the neatly bound wads of cash into the empty holdall. Alex is running on pure adrenaline and he is elated that everything seems to be going to plan. He quickly glances over his shoulder, checking that Tom and Darren are still in position and that everything is OK on the shop floor. The woman employee has calmed down and she stands with her arms wrapped around her waist, crying quietly. The young man stands beside her, his free arm draped awkwardly over her tense shoulders and his other hand still in the air. The notion of being a hero was clearly forgotten as soon as Tom waved a shot gun in his face.
“Th… that’s it. That’s everything…” The manager stutters and he hands over the second, larger bag of money as his breath catches in his throat. He swallows hard, staring, wide eyed and fearful, and Alex is momentarily thrown off guard as he observes the man properly for the first time. He must be in his late 50’s, quite tall but with a slim, unassuming build. The weathered name tag pinned to his shirt reads ‘Bob’, his grey hair is thinning at the front and there is a wedding ring on his finger. He must have someone to go home to tonight. Someone he is no doubt hoping he will get to walk out of here and see again.
The overwhelming feeling of disgust that Alex has been suppressing all week, suddenly resurfaces, stronger than ever. This man is innocent. He doesn’t deserve this. All he did was come to work just like any other day, to earn an honest living and he has been threatened with his life. Threatened by Alex. This isn’t who he is, this isn’t what he is about, and he feels a sudden, uncontrollable urge to explain himself to Bob. To apologise for his actions and tell him that he has no other choice.
“Everything OK…?” Tom shouts, with an edge of concern in his voice.
Alex breaks away from his train of thought and slowly composes himself, trying to get back into the same cold, detached frame of mind that he was in before but he can feel his resolve slipping. ‘Pull it together’.
“Move…” He commands, trying to remain as threatening as possible. He gestures back through to the shop with his gun and Bob stumbles out of the office and over to his two terrified employees.
“We good to go…?” Alex shouts over his shoulder at Darren, who is peering through the window with one hand resting on the deadbolt.
“One second…”
“Don’t even think about moving, shouting, or pressing that alarm…” Tom threatens, as he marches the three of them to the back of the store and makes them face the wall with their hands on their heads.
Alex rocks back and forth impatiently as he waits for Darren to give the all clear and his inner turmoil from moments ago begins to subside as relief slowly creeps in. It is almost over; they have what they came for, now all they have to do is get back to the car and drive away.
“LET’S GO…” Darren lifts the deadbolt and kicks open the door, swinging the holdall he is carrying over his shoulder as he darts out of the shop and across the road. Tom follows just seconds later, backing away with his gun still pointed at the three cowering shop workers before he turns and runs at the very last moment.
Clutching the shotgun and the bag full of money in his right hand, Alex stops in front of the counter and trashes a large flower stand, throwing it over so that the mess blocks the path to the panic alarm. As an afterthought, he quickly grabs a bouquet of roses from the floor and sprints out across the road which is thankfully still deserted. As Tom pulls up alongside him, barely slowing down, Alex dives into the passenger seat and removes his balaclava.
“Nice flowers…” Darren comments, dryly.
“A little something for my girl…”
“We’re they on offer?” Tom can barely contain the humour in his voice.
“As a matter of fact they were…” Alex smirks, and as they drive out onto the ring road further away from the scene, the tension ebbs away and all three of them burst into laughter, elated, thrilled and above all relieved that they have managed to pull it off. Alex rests his head back and closes his eyes, exhaling slowly. They did it.
The car horn beeps three times and Nathan and Liam exchange a look of surprise. They slide open the warehouse door and Tom swerves past them, parking up in the same corner of the room where the car was hidden less than an hour before.
“That was quick…” Nathan states as Alex throws him the bags of money, “Everything go OK?”
“It was almost too easy…” He smiles.
“Nate, give me a hand with this…” Nathan throws the money into the back of the van before helping Darren re-cover the car with the dust sheets. They push a few large crates and cardboard boxes in front to partially hide it from view - not that anyone will have access to the warehouse - but it is better to be safe than sorry.
“Holy shit…!” Liam exclaims, loudly. He is crouched in front of the two open bags, holding a wad of cash in each hand, “How much did you get?!”
“It’s enough…” Alex states, “As soon as I get that fucker paid off the better…”
“We should get going…” Darren states and Liam tosses him the keys as Nathan jumps into the back of the van. Before Tom can join him, Alex holds his arm out and turns towards him.
“Thank you…” He nods, sincerely, and Tom grasps his shoulder supportively.
“No worries mate…”
They are quiet on the drive back to the flat, all of them reflective and lost in their own thoughts. Liam is eager to know what happened and is dying to ask but instead he keeps quiet. It is clear even to him that it isn’t the right time. Alex rubs his eyes, feeling suddenly exhausted. It has been a long, draining night and he just wants to get home and back to normality. Back to Abbey. It feels like he hasn’t seen her in so long and he is anxious to be alone with her again. Her innocence, along with her ability to make him feel like everything is going to be OK, is exactly what he needs right now. He smiles down at the bunch of flowers at his feet as he thinks about surprising her, but his pleasant thoughts are quickly interrupted as the image of Bob returning home to his worried wife, springs unwelcome into his mind.
“What time is it?” Abbey asks, nervously.
“About 5 minutes since you last asked…”
“How can you be so calm?!”
“I’m not calm…!” Lucy protests, her voice a little higher than usual, “But I’m trying to keep a lid on it… at least one of us is!”
“Sorry…” Abbey sighs. She stands from the sofa and starts pacing from the far wall to the balcony and back again, over and over.
“You know that rug is pretty expensive, I don’t think Alex and Tom would appreciate you wearing a hole in it…”
“What’s taking them so long?”
“Abs, it’s only just gone midnight, I’m sure they’ll be back soon…”
“I need another drink…”Abbey grabs her glass from the coffee table and makes her way to the kitchen. She opens the fridge and pulls out a bottle of wine, filling her glass to the top while battling with her shaking hands. She can barely function she is so worried and there is no way can she sit still and wait patiently like Lucy. Normally her ‘what will be, will be’ attitude is endearing, but it certainly isn’t helping her right now.
“Any word…?” Sophie looks even paler than usual.
“No, nothing yet…” Alex had filled Abbey in on the details of the raid the night before, albeit reluctantly, as he obviously knew how much she would worry. It seemed like a relatively solid, well thought out plan at the time but now with the clock ticking away she isn’t quite as convinced as she had been.
“I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing…” Sophie smiles, meekly.
“Me neither…”
“Gemma’s been texting me every ten minutes for the last hour, she’s driving me crazy…”
“You should try sitting with Lucy…” Abbey laughs, “She’s in a Zen like state and it’s annoying as hell!”
“She’s as nervous as us; she just doesn’t lik
e to show it…” Sophie shrugs.
“God, I can’t take much more of this…” Abbey pulls her phone out of her pocket and is checking it for the millionth time when the front door clicks open and the lads stride in.
“Oh thank god…” Sophie gasps, as she rushes over to Darren.
“Now then…” Liam greets them cheerfully, “God I could murder a beer!” He kisses Abbey’s forehead as he moves past her to the fridge and Nathan follows, running his hands through his hair, exhaustedly.
“Lucy?”
“She’s in the living room…” Abbey replies, without looking away from Alex. He is staring back at her with a slight smile playing on his lips as he saunters forward, his mask well and truly in place.
“For you…” He produces the flowers from behind his back and holds them out to her.
“Are you OK?” She whispers.
“Fine. It went fine, we’re all OK…” Abbey reluctantly takes the flowers and Alex pulls her into a hug, embracing her tightly, surprised by how much he has genuinely missed her, “It’s alright now, I promise, it’s over…” Whether it’s his comforting words or the effect of being in his arms, Abbey isn’t sure, but she relaxes instantly, so grateful and relieved that they are all back in one piece.
“You’re squashing my roses…” She mumbles into Alex’s chest and he releases her, smiling, “Thank you, they’re beautiful…”
“You’re welcome…” He croons, lifting her chin and tilting her head back while holding her gaze and everything else around them seems to fade into the background.
“Are we doing this now?” Tom asks, interrupting the moment.
“Yeah. Let’s get it sorted…” Alex leans down and kisses Abbey tenderly, “We won’t be long. We have to count up…”
“OK…” She answers quietly, unable to think of anything else to say.
Alex leaves the room and she stares blankly after him, still clutching the bouquet of flowers to her chest. The incredibly warped humour of the situation is not lost on her. Plenty of girls have flowers given to them by their boyfriends; it is a perfectly sweet gesture, it’s just not usually in the early hours of the morning after he has robbed a seven-eleven at gun point. How can Abbey possibly rationalize that? It is two sides of an extremely disturbing coin.
“I should go help…” Darren gives Sophie a quick kiss and smiles apologetically, as he lets go of her hand and follows them out of the room.
“Well?” She asks, and Liam, who is sitting far too casually at the kitchen table glances up from the spliff he is rolling and frowns at Sophie.
“Well, what?”
“How did it go? Everyone seems to be in a pretty sombre mood…”
“Well, you know, no one really wanted to do the raid so they aren’t exactly bouncing of the walls, but it went fine…”
“I wish people would stop saying ‘fine’…” Abbey sighs.
“There’s nothing else to say. Besides I wasn’t there remember, all I can tell you is Nathan’s shit at rock, paper, scissors…!”
Despite her worries, Abbey can’t stop herself from laughing at Liam’s obvious disappointment and she decides that it is probably best to let the subject go. It won’t be long until everyone hears all about it anyway when it hits the local news headlines tomorrow. She shudders at the thought.
Liam and Sophie join Nathan and Lucy in the living room and Abbey absentmindedly arranges her roses in a vase, or rather a large water jug, as it is the only thing she can find that will hold them.
It isn’t exactly a time consuming task but it is a brief and pleasant distraction for which she is grateful. She needs a few minutes alone and it keeps her occupied enough so that her thoughts do not drift towards the events of the evening, and the dark, disturbing reality of what is now her life.
During the next few days, avoiding that reality becomes altogether impossible. The local news keep running the same story, appealing for witnesses and for anyone with any information concerning the raid to come forward. The headlines in the local paper jump off the page and everyone breathes a sigh of relief when each article states that there are ‘still no leads in the case’. Alex is tense, so tense that his cool, calm and collected nature is faltering. The money is still sitting in a black leather holdall underneath his bed and is practically burning a hole in the floor. It is the only evidence that remains linking them to the crime and he is desperate to get rid of it, but it isn’t until the following Friday afternoon when he finally gets the call he has been waiting for. He answers after just one ring.
“Marcus…” His tone is clipped.
“Alex, how are you? Feeling nice and flush I hope and ready to offload some of that wealth onto me?”
“I have your money…” There is a brief pause and Alex knows that despite Marcus genuinely wanting the cash, he is disappointed. This was always about hurting him more than the actual debt itself.
“Good. I will be seeing you shortly then. ‘The Dog and Bells’. One hour.” And with that, he hangs up. Alex holds his face in his hands and exhales sharply, before standing up straight and marching into his bedroom with his cold, matter of fact business like demeanour firmly back in place.
He hates ‘The Dog and Bells’ pub. Marcus’s home from home. It is where he conducts all of his dodgy dealings and is constantly occupied by his burly henchmen, none of whom have a single brain cell to share between them. Despite spending the majority of his time at the strip club Marcus never does any other business there, as it is far too much of an earner. He can’t run the risk of it being brought into disrepute and shut down due to his other extra curricula activities.
‘The Dog’ is his unofficial office, and it is also the place where several years ago, Alex told Marcus he was done with his games and walked away. Marcus has never let it go, and there is no doubt in Alex’s mind that he will get an extra little buzz today, getting one over on him in the same place that Alex embarrassed and disrespected him back in the day. Hopefully though, this chapter will soon be over for good.
The pub is exactly how Alex remembers it. In fact he is surprised by how little it has changed in all this time, with the same smoke stained paint and dark, stale carpets. Old fashioned pictures of Leeds hang in various sized frames along the walls and the large bell above the dark panelled bar is still cracked on one side.
Marcus and his cronies occupy their usual spot at the left of the room, where there are several seats, a few slot machines and a worn out pool table. He sits in the middle of a small group, with two women who are young enough to be his daughters flanking him on either side, despite his self-proclaimed ‘devotion’ to his wife.
“ALEX!” He smiles when he sees him, greeting him like an old friend. It is incredibly unnerving, which is exactly why he does it. A sudden hush falls across the pub as Alex drops the bag on the table in front of Marcus, without saying a word.
“So glad you could make it. Will you have a drink with us?”
“I have somewhere to be…” Alex answers through gritted teeth.
“Well that’s a shame isn’t it boys. I know a few of my men are keen to catch up with you, to reminisce about old times…” He laughs menacingly and the others join in on cue as his two top dogs, Gazza and Tommo, leer at him from their defensive positions at the edge of the group.
Back when Alex was part of this crowd they were the most feared of Marcus’s men. Complete thugs with absolutely no remorse. They got a huge amount of pleasure from intimidating people and inflicting a serious amount of pain and by the looks of things, they haven’t changed.
“It’s all there…”
“I’m sure it is. But you won’t mind waiting patiently while we check, will you?” On command Tommo steps forward and retrieves the bag, zipping it open and hauling out the cash. Three others join him and they flick through the notes, quickly counting it up. Alex and Marcus stare at each other in silence and the animosity between them is almost tangible. Eventually Tommo grunts and nods, confirming that the debt is paid.
“Well Alex, thank you for your cooperation. It has been a pleasure doing business with you…”
“Me and you…” Alex snarls, “We’re done. This is over…”
“Your debt is paid. You won’t be hearing from me again. But you know how small this city can be son, I’m sure this won’t be the last we see of each other…”
Alex turns without hesitation and struts back towards the door, ignoring the angry stares and unspoken threats that are radiating off Marcus’s men. They are dying to hurt him, to teach the traitor a lesson, but they are far too loyal - like dumb, obedient pit bulls – to attack without their master’s command.
“I’m sure I’ll see you soon, kid…” Marcus shouts after him, “I’ll be seeing you again real soon…”
Alex clenches his fists tightly and concentrates on counting his steps, controlling his anger and managing to keep it together until he is outside in the cold, mist filled air. He refuses to look back, and with each step, he finally leaves Marcus and his past behind him.
Alex does his best to keep a low profile for the next few weeks, operating below radar as the heat from the raid dies down. The papers are no longer writing about the robbery and there are far more recent, newsworthy stories taking up the pages of the Yorkshire Post. It almost seems to be good to be true; but they might have actually pulled it off. He hasn’t heard a thing from Marcus since he squared his debt - which he is more than happy about - and it looks like things are finally starting to settle down and return to normal. The dark cloud that has been hovering over him has finally lifted and it reminds him of the tattoo his uncle had inscribed across his chest, ‘Post Nubila Sole’. Latin, for ‘after the clouds, sunshine’.
Once Alex had cleared his debt with Marcus there was a fair bit of money left over from the raid and it is money that the group have absolutely no reservations about spending. Darren describes it as ‘getting rid of the evidence’, while Tom argues that they all deserve a big party, as there is cause for celebration now Alex is no longer under threat. He doesn’t argue. They do deserve a good time after everything they have done for him. For their unwavering support and for the massive risk they took. He is more than ready to put it all behind him now and get back to business as usual… making money, living it up and having a good time with his friends.
Even Angels Fall Page 18
