The Devil's Blue Eyes

by Chris Sanders

  “I don’t think we’ll be staying here again!” A voice to Luke’s immediate left then spoke. Luke turned to find an elderly gentleman now standing a little way down from him. “We didn’t pay good money to put up with this nonsense!” the old guy rattled on, shaking his tired head as he watched Edwin trying to calm Claire below. The elderly gent wasn’t alone for long. A second later his wife appeared.

  “Alfred! Alfred! Come back to bed at once, dear. I don’t want you getting involved in all this! Do you hear me, Alfred?”

  Alfred’s wife stood half-hidden behind their bedroom door. She had a look of genuine terror across her withered face.

  “Alfred!”

  “I’m coming dear. I’m coming,” he muttered, turning from the bannisters and heading back to his wife. “I’ll be asking for a refund tomorrow morning, Elsie! You see if I don’t!” he finished disappearing inside the bedroom. Luke could hear the elderly couple bickering for several minutes afterwards. Gradually, as their murmurings began to fade, Edwin and Claire also retreated to the main dining hall. He could hear the occasional raised voice but little else. One by one, as they’d arrived, the curious guests also began to retreat.

  “They argue like this a lot.”

  “Jesus!”

  Luke now spun to his right.

  The young lady who’d just spoken was looking directly into Luke’s startled blue eyes as she’d made the statement. Her stare, fixed and cold, burned straight through him.

  “Did I frighten you?”

  “Christ yes!”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. Mother always said I had a nasty habit of creeping up on people. I guess she was right after all.”

  She was tiny, delicate looking. Her face was unremarkable in that it gave away very little emotion. She was mixed race too. Luke thought she was half Vietnamese until he remembered the photographs downstairs in the waiting room. This girl was half Han Chinese. She was pale with faint brown freckles littering her cheeks and lower neck. Her hair was black silk pulled tightly back into a fierce knot. Like her frame, her pretty face was small and delicate looking and yet her eyes were large, dark and inquisitive.

  “My name is Lena,” she spoke gently.

  “Luke. Luke McGowan…”

  She took a step closer to the bannister and peered over into the hallway below. She then said, “I know. You’re the reporter my Mother hired. I had a look at your website yesterday. You wrote for the tabloids at one point. I was impressed. From what I read about you, you could have been a great journalist.”

  “I guess things happen. Life can get in the way.”

  Lena nodded thoughtfully. She then continued, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I know how difficult and complicated life can be at times.”

  “What’s with all the commotion?” Luke questioned wanting to change the subject.

  “Oh, they argue like this all the time.”

  “You’re Claire’s daughter, right?”

  “That’s right. I have a younger brother, a half-brother, Lee.”

  “I know. I noticed the photo in the lounge.”

  “Very observant Mr McGowan.”

  “It’s all part of my job.”

  Now Lena turned to face Luke head on again. This time she stepped a little closer and smiled, a mischievous, impish grin. She then spoke, “Are you single Mr McGowan?”

  Luke chuckled. “I’m not sure that’s any of your business young lady. Why? Are you lonely?”

  “Don’t worry. You’re not my type. I don’t go for blondes, Luke. I was just curious.”

  She then smiled once more and headed back to the bannister.

  “I don’t believe in wasting time. I’m very direct. I think it’s better that way don’t you?”

  “I guess.”

  “You have a family, Mr McGowan?”

  “There you go again with your direct questions. Yes. I have family. Scattered around the boroughs.”

  “Mother and father still alive?”

  “Passed away.”

  “Brother or sister?”

  Luke paused. He didn’t like where Lena’s questions were going.

  “It was a pleasure to meet you Lena. You have your mother’s charm. I think I’m going back to my room now. I’m feeling suddenly tired.”

  “Have I offended you?”

  “Not at all.”

  Lena shrugged and turned her attention back to the hallway below.

  “Perhaps you should think about getting some rest too, Lena. I don’t think you’ll see a repeat show this evening.”

  “I’ll retire when I’m good and ready, Luke. You go to bed now. You look like you could do with the rest. Families can be very tiresome, can’t they? I’m tired of it all to be honest. Some days I wish they’d all just leave me alone,” Lena continued, leaning so close to the bannister Luke had begun to worry she might just slip right over.

  “I’m sure you don’t mean that Lena. I’m sure you love your family dearly. I’m sure they love you too.”

  She turned to face him and then spoke, “Yes. Maybe you’re right. Deep down I expect they do. I suppose all families have their ups and downs, their secrets and lies and so on. I expect we’re just like any other family.”

  She looked so distant and lost now as she spoke that Luke just wanted to put an arm around her shoulder. He went to move but stopped himself. “Well, I guess I’ll leave you to it, Lena. Like you say. You don’t need anyone telling you what to do.”

  She managed a perfectly white and radiant smile. She was a beautiful girl and Luke knew she was well aware of that fact. “Yes. Good night, Mr McGowan. You go to bed and get some sleep now. Maybe we’ll see each other in the morning.”

  “Sure. Good night Lena. Sweet dreams…”

  Luke stepped back into his bedroom and closed the door.

  2 - Bad Penny

  Luke slipped the change back into his Jacket pocket and thanked the waitress. The café was full and she was grateful Luke had brought his empty mug to the counter and not left it for her to fetch like so many of her other customers would do. It made Helena’s life that little bit easier and for that reason she’d grown very fond of Luke’s visits. Saturday afternoons were always the busiest for Helena and every bit of help was much appreciated.

  “You leaving already?”

  “Places to go. People to see, Helena,” Luke replied, lifting his daily newspaper from the table and quickly stuffing it under his arm. “I’m a busy man. You know that!”

  “So busy you can’t take a girl out to dinner?”

  “I told you. I think you’re high maintenance. I’m trying to save…”

  “Thank you Luke. You know how to cheer a girl up.”

  “Take her out Luke. She’s a lovely lass!”

  Billy was half-way through his bacon sandwich. He’d been listening quietly to their banter all afternoon.

  “If you don’t I will!” Billy continued, taking a giant munch out of the sandwich. Billy had turned eighty-three two weeks previous. He worked the street corners of King’s Cross handing out flyers for the local restaurants. He’d done it for years, ever since Luke could remember. “She’s a beautiful lass, McGowan. Some sly old wolf will snap her up if you’re not careful!”

  “At least someone in this place has good taste,” Helena joked leaning towards Billy and giving him a playful peck on his cheek. “Maybe I’ll take you up on that offer one day, Billy. A girl likes to be appreciated!”

  Helena was from Romania. She wore her long, brown hair in a bun while at work. At the weekends she’d let it ride all the way down to the middle of her back. She was curvaceous, smart and boasted sharp, pretty features. Billy was right. It wouldn’t be long before some sly old wolf whisked Helena off her feet.

  Luke had been eating on and off at the ‘Happy Café’ for almost a decade. Helena had joined the waiting staff two years previous. She’d arrived from Romania without a penny to her name. For the first eighteen months she’d worked twelve
-hour shifts Monday straight through to Saturday. On Sundays she would go to church and then spend what time she had left reading and taking long walks in the local parks. She was an intelligent girl with plans to study part-time once she had a little more money tucked away. She stood five foot five in height. Her skin was unusually dark too for a Romanian and Luke was sure she’d mentioned Albanian blood in her family tree. For as long as he could remember Luke had never seen her with a boyfriend. Helena would turn nineteen in two weeks. Luke was pushing thirty-nine. A few years either way and he would have taken her out.

  “So, when are you coming back? We don’t see you so often these days. Billy is starting to miss you!” she quipped.

  “In the week sometime. I’ll pop in for coffee. You know me Helena. I like to keep people guessing.”

  “Well, I’ll be waiting,” she continued, re-filling Billy’s empty coffee mug. “And I’m not so high maintenance, Mr McGowan,” she whispered, watching Luke as he left the café.

  ~ ~ ~

  Luke flung the newspaper into the nearest bin. It had started to rain a few minutes after he’d left the café and the newspaper had quickly turned to mush in his hands. He found a pub doorway and took shelter. He still had the Chatterton Hotel piece to write up. He’d spoken to the magazine’s editor first thing after he’d returned from Crouch End. The deadline had been brought forward to a week on Tuesday. That gave Luke ten days to complete the copy. He’d start work later that evening. Luke was a night owl. He’d usually start writing around ten and then scribble straight through to six or seven in the morning. That’s the way he liked to work. He enjoyed the peace and quiet of those early hours. He’d usually grab a few hours’ sleep after and then head out into London. It was a routine he’d kept for many years. The lines beneath his eyes were thick and heavier these days because of this, and yet he’d still retained his boyish good looks despite all those late nights. His hair was still a thick, dark blonde with very few grey hairs.

  From Beneath the pub’s doorway, Luke glanced over towards King’s Cross station. He could see St. Pancreas and her clock tower perfectly from where he was standing. It was approaching three. That gave him enough time to catch up with Benny and shoot a few games of pool. After that, if there was still time, he’d head for the local poker rooms and hustle some more cash. This had become, like his writing pattern, a routine as of late.

  Feeling impatient, Luke flipped up his jacket collar against the rain and turned right up the Pentonville Road. The walk took him past a mix of cafes, grocery stores and dimly lit wine bars. He continued straight ahead for ten minutes before crossing the road and taking a side road. He weaved his way through a series of other smaller roads after this stopping only once when he stumbled upon a small Jamaican corner café. He ordered the jerk chicken and after finishing his meal he set off again through the backstreets of the old King’s Cross. He knew these streets well. Some evenings, when the writing became difficult, he’d often take off for a stroll around London. It was something he’d always enjoyed doing.

  It wasn’t long before he arrived at a park. He found the gates had already been closed for the day. He thought this was strange until he noticed the blue and white police tape flapping wildly behind the gates, between the various trees. Somebody, he reasoned, had either been assaulted or killed. Not wanting to loiter too long, he took a detour, bypassing the park, and soon found himself at the beginnings of a large estate. He walked towards the stairwell of the first block of flats and began to climb the steps. He’d reached the fourth floor within a minute. Here, at the beginning of the flats themselves, he took a breather.

  Flat eleven sat at the very end of the corridor. Luke was getting himself into character before he knocked on the door. With any luck Benny would still be half asleep. It was always easier to get money from Benny when the man was still half awake. Luke, like any good actor, had been preparing his lines well all afternoon.

  ~ ~ ~

  “Run it past me again.”

  “It’s very simple Luke.”

  “I’m half asleep man! Run it past me again!”

  Benny Ambrose had crawled out of bed to answer Luke’s knock. For the first five minutes after letting Luke in he’d stumbled about the flat in search of a lighter. He’d found the lighter in the sink and now the search was on for his cigarettes.

  “I had to give my last twenty to the landlady. I owed her for food from last month. It slipped my mind, that’s all. I’ll pay you back next week, Luke. You know I’m good for it.”

  “What happened to the fifty I gave you last week?”

  “It’s been carefully invested, Luke. Carefully invested. You have no need to worry on that front.”

  “Football?”

  “The Gunners will trounce United. You’ll see. Oh, where’s my fucking cigarettes?”

  Luke had spotted the cigarettes in Benny’s trouser pocket from the first minute.

  “If I find your fags will you give me the fifty?”

  “I’ll give you forty.”

  “You sure?”

  “Well?”

  “Check your pockets.”

  Benny began to pat both pockets.

  “You knew they were there all along!”

  “You owe me forty, son,” Luke replied with a grin. “I’m feeling lucky tonight Benny. I’ll double that forty at the pool tables. You’ll see.”

  “As long as I get it back I couldn’t care less. You know I’m between jobs at the moment.”

  “Can’t be too hard to pick up a security gig, can it?”

  “I’m buggered if I’m going back into that lark! I can’t be doing with all the bleeding agro, Luke! Besides, all these bloody Poles are working for peanuts. They’ve screwed the whole game up. No. I’ll stick to the poker tables. I’ll make more that way.”

  Benny had tried working as a security guard for just over a year. At six foot two he’d certainly looked the part, but too many lost fights had found him wanting and now he’d gone back to gambling to scrape a living.

  “We’ll go to Flanagan’s.”

  “As good a place as any I guess,” Benny spoke, a cigarette already between his lips.

  “Which part do you want to play?” Luke questioned.

  “I’ll be the drunk.”

  “Okay. You remember what to do?”

  “I act as pissed as a newt and start challenging people to play me for money. Don’t you worry, I’ve seen the movie too.”

  “Well, if you can act the part as well as Newman did we should be quid’s in.”

  “Should be,” Benny went on with a smile.

  ~ ~ ~

  There was an art to finding the right mark. You could sit in a bar and wait all evening and the right guy wouldn’t show. That was all part of the great magic trick. Patience. It took patience and it took discipline to sit tight and wait. Luke had spent his youth loitering in bars and pool halls and he could spot a mark the second they stepped through the doors.

  “What can I get you two reprobates?” the barman asked.

  “Just Baileys, Ronan, please.”

  “And your friend?”

  “Lager. Any will do,” Benny replied, nervously eyeing Flanagan’s cavernous interior. “I never did like it in here much. Too dark and small. Maybe we should go someplace else Luke?”

  “No. This will do.”

  “I’m not sure I’m in the mood anymore, Luke. You can keep the forty. We’ll call it an early birthday present.”

  “You don’t even know my birthday Benny, but I appreciate the offer.”

  “Ten sixty gents,” the barman spoke.

  Luke paid him and handed Benny his pint.

  “There you go. Sip on that a little. Build your courage up. I have to say I’m disappointed with your attitude Benny. I expected a lot better from you.”

  Benny sank half the pint in one long swig.

  “I just need some cash under my belt. You understand? I can start making plans then.”

  “I hear you Benn
y. I hear you. And that’s why we’re here this evening. To make a few quid.”

  Flanagan’s had always been Luke’s favourite pool hall to hustle a few quid. He knew the regulars and there were always plenty of tourists to hit on during the summer months. The winnings would be topped up at one of the local casinos. Sometimes, if he felt lucky, he’d splash a little on the football. Commissions were getting harder and harder to come by recently.

  “You see anyone?” Benny enquired, his pint almost finished.

  “Too early. Give it some time.”

  “We could just go to the poker rooms Luke. We’d make a bit if we played it safe.”

  “Later maybe. Later…”

  “Can you shout me another pint?”

  “We’re here to make cash Benny. We’re not here to blow it all on booze.”

  “Just the one. It’ll help me relax. You know how nervous I can get. I’ll put on a great performance!”

  Luke sighed, pulling out a crisp tenner.

  “There you go. Just the one.”

  “Good man!”

  Luke made himself comfortable. He knew from experience they could be in for a long night. Last year they’d waited three hours before the right mark had turned up. He wouldn’t drink too much either while they waited. It was best to stay fresh and alert. Luke could handle himself at the pool table, but it was a smart move to never underestimate your opponent.

  It was approaching nine when the first group of tourists entered the bar. There were six in total. Four guys and two ladies. Luke had retreated to one of the green booths that lined Flanagan’s dark interior. Benny had finished his pint and was already amusing himself at the tables practising trick shots which never seemed to come off. Luke watched the newcomers from the booth. He’d let them drink a little and then watch them play a few games. Benny had spotted the group too now and had made his way back over to the bar. Perhaps an hour would pass before they would need to get into character. In the meantime they would keep their heads down and wait for the right moment. Luke would make the first move and Benny would follow cue. They’d run this hustle a thousand times before, but it never got any easier. There was always the chance their cover would be blown. It was all down to timing and how good they could act out their roles. Of course, it helped if the marks were well oiled.