by Joe McNally
‘Black for me, please.’
I filled the kettle then headed for the door, ‘I am going outside, Maven. I may be some time.’
She smiled, but didn’t look up.
The air was chilly, but the sun warmed my face, and I walked to the rear of the cottage to stand looking down the valley to the snaking Ullswater, its surface dark blue in the shadow of the surrounding fells. I called Dil, ‘How’s Prim this morning?’
‘Sad. That’s all she’ll say, that she’s sad and sorry. How is Alice?’
‘Cool. Determined. Remarkable.’
‘She is an unusual kid. Most of Prim’s tears have been over Alice.’
’Tell her I don’t think Alice will hold it against her. But tell her too that I’m going to call Mac and give him the whole story, names as well.’
‘Eddie! Not until I’ve spoken to Vita!’
‘Well, you’d better get on the phone.’
‘She’s in New York! It’s five in the fucking morning there!’
‘Okay, okay, calm down. I’ll hold until this afternoon.’
‘What about Prim?’
’She’ll need to take what’s coming, Dil, plain and simple. I’ve tried every way of looking at it and I can’t find one that’ll suit her.’
‘Eddie, come on! How long have you known her?’
‘Don’t pull this shit on me, Dil. She’s right at the heart of it. She thought it up, she-‘
‘She didn’t think it up! It was her father who came up with that. Her idea was for him to get some bad feed for the yard to make all the horses sick. She told you that!’
’So she wanted to poison them instead? Ahh, that’ll be fine then, eh?’
‘Eddie!’
‘Listen, Dil, whatever the original plan was, what actually happened was that the old man resurrected his con from thirty years back. Very dramatic, very entertaining, but very law-breaking.’
‘Look, there must be some other way out. I promised Prim I would fix this for her.’
‘You’ll never slide yourself out of that Hollywood hero skin, will you? How the hell are you going to fix it for her?’
'What if I can get Vita onside?’
I smiled, shaking my head, ‘Jeez, that must have been some night you just spent with Primarolo Romanic. You’ve always been deluded, Dil, but do you seriously believe you are going to tell Vita what Prim did to her horses, and Vita is then going to come out on her side?’
‘Give me a chance, at least.’
‘You can have a chance. Take it. No problem. If by three this afternoon you can get Vita to phone me and say she wants Prim protected in this, then I won’t call Mac.’
‘Good. That’s enough. I can do that.’
‘Dil, listen to you…you’re trying to persuade yourself.’
‘Just give me until three.’
‘Fine. But remember, I want to speak to Vita. I want to hear from her, not you.’
‘No problem.’
I walked to the front of the cottage and met Alice coming out the door, leaving it half open. She smiled with her mouth, ‘Hi,’ she said.
‘Good morning. Where are you headed?’
‘I just wanted to get my bearings. See where we are in the daylight.’
‘I can give you a guided tour.’
She hesitated briefly, then said, ‘Okay.’
‘Want to get a jacket? It’s breezy away from the shelter of the buildings.’
‘I’m fine, thanks.’ She wore her jeans and a tight pink t-shirt with a big glittery flower on the front. I said, ‘Your nice white trainers will probably get dirty. Mave’s got some wellies that’ll probably fit you.’
‘I’m okay, thanks. I can chuck the trainers in the washing machine…if you have a washing machine?’
‘You put shoes in a washing machine?’
‘Why not?’
‘They’re too heavy. They’ll bust the drum. The soles will melt.’
She inclined her head in the same mock-thoughtful way she’d done at lunch that day in Liverpool, after the hearing, ‘None of the above,’ she said.
I laughed, ‘Come on!’
We walked down the drive to the front door of the farmhouse, ‘Oops,’ I said, ‘I forgot the keys. I won’t be a minute.’
’It’s okay. I don’t need to see inside. Not now. Just want to kind of see where I am in relation to things.’
‘What kind of things?’
She looked out across the fields, through the ranks of budding trees and hedgerows toward the horizon, ‘Civilization?’ she said, and I laughed again.
‘We’ll walk the perimeter and I’ll tell you when we turn from north to south etcetera.’ We walked. She said, ‘Where’s Liverpool from here?’
I pointed south, ‘Thataway, about a hundred miles going straight.’
‘Where’s the nearest main road?’
‘Over that way, maybe five miles straight, twelve driving.’
’Shops?’
‘Glenridding for basics, ten minutes. Penrith for everything else, half an hour.’
She nodded and we walked on along the front of the farm by the dry stone wall. Alice said, ‘I’ve only ever seen this much green from a train window, or on the telly.’
‘What do you think of it live then?’
‘Big. The sky’s massive.’
I smiled, ‘I know what you mean. I like big skies.’
We went ten paces with just the sound of footfalls then Alice said, ‘Did you speak to Bruno Guta yet about what he said to DJ?’
‘Not yet. I just spoke to Dil, and he’s asked me to hold off telling anyone until he’s spoken to Vita Brodie. He is…well, he’s hoping to find a way out of this for Prim.’
I didn’t know how Alice would react, but she stayed cool and just nodded slowly. The breeze blew strands of her hair across her face. She pulled them away and looked out across the fields. I said, ‘Dil reckons he can get Vita to let Prim off the hook. Completely. How would you feel about that?’
‘Whatever. It doesn’t matter to me. She wasn’t involved in Dad disappearing so I don’t really care.’
‘Fair enough.’
‘But if it means you can’t speak to Bruno, then I think we should go back to Deadwood and see what DJ knows about Dad.’
‘Funny, that’s exactly what I was thinking.’
She smiled, ‘Really?’
‘Really. The only other people your dad was pissing off were in Deadwood. If it’s not to do with the horses, it’s got to be connected with whatever DJ’s doing. I shouldn’t have jumped to the conclusion that night that your dad had been picked up for something he’d found out about the horses.’
Alice said, ‘You’re going to have a problem getting anywhere near DJ now. He’ll do a runner as soon as he sees you.’
’No, he won’t. He might be scared, but he’ll be even more scared of losing face again. He could shoot me or knock me down in his fancy car, but he won’t run.’
‘Are you ever scared?’
‘Often.’
‘Of people like DJ?’
‘They’re the ones you should be scared of, the ones who’ve been embarrassed in front of their friends, the ones who’ve been, what do you say, dissed?’
She smiled and was quiet for a few strides, then said, ‘You know you said that DJ was probably just a kind of runner working for whoever’s doing the trafficking?’
‘Uhuh?’
‘I was thinking last night that if Bruno could get DJ to back off without even touching him, there might be a chance that he knows whoever DJ’s working for.’
‘And that maybe he spoke to Mister Big rather than DJ?’
Alice nodded without looking at me, almost as though she’d moved on in her head to the next step. I said, ‘That’s a good shout, Alice. I’ll give Sir Monty a call when we get back.’
‘I was going to mention him too. He’s never failed once to help Dad. Not once.’
‘That’s true.’
‘He knows
the chief constable, doesn’t he? Do you think he could maybe press him harder?’
‘Every chance, yes, every chance. I’ll ask him.’
‘Good. Should we go back now? I’ve left my phone in the bedroom.’
’Sure.’
Mave was at the kitchen table, flipping through the newspaper. ‘On strike?’ I said.
‘Fingers overheating.’
‘That why you couldn’t pour your own coffee after the kettle boiled?’ I hit the switch again to reheat the water.
‘I didn’t want to dine without you, darling.’
‘You mean you didn’t want to do anything that approximates manual work in any form whatsoever. You would literally starve to death or dehydrate if I wasn’t around.’ I rinsed the yellow mugs, ‘What the hell did you do before you met me?’
‘Enjoyed a quiet life without nagging.’
‘No, but, who fed you, meals on wheels or something?’
‘Eating’s overrated.’
I spooned instant coffee, then tilted the kettle, ’Seriously, did you ever actually cook? Have you ever in your whole life cooked a meal?’
‘I put hot milk on my cornflakes one epic winter…well, one morning one epic winter.’
I laughed, and shoved the mug toward her, ‘I’m laughing, but you’re not joking, are you?’
‘I’m not. It taught me a big lesson.’
‘Obviously not one about nutrition.’
’No, one about how hard it is to get dried burnt milk off the hotplate when the pan bubbles over.’
‘Well, leaving it for a year before picking up a scourer probably didn’t help.’
She sipped like a bird, watching me, then said, ‘You are an old woman.’
I smiled and raised my mug to toast her. She said, ‘You’re an old woman in a young man’s body…well, a youngish man. In twenty years, you’ll be sitting at your bloody picture window with a tattered black shawl around you pedalling an ancient Singer sewing machine and mumbling complaints about the price of fish.’
‘And you’ll be at your desk, with your leg tucked under you, still ignoring me.’
‘Probably.’
‘Good!’
‘How was Alice?’
‘Ruthlessly effective, as ever. When we set off for a guided tour, I thought I was leading her around, by the time she’d got everything she wanted I began to realize she had been leading me.’
Mave smiled and sipped again and said, ‘You’re just never going to figure women out, are you?’
57
Dil didn’t wait until the 3pm deadline, he called just after one o’clock, ‘Eddie, good news. It seems like we’ve found a way out of this for Prim.’
‘I’m listening.’
‘We’ll need a bit more time, but it looks as if her father will take the hit for everything.’
‘How can he do that, Dil? Hines is obviously the man as far as the BHA is concerned. They already know about him. And Hines will name Prim, won’t he?’
‘We’re working on that. That’s why we need until tomorrow.’
‘Working on it how?’
‘Prim’s father is trying to square things with Hines.’
’Square things? Working on it? A bit vague, Dil…have you spoken to Vita?’
His sigh was deliberate, to make sure I felt the force of his exasperation, ‘Eddie, if this works out, I won’t need to speak to Vita, Prim will be in the clear.’
‘Prim kicked the whole thing off! How can she be in the clear?’
‘You know what I mean! I thought we were all trying to keep her out of prison?’
It was my turn to sound exasperated. Much as I liked Prim, and felt sorry for her, it didn’t sit right with me that she was going to walk on this. But Dil had me; we’d spent much of last night trying to come up with a way to protect Prim. I couldn’t complain now. I said, ’So, by tomorrow, you expect Señor Romanic to have agreed some sort of deal with Kelman Hines?’
‘We might get it done tonight. But give me till tomorrow, will you?’
‘All right.’ It was grudgingly conceded.
‘Will you tell Alice and Mave? We don’t want anything slipping through the cracks.’
‘I’ll tell them. Call me as soon as you know what’s happening, but remember, it’s going to have to be digestible enough for Mac to swallow. And Vita.’
‘Leave it to me, Eddie. I’ve got a good feeling about this now. Call you later.’
Good feeling. Huh. I stuffed my phone in my pocket, annoyed that I’d painted myself into a corner, allowing Prim to paint herself out of one.
I went to the farmhouse. Mave and Alice were in the kitchen drinking coffee. That brought a smile to my face as I said to Mave, ‘You actually made coffee?’
She glanced up at me, then across at Alice, who smiled. I said to Alice, ‘She got you to make the coffee?’
Alice said, ‘I wracked my brain on those old home economics lessons and came up with the one on how to boil water.’
‘I give up,’ I said, pulling out a chair.
I told them what Dil had said, trying not to sound judgmental. Alice shrugged. Mave read me, ‘No point agonizing over it, we’re concentrating on finding Alice’s Dad now. Let them do what they want. You’ve got enough on your plate.’
‘It’s me that’ll have to sell it to Mac.’
Mave raised her mug in both hands, ‘What’s to sell? Tell him what Dil tells you, then give him Dil’s number. Then you walk away and we can get on with finding Ben.’
Alice said, ‘Did you speak to Sir Monty?’
‘I left a message for him.’
Alice said, ‘Do you think we should go home tonight? To Deadwood, I mean? See if we can find DJ?’
‘I’d sooner speak to Monty first and try to find out who DJ’s boss is.’
Alice said, ‘Do you think Sir Monty would know that?’
‘I think his pal the chief constable will know. The tricky bit will be getting him to tell.’
Mave said, ‘I take it this is the same chief constable that gave you a hard time at Aintree?’
‘Bradley? Must be,’ I said.
‘So, if Monty knows him that well, why didn’t he speak up for you back then?’
‘He probably didn’t even know Bradley was meeting me. What reason would Bradley have to mention it to Monty?’
Mave hesitated, ‘I don’t know…maybe Chief Constable Bradley just latches on to everyone with a close association with racing in the hope of catching this Nemesis of his, what’s his name?’
‘Ember,’ I said, ‘Sydney Ember.’
‘Any chance he’s involved in this?’ Mave asked.
‘Not his line of country according to Bradley, if I remember correctly. Organized crime. Big time stuff.’
‘Like trafficking teenagers,’ Mave said.
‘I got the impression it was more, well, I don’t know, drugs, money laundering…put it this way, Bradley hasn’t been able to lay a finger on him for thirty years, so he wouldn’t have time bombs like DJ working for him.’
‘Mention him to Monty, will you?’ Mave said.
‘I will.’
‘And Bradley, too.’
‘Okay.’
I was getting changed to go running in the last of the afternoon light when Monty’s secretary called and asked me to hold for him…’Eddie! How are you? Sorry I couldn’t get back to you sooner.’
‘No worries, Monty. I’m well, thanks, how are you?’
‘Sailing along. Things are going worryingly smoothly, actually. Any word on Ben?’
‘Nothing, I’m afraid. That’s why I was ringing. I had a, well, a short chat with the fella that Bruno spoke to a while back, the guy he warned off in Deadwood, DJ?’
‘Oh, yes?’
‘Well, I kind of got the idea that whatever he’s involved with, he’s just a runner. I’d like to find out who his boss is. I wondered if your friend the chief constable might know?’
‘I can certainly ask. Do you think these
people might have information about Ben?’
‘I’m hoping so. If they don’t, well, I’m not sure where to turn next.’
He paused a few moments then said, ‘Is there anything else that Bruno might be able to assist with here? Perhaps he could speak to this young gun you mentioned and persuade him to say who he works for.’
‘Whatever fits best, Monty. I’m not bothered who the information comes from.’
‘Well, look, don’t feel limited to these one-off issues. If you need Bruno to get a bit more deeply involved, just say so. I mean, I know you are extremely capable in these matters, Eddie, extremely, but Bruno has considerable experience in the field of quietly resolving things in a fuss-free manner.’
‘Monty, I’ll take any help that’s going, especially Bruno’s.’
‘Then why don’t I get him to give you a call?’
‘That would be great.’
‘Good. Done. But do keep me up to date on Ben, will you?’
‘Of course.’
‘And how is Alice, do you know?’
’She’s in good shape. She’s staying with us now, until Ben turns up.’
‘Ahh, I’m glad to hear that. She’s a determined young woman, so it’s reassuring to know she’s in good hands. Please give her my regards. And Mave, too. And your other charming friend with the wonderful name.’
‘Primarolo Romanic. I will.’
‘An exotic and most personable woman.’
’She has many talents.’
He chuckled, ‘Oh, that sounded a rather knowing assessment, Edward!’
I laughed, ‘Listen, Monty, I’m very grateful for your time, and your generous help, yet again.’
’Not at all, not at all. I’ll have Bruno call you shortly.’
‘Before you go, ever heard of a guy called Ember, Sydney Ember?’
He hesitated, ‘You haven’t, by chance, been speaking to Chief Constable Bradley lately?’
‘A few weeks back, actually, yes. He was with the CEO of the BHA when we talked about these wild horses, but all Bradley wanted to talk about was-‘
‘Sydney Ember.’
‘Correct.’
‘He’s obsessed with the man. He spoke to me about him years ago, then angled for invites to my box at big meetings, where he’d go around asking the other guests about Ember. I had to stop inviting him. Ember is his long time bête noire.’
