by Joe McNally
‘I doubt it, Ben. Ember’s secret is to keep himself clear of any criminal association whatever.’
‘So who did the acid drip on Monty’s face?’
My stomach turned. ‘You know, I wouldn’t have guessed what happened, but it never sat right with me that Bruno just happened to be travelling the same road as Monty a minute after the supposed accident and then was able to somehow haul him out of a burning car.’
‘Thus, happily landing himself the job of bodyguard for life,’ Ben said.
‘Indeed. And Bruno’s going to be another problem. Ember must have some kind of right hand man, some, what’s the word, consigliere? Ember might never get caught committing crime, but if Monty is that afraid of him, he won’t be the only man running scared. So Ember must have some guy carrying out his orders. Somebody he trusts completely.’
‘You think it could be Bruno?’
‘I don’t know. But he must trust Bruno enough to believe that Monty’s not going to turn him. Monty would charm most people, and now we know it’s all genuine. Ember would need to have been dead certain that practically living with Monty wouldn’t see Bruno developing a soft spot for him.’
Ben said, ‘Bruno does seem a bit robotic, doesn’t he?’
‘He doesn’t do a great line in small talk, I’ll give you that.’
‘And DJ will have told Bruno what you did to him, so he’s going to be extra wary of you.’
‘Nah, Bruno would know that DJ’s nothing but a fat kid wanting to impress his mates who don’t have a brain among them.’
‘I wouldn’t underestimate Bruno, Eddie. Might be a big mistake.’
‘I’m not. But I’ve dealt with harder men.’
‘You don’t know that yet.’
‘Oh, I know it.’
Ben watched me, ‘It’s the same as riding, isn’t it? You just won’t allow yourself to believe anyone is better than you.’
‘Correct.’
‘A doubt-free life.’
I looked at him, ‘Got to be, Ben. You can’t win with a head full of doubts about yourself.’
‘You never have any, ever?’
‘Plenty. I just kill them off before I go out to ride. Euthanize them. Bang! Gone.’
‘A handy skill.’
‘A vital one. Listen, we’ve got off the track, here, what about Alice? What are you going to do?’
‘I’ll call her mother.’
‘Do you think she’d go to Australia for a couple of weeks, with Mave?’
‘I thought you said Mave was staying?’
‘She’ll want to stay, and I need her help. But I need her safe, too. Anything she can do for us here, she can do in Australia.’
‘Would she go?’
‘I think so. She trusts my judgement…well, most of the time. And she’ll want to see Sonny. He’s kind of like a dear old uncle. She’ll be missing Kim, too. Marie, maybe not so much, but they get on well enough.’
‘So, how do I talk Alice into flying halfway round the world? She’ll already be getting antsy about the girls in Deadwood. Give her a choice between Sydney and Deadwood and she’d take Deadwood.’
‘Oddly enough, her choice looks like Sydney the city, or Sydney Ember.’
Ben grunted in agreement and went quiet. After a while, I said, ‘Maybe that’s the answer in itself? We could tell Alice that we’ve got together enough evidence for the police to finally raid Deadwood and clean the whole place out, and it’s them who want to keep potential witnesses safe so they can give evidence in court. Tell Alice you’re both in the witness protection programme.’
‘Except that I stay here and she has to go.’
‘No need for you to stay, Ben, is there? You’ve done your bit. Maybe you and your IT guy could pitch in with Mave and work from down under?’
‘That would leave you on your own.’
‘Exactly, free from worry about the people I care for. I can euthanize doubt, but not worry. And I work much better alone.’
‘You sound as though you mean it.’
‘Never more so, Ben, believe me.’
He watched me for a minute then said, ‘Danger means a lot to you.’
I hesitated, seeking an argument against that, then said, ‘I suppose it does.’
‘I hear it in your voice. You get excited talking about going this alone. It seems almost primal.’
I shrugged, ‘I’ve never analyzed it.’
‘That’s why you ride.’
‘Probably.’
He kept looking at me, then said quietly, ‘Do you think you have a death wish?’
‘I think I want to beat it. I think I want to say “give it your best shot”. And I think that maybe I can get some kind of revenge on it for what it did to me, for what it did to my family.’ I looked across. Ben watched, straight-faced and unblinking. I said, ‘And I never even knew I thought that until I heard it come out of my mouth.’
‘What happens when we’re young stays with us, even if we don’t want it to. You’ll always be like this, Eddie, you know that? Excited about danger, about overcoming death.’
‘I know it probably more than I know anything. Nobody and nothing ever beat that feeling for me…never will.’
‘You lose in the end, though.’
‘You never lose when you go down fighting, Ben. Never.’
71
Alice bought the witness protection programme pitch with considerable excitement at the prospect of finally nailing the traffickers. Mave proved me wrong about her respecting my judgement: ‘No way, Mister Malloy. I’m bored enough here without being stuck among ten thousand sheep.’
‘Ah, but with ten thousand sheep surrounding you, nobody can get close enough to do you any harm’
‘Eddie, I’m not spending the next half hour going through a million sheep metaphors while you try to talk me into this. I am not going. End of.’
‘Monty might not do the deal if he believes you’re in danger.’
‘Monty hardly knows me. This guy Ember doesn’t know me at all. I’m way out on the periphery, so you just tell Monty you’re not worried about me.’
‘I am worried about you.’
‘Then best have me where you can keep an eye on me. And where I can keep an eye on you.’
‘Mave-‘
‘Shhh! Done. No more. Ben and Alice go. We stay. I’ll buy their tickets, business class. Be nice to spend some of our money.’
‘Your money.’
‘Whatever. I’ll speak to Ben and tie up the details.’
Next day, ten minutes into my trip to Beverley, I pulled over to a tree-covered viewing point on the edge of Lake Ullswater where the reflection of the afternoon sun lay smooth on the dark surface. I called Mac.
‘Eddie? News?’
‘Mac, you’re becoming very, er, succinct, is that the right word?’
‘Yes.’
I smiled, ‘Oh, very droll.’
He said, ‘Can we do the banter at some other time, when matters are less pressing? We need to move on this Hines case.’
‘Okay, well, that’s what I’m calling about. Remember when you put your job on the line for me to stop my phone being bugged by Chief Constable Bradley?’
‘What’s that got to do with Kelman Hines?’
‘Bear with me, Mac, as you would say. It looks like Bradley was right about the guy he mentioned, Sydney Ember. I think he’s tied up in the Hines case. Maybe not directly but the bucket load of brownie points that go with Hines will turn into a shitload for you if Ember is involved.’
‘Eddie, why do I get the feeling you have your huckster’s hat on here? Why am I getting the strong impression that you are calling to buy some more time, and buy it very cheaply?’
‘It might seem cheap, Mac, but it’ll be a good investment. For you, for your boss and for Bradley.’
He sighed heavily, ‘Look, is there something in this Ember fellow, or is it just an excuse? And if it’s an excuse, what is it for? Why are you trying to dissuade me f
rom approaching Hines?’
‘Which of those do you want answered first, Mac? You know that what I’m doing will be for the best. If it means a short delay on the Hines thing, it’ll be worth it.’
‘Your idea of what’s for the best and mine are often entirely different. Now, you asked me to stay off the record with this, but I can’t do that indefinitely. Sandown’s coming up, remember that. I want Hines under arrest before the last day of the season.’
‘You’ll get it. I promise. I’m on my way to a meeting. Things should be a lot clearer after it. I might even call you again later. If not, then tomorrow.’
‘Tonight, please.’
‘Okay. Tonight.’
‘Goodbye.’
‘And to you, Mister McCarthy, and to you.’
I smiled as I pulled back out into the dappled shadows on clean, dry tarmac, and that primal feeling Ben had mentioned welled in me again and made me smile and drive too fast as I wrestled the car through the series of bends. Men could rip up the land and lay miles of straight motorway, but when it came to getting around all these ancient glacial lakes, quiet and still as they were, the water made the rules.
At Beverley, they race only on the flat, where the jockeys are smaller, the horses more expensive and the weather warmer. But, for me, it was lacking in danger, though my meeting with Monty might just make up for that.
I wanted to leave it longer this time before going up to his box. I had no appetite for socializing now and was afraid my impatience around Monty’s guests would show. And there was something I should have considered before now: what would Bruno Guta think of me turning up at a flat meeting one day after spending so much time alone with Monty?
I waited until the car park emptied, then found a spot where I could see through the gates to the top of the grandstand. When Bruno came out, I would go in.
It proved a long wait, and it was close to seven o’clock when Bruno escorted a party of four down the stairs and toward the exit. I knew he’d wait outside with them until a taxi arrived, so I hurried across the enclosure and up the stairs.
I tried the handle on the heavy door of Monty’s box. It moved smoothly down, and I went in, closing it behind me. Monty was on the balcony, smoke rising from his cigar as he watched me. I mimed a turn of the lock and he nodded and I spun the metal wing and heard the reassuring clunk. Monty waved me forward, and I went out onto the balcony.
He said, ‘I was afraid you wouldn’t make it.’
‘Been here for hours. Thought it best to wait until Bruno took his break, this being a flat meeting.’
‘I was a bit worried about that myself. Good thinking. Where’s Ben?’
‘Packing for a trip to Australia with Alice.’
He seemed to deflate, but it was the tension leaving him. He put a hand on my arm as he sighed, ‘I am so relieved…so relieved!’
‘Good. Ben wanted you to know how seriously he took things last night.’
‘He’s a good man. I feel so much better now. I don’t really care what happens to me anymore. I’m rather tired of life, or, of my life, I suppose I ought to say. As long as your families are safe, I’m ready to take what comes. What about your woman, Mave?’
‘Mave’s staying.’
He looked at me, ‘Is that what you want?’
‘It’s what she wants, Monty. I’ll look after her.’
He sighed and looked at his feet for what seemed a long time, then slowly back to me, ‘Eddie…I’m…I don’t know how to find the words to explain to you, to try and make you see. You are dealing here with someone who is beyond psychopathic. He is a psychopath with full control over his decisions, a very, very smart man. The thing for you to take in is that Sydney Ember, when it suits him, places no value on human life. None. He is not some Mister Angry who lashes out or gets emotionally involved. He just puts out an order as though it’s for groceries, to have people killed.’
I put a hand on his arm, ‘Monty, I could sit Mave down beside you for an hour of this. It won’t change her mind. I’m not being complacent about Ember. I trust your judgement. And Bradley left me with the same impression of the man. I’ll get it done. I’ll figure out a way to get it done. I promise you.’
‘You talk with such confidence, Eddie. I’m torn between admiration and regret at your naivety. And I don’t mean that unkindly, believe me.’
‘Naivety can be good, sometimes. Want to go inside to make sure we’re not overheard?’
He nodded and left the cigar burning on the edge of the brickwork.
We sat at a clean table. I looked around: all the tables had been cleared of bottles and glasses. I said, ‘Quick work by the caterers.’
‘They’re a good bunch.’ All his tension seemed to have returned. He said, ‘You’ll need to tell me where to start, Eddie. I can’t function.’
‘Want me to ask questions?’
He nodded and clasped his hands, ‘Please.’
‘How did you get in with Ember?’
‘By accident. When I was starting out lending, I made the mistake of being sucked into providing capital for a very nice, very enthusiastic man named Michael Haberman who wanted to build up an estate of betting shops. He kept borrowing, kept expanding, kept showing me positive figures. So positive that I was persuaded to to turn the loans into investment and become a silent partner.’
‘How long ago?’
‘Thirty-one years ago,’
I nodded, He continued, ‘All seemed well until Michael dropped dead from a massive coronary, and I discovered that all the good figures he had shown me were from laundered money. By this time, I had a healthy business of my own lending to established professionals. To continue providing finance, I needed a faultless reputation. Sydney Ember, who’d been launderer in chief, told me to carry on where Michael had left off or he would expose me as a partner in a money laundering business.’
‘How many shops were there back then?’
‘Fourteen, all on Merseyside.’
‘How many now?’
‘Three-hundred-and-seventy-six.’
‘Nationwide?’
‘Pretty much. Mostly around the big cities.’
I nodded, ‘What else is he into, other than trafficking kids?’
‘Big in drugs. Counterfeit brand names. Stolen bank cards. Online fraud, probably other things. I believe he’s now into steal-to-order artefacts from the middle east.’
‘How has he stayed clean?’
‘He trusts nobody a hundred percent. He has two men working close enough to him whom he trusts maybe ninety percent. Bruno is one. I don’t know the other, though I’ve heard Bruno call him Gerald. From what I can gather, Bruno and Gerald do what needs done and arrange everything on the criminal side. Ember owns nothing on paper. He’s never been charged, let alone convicted.’
‘Married? Girlfriends? Boyfriends? Anybody living with him?’
‘Nobody lives with him. Nobody gets to see him at home without a full strip search.’
‘A strip search? Even you?’
‘Even me. Even Bruno, and, so, I’m assuming, Gerald.’
‘What’s he looking for, guns, wires?’
‘Anything that could get him killed or arrested. Once you’ve gone through the search, and the house is locked down, he’ll speak openly. The house is swept daily for bugging devices. He has an alarm system whose code changes every day. One button press on a handheld console or on his smartphone, locks the place down. Every door. Every window.’
‘What’s his IT setup, a big computer room?’
‘Nothing. No PCs in the house. No internet connection.’
‘None you know of, or none at all?’
‘None at all, so he claims. He says no matter how good an IT team he could get, somebody else might get a better one, which would become a weak point in his defences, and he has no weak points, so he says.’
‘Does he ever come to you?’
‘Never. All business is done inside his house.’
M
y options, some of the ideas I’d come here with, were closing down and I was struggling to think on the fly. I said, ‘The strip search, how literal? Who does it, Ember himself?’
‘As literal as you can get. When you reach the locked gates to his drive, you call him for a code. The gates lock behind you. When you get out of the car you call him again and he unlocks the house. Once through the door, you hear all the deadbolts slotting back into place. His set up means you are forced left into what he calls his ‘Airlock’, and you take off all your clothes, you turn around one full circle, arms fully extended, and you finish by spreading your legs and bending over…as best you can, in my case. Cameras capture everything and Ember is watching it live.’
‘Fucking hell.’
‘You go from there through a side door into the dressing room where you put on what’s best described as a large judo outfit and a pair of slippers. You exit through another door into the hall and get your first live sight of Mister Sydney Ember.’
All the time he was talking, Monty was watching my face. He smiled sadly, ‘Are you beginning to get the picture now?’
I nodded, ‘What about female visitors?’
Monty considered…’You know, that question has never once occurred to me. I can only suppose that the kind of women who visit him at home have no problems with undressing in his company.’
‘He must have had some…bona-fide women calling at the house, surely?’
Monty shrugged, ‘I can only imagine that he must go out to them rather than have them come in. Or he lets them in but never discusses anything but the weather.’
I nodded, thinking.
Monty said, ‘Now you know why the police have never been able to get anything on him, and never will.’
‘Well, it helps me get a better picture of Bradley. I thought he was some manic-obsessive cop with a fixation. But years and years of trying to nail Ember must be like knitting fog.’
‘Ember enjoys his relationship with the police. Bradley’s not the only one he’s pissed off.’
‘What about when they come to check on him, to make him produce his betting slips and stuff. I’m sure they don’t bend over in the air lock.’
Monty smiled, ‘It's been years since they’ve called on him. The courts ran out of patience with search warrants when they were never finding anything.’
