Never Back Down

by Solomon Carter

  Jess caught one of the hard men glance at another. They were eavesdropping. She had the feeling this was a common occurrence. Maggie was being bluntly offensive in a manly way, a chauvinistic way. What did she want? The woman wasn’t great company at all. Did this usually work for her, or did she think ‘Louise’ was too drunk to understand? She played along. Playing the role, she giggled and tweaked her hair.

  “You’ve got a bloody cheek! I’m a bloody good secretary, actually. I’m not a proper legal secretary. I just do the admin stuff.”

  “You do the photocopying and answer the phone. What other… activities have you carried out for them?”

  There was a glint in the woman’s eye. Jess paused, checked the glinting eyes, and thought for a moment. “We’re friends, aren’t we?” said Maggie, waiting.

  “I don’t know, yet,” said Louise.

  “Relax. I’ve always been direct. I like to cut to the chase. It’s more exciting.”

  Louise laughed. “Well, I know the partner, Mr Roberts, definitely liked me.” Eva’s name. It was all she could think of. She struggled to hear the Mitkins and Gillespie above her.

  “Don’t hold back, girl. How could you tell if he liked you?”

  Louise grinned.

  The woman leaned in. “Don’t worry about these boys, they mind their own business,” she said, nodding at the two bodyguards either side of Gillespie. She turned her back to the men now, closing them out of their presence. She was distinctly closer than before, invading Jess’s body space. It made Jess uncomfortable and claustrophobic. To calmly stay in the game, she moved back an inch or two.

  “Use her charms… It’s what every woman does, isn’t it?” Confidential, conspiratorial – this was a dangerous game. Jess had to be careful not to give her too much, just enough to stay in play. The woman’s eyes sparkled now. “Oh yes, sweetheart. You gave him what he wanted, didn’t you? To get a start in life? A half-decent job.”

  She was getting off on this, Jess could read her eyes. “It wasn’t a serious thing, really. It was just a couple of times. He told me we would have a break from each other, but not to worry, he’d keep me on. He liked me, and there would be more times he said. I didn’t mind, really.”

  “No. You’re such an honest little girl. Innocent, really, aren’t you? So who is that old sad sack you’re with tonight?”

  “A friend of Mr Roberts from up north who is staying down here.”

  “You understand that man wants what your Mr Roberts has had. Your Mr Roberts has probably promised it to him. You know that, don’t you?”

  “No way! Do you think so?”

  “Darling. I know so. You’re safer here with me than with that dirty old man.”

  “It’s my job, though…”

  Lee was talking again, Jess strained to hear his words. “…the Estate is wide open. We just crossed the last name off the list...”

  Bingo. It could have been a metaphor. It could have been a figure of speech. But there were too many coincidences here to let go of. Gillespie was in the clear. It was the Mitkins who had ‘crossed’ Dan’s name off the list. Jess’s heart was racing again. She needed to get away. It was unlikely they would reveal unnecessary information about Dan to Gillespie if he wasn’t involved. That was as much as she’d get. There was a good chance Dan was still in Southend, holed up in one of the flats in the blocks, or locked up in one of these mysterious new properties Engay was running for them. It was time to get out before the woman put any more moves on her. As it was, she felt the men around her listening with vague sexual interest, and the woman herself was close enough for Jess to see the wrinkles around her glossed lips, and the faint lines around her eyes. Her perfume was overpowering.

  “Are you feeling all right, Louise? You’ve gone quiet?” The woman cupped a hand around ‘Louise’s, cheek. She tried not to wrench away too quickly, but she managed to pull free.

  “Just too much to drink, I think. Plus I need to go check on the guest for Mr Roberts. It’s a work thing, you know.”

  “He’ll be all over you. Look at him, he’s desperate. Who needs a job like that? What are you earning, ten grand a year?”

  “Look, I better go. Thanks for the drink and everything.” Jess smiled broadly and made her eyes thin to hide her tension and determination to get away. As she turned, her arm was yanked back. “Stay, Louise. Keep me company for a while. We were just getting to know one another.”

  “Really, Maggie. I can’t.” Jess slipped her arm away and walked away as quickly as she could through the crowd, without looking back. She stuck a half-full glass on the bar as she walked by, then saw Eva and Parker watching for her through the noisy throng.

  She was half-way towards them when Eva got serious. Eva ducked out of the way behind Parker. Jess hesitated; Maggie appeared at her side, and moved in front of her. “Listen, Louise, sweetie. If you drop your chaperone duties and spend the evening with us, I will see to it that you go home with a month’s wages. How about that? That’s the only guaranteed win in this place.”

  Jess wondered at the woman’s persistence. She lurched from option to option of reply in her head, and then asked, “Why would you do that?”

  “Because we’re kindred spirits, my dear. And we could be good friends, yet.” One of the big men in the suits appeared beside her, as tall as Maggie yet twice as wide with stubble and gristle.

  Jess shook her head. There was nothing to say anymore. The implication was clear. It wasn’t an invitation - this was an order. The woman didn’t request her company; she demanded it. “Can’t tonight, sorry!” said Jess and dashed towards Parker and Eva, and the big man followed her more quickly than his big body should have allowed.

  Eva watched Jess hurtle through the crowd, shoulders weaving around the half-drunk and the desperadoes. They mostly turned and followed her with their eyes, only to be immediately bustled out of the way by a man as broad as two of most of them. The big man and the tall dark woman were confident in pursuit.

  “What’s the girl done wrong?” asked a drunk looking for trouble.

  “Tried to steal my purse,” said Maggie. The man nodded and seemed happy to accept the story. The original sense of alarm in the atmosphere dissipated. The chase made legitimate, justified by the theft story. Parker stepped forward to block the big man’s pursuit, just as Jess made it around a corner towards the lobby. The big man pulled Devon Parker out of the way like a carrot out of the mud, and neatly cast him aside. Maggie stopped by Devon Parker. “The girl is with us now, old man. Go home and get a cold shower.”

  Devon chewed on a reply but said nothing, looking back over his shoulder instead. Eva and Jess were out of sight. He walked away silently, taking a U shaped walk through the crowd back towards the exit. If Maggie saw him, she could have thought he was trying to make some kind of dignified exit. By the time he reached the lobby, he saw a back view of Maggie in black and the wide boy just reaching Eva and Jess by the exit, still in clear view of the busy reception.

  They had almost made the exit when Maggie and a big shaven headed stooge found them. Ahead, down a short flight of stairs was the esplanade traffic and cool sea air. Freedom. Maggie and the big man were behind them still. Eva was thinking quickly. Gillespie couldn’t have been in on this. He was a businessman… Whatever this was, it didn’t make sense. As Jess passed Eva, she blurted, “I’m being chased by the witch! Let’s get out of here!”

  Eva considered the implications of being found in the same casino as Gillespie, of being with Jess and Parker, but she had no time to assess and no other options. Eva drew a breath and, putting on her best regal look, she turned and met the witch’s eyes.

  “We’re leaving now,” was all she said.

  Maggie’s saw them together and her face changed - confusion, anger and wickedness mingling together. She laughed without any humour. The big man beside her was impassive, ready for orders. The casino receptionist looked on intrigued, as a stream of new business came through the door. The receptioni
st’s attention was quickly lost, asking for ID and taking payments.

  “What is this? You’ve been following us? The girl is with you?”

  Eva and Jess said nothing, letting it all sink in.

  “Lying bitch. Where’s the old fart?” Maggie turned back and saw Parker framed in the light behind them.

  “Well, this is rather awkward, isn’t it?” said Parker.

  “Tell Brian.” The man at Maggie’s side hesitated.

  “I should stay.”

  “No. He needs to know about these tarts spying on us.”

  “We’re still leaving,” said Eva.

  “It doesn’t matter what you do. You’ve already had your warning. We know your name, and we can find you as easily as that,” Maggie clicked her fingers.

  “Well, we are in the Yellow Pages.”

  “And we have a website too. I’ll give you the web address if you like,” said Jess.

  The woman sneered. “Get off with you, then girls. I’ll be seeing you again. Both of you.”

  “Yeah. In your dreams,” said Jess. Eva and Jess walked as confidently as they could down the stairs into the cool air.

  They kept walking when they reached the windswept pavement, just in case the heavies were watching.

  “That woman is demented,” said Eva.

  “Can you believe those threats?” said Jess.

  “No, I can’t. That’s probably what she gets off on, but her sexual threats don’t seem the old man’s bag. Serious crime, fraud, drug running, murder - they seem his bag, but I think perversion is his wife’s speciality.”

  “His wife? She’s more of a cannibal than a gangster’s moll.”

  “But he’s stuck with her anyway. Gillespie still loves her, who knows… Look at me, I ended up with Dan,” she said, regretting sounding maudlin. They waited for Parker, standing well clear of the casino by a painted wooden shelter, the type the homeless used late at night. Soon, Devon Parker was trudging down the steps. Two thickset shadows followed him out. The three men stood in an awkward confrontation, a momentary stand-off. The traffic noise hid all that was said, but it was clear to see he was being given a warning.

  “They could have mushed him if they’d wanted.”

  “Not a good idea to mush anyone out in the open. Do you really want Parker mushed?” asked Eva.

  “Not really. Just wondering why they didn’t bother, that’s all.”

  “He’s an old man, just like Mad Maggie says. He’s no threat.”

  “But he’s not right, either. Something’s up with him, Eva. I swear it. He’s not telling us everything.”

  “Yes, I see that part… but if he thinks we’re ignorant, he may take us for fools and show his hand.”

  “He knows we’re not ignorant.”

  Parker shuffled towards them, sweeping his old foppish hair out of his eyes. He was still a way off when Jess asked. “So, what’s the plan?”

  “Forget about Gillespie for now. Humour Parker if we need to, but tonight was definitely a wrong turn. It’s all about the Mitkins now. They are our way to Dan.”

  “Absolutely. I heard Lee Mitkin talk about cleaning up a list of threats. I’m sure he meant Dan included.”

  “The list?”

  “Could be.”

  “Who cares? All this talk of a real list could just be another of Parker’s red herrings. Forget about the list thing until it shows up. This isn’t about the list. It’s about Dan.”

  Parker sidled up to them. Both Eva and Jess saw he was shaking a little and trying not to let his nerves show. “What’s wrong, Devon?” asked Eva.

  “Nothing’s wrong. But then again, nothing’s right, is it? This was a total mess, tonight. We could have got hurt. We all could have gotten hurt. I blame myself.”

  “Forget it,” said Eva. “We learned some things.”

  “Oh?” asked Parker, his eyes opening wider in the lamp light. They made it to his Calibra and he opened the doors, motioning for them to get in.

  “Yes, forget about it,” said Jess, smiling at him with every bit of sass and insincerity she could muster. Even through the darkness, Jess saw Parker was beginning to hate her. Eva saw it too, and shook her head. “We’ve had a chat… We’re leaving Gillespie alone for now.”

  “What?” said Parker.

  “It’s a mess. You said it yourself. And it’s the wrong mess. We’ll pursue the Mitkins now, and see where it leads, then get back to you.”

  “It leads to trouble, Eva. A whole lot of trouble involving some very ruthless people. It’s a blind alley.”

  Eva’s face said it all and Jess said it for her. “And tonight was a resounding success?”

  Parker said nothing further. He got into the car and turned up his classical music. When Eva and Jess climbed in, he turned up the stereo so loud conversation was impossible. Eva wondered about his motivation. Why did he want to railroad and confuse them? Was he confused? Out of touch? Or was there something more going on here? Eva’s estimated time frame said Dan had forty eight hours left before his chances of survival were zero. Win or lose, from now on the game had to be played by Eva’s rules.

  Five

  It wasn’t a pretty thing, not something he’d remember fondly, but nevertheless it had to be done. The ladies were wandering off course. They were deviating from the script, and damn it, he had never been good at controlling women, let alone understanding them (just look at the mess with Barbara) and now it was happening again. As he had once had to explain to staff at his detective agency, there were only a few tools a manager could employ to control people. Some of them weren’t nice. And when those tools ran out, the only thing left was the exit door. Barbara showed him the exit before he had time to realise what she was up to. But that was marriage. And this was business – important business. He had to steer these ladies back his way. There were only so many tools he could use. Now he had to use the harder ones. He didn’t know much about Dan Bradley’s plight; poor Dan was well beyond his sphere of influence now. He didn’t know Dan’s current whereabouts either. Parker believed he was alive, but that was all. There was nobody whose word he could trust on the matter any longer, not any one of his clients and seemingly not Eva; it was abundantly clear she didn’t trust him. That meant there was absolutely no one. He regretted not having someone to confide in, but it made him even more determined (so he told himself) to survive this, so he could fight on to fall madly in lust with one more woman who would see things his way. And this time she would be a real looker, nothing like Barbara. No chance to grab his cash. No marriages. No deals. One last throw of the dice. If he remembered this whole situation was about his last throw of the dice, his one last chance, it made everything else okay. In theory. After all, Dan had messed up his own life, hadn’t he? It was already kyboshed when the current little kidnapping problem unfolded. So when he considered the joyous possibilities of his last chance in this life, and the fact Dan had already royally ruined his own life, well – it was almost okay. When he poured enough whisky over it. And when he stared at those strange, disconnected women at The Admiral, the strippers who offered him escape in the daylight hours - this helped too. But they were as unreal as fruit machines showing off untouchable prizes. They were like aliens to him. He was interested with his own obsession with women, their breasts, their private parts. He couldn’t understand it. A whole life dedicated to building up work and money and a reputation just to interest women, then to lose them again, and then to die. What was it all about? Whatever. Those were the rules of this bloody strange old game, and he was going to have one more go round before he called it quits. And that was what the sacrifices were all about. He was sacrificing his friendship with Eva, and more specifically, Eva’s peace of mind, in order to get what he needed. And today, he would have to sacrifice another piece of Eva’s life to get closer to what he wanted. There really is no choice, is there, old bean? He quaffed a finger of good scotch and made his way out the chintzy seaside guest house he was staying in back towards
his Vauxhall. It was a good time to visit Eva. To ensure the rest of this played out as he intended.

  “Good morrow,” said Parker, chewing some intensely minty gum, staring at Eva from the bright morning door frame. Parker was a ghastly picture to behold. The day was bright and warm. There was not a cloud in the sky, and here was a pale fat creature on her doorstep before even the first hint of coffee had touched her dry lips. He looked like a corpulent zombie. Was there a hint of alcohol in his mentholated breath? Eva decided to trust her instincts. She had slept fitfully, staying in bed for only six hours, watered to sleep by two oversized goblets of freezing cold white. Jess had stayed in the lounge, taking a sleeping bag on the sofa. Both of them had a couple of glasses before the night ended just after twelve. Then Eva had been awake before six. It was day two of the self-imposed, 72-hour deadline. The drink had been necessary, for Eva at least, to help her banish the worries of Dan. Just enough to get to sleep. But as the hours passed, images of his plight had filled her dreams. He was terrified, in pain. There was nothing she could do. The last dream caught her unawares just before six, calling time on the night. She felt tired and strained already without the coffee, but at least had the comfort of knowing Devon Parker looked a damned sight worse than she ever could.

  “Smells like wake-up juice,” said Parker, clapping his hands.

  “Coffee? Yep.” Uncomfortable pause. Change of tone. “This is a surprise, Devon. I didn’t expect to see you yet today.”

  “Dan’s safety is serious business, Eva. You know I think that. I can’t be up in the big smoke when all the action surrounding Dan seems to be happening here.”

  “It doesn’t mean Dan’s down here though, does it? Scum like this spread their nets wider than one town.”

  “If the Mitkins are involved – and you think they are – why wouldn’t they keep him locally? It stands to reason. And Gillespie- there are only so many places he could hide someone. Probably no further than Roe Park, I’d guess.”