by Anna Smith
Tahir nodded, and shot a sidewards glance at Cal. Jake went on.
‘You, Cal, bring the kid out, and whoever else they are bringing, and you get the kid safely in the car, then you take your instructions from them. Do you understand?’
Sinc and Cal both nodded.
‘Don’t worry about whatever fucker they bring with them. We’ll deal with him in due course. You just drive to the address as instructed. You’re okay with that, Sinc.’ It was more of a statement than a question and Sinc looked as though he knew better than to say no.
Cal could feel the tension in his gut as he glanced at Tahir.
‘So will they just hand the boy over to Sinc and me? Just like that?’
‘Should do. That’s what they’ve done so far, is that right, Sinc?’
‘Aye,’ he sniffed, nervous. ‘Except last time at the Paki warehouse I had to go in the back door and carry the wean out. What if they ask me in?’
Jake was silent for a few moments.
‘Then you go in. There’s nothing we can do about that. You go in, and you keep your fucking face straight and you do everything just as you’ve done before. You don’t talk to them, you don’t even fucking look at them. You just take the boy and get out and into the car and you do as they say. Forget about us, forget about everything – just do what you’ve been doing for the past two drops.’ He narrowed his eyes and looked at Sinc. ‘You make sure you don’t make any stupid mistakes here that arouse suspicion. If you do that, then it’s fucking the end of the story. You got that?’
Sinc nodded but didn’t reply.
‘And don’t look as though you’re shitting your pants, for fuck’s sake. Everything depends on you carrying this off.’
‘I’m all right,’ Sinc said, but his voice had a worrying croak to it.
A few minutes later they pulled the car into the roadside and Jake turned to Cal.
‘Be careful, son. You’ll be fine. We’ll not be far away.’
He told Sinc to climb into the front passenger seat, which he did. Cal sat in the back watching as Tahir and Jake got into the back of the big Range Rover. Cal felt his heart beating under the bulletproof vest. As they drove off, he put his hand in his jacket pocket and ran his fingers over the Glock pistol. He knew how to use it, and it gave him a little jag of adrenalin just touching it.
When they got to the address, the car stopped and for a moment they sat in tense silence. Cal saw the driver glance at him in his rear-view mirror and make a gesture for him to get a move on. Cal swallowed. He nudged Sinc on the shoulder, firm enough to let him know that as of this moment, he was in charge.
‘C’mon, let’s go,’ Cal said.
Sinc hesitated for a few seconds then opened the car door and got out. Cal got out of the back and they both walked up to the door, saying nothing. It crossed Cal’s mind that Sinc might just blurt it all out when the door opened, and he’d have to be ready. He glanced over his shoulder hoping he could spot the Range Rover close by, but it was nowhere. He felt his mouth dry as Sinc rang the bell twice. They stood, barely breathing, as a curtain twitched upstairs and someone glanced out. Then they heard footsteps on the stairs and muffled voices. The door opened just a little on the chain and Cal could make out the skinny, unshaven face of a man with dishevelled hair and dark circles under his eyes.
‘Where’s your mate?’
The question seemed to throw Sinc and he looked a little bewildered, then he caught on.
‘Aw, Lenny? He’s fucked with food poisoning. Shitting all over the place.’
The man’s eyes darted from Sinc to Cal and he kept his face deadpan.
‘Who’s this cunt?’
‘He works for me,’ Sinc said, squaring his shoulders. ‘He does drops for me. He’s all right. He’s sound, man.’ He paused for a second. ‘Where’s the wean? I don’t want to fucking hang around on the step in case anyone notices.’
The sound of bolts being slid, and the door opened further.
‘Come in.’
Shit! Cal said to himself, his heart suddenly taking a jolt. He didn’t even dare to look at Sinc as they stepped over the threshold and into the damp, cold hallway. As soon as they did, they heard the sound of a child sobbing. Jesus! Cal was so overwhelmed by the sound that it was like someone punching him in the chest. He fought to keep control.
‘Will be glad to see the fucking back of the wee bastard. Been greetin’ for two solid fucking days. Follow me.’
They walked behind him along the hall which stank of dirty clothing and stale fried food. Then the sounds got louder as they approached a door. The guy pushed the door open and Cal stepped back, hoping his face didn’t show the shock that was surging through him. Sitting on the couch was a little boy, his face tearstained and flushed, snot in his nose and sweating from crying. His wails sounded as though his throat was sore and he lay propped up on a cushion weeping. He looked up when they came in.
‘Wh-Where’s my mummy? I want my mummy.’ Then he sobbed, burying his face into the grimy cushion.
Cal glanced around the room, where another man sat in the corner and didn’t even look round at the visitors. He held the TV remote control in his hand and kept flicking channels. Eventually, he turned.
‘Thank fuck!’ he said. ‘Pissed off listening to the wee shite greetin’. No matter what you give him.’ He gestured to the toy truck and colouring books on the floor.
‘Let’s get moving,’ Sinc said. ‘Who’s coming with me?’
The skinny-faced guy pulled on his jacket and ran a hand under his nose. Cal shot a glance around the room and saw a couple of used wraps that he’d bet had been coke.
‘Come on, then,’ Sinc said, turning to Cal. ‘Get the boy lifted and let’s get the fuck out of here and get this job done.’
Cal went forward to the boy and reached out his hand, but the boy shrank back. Cal glanced around at the guy with the remote control, and it crossed his mind that he might have been terrorising the kid. He made a mental picture of his face and vowed he would pay when this was all over. Cal sat down on the couch and stroked the boy’s hair.
‘Come on, wee man,’ he said gently, putting his arms around him. ‘You’re all right, pal. Come on.’
Cal lifted him into his arms and stood up, feeling choked with emotion as the little boy buried his face in his shoulder and sobbed.
‘Let’s go,’ Sinc said, as they moved towards the door, back down the hall and opened the front door. ‘Get him in the car, into the back seat.’ He handed him a jacket. ‘Here. Cover his head with this in case any fucking busybodies are watching.’
Cal did as he said, and walked quickly to the car and into the back seat. As soon as he did, he caught sight of the driver hitting a button on his mobile. And over the brow of the hill, he saw the Range Rover in the distance. He breathed a sigh of relief. But this was not over yet.
‘Right,’ Sinc said, once they were into the car. ‘Next address. You all ready?’
‘Aye,’ the skinny man said. ‘You’ll drop me back here once we get rid of the wean, won’t you?’
‘Aye,’ Sinc said. They drove away from the address and Cal could feel the boy’s heartbeat as he held him close, caressing his face. He could feel his chest heave with sobs, even though the boy was beginning to drift off to sleep, his big blue eyes flickering and looking up to this stranger who was holding him. And as the kid gripped his hand tight, Cal made another vow that every single person who was involved in taking this wee boy would pay with their lives.
They drove out of the city and down the road until the buzz of the traffic was gone and the roads and landscape changed. The boy was fast asleep but his body jerked in fitful little sobs now and again. Cal kept his eyes straight ahead as they drove in silence, the skinny-faced guy next to him, staring out of the window and his face twitching with nerves. Cal clocked the driver glance in his wing mirror and from the corner of his eye, he could see the Range Rover coming up behind them. Then it happened. Suddenly the Range Rover eng
ine roared and it just raced ahead of them, then stopped abruptly, swerving into the side and clipping their wing, almost pushing them into the ditch. The driver screeched to a halt.
‘What the fuck, man!’ The skinny-faced guy jolted forward, then quickly reached below his sweatshirt and pulled out a gun. ‘What the fuck is this?’ He pushed the gun into Sinc’s head. ‘You playing fucking games here, ya wee cunt? I’ll blow your fucking brains out. What the fuck’s going on!’
Cal squeezed Finbar tight as he began to wake up with the noise and whimpered. Then the skinny-faced guy switched the gun to point at the child’s head, and Cal felt his stomach drop.
‘What the fuck’s going on?’ the skinny man barked.
His words were barely out when out they saw the Range Rover doors open. Jake Cahill and Tahir rushed, guns ready, towards the car.
‘Who the fuck are you?’ the skinny man screamed. ‘Get fucking back right now or the kid gets it right in the fucking head. I’m telling you.’
The rear passenger seat window was rolled down by the driver, and Jake and Tahir stood with the guns aimed at the skinny man.
‘Listen, son. The game’s up. Now don’t be doing anything silly here. It’s over. Just put down the gun and come out of the car.’
‘No fucking way! That’ll be fucking right. The boys will be down from the house any minute. They’re expecting us to arrive right now.’
‘Just calm down now. Come on. Come out of the car and nobody gets hurt.’
‘Aye, and I’m going to believe that shite?’ He pushed the gun into Finbar’s head and the boy cried out in pain. ‘I’m telling you, the kid is getting it. Get out of my fucking way.’
‘Listen,’ Jake said, ‘there’s no way out of this for you now. You have to come with us before the boys come down and all hell breaks loose. You’ll be a dead man then because they’ll think you’re part of the betrayal. Now wise up before it’s too late.’
Suddenly there was the roar of an engine and from the front window, Cal could see a car racing towards them with its headlights blaring.
Jake kept the gun on the skinny man, who kept the gun on the boy.
‘Make your mind up time, son,’ Jake said.
Jake nudged Tahir, who immediately swivelled around and fired off two shots through the windscreen of the oncoming car. The car swerved into the ditch, and in that moment Cal threw open the car door and dived onto the ground on top of Finbar, staying low and covering him. Then the mayhem. There were shots pinging off the car, the wheels and the windscreen shattering. He daren’t look up. The boy was silent and Cal held his little warm body close, telling him his mummy was coming soon. Eventually there was an eerie silence.
‘You’re all right now, Cal. You can come up. Quick. Get the boy into the Range Rover.’
Cal scrambled to his feet with the boy in his arms and climbed into the back of the Range Rover. As he did, he looked out of the windscreen to see Jake Cahill dragging the skinny-faced man out of the Merc and forcing him to kneel on the ground. Then, without even flinching, Tahir came up behind him and put a bullet in the back of his head. Cal closed his eyes tightly and clutched the boy to his chest. But he had seen the blood spurt like a fountain from the skinny man’s head as he fell face down, and in that single moment, he knew he would never again feel a sense of justice like this.
Chapter Eighteen
Kerry kept an eye over Rodriguez’s shoulder to where Jack was sitting at the bar. They must have been in the restaurant twenty-five minutes by now, and she was thinking they should have heard from Jake and the boys. But nothing. She was finding it hard to concentrate on anything else, but she had to. It wouldn’t be much longer now, she told herself. She clocked the guys with the golf clubs at the other side of the restaurant who were getting noisier the more drink they were downing. Kerry picked at the salad she’d ordered while Rodriguez ate heartily as though they were an ordinary couple enjoying lunch. She watched as he poured olive oil onto a side plate and mopped it up with bread, washing it down with red wine. She felt the urge to lift the bottle and smash it all over the smug bastard’s head. But she knew she couldn’t.
‘So,’ he said, between mouthfuls of food, ‘tell me how you see our arrangement working if you own part of the business on paper.’ He raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer. ‘I’m interested in what you think. I really am.’
Kerry picked up the contract from the table.
‘Pepe, everything that is in here, is mine. My family built it. My father. All I ask is to be named as a partner in the business. I agree we can work together and make our organisation grow. But I will work with more determination, if I can see it is mine also.’
He sat back for a moment and dabbed his mouth with his napkin. He let out a sigh.
‘But, my cariño, it cannot work that way. I can promise to you that you will see the profits, that you will benefit, and that in some ways nothing will change in your organisation and family. But it has to belong to me. For future investments I make, I need to be seen as the sole owner of the business. In order to raise money, I have to show people that I have already major assets.’ He gave her an emphatic look. ‘Don’t worry. I will look after everything you have made and grown. But you, cariño, will belong to me.’
Rage coursed through her and she could feel a flush coming to her neck. Stay calm, she told herself. Listen. Swallow it. Wait. It can’t be long now.
‘And, Kerry. You are forgetting that today I come here to see you. To do this business. But remember. From where you are sitting, you do not have a choice. Entiendes?’
Kerry picked up the pen and went to the back page. She looked up from the papers.
‘I want to see the boy. Can you please bring him now? Before I sign?’
He shook his head slowly. ‘When you sign.’
She swallowed back her anger. Then suddenly, from the corner of her eye, she saw Jack move to get off the bar stool. As he did, one of Rodriguez’s henchmen took out his mobile, read something, then got up from the table where he sat a few feet away from them. He walked towards them and leaned down, whispering something in his boss’s ear. Another two men at a table, clearly Rodriguez’s, also got up. Jack got off his stool and pulled out his gun. Kerry just had time to see Rodriguez’s expression change to rage as he glared at her. But before he could do anything there was an almighty smash at the end of the bar where the golfers sat, and glasses were being thrown. Both of them glanced up, and now the golfers were on their feet as the door burst open and three armed men came rushing in, firing shots all over the place. The golfers fired back. Rodriguez moved to get up, as his henchmen fired into the room and rushed forward to grab him. Jack fired and one of them dropped to the floor, then the golfers fired again as two more men came bursting in the door. As the henchmen pulled at Rodriguez he stumbled, and as he got up, Kerry reached into her pocket for her gun. It was now or never. She had to do this. She took aim and fired, watching as he fell down, but she’d only hit him in the leg. Before she could fire again two more guys came in firing across the room and she had to dive to the floor, Jack on top of her while the shooting went on. She looked up to see them shooting back and for a single second she saw the look of evil on the face of Pepe Rodriguez as he caught her eye. One of his henchmen fired back, chipping a lump out of the table, but Jack kept her covered. Then, suddenly, the shooting stopped. The place fell ghostly silent. Jack eased himself up and she sat up. Jack was hit in the shoulder, and there were bodies everywhere – three of them were the Rodriguez men. Paul behind the bar was hit and blood seeped through his shirt. She could hear cars roar outside. Rodriguez was gone. She got to her feet as Jack stood up.
‘We’ve got Finbar,’ he said. ‘He’s in a car with Jake and Cal.’
Kerry put her hand to her mouth to stop the tears of shock and relief.
‘Oh God, Jack. Is he all right?’
He nodded, trying to stem the flow of blood from his shoulder.
‘He’s shook up, but they�
��ve got him. That’s all that matters.’ Seeing her tears he stepped forward and held her close. ‘And we’re still here. The Caseys are still here, and that fucking Colombian was dragged out of here like a wounded dog. I hope the cunt bleeds to death.’
‘Sorry my shot was crap. It was all happening so fast, Jack.’
He eased her away from him.
‘Come on. We’d best get out of here. I’ve got a team coming in to clean up. Let’s get ourselves sorted – a couple of the boys were injured.’ He glanced at the back where the golfers were examining each other.
She smiled. ‘You didn’t tell me they’d be looking like that.’
‘I thought the less distractions you had the better. They were a good decoy though, eh?’
‘Definitely. Well done. Let’s go. Can you get Jake on the phone?’
Jack punched in a number and spoke.
‘Jake. I’ve got Kerry here. Thank Christ you got the boy safe.’
He seemed to be listening to Jake speak.
‘Yeah, it was a bit messy right enough here too, but we’re all sound. Rodriguez is gone. Dragged out by one of his boys. But Kerry shot him.’ He smiled and handed Kerry the phone.
‘Jake. You got Finbar. Thanks. How is he?’
‘He’s a wee pathetic soul, Kerry. Poor wee kid has been scared to death, but he’s cuddling into Cal here in the back seat. He’ll be all right when he gets his mammy. What do you want us to do?’
‘Hold on a moment, Jake. I’ll put you on loudspeaker.’
She turned to Jack. ‘We can’t take him to his home, obviously, so we’re going to have to leave him somewhere and call the cops, and call Marty.’
‘Aye,’ Jack said. ‘But we’ve got to be nowhere near it when it happens. Why not get Jake to take him to the Tesco up in Maryhill Road? Cal can walk right in with him, but call the cops and Marty so they arrive a minute later. Cal can bail out and the wee boy will be too excited to see his ma to wonder what’s happening.’
