Molls Like It Hot

by Darren Dash

  “Lewis,” I greeted him.

  “Eyrie,” he smiled. “Good to see you again. A little sooner than expected, but we can get over that. I’d like to hear more about what transpired tonight, if that’s all right with you.”

  We sat and I gave him a detailed account. He wanted to know everything, from the moment we’d left my apartment to when we’d returned. He was only interested in Toni, if anyone had spotted her at the fight, if she might have left anything incriminating in DEL’S. It didn’t seem to bother him that I could go down for this, but I hadn’t expected anything different, so my feelings weren’t hurt.

  “You’re sure she left the pub clean?” he pressed. “No scarf or glasses? A tube of lipstick? A glove?”

  “As sure as I can be,” I said. “She had very little on her, and we weren’t there long enough for her to take anything out of her purse.”

  “She definitely killed all three of them?”

  I smiled tightly. “No doubt about that.”

  He nodded slowly. “We can only hope that nobody knew who she was, or if they did, that it takes them a while to find out who you are.”

  “Would this guy Howard definitely target her?” I asked.

  “Oh yes,” Brue said sombrely. “If he gets wind that she’s in London, he’ll be on her trail like a hound.”

  “So why did you ask me not to bring her?” I frown. “If someone in DEL’S ID’s me to Howard, and he sends his guys to my flat, and she’s there tied up…”

  “Then she’s dead.” He said it without any hint of emotion. “Nothing I can do if that happens. I’m hoping it won’t, that you and I can come to an arrangement. If not, I’ll ask Rabbit to fetch her when he takes you back. But if Jeb Howard beats you or Rabbit to the punch, she’s his and that’s that. Toni will understand. She knew the risks when she came here.

  “Now, let’s assume Jeb Howard doesn’t turn up. Let’s assume she got away from the pub without being tagged. Is there anyone who saw you who’d be keen to shop you in? An enemy or a known grass? Someone eager to make a quick profit by turning you over to Howard or the police?”

  I’d thought about this on the way over, so I was able to answer without a pause. “I doubt it. Word will reach the Bill in the end, I’m sure, but I think I’m safe in the short term. I’ve done nothing to piss off any of the regulars, and grasses know better than to hang out at DEL’S.”

  “Good,” Brue grunted. “That leaves us with options. Here’s what I’d like. It’s just a suggestion. Please hear me out before making up your mind.” I didn’t like the sound of that but I held my peace. “I want you to see the job through. Go back and untie her, tell her we’ve spoken and you’re still my man. She’ll be furious at you for tying her up, but she’s a smart girl and she’ll let it go.

  “Next you let her wash and dress, then slip out of the flat, get in your car and drive around. Find a cheap hotel, out of the way. Check in under assumed names. Lie low. Come back Sunday as arranged and return her to me. Go home. Wait and see if the police turn up. Play it cool if they do — I’ll give you the number of a good lawyer, and pull all the strings I can to make your problems with them go away. When you’re in the clear, go buy a boxer and enjoy the rest of your life.

  “What do you think?”

  I answered immediately. “I think I should transfer your money back to you.”

  His face darkened. “You think I care about the money?” he barked. “It’s yours, no matter what you decide. You kept your end of the bargain. If you want to quit, it won’t cost you a penny. I’m just outlining an alternative for you to consider. An extra service, for extra pay, naturally. Say another twenty-five K?”

  Another twenty-five thousand pounds…

  “No,” I said quickly, before I could be tempted.

  “Then let’s say fifty — no, fuck it, I’m not a cheapskate, we’ll call it seventy-five,” he said, as if we were talking beer change. “That’s on top of the original twenty-five.”

  My head went into a spin. “That’s… you can’t be… it’s too much…”

  Lewis Brue chuckled. “I’d have gone a lot higher than twenty-five if you’d pushed when we were making our first deal — to be honest, I was surprised you didn’t negotiate. I’ll transfer the money now if you accept.”

  A hundred thousand pounds. The twenty-five was a game-changer. This… this was so much, it felt like I’d won the Lottery.

  I was tempted. It was a straightforward job. Take her to a hotel. Sit tight for a couple of days. Spend the time thinking of ways to spend the money, dreaming about all the things I could do with it.

  “No,” I said sadly. “Sorry.”

  “I won’t go any higher,” he grunted.

  “The hundred’s enough.” I chuckled sickly. “More than. But the stakes are too high. I’m an accomplice to murder. If I cut my ties with Toni now, I might be able to persuade the police that I had nothing to do with her, claim she was a customer who asked me out for a drink, say I knew nothing about her and fled as soon as I realised she was a killer. But if they catch me with her…” I shook my head.

  He shrugged. “OK. In your shoes I’d probably do the same. Money’s not much good to you in prison, right? I won’t ask any more of you. Rabbit will drive you back and bring Toni to me. That’s the last you’ll see of us. Keep your mouth shut and your head down and you’ll never hear from me again, unless you find yourself in court and need a helping hand — my offer to help you if I can still stands.”

  “Do you think I should clear out of my apartment, in case Jeb Howard finds out about me and comes looking for her there?” I asked.

  “That would be a good idea,” he nodded. “The weekend should be long enough. By Monday, if nobody’s hit it, you’ll be in the clear.”

  “What about the car I left on the Old Kent Road?”

  “Already disposed of.”

  “I had it on loan from a friend.”

  He sniffed. “Give me the name of the owner. I’ll see him put right, arrange a replacement, call it a bonus for services rendered.”

  “Thanks.” I felt better now. Relieved. It would have been easy for Lewis Brue to fit me up with a pair of concrete shoes, but he was treating me decently. A lot of guys in his position wouldn’t have.

  “How about a drink before you go?” Lewis asked.

  I grinned in response. As if he had to ask!

  I sipped the beer leisurely. I’d be glad to see the back of this night, but I was calm now that I’d come through the worst of it. There was still the worry that someone might target me to get to Toni, or that I’d end up doing serious time behind bars, but Lewis Brue thought both scenarios unlikely, and he knew more about this type of business than me. If he wasn’t worried, I probably didn’t need to worry either.

  At least that was what I told myself, and some of the time I almost genuinely believed it. Anyway, if events to come proved me a fool, so be it. I’d gain nothing by working myself up into a panic about the future.

  My bladder was bursting, so I asked for directions to the toilet. Stared into the mirror after I’d washed my hands. I’d often wondered what life in the fast lane was like. Now I knew — it was brutal. Reminded me of my time in the desert, but the bloodshed had seemed more natural there, atrocities to be expected in wartime. Brue and his kind were welcome to their world of sudden, extreme violence and casual, meaningless slayings.

  I frowned at my reflection. What if he was lying, saying what I wanted to hear, tricking me so I’d go back and be a fall guy? I wasn’t important. If someone had to be sacrificed, why not a nobody like me? The extra money he’d offered could have been a tease. He might have known I wouldn’t take it. A pretence, so I’d think he still wanted me. Maybe Rabbit would put a bullet through the back of my head when we got to the apartment, before whisking Toni away. That would sever the link between myself and Lewis Brue, so that Jeb Howard or someone like him could never trace the trail through me.

  I shrugged and tried a weary smi
le. If it was a trap, I was screwed, simple as that. If Lewis Brue was sending me down, down’s where I was going, fast as a bought boxer in the third round.

  I returned to the office. Brue was playing with his phone, but he looked up and smiled when I came in, told me to sit.

  “I thought I’d get going,” I said.

  “Are you in a rush?” he asked.

  I stiffened and took my seat.

  Something in the way I was perched must have tipped him off to what I’d been thinking in the toilet, because he squinted and asked, “Are we good, Eyrie?”

  “Fine,” I said.

  “Still happy with our arrangement?”

  “Yeah,” I lied.

  He sighed. “I’m sorry it went this way, but if I was to do it all again, I’d still come to you first. You held your shit together, protected her, got her out alive. You might be an amateur, but there was nothing amateurish about how you acted tonight.”

  “Stop,” I said. “You’re making me blush.”

  He tapped his phone, then put it away. “Guess you might as well start back. You’re obviously not in the mood for a long heart to heart.”

  “Is that any wonder after what I’ve been through?” I muttered.

  Brue sniffed, a rare flash of irritation piercing his mask. “You’ll live.” Then he cleared his throat. “Rabbit’s downstairs in the car. I’ve been thinking about how to play this. If we can keep Toni’s identity a secret, all the better. I’m going to ring him while you’re on your way, tell him he’s to stay in the car when he gets to your place and wait for a mystery woman to sit it, then bring her to me here. I’ll give her some cash and send her off to find a hotel by herself. I want you to tell her to cover her face with a scarf or something, to keep it covered in the car, and to say nothing to Rabbit on the way.”

  “I can do that,” I said, trying to hide my huge smile of relief. If Rabbit wasn’t coming up to my apartment, that meant he wouldn’t be shooting me while my back was turned. It looked like Lewis Brue was on the level. My spirits began to lift.

  I got up, shook Brue’s hand and headed for freedom, a happy man.

  Brue stopped me at the door. “I still feel like we’re not entirely even – close, but not quite there – so if there’s ever any small favour I can do for you, in addition to helping you out with the police if they come knocking on your door…”

  “Well, there is one thing,” I said.

  “Name it,” he beamed.

  “Never make me an offer like this again.”

  He laughed. “You don’t mean that.”

  “I mean it,” I said coldly, bold now that it looked like he wasn’t going to cross me. “You’ve more than paid off any debt that you felt you owed. The twenty-five K will take me far. Let’s leave it at that and part as friends.”

  Lewis Brue studied me for what felt like a dangerous moment, then nodded benignly. “OK, my friend, no more offers. But you know how to contact me. If you ever change your mind…”

  “I won’t,” I said, and then I was out of there, trotting down the stairs, glad to be back in my own world, already thinking about Fervent Eld and making plans.

  EIGHT — THAT EMPTY FEELING

  The plans evaporated in a heartbeat when I got home and spotted my forced front door, the new lock lying in pieces on the floor.

  Stomach shrinking, I pulled my Hi-Power and hurried in, even though time was on my side — Rabbit had parked outside and was waiting, but he’d been told I’d be a while, that the lady would need to shower and change.

  A quick sweep of the rooms, leading with the Hi-Power, the way I used to go through a house in the desert, heart pounding the same way it used to pound back then, anticipating the worst possible scenario, no idea who or what might be waiting for me. But the apartment was clear. I relaxed my aim but kept my gun drawn, in case the intruders returned.

  One of the ropes was all that remained. It had been severed and tossed aside. I guessed it was the rope that I’d tied round her ankles. Easier to make her walk downstairs rather than carry her.

  I pushed the front door closed and took a few shaky breaths. Daggers were stabbing into my brain, and I felt like I was going to faint or be sick.

  Toni was gone.

  I tried imagining what this would mean. Brue had been dismissive about the possibility of abduction back in the office but I don’t think he’d seriously believed she was in danger of being taken. Would he remember that it was his idea to leave her here, that I’d wanted her out ASAP? Or would he invent his own version of the immediate past, where I’d voluntarily abandoned my post and was therefore to blame for her loss?

  As I turned in slow, stunned circles, I spotted a note stuck to the TV screen, and my midriff took another blow.

  WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE. WE’LL BE BACK FOR YOU.

  Neat writing. Block capitals. Black ink.

  I didn’t know who had left the note, but it looked like they weren’t planning to stop with Toni. Or maybe they’d just left it to freak me out. Aim achieved if that was the case.

  I came out of orbit and stood weaving by the TV, staring fixedly at the note, thinking frantically, trying to blow away the clouds of fear inside my head, so that I could calmly assess my options.

  First option — tell Rabbit she’d been taken. A furious Brue might forget his pledge not to hold me to account if anything bad happened to Toni in my absence. In a rage, he could order Rabbit to shoot me on the spot. He might regret it later, when he’d cooled down, but that wouldn’t be any good to me.

  Second option — ask Rabbit to take me back to Vauxhall, so I could break the bad news to Lewis Brue face to face. I was sure he’d appreciate the personal touch, but what then? Would he tell me it wasn’t my fault and grant me shelter from those who’d said they would return to settle the score with me?

  He’d vowed to look out for me if things went wrong, and had given me no cause thus far to doubt his word. But we were into a whole different game here. Brue had been very concerned about the link between himself and Toni, and keeping it secret. If she talked under pressure, there was nothing he could do. But if she didn’t crack, that just left me to tie him to her. And his enemies now knew where I lived and had sworn to return for me. In Brue’s place, the circumstances being what they were, I wouldn’t take any dumb chances. I’d remove the link, no matter how much I might like the guy, no matter what I’d promised him before.

  There was also the possibility that Brue might suspect me of being in league with the kidnappers, of taking money from his foes as well as from him, playing the two sides off against one another. I was nowhere near that devious, but the more time he had to think about it, the more his suspicions might blossom.

  Third option — I could say nothing, slip out the back and run. But I’d only have a short head start, and Brue would almost definitely then assume that I’d thrown in my lot with the people who’d abducted Toni. I figured it would be easy for him to track me down, but even if I outfoxed my pursuers and laid low for a few weeks or months, what then?

  What then?

  I found myself peeling the note from the TV and balling it up before I knew for sure what I’d decided. As my trembling fingers crushed it, I nodded slowly to myself. I didn’t like the road ahead that I was planning to take, but it was the only way I could see. Glum but resigned, I headed for the front door, throwing the note into a bin as I passed.

  Rabbit was waiting in the car, listening to the radio, whistling softly. He looked round with surprise when I opened the passenger door and sat in beside him.

  “Where’s the girl?” Rabbit asked.

  “I’ve changed my mind,” I said.

  “What?” he frowned.

  “Tell Brue I’ve decided to go through with it.”

  His frown deepened. “Through with what?”

  “What he wanted me to do. Go back. Tell him I accept his new offer. He’s to transfer the money and I’ll meet him as and when he suggested.”

  “What are you
talking about?” Rabbit scowled. “The boss told me to pick up a girl. He didn’t tell me anything about any other deal.”

  “If you want to ring him first, fine,” I snapped. “I’m happy to wait.”

  Rabbit shook his head. “I won’t discuss something like this over the phone, not unless he’s given me clearance in advance and set it up so that he’s sure no one is listening in.”

  I sighed. “I’ll come back with you if that’s what it takes, but I don’t think Brue will thank you for being so thorough.”

  Rabbit studied me for a moment, mulling it over, then pulled a face. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but the boss seems to trust you. I’ll tell him what you said and leave it at that, unless he gives me follow-up orders.”

  “He won’t,” I said confidently and let myself out.

  I watched Rabbit pull away and vanish into the night. Then I climbed back up the stairs to the deserted apartment. I looked round once more, in case there were any other notes, then sat on the end of the bed, stared at the space on the wall where the two photos used to hang, and wondered where the hell I was going to go from here.

  It was shortly after dawn. I’d called in the gang — Dave, No Nose, Mickey Goodnews, Lucy, Adrian and Caspar. I’d told them it was urgent and they’d all answered the call, no questions asked and hardly any grumbling, even though only a couple of them were early risers and I’d woken the others from their beauty sleep.

  A surprised but delighted Lewis Brue had rung earlier, to make sure Rabbit had got it right. Kept the conversation deliberately vague, in case my phone had been compromised. He asked what had changed my mind. I told him I’d thought about my future on the drive back, decided the status quo wasn’t for me, that it was time to take a punt and shake up my life. He seemed to buy that. Didn’t ask any questions about my lodger. Didn’t ask to speak with her. Thank Christ.

  “You could do with painting your ceiling,” Mickey Goodnews told me, coming back from the fridge with a beer. “It’s flaking. People are going to see the dust in your hair, assume you have dandruff.”