mirror of
https://gitlab.silvrtree.co.uk/martind2000/booksnew.git
synced 2025-01-11 04:35:11 +00:00
559 lines
29 KiB
HTML
559 lines
29 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
|
||
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN"
|
||
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
|
||
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en">
|
||
<head>
|
||
|
||
<title>19</title>
|
||
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="imperaWeb.css" />
|
||
<link rel="stylesheet" type=
|
||
"application/vnd.adobe-page-template+xml" href=
|
||
"page-template.xpgt" />
|
||
</head>
|
||
<body>
|
||
<div id="text">
|
||
<div class="section" id="xhtmldocuments">
|
||
<h1>19</h1>
|
||
|
||
<p>They had to move the stuff and fast. It should have been out of Levenford by now, long gone, but for the fact
|
||
that the engineers had found a bend in the prop shaft of the Valkyrie and that set Lars back at least four
|
||
days. Four days in the rising heat of the town was four too long as far as Jack was concerned. Big Angus
|
||
Baxter was good and eventually he’d come sniffing around. No doubt at all about that now.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>They just had to be clean and clear when he did.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"They'll find the tankers," he told Jed and Ed on the way out towards the east of town to pick Tam up. He
|
||
wanted a lift with his tools for a weekend home job. He always kept his eye on the next contingency in case
|
||
the big plan fell on its face. In his view, that was not an unlikely scenario.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p> "It's a miracle they've not been discovered before now, so we'll have to find somewhere else to stash the
|
||
stuff."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Easier said than done," Ed said. "The only place to put it is in another couple of tankers."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"We could pump it back and hope they don't notice," Jed offered and they all laughed, but they knew they were
|
||
in trouble.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"We need to store it for a couple of days. Eventually Baxter will get round to checking out every twelve
|
||
wheeler that comes in and out of the place. The decoys are good, but if anybody looks under those
|
||
tarpaulins, then we're all down the tubes."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Jed turned the beat-up yellow Skoda in at the far side of the building site where a whole block of little
|
||
brick houses were being thrown up on the wide flat wasteland of the old engineering factory that used to
|
||
employ three thousand souls in its heyday. Most of the site workers were clocking off early for the
|
||
weekend.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Where is he? I told him to be ready to move."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>A couple of dirt-encrusted cars passed by in convoy on the access road as the workers clocked off, sending up
|
||
little whirlwinds of dust and grey cement powder.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"I know where he'll be," Jack said. "I caught him skiving with a couple of noodie books the last time I was
|
||
here."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>He pointed over to the enclosure where the big moulded-resin tanks were stacked like monstrous children's
|
||
blocks.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>They piled out of the car and went across the strip of ground. Most of the joiners and brickies were gone by
|
||
now, leaving that distinct unfinished building site smell of tar and cut wood and diesel oil. Jack and Ed
|
||
carefully climbed up on the giant staircase of the tanks and peered down.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Bowie, you're <em>fired</em>," Ed bawled, and Tam came awake with a dreadful start.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"What the fu....?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>They burst out laughing and jumped down into the hollow where Tam had been napping.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Rip van Bowie," Ed said. "You could sleep standing up."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"So would you if you worked as hard as me." Tam rubbed his eyes. One side of his face was bright red where it
|
||
had faced the sun and that told them he'd been bunking off in the makeshift shelter for most of the
|
||
afternoon.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Lazy git. No wonder you can never get a plumber when you need one."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>They clambered back up and over the pile and down to where Jed waited in his stock-car.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Don't tell me," he said. "He was zedding it, right? Out for the count."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"You could hear the snores across town." Jed started the engine and the pair of them piled in the back. Jack
|
||
had turned back and was facing in the opposite direction. Jed gave the horn a toot.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Has he lost something?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Jack slowly swivelled and came back to the car.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Tam. What's the score with this place at the weekend? Is it busy?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"No. Maybe a couple of roofers and glaziers on the other side, and some of the plasterers will get some
|
||
double time on the houses that are nearly finished. Everybody else will be at the match."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Ed came out of the car and stood beside him.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"You've got that look in your eye again."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"I think I've just seen the answer to the problem." For the first time that day, Jack Lorne seemed to be
|
||
happy about something.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"And we might just get away with it."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Old Tim Farmer came back two hours past midnight on the Saturday morning and almost gave Ed Kane a heart
|
||
attack. That was after Donny showed up and after five of them had sneaked into the transport park and got
|
||
the disguised tankers out through the big gates.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Donny was in a real mess.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>The found him soaked to the bone and limping up the towpath, one side of his face swollen to twice its normal
|
||
size and a shirt stained a deep rosy pink where the blood had washed into it. "What the hell happened to
|
||
you?" Ed had asked, stopping him on the track. "You look like you walked in front of a bus?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Donny tried to keep walking, tried to turn away so they wouldn't see the bruises. Jack put an arm round his
|
||
shoulder and felt him shiver violently despite the mildness of the evening.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>He groaned at the pressure.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Come on, Don. What's the score?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Bastards," Donny grunted, chittering with the chill.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Jack and Ed got him into the van and took him straight to Sandy's house.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Foley had hit him, back of the knuckle stuff, hard on the mouth, and his lip had split like a ripe tomato.
|
||
Cullen had him by the hair, pulling his head back so that his face was an easy target. Ferguson still held
|
||
the welder's wand, clicking the trigger on and off.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"So you and your teardrops swiped a tank-load of whisky, but you don't know where it is, that's what you're
|
||
telling me?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Donny tried to nod against the tight burn of Cullen's grip.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Foley slapped him again, easy meaty thuds. Ferguson touched the wand to the table and made the bolt leap in a
|
||
bluster of sparks.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"I'll put your fucking eye out with this."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Stick his head in the vice," Foley said. "You see Goodfellas? Put his head in and turned the handle. His
|
||
fucking eye popped out. It would give you the puke."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Ferguson turned to Foley, momentarily diverted. He stared at him a while.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"That was Casino," Cullen said.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"What the fuck is wrong with your mouth? You want to put a zip on it. Maybe a padlock, even. Christ, I can
|
||
weld your trap shut just as quick."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>They made no reply. This was Ferguson's show.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"You and that smart cunt Jake Lorne and a bunch of losers. You hooked into Aitkenbar and went walkabout with
|
||
a tank of high tension and you don't fucking know where it is?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"No. Honest to god," Donny was panting against the pain and the taste of blood at the back of his throat.
|
||
"Jack said it was need to know stuff. Just in case we got caught. It was just him. Christ knows where it is
|
||
now."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Ferguson sparked the gear. The sizzle reflected in his eyes.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"You want me to pop a ball for you? That what you want?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Donny shook his head, despite the hurt it cost. "God's honest. He just drove it away."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"So where did you get the stuff you were trading down the quayside?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"In the drain. I stuck a big plastic bottle down there. All the rest was going to go in the river, so I just
|
||
took some. The others never knew. It was just a bit extra."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Ferguson turned to the heavies. "See you guys? You never think of a scam like that. All muscle and gristle
|
||
you are. Right. Get him out of here and make sure he keeps that trap shut."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>He leant over the old desk top and jammed the metal up close to Donny's face. The smell of burned metal was
|
||
sour and heavy.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"I see you again, Ginger pubes, and you get this torch up your arse. I'll cure your constipation for good,
|
||
know what I mean? I hear you've blabbed, the same goes."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Cullen hauled him backwards. Donny grunted. Ferguson held a hand up.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Oh, now that I remember. Who's the Irishman?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"What Irishman?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Foley slapped him casually. "Mr Ferguson asks the questions. You do the answers."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Donny held his breath, scared to talk, scared not to.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Who's the fucking Irishman who backed him up against me. The one with the shooter? What is he? IRA? UDA?
|
||
Family or what?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"I don't know any Irishman," Donny said truthfully. "He never told me."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Keeps you well in the dark, does our Jake. More need-to-know stuff? I find out you're lying and you won't
|
||
like what I'll do to you. Got the picture?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>They slammed him in the van again and Foley got in with him while Cullen drove out of the yard and along to
|
||
the station on the west side of town before taking the curve of the road that went down towards the river
|
||
and the little warren of streets and alleys off the main drag. It was late and it wasn't quite dark, though
|
||
the sun was low and just behind the Cardross hills out to the west. Down by the river it was shadowed and
|
||
silent.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Foley hauled him out and the pair of them dragged him, a hand clamped over his mouth, along the old cobbles
|
||
to the shadow under the bridge where they had come across Tig Graham drinking the whisky. </p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Cullen pushed him back against the railing, shoving so hard he thought he heard his spine creak with the
|
||
pressure. Foley dug fast knuckles right into his belly and all the air exploded out. The punch drove in
|
||
against skin and flesh stretched taut and Donny felt something rip. He grunted, unable to cry out and Foley
|
||
hit him again, hooking up between his legs, catching him right on the left testicle. The explosion of pain
|
||
was so sudden, so great, that Donny's teeth clenched together in a violent spastic snap.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Cullen's fingers just happened to be in the way and the teeth crunched right to the bone.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>He let out a howl that echoed all across the river and reverberated from the unseen bridge arches, and Donny
|
||
felt the fingers drag out from his teeth. A new taste of blood hit his tongue.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"You bastard!" Cullen's other arm slammed against his shoulder. "Fucking bit me."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>The blow was just enough. Donny was bent so far over the rail that the force against his shoulder just tipped
|
||
the balance. For a moment another huge screech of pain twisted in his back just above the thin part at his
|
||
pelvis and then his legs were in the air, feet lifting higher and he toppled towards the water.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Get him," Cullen bawled. Foley snatched for the rising legs, got a hand to an ankle. Cullen's free hand, the
|
||
one that wasn't now between his own teeth, being sucked tenderly, caught Donny by the calf, but not fast
|
||
enough, not tightly enough. Donny was up and over sliding down the hand-smoothed railing bar. Something
|
||
gripped him at the heel and he felt his weight stop and judder. </p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Weighs a fucking ton," Foley growled. Another hand made a grab for Donny's knee and Donny kicked out at it,
|
||
squirming, suddenly desperate to get away at all costs. His flailing heel caught Foley right on the eye and
|
||
raised a grotesque soft bruise that instantly purpled. Foley grunted, swore, hauled at him.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>His boot came off. It just popped off as Foley tried to drag him up and over the bar and Donny's own momentum
|
||
carried him down, tumbling into the dark.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>He hit the water with a numbing crack and five feet below that, drove into the silty bed with a soft,
|
||
smothering squeeze and for a moment all movement stopped.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Where'd he go?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Fucked if I know."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>The fading sun didn't reach under the bridge. Ten feet below them, the water at flow tide was dark, almost
|
||
black. The sounds of the splash faded away and the fast current carried the foam and ripples down with
|
||
it.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"He'll drown," Cullen said.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"I could care less."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Don't come the cunt, arsehole. He kicks it and we're in the shit."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Not me. Never saw him, don't know him. Never met him."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Well, for a start, you better get rid of that fucking boot."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Foley looked at it, shrugged, let it fall into the water.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Will that do?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"You better be right."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Down in the water all he could hear was the ripple of the current over the bricks and stones and bottles,
|
||
thrown in by generations of drunks and small boys. Above him a thin crescent moon wavered in and out of
|
||
existence, and as the motion turned him over, he saw the two dark shapes leaning out from the rail, until
|
||
the fine silt of his impact rose in a cloud and obscured everything. The river rolled him down along the
|
||
slick side of the quay wall. For a second his one boot snagged on a brand new supermarket trolley, but he
|
||
was too numbed to panic. The boot came free and he drifted out from under the bridge moving faster as the
|
||
flow quickened. His groin ached and his back hurt, but the chill was leaching the pain away and down here in
|
||
the dark it was cold, but somehow hazy and comforting.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>He surfaced forty yards down while Foley and Cullen still bent over the railing further up at the bridge. A
|
||
couple of swans powered themselves out of reach, hissing in fright as he gasped for breath, glided away like
|
||
ghosts, and he was past them, heading towards the Clyde as the numb cold of the river water began to drain
|
||
the heat from him. A hundred yards down the river shallowed at the old ford, and if the tide had been any
|
||
higher Donny would have been carried right on past the town, drawn on the flow beyond the old boatyard at
|
||
the sandy point where the rest of them had talked about the danger that Inspector Angus Baxter posed.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>As it was, the tide was just low enough now and he got his feet to the slippery rocks and half crawled, half
|
||
stumbled across the current, towards the high wall at the far side, spluttering and gasping now with cold
|
||
and exhaustion and the aftermath of fear. When he reached the other bank he stopped and held on to an old
|
||
iron boat ring, trying to get his breath back. It took him twenty minutes to cross the water, and another
|
||
ten to climb the slippery stairs that led up to the towpath, and had begun to stumble homewards when out
|
||
from the trees two shadows suddenly loomed and for a moment he thought he'd been caught all over again.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>They needed the van again and Willie McIver was glad enough to take another cash donation. If they were
|
||
caught, he'd say it was stolen and apart from that deal, he wanted to know no more. It was none of his
|
||
concern.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Neil hauled the pump around and waited for them behind the workmen's hut. When they arrived, they just looked
|
||
like two big covered container wagons and their passing made the ground tremble. Jed went ahead, reversed
|
||
expertly, and slowly backed the first vehicle across the hard-pack mud and dirt on the edge of the building
|
||
site until he reached the stack of tanks.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Will they take the weight?" he asked.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Sure they will," Tam assured him. "They're epoxy resin and PVC. They can take two hundred pounds a square
|
||
inch before they rupture. They have to be tough in case they ice up."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Tam had assured Jack that the big water sumps would not be used for weeks, when the diggers would come in and
|
||
excavate the drainage pits for the second phase of the project. Neil backed the van and pump up on the far
|
||
side, away from prying eyes and the old watchman who was half asleep on the other end of the site, and the
|
||
bulk of the sumps hid the noise of the little engine.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>The whisky began to flow, gallon by gallon, barrel by barrel, for more than an hour, each minute racking up
|
||
the tension and the chances of being caught in the open, caught in the act, and after that, Jed got into the
|
||
cab and reversed in again to repeat the process. They filled six of the sumps to the brim and Tam used a big
|
||
steel chuck key to fit the coin-shaped lids back on. Jack slathered them first in epoxy glue that would bind
|
||
them tight in an hour. After that, the only way in or out was to cut a hole in the sides.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p><em>Hide them in plain sight.</em> You couldn't get any plainer than this. Half the labourers on the site
|
||
would be passing by here or climbing over to dodge work for a half hour. It was a risk, maybe a big risk,
|
||
but Jack thought that for a couple of days more, they could take it. Maybe it was all the other ends of the
|
||
strings he was holding that tired his brain out, but he had run out of ideas. This was as good a place as
|
||
any, and because Tam was on site all the time, they could keep an eye on it. The rest of them could come
|
||
strolling through in denim jackets and workers' boots and pass for any one of the sub-contractors mates.
|
||
Building sites were like that.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Ed and Jack dropped the others off and went round to old Tim Farmer's house to pick up the mail, close to ten
|
||
thirty when the sun was just sliding down to the curve of Cardross Hill, turning the sky a deep red that
|
||
held the promise of a fine bright morning.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"What's all this stuff," Ed asked as they sneaked up the garden path, screened by the tall bushes.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Phase four," Jack told him.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"How many phases has this scam got?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Jack laughed. "Getting to the end-game soon."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Okay," Ed conceded. "You've got a buyer. But the last time we were here, we picked up a whole bunch of
|
||
stuff. Different names too. You're up to something."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Just diversions," Jack said, appreciating the compliment. He began to roll down the woolly hat until it was
|
||
over his eyes. Ed was sharp, totally wasted shoving barrels in the distillery. So far Jack's judgement had
|
||
been right. He <em>could</em> use Ed Kane. "We have to keep several jumps ahead of everybody, try to figure
|
||
them out two, three steps down the line. That way, when things go wrong, you can't get taken completely by
|
||
surprise."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"You can't think of everything," Ed said, tucking his own hat down. He was on his knees, feeling for the
|
||
string through the letterbox. His fingers found it and he drew it out. "There's always something you haven't
|
||
thought of."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>He slotted the key in the door and they both sneaked inside, closing it behind them, walking softly through
|
||
the back kitchen and down the darkened hallway.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Without any warning at all a light clicked on, leaving them totally exposed.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"What the hell...?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Old Tim Farmer stood at the top of the stair in a dressing gown.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"What the fuck do you want?" His voice was high and shrill and his white legs stuck down like
|
||
matchsticks.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Oh shit," Ed said, with great feeling. "Bet you never thought of that!"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Up on the stair, Tim Farmer was raising the long barrel of a shotgun. Jack caught the motion and
|
||
instinctively dragged Ed back, his heart leaping right into his throat.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Is that you McLaren?" Farmer's voice was even higher. "That bitch of yours isn't here. She cleaned me right
|
||
out."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Jack jerked Ed back and the pair of them hit the wall and just then he saw it wasn't a gun. Farmer was
|
||
holding an old walking stick in one hand. The other one reached out and snatched a big vase from a stand
|
||
beside the window and the old man slung it down at them. It caught Ed on the shoulder and smashed against
|
||
the wall. Ed yelped.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Get out of here and don't come back and if I see that gold-digging bloody wife of yours I'm going to call
|
||
the police."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p> Jack almost laughed with relief. He pulled Ed away, crunching the fragments of pottery underfoot, and the
|
||
pair of them scuttled for the kitchen and out into the air, leaving the old man still bawling from the
|
||
stairhead.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Dead right you are. I never thought of <em>that</em>."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"That old man, he ran away with some bird?" Ed was scrambling through the hedge behind Jack. "No wonder you
|
||
never expected him back. He should have had a thrombo by now."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>They got out the far side and down the small slope to where they had parked the van, got in quickly and sped
|
||
away.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Jack stopped laughing. "I thought he had a shot gun. No kidding, I thought that was it for the pair of
|
||
us."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Ed rubbed his shoulder. "Skinny old bugger. Nothing wrong with his aim, though."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"You'd think at least one bloody thing would go right without any problems," Jack said. "Just when you think
|
||
you've hit bottom, some loonie throws you an anchor."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Ed had to agree. "No matter which way you ride, it's uphill and into the wind."
|
||
"All we have to think of is how to get the mail out of there. Any ideas?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"You're the ideas man, Jake. I just do the lifting. You'll think of something."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>In the light of day, it was Ed who came up with the idea, but that was after the pair of them realised their
|
||
troubles were only beginning. Just along the road they came across Donny Watson stumbling up from the
|
||
towpath.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>He was chilled to the bone, shivering like a child. Jack's uncle put a big quilt round him in the kitchen and
|
||
fed him a mixture of hot chocolate and the cream liqueur he was selling to the women at the bowling club
|
||
dances.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Take your time with that," he said. " You'll get drunk and scalded at the same time."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Donny's face was pumped up swollen and he listed to the side, cradling some part under his ribs that was
|
||
causing him pain. The mud and the blood on his shirt had merged into a flesh-coloured stain on his
|
||
chest.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Tell us what happened, son," Sandy encouraged. "Somebody had a good go at you."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Ferguson," Donny managed to get out in a shuddery breath. "Him and Seggs Cullen and that nutter Foley. I'm
|
||
sorry Jake."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Don't worry Donzo. That lunatic. After all this time I thought he'd forgotten about it."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Not Ferguson," Sandy said. "He's a stoat." Ed nodded agreement.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"No, not that, Jake." Donny's face crumpled and he coughed, sending a spasm though him. "I had to tell him.
|
||
He had a welders lance. Jesus, he was going to stick it right in my eye."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Sandy put an arm round him. "You're okay now son. Take it easy."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Tell him what?" Jack had gone very still, so still that Ed felt it.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"God, man. Jack, I'm really sorry. I thought it would be okay, just a couple of bottles. No harm in it. What
|
||
you don't know can't hurt you."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p><em>What you don't know will </em>always<em> hurt you</em>. Hadn't he told them all?</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"No harm in what, Donny?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"I had to tell him." Donny lifted his head and looked Jack right in the eye, held it for a moment and then
|
||
flicked to Sandy.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"That's all right Donny. You can tell him what you tell me. So what did you tell Ferguson?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"I had to tell him about the whisky, Jake. Christ, he was going to skewer me. They took me down to the
|
||
scrappie's and he had this thermic lance. It would put a hole in you."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"I know what a lance does," Jack said. He put his fingers to his temples, closed his eyes. It was all coming
|
||
unravelled. Sudden anger at Donny flared up inside him and he squeezed down on it, damping it away.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Let the boy tell it," Sandy said softly.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"How did he know what to ask."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Donny turned back to him, looked up and then dropped his eyes.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"I punted some of the stuff. God, Jake, I'm really sorry. I never meant it to happen, but I got mad, you
|
||
know? When you tore me up in front of the guys. I got a bit pissed and I took the buckshee stuff."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"What buckshee stuff?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"I stuck a container in the pipe to catch some."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Oh shit." Jack breathed out. Ed bit his lip. If Ferguson knew, then they really were in it, chin deep and on
|
||
tiptoe. </p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Honest Jake. I never thought."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"No." What else was there to say? Jack's words dried up as he saw the whole plan going down the stank.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"I thought it would be okay. It was going to waste, you know? God, I was just mad after that time on the
|
||
boat. I got pissed and stupid and I fucked up." The three of them watched him, let him run on. "They got me
|
||
down on the quay and slammed me in the van and next thing I'm in a shed at the scrap yard. He put this thing
|
||
up to my eye and said he was going to burn it out."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Bastard," Jack said through his teeth. "I knew he was going to be trouble."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"I'm sorry Jake. They kicked the shit out of me and then I was in the river. I don't know how I got away, but
|
||
I crossed at the ford and then I met you guys. I think they bust my ribs again."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>He coughed hard, holding his side down at his hip, and a little trickle of blood oozed out of this mouth and
|
||
trickled down his chin.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>The spasm passed and he shuddered again.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Jack's moment of anger peaked and then oozed away, like Donny's trickle of blood. There was no point in
|
||
holding on to it. What was done was done.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Okay man. You had to tell him."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>He moved round the table and sat next to Donny, clamped a hand round his shoulder and drew him right close.
|
||
<em>Donny! Crazy schmuck!</em></p>
|
||
|
||
<p>They'd been friends longer than he could remember, since playschool days. Before that even, just babies, just
|
||
kids, toddling together, all the way through school together. Friendship and history counted, Jack realised,
|
||
friendship and history and the whole of their lifetimes. He'd ignored Donny's fast mouth and death-wish
|
||
craziness, never analysing it. He knew now. He'd given Donny the easy tasks because he wasn't the brightest
|
||
spark, not the sharpest. That was something he'd never consciously thought, never had to consider. He'd
|
||
brought him in because he was a mate, and loyalty was the thing, and he should never have humiliated him
|
||
down at the boat. </p>
|
||
|
||
<p>He clapped him around the shoulder.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Don't worry about it old son. If he'd come at me, I'd have told the bastard." Donny was shuddering and Jack
|
||
knew he was crying now, from pain and fright and shame.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>He looked past him at Ed, at his uncle. "Can we keep him here tonight?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Better here that anywhere else."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Okay mate. Come on. You get the good bed and I get the hard couch. Come on and get these wet clothes
|
||
off."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"I never meant it," Donny whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"I know that Donzo. You don't have to tell me that."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>It was well past midnight, and the three of them sat in the kitchen. Sandy had poured them all a cold beer
|
||
when Jack came back down.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"He's sleeping. Those two animals gave him a doing."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"It's about time we sorted them right out," Ed said. </p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Yeah. Later. We'll have to think of something."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"That's the second time you said that tonight," Ed said, and Jack managed an arid laugh.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"That's me. The man with the plans. Except I'm running out." He closed his eyes, rubbed them with his
|
||
thumbs. </p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Ferguson's going to come after you," Sandy said. "Sure as night follows day."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"I know that. I'll just have to stay out of his way for a couple of days. That's all I need. And all you need
|
||
to get the business sorted out."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"What business is that?" Ed asked.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"I'll tell you everything tomorrow, the point of this whole thing. You need to know now. We have to think
|
||
about Ferguson, you and me. And Tam and Jed. Neil's no scrapper and Donny's had the guts pulled out. But
|
||
Ferguson, he could screw up the whole thing, so it's a real game of chess now. I'll have to figure out his
|
||
moves. Be diplomatic."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Sandy laughed. "I told you before. Being diplomatic means saying <em>nice doggie</em> and getting ready to
|
||
hit with a half brick."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"I know. What did you think I meant?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Ed came in. "You reckon you can outguess him?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"We don't do that, he'll carve us up or put us in jail, and we lose everything."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"I thought I was going to lose it tonight," Ed said, and he laughed. Sandy looked from one to the other,
|
||
eyebrows raised.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"What happened?"</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"I'll tell you tomorrow as well. Right now by head's full of mince and broken bottles. I need some sleep.
|
||
Tomorrow, Ed, you and me, we're up the city, get a couple of things sported out, see a couple of people.
|
||
Sandy, you better get yourself up and see DJ and the boat boys."</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Sandy took off his tammy hat and ran his fingers through his dark tousled hair.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Ed whistled.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"Nice colour Mr B. It takes years off you."</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
</div>
|
||
</body>
|
||
</html>
|