The New Friend

by Alex Kane

  Jake thought about Mark and the familiar feeling of dread gripped him. It was always lurking in the background. Mark had been working for Cole too; that was how they’d met. The attraction between them was instantaneous. What had happened that night was an accident. People do stupid things when something bad happens, like allowing Cole to take control. And what happened after the accident was a bad judgement, on his part.

  The memories of those days in London flooded his vision and even when Jake closed his eyes, there was no way of stopping them as they played out. Jake had met Cole three years ago, in Glasgow, during a night at the pub with some of the lads from the shoplifting operation. They’d been successful in their latest haul and Jake had taken them out for a few beers. Cole had been in the pub that night and had approached Jake on the way to the toilets.

  ‘You’re Jake Cairney?’ The voice had come from behind him, at the top of the stairs, as Jake had made his way down to the ground floor where the toilets were – in the dingiest pub in the city. He’d chosen it because it was the only place that sold Buckfast on draught and most of his boys were Buckie drinkers.

  ‘Depends who’s asking,’ Jake had replied as he turned and caught the eye of the man with the thick London accent.

  They stood on the stairs, Cole at the top and Jake almost at the bottom. Staring. Sizing each other up. Then Cole started to make his way down, slowly but with a strong presence. Jake tensed for a moment but then remembered that his boys were just at the bar. If there was a commotion just a few feet away, then they’d hear it. They’d know their boss was in trouble.

  Just as Jake was about to ball his fist, Cole held out his hand. ‘Cole Woods.’

  Jake hesitated, glared down at Cole’s hand and then back to his face. He took Cole’s hand and shook firmly, as did Cole. He’d heard of Cole through the underworld grapevine. Drugs, violence, that sort of thing. And it had seemed that Cole knew who he was too.

  ‘I wanted to talk to you about something business-related,’ Cole said, letting go of Jake’s hand. ‘I’ve heard a lot about you, Jake, and how successful your drug business is up here in Glasgow, not to mention your little side business of designer gear robbery. I’m looking to open up my business from London to Glasgow and I think you’d be a perfect fit.’

  Jake turned his back and went into the toilets. Cole followed. Jake stood at the urinal, very aware of Cole behind him. The bathroom echoed the sounds of the lads laughing up at the bar. They wouldn’t hear Jake down here.

  ‘And what makes you think I’d work with a complete stranger?’ Jake asked as he tucked himself back in and headed towards the sinks.

  ‘Well, I’m not a complete stranger to you, am I? I’m in the same business as you. Drugs, shoplifting operations. But I need someone who can run things for me down south, get some runs on the go from there to here. I’ve been watching your crew for a while now and I’m impressed with their ability to be discreet.’

  Cole hadn’t moved in the time they’d gone into the toilets, kept his hands by his side. It was clear to Jake that he wasn’t a threat.

  Jake pulled a handful of paper towels from the dispenser and dried his hands. ‘You’ve been watching my crew?’

  ‘Yeah, your lot know what they’re doing. But they follow your lead, yeah?’

  Jake nodded as he chucked the wet paper towels in the bin and headed for the door. How had this guy come to know about Jake and the lads?

  ‘What are you doing in Glasgow anyway? Who you working for?’ Jake asked.

  ‘I work for myself,’ Cole said, before Jake could get a chance to question him further. ‘I was in that centre in town, what’s it called? Buchanan Galleries? I watched one of your lads doing his thing and I followed him out to the car park. He had a fucking grand’s worth of gear on him, all designer. Not one security guard stopped him. Not one member of the public even looked in his direction. Then he got to his car, and that’s when I followed him. I was going to ask him about it, how he managed to do it so subtly. But when he got to his destination at that plot of units within the industrial park, that’s when I saw that it was more than him. There were at least ten and I knew it was a team effort. Then I saw you. Listened as you talked, gave them instructions as they packed the gear into boxes. I was impressed that you were able to keep a group of lads like that in check and get them to do exactly what you said.’

  Jake raised a brow, surprised by Cole’s words. He’d been watching them and Jake hadn’t even known. That wasn’t something he was happy about. He’d taken his eye off the ball when it came to making sure they were discreet. The security guards at the centre may not have noticed the crew doing their job, but this Cole character had.

  ‘Aye, well, they’re a good team I’ve got,’ Jake said, before shaking his head. ‘So, what exactly is it you want again?’

  ‘Just think, if you and your boys can get away with lifting so much designer gear, think about how many kilos of drugs you could move around the country. Think of the money involved. Let’s talk about this over a drink?’

  Cole had taken Jake up to the bar and bought him and his boys a round of drinks before asking Jake to join him at a table where they could talk. Jake wished now he’d never agreed to that conversation, wished he’d never agreed to the deal. If he hadn’t gone anywhere near Cole, he’d never have met Mark. He remembered his first encounter with him, in a pub down in London. They’d sat together at a table, talked about the job. But they’d talked about other things too, and Jake felt like he could be normal around him because no one knew him in London. They’d clicked almost instantly and if it hadn’t ended so tragically, the memory would have made him smile.

  Jake opened his eyes and exhaled loudly, trying to breathe out the Images from his past. His mind was plagued with guilt.

  Getting rid of Cole Woods was the only way Jake could get on with his life. The idea of ending Cole terrified and exhilarated him in equal measure. But could he really do it?

  Jake Cairney wasn’t a coward and there was no way that he was going to leave behind a reputation that said he was.

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Eddie sank back into his seat at the opposite side of the table, in some little back street boozer away from the city and wondered what he’d managed to get himself into. Just before Arabella got out of prison, the worst thing he’d done was cheat on his girlfriend. Now he was in deep shit.

  DS Billy Drysdale leaned back in his seat too and looked ever so comfortable as he made Eddie squirm. All Eddie had been looking for was some excitement in his life. How the hell was he supposed to know that it would lead to this?

  ‘We’ve had Mr Woods under surveillance since he came back into the UK just some weeks ago. Police forces in London and here in Glasgow have been working together to bring him to justice. He’s a dangerous man, Mr Corrigan. And I have been watching your involvement with him. I’ve seen you offer up your vans to allow him to move his drugs freely around the city. I’ve watched you handle drugs packages from Mr Woods flat. I’ve even seen you out on a boozing session with Mr Woods and Mr Cairney. So, I will put it to you again, Mr Corrigan…’

  Eddie shook his head and looked down at his clammy hands.

  ‘I can either arrest you right now for your involvement with Woods and Cairney, or you can co-operate with our investigation into Woods and help us to bring him down. We have enough to bring him in, but we’re waiting for him to give us the bigger fish in this pond. He’s not producing himself, he’s buying in and we don’t know who from yet. If you help, in return, you will be offered anonymity and immunity from prosecution of any offences in relation to Woods.’

  Jesus fucking Christ, Eddie thought. How was he going to get around this? He was screwed either way.

  When he’d first met Jake and Cole and they’d gone that night to the casino, Eddie had been taken in by the money and the glamour. That was just the face of it all though; it ran a lot deeper than that. As deep as the shit running through the sewers. If Jake and Cole eve
r found out that he was in cahoots with the police, they wouldn’t hesitate to kill him; there would be nothing the police could do to protect him. And what about Arabella? They’d get to her too, surely.

  Grass, or go to jail. Just as Arabella was getting on her feet.

  Shit, shit, fucking shit!

  DS Drysdale kept his eye on Eddie the entire time, his arms folded as he sat back comfortably. ‘Come on, Mr Corrigan. I’ve not got all day.’

  Eddie shook his head but sat up straight. He’d made his decision.

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Opening the door, Cole saw Eddie standing there with a bottle of whisky in one hand and a pack of cans in the other.

  ‘Come in, mate,’ he said, standing aside to let Eddie inside. ‘What’s this all about then?’

  ‘Well,’ Eddie replied as he walked through the flat and into the small living room at the back; he avoided the back room where the drugs were being produced, ‘I thought since we’re business partners now, we should get to know each other a bit better.’

  Cole closed the door behind him and shrugged. ‘Fine by me, so long as you crack open that whisky and pour me some first.’

  Eddie smiled and placed the bottle on the coffee table. Cole went to the kitchen to get some glasses and took a deep breath. Everything was riding on this business deal with Eddie and Jake. It would earn him enough to hire that private investigator he’d looked into. The only problem he would have to face was keeping away from the casino, the online betting websites and the bookies. Surely he could do that in order to find out what happened to his brother.

  ‘Right then,’ Cole said, moving through to the living room and setting the glasses down on the table. ‘Let’s have some of that then.’

  Eddie nodded and poured two large measures of whisky. He raised his glass and Cole clinked his off Eddie’s.

  ‘Here’s to business,’ Eddie said.

  Cole smiled and downed his measure, before reaching over and cracking open a can.

  ‘So, I’m just going to be blunt here,’ Eddie said. ‘Is it true about you being a gambling addict?’

  Cole shot him a look, but was in awe of how openly and bluntly Eddie had said it. Cole needed someone like him on his team, not someone like Jake. A wet blanket who couldn’t face up to what he’d done. Jake used to be hard, fearless. Now all he cared about was his girlfriend finding out he’d been living as a closet gay who’d murdered his lover.

  ‘Ha,’ Cole laughed. ‘Blunt is your middle name, then? Yeah, I like a bet now and again.’

  Eddie took a mouthful of whisky. ‘I don’t mind the races myself. But I wouldn’t say it’s something that I’d obsess over. That’s what addiction is, isn’t it? Obsession about when you can do it next. Whether it’s drugs, booze, hookers, even gambling.’

  Cole narrowed his eyes. ‘You a therapist or something?’

  ‘Nah,’ Eddie replied. ‘I suppose I just know a fucked-up soul when I see one.’

  Those words hit Cole right between the eyes. Fucked up was definitely the correct terminology. His life had been one big fuck-up since he was just a young teenager. It had all started after his brother went missing. His mum had died of a broken heart after he’d disappeared, his dad was never around to begin with and his brother was the only one he’d ever been able to rely on.

  ‘Well,’ Cole said, reaching for the bottle of whisky, deciding that the beer just wasn’t going to cut it. ‘You’d be right. Jesus, maybe you should become a therapist. You’ve been in the flat five minutes and already you’ve worked it out.’

  Eddie didn’t reply, just sat back on the sofa and took another sip. Cole watched as Eddie looked around the flat. It was empty, aside from some furniture that came with the place and a TV in the corner. Cole wasn’t one for having sentimental things around him. No photographs. Those only reminded him of what was missing in his life. Gambling had become his escape and now, it had a grip on him. It had all turned him into someone he’d never planned to be. But it was the only things that kept him breathing. He couldn’t let go of life until he found out what happened to his brother.

  ‘That’s twice you’ve said “therapist”. Sounds as though you’ve got some stuff to get off your chest, mate,’ Eddie said.

  Cole glanced at his new partner. ‘And you think you’d be a good listener, do you? Kiss the bad dreams away?’ He laughed loudly then.

  ‘You got any mates up here in Glasgow, other than Jake, I mean?’

  ‘Ha, Jake’s not my mate. He’s a business partner, and even then he’s only in with me because he owed me a favour.’ Cole took a swig from his drink. ‘I’ve been back and forth to Glasgow a lot over the last few years. Have associates up here, but no mates. I tend not to get close to people, they end up leaving in the end.’

  Cole thought about his relationship with Jez Kennedy, before he’d stolen from him. There had almost been a friendship there. Cole had been closer to Jez than anyone since his brother. But the drive to find out what happened to him was stronger than his need to be friends with anyone. It was the one thing that drove Cole to keep living, but it was also the one reason why his head was so messed up.

  ‘Yeah, I sensed a bit of bad blood between you both.’

  ‘None of your business, mate.’

  ‘Hey,’ Eddie put his hands up. ‘I never said it was. Simply voicing an observation. So, you think the deal is going well then?’

  Cole nodded. ‘Of course it’s going well. That’s the other good thing about having Jake in on the deal; his sexy missus is in on it too.’

  ‘Roxanne?’ Eddie said. ‘You fancy her?’

  ‘She’s fiery. I like fiery. I think she could go a lot further in this business than her gay boyfriend,’ Cole said. He saw the flicker on Eddie’s face and an excitement stirred in him.

  ‘Gay?’

  ‘Yeah, as in full blown gay. He’s not come out of his closet yet. He’ll get to stay in there as long as he does exactly what he’s supposed to do.’ Cole took another glug of whisky and exhaled loudly.

  ‘How the hell do you know he’s gay?’ Eddie asked, his face contorted as though he didn’t believe Cole.

  ‘Because he murdered his gay lover when we were working together in London.’ Cole didn’t care who knew. What was Eddie going to do? Run and tell the police? Very doubtful.

  ‘Get to fuck! He murdered his gay lover?’ Eddie laughed.

  ‘I’m fucking serious, mate. I’ve got fucking video evidence to prove it.’

  Eddie’s eyes widened and his complexion paled. Now he believed Cole. Now he knew who he was working with. Then Cole stopped, glared at Eddie for a moment. He’d just revealed Jake’s dirty little secret. Not that it would do Cole any harm, but he wished he hadn’t said anything now. It was more fun when it was just Cole who knew. Maybe Eddie wouldn’t believe him.

  ‘Jesus, I didn’t think Jake was that kind of guy.’

  ‘What? A poof or a murderer?’ Cole slapped his knee and laughed loudly. ‘Look, each to their own and all that but he made his bed when he asked me to help him out of a sticky situation. I don’t allow folk to walk away from their debt, you know?’

  Cole looked at Eddie with a smile, a silent reminder that Eddie wouldn’t be able to walk away from Cole either.

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Eddie’s mind was buzzing from the information Cole had just revealed. He felt for the phone in his pocket. He’d put it on silent and had hit record before he’d got to the front door of Cole’s flat. He hoped it was still recording now.

  Pulling his hand away from his pocket, paranoid that Cole might notice and become suspicious, Eddie thought about Jake as a killer. Eddie struggled to see it in him, but if Cole said he had proof and that the reason Jake was in on the deal was because Cole had helped out with getting rid of the body then who was Eddie to argue?

  ‘Going to grab some crisps from the kitchen, you want any?’ Cole asked as he got to his feet. Eddie glanced up at him and nodded.

  ‘Aye,
cheers.’

  Cole left the room and as he headed through to the kitchen, Eddie noticed that he’d left his phone on the coffee table. It lit up with a text message and he couldn’t help but notice the image of the man that was Cole’s screensaver. Frowning, he cocked his head to one side to get a better look. It wasn’t Cole, obviously. Who would have a screensaver of themselves?

  The screen died and Eddie sat back in his original position when he heard Cole coming back from the kitchen. Looking up, he saw a bag of crisps flying through the air towards him. He caught it in his hands and pulled the bag open.

  ‘Your phone lit up by the way,’ Eddie said, crunching on a mouthful of crisps.

  Cole looked down and pressed the home button on the phone, shrugged and sank back on the sofa. He didn’t say anything about the text or the picture on the screen. Why would he? He barely knew Eddie; he wasn’t going to give anything up.

  ‘Was probably Jakey boy, checking things are all on track,’ Cole said. He sucked air in through his teeth before sinking back another half.

  ‘Why do you say that?’ Eddie asked. He narrowed his eyes and kept them on Cole. There was something on the tip of Cole’s tongue and Eddie wasn’t sure what was coming next.

  ‘He won’t want you to know he’s gay, or a killer. He doesn’t believe any of those things himself. He’s in denial. Has been since it happened. Poor bastard’s probably been gay his whole life but because of who he is, what he does for a living… well,’ Cole paused. ‘It doesn’t exactly go, does it? Gay gangster. He’s a dangerous bastard, Eddie. Don’t get too close to him. He might seem soft on the outside, but there’s a switch in there somewhere. That Mark, the lover, he flicked that switch. If I didn’t have footage of what happened that night, no one would even know Mark was dead.’