by Paul Jones
Mike chipped in. ‘They stole them off some lad in Llandudno who happens to be a mule for the Wilkinsons who in turn work for the Liverpool mob.’
Phil stiffened as if he was having a heart attack. ‘Oh, shit, they never told me about that the stupid, greedy…’ He clasped his nose between his fingers.
‘What?’ Geoff asked.
Phil stood up and paced about the room frantically.
‘What, Phil? For God’s sake spit it out.’
Phil tried to compose himself. ‘I’m afraid I have a bit of a confession lads.’
Everyone braced themselves for another rollercoaster ride. Phil sat back down again.
‘For the last month or two, Tom, Charlie and this chap Nigel have been operating a secret vigilante group service all of their own. And I’ve been supplying them with the necessary information to apprehend these criminals.’
‘You, what.’ Geoff roared.
Now that he’d dropped the bombshell, Phil proceeded to come clean with everything.
‘After that merciless beating I took near the Boulevards that night, something snapped in me, and I decided then and there that things needed to change. Someone had to do something to teach all these degenerates out on the street some respect. Someone had to restore some law and order back into this town. Then Tom and Charlie paid me a visit one day not so long after you were all here to talk about starting a team. They told me they were forming their own vigilante group to provide a service to victims of crime. It was their way of making a bit of extra money on the side, after all, times are hard and we’re all deep in a recession. At that time I had no problem with that.
‘You had no problem with that?’ Mike scoffed.
‘Mike, let him finish,’ Geoff hushed him.
‘I didn’t get any payment for that by the way, and I swear I had no idea about the drugs they stole, otherwise I would have pulled out of it straight away. Anyhow, this is how it worked. All the criminals who we targeted had either been charged or just reported, so I could access names and addresses on file with the computer at work. And then I simply passed on the information to Tom and Charlie, and they did the rest. Tom even got his girlfriend Karen in on it. She acted as their representative to set up meetings with the victims and then collect payment off them once the service had been provided. It was as simple as that.’
‘Christ, Phil, do you know what would happen if you got caught doing that?’ Geoff said.
Phil eyed him coldly. ‘I know, but I thought it was worth taking the risk at the time.’
Geoff and the team just sat there numbed, then Brad asked curiously, ‘so how did they get away with dishing out this justice without getting caught themselves?’
‘During the day, they wore beanie hats and sunglasses, and at night balaclavas! But getting back to the story, after their very last victim, remember the guy in the papers recently who got savaged by the Rottweilers for throwing the kitten to the pitbulls? The dogs belonged to Nigel by the way, after that I said that’s it. No more, it’s getting a bit too risky now.’
‘Christ, Phil, I can’t believe what I’m hearing, not from you, a respectable copper,’ Geoff said.
‘I am still a respectable copper, Geoff, that’s why I wanted to give these low-lives a taste of their own medicine, and issue others with a warning that their yobbish behaviour won’t be tolerated anymore. I wanted to put a stop to these mindless crimes and make this town safe enough for people to be able to walk down the streets again.’
‘But, Phil, that’s what we all thought at the very beginning, remember? But look where it’s got us.’
‘Yeah, but this has only happened because of Tom and Charlie’s greed, without that nobody ever would have known,’ Phil replied.
Geoff just sat there staring at him, trying to come to terms with it all. Brad on the other hand wanted answers. ‘So what do we do now?’
Geoff took a deep breath. ‘Well, we have two choices, fight or flight. We can fight and end this thing once and for all, or we go our separate ways today, cut our loss and hope for the best. We sacrifice our mates’ and spend the rest of our days looking over our shoulders. What do you think?’
Guy sneered. ‘Why don’t we let one of them fight, it was them who got us into this mess?’
Mike glowered at him. ‘So you suggest that we turn our backs on them and forget about it. Bury our heads in the sand and hope it will go away?’
Geoff took over. ‘Thing is we could have done that last night when you phoned us about what was happening. We all could have said forget it, let them sort it out themselves, after all that is what they wanted. But we didn’t do that, did we? No, we jumped straight into our cars and came to our team mates’ aid, we were all willing to risk our lives to help them just as they would have done for us. No, the time to turn our backs was last night. I believe we have already made our choice.’
Everyone listened, but no one seemed to agree just yet.
‘That’s the pact we made when we formed the team. That’s the sacrifice we’ve made and now we have to see it through.’
Suddenly Mike had an idea, and cut in. ‘What if we pay back the fifteen grand between us, then there would be no fight?’
Geoff was dubious, but it was worth a try. ‘Can we raise that sort of cash between us all?’
The rest of the team gave manageable shrugs, so Geoff ordered Mike to get on his mobile to call Snoopy and find out. And while they waited they discussed the dreaded possibility of who was going to have to fight.
‘It’s got to be me, hasn’t it?’ Geoff snorted.
‘No way, Geoff you’re not doing it. None of you are.’ Phil put his foot down. ‘Sod the job, let me get the Serious Crime Squad on it?’
Geoff shook his head. ‘There’s not enough time, Phil, and besides, if it all goes pear-shaped, they might come after us and our families, and that’s something I just couldn’t live with. If we can pay them off great, if not then what?’
Geoff cut-off as Mike reappeared. The look on his face wasn’t very encouraging.
‘If we want to buy our way out, it’ll be fifty grand.’
‘Fifty grand,’ everybody cried. ‘Why fifty grand?’
‘Because that’s how much they are expecting to make out of this fight. Even if we paid back the money they’re still a man short for the fight, and they can’t let all their punters down.’
Geoff threw up his arms in defeat. ‘Well, that’s it then, we’re screwed.’
‘Geoff, don’t do it, there’s got to be another way,’ Phil pleaded.
‘Like what? If I don’t do it, they’ll make one of the others fight so nothing’s going to stop it, is it?’
Phil began to panic. ‘Just give me the chance to handle it with the police, it’s worth a try, don’t you think?’
But Geoff didn’t agree. ‘Listen, Phil, if one of them got killed in this fight, I would spend the rest of my life knowing that I had a better chance of winning than they did, and I let them down. I’m the most experienced fighter, I’m supposed to be the instructor. Deep down I would feel like a traitor and a coward, and I don’t think I could ever respect myself after that, no matter what they’ve done. Every time I go to sleep at night, I would see their faces. Every time I looked in the bathroom mirror first thing in the morning, I would see them staring right back at me.’
Everyone fell silent thinking about what Geoff had said, everyone except Phil who could only shake his head at this utter lunacy. Mike dared to break the silence.
‘So do you want me to call and tell them yes?’
Geoff looked across at him. ‘We’ve still got a few more hours before the deadline. Let me talk to Will first.’
*
Geoff arrived at Will’s and pressed the bell to his flat. Right now, Will was probably his last hope of finding a solution to this lethal situation. Standing there outside he felt like a patient with terminal cancer waiting to see a specialist, and praying that h
e would hear some good news. He pressed the door bell again, and tapped his foot on the step impatiently – still no answer.
‘Shit,’ he raged. ‘Will, don’t be out now for God’s sake. Why is it whenever you need someone in an emergency, that’ll be the only time you can’t get hold of them?’
Desperately, he tried to reach him on the mobile and discovered to his disbelief that Will’s phone had been switched off.
‘I don’t believe this,’ he shrieked, looking skyward for some divine assistance. Busily, he tapped in a text message for Will to contact him ASAP.
Jumping back in his car, he sat there for a second, his hands gripping the steering wheel with such force that he felt it would snap off. The pre-fight nerves had already begun, and the adrenalin had started to flow. Sitting there all alone, Geoff felt scared, and he tried to remember what Will had taught him about fear and what it actually meant. To combat it, he breathed in and out through his nostrils, and that seemed to help. But what he really needed right now was Jan his wife. He needed her company, and he needed her reassurance.
‘I’ve got to tell her,’ he said. ‘I can’t keep this to myself anymore. It’s not fair on me, and it’s not fair on her. But what if she blows everything to the police? Maybe if I don’t mention the death match to her. Shit,’ he cried, and started up the car.
CHAPTER 23
Back at home in his kitchen, Geoff told Jan everything except for the drugs, and the death fight. In response Jan just stood there mouth agape.
‘Are you crazy? Geoff, you’re acting like an immature yob.’
Geoff got ready to batten down the hatches and ride out the storm of the century.
‘A fight, you’re going to take part in an illegal bare knuckle brawl just to sort out this mess you’ve all gotten yourselves into? Well, that certainly doesn’t sound like the great, honourable, law-abiding neighbourhood watch scheme you’ve been telling me about, does it?’
‘No it doesn’t,’ He replied sheepishly.
‘No, Geoff, this whole thing has got out of hand and it has to stop right now. You’re a respectable forty-year-old dispensing optician with a wife, and it’s time you started acting like it.’
‘But I’m going to stop it, Jan,’ Geoff pleaded. ‘As soon as this is all over that’s it, I’m done. But I can’t pull out of this one, I just can’t.’
‘Why can’t you? Why don’t you just say no, and if you get any hassle, then report them to the police.’
If only it was that simple, Geoff thought. ‘No, Jan, please just bear with me for this one, I can’t back out of it.’
‘Well, then there’s got to be more to it, hasn’t there?’
Geoff didn’t know what else to say, other than he had to protect her from the real truth.
‘Jan, just listen to me….’
‘No, Geoff, you listen to me? This is not happening, why the hell do you have to fight? Why does it have to be you?’
‘Because it’s my responsibility.’ Geoff threw up his arms helplessly. ‘I’m the head of the team.’
‘And when is this fight supposed to take place?’
‘Tomorrow night.’
‘New Year’s Eve, are you kidding me?’
Geoff didn’t answer her.
‘Oh, that’s great! Just great, not only are you going to risk getting seriously hurt in a stupid unlicensed fight, you’re doing it on one of the most celebrated nights of the year. This gets better and better.’
‘Jan, I swear to you after tomorrow night, that’ll be it, just please help me out until then?’
Jan dived for her leather handbag. ‘No, Geoff, I’m going to my mum’s, and if you want your wife back you better do some serious thinking. It’s me or the fight, you can’t have both. And don’t worry I won’t take your precious car, I’ll get Mandy from work to drive me there.’
Geoff followed her through to the front door. ‘Jan, for God’s sake, don’t be like this.’
Jan swung the front door open. ‘No, Geoff, the choice is yours – my mind is made up.’ Then she slammed it shut behind her.
Geoff snatched the door open, and called after her, but she ignored him.
Five minutes later, Geoff drove up beside her as she walked down Bryn Gosgol road.
Slowing the car to her walking pace, he tried desperately to make her see sense, but she ignored him.
‘Come on, Jan, you can’t walk all the way into town, at least let me drive you?’
‘Forget it, Mandy’s meeting me at the bottom of the road, so go back home and worry about your big fight.’
But Geoff stayed with his wife until Mandy arrived in her own raven-black motor. Without so much as a word to her husband Jan climbed straight in, and Geoff watched them drive off. Finally, he gave in to defeat. He sat there with the engine still running, his mind so cabbaged that he almost didn’t hear the bleeping text message received on his phone. For a second, he thought it might be Jan, but the message was from Will asking what was up?
‘Will, where the hell have you been?’ he cried with relief, and immediately sent a text back to let him know he was on his way over.
When he arrived at Will’s flat, Will, looking in high spirits, told Geoff that he and Stacey had been to the afternoon matinee at the junction cinema, which explained why his mobile was switched off. However, as soon as he heard the entire story of what had happened to Geoff and the team, Will’s face turned ashen.
‘A death match, are you serious?’ he cried.
‘I don’t have any choice, Will. If I don’t fight, they’ll probably kill Tom, and Charlie, and this other guy, or they’ll make one of them fight, and I have a better chance of winning than they do.’
‘A death match, Geoff, means to the death. Are you willing to risk you life, Jan, everything all because of these guy’s mistakes? Their mistakes, Geoff, not yours.’
Desolated, Geoff slumped on to Will’s couch and sank his head into his hands. ‘Will, what the hell do I do?’
Seeing that hounding him wasn’t going to help matters, Will elected to be a bit more tactful. ‘When is this fight supposed to take place?’
‘Tomorrow night, New Year’s Eve.’
Will sat on the window chair facing him. ‘Geoff, these guys are trained killers, they train like professionals, they have to because they know they can’t afford to lose. You’re nowhere near ready for a fight like that. For God’s sake don’t do it, I beg you?’
Geoff just sat there with his head moving from side to side.
‘How much do they owe?’ Will asked.
‘Tom and Charlie owe this gang fifteen grand, but they want fifty to buy our way out of the fight.’
‘Fifty, can’t get hold of that sort of money in twenty four hours.’
‘Where is the fight being held?’
Geoff shrugged. ‘Don’t know that yet.’
‘They’re probably keeping the location a secret for security reasons. ‘ Will then erupted with frustration. ‘Shit, I knew something like this was going to happen. When have you got to let them know by?’
Geoff emerged from behind his hands. ‘Six o’clock tonight.’
Will glanced at his faulty Seiko, and banged it with the tip of his fingers.
‘Shit, Geoff, what time is it now?’
Geoff had a peek at his mobile. ‘Five-thirty-one.’
‘Talk about short notice. Listen, Geoff, you can’t do this, tell them you’ll pay the fifteen grand and that’s it. I can get the cash for you, and then tell them to piss off.’
‘But what about Tom and Charlie?’
‘They got themselves into this scrape, they’ll have to get themselves out. It’s not your problem. You weren’t the one who stole the drugs, they did; you shouldn’t have to pay the price for that. Say no, and then go and pick up your wife.’
‘Is that really the right thing to do though, Will?’
‘No, Geoff, but in a life-threatening situation like this,
it’s the sensible thing to do. Remember, Geoff, ego? When someone pulls a knife on you and you have a clear path in front of you… RUN.’
Geoff flipped back in the couch, his face puffy and flushed.
‘It’s a lot easier said than done, Will.’
‘No, it isn’t, Geoff. It’s not your fight. Do you want to give everything up for a couple of idiots who were out just make a quick buck on the side? Isn’t your wife Jan more important to you? Do you really want to give all that up for them?’
Right now, Jan was the key word, the key meaning that made any sense amid this absolute madness. And the more Will drilled it into him, the more his resolve began to crumble until finally he could see that Will was right. So while he still possessed the courage, and the right frame of mind, Geoff called Mike to tell them that the fight was off.
When the call was done, it felt like a massive weight had been lifted off him. But then there was the guilt, and that began to chip away at his conscience almost immediately.
‘The lads will never forgive me for letting Tom, and Charlie down like that,’ Geoff groaned.
‘Yeah, but are any of them volunteering to fight?’
Geoff began dialling his mobile, ‘Just going to let Jan know she can come home, now I’ve cancelled the fight.’
Will gave him a bit of privacy.
Geoff growled irritably. ‘Can’t get hold of her, or she’s just being stubborn.’
‘Send her a text?’ Will suggested.
‘Naw, I want to tell her personally. I’ll give her a little longer to fume, then I’ll try again when I get home.’
Then it hit him once more. ‘Will, are you sure I’m doing the right thing?’
‘Why should an innocent man risk his life, and take the rap for a couple of greedy drug dealers caught up in a web of corruption? If they wanted to play the game, then they have to take the blame.’
Will was right, but Geoff knew that he was the one who was going to have to live with the guilt, and he was the one who would have to pay that price. Nevertheless, he stood up, and thanked Will for probably saving his life as well as his marriage.