Take the A-Train

by Mark Timlin

  The room was too crowded with people for comfort. Lupus sat in the Capo’s chair behind the desk, sucking on a Havana. Jack Dark sat primly on an upright armchair in front of the desk, Ronnie’s bulk about filled the sofa and Teddy stood leaning against the wall by the window, smoking a cigarette. The room smelt of sweat and deceit and stale smoke.

  Christian pushed me inside, but not hard enough for me to retaliate. The four men already in the room looked at me, and I looked right back. ‘Hail, hail, the gang’s all here,’ I said. But they weren’t.

  Christian threw the shotgun on to the desk and scattered the shells around it. ‘Heavy artillery,’ he said. ‘Not friendly.’

  ‘Sharman,’ said Lupus, ignoring the gun, ‘we’ve been expecting you.’

  ‘Really?’ I said. ‘Did you bake a cake?’

  ‘Get on with it,’ said Jack Dark. ‘We’re not here for conversation.’

  ‘What are we here for then?’ I asked.

  ‘As if you didn’t know,’ said Dark.

  ‘I’m here to help Emerald, like I always was,’ I said.

  ‘And yourself,’ said Dark.

  These people had no concept of friendship. To them, friends were people you used, or who used you.

  ‘No,’ I said, ‘just Emerald.’

  ‘Bullshit!’ said Lupus. ‘People like you don’t give a shit for people like us. You smelt money, big money. We tried to kill you off and that didn’t work. Then Dark sticks his nose in and tried to buy you off. Stupid bastard!’ He gave Dark a particularly nasty stare. ‘You just kept coming. Now you’re here for the big pay-off.’

  ‘Wrong,’ I said. ‘I’ve been looking for who framed him. I don’t want any part of the money.’

  ‘Then you’re more of a mug than I thought.’ Teddy spoke for the first time.

  ‘Teddy,’ I said, ‘it really is you. I thought someone had pissed against the wall.’

  His face suffused with blood and his nostrils flared. He came off the wall, fists clenched.

  ‘Stay still,’ said Lupus.

  ‘That’s right,’ I agreed. ‘Stay still. If you come near me, I’ll break your bloody neck.’

  ‘Big talk,’ he sneered.

  ‘I’d believe him, if I were you,’ said Lupus calmly. ‘He’s capable of doing it.’

  Teddy subsided against the wall again, but kept screwing me, as if maybe I’d wilt like a flower out of water. Fat chance.

  The telephone on the desk rang suddenly. Lupus scooped up the receiver and listened without speaking. He put it down after ten seconds or so. Everyone looked at him, but he said nothing.

  ‘How did you find us?’ asked Jack Dark after a moment.

  ‘I was lucky. I found one of your customers and they co-operated.’ Lupus gave Christian a killing look. ‘Don’t worry,’ I said, ‘I would have kept on stirring the shit until the turd I was looking for popped up. You just made it a little easier. It was very careless of you to leave a bit of a customs sticker on the packet.’ Another killer look passed from Lupus to Christian. They were flying around all over the place this afternoon. ‘You’re not the pros I took you for. And as for those two who were fronting for you – Jesus, they were a bust waiting to happen.’

  ‘They had the right connections,’ said Dark. ‘And there’s plenty more where they came from.’

  ‘Sure,’ I said. ‘Everyone’s dispensable, even your supplier. And with him dead, I guess the game was about over. Were you doing business with him long?’

  ‘Long enough,’ said Lupus.

  ‘But why did you kill him?’

  ‘He got chicken,’ said Dark. ‘And greedy. He liked the money but he was afraid of getting pulled.’

  ‘Who can blame him?’ I asked. ‘Most people are.’

  ‘If you can’t do the time …’ said Dark. ‘He knew what he was letting himself in for. Then he got a conscience and decided we’d be better off out of the way.’

  ‘You didn’t have to torture them.’

  ‘He asked for it,’ said Dark. ‘Nobody crosses me.’ He said it with such certainty that I believed him.

  ‘And the woman too?’

  ‘What was I supposed to do? He wouldn’t talk, the crazy bastard. He took my money, screwed me on the deal, tried to turn us in and when that didn’t work, fucked off, vanished. I don’t know who he thought he was dealing with. It was a bit of a surprise when we turned up on his doorstep. And he still wouldn’t tell me where the cash was. So Ronnie here had to show him the error of his ways.’ Ronnie almost blushed. ‘But it wasn’t until we started on that tart he was shacking up with that he’d tell us where he’d put the money.’

  ‘How did you find him?’

  ‘The woman. She was straight. Had a kid, a little boy who lived with her mother. She had to take his Christmas presents round. Stupid slag. We had someone watching the mother’s flat, and he followed her to where they were hiding out. We heard about it as we were leaving the Indian, so we made a detour.’

  ‘How the hell did he know to call me?’

  ‘You’ve got a friend on the force, haven’t you?’ said Dark.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘When he started sniffing around, Taylor got to hear about you.’

  Taylor had sent out a cry for help, and I hadn’t answered. Nice one, Nick!

  I could still smell the stench in the flat and see the faces of the man and woman who’d died in agony. It was another little debt I had to pay back.

  ‘And when I did go, I took one of yours with me.’ I looked at Teddy who was still screwing me. ‘You must have thought it was your birthday.’

  ‘We did,’ said Dark. ‘But it was lucky for you you called him and he called us. If you’d turned up while we were there, we’d’ve done for you too. Especially after that malarky with Ronnie in the restaurant. It just seemed like a better idea to leave you around for the coppers to find.’ He looked over at Teddy. ‘If he’d have hit you a bit harder, you’d be out of our hair now.’

  ‘Banged up with Emerald in jail, you mean?’

  ‘Right.’

  ‘It’s just as well I’ve got a hard head, then. So Emerald was telling me the truth all along. He really doesn’t know anything about all this.’

  ‘That’s right,’ said Lupus. ‘We just used him for what we needed. He’s getting old and stupid and soft. When he bought his bloody restaurant, he thought he could just sit back and enjoy life.’

  ‘Such loyalty,’ I said. ‘Weren’t you making enough money on the straight?’

  ‘There’s never enough money,’ said Teddy.

  ‘You’re the worst of the lot,’ I said with as much contempt in my voice as I could muster. ‘You’re his own flesh and blood. I thought he was looking after you.’

  He didn’t even bother to grace the remark with an answer.

  ‘So if Emerald had nothing to do with the drug dealing, why did Taylor grass him?’ I asked.

  ‘He didn’t,’ said Lupus, and smiled mirthlessly. ‘He grassed an address. It was the old man’s hard luck that his name was on the lease. Taylor thought Teddy owned the lock-up. Some joke! He doesn’t even own the suit he’s wearing. Watkins, see, but Old Bill nicked the wrong Watkins and it worked out good for us.’

  ‘But not for Em.’

  He nodded.

  ‘How did you find Taylor in the first place?’

  ‘Same old story. He needed money. He had a house he couldn’t afford down near the coast. A car he couldn’t afford. A wife he couldn’t afford, and he liked women and gambling. Expensive women, and he was a lousy gambler. Teddy used to see him around the clubs. He likes gambling too. One time Taylor was drunk and coked up and on a losing streak, not that that was unusual. He told Teddy he could get as much stuff as he wanted, at a good price and in bulk. It’s’ not surprising considering half the dope confiscated in England ended up with him. My old friend there, Jack, put up the cash and we used a few of the boys who were fed up with going straight to help us out. They were glad to do it. There’s not
a lot of excitement in catering these days.’

  ‘But why did you leave the stuff lying about when you’d been tipped off that the law was going to bust the lock-up?’ I asked.

  ‘We didn’t,’ said Lupus. ‘We went down and cleared the place out, at what, ten that night? Taylor planted the stuff later. He didn’t even know that we knew anything was up. We certainly weren’t going to hang around and watch what happened, were we?’

  ‘But half a million quid’s worth!’ I said. ‘Wasn’t it a bit excessive?’

  ‘He wanted to make sure everyone involved went down hard,’ said Dark. ‘No bail or anything. He didn’t care what he did. He was getting flakey. His bosses knew he was up to something. He was spending dough like water. He got the shits and done a runner. He didn’t want to be caught with any gear on him, so he dumped it on us. He already had the cash. If he hadn’t panicked, none of this would have happened. Thank Christ he didn’t know I was bank-rolling the deal.’

  ‘But didn’t the law suspect you lot?’ I said to Lupus. ‘After all, you were working for Emerald.’

  ‘Course,’ he said. ‘Everybody’s been pulled up this week, even the bloody waiters downstairs. But we’re all clean as the driven. Even the old man doesn’t suspect us. His own flesh and blood, and me, a lawyer with a pristine record. As far as he’s concerned we’re all being fitted up. And until they can prove different, as far as the law’s concerned, his name was on the lease and his name was on the warrant. All we needed to do was sell the last of what we had, then sit back and enjoy the proceeds.’

  ‘While Emerald takes the fall.’

  ‘Ironic, isn’t it?’ asked Lupus. ‘And it would all have worked out but for you.’

  ‘I’m flattered,’ I said, but not so flattered that they were taking time to tell me everything. I knew that there was only one reason, and that was that they didn’t plan for me to leave, not vertically anyway.

  ‘Don’t be,’ said Lupus. ‘And don’t think your girlfriend is dropping ten pence to the local police station either. Because she’s not.’

  He saw the look on my face and laughed. ‘Give us some credit,’ he said. ‘We didn’t come over on the last banana boat, even if some of us look like we did.’

  As if on cue, the door behind me opened. I looked round and my old pal, who I’d last seen sitting in the jump seat of Emerald’s stretch Lincoln, came in pushing Fiona in front of him.

  She looked as cranky as hell, mad at him and herself. If we hadn’t been in such a mess it would have been almost funny. She was giving him severe GBH of the ear drums as she came in.

  ‘Don’t push me, you git,’ she said as he propelled her through the door.

  ‘Get inside and shut up,’ said Jump Seat. Then to Lupus: ‘This bitch is pure poison, boss. Why don’t we shut her up for good?’

  ‘Later, Eddie,’ said Lupus. ‘Can’t you control the girl? A big man like you.’

  Eddie pushed Fiona to the empty chair and forced her to sit. I made half a move in his direction and Christian showed me his gun and shook his head. ‘Tough guys,’ I said, keeping the contempt in my voice.

  ‘Shut up, Sharman,’ said Ronnie. ‘You’re full of shit.’

  ‘Blimey!’ said Fiona. ‘A talking pig. You should join the circus, mate. You’d make a fortune.’

  ‘He’s already in one,’ I said.

  ‘Shut up, both of you,’ said Dark. ‘Or Ronnie’ll shut you up.’

  ‘Bollocks,’ said Fiona. ‘How do you expect me to take you seriously, wearing a syrup like that?’

  Dark’s face reddened. She’d obviously hit a soft spot.

  ‘If she speaks again, gag her,’ said Lupus.

  ‘Don’t waste your breath on them,’ I said to her. She looked at me and I winked. I knew I had to do something or we were both dead, and hoped she got the meaning of my wink.

  Christian’s gun hand had relaxed when he realised I wasn’t going to go for Eddie, and I saw that he had moved further into the room. As everyone else seemed to be looking at Fiona, I moved slightly back towards the door. Not enough to be noticed, I hoped, except by her. She did. ‘If any of you cunts try to gag me, I’ll bite your fucking hands off,’ she snarled.

  ‘Do it,’ said Lupus, and Eddie shoved between me and Christian to get to her. Fiona kicked Christian hard on the shin and he cried out in surprise. I caught hold of Eddie and pushed him hard into Christian who was almost hopping in pain. Eddie tripped and stumbled against him and they both nearly fell. I turned and found the door handle and tugged the door open, ran into the corridor and slammed the door behind me.

  It was the only chance we had, for me to leave her behind. I didn’t want to do it, but what choice did I have? It was a decision I was going to regret bitterly.

  27

  The corridor stretched in both directions, swing doors at either end. I turned right, in the opposite direction from which Christian had brought me. It would be logical for me to go back the way we’d come, or at least I hoped he’d think that. I ran towards the door and my leg started acting up again. I did the last two steps in an awkward half jump and hit the door hard. It flew open. Behind me I heard crashing and shouting from the office.

  The door led to a store room. It was at least thirty feet high, dark, cold, and concrete-floored. Every flat surface was stacked with boxes and cartons and crates of spirits and beer. The only escape was a door out to the back, leading God knew where. I slammed it open. Pitch dark, with just the impression of stairs leading downwards. Beside the door was a flight of metal steps leading upwards to a shadowy gallery that ran around three walls of the room which was also piled with boxes and crates. I bounced on my DMs and went up. I was tired of being chased. I figured any pursuers would go through the door and downstairs, especially as the door was still swinging gently on its hinges. Then I could sneak back and try and get to Fiona.

  I went as far round the gallery as I could and crouched down deep in the shadows and waited. From where I was I could see both doors and the bottom of the steps. I didn’t have to wait more than a few seconds before Christian pushed slowly through the door from the corridor, gun in hand. He was alone. My hackles rose as I saw him.

  He flattened himself against the wall, swept the room with the gun and walked across the floor. He kicked open the door to the stairs, peered through, then turned and looked up. I thought he must see me and scrunched down even further. Christian moved towards the steps. If I’d had a gun I could have shot him in the back. I pushed myself as far into the shadows as I could and my arm touched a litre bottle of lemonade which was standing on the balcony.

  I saw it start to topple and grabbed for it. My fingers brushed the smooth glass but only managed to push it harder. It wobbled and fell and as it went it touched its twin standing next to it. They both rolled across the metal and over the edge of the balcony. Christian was just putting his foot on the bottom step. He heard the sound, stopped and turned. His gun swung round with him, and then up in my direction. He thought he was in no danger, that he might just get his pant cuffs wet, and even took time to watch as the bottles fell. He didn’t even flinch. The two bottles hit the concrete floor simultaneously and burst like grenades. As they hit, he fired.

  The first shot from the pistol hit the metal banister about a yard from my head. The second spanged off the floor. I ducked down, deafened by the shots and the sound of the bottles exploding. I listened for his footsteps on the stairs but could hear nothing for the ringing in my ears.

  I peered out over the guard rail and saw him walking around in an erratic circle with his hands over his face. He seemed to be covered in blood. There was blood leaking from behind the fingers of his hand that was clutching at his eye. Even through battered eardrums I could hear him screaming. He seemed to be squeezing blood out of his head like pus from a huge boil. The gun was on the floor in a puddle of liquid. I ran around the balcony and down the steps before he could pick it up, but he wasn’t interested. He was too busy tearing at the neck of o
ne of the bottles that had embedded itself in his eye socket, twist off cap outward. He fell to his knees and then face down on the floor and twitched and screamed until I smacked him on the head a couple of times with the barrel of the pistol and he was quiet. He smelt like something you add to a drop of gin.

  The gun was sticky with blood and lemonade. I wiped it and my hands on the legs of my jeans. I pushed the door to the corridor just wide enough to attach one eye to the gap. Nothing stirred. I started to giggle with nerves and bit down on my underlip to contain them. I was shaking like a shitting dog.

  No good, Sharman, I thought. You’ve had your luck for the day. Now it’s down to you.

  I felt like going home.

  I went to the door leading to the stairs, stepping over Christian’s still form as I went, then down and through yet another swing door into the restaurant proper. I stood in the doorway for a moment. The dining room seemed deserted.

  As I stepped in, Ronnie appeared from the kitchen holding a gun, and fired. The bullet ripped half a yard of wood from the door frame beside my head. I returned a shot and he ducked back. I ran across the room, snaking between the tables, and threw myself behind the bar. I looked over the top, and the door from the kitchen began to open slowly. I steadied my gun on the polished wood of the bar and waited. Ronnie’s gun hand appeared, and then his head and shoulders. He looked quickly from side to side but didn’t see me.

  I squeezed off a shot. He shouted in pain, pushed the door wide and stood in the doorway, firing. Bottles and glasses exploded all around me and the mirror behind the bar shattered into a million pieces. The noise was deafening. The restaurant filled with smoke and stink from the guns. I aimed at his silhouette and fired twice. That’s for Taylor and his girlfriend, I thought, as I pulled the trigger and the gun kicked in my hand. Ronnie fell back against the door jamb and slid down to a sitting position. His gun was silent.

  I slid from behind the bar and went over to him. I pulled the gun from his hand and stuck it into the waistband of my jeans. I pushed open the kitchen door. It looked deserted but I couldn’t hear shit from the ringing in my ears. There might have been a marching band in the pantry for all I would have known.