The Front

by Mandasue Heller

‘Not now,’ Jake agreed. ‘But what about before he was hit?’

  ‘What you talking about?’ The Man shot at him. ‘You know he was safe!’

  ‘You don’t know, though,’ Jake countered. ‘That might be what this is all about. Think about it. He had his family working with him – they must have known what he was doing for you. He couldn’t have hidden it from them, not when he was doing it from the shop. They might think you’re behind him getting whacked. They could have gone to the Babylon and worked out this deal to set you up so they could get revenge.’

  The Man didn’t speak. He hadn’t thought of this, but now realized it was altogether possible. Damn! If that was the case, he had his work cut out for him. He couldn’t afford to sit back and let the nephews think their uncle’s death was anything to do with him. Apart from anything else, his pride wouldn’t allow him to let his reputation be sullied like that. He would have to go and see them, sort it out.

  ‘Max, you’d better go now,’ he said. ‘Call me later and we’ll arrange a meet. Where you gonna be?’

  Max stood up. ‘I’m going home for a shower and something to eat. I’ll stay there. Just give me a ring when you’re ready.’

  The Man nodded and turned to Jake. ‘Come on – we’re going to see the nephews.’

  Jake frowned at him from the window. ‘Is that a good idea? Supposing the Babylon are still sniffing about down there?’

  ‘So what?’ The Man retorted. ‘Man’s gotta eat, ain’t he?’

  Ten minutes after Jake drove The Man out of the car park, Lee drove in. Scanning the cars already parked, he said to Ged, ‘What did you say it was?’

  Ged had already looked. ‘It’s a BM,’ he said, ‘but it’s not here.’

  ‘That’s all right,’ Lee said, reversing into a space and cutting the lights. ‘We can wait.’

  ‘All night if we have to,’ added Mal. ‘I’ve got the necessaries!’ He held up a handful of five-skinners he’d rolled earlier. Lighting one, he put his feet up on the dash and filled the car with smoke.

  ‘Let’s play I-spy!’ Lee said, ignoring the groans of the others. ‘I’ll go first. Er, right, I’ve got one! I-spy with my little eye, something beginning with L.’

  ‘Lift?’ said Sam.

  ‘Nah.’

  ‘Lorry?’ said Mal.

  ‘Nah.’

  ‘Loser?’ muttered Ged.

  ‘Nah, come on, youse ain’t even trying!’

  ‘Lemon?’

  ‘Lilac tree?’

  ‘Nah! Youse are never gonna get it!’

  ‘Just tell us!’ said Mal, handing the spliff over the seat to Ged.

  ‘Loada fuckin’ sad gits sittin’ in a car!’ Lee cackled. ‘Get it? Loada fuckin’—’

  ‘Shut up, you bleeding pillock!’ Mal laughed, smacking Lee around the head. ‘Right, my turn. I-spy with my little eye, something beginning with G.’

  The nephews were surprised when The Man and Jake walked in. In fact, the late Pasha Singh’s relatives looked decidedly hostile, and it occurred to The Man that Jake could have been dead right about them. He looked around at the customers milling about in the aisles, and gave Jake the nod to remove them.

  It took Jake just two minutes to persuade them all to leave. When the last one had gone, he shut the door and flipped the ‘open’ sign to ‘closed’.

  The Man removed his shades and pocketed them, all the time staring straight into Guptar Singh’s reticent eyes. He knew quite a lot about this man already. Pasha had been very proud of his nephews.

  Guptar Singh was twenty-six. A good-looking, well-educated, intelligent man, who, according to Pasha, was the natural successor to the Singh throne, possessing an astute business sense. He was also exceedingly arrogant, The Man deduced. Fancied himself as a law-abiding citizen and therefore, more likely than not, classed himself as a cut above these drug dealers standing in front of him. The Man, who was by no means unintelligent himself, knew that his initial approach was all-important.

  ‘We’ve come to offer our condolences,’ he began when the shop was finally cleared. ‘For the untimely demise of your uncle.’

  Guptar Singh’s head jerked back indignantly. Although he’d never actually laid eyes on the large man standing before him, he knew who he was. Simeon Marchant. The so-called Man. Major smack dealer. His uncle’s supplier. A situation he had never countenanced.

  ‘What did you come here for?’ he hissed, his voice betraying his suspicion and anger at this unexpected and unwanted intrusion.

  The Man stepped slowly up to the counter and leaned forward until his face was just inches from Guptar’s – his slightly flared nostrils the only indication that he was annoyed by the other man’s tone. His voice was deliberately low and controlled.

  ‘I came to offer my sympathy for your loss. So I’m a little disturbed to be treated in such a disrespectful manner by the nephew of the man I had much respect for. If you have a problem, then I suggest you air it right now.’

  Guptar Singh snorted disbelievingly. Looking around at his brothers for support, he said, ‘This man comes to offer insincere sympathy to us for the death of our uncle, then threatens me when I don’t fall at his feet!’

  The Man smiled icily. ‘I think we’d better get something clear here. I had a lot of time for Pasha, but that won’t affect how I deal with you. I don’t like your attitude, and I won’t think twice about putting a bullet through your raas head if you keep it up!’

  ‘Like you did to my uncle?’ Guptar retorted, equally icily.

  ‘Now, that’s what we need to clear up,’ The Man said quietly. ‘I’m going to tell you this just once, so you’d better listen up. I did not kill your uncle, and I didn’t arrange to have him killed. His death was nothing to do with me. I don’t expect you to understand,’ he went on. ‘But your uncle and me had a good thing going. We both gained from it and, needless to say, I’m grieved that it should have ended like this!’

  ‘Of course you’re going to say it wasn’t you!’ Guptar shot back at him. ‘Stands to reason you would. This is murder we’re talking about, not some little fight that went wrong. Murder!’ He stressed the word. ‘And if you ask me, you’re the main suspect!’

  ‘No one is axing you, claat!’ Jake snarled. ‘We’re telling you how it is!’

  ‘Well, tell it to the police!’ Guptar shouted. ‘You go tell them how much you liked and respected my uncle, and why, and let them decide if you’re guilty or not!’

  ‘You really are stupid!’ The Man growled, slamming his fist down hard on the counter. ‘Me and Pasha had a good thing going. I don’t need to tell you how much money he was making.’ He waved a hand around the shop. ‘Look for yourself. You think he made enough to keep you and yours in the style you’re accustomed to by running this shit-hole?’

  ‘This isn’t our only business,’ Ranjit Singh said quietly. A slightly shorter version of his brother, he stepped behind the counter to stand beside him now. ‘We know our uncle had business with you, Simeon,’ he went on. ‘We’re not so stupid that we didn’t see what was going on. Apart from which, our uncle discussed everything he did with us. He planned to retire soon and go home. We’d have been running the businesses when he left, so he had to make sure we knew everything – including his business with you.’

  ‘I’m glad to hear Pasha trusted you that much,’ The Man said, giving his full attention to the younger, more reasonable nephew. ‘So you should know enough to realize I respected him and had no part in his murder. I came here today hoping we could reach an agreement regarding the set-up we had going. I’m sure you know your legitimate profits won’t be enough to maintain you. That’s why me and Pasha had our thing. He was a wise man, your uncle.’

  At this, Guptar turned to Ranjit and began to argue noisily with his brother in their own language, punctuating his words with waving arms and looks of pure hatred directed towards The Man. Ranjit managed to keep an even tone as he answered, seemingly winning the argument when Guptar eventually threw hi
s hands up and walked away.

  Ranjit turned back to The Man and smiled tightly. ‘I apologize for my brother, but this is hard for him. He’s head of our family now, and it’s his responsibility to avenge our uncle’s death. I’ve told him I don’t believe you were involved, as I don’t think my uncle would have done anything to cause you to do something like that.’

  The Man nodded. ‘Your uncle was honest, and I had no problem with him. The only problem I’ve got now is with the scummy bastard who killed him. If it was planned, then someone has made a direct attack on me, and I promise you I’ll find them and take my own revenge!’

  ‘I understand,’ said Ranjit. ‘But there’s no need to trouble yourself. The family will deal with this. God will lead us, and help us take revenge in whatever way He sees fit. Whatever happens, the piece of shit that did this will suffer!’

  ‘All well and good,’ The Man said. ‘An eye for an eye, Jah says – and between us, we’ll take an eye each! All I ask is that you tell me if you find out who it is before I do. And likewise – I’ll let you know. Deal?’

  Ranjit considered the request and then nodded. ‘Deal.’

  They shook hands to seal their understanding. Then The Man got back onto the subject of continuing the business he’d had going with Pasha.

  ‘It wouldn’t be wise, under the circumstances,’ Ranjit told him. ‘But I’m not ruling it out as a future possibility. You know the police are watching us?’ He shook his head in disgust. ‘I’m sure they’ve got us down as suspects. They confiscated the shop’s security videos, and we’ve been told they got hold of the videos from the casino we were at when it happened.’

  His face became suddenly angry, and he slammed a fist down on to the counter. ‘If we’d waited just ten more minutes instead of racing off to gamble our uncle’s money away, we would have been here to protect him! We could have saved him!’

  ‘Don’t blame yourself,’ The Man said wisely. ‘Jah takes His people home when He sees fit. All we can do is accept His decision, then settle the score when we can. Remember – anything I can do, just ask, yeah?’

  ‘Thanks.’ Ranjit nodded gratefully. ‘My uncle respected you, and I’ll make my brother understand. As for your offer, I’ll consider it again when the time’s right. But right now, I think it would be unwise for both of us.’

  The Man nodded. ‘We’ll wait, then. Contact me when you want to talk again. Or if you hear anything.

  ‘Come, Jake,’ he said then, motioning Jake to the door. ‘I need to go see Rico.’

  The Man was quiet as they drove away from the supermarket, and Jake glanced at him every now and then – angry glances that, had The Man seen them, would have alerted him that something was afoot. In fact, Jake was rapidly losing respect for him – thought he was turning soft. Not so long ago, Guptar Singh would have been taught a hard lesson for the disrespect he’d just displayed. But The Man had done nothing, and Jake couldn’t understand why he seemed so willing to sort things out with Pasha’s nephews.

  The more The Man moved towards diplomacy in his dealings, the more Jake could see him losing his control over things. He’d built up his various businesses on the strength of his reputation, but he was changing. Soon someone else would see it – and war would break out. And right now, Jake wasn’t sure he was prepared to fight for him if he couldn’t be bothered to fight for himself.

  The seed of an idea began to grow in Jake’s mind. If the Man was just going to give up on things, then it was only fitting that Jake should take over. It was still early days, so he’d have to tread carefully, but the way things were going, it wouldn’t take too long to destroy The Man’s credibility and step into his shoes. The other posses already wanted The Man off the top spot, and it wouldn’t be hard to lure some of them over to his side. The more he thought about it, the more he knew it was the right thing to do.

  The Man watched Jake from the corner of his eye. It was clear that Jake was turning against him but, while it angered him beyond belief, it didn’t worry him unduly. He was stronger than Jake could ever hope to be – and a great deal smarter. He had the ability to let not even the dimmest flicker of what he was feeling cross his eyes, and he never allowed foolish temper to betray his innermost thoughts when he was outside his home. Jake’s face, however, was a moving-picture testament to the plotting and scheming taking place in his mind. His plans might as well have been written across his face in indelible ink for all the world to see.

  Knowing that Jake was plotting against him, he began to plot his counteraction. He’d wait and watch. Then, when the time was right, he’d act. He’d let Jake set the tempo. If he were smart enough, he’d remember where his loyalties lay and that would be the end of it. But if he persisted, he’d be punished – leaving no one in any doubt of the consequences of crossing The Man.

  Back at the supermarket, Guptar Singh was not at all pleased with his brother for having been so agreeable towards the man he was convinced was behind their uncle’s murder.

  They’d begun to argue furiously as soon as The Man and Jake had left the shop. Guptar accused Ranjit of committing a sin by fraternizing with the murderer when their uncle was still warm in his grave. Pulling rank, he then demanded that his brother pledge his loyalty to the family and drop all thoughts of any kind of future dealings with The Man.

  Ranjit didn’t believe The Man was connected to the murder, and tried in vain to make Guptar see that their late uncle’s business partner only wanted to help them find the murderer and exact revenge. But this just made Guptar even angrier. This was family business, he said – and the revenge would be, too.

  When Guptar left to go and check on their aunt a short while later, Ranjit had a quiet word with their younger brother, Raj, to sound him out about his views on the subject.

  Raj agreed that it wasn’t the right time. But, like Ranjit, he didn’t discount the future possibilities. He, too, realized that the business couldn’t survive without the added income, and agreed that once the police relaxed their surveillance the Singhs should consider contacting The Man.

  The only thing they all agreed on was the missing money. If anyone turned up at the shop with money bearing their uncle’s marks, they would definitely let The Man know. It was his money that had been taken, and to honour their uncle’s name it would be returned to The Man if it turned up.

  By eleven, Sam was getting twitchy. They’d finished the spliffs ages ago, and there’d been no sign of anyone going in or out of the flats for over an hour.

  ‘Look, I’m sorry to break this up,’ he said. ‘But I promised Wendy I’d be home by now. I’m sorry, Ged.’

  Ged shook his head. ‘It’s all right. I’ve been thinking I should get back to check on Caroline.’

  ‘You what?’ Mal said, twisting in his seat to look back at Ged. ‘We’re only doing this for you.’

  ‘I know, and thanks,’ said Ged. ‘But I’m worried about Caroline. I’m sure she wants to call the pigs, and if she does, we’ll be bollocksed.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Mal agreed grimly. ‘And you can kiss goodbye to seeing Linda again if they get in on it!’

  ‘Or us getting our hands on this Simeon one,’ added Lee.

  ‘All right, youse go,’ Mal said. ‘We’ll stay for a bit.’

  ‘Bollocks to that!’ yelped Lee. ‘If they’re pissing off to be with their birds, I’m going back to Elaine!’

  ‘I need a lift back to yours to get my car, anyway,’ Sam said.

  ‘Okay,’ Mal said grumpily. ‘But you’d better stop at the Spar for a bevvy, Lee. I ain’t sitting with you and your fat slag all night without getting bladdered – and you’re paying!’

  ‘Piss off,’ Lee said, starting the car. ‘You won’t give me no free Charlie!’

  Dropping Sam and Ged in the car park a little while later, they arranged to try again the next night.

  ‘But one of youse can bring the spliffs next time,’ Mal said.

  20

  On Thursday morning, Jackson received th
e videotape of Monday’s news report. Liz Jardine had sent it by courier – along with a handwritten note wishing him a speedy and successful conclusion. It was all too obvious that she was hoping he’d alert her to any breakthrough the moment it occurred. She could swivel, as far as he was concerned.

  Taking the tape to the video suite, he sent for Mac to come and watch it with him.

  By eleven, they were almost brain-dead, having played it through numerous times – squinting at all the people in the crowd as they looked for a girl who matched Mrs Lilley’s description. If they spotted any likelies, they would get some stills blown up and get them over to her.

  It was a long shot, but anything would help right now. They had nothing. No weapons, and no reported shooting victims treated at any of the hospitals. It was an obvious possibility that their man could have gone out of Manchester, but it wasn’t very likely, given the amount of blood they’d found at the scene. The only other explanation was that the person had died and their corpse was lying somewhere, rotting away and in the process of decomposition destroying the forensic evidence that would link them to the murder.

  This was what Jackson was hoping wouldn’t happen. In areas like this, bodies often went undiscovered for months. The various disgusting stenches that lingered around the hallways of these high-rises could override even the smell of rotting flesh. He couldn’t recall the number of times that he’d been called to a suspect flat only to find a reeking jellified mess melting into the carpet.

  It was now four days since the start of the case. The longer this went on, the less likely they were to get it sorted and closed.

  ‘Do you think you could have looked any more bored than that?’ Mac asked, pointing at Jackson rolling his eyes on screen.

  ‘You’re not supposed to be watching me,’ Jackson grunted. ‘But I do look a bit like a fucking St Bernard, don’t I?’ he griped, stroking his chin and fingering the saggy rolls of flesh below. ‘Whoever said the camera never lies is an arsehole,’ he muttered. ‘Anyway, Mac – apart from me, have you spotted anyone worth checking out?’