We Promise Not to Tell

by Albert Able

  The man grabbed her arm and swung her around. “You little bitch,” he snarled as the alcohol pumped up an unusual flush of aggression.

  “You let go!” Conchita shouted back and kicked him in the shin.

  The pain, combined with the liquid courage coursing through his veins, somehow made him raise his hand and strike Conchita a resounding blow to the face.

  It was all totally out of character for him but having taken the first step, he seemed to loose all control and what was supposed to be a slap turned into a punch and then another and another…..

  Conchita screamed, luckily for her, Louis was just taking up his usual position at the door of the Night Club and hearing the frantic screams, loped along the pavement, grabbed the man by the hair, lifting him away from Conchita and pitched him effortlessly aside. The man slammed against the wall, his head hit the brickwork splitting open like a melon before he slithered unconscious to the ground.

  Ed the doorman at the hotel also heard the commotion and ran to the hotel entrance, just in time to meet Conchita, running in full flight up the steps to disappear into the hotel; further down the street, he could see Louis kneeling beside the unconscious man.

  “Come on man.” Louis nudged the inert body not yet comprehending the seriousness of the injury.

  One of the tourists who appeared at the corner of the street at that precise moment, shouted at Ed in alarm. “That big bugger is robbing someone!”

  In another amazing coincidence, a patrolling police car cruised by the hotel at that precise moment. Waving their arms excitedly, the tourists flagged them down.

  The police called an ambulance, arrested Louis and put him in the car.

  They had seen it all before and so Ed’s protest, “Hey you can’t arrest him, he was protecting the girl” was of no avail to the hardened police officers.

  Juan added his support. “I’m the hotel manager and this man works at the night club. If he hit him,” he pointed at the inert body “I guarantee he will have had good reason” but the officers were not interested; they knew what had happened.

  The tourist had seen the big man strike the man on the floor and no they had not heard the girl scream but they had seen her running into the hotel.

  Based on that evidence, the police simply concluded that a pimp and his girl had argued with a respectable businessman, all be it a client, the whore had almost certainly tried to rip him off and the big man ‘the pimp’ had probably tried to take money from him by force.

  At the Police Station the duty sergeant, squinting through the little window of the cell door; explained the situation to the disconsolate Louis, “So until someone proves otherwise you stay here.”

  Juan had seen Conchita run into the hotel and was immediately aware of her distress as he walked up and placed a hand on her arm. “Hey steady” he tried to calm her.

  Conchita recoiled at his touch.

  “It’s alright you come with me.” Juan withdrew his hand and smiled trying to convince her.

  Confused and frightened Conchita thought he wanted to seduce her and slapped him across the face. “You stay away from me!”

  Fortunately, in spite of his reputation Juan was a man of honour and was not offended by her reaction instead he held his hand out to her again.

  “Conchita I am your friend. I think it is best if I take you to Mrs Connie, you will be safe there yes?”

  Conchita’s eyes filled with tears. “Mrs Connie, yes she will know what to do.”

  Juan had just delivered Conchita to my apartment and finished explaining everything when Max called me.

  “They’ve taken Louis away?” he said in disbelief. “He was only protecting Conchita; he would never hit anyone without good reason.” Max treated Louis like a son and so his distress was sincere. “Is there anyone we can call?”

  “Let me see what I can do.” I assured him.

  This was obviously a case for Graham Radshaw. I picked up the telephone. Graham was sympathetic. “Until Louis has been put before a judge nothing much can be done; especially at this time of night. Better let me have a word with someone in the morning” he promised.

  Unfortunately later that evening the injured man was pronounced dead at the hospital; the situation had suddenly become a whole lot worse.

  Much to Stan’s approval and relief, under Naomi’s influence, Max’s transition from criminal to honest citizen, was at an advanced stage at that time. Having given up the call girls and drug trade, as soon as he had completed tidying up the booze smuggling racket, he would be a ‘new man’ as Stan described it.

  Max still owned six nightclubs; all now being operated under the new regime, so together with the new catering business, his legitimate empire was expanding rapidly. However, he was currently faced with growing pressure from rival gangs, who saw Max’s withdrawal from the lucrative drug market, as an opportunity to sell their wares in his clubs.

  Max was no fool and whilst he realised that the clubs currently produced the majority of his income, it would only be a matter of time before the rival gangs got their way and so he decided to keep the Riverside Club and sell the others.

  Finding a buyer was easy, the rival gangs clamoured to get their hands on the extra ‘outlets’ and a very lucrative deal for the five nightclubs was quickly concluded.

  The other clubs had all been overseen by the faithful Salvatore who Max now promoted to general manager of the catering business.

  Salvatore was delighted with the position openly declaring, “It is the first honest job I have ever had!”

  The next problem Max encountered was that the buyer of the other clubs was a greedy man and wanted, if not to buy the Riverside Club as well but at least to have access to sell his own ‘products’.

  Max had no such idea in mind and told him to ‘take a hike’.

  That same evening, with Louis still in jail, the Riverside Club was

  raided.

  It was almost three in the morning and as the last of the customers drifted away, six armed men, balaclavas pulled down over their faces, barged through the main doors.

  The men in the raiding party were all professionals and had been fully briefed on Max’s bodyguards, especially Charlie’s reputation as a ruthless killer.

  Nevertheless, on this occasion, in spite of senses like a wild beast, Charlie, who was casually toting up the till receipts for the evening, was taken completely by surprise.

  The first man through the door recognised Charlie immediately and shot the startled bodyguard in the head with his silenced revolver. Charlie fell to the ground knocking over a tray of dirty glasses together with the cash box in the process.

  Max was at the rear of the club locking the exit doors and heard the disturbance. It took only a couple of seconds for him to assess the situation; he had half expected something like it, but not quite so soon.

  Ducking low Max slipped quietly along the narrow corridor, which ran around the club linking the bars together; he had to get to the beer cellar and the nine millimetre semi-auto pistol and ammunition he kept hidden there.

  The masked men surrounded the four girls who had stayed late to clear the rest of the tables. “Where is Max?” One of the men demanded above their screams of fear.

  “Shut the fuck up” another man grabbed one of the terrified girls by the hair and waved his weapon threateningly “where is he?”

  The girl stopped screaming at once and squirming in pain pointed back to a door at the rear of the club. “He’s in the office.”

  The man gestured with his pistol and two of the men headed to the office.

  The weapon was still where Max had hidden it, together with two spare clips of ammunition; he pocketed the clips and gently cocked the action seconds before the two men moved towards him.

  With his pulse racing Max waited until they were no more than three metres away and then stepped out from the screen and fired two rapid shots into the advancing bodies.

  The explosion of the shots in such close c
onfinement hammered into Max’s ears. The two men grunted; one fell back from the massive impact of the nine-millimetre bullet in the chest; the other’s legs gave way as he doubled up from the stomach wound. The agonising pain of the fatal wounds would start to knife through both their nervous systems a few seconds later.

  The remaining four men dived for cover, leaving the girls screaming in terror again as random shots rattled from their silenced weapons.

  Not waiting to see the results of his ambush Max skipped smartly back into the passageway looking for another opportunity to even up the odds but just as the noise died down a voice from the entrance caught everyone’s attention.

  “Max are you okay? It’s Juan don’t shoot, I’ve got a couple of extra lads with me.”

  Shots from the silenced weapons clattered towards the voice. In response, several empty beer bottles flew into the air and crashed amongst the tables and a couple shattered on the wooden disco floor.

  More shots from the silenced pistols were fired at the calculated source of the missiles; one of the attackers knelt up on one knee to get a better aim.

  Watching from behind the disc jockeys table, Max managed to fire an ear shattering shot at the silhouette. Out of the corner of his eye as he ducked away from his position, Max saw the man fall face forward.

  ‘Three out of six with three shots’ Max congratulated himself and fired three more random shots into the ceiling above the men’s hiding place.

  More bottles rained down in the dance floor area but the masked men realised that there was little threat from them and so whilst keeping as low as possible, turned their attention back to finding Max.

  “Don’t worry Max the police and ambulance are on the way and I’ve got the front door covered, so they can’t get away.” Juan’s voice rang out confidently.

  “Did you hear that boys you’re trapped!” Max’s voice echoed around the room from the disco speakers.

  One man lifted his hand above the counter he was hiding behind and fired several shots at the disc-jockeys stand.

  Max however, had long since moved to a safer position and observed the hand but elected not to fire, preferring to get a sure kill before giving away his position and took the opportunity to reload.

  At this point the situation developed into something of a stalemate, with neither side wanting to make the next move first but what none had seen amidst all the confusion, was that Juan had managed to slip into the club and worked his way to the kitchens.

  Juan Cardinal had served his National Service in the Spanish army and had graduated in their Special Forces unit. In spite of the fact that he never saw any live action, just like learning to ride a bike, the training he received is never forgotten.

  Juan soon found two CO2 fire extinguishers and a large meat cleaver; he could not alert Max to his presence and so had to pray that Max did not shoot him in error as he crept back into the central area of the club.

  The masked men had split-up now so Max was much more vulnerable than before but it was the girls who settled the stalemate as one of them trembling in fear stood up whimpering with hands held high “Don’t shoot, please don’t shoot” She repeated again and again moving inch by inch towards the exit.

  A single shot popped from a silenced gun, the girl’s arms fell and with a look of surprise, she collapsed to the floor.

  In the next instant a fire extinguisher flew into the air spewing frozen carbon-dioxide gas in its wake; the hissing projectile landed near the other girls who stood up and fled towards the exit. This was the ‘q’ for two of the masked men moved from their cover to fire at the source of the attack. In that instant a second extinguisher hissed into the air and towards the masked men, one of them spotted it easily ducking out of the way but the brief distraction was enough time for Max to fire.

  The first shot was a perfect hit in the throat, sending the man gagging to the floor the second missed but the third hit the other masked man full in the chest.

  “Good shooting” Juan cheered rising cautiously from his hiding place.

  “Careful Juan” Max warned grateful of Juan’s support “there is still one bugger left!”

  The source of the shot took Max completely by surprise and the slamming impact of the bullet in his leg caused him to fall back sending several chairs and a table crashing like skittles at a bowling alley.

  “You bastard.” Max shouted into the darkened corner and fired a brain deafening shot where he presumed the man had hidden. The gunman has of course changed position in the same moment that he fired.

  Juan however and still clutching the heavy meat cleaver was just a few metres away and spotted the gunman’s move; he knew it was a desperate gamble and there was little else he could do, so as the masked man turned towards him Juan threw the heavy clever with all his strength. It spun through the air hitting the man handle first, just below the sternum. The man staggered exhaling noisily but still managed to raise his gun to fire in Juan’s general direction.

  The deafening double discharge from Max’s gun, which followed, was the final act of the battle, sending the remaining masked man to the floor in a heap.

  “Holy mother, I thought that was my lot.” Juan stood up and moved to Max who was still sitting on the floor propped against a table.

  “Well done Juan.” Max complimented him. “That is the lot of them now.” Max slowly dragged himself to his feet the pain in his leg was just beginning to make itself felt.

  “This one is still alive,” Juan observed “do you want me to?” he made a throat cutting gesture.

  “Not yet Juan, maybe he can tell us what this is all about?” Max looked towards the other body on the dimly lit floor. “What about the other girls?”

  “They all ran out but this one is badly hurt.” Juan was kneeling over the wounded waitress.

  “The Ambulance will be here in a couple of minutes, I expect.” Max comforted the sobbing girl, as blood oozed from a nasty wound just below her left breast.

  “Well actually I didn’t call anyone,” Juan moved discreetly aside and whispered to Max “I was just bluffing.”

  Max placed a friendly hand on Juan’s shoulder. “I could have used a few more blokes like you in the old days” he shook his head in resignation. “However, this time we are going to have to call them in.” He pointed to a couple of the masked corpses. “If it was only those bastards it wouldn’t be a problem but with this young lady and the others involved; we have no choice.” Max patted Juan on the shoulder “Best go to the hotel and call them from there, that way you need not admit your presence down here.

  “I think you better do something about that?” Juan pointed to the pistol still held in Max’s hand “and what about them?” Juan nodded towards two of the corpses.

  “I’m afraid Charlie is going to have to play one final role for me.” Max hobbled with Juan to the entrance where Charlie’s body was sprawled on the stairs. Max extracted the ammunition clip and then using the tail of his shirt, carefully wiped it and the pistol, before wrapping it in Charlie’s still warm hand.

  “Given the chance, he would have done the job anyway.” Max ruffled Charlie’s hair reverently; then sat on the step beside his bodyguard and friend and waited patiently until the air echoed with the sound of police and ambulance sirens.

  Chapter 17 - Marcus

  Having just spent several days in Paris negotiating with suppliers for a new computerised accounting and reservations system, to be installed at each of the group’s hotels. I was very keen to test its effectiveness for our own business.

  The last few frustrating days therefore had been spent with spaced out computer experts, trying to impress me with their endless flow of the new ‘computer speak’. All of which I found to be unbelievably boring; so you will understand that I was especially relieved to be back in the relative calm of the bosom of my family.

  “So how was your trip darling?” Connie asked conversationally as we lay in bed relaxing in the afterglow of a passionate reunion.
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  I skipped through some details, stressing just how boring it all was before asking “Anyway enough of my dull week how have things been on this side of the channel?”

  “Oh much the same as usual” Connie started, casually rolling onto her back and carefully detailed the last twenty-four hours at the Riverside Hotel and in particular at Max’s Night Club.

  I was speechless as the whole tragic saga poured out.

  Max Harris, the wounded waitress and the surviving masked raider had all been taken to hospital. Fortunately Max’s injuries were not life threatening and he was discharged after a couple of days but the girl and the gunman were seriously ill and remained in intensive care.

  Louis was released from prison the following morning after the Senior Judge called to the special hearing pronounced, that there was no case to answer.

  When Louis discovered that his master was in hospital, he spent every available moment either by Max’s bedside or simply waiting patiently in the corridor.

  Max had been lucky; the bullet had passed through the muscle of his upper leg. “Missed the bone by a whisker” announced the cheerful doctor at ‘Accident and Emergency’ “even more miraculously” he tapped the x-ray film grinning impishly “missed your manhood by a couple of inches or you might have been talking with a squeaky voice!”

  After only forty-eight hours in hospital Max returned to his apartment to be greeted by an anxious Naomi who fell weeping with relief into his arms; they clung together for some time before Naomi looked up at her man. “What happens now?” she asked quietly, wiping the tears from her eyes.

  Max held her at arms length. “We move on my darling. We are not going to open the Riverside Club again. We are going to concentrate on the restaurants just like we planned.”

  “Oh thank you.” she fell back into his arms and hugged him again repeating in a whisper. “Thank you.”

  The dead men were all known criminals and so the police were convinced that it was just another gangland killing. Consequently their investigation into the raid at the Riverside Night Club was completed in less than two weeks.