by R. W. Hughes
Geoff, walking with a purpose followed by the other three, opened a door marked
‘Dining Room’. There was a young girl in a maid’s uniform setting the tables for dinner. He walked briskly passed her with a curt, ‘Good afternoon.’
He was half way across the room with the other three hard on his heels before she replied with a, ‘Bonjour Monsieur,’ returning to lay her tables.
That’s a stroke of luck, a foreign worker, no embarrassing questions, he thought as he opened the door at the end of the dining room.
This led him into what was the hotel kitchen where there was a young lad cutting vegetables at one of the work surfaces. He looked up as they entered. The other older man at his side had his back to them, carrying on whatever he was doing.
Geoff smiled at the lad who just looked back with a vacant expression on his face as all four young men walked quickly passed him and through the kitchen, to the end, then out through an open doorway and into an enclosed yard with a row of dustbins on one side of the wall emitting an awful smell of rotting food.
A solid wooden gate which, fortunately, was not locked, led into an alley at the rear of the hotel, its entrance leading to a side road that ran parallel with the main road.
‘Stay here for a few minutes while I check out the front of the hotel,’ whispered Geoff as the group bunched in the open gateway. He made his way down the litter-strewn passage that came out about two buildings further down the road than the front entrance of the hotel they had entered several minutes earlier.
Peering slowly around the corner, he observed, standing opposite the hotel on the far side of the road, the member of Dave Higgins’s gang who went under the nickname of ‘Yozzer’. Geoff remembered him from the reform school days and he’d seen him on several occasions in the company of Dave Higgins and Wilf Norton.
Yozzer was standing, partly hidden from anyone looking from the hotel, by a parked high-sided van. From the angle that Geoff was looking from he had a full and clear view of Yozzer, also the entrance to the hotel. He was just replacing in his pocket what looked like a mobile phone. Geoff had seen enough; it was not just a chance encounter as he had first hoped.
He was definitely here in the area on the lookout for them! Geoff quickly made his way back to the others. He had already made up his own mind about what he intended to do, regardless of what objections they might raise.
*
It was a very quiet and very nervous foursome that hurriedly made their way through the back streets to their hotel, freezing every time a car passed them by, fearful unless it pulled up at the side of them.
They inspected the entrance of their hotel from a distance, looking for anything that may have looked out of the ordinary. Geoff, along with Sooty, volunteered to enter their hotel first, with the nervous Bolton brothers to follow if there were no problems.
It took several more minutes of observation before Geoff could build up the courage to venture down the street, with Sooty close on his heels, and quickly enter the dimly lit entrance lobby. Once in their room, and joined by the Bolton brothers, Geoff spelled out their position as he placed a suitcase on his bed then proceeded to fill it with a selection of clothes from the set of drawers and wardrobe in his room.
‘They’re onto us! It won’t take them long to find out we’re not in that other hotel then they’ll start checking around in this area. We need to do a bunk and the faster the better. We’ve been lucky so far but that luck’s been stretched to the limit.’
‘But where ever we go, Geoff, they’re going to hunt us down,’ said a nervous John Bolton very close to tears and trying hard, but being unsuccessful in trying to hide the quivering that sounded in his voice.
‘That’s why I made arrangements for the passports. I’m going abroad and it’s up to you lads if you want to tag along or you can go your own ways, in fact, it might be better and healthier if we split up now anyway. We’ve paid up here till the end of the week so there won’t be any come back from the proprietor for doing a runner.’
Sooty had already started to pack his case before Geoff had finished speaking. It was obvious who he had decided to stay with.
The two Bolton brothers looked at one another. ‘Can’t we just go to a big city like London, we could lose ourselves there rather than going abroad.’ Derek, his voice quaking slightly, put this half-heartedly, as an alternative to Geoff’s solution of leaving the country.
‘These guys have contacts everywhere; we’d be wandering around London like ducks out of water, with our accents we would be picked up in no time,’ replied Geoff.
‘Abroad it has to be, there we can mingle with all the other holiday-makers and tourists. That will buy us more time than staying here.’ Their objection overruled and not coming forward with any strong alternative, the brothers just shrugged their shoulders.
‘OK! Give us a couple of minutes,’ said Derek as they both hurried off to go to their own rooms.
‘Two minutes only,’ came a shout, which followed them down the corridor.
Five minutes later, the four young men left, leaving by the rear fire escape to avoid using the main entrance of the hotel. It was now quite dark, overcast and still raining as they kept nervously to the shadows.
There were not many people about in what was turning out to be a very miserable, wet and, for the four young men, a very frightening end to their day.
*
Bob Hughes, who went under the nick name of ‘Yozzer’, had been brought in by his mate, Wilf Norton, along with several others who he still had contact with from the approved school. All of them knew Geoff Larkin and his three mates by sight; they were being paid £60 a day just to wander around different sections of the city on the lookout for any one or all of these four. There was also a bonus of £250 for anyone who spotted them.
Yozzer had been on the point of calling it a day. He’d been wandering around for six hours in the rain, he was soaked to the skin, his shoes were letting in water and he was hungry and fed up. Suddenly, thirty yards in front of him he had spotted a familiar figure.
Harry Sutton! He couldn’t help but recognise him because of his size, he stood out like a sore thumb, as he got closer he identified instantly his two companions as the Bolton brothers. He’d excitedly phoned his mate, Wilf Norton, on the new mobile he’d been given, forgetting his wet clothes in his excitement. He had never had the opportunity of earning so much easy money in one day.
‘Hi, Wilf, I’ve just spotted that big sod, Harry Sutton, with the two Bolton brothers. All three of them are walking no more than thirty yards in front of me.’
His instructions from Wilf Norton were quite specific. He was to see where they went, not to get too close and definitely not to be seen. Some more people would be with him shortly.
He’d phoned Wilf Norton again, passing on the name of the hotel along with the road in which it was situated, excitingly informing him of the fact that Geoff Larkin had also joined them. All four had entered the building but in two pairs.
Wilf Norton, in turn, said he would pass the message on to their employers and that he should discreetly keep watch on the hotel until someone arrived.
It was twenty minutes later when a large, black saloon pulled up behind the white van where he was standing. Leaning out of the window, Wilf Norton beckoned Yozzer over to the open rear door window.
‘Are you sure it was them?’ he queried in a very authoritative tone.
‘Definitely!’ replied Yozzer convincingly. ‘I’d recognise that big bastard Sooty anywhere.’ Yozzer had been on the receiving end of a punch from the big lad in the past and would not forget him in a hurry.
‘He was with the Bolton brothers and that creep, Larkin.’
‘Are you sure it was them?’ repeated Norton.
‘Yes! Bloody definitely,’ replied Yozzer, rather put out that his identification skills were being questioned and the off-handed attitude towards him by Wilf Norton.
A quiet voice from the front passeng
er seat interrupted their conversation. ‘Okay, you two stay here and remember, whatever happens, you’ve seen or heard nothing, nothing at all. Clear?’ Yozzer nodded as Wilf Norton left the rear seat of the car and joined him on the pavement.
When he stood back, Yozzer noticed that while he had been talking to the occupants of the first vehicle another large, black saloon had drawn up behind the first. Three large men from the first car were already walking across to the hotel, entering through the massive doors.
Three men left the second car. They stopped and conferred outside the front of the hotel for a few moments before going to a passage lower down the road while the remaining one stayed outside the entrance of the hotel.
Wilf Norton and his mate, Bob Hughes, couldn’t help but feel excited. It was like being involved in a gangster movie and the only time they had seen men as big as these were bouncers outside the city nightclubs.
Within five minutes all the men had returned to the cars where the passenger of the first vehicle beckoned Wilf Norton over to the open window.
‘There were four young men and they all left by the rear entrance a few minutes ago so they can’t be far away. Jump in this car and you,’ he said pointing at Yozzer, ‘can go in the second car. We’ll drive around this area and see if we can pick them up. In the meantime get in touch with the rest of your mates. Get them here fast, and start searching this area pronto!’
In the process of driving around the immediate locality, the driver stopped at any hotels they came upon while one of the heavies took turns to enter.
They’re checking to see if they are booked in at these places,thought Wilf Norton to himself as he frantically contacted the rest of his mates to carry out the instructions given by the car passenger.
He had been out searching most of the day in the rain also and was soaked, he was about to call it a day when he had received the call from Yozzer. He decided against raising any objection to contact his friends and the order to continue the search.
*
Geoff’s mind was in overdrive. It was not safe wandering the streets in this area. A block away was a taxi rank and that was the answer but, first, they would split into pairs again.
‘You two get a taxi to the railway station,’ he said to the Bolton brothers, ‘then go to the side street alongside the station. It’s quite dark there so wait a few minutes to check that you haven’t been followed then get another taxi to the airport hotel and book in there for two nights. We’ll give you fifteen minutes then we’ll do the same. When we get there we’ll get in touch on our mobiles. Okay?’ One of the first things the lads had bought with their newfound cash were new mobile phones.
Geoff could not see the Bolton brothers’ faces in the dark but, as he watched them walk away, fading into the shadows, he could sense that they were both two very frightened young men.
Fifteen long minutes later, he and Sooty also made their way to the taxi rank.
The rain had changed from a light drizzle to a heavier downpour. There were only two taxis at the rank and one drove off with a fare as they turned the corner.
‘You take my bag, Sooty, and take this taxi. Go to the station and wait for me in the side street while I attend to a bit of business. I’ll be with you as soon as I can.’
‘Okay, Geoff,’ replied the big lad. One thing about Sooty, he thought as he watched him walk slowly towards the single taxi, was that he did as you asked without any awkward questions.
Geoff positioned himself in a shop doorway, sheltering from the heaviest of the rain, the shop was closed and in darkness.
From his vantage point in the shadows he could see the taxi rank along with the surrounding area. He saw Sooty enter the taxi and drive off.
There were very few people about on such a lousy night and those who were only seemed interested in getting home as quickly as possible. Another taxi pulled up at the rank as he had a quick look around. Nothing seemed suspicious so he started to leave the shelter of the shop doorway but suddenly he stepped back into the darkness.
Was he being over cautious or did there seem something vaguely familiar about the passenger who disembarked from the taxi? He watched as the man conversed with the driver, possibly paying his fare, then started to walk in his direction. Shit! he thought.
The figure had a slight limp that gave him a rolling action and Geoff recognised him immediately as one of Higgins’s cronies. He’d been left with the limp after breaking his leg falling through a corrugated sheeted warehouse roof as a teenager.
Geoff pressed himself into the darkest corner of the shop doorway as the figure approached. Fortunately, before he got level, the man’s mobile phone rang so he was deep in conversation as he passed the shop entrance.
‘Yes! I’ve just arrived. I’ll start looking straight away. Okay, Wilf.’
Geoff heard enough of the conversation to be able to fill in any gaps. Wilf Norton was bringing in his associates to search the area; they’d got out just in time.
As soon as the man with the limp turned the corner, Geoff walked quickly towards the taxi, increasing his pace to overtake another person who was also going for the cab but who had stopped to lower and shake his umbrella clear of surplus water.
‘Bridgewater Road mate!’ Geoff said as he climbed into the back seat. Bridgewater Road was two streets away from Jock the Fence’s shop. His only fear was that everything had gone smoothly and there had been no hiccups with any of the documentation. He knew they could only avoid this gang of heavies for so long, especially now they had brought in Wilf Norton and his cronies, as they all knew Geoff and his mates by sight.
He paid the taxi and stood in a nearby bus shelter for several minutes watching the taxi until it disappeared down the road then turned the corner at the tee junction. He got no bad vibes as he stood there. He was pretty sure he hadn’t been followed. Walking quickly, he set off in the direction of Jock’s shop. He didn’t walk past on the other side like he usually did; instead he walked straight to the closed shop door, rang the bell and banged on the wooden panelling. Nothing happened so he banged again, a feeling of desperation overtaking him.
‘Come on. Come on,’ he said under his breath. Several moments later he heard bolts being drawn on the other side. The door opened a few inches, then stopped suddenly, held by a security chain.
‘What d’ye want?’ said the voice with a thick Scottish accent.
‘It’s me, Geoff Larkin,’ said Geoff in a loud whisper. There was no reply, just some scuffling on the other side of the door. A plastic bag wrapped around some hard, thin book-like documents appeared through the narrow gap.
He took the package and put it in his jacket pocket. As he turned away and walked up the street, he heard the door close behind him followed by the sound of several bolts being pushed back into place. Geoff breathed a sigh of relief as he walked back down the street. He was oblivious to the water running down the back of his neck from the heavy rain. His thoughts were centred on what might have happened if the passports had not been ready.
He reckoned that John Bolton was close to cracking up; it was obvious the pressure was getting to him. Different to his brother though, he was holding up pretty well. Sooty on the other hand was oblivious to anything that was going on. Then there was him, even though his life was probably in danger he couldn’t help smiling to himself, he was getting a fantastic buzz of excitement out of the whole bloody episode.
It was similar feeling to when they had pushed the pram with the safe across the electricity board’s compound; the difference was here he was being chased by the police. Chased by a gang of international criminals and he, yes he, Geoffrey Larkin, had up to now outwitted and stayed in front of both these organisations, each one from either side of the law.
*
Geoff could not get a taxi as there were none around, so after ringing Sooty and the others telling them he would be a little later than planned, he waited for a bus to the depot. It was when he arrived at the depot that he decided to tr
y one of the credit cards in a cash machine. It still worked; they had not been stopped. He then proceeded to use all the cards he had in the machine, every one paying out the maximum of £300.
That’s good, he thought, because in the next few months we’re going to need all the cash I can get. That’ll teach those bastards to try and put the frighteners on me.
Making sure the cash and credit cards were secure in his pockets, he managed to wave down a taxi and continued on his way to the railway station. It was now one and a half hours since he had left Sooty. He was concerned the big lad would get bored and start wandering around and if he did that it could be fatal. Before the taxi stopped he was scanning the surrounding area. There was no sight of Sooty.
Paying the taxi, he made his way to the side street. A large figure came out of the shadows towards him. He stiffened.
‘Everything going alright, Geoff?’ said the big lad as he finished loading his and Geoff’s cases into the luggage space of the taxi, before joining and sitting down heavily at the side of Geoff.
‘Everything is going just fine mate, just fine,’ he replied, smiling as he relaxed in the rear seat of the black cab.
Fifteen minutes after registering at the hotel, Geoff contacted Derek Bolton via his mobile making arrangements to meet him in the hotel lounge. He had left Sooty and John Bolton in his room happily helping themselves to the contents of the mini bar.
‘Hi, Derek,’ Geoff said as Derek Bolton approached him. ‘The hotel has an internet point here. We need to book four airline tickets on the internet but I want to pay cash, otherwise the card transaction will be traced. Is there any way we can do it?’
Derek’s answer was a definite, ‘No way!’
‘Okay! Find out what’s flying out tomorrow morning and we’ll all just have to book our tickets paying cash at the airport.’