by AJ Adams
I was pleased to see she’d dressed up. She was wearing a wild red dress that clung in all the right places, and she had managed to hide the bruise on her neck with a scarf.
Of course she was her usual self underneath, snarling at Sheep-eyes and being icily polite to her customers. They’d come because they were dying to know what had gone down with the chiquitína and the Twittertons, but the three feet of frost coming from behind the bar kept their comments at a whisper.
I should have been sympathetic to make her like me, but as I was pissed myself, I got a kick out of seeing her all riled up. She deserved it for everything she’d done, so I couldn’t help stirring the hornet’s nest. “Hello, bruja!”
She spat nicely, ripped Sheep-eyes a new one and came along, snarling and sniping, until the car and the restaurant settled her down. I actually got an apology, and then she was civilised, just like when we’d eaten salad and pie in the pub kitchen.
Actually, the bruja didn’t realise it, but that lunch was the best thing that could have happened to me. It wasn’t the way she had every man there envying the fuck out of me, which they did, it was the lesson she gave me in property buying.
“It’s always been my dream to own my own place,” she said. “It’s not the location or anything the agents sell. It’s knowing I’m part of it all, that my little business is there alongside Restaurant Gordon Ramsey and Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester.”
That lesson changed my life. Property isn’t about bricks and mortar or even money. It’s about dreams. I should have known, because that was why I’d built my house by the river.
From the moment I’d seen the boss’ place, I’d lusted after it. I’d worked my ass off, saving every damn cent I could and dreaming of how I’d build myself a palace. I had, too. I’d taken everything I’d ever liked about a house and thrown it together. Eclectic is the word the architect used when I told him what I wanted. Or maybe it’s a mess. I don’t care, I love it.
There’s a circular driveway leading up to the house. The entrance is a hall with a marble staircase leading to three bedrooms upstairs. Downstairs is a living room with French windows opening up to a veranda that runs right around the house. There’s a rose garden with a pool, and the river lies beyond. I love wide open spaces, and in my place you can really breathe.
I’d completed the house a month before we got hitched, but as Tina wanted a city home, we’d not moved in. I’d been too focused on work and trying to keep Tina happy to remember why I’d built it in the first place.
The bruja reminded me of what was important, and I knew it would help me fix up the other deals. Offering money would help, but selling the dream was what would make people jump. There was a newspaper shop owner who lusted after a garden, for starters. I’d find out soon enough what the others wanted, and I already had a plan for fixing the surveyors.
Apart from tipping me off on what I had to do, the bruja signed off on our deal. She was cool as always, examining the options and criticising everything before folding. Typical, right? But I reckoned that was just her way. She couldn’t help herself.
I knew by the time we started dessert, a crunchy, bittersweet chocolate dish, that she had finally realised who she’d been messing with. She didn’t say anything, but instead of making demands, she asked for my help— nicely.
“They gave me these and said soon.”
She also finally got sensible and asked for protection in the shape of a liquor licence-holder.
“I paid Joe a hundred, and Sooty screwed two fifty out of me. I’ll give you two hundred.”
“We’ll take a percentage of the profits, and we’ll help with suppliers.”
“I’d say yes, but it’s not my place. Write to Bobby with a proposal, okay?”
Seeing she’d been helpful and respectful, I promised to fix it. At that point I was feeling good again. The bruja had rolled over, and now I was getting on top of things again. Signing a business up for protection would make everyone happy, too. Getting in more money always does.
I dropped the bruja back at her pub, and this time it was me giving her orders, the way it should be. “Sykes, the solicitor, will call you as soon as the paperwork is ready.”
“Okay.”
She was calm, friendly actually, which was another nice change. You know, she really was looking good. “Be careful. Don’t walk home alone.”
“I’ve got my baton and my rape alarm.”
Seeing she was now under my protection, I didn’t think it was enough. “I’ll put someone in your place for the next few days.”
She looked totally surprised. “Really? That’s kind!”
“I just remembered that if you get whacked before you sign that, I’d have to sweet-talk that princess.”
I left her standing on the pavement, laughing. I was thinking she was a terrific looking girl when she did that, if you didn’t know her, and that had me thinking of Tina again. The disloyal bitch was doing her damnedest to sink me, working against me with another man, for fuck’s sake.
I wasn’t taking any more shit. This time I would do what I’m great at: killing. I would start by launching an offensive that would have all of London talking. There would be so many dead fucking bodies that nobody would ever think of fucking with me.
I went straight to the office and began to set the operation in motion. “James, get me a printed map of the area. Paco, we need twelve clean guns. Quiet ones. Like .22s with suppressors. Rugers, if you can get them. Lencho, I need two cars, boosted.”
I’d been planning so that when they’d made their arrangements I was ready to rock and roll. “The Peckham Knaves are amateurs. They don’t have a proper chain of command, and as often as not, they’re ripping each other off.” Everyone knew this already, but trash-talking boosts morale. “Our goal is to destroy them. That means taking out six outfits within a six block radius. We do it tonight.”
“Six sets of hits?” James was frowning. “The cops will be out in force after the first two, certainly after three.”
“Timing and placing takes care of that.” I showed them the map. “We start with two simultaneous hits in Aylesbury Estate. Paco, Matu and Lencho, you take the one on this side. James and I will do the one on the other.”
Everyone was nodding, examining the ground carefully. I had their total attention.
“We strike at half past midnight, so the cops will be scrambling for on-duty staff and in no shape to track us. You then move south a block while we move two blocks east. You should strike at about quarter to one, and we’ll hit five minutes later.”
It was all eyes on the plan. Good.
“Then you move south another block to finish, say ten more minutes, while we move half a block north, say five minutes. Then we walk back to the office. It’ll be over by one thirty, tops.”
James was smiling. “We’re on foot taking back lane shortcuts while the cops have to travel the main drag by car!”
“Right.”
“So why do we need wheels and extra firepower?” Paco asked.
“The cars will be left here and here, one outside Crane Block’s headquarters and the other outside Black Gang Ryders’ favourite pub. For each hit, we use a different gun. We walk past the boosted rides on our way home, and we dump the guns there.”
“The cops will put it together and think it was an inside job,” Paco breathed.
“And the Blocks and Ryders will be taken down by their brothers!” Matu loved it.
“It’s brilliant.” James loved it, too.
“Good, now here’s how each hit goes down in detail.”
I walked them through it, making sure they’d go in quietly, take out all the targets and exit rapidly. “Seeing they’ll be high, drunk and taken by surprise, it will be a walkover.”
“Our first hit is eight people,” James frowned. “Wouldn’t we be better off with some larger firepower?”
“Surprise, precision and discipline will get us through. We need to be quiet so nobody gives a he
ads-up that something big’s going down.” I paused for sarcastic emphasis. “I’d do it alone, but I like company when I party.”
It went down well, and I could see all of them were remembering it’s fatal to fuck with me. Good. That would fix Tina, and that pisser Antonio would shit himself when he realised what I’m capable of.
“It looks good,” James grinned. “I like the way you party!”
“Tell me again how that second hit is timed,” Lencho asked. “Do we walk or run that route?”
We went through it again, in detail. Then we did it again. It’s good policy, going over the plan again and again, because it’s part of the internalising process. It was going to be good. I could feel the excitement mount as the men worked out exactly how it would go down.
“It’s perfect,” Matu sighed finally. “I feel like I just got a lesson in strategy from the Federales.”
“Sure but I’m Kaibil!”
“No wonder everyone shits themselves when you fuckers turn up.” Lencho was giving proper respect. “I might just go to Guatemala for a course!”
For the first time in days, I felt like nobody was thinking about Tina. Which of course reminded me of my promise.
“James, put some protection on the bruja for me.”
“That’s a shock,” he grinned. “I thought she’d be on the hit list.”
“I’d love to, but after she’s signed, not before.” Then I told them about the deal. “Add them to our list and have someone check on whether it’s worth putting some music in there.”
Paco was grinning. “She rolled over? Where’s your watch?”
That was okay, so I went with it. “It totally slipped my mind!”
“Good lunch?” Paco asked innocently.
“Yeah. And that reminds me: I’ll be away the next two days. James, hold the fort. Continue checking up on our clubs and work the music business like I said.”
I refused to tell them where I was going. “I’ve got a hunch. If it works out, I’ll let you know.”
There’s nothing like a secret to focus attention. The watch, Tina, it was all on the back burner. I was managing this fine. Just like the boss himself might. Or the jefe.
We worked up our final plans for the hits, even synchronising our watches, but every fifteen minutes they were trying to guess what I was up to.
“You’re popping all the property-holders?”
“Nope.”
“You’re burning the block down so it’s cheap?”
“Nah.”
“You’re doing the bruja so she’ll get the devil on your side?”
“Fuck me! If only I’d thought of that!”
“Bet she wears spurs in bed.” James’ imagination was working overtime.
I deadpanned. “You know, I’ve never done that. Maybe I will drop by to see her.”
“After kidnapping the property-holders’ daughters?”
“Wrong again!”
Time flew by, and at midnight we were off on our missions. James and I walked up the stairs, just down from the Twittertons place, incidentally, straight in through an open door. We took out four doped up dudes in the living room, a flunky who was in the can and then the dealer, a cholo called Stone Cold, and his two lieutenants, who were weighing and packing weed in the bedroom. It took less than three minutes.
The second hit was just as smooth. After walking up five floors, James cleared three of them who were playing blackjack in the kitchen, while I got the main man in his bed.
My target was with a girl, which was unfortunate. I shot her first, right in the back of the head, so she didn’t suffer. In fact, I don’t think she even knew I’d walked in. It’s never good to go out before your time, but compared to what can happen, it was quick and merciful. Anyway, if you’re sucking a made man’s dick, you can’t cry when you get caught up in his shit, right?
The final hit was in a semi-d. It was tricky, as there were five rooms, but with James knocking at the front door and me sneaking in around the back, we got all four targets in the hall. We took them out in a heartbeat, and by the time the woman and the kid in the back bedroom had properly woken up, we were out of there.
“Five past one,” James said as he dropped his three Rugers into the Audi in front of the Crane Block’s place. “Fucking awesome!”
“Yeah, let’s go have a drink. And something to eat. I’m starving.”
As we walked back we heard sirens in the distance. There’s nothing like a kill to make a bond, so I wasn’t surprised when James said ultra-casually, “How are things back home?”
I was surprised to hear myself say, “Not so good. Tina and I have split.”
“Man, that sucks.” James was treading carefully. “You planning to stay on here?”
“I’ve not decided on anything yet. At the moment I’m focusing on business. Personal can wait.”
“Absolutely! Never rush personal!” We were at the door of our place, our hoodies covering our faces, but I could see the glint of his eyes. “Is it final, the split?”
“It sure is. Haven’t you heard Tina is advertising the break-up in her own way?”
“Yes. But I’m sorry!”
James was angry, but there was no scorn. She hadn’t told anyone why then. Nobody knew. A big wave of hot shame washed over me, but with the hoodie, it remained private. At least Tina didn’t hate me so much that she wanted to destroy me. There was still some loyalty there.
I breathed again and gave events my own spin. “She’s sending me messages, saying she’s doing the jefe’s cousin. She thinks it’ll bring me back to her, but frankly, I don’t give a fuck. I mean, split is split, right? Who she does now is her own business.”
“Right! But man, shoving it in your face?”
James wasn’t happy, but his anger was impersonal. No, he didn’t have the slightest suspicion.
I shrugged. “I screwed a whore in Bolivia on a business trip a few weeks ago. Tina found out, so she took revenge with a fucking cowboy.”
“Oh fuck! Is that was that was about?”
“Yeah. Childish, right? But at least it made me see that we’d reached the end of the road.”
I waited with bated breath to see if he’d swallow it.
He did. “Oh man! What a fucking mess!”
“Yeah, all my fault.” Take the blame, and you’re a hero.
“No, no! These things happen!” James was rearranging his thoughts. “But what the fuck was Antonio thinking? He says you misunderstood something he said and went for him.”
“He dissed Tina. Despite everything, there’s history, you know?”
“Absolutely! I mean, it’s bad now, but you’ll end up friends, right?”
Me, I couldn’t see it, but it’s the manly thing to do, so I agreed. “Exactly. Antonio said something he shouldn’t have, and I lost it.”
“Right! That pendejo’s always being misunderstood! If he weren’t the jefe’s cousin, he'd be six feet under by now.”
Thank fuck for gossip! Clearly there were too many stories going around for anyone to really know what had happened.
High on the buzz that comes with a successful slaughter, James and I were in the apartment, putting our hoodies in the machine with a shot of evidence destroying bleach just in case someone had splashed, and talking like brothers.
“You didn’t tell Tina what he said, though.”
“Nah, I couldn’t hurt her feelings.”
“Fuck! Just like Antonio to take advantage! Hijo de puta!”
“Yeah, I shouldn’t care, but I do, you know?” I got it just right. “I’ve called home and asked Chloe if she can rally the girls and offer a bit of support.”
James thumped me on the back. “Jesus, man! We were all wondering what the fuck was going on. There’s all kinds of stories going round! You know, like you’d lost it.” James realised he’d dropped a loop, adding hastily, “I mean, nothing anyone would believe!”
Right. Not fucking likely.
James was so relieved I w
asn’t a screaming pussy that he was spilling his guts. “Others were saying you just got the fuck out of Dodge, but we saw the way you were totally focused on business. Taking care of the shooters, planning for the future, keeping things tight… and now tonight.”
James was grinning with delight, so I knew the talk had been fucking awful. I had been losing respect, just as I feared.
I didn’t show that it hurt, of course. “Guess people thought I’d turned maricon, right?”
“Jesus, no! Just a bit soft with the wife!” James was admiring. “You knew?”
“Sure.”
“You knew what was being said, and you just went on with business?”
“Business first, personal later. That’s how it works, right? And anyway, women do things and say things they don’t mean all the time. They can’t help it. They’re hormonal.”
“Yeah, right. But man!” James was shaking his head, admiration in his voice and eyes. “You must have some huevos to take all that heat and not say a fucking word!”
And that’s when I got my respect back. Just like that.
“Women,” I said it casually, “they break your heart, right?”
Yes, that day was one I’ll not forget in a hurry.
Chapter Twelve: Natalia
I came away from the lunch, thinking it had gone much better than expected. I had avoided trouble with the Zetas and gained their protection against the Peckham Knaves.
I hadn’t meant to ask Quique to be our licence-holder, but thinking it over, it was a good move. He’d do the job, and it meant not having to deal with any local villains, all of whom were just as rapacious as Sooty.
So I was feeling okay, and of course from that point it was downhill all the way.
Quique had dropped me off around four, still early for our regulars, so on impulse I went round to Millie’s. That was a mistake. I saw at once what was worrying Millie. Delicia was white-faced and shivery.
“Hello, love. I came to see how you are.”
I wasn’t sure if I should touch her, but the second I sat down, she was leaning into me. “Thanks for coming to get me.”