Cold Killers (27 page)

Harold walked up to Melvin and put his arm around his shoulder.

‘I’ll keep a lookout for your dog, no problem. Now, fuck off home and sleep it off, before you get yourself in trouble.’

‘Thank you, Harold, you’re a good man.’ He slapped him on the shoulder. ‘Not like some of you other arseholes in here.’ Melvin took a step towards the door and then
changed his mind. ‘I know you,’ he shouted at Marco. ‘You bastard. You piece of shit. I’m not scared off, you know. I know a lot of things about a lot of people. Fuck you! I
mean it, you scumbag. Don’t you try and scare me from my home, my job. I’m part of this community and I won’t be kicked out. I belong here.’

‘No one’s trying to kick you out of your home.’ Harold tried again to steer him back towards the door. The pub had fallen silent, all chatter dulled, as they had no choice but
listen to Melvin rant.

‘They are, Harold. He doesn’t want me to do my tours any more. He wants me to go away. But I’m not going to. You bring my dog back now, right this minute. Do you hear
me?’ he shouted back over Harold’s shoulder.

Melvin lost his balance and crashed into the doors. Harold picked him up by his coat collar and half walked, half lifted him to the street outside.

‘You’re upsetting folks; now fuck off, mate.’

Harold dipped into his pocket and pressed a roll of notes into Melvin’s hand.

‘For old time’s sake. Now go home, stay there for the next couple of weeks. Take a holiday. Don’t come in here again shouting your mouth off, do you hear me? Do you?’

Melvin nodded, his head hung down onto his chest. He swayed on his feet.

‘You want me to call you a cab?’ Harold asked after him.

‘No, you’re very kind to me, Harold, but I can walk. You’re a good man, Harold.’

‘We go back a long way, Melvin, that’s why I want you to promise me you’ll stay out of here, stay away from this area for a while. Promise?’

Melvin kept nodding as he walked away with a backward wave Harold’s way. Harold watched him stagger up the street and turn the corner before he returned to the pub. Marco had ordered
another drink. The pub had already forgotten all about Melvin.

‘This one’s on the house.’ Chrissie the landlady passed over a double Scotch Harold’s way. ‘Poor old Melvin. He’s as harmless as a fly, but he’ll get
himself in trouble one of these days.’

‘What’s happened to his dog?’ asked Harold. Marco was smiling to himself. Harold looked at him and the anger flashed into Harold’s face.

Marco held up his hands. ‘Apologies, you just seem so caring, that’s all. It’s not a side of you I know.’

Chrissie smiled and nodded as she rested her hand on Harold’s arm.

‘I appreciate it, Harold. You’re a gent. When he gets in one of these states you can’t believe anything he says. He’ll start hallucinating next.’ She glowered at
Marco before returning behind the bar.

Harold looked at his phone and lowered his voice as he leaned in. ‘We just got word – Tony’s going to be getting a visit from the Spanish police tomorrow morning.’

Marco looked unsurprised. ‘Looking for?’

‘Francisco, I guess. The double act you tried to pull didn’t fool them for long.’

‘They will find nothing. We cleaned it good.’

‘I’m pretty sure they know that. But they’re just going through the motions.’

‘Will they search Eddie’s property?’ asked Marco, a little concerned.

‘I doubt it. Even if they do, it won’t matter: we have it covered. Have you heard from Della?’ asked Harold.

‘Yes. She’ll meet us back at the apartment.’

‘What’s the deal with you, Marco? You tell me what’s really going on.’

‘Surely you know everything, Mr Right-Hand Man, Mr Enforcer.’

‘You’d be wise not to take the piss out of me, Marco.’

‘Apologies.’ Marco looked around for a drink. Harold took his arm and held it. He smiled. ‘I don’t object to bowing out of the limelight. You want to take over from me,
you’re welcome, as long as I’m retired and still alive. But you’ll need my help if you want to fill my shoes. Tony has these grand schemes but they’re all in his head, and
that’s not a nice place to be sometimes.’

Marco went to turn away from Harold and Harold grabbed him by the neck and pulled him down to within an inch of his face.

‘You got my brother killed. I don’t trust you, Marco. Over here, I command the troops. I could dig you in between the ribs with a nice thin blade, no fuss, clean, and walk out of
here, and I’ll be scot-free before you hit the ground dead. Even if you asked for help, you wouldn’t get it. They don’t like you round here. You’re pissing them off. You get
me?’

‘Yes.’

‘My back is being watched here twenty-four/seven. Who’s watching yours, Marco?’

‘Once again I apologise. We’re friends here, Harold, on the same side.’

‘I think you’re on your own team of one,’ answered Harold. ‘You setting up this deal with your family?’ Marco nodded. ‘You’ve kept the money from the
Mendez family and you’re looking to add to it to move on to bigger deals?’

‘That’s the gist of it, yes. This is the time now, to act, to push forwards.’

‘I heard your family chucked you out. They didn’t like a bastard in the family.’

‘There will always be problems between siblings. My family will have a new respect for me. They will see what I have to offer. Tony has built his network of distributors. He is an octopus
with his tentacles stretching across Europe. We have a lot to offer the right cartel.’ Harold was watching Marco intently. He nodded.

‘Let’s go and talk to Della. I want to hear what the princess has to say.’

Marco stopped him when they reached their car.

‘You know, Della needs watching very closely. We should put a tail on her. She has little time to prove herself. The Mendez cartel are thinking about the signed statement from Francisco,
about the funds. They will be looking for confirmation of that and they will not get it. I say, in one week’s time this city’s streets will begin to run with blood unless we make the
new deal and fast. Uncertainty will lead to more bloodshed. Are your troops ready?’

Harold opened the driver’s door and paused as he looked across to Marco.

‘Born ready.’

Marco laughed. ‘You know what, Harold? I’m going to attend to some business here. I’ll catch you later.’

‘Where are you going?’

‘Old friends have been in touch. I need to see how they are. I will be back later.’

Della was waiting for Harold when he returned that evening.

The apartment was a penthouse in Shoreditch: 1 Shoreditch Mews, Flat 18. It occupied the whole top two floors of an old warehouse. It was white and open-plan. It had a roof garden with Perspex
sides. The bedrooms were on the lower floor.

Della felt nervous as she waited in the open-plan sitting area. The automatic blinds had been closed. The automatic candles had sprung into life. She heard one pair of feet coming up the stairs
to the top level.

Harold appeared above the Perspex parapet.

‘Where’s Marco?’ Della asked as she reached forwards to pick up her glass of wine.

‘He said he had business.’

She considered that answer with a look of disdain on her face.

‘Are you having him followed?’

‘Should I?’

‘Of course.’

Harold shrugged. ‘My guess, he’s meeting with Colombian friends.’

He poured himself a whisky from the decanter. He topped it up with ginger ale.

‘I heard all about your deal. Is it for real? I have a feeling it’s just bullshit, made to bide you some time, but I can’t figure out why you’d bother. Why not just leave
Marbella? I’ll get you some funds. I’ll take care of you. You’re Eddie’s widow, after all. I don’t hold with the disrespect that’s being shown. Own up to me, and
I’ll get you on a flight to South America. How does that sound?’ He came to sit near her and put his feet up on the table.

‘Thank you, Harold, but I’m not bullshitting. I can get the diamonds. You know I appreciate it and I know you mean it, but I don’t feel like running. I want what’s mine
and I will fight for it. Eddie left me all that information for a reason. Eddie must have known all this would happen. This is all the protection he could give me in the end. He left me something
that Tony wants more than anything.’

‘Oh, yeah, he has wet dreams about that stash of diamonds.’ Harold grinned as he brought his drink over to sit on the sofa with Della. ‘He’s talked about it and nothing
else for as long as I can remember. But you will be the first to be killed if it goes wrong. If Tony makes a deal.’

‘I heard that the deal is already done. The shipment is on its way. Tony can’t back out now. Neither can any of us.’

‘Then you better find them diamonds quick and let’s get it done.’

‘You sound like you’ve had enough of it all, Harold.’

‘I have. This will be my last job for Tony, then I go into retirement. I sit around and get fat in the sun, drinking beer.’

‘So you have a vested interest in this happening?’

He nodded. ‘But what worries me is, is revenge top of your list here, Della? Because, if it is, then you won’t succeed. Tony doesn’t feel remorse. Tony doesn’t have that
in his make-up.’

‘Do you?’

‘Well, it’s debatable, after all these years. But I’d never have ordered or stood by and allowed Eddie to be killed.’

‘Do you know that’s what Tony did?’

‘Tony didn’t pull the trigger. Now, let’s get back to business, Della. I’m going to be your best friend here. I’m going to look after you the best way I can, but
you’re going to have to trust me.’

‘And not Marco?’

Harold shrugged. ‘Marco is working for himself in all this. Don’t turn your back on Marco for one second. He already wants you followed everywhere. If you don’t want that, you
have to trust me. You better tell me more so that I can help you find the diamonds. I need to be sure the stash exists. I don’t want to lose my head.’

‘You want proof, Harold? I understand that. But, this is going to be done the way I want it, Harold, or not at all.’

‘Okay, I get it. What do you want from me?’ Harold asked.

‘Protection. For a start, we should move from here. Eddie was staying here before he was killed. This apartment smells of a trap to me. The police must be watching us
twenty-four/seven.’

‘The place isn’t rigged. I had it checked out.’

‘Still, everyone knows we’re here. It’s not safe. I want a new apartment that’s not associated with the Butcher clan. If things kick off with the Mendez cartel I
don’t want to be in here like a sitting duck.’

‘It makes sense. I’ll see what I can organise.’

‘No offence, but all your friends are involved in this. I can still pose as a normal human being and no one will suspect a thing. I’ll rent my own apartment. You two can do your own
thing.’

‘Maybe, we’ll see about it.’

‘Hello? I thought we were in a hurry. You want to take a month to work this out, then go ahead, but I think we’ll be pretty much in the shit by that time. Can I just point out the
obvious, Harold? And that is that Tony’s sitting pretty in Villa Cassandra while we are out here and about to die just like Eddie. I suggest that we three stick together and we make a
sensible plan that’s going to see us through all this. Now, I have said that I can find the diamonds. I believe I can. I just need to stay alive long enough to do it. Do you
understand?’

‘Yes.’

The bell went for the intercom.

‘You expecting someone?’ asked Harold. Della shook her head.

‘Who is it?’ Della asked as she watched Harold walk over and look at the webcam image from the front door.

‘Laurence.’

‘Well, are you going to let him in?’

‘Sure, just be careful what you say.’

‘Come up.’ Harold pressed the buzzer.

‘Have you eaten? I bring food. The best Indian in town,’ Laurence announced.

‘Thanks, Laurence, you’re very kind.’ Della got up to go and greet him. ‘Just the smell of chicken tikka masala is enough to make me ravenous.’

‘You okay, Della?’ Laurence hugged her. ‘It’s nice to have you here.’

‘Thanks, Laurence; I think it’s nice to be here, except it’s gone so cold. The Christmas lights are pretty here. I forget what a magical time of year it is to come to
London.’

‘It’s the only time I wish I had kids,’ laughed Laurie, excited. ‘Don’t put any bets on a white Christmas just yet, though. They say there’s a few storms
headed our way. How long are you planning on staying?’

‘I’m not sure.’ She took the takeaway bag from him.

Harold had been distracted, looking at his phone. Messages were coming in. He took a call and went into his bedroom to talk.

‘I have to go out for a while,’ he said when he emerged a few minutes later. ‘I’ll see you soon, Laurie.’ He picked up his keys and left.

Laurence looked at her. ‘Something I said? I’ve only been here a few minutes!’

Della smiled. ‘It’s great. For whatever reason, we have a bit of peace.’

Laurence laughed. ‘It’s going to be pretty hardcore sharing with those two monkeys, isn’t it? You can come and stay at mine. I have plenty of room.’

‘Thanks, but I need to spend time with family and friends. I haven’t seen some of them for ages. You know how it is.’ She smiled at him. She realised he’d made an effort
to come and see her. He was stinking of expensive aftershave. He had the just-shaved look to his baby face. ‘It’s kind of you. Are you going somewhere else after this?’ she asked
in hope.

He shook his head. ‘Not unless you’re keen.’

‘Me? No I’m going to bed early, I’m afraid.’

He nodded as he walked across to put some music on and pour himself a glass of wine as he topped up Della’s glass. Della went into the kitchen. Laurie was watching her as she got plates
out and opened up the containers.

‘I didn’t know you had family in London,’ he said. ‘How come we never saw them?’

‘Ah, well, it’s a well-kept secret.’ Della returned, smiling, with a tray and the food. ‘Let’s eat.’ She put the plates out on the table.

They sat opposite one another and struggled for something to talk about, maybe because so much of what she might say she couldn’t. Laurence was awkwardness personified. They exchanged
meaningless comments about the quality of the food and smiled at one another over their wine. Della put it down to tiredness. It was beginning to feel too intimate. She was almost hoping Marco
would come back to herald the end of the evening. Everyone hated Marco.