Crime Always Pays (33 page)

          'You think that's wise? I mean the guy said, wait 'til they --'

          'XRY 379,' Johnny said. 'A navy Punto. They'll have the address, the details, of whoever rented it.'

          'There's a rental place,' Doyle said, 'it's right there on the beach beside the health centre. So why don't we get you in there, just for a quick check-up. I'll scoot across to the rental place, see if they can --'

          'Being brutally fucking honest,' Johnny said, getting up, 'right now I'm not really rating Niko's choice of back-up. So you got a lot to prove. And the best way to start is, do what you're fucking told.'

          'Okay by me,' Doyle said. She reached across and grabbed Johnny's wrist, giving it a twisty little turn yanking him back down into the seat. Johnny, stunned, just gaped. 'My orders,' she said, 'coming from Niko, are to keep you out of harm's way. Incognito.'

          'Yeah,' Johnny said, massaging his wrist, 'but I'm the one's telling Niko --'

          'Being brutally fucking honest,' Doyle said, 'I'm not really rating Niko's choice of boss. So you got a lot to prove. And the best way to start is, shut the fuck up. And give me your phone.'

          'My phone?'

          'Triangulation,' Doyle said, describing a sloppy circle in the air with her forefinger. 'You start taking calls, they'll pin you down in seconds.'

          'Who will?'

          'The cops,' Doyle said. 'Niko didn't tell you?'

          'Jesus, tell me what?'

          'This sting they're running, undercover.'

          'Fuck.' Johnny paled. 'Niko knows about this?'

          'He does now.'

          'That was the 
cops
? Christ, I thought they were Sicilian.'

          'They're still using that here?' Doyle, when you're in, you're in, was having a little fun with it. 'I'd have thought the Sicilian Feint was old hat by now.'

          'You're saying, the cops are pretending to be Sicilians.'

          'Sure. Unless it's the Reverse Sicilian Feint, when it's Sicilians pretending to be cops. It's rare, but it's a doozy.'

          Johnny shaking his head, bewildered. 'So who told you?'

          'This guy in the Orange, last night,' she riffed. 'Said if I was a friend of Niko's I should let him know the score, how there's been these guys sniffing around asking for you, he reckoned they were bacon. Said he was wondering why they were so blatant, just walking in off the street.'

          It took a second for the penny to drop but it came down hard. 'Now wait a fucking minute,' Johnny said. 'He's saying 
I'm
 bacon? Those guys, I know them, they're doing me a favour for Chrissakes.' He sat back massaging his throat. 'Who told you this, Roger?'

          'I didn't catch his name,' Doyle said. 'So these guys, you're vouching for them. I mean, you know them that well, they're cast-iron.'

          Johnny thought about that. 'Shit,' he said. 'And I just set them up with some hot hardware.'

          Doyle tut-tutted. 'That's what they call a schoolboy error, Johnny. Now give me your phone.'

Ray

Inside, in the room, Ray had Niko tear a sheet into strips then lie face-down on the bed, tie one of his wrists to the bed-post. Then he put a blanket over Niko's head and sat on that, got the other wrist secure. Checked the knots, then went out on the balcony and rang Pyle.

          'I got him,' he said.

          '
Copafuckingcetic, man
.'

          'So what now?'

          '
There's an old Venetian castle the other side of the island, Paleokastro. I'll meet you up there at ten, it'll be good and dark. How's he looking
?'

          'Not so good. He thinks we're Sicilians.'

          '
Yeah
?' A chuckle. '
How'd that happen
?'

          'I'm guessing Rossi.' Ray lit a cigarette. 'So, ten bells.'

'
Watch the road, it's steep once you come off the main road, lots of s-bends. Come down slow. Flash your lights three times, then walk on up
.'

          'What happens if I only flash twice?'

          '
Why would you do that
?'

          'I'm the rebellious type. Put Karen on.'

          '
Right now she's out walking Anna, clearing her head
.'

          'Yeah? How'd those x-rays work out?'

          '
We haven't even been in yet, man. She was sleeping all morning
.'

          'Have her ring me when she gets back.'

          '
Will do
.'

          Ray hung up, then went through to the room and rang Mel.

          '
Ray
?' The sound of utensils clinking on china in the background, a muted hum of conversation. '
Oh my God, Ray, you have no idea how glad I was to see you. I was just walking through the port when I was grabbed from behind, that horrible Niko. Then, when I wouldn't answer any of their
--'

          'Where's my passport, Mel?'

          '
Passport
?'

          'The money you can have. All I want is the passport.'

          '
But I don't have your passport
.'

          'No?'

          '
Why would I want your passport, Ray
?'

          'But you do have the money.'

          Silence. Then, '
I have my money, if that's what you're
--'

          'It's not mine, Mel. If it was mine you could have it, and bon voyage. But it belongs to Karen,' Ray said, raising his voice, 'who I once saw feed a guy's foot to the wolf. So you see my predicament.'

          'A hundred grand,' Niko shouted, his voice muffled from under the blanket. 'I can have it here tonight, in 
cash
.'

          'You can't put a price on fun, Niko,' Ray said. He said, 'Mel? You sit tight. Play ball and I'm guaranteeing you'll get whatever it is you want from Johnny. Fuck around and you'll be dealing with Karen. How's that sound?'

Melody

Mel came back to the table saying, 'Okay, Dad, thanks for calling. I'll see you soon.' Then hung up as she sat down. 'Sorry about that,' she simpered. 'He's always fussing. Where was I?'

          'Johnny,' Madge said, 'had just spotted Ray getting Niko into the car.'

          Mel nodding. 'I thought he'd explode. He was puce, his head swelling up.'

          'This is when he goes running off,' Terry said.

          'Telling me,' Mel said, 'to stay where I am, he'll be back in a minute.'

          'Except then he spotted Sleeps,' Madge said.

          'Not realising,' Mel said, 'your friend Doyle was watching Sleeps.'

          'So,' Terry said, 'Ray has this Niko and Doyle has Johnny. And these guys, they're trying to nail Rossi with what they're calling a hot rod.'

          'That's certainly the impression I got,' Mel said, who had left out one or two pieces of the jigsaw she didn't believe were immediately relevant.

          'So where's Rossi in all this?' Madge said.

          'That,' Mel had to admit, 'I don't know. Although Johnny said he was up at the Blue Orange bar earlier, telling Johnny's guy he wanted twenty grand. Doubling up what he's owed.'

          'As if he knew all along,' Madge said, 'he was being double-crossed.'

          'Crafty, this guy,' Terry said. 'Very, very crafty.'

Karen

From the porch, glancing down towards the sea as she locked her door, Karen could see stick-figures working at the blue beehives. Three, she thought, maybe four, shimmering in the afternoon heat. She strolled along the veranda towards Pyle's room, the courtyard deserted. Tapped on his door and heard, 'Christ, what is it 
now
?' 

She pushed on in. The room was the same shape as Karen's, a low desk where the second bed should have been. Pyle sitting at the desk where there was a radio transmitter with a large circular aerial on top. He swiveled when he heard the key turn, Karen locking the door.

          'That's a big gun,' he drawled, taking off his headphones, 'for such a little lady.'

          'Usually it's a Magnum .44,' Karen said, moving to the window to close the shutters.

          'No shit.'

          She crossed to the bathroom, poked her head in. 'Where's Anna?'

          Pyle inclined his head. 'Out back. Why the rod?'

          'You tell me.'

          'Tell you what?'

          'Where that cop came from. Why I was doped, locked up. Why there's some asshole with a gun bringing me lunch.'

          Pyle held his hands up, palms out. 'It looks bad, I know, but it's for your own good. Seriously. Those guys that were here last night, the ones clonked you? We're expecting them back.'

          'Pyle?' Karen waggled the .32. 'Trust me, you'll make a lot more sense with no holes in you.'

          'Okay,' he said, getting up. 'Like I told --'

          Karen cocked the hammer. 'Sit back down. Put your arms out like you're an airplane.' Pyle obeyed, a cheesy grin starting. 'Now go,' she said.

          Pyle told her about the hostile takeover bid. Karen said, 'In that case, I'll be moving on. I got enough trouble.'

          'If that's what you want. But Karen, these guys think you're with us now. They see you on your own …'

          Karen looked at the .32, then back at Pyle. 'If all your crew are as good as the guy I left in the room, I'd be safer playing with snakes. Kneel.'

          'Can I put my arms down?'

          'No. Lie on the floor.'

          Karen waited until he was spread-eagled, then patted him down. 'Alright,' she said, satisfied, 'I want Anna and the bike.'

          Pyle got slowly to his feet. 'I should probably mention,' he said, 'how Ray's helping out.'

          'Ray?'

          'He's just snatched the guy that's causing us problems.'

          'Ray's retired, Pyle.'

          'He thinks he's helping you. To stay here, I mean. You and Anna.'

          'So if I run off, you lose Ray.'

          'With you gone there's no reason for him to stick around.'

          Karen considered. 'So this guy Ray has, he's tied in with the cop bust my nose?'

          Pyle, hearing her tone, said, 'Yeah, but Karen, all we want is to spook him. And the guy's already spooked, thinks we're Sicilians.'

          Karen groaned. 'Rossi, right?'

          'Word is,' Pyle said, 'he's half-Sicilian, half-Crazy Larry.'

          'He's half rat, half sick rat. A one-man fucking plague. Only you won't be needing Rossi. I'll spook this guy plenty.'

          'Don't go into it emotional,' Pyle urged. 'An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.'

          'An eye for an eye,' Karen said, thinking back to the time Rossi'd sprung Anna's eye, using a rusty fork to do it, 'leaves everyone keeping an eye on each other.'

Rossi

'And she just let you walk away?'

Rossi, thank Christ, finally back at base, the Poseidon, out on the balcony now overlooking the port below. His back hunched against the village, roaching a fat chillum, still shaky after wandering the maze. Sleeps slumped across the white plastic table, chin propped on his forearms.

'This so I could tell you,' Sleeps said, 'to quote-unquote, rev up and fuck off.' He flapped pudgy fingers at a bug buzzing his right ear. 'Else she'll extradite you back home for capping Frank's knee and have put you away for, I think, third-degree manslaughter.'