“Let’s talk tomorrow. You’re going to get through this.”
I was the worst friend ever.
A bit of educated guesswork was more than enough to lead me to the right place. London Road was a popular street name, but there was only one close enough to get to in fifteen minutes. The street had a convenience store and a few other small shops. They were all closed, except for a hardware store that had a light on in the back.
I parked up on the street and snuck round the back. At this point, I realized I had no bloody clue what I was going to do. I had no weapon, nor anything I could use as a weapon. Usually, my body frame was enough to scare people off, but that might not do the trick here.
The back door was open, and I walked inside to find a guy even bigger than me standing by the entrance and two men sat down at a table. I’d been expecting to see stacks of cash everywhere, but the place was rather underwhelming.
The big guy blocked my way, but was quickly called off by the man sat at the table who recognized me.
“Oliver Cornish. What leads you into our neck of the woods?”
The man was about forty and balding, with a slight paunch around the gut. He’d once been in shape though. The man boobs looked like they used to have been pecs, but he’d stopped taking care of himself.
“I’m here to talk to you about Gary,” I said.
“Hmm, well, you’d better take a seat then.”
“I’ll stand,” I replied. I was always more intimidating when I stood because I towered over everyone. “I won’t be long.”
“Suit yourself.”
“He’s done what you asked, and now you need to leave him and his family alone.”
“Do I now? And what, pray tell, do you plan to do about it?”
The man looked rough around the edges, but he didn’t speak that way. This man had been well-educated and probably once played rugby himself judging by his build. He wouldn’t be easy to intimidate or threaten.
“This isn’t a big operation you’re running here, is it?” I asked, looking around the store that they no doubt used as a front.
“We do all right for ourselves.”
“Yes, but you’re operating outside of the law.”
“Are we?” he said sarcastically. “Well, damn, I guess we had better shut the whole thing down.”
His associates laughed along with their boss’ joke as good associates always did.
“What I meant is that you have to take a risk and you’re not raking in the big bucks. No doubt, you have to keep bets modest so as not to arouse suspicion, and rugby is nowhere near as popular as football so the profit is smaller. You’re working hard for little gain.”
“What do you propose, Mr. Cornish?”
“Gary and I will give you ten percent of our income for a year.” That would keep me coming back here more often than I would like, but it would also buy us enough time to get the police involved. Perhaps we could set up a sting?
“Interesting,” the boss said. “But that’s not enough. Let’s make it 30% and that goes on in perpetuity, not just for a year.”
“20% for five years,” I replied. That was the rest of Gary’s career. Hopefully we would be able to put a stop to all this long before that.
The boss sat there in silence, likely doing the maths in his head. I suspected this would be a slight loss for him overall, but it would also be a lot less risky for him. The temptation of easy money was strong.
“I like the idea, in principal,” the boss said. “Get Gary involved and we have a deal.”
“You agree to stay the hell away from his family?”
“If he keeps up his end of the bargain then we won’t need to harm anyone.” I nodded my head and walked towards the exit. “The same goes for you, Mr. Cornish. Keep to your end of the deal, and we don’t harm anyone. If not, well, I do hope your mother’s new husband is capable of protecting her.”
I walked out without rising to the bait. I didn’t have a kid like Gary, but Mum was finally happy with her new husband and I had to protect her. We weren’t close, but she was still my mum.
Thankfully, I only had one person in my life to protect. I had no wife, girlfriend, or child. My selfish lifestyle at least had some advantages. If there was anyone else in my life, I might not be able to protect them. Thank God I was alone.
We’d both had too much to drink, so we hailed a cab to take us to the police station. The traffic meant the journey took twenty minutes, which was just about enough time for me to calm down. If we’d have gotten there any earlier then I would have burst into whatever jail cell was holding Maisie and yelled at her until I was sore in the throat.
How in the hell had she gotten herself arrested? We’d only been in the country a week. If the cops pressed charges then we might get kicked out and I’d have to explain to Mom why I let her daughter end up in jail.
I’d also have to face up to the truth about my ability to look after her. Oliver had told me I was responsible for Maisie being the woman she was today. That was supposed to be a compliment, but now it sounded like I was responsible for raising a criminal.
Oliver led the way to the front desk, but instead of asking to see Maisie, he asked if Chief Superintendent Hodgson was available. A few minutes later, a slightly overweight, but bubbly and confident woman approached and shook hands with Oliver. She didn’t wear a uniform, which presumably meant she spent most of her time behind a desk.
“Michelle, this is Chief Superintendent Hodgson,” Oliver said, introducing us.
“Nice to meet you,” I replied. “We’re looking for Maisie Portman.”
“Yes, don’t worry. I saw her earlier and managed to intercept her before she was thrown in a cell. Thankfully, I got to her just before Superintendent Winston.”
“Oh thank God,” Oliver said.
“Am I missing something here?” I asked. Oliver and Hodgson looked like good friends, but that didn’t explain how she knew who Maisie was. I’d been with Oliver the entire time and he hadn’t made any calls.
“Sorry, Ma’am,” Hodgson said, as she motioned for us to follow her into the hall. “I’ve rather jumped ahead. I saw Maisie come in with two officers and Shaun, whom I know well. Because of his late father,” she added quickly, in case I got the wrong idea about why a police officer would know Shaun so well. “Turns out young Maisie was on the receiving end of some abuse about her appearance and she clocked the guy one. Got a good right hook on her, by the sounds of it. Anyway, the guy probably won’t press charges. Not once I’ve had a word in his ear. Shaun and Maisie are waiting for you in my office.”
Just as we were stepping into her office, another plain clothes officer stopped to talk to Oliver. This one was a bit younger than Hodgson, but even though he was in better shape, it looked like the last few years hadn’t been kind to him.
The unshaven look didn’t have that sexy stubble thing going on, but rather someone who simply hadn’t taken the time to shave. The bags under his eyes suggested that might be connected to a lack of sleep.
“I see crime runs in the family,” the man said to Oliver.
“These two kids have as little to do with crime as I do,” Oliver replied. I could see anger in his eyes, but he did manage to keep his voice calm. “Are you going to launch a full-scale investigation into them as well?”
“No, I’d rather keep our resources focused on you. Have a nice day, Mr. Cornish.”
The man skulked off down the corridor and I caught Oliver exchange a smile with Hodgson.
“His investigation isn’t going anywhere,” Hodgson said, pulling up chairs for us. Maisie and Shaun had their backs to us and didn’t look around as we entered the room. “Obviously there isn’t anything to find.”