Tanya couldn’t understand what Jay’s problem was; he swore he didn’t have feelings for Kate, so why couldn’t he do what they had talked about? Why was he leaving it all to her, it was like he had no balls all of a sudden.
“Fine, we’ll do it your way, we’ll call him soon, but you tell him if he wants to see his perfect little sister again, we want two hundred and fifty thousand pounds. I’m not going through all this shit for loose change, Jay, I think a quarter of a mill should see us right for a bit; get us started, you know.”
Relieved that he had managed to delay her, if only for a little while, Jay knelt over her and started kissing her softly, smelling the sweet scent of her perfume, pound signs swimming around in his head.
43
The warehouse’s office, normally buzzing with noise and banter, was eerily quiet. The four men seated around the table were not only deep in thought but also silent from the shock of what they had been told. Nobody could believe what they had heard.
“So, let’s get this straight then.” Ryan rubbed his forehead fiercely, as if the information he had received had gone inside his head and caused it to throb like it might explode at any second. “Jay Shaw has rung you and demanded you give him a quarter of a million pounds. Is he having a fucking giggle? Does he seriously think that you’re going to hand it over so that he can skip off into the sunset and live happily ever fucking after? What is he, a fucking comedian? I can tell you this now, if he thinks he’s getting a penny from you he’s a real fucking joker.”
Ryan looked at each of the men around the table; the tension had created an atmosphere that was intense, to say the least. Billy had just turned up with a face like thunder: they knew it was bad from the look in his eyes. He had called them into the office with an urgency that made them all worry.
The call that Billy had been waiting for had come in at nine o’clock that morning, it had confirmed what he had known all along, Jay was behind Kate’s disappearance, and so Billy hadn’t been shocked when he heard the familiar, malicious voice. What he had been surprised at was Jay’s demands.
Jay had spoken quietly and calmly, informing Billy that his sister was alive and well and would be returned safe and sound once he had paid the cash that Jay asked for. Billy had started to lose it: what a fucking cheek, how fucking dared he, who did he think he was messing with? He would not get away with this. Taking his sister was crossing the line big time. Billy would break every bone in that imbecile’s body once he got his hands on him. Jay interrupted the name-calling and threats with a warning of his own.
“You have twenty-four hours to get the money together, Billy boy, if you fuck this up or try anything stupid, I can’t make any promises. Kate will be returned in one piece if you do what I say: do I make myself clear?”
Billy was silenced at the thought of his sister being in danger and the loaded threat reminded him that he was dealing with a sick, twisted bastard. He reluctantly agreed to Jay’s ultimatum of paying a ransom for Kate’s safe return. Billy was told to sit by the phone at nine the following morning to wait for further instructions.
The room was silent; so far, Jonny hadn’t said a word, although he and Lee had exchanged numerous looks between themselves. They were all just sitting there, waiting for Billy to say something: anything. They could see that he was not up to dealing with this; he was finding it hard to keep it together. Breaking the silence, Lee said,
“When he calls you, we need to tell him that we agree to whatever he asks.”
Ryan laughed out loud in complete disbelief; if it was up to him he would be out hunting this fucker down and when he found him, he would treat him to the slowest and most painful death possible, he wouldn’t be complying with his brainless demands.
“Let me finish.” Lee held one hand up, to stop Ryan from interrupting, and continued: “We need to play the game. Go along with what he says, and make him think that he has us by the short and curlies. If he thinks that he is the one giving out the orders and making all the demands, then we can catch him off guard. We will be ready when he picks up the money, we will be three steps ahead of the cunt.”
As always with the Ellis brothers, Jonny finished off his brother’s sentence:
“We cannot risk Kate’s life in the smarmy fucker’s hands Billy; this is not a time for games. Pay Jay whatever he asks, we will get Kate back, and we will personally serve Jay up on a plate for you, he’ll be like a lamb to the fucking slaughter.”
Billy nodded at the men, his friends, whom he trusted with his life. This was exactly what he needed to hear, he was so emotionally fucked up about the situation that he couldn’t think straight, and he needed their support; only with their help could he possibly get through this, it was Kate’s only real chance. Jonny and Lee were the brains of the group, and he hoped that between them they would sort out a plan that would leave no room for fuck ups, and by the time they had executed it, Ryan, the muscle of the group, would have great pleasure in carrying out Jay’s reprisal. Billy, however, was going to make sure that he was there at the end, he would be the one to finally turn the lights out in Jay’s little fucked-up world.
44
Paul had spoken to his security team; every single one of his guys had been called in to work. It was being treated like a military operation; these were his best men, they knew what was expected of them, and Paul was confident that they would do as they were asked. He had briefed them about what was going on, and everybody was on red alert. They were expected to watch everything that happened in the club tonight, not even so much as a bag of speed was to pass through the doors. No fights; no scumbags; no trouble. Paul needed them to focus their attention on Jay Shaw.
Every man who came in this place tonight was to be searched, and Jay Shaw was no exception, if he thought that he could just walk in tooled up, demands or no demands, he had another think coming. Paul knew that they had the upper hand, really, as everybody who worked at the club knew what Jay looked like: the door men, the security, even most of the bar workers. He was a good looking fucker, one of the only things he actually had going for him, and a bloke like him stood out from the average crowd. Most of his security team had worked alongside him at some stage, so Paul had been surprised that this was how Jay wanted to play it. It seemed strange that he would want to make the exchange somewhere as public and personal as the club.
Paul was aware that there may be more than met the eye going on, particularly as Jay had been outed by him and by Goldie’s in generaclass="underline" he wasn’t taking any chances that Jay might be using this as a chance to get a piece of revenge.
Yesterday had been the longest twenty-four hours in Paul’s life, there were moments when it had felt like time had actually stopped ticking. He and Billy had sat for most of the afternoon together, talking about Kate and how they thought she would be coping and what they would both like to do to Jay when they got their hands on him, as well as going over the plan for this evening. They had talked it all through so many times that there was nothing left to say and then they had mostly just sat there in silence, both worrying at the worst-case scenario that this all could possibly bring them. Neither of the two men wanted to voice their fears about what this could be.