‘You okay with that?’
‘Boss, my name’s in the frame for all of this. I’m covering my own arse.’
‘Then cover away, Mick.’
‘It’ll mean I’ll be away for a day or two.’
‘No sweat, I’ve nothing major coming up. I’ll be okay. I’ll let you know when it’s a good time.’
Richards took a long pull on his cigar. ‘You’re okay with the way it went down?’ he asked.
‘What do you mean?’
Richards shrugged. ‘Getting rid of her the way we did.’
‘We didn’t have a choice, boss. It was her or us. And I don’t know about you but I’m not going to do a twenty stretch for anyone. She brought it on herself by hiring Dunbar. If she’d just kept quiet she’d have been fine.’
Richards nodded. ‘Yeah,’ he said.
‘Look at this way, boss. That bastard, Cohen, was stealing from you and you did him without a second thought. She would have done you more damage than he did, no doubt about it. We did what had to be done. End of.’
‘You’re right,’ Richards said quietly.
‘Damn right I’m right,’ said Halpin.
Richards settled back in his seat and tried to get his head straight for when he met The Mint. The rain was heavier now and, even at full speed, the wipers were finding it hard to cope with the deluge.
They reached a set of red traffic lights and Halpin brought his Lexus to a halt. Richards stared through the windscreen with unseeing eyes, his mind on the money that he was getting ready to transfer to one of The Mint’s offshore accounts. The swish-swish of the wipers was almost hypnotic. There was a white Audi TT stopped at the lights on the other side of the junction. There was a woman at the wheel. Richards narrowed his eyes as he tried to focus. He took the cigar out of his mouth and leaned forward. ‘What the fuck…?’
‘What boss?’
The lights changed to green and the Audi leapt across the junction. Richards turned to watch the car speed by. ‘Turn the car around!’ he shouted.
‘What?’ said Halpin.
‘Turn the fucking car around!’ shouted Richards, twisting around in his seat. ‘Just fucking do it!’
Halpin hit the turn indicator but there was a bus coming towards him. The bus driver sounded his horn and accelerated.
‘Come on, come on!’ shouted Richards.
Halpin stepped on the accelerator and twisted the steering wheel. The bus driver slammed on his brakes and pounded on the horn as Halpin made the turn.
Richards pointed down the road. ‘That Audi,’ he said. ‘Follow that Audi.’
‘I don’t see an Audi, boss,’ said Halpin, accelerating down the street. The bus driver was continuing to pound on his horn behind them.
‘There, she’s turning. See?’
Ahead of them the white car turned into a side street. ‘She? Who is it, boss?’
‘Carolyn Castle. She was driving.’
‘Boss?’ He took his foot off the accelerator and the car slowed.
Richards pointed ahead. ‘Don’t fucking stop, get after her!’
Halpin did as he was told.
‘It was her. I swear to God it was her!’ hissed Richards.
‘Boss, it can’t be.’
‘Don’t tell me what can’t be. I fucking saw her!’
‘She’s dead, boss. You know she’s dead.’
‘Just fucking follow her!’
Halpin sighed and nodded. ‘Okay, okay.’ They reached the turn that the Audi had taken and as they went around the corner Richards leaned forward. There was no sign of it. ‘I don’t see it, boss,’ said Halpin.
‘Faster, she must be ahead of us.’
Halpin accelerated but even in the heavy rain he could see the road ahead was clear. ‘Boss…’ he said. ‘It’s not here.’
‘She must have gone down a side street,’ said Richards. ‘Turn around. Let’s go back.’
‘Boss, if she did, we’ve lost her. She could be anywhere by now.’
‘If? What do you mean? You think I’m fucking making this up?’
‘I’m just saying, boss, I didn’t see her.’
‘You saw the Audi?’
‘I guess.’
‘You guess? You fucking guess? What the fuck are you saying? You think I’m making this up?’
‘Boss, look, I saw the car but I didn’t see who was driving. How could I, what with all this rain and all? And you’re starting to spook me carrying on like this. She’s dead. She’s at the bottom of the North Sea.’
‘Unless you fucked me over.’
‘Fucked you over? What do you mean?’
‘How the fuck do I know that you did what I told you to do? Maybe you let her out. Maybe she paid you off. How else do you explain the fact she’s alive and well and driving around?’
‘Come on, boss, you only caught a glimpse of the driver as she went by. It could have been anyone.’
‘Yeah? And who was ringing my bell? Answer me that?’
Halpin said nothing.
‘Just drive around for a bit. Keep looking.’
‘Sure. Whatever you want, boss.’ Halpin turned left into a side street lined with parked cars and they scanned left and right, looking for a white Audi. Fifteen minutes later they were still looking. Eventually Halpin looked at his watch pointedly.
‘Okay, let’s leave it,’ said Richards. ‘We’d better not keep The Mint waiting.’
CHAPTER 64
Richards shared a bottle of Cristal with The Mint as they sat in a window seat surveying the models, footballers wives and minor television stars who made up the female clientele of The Mayfair. There were some stunning women decked out in all their finery, but all Richards could think about was Carolyn and her watery death.
A couple of times The Mint had asked him if there was something wrong but Richards had forced a smile and said everything was fine. Halpin sat with them, nursing a tonic and water. The reason for the meeting was simple enough. The Mint was brokering a major cannabis shipment for an Irish consortium and they had come up four hundred grand short. If Richards was interested, The Mint could get him in. The downside was Richards would only have enough for two runs which would make it slightly riskier.
‘But it’s a good ‘un, Warwick,’ The Mint had said, patting his leg. ‘We’re talking about a training yacht that has been completely rebuilt, they could put a team of dogs on it and they’d come up with nothing. They could drill a hundred holes and come up empty. And most of the crew are kids from broken families. It’s the closest thing I’ve seen to a sure thing for a long time.’
Richards had agreed and they’d sealed the deal with a second bottle of Cristal.
They had left the bar at eleven. Halpin left first to collect the car, then called Richards once he was outside. Richards hugged The Mint, blew kisses at the two Eurasian girls who were sitting either side of him, and headed outside. There were two photographers standing on the pavement but they paid no attention to him as he climbed into the Lexus. It had finally stopped raining but the roads and pavements were still soaking wet.
Richards lit a cigar and they drove in silence for a while. ‘Let’s swing by her house, Mick,’ said Richards eventually.
‘Her house?’
‘In Notting Hill Gate.’
‘Castle’s house? Are you serious?’
‘I just want to know for sure.’
‘Boss, what if the cops are there? What if she’s been reported missing and we turn up? The cops aren’t stupid.’
Richards turned and looked at Halpin. ‘Are you going to second guess every decision I make, is that what’s going to happen? Because I’m not standing for that.’
‘I’m just telling you what I think, boss.’