A second cup clattered on to the table in front of me. Startled, I looked up and found myself staring into Shelleys amber eyes. I thought Id find you here, she said, tossing her mac over a chair and sitting down opposite me. Her face looked like one of those carved African ceremonial masks, all polished planes and immobility, especially now shed abandoned the beads she used to wear plaited in her hair and moved on to neat cornrows. I couldnt tell from looking at her if shed come to sympathize or to tell me off for my tantrum and plead Bills case.
And we thought Lincoln freed the slaves, I said bitterly. How do you feel about being bought and sold?
Its not as bad for me as it is for you, Shelley said. I dont like the new boss, I just walk out the door and get me another job. But youre tied to whoever Bill sells his share to, am I right?
As usual. Back on the chain gang, Shell, thats what I am. Like Chrissie Hynde says, circumstance beyond our control.
Shelleys eyebrows flickered. Doesnt have to be that way, does it?
Im not with you.
This behaviour from Bill is not what were used to.
Of course its bloody not, I interrupted petulantly. Its this Sheila, isnt it? Like the man said, when youve got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow. And theres no doubting which part of Bills anatomy Sheilas got a grip on.
Doesnt matter whos behind it, the end result is the same, Shelley pointed out. Bottom line is, Bill is not behaving like your friend, and in my book that absolves you from behaving like his friend.
Doesnt matter whos behind it, the end result is the same, Shelley pointed out. Bottom line is, Bill is not behaving like your friend, and in my book that absolves you from behaving like his friend.
And?
You own thirty-five per cent of the business, dont you?
I nodded. Free and clear.
So you put your share on the market. Either as an independent entity, or as part of the whole package.
I frowned. But that would devalue the business quite a lot. Its a different kettle of fish buying into an established agency where one of the partners is staying on to maintain the existing clients and another thing altogether to go for something thats nothing more really than a name and a bunch of office equipment.
My point exactly, Shelley said.
But Id lose a lot of the money Ive put in, I said.
But Bill would stand to lose a hell of a lot more, Shelley said. And he needs the cash a lot more than you do right now. What it would do is buy you a bit of time and a lot of say-so on the deal. It gives you a bargaining chip.
Slowly, I nodded. Shelley, you are one mean mother, I said, admiration in my voice. And I thought Bill was your blue-eyed boy.
Shelleys lips tightened. I noticed that between her nose and mouth, a couple of creases were graduating to lines. Listen, Kate, when I was growing up, I saw a lot of women doing the my kids, right or wrong routine with teachers, with cops. And I see their kids now, running drugs, living behind bars. Ive seen the funerals when another one gets shot in some stupid gang war. I dont like the end result of blind loyalty. Bill has been my friend and my boss a long time, but hes behaving like an arsehole to us both, and thats how he deserves to be treated.
I admired her cold determination to get the best result for both of us. I just didnt know if I could carry it through as ruthlessly as Shelley would doubtless demand. Youre right, I said. Ill tell him I want to sell too.
Shelley smiled. I bet you feel better already, she said shrewdly. She wasnt wrong. So, havent you got any work to do?
I told her about the previous evenings adventures, and, predictably enough, she had a good laugh at my expense. So now I need to see Dennis, I finished up. Richard might know all there is to know about the music side of the rock business, but when it comes to the criminal side, he thinks seedy is something you listen to on your stereo. Whereas Dennis might not know his Ice T from his Enya, but he could figure out where to make a bent earner in the Hallelujah Chorus. The only problem was, as I didnt have to remind Shelley, my friend and sometime mentor Dennis wasnt quite as accessible as normal, Her Majesty the Queen being unreasonably fussy about keeping her guests to herself.
When I met Dennis, like so many people in their late thirties, hed just gone through a major career change. After a stretch in prison, hed given up his previous job as a professional and highly successful burglar to the rich and famous and taken up the more demanding but less dangerous occupation of a bit of ducking and diving on the fringes of the law. Which included, on occasion, a bit of consultancy work for Mortensen and Brannigan. Thanks to Dennis, Id learned how to pick locks, defeat alarm systems and ransack filing cabinets without leaving a trace.
Unfortunately, a little enterprise of Denniss aimed at separating criminals from their cash flow had turned sour when hed inadvertently arranged one of his handovers in the middle of a Drugs Squad surveillance. Instead of grabbing a couple of major-league traffickers and one of those cocaine hauls that get mentioned in the news, the cops ended up with a small-time villain and the kind of nothing case that barely makes three paragraphs in the local paper. Inevitably, Dennis paid the price of their pique, seeing his scam blown sufficiently out of proportion in court to land him with an eighteen-month sentence. Some might say he got off lightly, given his CV and what else I happened to know hed been up to lately, but speaking as someone who would go quietly mad serving an eighteen-day sentence, I wouldnt be one of them.
When can you get in to see him? Shelley asked.
Good question. I didnt have a Visiting Order nor any immediate prospect of getting one. Once upon a time, Id have rung up and pretended to be a legal executive from his firm of solicitors and asked for an appointment the next day. But security had grown tighter recently. Too many prisoners had been going walkabout from jails that werent supposed to be open prisons. Now, when you booked a briefs appointment at Strangeways, they took the details then rang back the firm you allegedly represented to confirm the name of the person attending and to give them a code consisting of two letters and four numbers. Without the code, you couldnt get in. I thought about asking Ruth to let me pose as one of her legal execs, I said.
Shelley snorted. After the last time? I dont think so!
The last time Id pretended to be one of Ruth Hunters junior employees it had strained our friendship so severely it had to wear a truss for months afterwards. Shelley was right. Ruth wasnt going to play.
I dont mean to teach you to suck eggs, Shelley said without a trace of humility or apology. And I know this goes against the grain. But had you thought about doing it the straight way?
Chapter 5
I pivoted on the ball of my right foot, bending the knee as I straightened my left leg, using the momentum to drive me forward and round in a quarter-circle. The well-muscled leg whistled past me, just grazing the hip that moments before had been right in its path. I grunted with effort as I sidestepped and jabbed a short kick at the knee of my assailant.
I was too slow. Next thing I knew, my right leg was swept from under me and I was lying on my back, lungs screaming for anything to replace the air that had been slammed out of them. Christie OBrien stood above me, grinning. Youre slowing down, she observed with the casual cruelty of adolescence. Of course I was slow compared to her; she was, after all, a former British under-fourteen championship finalist. But Christie Christine until she discovered fashion and lads was above all her fathers daughter. Shed learned at an early age that nothing succeeds like kicking them when theyre down.
One of the other things Id learned thanks to Dennis was Thai kick boxing, a sport he insisted every woman should know. The theory goes, a woman as small as I am is never going to beat a guy in a fair fight, so the key to personal safety is to land one good kick either in the shins or the gonads. Then its legs, dont let me down time. Kick boxing teaches you how to land the kick and keeps you fit enough to leg it afterwards.
When hed been sent down, Dennis had asked me to keep an eye on Christie. Shed inherited her mothers gleaming blonde hair and wide blue eyes, but her brains had come from a father who knew only too well the damage a teenage girl can wreak when the only adult around to keep an eye on things has a generous spirit and fewer brain cells than the average goldfish. Because shed always been accustomed to seeing me around the gym, Christie had either failed to notice or decided not to resent the fact that Id been spending a lot more time with her recently.
She filled me in on the latest school dramas of who was hanging out with whom and why as we showered next to each other our clubs strictly breeze block. You want cubicles, go somewhere else and pay four times as much to join. By the time we were towelling ourselves dry, Id managed to swing the conversation round to Dennis. You told your dad about this Jason, then, I asked her casually. Shed mentioned the lads name once too often.
She filled me in on the latest school dramas of who was hanging out with whom and why as we showered next to each other our clubs strictly breeze block. You want cubicles, go somewhere else and pay four times as much to join. By the time we were towelling ourselves dry, Id managed to swing the conversation round to Dennis. You told your dad about this Jason, then, I asked her casually. Shed mentioned the lads name once too often.
Youve got to be joking, she said. Tell him about somebody he cant check out for himself and have the heavy mob kicking Jasons door in for a reference? No way. When he comes outll be well soon enough.
When you seeing him next? I asked.
Mums got a VO for Thursday afternoon. Im supposed to be going with her, but Ive got cross-country trials and I dont want to miss them, she grumbled as she pulled a sweatshirt over her head. Dad wouldnt mind. Hell be the one giving me a go-along if I miss getting on the team. But Mum gets really depressed going to Strangeways on her own, so I feel like Ive got to go with her.
I could go instead of you, I suggested.
Christies face lit up. Would you? You dont mind? Im warning you, its a three-hankie job coming home.
I dont mind, I said. Id like to see your dad. I miss him.
Christie sighed and stared at her trainers. Me too. She looked up at me, her eyes candid. Im really angry with him, you know? After he came out last time, he promised me hed never do anything that would get him banged up again.