Dead Flowers Page 16

  Grant looked up at me without surprise. ‘Perfect,’ he said. ‘Now the party’s complete.’

  ‘Mr Sharman,’ said Albert. ‘Come on in. We’ve been expecting you. You look like you could use a towel.’ He wasn’t wrong. I was soaked and my clothes were dripping on the floor. It was cold too, and I felt like a right mess. Have you ever noticed that in films when someone gets wet, in the next scene their clothes are dry and immaculate? In real life it’s not like that, believe me.

  I continued dripping as Albert nodded to the CCTV monitors on the shelf; the one which showed the backyard of the pub was on, the other two were blank. I’d forgotten all about them. They must’ve been watching me since I climbed over the gate. How many more mistakes could I afford to make?

  ‘I’ll send you a bill for the cellar doors. If you live that long,’ said Grant, who produced my pistol from his jacket pocket. ‘Come for this, did you?’

  ‘I came for Sharon,’ I said.

  ‘Sharon’s going nowhere.’

  ‘What do you say to that, Sharon?’ I asked her.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she said.

  ‘Don’t be,’ I said to her. Then to Grant. ‘Just let her come with me and we’ll forget about what happened. She’s had a rough time since you last saw her. She’s off the smack and just wants to go back to Ray and her boy. She wasn’t thinking straight this morning.’

  ‘She came to kill me,’ said Grant. ‘Can you believe that?’

  ‘Easily.’

  ‘Seems I’m not Mr Popular this morning.’

  ‘Are you surprised?’ I asked. ‘After what you put her through.’

  He smiled.

  ‘So what happens now?’ I asked.

  ‘Now we get very rich,’ said Grant.

  ‘What?’ I said.

  Grant smiled a cheesy smile and I knew.

  ‘You didn’t tell him, did you?’ I looked at Sharon.

  But of course she had, and Grant confirmed it. ‘She couldn’t wait,’ he gloated. ‘Twelve million. What a windfall.’

  ‘But it’s not her money,’ I said. ‘It’s Ray’s. You don’t think he’s going to pass it on to you, do you?’

  ‘It’s not hers yet,’ said Grant. ‘But she’s still his wife. If anything fatal happens to hubby, then she gets the lot.’

  ‘Oh please, Chris,’ I said disbelievingly. ‘Do me a favour. It won’t look at all suspicious, will it? You know. Ray finds Sharon and suddenly dies after he’s just won a fortune. What with her past known associates like you three beauties here, I mean. And what about me?’ Although I knew that too, and wished I’d stayed in Notting Hill.

  ‘Come on, Nicky,’ said Albert. It was Nicky now. I’ve never been fond of that derivative of my name. ‘What do you think happens to you? And it’s your own damn fault. Nobody asked you to follow her here.’

  He was wrong about that. Indirectly little Liam had asked me to.

  ‘So tell me,’ I said. ‘What’s the plan?’

  ‘Something like this, I think,’ Albert replied, and Freeze turned his gun slightly and shot Grant through the chest, causing him to drop my gun and knocking his chair back across the carpet on its castors until it bumped gently against the far wall.

  Sharon put her hands to her ears and started to scream. I didn’t blame her. I felt a bit like screaming myself and I hadn’t just seen an old lover shot dead in cold blood.

  Albert slapped her hard round the face and she stopped screaming as if a switch had been thrown, but I could still hear the echoes of her cries bouncing round the room and, when I think about it now, I still can.

  Then Freeze turned the gun on me and I saw his finger tighten on the trigger, and Albert shouted, ‘Not him, you fool. We need him.’

  56

  But Freeze’s finger kept tightening, and I could feel my sphincter tightening too in direct ratio. Then he growled, ‘He’s had the flowers. It’s his turn now. He’s got to go. He’s a piss-taking nuisance and I’m tired of him.’

  ‘Later, you bloody fool,’ ordered Albert. ‘I said we need him. He can get Miller for us.’

  I saw the expression on Freeze’s knobbly face change as he considered his partner’s statement, and he loosened the pressure on the trigger and lowered the gun; I suddenly realized I hadn’t been breathing and took a big gulp of air. ‘Now why the hell did you kill him?’ I asked, and my voice was shaky.

  ‘Simple,’ said Albert. ‘This is going to be a case of “When thieves fall out”.’

  ‘What thieves?’ I asked.

  ‘You and Grant, of course,’ he replied. ‘We don’t want little Sharon here implicated in the death of her husband. You and Grant conspired to kill him and split the cash. Then things got out of hand. You came back here and had a row and shot each other. The gun that killed Miller will be the same one that killed you, and will be found in Grant’s hand.’ He held up the fancy pistol he was holding. ‘It’ll be a shame to lose it. I’ve grown very fond of it. Made by Hämmerli in Switzerland. Perfect for close-in target work. But I daresay with all the money that’ll soon be floating around I can afford another. Maybe two. The one that Mr Freeze is holding will be found in your hand, complete with your fingerprints. A simple shoot-out’

  ‘And what do you think Sharon will have to say about that?’ I looked at her. She was white and shaking and just about ready to fall apart.

  ‘Sharon will go along with what we say,’ said Albert. ‘She has two hostages to fortune. Her son and her saintly mother. If we two are implicated, believe me, they won’t live to see another sunrise. And nor will she. Simple as that.’

  ‘Simple as that,’ I said. ‘A lot of things could go wrong with that plan. Look at the state of her. How long do you think she’ll be able to hold it together?’

  ‘Long enough, when she’s had a nice little hit of smack.’

  ‘You fucker.’

  ‘I’ll ignore that jibe.’

  ‘Ignore it or not, you’ll never be able to carry it off.’

  ‘Well, fear not, Nicky,’ said Albert. ‘Whatever happens, you won’t be around to see it’

  A nice thought. ‘And what do you mean I can get Miller?’ I asked.

  ‘Just that,’ he said. ‘I want you to call him.’ He went to Grant’s desk and picked up his mobile phone.

  ‘I can’t do that,’ I said.

  ‘I think you can,’ trilled Albert. ‘I really think you can. And do something about that, Freeze,’ he said, gesturing in the direction of Grant’s body which was still sitting in the chair, although he’d slipped down somewhat and now stared sightlessly at the ceiling. ‘It bothers me. And then get the persuader from the car.’

  I didn’t like the sound of that.

  Freeze handed Albert his gun, went and got Grant’s chair and wheeled it out into the corridor. Then I heard him open the back door and go outside. He was back within a few minutes, rain spots on the shoulders of his jacket, carrying the largest pair of bolt cutters I’d ever seen, which he put on Grant’s desk.

  I was beginning to like it less and less.

  ‘Sit down,’ said Albert, pointing the gun at me. ‘On the sofa.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ I asked.

  ‘We want you to phone Ray Miller, make a meet,’ he explained.

  I shook my head. ‘No. I’m not going to get him to come out and be killed. No way.’

  ‘Way,’ said Albert. ‘Sit down.’

  I shook my head again, and Freeze picked me up bodily and threw me on to the sofa. Then he took his pistol back and held it next to my ear whilst Albert picked up the cutters and knelt beside me. ‘What the fuck ...’ I said.

  Albert leant forward and started to open the buttons on my jeans with his fat fingers. ‘No,’ I said and pulled back.

  ‘I’ll blow your brains out,’ Freeze threatened. ‘Sit still.’ He put one massive hand around my neck and forced me further down on to the seat until I couldn’t move. Albert finished undoing my trousers and stuck his hand into my shorts and pulled out my
penis. The feel of his fingers on my private parts almost made me retch.

  ‘What are you doing?’ I said.

  ‘You’ll see,’ he said, and stroked my cock which was trying to shrink to nothing. ‘All this fuss about such a little thing. What do you think, Sharon?’

  I wouldn’t mind, but he was adding insult to injury.

  ‘Get on with it,’ Freeze hissed.

  He stood back up, picked up the cutters from the desk and opened them, and I saw that the blades were stained and rusty. Christ knows what they were stained with. I didn’t like to think.

  Very carefully he put the cutters against my groin, catching my dick between the blades. Fucking hell, I’ve got to tell you my bowels nearly went again, my whole body was bathed in sweat and I was trembling, despite my best efforts not to.

  ‘Now make the call,’ whispered Albert, and I saw that his hands were shaking too. ‘Or else.’

  ‘He’d like to do it,’ said Freeze. ‘He’s done it before.’ He held out the phone.

  ‘Why should I?’ I asked. ‘If you’re going to kill me anyway?’

  ‘Simple,’ said Albert. ‘There’s more than one way to die. Quick or slow. If you make the call I promise you I’ll make it as painless as possible when it happens. But if you don’t, I’ll cut off your prick and leave you to bleed to death. It will be both painful and prolonged. Then we’ll just find another way to get Miller, and your bravery will be wasted. It’s up to you.’

  ‘You cold-blooded bastards,’ I said.

  ‘Dial.’

  So I did.

  Believe me, any man would.

  57

  Ray answered quickly. He must’ve been sitting on the phone. ‘Sharman,’ I said, and my voice almost broke as Albert nipped my skin with the sharp blades of the bolt cutters.

  ‘Have you got her back?’ he demanded.

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Where is she?’

  ‘Not on the phone, Ray,’ I said. ‘Let’s make a meet.’

  ‘Where? When?’ His eagerness was almost pathetic. Especially considering what the Rover Boys had in store for him.

  I wanted to scream for him to run. Get lost. Anything. But I also wanted to keep my wedding tackle in one piece, and I knew that if I did warn Ray by word or deed, I’d be bobbitted in the most unpleasant way. I didn’t underestimate Albert’s propensity for cruelty for a second. And as long as I was in one piece and not bleeding all over the floor there was still a chance I could retrieve something from the mess I’d found myself in. No. Put myself in.

  ‘There’s a pub in Waterloo, on the Cut,’ I said. ‘The Blue Posts. Nearly opposite the Old Vic. Know it?’

  ‘I’ll find it.’

  ‘Meet me there at twelve.’

  ‘Will you have Sharon with you?’ he asked.

  ‘Just meet me, Ray. I’ll explain everything.’

  ‘Is she all right?’

  ‘Twelve o’clock,’ I interrupted and killed the mobile. Then I looked at Albert. ‘You are a stone-cold bastard, do you know that?’

  Albert pulled the cutters away from my groin and said, ‘Do yourself up, love, you’re getting me all excited.’

  I didn’t have to be told twice, but believe me, right then and there I made myself a promise: if I had to die in the process, I was going to get even with that fat fool and his ugly mate.

  ‘We’ve got a couple of hours to kill,’ said Freeze, not even noticing the irony of the statement. ‘I think I’ll watch a little TV. There’s good stuff on at this time.’

  ‘Do what you bloody well like,’ Albert snapped. ‘I’m going to get a drink.’

  ‘What about the staff?’ I asked. ‘Won’t they be here in a minute? And the customers?’

  ‘The pub’s closed until further notice,’ said Albert. ‘Refurbishments. I’ll take care of that.’

  ‘It’ll look funny,’ said Freeze as he fiddled with the real TV next to the monitors and found the programme he was looking for.

  ‘Nearly as funny as Fat Boy here in that little girl’s dress and a nappy,’ I said.

  ‘Say what?’ said Albert, turning round.

  ‘Don’t be coy,’ I said. ‘There’s nothing to be ashamed of – getting in touch with your feminine side. I tried it myself once, but I tore my tights.’

  ‘Freeze,’ said Albert.

  Freeze reached over and gave me a careless clout round the head with one of his great big hands. ‘Shut up,’ he said. ‘Talk when you’re spoken to.’

  So after Albert went out to the bar, Sharon, Freeze and I sat and watched Richard and Judy for an hour or so until it was time to go.

  Before we left the pub, Freeze trussed Sharon’s hands and feet up with gaffer tape that was used to fasten down the wires from the PA system in the bar. He gagged her with the same stuff and my last view of her was her blue eyes looking at me beseechingly. Freeze pulled a tight pair of black leather gloves over his hands, and he and Albert took me, the bolt cutters and the mobile phone out to the Jag. Freeze shoved me into the back and cuffed my wrists to the ring bolt that was welded to a brace under the back seat. They were obviously prepared for this sort of situation.

  ‘Sit there and shut up,’ he said as Albert waddled over and opened the double doors leading to the street, and closed them again after Freeze had backed the car out.

  58

  Their nasty little plan went like clockwork. Ray Miller was waiting in the pub like we’d arranged. I knew he would be. He couldn’t wait for any news I had of Sharon. I spotted his motor parked outside on a meter. It was pouring with rain by then. Pissing down. Albert made me use the mobile he had with him to call him out into the street. He didn’t need much convincing. Truth to tell I didn’t need much convincing to sell him out either. One mention of the bolt cutters in relation to my private parts did it, although I’m ashamed to this day that I was such a coward.

  Albert and Freeze had been singing along to the radio on the journey to Waterloo like a pair of kids on an outing. Oldies but goodies on Capital Gold. The Tremeloes, Vince Hill, Stevie Wonder. You name it, I had to put up with it. And neither of them would’ve passed the audition.

  Ray Miller walked out of the pub like a man going to his own wedding rather than his own funeral. I could hardly bear to watch as Freeze sent the car rocketing across the road and Albert dropped the window and popped three bullets from his silenced pistol into Ray’s chest, which knocked him to the ground, sending up splashes of water from the puddles he’d been standing in. I twisted round painfully in my seat and watched out of the back window at his still form receding into the distance as Freeze sped away and round the first corner he came to.

  Shit! After everything I’d been through to try and reconcile Ray and little Liam with Sharon, it was all for nothing. Just a bloodstain or three on a cold, wet pavement in the fag end of south London, which would be washed away by the rain before a few hours had passed.

  I tried to justify myself to the two killers in the front seats as we sped back to Albany Road but it didn’t work.

  Not for me and not for them.

  I would’ve shed a tear for Ray on the journey, but none came. My eyes were as dry as Mr Freeze and Adult Baby Albert’s hearts were cold.

  59

  All the way to the pub Albert and Freeze were laughing and joking in the front. At least Albert was. Freeze was a bit slow on the uptake, and didn’t get a lot of the punch lines. It was still raining. Harder than ever if anything. Freeze got out of the motor, opened the doors at the side of the boozer and then drove the car in, getting a good soaking as he closed them behind us. ‘What now, Albert?’ he asked, when we were parked and the engine was switched off.

  ‘Now we go and tell the richest woman in south London that she’s come into her fortune,’ replied the fat man.

  ‘You’re never going to get away with this,’ I said.

  ‘On the contrary, Nicky,’ said Albert. ‘She still has the remains of her family to protect. I think she’ll go along with whatev
er we say to save them.’

  ‘She dumped her family once before, don’t forget.’

  ‘And bitterly regretted it. She’s a mother after all. And mothers, whatever their faults, will ultimately protect their children. Especially when their lives are on the line.’

  From the way Sharon had talked when she’d been in Notting Hill I knew he was right.

  ‘What about him?’ asked Freeze, giving me a dirty look.

  ‘Leave him here for now. He’s safe. We’ll deal with him later.’

  They got out of the car and ran through the rain to the back door of the pub, leaving me to ruminate on my fate. It didn’t look good.

  The rain beat an insistent tattoo on the bodywork of the Jag, and without the air-conditioning the inside of the windows soon misted up and reduced my world to a few square feet of leather upholstered luxury, which I imagined would be the last thing I saw before they killed me and got on with their lives. I sat there, feeling sorry for myself, until the driver’s door opened. From my cramped position at the back I didn’t even bother to look round. ‘Just get it over with,’ I said. ‘And make it quick.’

  ‘Make what quick?’ said a familiar woman’s voice and I almost broke my neck looking round.

  It was Maddie.

  ‘What the fuck …’ I said.

  ‘Nice welcome,’ she said, climbing into the driver’s seat and pulling the door to behind her. She was soaking wet with her hair plastered to her head.

  ‘How did you get here?’ I asked.

  ‘We came looking. We found the jeep parked round the corner, saw you come in here with those two nasty guys you told us about. We waited, then came over the wall.’

  ‘Where’s Matty?’

  ‘Hiding over there.’ She gestured through the windscreen.