Cold Revenge (Willis/Carter #6)(87)

‘You think he can fix everything and he can’t. I’m out here alone, facing the Mafia, and they will have seen that report and so will all their lawyers and money men and I’m sure they’re going to want these problems sorted. There’s no plan B here, Stephen.’

‘Maybe, but Douglas has a touch of the Midas about him. They won’t risk it, they’ll do what they have to do, put pressure on where it’s best put. They need him and he needs us. This is their thing. They will work it out, don’t worry. Have you talked with Gavin?’

‘Gavin only answers to you or Douglas, it doesn’t matter what I say to him, he just grunts at me and carries on with previous orders. He’s made a mess of things. We need him to disappear for a while.’

‘He’s all right, he’ll stay in the background.’

‘It cannot fail,’ Dwyer said.

‘It won’t.’

‘I hope not. We should have just stuck to what we know, Stephen, don’t you think?’

‘You okay?’ Perry asked.

‘I feel like a very small piranha in a big pool of great whites. We might think we’re the big dogs but we have nothing on these guys. It’s okay for you, you sit at home and toast your feet by the wood burner and I have to face these guys day in, day out, on site. They are keeping me on a short leash. I feel I’m on my own with this. They’re frightened we’re going to run with their money and now they will have heard this on the news. They know who we are.’

‘That was always part of the attraction for them, we are the disciples. We will be part of the entertainment value. Just keep selling it to them. Set up a meet with them for later today and I’ll be there by your side, as always. You’re never on your own. I’m just here at the end of the phone. This is all going to be worth it and then you and I are headed for some beach somewhere; how does that sound?’

Cathy Dwyer calmed, as she always did when she spoke with Stephen. She smiled, drew on her cigarette and stared at the Thames and the riverboats. The seagulls were gathering inland ahead of the approaching storms and the air was charged with thunder and lightning.

Cathy went back inside her apartment and closed the sliding door. The apartment was every shade of pale wood, white walls and beige leather settees, blonde on blonde. She went into the bathroom and looked into the mirror.

She hadn’t changed, none of them had changed. Stephen was still the same lost little boy inside who preferred to give his life to others to dictate and Cathy could lead him anywhere. He was driven by his need to keep looking for himself through the eyes of others.

She looked at herself in the mirror and saw the same person she’d always seen since she met Douglas; before that day she hadn’t existed. Before that day she was just boring Cathy with a boring life. Douglas pushed her right to the edge and held her there dangling. He made her look at a world that was so close to death and so exhilarating that nothing could ever feel the same; he took her breath away.

She picked up her keys and opened the door of the apartment and walked straight into a fist in her sternum, knocking her backwards. She was picked up by her arm as she scrabbled to stand and walk and was half-carried, half-dragged towards the sliding balcony doors.

‘Wait, wait, what are you doing? Get out!’

No one answered. She looked at the man she’d never seen before, who was dark-skinned and wearing a black tracksuit. She caught a glimpse of another man standing by the front door; she knew him. She heard the balcony doors open and the icy wind hit her as she felt her body lifted in the air as if she weighed nothing and then she felt the grip on her wrists. She was dangling in mid-air. She looked up at the man holding her.

‘What do you want? I can give it. We can talk.’

He grinned at her as the other man came to look down at her over the balcony. It was the owner of Singing Canary, Alex Ramirez.

‘We just wanted to have a little chat, if you have time?’

‘What do you want? This is no way to treat me. I am a business partner.’

‘This is the way we do business. My backers are getting nervous, which makes me nervous, and when I get nervous I drop things.’ The man holding her let go of one arm and she swung in mid-air, buffeted by the gust of wind.

She looked up at the man holding her. ‘I know how to sort this.’

Douglas had watched the press conference from the recreation room and went back to his cell, escorted by Kowalski, who stepped inside with him.

‘Are you worried, Jimmy?’

Douglas stared at the spot on the wall, wishing the guard would go, but he breathed in slowly, held it, released slowly and tried to keep his mind clear. He was beyond angry. He was about to rip someone’s face off but he couldn’t show it. He felt betrayed and he felt under threat. He turned around and smiled.

‘I have faith in my friends. Can I get a little “me” time this lunchtime?’

‘Of course, go to the chapel, I’ll make sure it’s empty for you. You won’t be disturbed. Give me half an hour to fix it, one o’clock okay?’

Douglas turned back to the stain. ‘Good, thank you, and another request. I believe I have some information for Detective Sergeant Willis. I need to see her as soon as possible.’

Willis and Blackman went to bring Perry in for questioning. On the way Blackman wanted to get something off her chest.