For Your Own Protection(75)

‘You do that. By the way, where are you heading? You off to collect Michael’s money?’

‘No, he’s got the money in the boot. I don’t know where we’re heading.’ Suddenly Matt remembered. ‘We need to go back to my flat and collect the rest of the cash.’



Matt hardly waited for the car to stop before he was throwing the door open and sprinting up to his flat. He forced the key into the lock and retrieved James’s bag from the bedroom.

Michael had followed him in and was standing at the doorway.

‘You have all the money now?’

‘Yes,’ Matt said, clutching the bag, ‘and some spare.’

Sean entered the room. ‘So it’s just the drugs we need.’

‘Yes.’

Could they really trust Harvey? He was a thief. A robber. A drug dealer.

‘And what do we do now?’ Michael asked.

‘Wait. We just have to wait.’





CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX


‘Here we go,’ Sean said, as his phone rang.

Matt’s stomach lurched. Harvey still hadn’t got back to them to confirm he’d got the drugs and was going to turn up. ‘You’d better answer it.’

‘But we still don’t know whether we have the drugs!’ Sean protested. ‘What am I going to say?’

‘Tell him whatever he wants to hear.’

Sean hesitated as the phone continued to taunt them with its shrill tones.

‘Please, Sean. Just tell him we have the drugs.’

‘We’ve got half an hour,’ Sean said.

‘Just do it.’

Finally, Sean answered. ‘Hello.’ He threw Matt a concerned glance and nodded, confirming it was Samson. ‘Yes,’ he replied, ‘we have it all.’ Another look at Matt. ‘We can do that, yes,’ he said, his eyes closing as he spoke. ‘We’ll be there for the swap. Just let us know where.’ He listened for a few seconds. ‘Yes, I know that place. Thirty minutes. The drugs and the money. And we get Beth and Charlie.’ Then he ended the call.

‘It’s on,’ Sean said, before blowing out his cheeks. ‘Matt, I hope you know what you’re doing. If we turn up without the drugs . . .’

‘I know, I know.’ Matt didn’t really want to think about that eventuality – it brought on waves of nausea – but it would be reckless not to do so. He batted the issue back to Sean. ‘If Harvey doesn’t come through with the drugs, what do we do?’

‘We’re screwed,’ Sean replied. ‘There is no Plan B.’

‘But—’

‘No, Matt, there is no Plan B. You’ve got to understand that,’ Sean emphasised. ‘If we don’t have the drugs, then we don’t get Beth and Charlie back. And that’s a fact. Samson won’t enter into a bargain with us. He won’t take some now and the rest later. He’ll punish us for not delivering what we promised. We have to get those drugs. Otherwise we most likely will never see Beth and Charlie alive again.’

Sean’s dire warnings hit home. ‘Then what do we do? Could you call Samson back and say we’ve made a mistake, that we haven’t got everything yet and we need to rearrange the exchange?’

Sean dismissed the idea. ‘It’s too late.’

Matt put a hand to his head. He tried to think. ‘There must be another way.’

‘There isn’t, Matt,’ Sean said, softening.

Matt slipped his phone out of his pocket and tried again to call Harvey.

Still no luck in reaching him.

‘Where does he want to do the exchange?’ Michael asked, as Matt continued gazing down at the phone.

‘On the development land, near to the Olympic Park,’ Sean replied. ‘It’s a bit of a wasteland at the moment.’

Matt snapped out of his reverie. ‘I’ll just leave a message for Harvey, so he knows where he needs to get to.’

Sean nodded but didn’t look convinced.

Matt left the message, giving Harvey the directions and time of the exchange.

‘We need to go,’ Sean said. ‘We really don’t want to be late.’

Matt followed Michael and Sean out of the flat, carrying the additional bag of money. He still hoped the call would come, confirming Harvey had got the drugs and was good to go. But it didn’t.

‘We’ll go in my car,’ Sean said, hurrying over to the vehicle.

Michael quickly transferred the other bags of cash from his boot into the back of Sean’s car.

‘I didn’t spot anyone,’ Sean said, as he slammed the driver’s door shut behind him. ‘Did a quick look around, but nothing. I’ll keep a lookout as we go. I suggest we all do likewise.’

Matt was only half listening, his attention once again on his mobile, which was resting on his lap.

Please, Harvey, please come through with this. You promised you could do it.

‘Just keep hoping,’ Sean said, noting Matt’s concentration. He eased the car off the mark before accelerating sharply as they approached the junction with the main road. ‘They haven’t given us much time to get there.’ He zipped out between the traffic and put his foot down hard.





CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN