Gifted Thief (Highland Magic #1)(13)

‘The others left not long after you. I went out to get a pint of milk and saw the muscle on the way back.’

I was momentarily confused. ‘The muscle?’

‘The Wild Man I was telling you about. The Incredible Hulk with the scar. He kicked in my door.’ Taylor grimaced. ‘He means serious business. If I’d not popped out then…’ He swallowed, his voice trailing off. This was a different Taylor to the one I was used to. He was definitely scared.

‘He wants the money and he’s not prepared to wait,’ I surmised.

‘That has to be it.’ He scratched his neck and look at me helplessly. ‘What do I do?’

I took his arm and guided him gently in the kitchen, sat him down and put on the kettle. ‘It’s fine, Taylor. Give me the name of the courier service and I’ll get the money wired over immediately. Once your creditor has that I’m sure he’ll call off his attack dog.’

‘Yes.’ Taylor’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. ‘You’re right. That’ll work. The money is all they want.’ He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. His hands shook.

I raised my eyebrows. I’d expect this kind of reaction from Speck but Taylor was normally laid back to the point of being horizontal. He was the very definition of blasé. Whoever this scarred Wild Man was, he had Taylor seriously rattled.

‘Integrity, he was carrying a gun. And I’m certain he meant to use it.’

That troubled me. From the very beginning Taylor taught me that, no matter what we did, violence was not our gig. We didn’t carry anything on any job that could be construed as a weapon: we were thieves, not thugs. It was a concept I stringently adhered to. There was always an alternative to fighting, even if it meant doing nothing more than running away. We usually avoided getting mixed up with people who were liable to be violent. Taylor really had got involved with some dodgy people this time.

I smoothed out the paper and looked at the phone number scrawled on it. I cleared my throat and tried to stay calm. ‘I’ll call them now and tell them they’ll have their money within hours. Relax, Taylor.’

He pressed his lips together and nodded while I searched for my phone. Eventually finding it behind a wilting spider plant, I jabbed out the number. It rang three times before a disembodied voice answered, ‘Yes?’

I took a deep breath. ‘I’m calling on behalf of Andy Taylor,’ I said. ‘I have your money and I will send it to you now. You’ll get what you want so there’s no need to get all worked up.’

There was an almost imperceptible pause. Then the voice spoke again. ‘The payment is late. There is a penalty.’

My fingers tightened around the phone. Loan sharks had no damn shame. ‘How much?’

‘Double the original amount.’

I choked. ‘That’s ridiculous! He’s not that late.’

‘I take punctuality very seriously. Double the amount or a he’s a dead man walking.’

‘You’re being unreasonable,’ I began.

‘He owes me.’

I tried to think quickly. ‘We’ll need more time.’

‘You have seventy-two hours.’

I closed my eyes briefly. ‘Thank...’

‘Oh, and Integrity?’ the voice interrupted. ‘Tell Taylor that if he tries to run I’ll personally make sure that he never walks again.’

The phone clicked off. I pulled it slowly away from my ear and stared at it. ‘He knows my name,’ I whispered. I looked at Taylor. ‘Just who in hell have you got yourself mixed up with?’

He glanced up at me, misery etched into every line of his face. ‘I’m so sorry, Tegs. I’ve really screwed up.’

*

We went round and round in circles, trying to come up with a quick-fix solution.

‘Perhaps I can ask around,’ Taylor said heavily. His shoulders were slumped. ‘Get a bit of money from someone else. Borrow from Peter to pay Paul, so to speak.’

Normally I’d counsel against creating debt to pay off debt but this situation felt very dangerous. I was pretty certain that neither Brochan, Lexie nor Speck would be keen to help. As much as they professed loyalty and had agreed to delay their own payment for last night’s failed heist, Taylor would burn every bridge he had if he borrowed money from them. He couldn’t afford to alienate them, not if he wanted a chance of turning a profit in the future; the fastest way to lose friends or colleagues is to mess things up financially.

Discarding them as potential lenders, I considered. ‘Who could you ask?’

‘There’s Boon.’

I sucked in a breath. Boon was a distinctly sinister moneylender. Much like everyone else in my little underworld, he was Clan-less. That didn’t mean he wasn’t scary. I’d heard stories about what happened to borrowers who defaulted on his loans and, unless Taylor was keen to have a section of his soul cut away, it wasn’t much of an option. ‘I don’t think…’ I began.

‘Who else is there?’ Taylor asked. ‘As long as I keep up the repayments, Boon won’t create problems.’ His face shadowed. ‘I’ve taken money from him before.’

I stiffened. ‘When?’

‘Before you.’

I studied his expression. How had he gone from being so bright and confident the day before the bank job to so desperate now? ‘There must be another way.’