you do, that was her.'
I had had only a brief glimpse, from a distance, but I could remember her, and also the fact that my Dad had noticed her: tall, dark-haired, maybe thirtyish, although it had been hard to tell from so far away.
'How did your discussion finish?'
'With me grabbing him by the scruff of the neck and running him through the door. But then he phoned me that night. He said that he wasn't kidding, and that if I hadn't agreed to pay him off by next Monday at the latest, then he'd do what he'd threatened.'
'Mmm.' I looked down at my pint. My Dad was almost through his second, but mine was untouched. I shoved it across to him. 'You drink that. I'll drive back.' I picked up a filled roll… tuna mayonnaise… and walked over to the bar. There was a pay-phone in the far corner, with a telephone directory beside it, a year out of date and dog-eared from heavy use, but still in one piece. I picked it up and scrolled through it to the letter 'n'. The Neiporte clan is not thick on the ground in the East Neuk of life, but there was one, forename Walter, listed as residing at Grizelda Cottage, Main Street, Pittenweem. I knew exactly where it was; the name had fascinated me when I was a kid: it made me think of witches and stuff. In those days I thought they were fun, but now I knew different.
The third pint was gone when I got back to the table. I picked up the last roll and motioned my Dad towards the door, returning the empties as we left. (Bartenders like that small courtesy; it makes them more likely to fill your glass right up to the top next time.) We collected Jonny, walked back up the winding path to the club car park, dumped the clubs in the boot of the old Jag, changed our shoes, then I drove back to Enster. Back at the house, I stayed in the car as Mac the Dentist climbed out, not showing a trace of unsteadiness.
'Where are you going?' he asked.
'We need Pampers for Janet. I'd better get some, just in case we forget tomorrow.' If my Dad had thought about it he would have remembered that his granddaughter was two years old, and toilet trained.
As soon as I turned out of the drive, my rage released itself. It flowed through me and there was nothing I could do about it. I felt ferocious, in a way I had only known once before in my life, when I found out the truth about Jan's death. This was almost as bad. This man, these people, were threatening my father's good name, and they were using his only weakness… me… as a lever.
I parked a fair distance from Grizelda Cottage, round the corner, past the legendary Pittenweem fish and chip shop, and walked the rest. Just as I turned into the main street, I saw the woman again, leaving the house and walking away in the opposite direction; going for the fish suppers, maybe. Closer to, I could see that she looked pretty tasty.
By the time I reached the gate, all the old Oz was back, cold and calculating and in control. It did occur to me that there might be kids in the house, but if there were I'd give them a tenner and send them after their mother.
I rang the doorbell; as I waited I glanced around the front garden. It was untidy, but there were absolutely no signs of youngsters, no toys, bikes, footballs or anything like that.
The door opened and a man looked out at me. 'Yes?' he said in a slight drawl.
'Walter?' I asked politely.
He nodded, and I saw the light of recognition in his eyes, just about half a second before I hit him and they glazed over. I caught him in the middle of the forehead, a good spot if your hands are hard enough.
I pulled it a bit, so I didn't knock him out, just stunned him. I shoved him into his hallway, then closed the door after myself as he tripped over his feet and fell backwards.
'Whose idea was it?' I asked as he scrambled back up. For a moment he thought about squaring up to me; maybe there was something about my smile that put him off that idea. 'Whose idea?' I repeated. 'Yours alone, or both of you.'
'I dunno what you're talking about.'
I started another right-hander; he swayed back from it and as he did I sank my left fist well into his flabby gut. He groaned and sat down again, hard.
This time I jerked him to his feet, easily, to let him see how strong I was. 'Don't piss me about,' I said evenly. 'You and your wife threatened my father, you arse hole You tried to extort money from him. But what you've got is me instead. Somehow or other, you thought that nice old Mac was a soft touch. Maybe you thought that guys like me will do anything to keep our names out of the paper. If that's so, you were wrong twice. My Dad isn't a mug, not at all. As for me, there is nothing I will not do to protect him.' I had him by the lapels, his back against a door.
'I could simply beat the shit out of you. That would be no problem.
But it wouldn't be enough. So I want you to listen to me, very carefully. I have a lot of money, and with it I have a lot of power.
Being a Yank, you can probably understand that concept. So what I'm telling you is that if either you or your wife ever go near my father again, and if you go anywhere near the police or the press with this wicked story of yours, something very bad will happen to you. I'm not just talking about a good thumping here, you have to understand. I'm talking much worse than that; concrete Timberlands, that sort of stuff.'
The way his eyes widened, I knew right away that he was a believer. I smiled at him again. 'You know something? I'm offended that you only asked him for fifty grand. If he'd paid it and I'd found out about it afterwards, that wouldn't have been nearly enough to protect you from me.'
I let him go. 'Don't ever forget,' I told him, knowing that he wouldn't.
As I left the cottage, Andrea Neiporte was approaching the gate. She was carrying a parcel wrapped in shiny brown paper. Her mouth dropped open as I nodded to her on the way past. 'Enjoy those,' I said to her, 'while you can still chew.'
As I walked into my Dad's house he was waiting for me in the living room. I could hear Mary and Susie, Jonny and Janet, in the kitchen.
'What did you do?' he asked. 'You didn't pay him, did you?' He had worked out about the Pampers all right.
'I gave him what he was asking for, Dad, that's all. Now forget it, unless he bothers you again.'
He looked at me as if I was someone he didn't know quite so well. 'And what will you do if he does?'
I laughed out loud. 'What do you think I'll do? I'll have him killed.'
Four.
It was all bluff and bluster, of course… at least I assumed my Dad thought it was… but it seemed to work. The threatened call on the following Monday didn't happen, and he and I were able to breathe easier. I didn't forget about the Neiportes, of course; I began to think about what I would do if they did resurface, but mostly it was at the back of my mind.
At the forefront was the world premiere of Skinner s Festival, which Miles had decreed would be in the relatively new multiplex on Picardy Place, in Edinburgh, on a Monday evening a couple of weeks into my gap between filming.
Susie was really pumped up for it; she had never been on my arm at one of these gala events. She was so determined to look good that she put in extra hours in the gym and the pool, just to tone herself up.
There was no way she could hide wee Mac, though. He was the product of my pre-Christmas break and a small but noticeable bump was already in evidence. (Actually, it was too early for a scan that would have told us for sure, not that we really wanted to know, but given that I was younger brother to a sister, we just assumed that he was going to be a boy.) Wee Janet sensed something was up. As soon as she saw us dolled up, she knew for sure, and demanded to be taken with us. In fact she screamed bloody murder. If she had only said, 'Pwease, Daddy,' I might have relented and taken her with us, but she overdid it and Susie put her foot down. So she was promised another trip to the Magic Kingdom before the year was out… that's what Susie calls being firm… and we headed off for Embru in our new BMW 7 series, with Jay at the wheel.
I was surprised by the size of the crowds outside the cinema, contained behind barriers on either side of the entrance. Miles was there first, waiting in the doorway to welcome us and the other cast members. I'd been in live
