offer to resign after seeing the evidence. Or he could opt for a hearing, where he could be represented by as many QCs as he could muster. Ralston and I worked together on the matter and it came together easily. The dealer was an unlucky punter in heavy debt to the bookies. He had hired a card sharp to teach him the tricks and was grooming a young woman to play recklessly and one fine night come out a big winner.
Our man took the resignation option. Cartwright congratulated me and I suggested a bonus be paid to Ralston. He came to my office to thank me and accepted a tonic and bitters while I had a light beer.
‘You’ve got me pegged, haven’t you?’
‘I’ve seen it before, Keith. How long’s it been?’
‘Three years, bit more.’
‘You’re making a bloody good fist of it. Good luck to you, I say.’
‘Thanks. It’s hard. The days seem so fucking long, you know? But if I went back on the booze I’d lose everything-wife, family, the lot. I came close before and I know it’s not worth it. But it’s hard. Keeping busy’s the answer, or part of the answer.’
He drank some tonic water. ‘I could use some more responsibility. That’d help, but I doubt I’ll ever get it. I put in for your job, but.. ‘ He shook his head. ‘No way.’
I leaned forward. ‘I’ll put in a word for you when the time comes. Maybe get you the 2IC spot.’
‘That’d be something.’
‘I might need some help soon. It’s to do with the Galvani thing. There’s a bit of risk involved.’
‘I could do with an adrenalin rush.’
‘You’re not a religious man, are you, Keith?’
‘No, not at all. Why?’
‘This goes down next Sunday morning.’
He finished his drink in a long swallow and set the glass firmly down on my desk. ‘Sunday’s the worst,’ he said.
On the Saturday afternoon before we were to make our bid, I sent Ralston off to reconnoitre the Balgowlah house, telling him to make sure the car he used wasn’t wired up in any way. It was risky because Ken and his boys knew him by sight, but if he couldn’t do this without being spotted he wouldn’t be much use to me on the day anyhow. We had a meeting at the casino that night and he had a full account of the layout plus photographs.
‘Amateurs,’ he said.
‘But armed and motivated.’
‘I suppose so. Certainly armed, and there’s a bit of whizz-bang electronics but nothing I can’t cope with. I had a bit of a look around in the garage by the way. The facilities are there to bug and track the cars. It looks like Terry Baxter’s playing games. He’s the boss of the car pool’
I’d met him briefly. A red-faced beefy type who was going to be out of a job if everything went right. Ralston showed no signs of nerves and did his job with the usual precision. I was jumpy. It was a busy night at the casino and the money-counters were flat out. Not long before I was due to knock off Oscar Cartwright got hold of me and took me to his office for a drink.
‘Not long to go now, Cliff. Sure you won’t reconsider and stay on?’
There’s nothing like a single malt at 3 a.m. I rolled it around in my mouth. ‘No thanks, O.C. I’ll miss the cheques and your smiling face, but it’s not really my scene. I’ll break your new boy in and then I’ll get back to gum-shoeing.’
He sighed. ‘You’re a romantic’
‘That’s me,’ I said.
I bade him goodnight and went off to find something to get the smell of the whisky off my breath. I was meeting Ralston and I didn’t want to make it any harder for him than it already was and always would be, forever and ever, amen.
He was making a last check of the monitors, clear-eyed, skinny from the long drying-out process, pale from the night work. “We’ve got a bloke off sick,’ he said. ‘I’ve got to stick around for another hour or two.’
I kept my voice down, although there was no-one else in the room. ‘Won’t give you much time to sleep. We go at eight-thirty.’
‘I wasn’t planning to sleep. I’ll be ready.’
‘OK. See you then.’
We’d arranged to meet at the Spit Bridge at 8 a.m. sharp. He gave me a thumbs-up and turned back to the bank of monitors. Grey shapes drifted down empty corridors and disembodied hands shuffled cards and threw dice. I shivered without knowing why and got out of there.
23
Our plan had the virtue of simplicity and the element of surprise. We were to roll up to the big double gates, Ralston in his Hiace van and me in the Commodore. Ralston was confident he had a gizmo that would open the gates. That was the surprise. Lewis, who I still thought of as Runty, would have to cope with two armed and determined men. The simple thing for him to do would be to give up.
I’d had a few hours sleep but I hadn’t shaved and I wore jeans, a T-shirt and an old denim jacket. Ralston had shaved and wore a suit, although he’d dispensed with the tie. I’d heard of this before- reformed drunks have to keep themselves spruce as a reminder of what awaits them if they fall off the wagon. We met at the bridge and Ralston produced two balaclavas.
‘What d’you think?’ he said.
I shook my head. ‘I want Gina to recognise me instantly so there’s no frigging around. We want to be in and out before Barbour shows up. What’ve you got that goes bang?’
He threw the balaclavas into the van and invited me to look through the window. On the floor I could see a pump-action shotgun with a barrel not much longer than a stick of cabanossi.
‘Jesus,’ I said. ‘Are you any good with it?’
‘Yes.’
‘All right, Keith. Let’s do it!’
The street the Galvanis lived in was wide and the property was so big that our area of operations would be well away from the nearest neighbour. A plus. A quiet Sunday morning. Kids don’t play in the street any more, they watch television. No cars parked in the road, of course-this was multiple-garage territory. Ralston took the lead and swung his van into the driveway. I saw his arm go up and the big wrought-iron gates swung open. The van shot through, up the raked gravel drive, and he executed the fastest three-point turn I’ve ever seen. Smart move but I wasn’t expecting it and didn’t have the time or space to do the same. I’d have to back out.
We jumped from the vehicles. Ralston slid open the van’s door and we raced for the back of the big house. I had my. 38 in my hand and was praying I wouldn’t have to use it. Ralston ran briskly ahead of me with the pump in one hand. Joe had told me that the front door was kept locked and was protected by a heavy security screen. The back door was the go. Ralston jerked it open and jumped into the kitchen with the shotgun held low. I had the layout of the house from Joe and we’d agreed on our initial roles. Me to get Gina and the kids, Keith to scare the shit out of Lewis.
As it turned out, the two things happened more or less simultaneously. I ran up the stairs and could hear Ralston pelting through the downstairs room. I opened Gina’s door and found her looking out the window down at the driveway.
‘Gina, it’s Cliff Hardy. Don’t be scared. Where’re the kids?’
She was scared. She was also pale and listless. It seemed to take forever for her to recognise me, but she did and pointed to a door. ‘In there.’
‘Good, get them quick. No clothes, no toys, just get them and we’re going.’
‘But he’s just…’
I heard a noise outside and spun around, bringing the gun up. There was a thud and Ralston showed himself, waving his hand to bring my gun down. ‘Got him,’ he snapped. ‘Let’s make it fast.’
