‘No? Then who pulled you away from your pheasant shoot?’
Cardownie smacked his hat off his corduroys, then stuffed it in his jacket pocket, pointed a finger at me. ‘Now look here…’
‘I’m looking.’
‘Oh, what’s the point? You clearly have your agenda.’
‘Haven’t we all?’
‘ What?’
I seemed to have lost him, felt like it was time to spell things out, said, ‘Must be annoying for you to find someone who doesn’t share your agenda. I bet that doesn’t happen very much in this town, Minister.’
He looked ready to pop. ‘I’ve had just about enough of this. If you want to play silly little games that’s your prerogative, Mr Dury. I for one am not prepared to stand idly by and listen to this… this, arrant nonsense.’
I raised my hands. ‘You done?’
He made towards me, the soles of his expensive brogues slapped heavily across the floor. ‘Do not goad me, Mr Dury. I can walk out of that door every bit as easily as I walked through it. You, however, cannot. And neither can your young lady friend.’
Game over. But I’d had some fun with him.
‘What’re you selling, Minister?’
He lowered his tone, the smile eased back into place. ‘Glad you’re prepared to see sense. Now, about the matter of the… item of property pertaining to Mr Zalinskas’ business affairs.’
‘Oh, that.’
He stuck a finger under his cravat, took a handkerchief from his pocket and patted the moisture from his forehead. ‘Quite. What do you propose to do with it?’
I turned up the heat. ‘We are talking about the same item here. I mean, to be doubly certain, we are talking about the footage of some teenage prostitute taking a length off your good self.’
He dropped the handkerchief, turned away. ‘Mr Dury, must you, please… I really won’t hear you-’
‘Tell the truth? Oh, don’t worry about that, my lips are sealed — or should I say, can be.’ I walked round in front of him, looked him in the eye. ‘You see I’m just as prepared to be bought as any of your gentlemen’s club buddies.’
His jaw tightened. Veins raised in his temples and throbbed like insects burrowing beneath his skin. ‘I am, shall we say, in a position-’
‘Authorised — let’s get the word right.’
‘As I say — I am authorised to see the charges pertaining to both yourself and the young lady dropped.’
‘Wiped clean. Not dropped to be reactivated at a later date. Wiped clean, or do I need to call in a lawyer to draw up an official agreement?’
He returned to his handkerchief, carefully folded it, dabbed at his upper lip. ‘I don’t think the services of a legal practitioner will be required. In your demotic, Mr Dury, the charges will be wiped clean. I can guarantee that. In exchange, of course, for the safe return of said items.’
‘ Item… Billy only had one copy, and I didn’t make one either.’
‘How can I be assured of that?’
I crossed the floor again, stretched out my hand. ‘Minister, we’re both gentlemen, surely.’
‘But there are people who will seek assurances that this unfortunate incident shall never again be-’
I cut in, ‘Whoa, whoa, there. I’m trusting you on the charges angle, a little bit of respect in my direction, if you please. Otherwise…’
He caved.
‘How will you arrange delivery?’
‘On the outside.’
Cardownie made for the door, knocked twice then turned back to face me. ‘I need hardly remind you, Mr Dury, that you have incurred the displeasure of some extremely powerful people in this city.’
‘I guessed as much.’
‘Do you really think you can get away with it? I mean to say, one can quite easily have a class of creature like you stamped out.’
‘Is that what you told Billy when he tried to blackmail you?’
The smirk again. Keys rattled outside the cell door. ‘Your type never learn, do they? No matter how harsh the lesson.’
‘My type?’
The door handle turned. ‘Make the delivery, Mr Dury, and take your medicine, now there’s a good little man.’
64
Col cleared the snug for us, made coffee. Amy curled up at my shoulder; she still trembled like a frightened child. I’d sent Hod to make the drop, until he got back with the all clear, we were on pins.
‘You should see a doctor for that nose,’ said Col. He placed a blanket round Amy’s shoulders. ‘Drink up, girl… Goodness, she’s in a terrible state, Gus.’
I rubbed her back, tried to tuck the blanket in tighter. ‘Amy, do you want me to take you home?’
Tears started to roll, sobbing. ‘No. Can’t I stay here with you?’
‘Sure, sure,’ I said. ‘Just relax, it’s all going to be fine.’
I checked the clock, I knew time was running out for us. I needed to get Amy away from the city. I couldn’t risk any more fallout striking her. But, Christ, how did I tell her that?
I’d dragged her into this, I might not have meant to, but sure as shooting she was here because of me. I fired up a tab, dragged deep. My mind wouldn’t function. Ideas seemed like something I used to have.
‘Col, a word,’ I said.
He left Amy’s side, joined me at the bar.
‘We need to get her out of here. We’ve very little time. If she’s still around me when they come looking…’
‘I know, I know.’ Col trembled, went behind the bar and poured himself a large whisky; I’d never seen him drink before.
‘What’s this?’ I said.
His face turned ashen, his eyelids dropped. ‘Courage… I need courage.’
He raised the glass, downed it in one, I grabbed his wrist. ‘I don’t think you should.’
He snapped, ‘Don’t tell me that, Gus. This is all my doing, do you think I can’t see it?’
I tried to set him straight. ‘Col, none of it, not one bit, has anything to do with you.’
He shook my hand off, returned to the bottle. ‘What do you know? You understand nothing. Didn’t I put you on to this? Didn’t I start it all. By the Lord above, wasn’t Billy my son!’ A tremor passed through him, head to toe, and he started to cry. ‘When I look at that girl through there do you know what I see, Gus?’
I shook my head. ‘What do you see?’
‘Those girls… those poor young girls, all of them.’
‘Col… don’t.’
He raged: ‘No. Billy brought those girls in, he was a maker of misery — him and all that pack. How could a son I raised be guilty of so much misery?’
‘Don’t. Don’t do this to yourself.’ I wanted to stop him. To see him get a grip, because every word he said felt like another drop of acid on my own conscience. ‘Amy needs us to be strong right now. We need to get her away from this. It isn’t fair on the girl to see any of us folding; I’ll take what’s coming to me, but for Chrissake, let’s keep her out of it.’
Col put down the glass, seemed to gather himself.
‘What do you want me to do?’
‘We need to get her away… do you still have Billy’s money?’
