Part 30 (2/2)
He pouted.
”But Dad ”
”Ben!”
Denise's voice was harsh enough to make him jump; he mooched back to the couch. Denise took the truck from him, folded him in her arms.
”Take him to the bedroom,” I said. She started to get up, struggling to lift Ben from a sitting position, but she didn't even make it off the couch.
”Nice try, Harry,” Gonzo said, laconic. His sleepy eyes looked me up and down, lazy. He was sprawled out on the armchair opposite the TV, in good shape for a corpse, relaxed, a can of beer at his elbow. All he needed was a pipe and a pair of slippers. ”Sit down, Dee,” he said. ”It's too late to start listening to Harry now.”
”Whatever it is, Gonz, it's between you and me. She has nothing to do with it.”
He laughed, crooked a lazy finger.
”Come on in. Sit down. Have a beer. And put that down before you do yourself a damage.”
I put the Ice Queen's gun on the coffee table, sat in the armchair beside the TV, facing Gonzo. Galway didn't take his eyes off me. I stuffed my hands deep into the pockets of the zip-up fleece, s.h.i.+vering. Gonzo picked up the gun, sniffed the barrel. He looked at me, intrigued.
”You been practising, Harry?”
I shrugged him off, looked at Galway.
”You know what they do to Dibble inside?” A prim smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. ”No lubricant, either. Payback's a b.i.t.c.h. But then you're the expert when it comes to b.i.t.c.hes.”
His confidence was rock-solid but he didn't like the dig. He sat forward, backhanded me across the face.
”Grow up. Jesus.” Gonzo sounded tired. ”Time's a-wasting, Harry. Where's the camera?”
”What's the hurry, Gonz? The party's only starting. Galway's mates are on their way and they'll be looking for their c.o.ke. Not that there is any, but you know what I mean.”
Galway shot me a quick one. Gonzo c.o.c.ked his head to one side.
”Say again?”
”They know about Galway. They've known all along. Brady has you nailed.”
Galway looked at Gonzo, Gonzo at me.
”They know?” It wasn't a question.
Galway licked his lips, said, a little too fast: ”He's bluffing.”
Gonzo put a finger to his lips, nodded at me.
”Talk me through it.”
”What the f.u.c.k's going on, Eddie?”
”You're a liability is what's going on,” I needled. ”Like I say, payback's a b.i.t.c.h.”
Galway surged forward; a click stopped him dead. Denise screamed, turned away, pulling Ben into her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, pus.h.i.+ng him between her and the sofa cus.h.i.+ons. His surprised squawk came m.u.f.fled. Galway didn't have to turn to know that Gonzo was pointing the Ice Queen's gun at him but maybe he needed the exercise because he turned anyway.
”Sit still,” Gonzo said. His voice was silky. ”And drop the rod.”
Galway looked frantic, thumb trembling over the safety of the Smith & Wesson.
”Do it now or I'll do it for you.”
Galway dropped the gun.
”Now slide it over here.”
He did it. Gonzo didn't take his eyes off him. He said: ”Go on, Harry.”
Denise was staring at me, bewildered. I held her gaze, kept my voice calm.
”The way Brady tells it,” I said, jerking a thumb at Galway, ”the fairy here is public enemy number one. Brady reckons the boys in the back room don't like their own running rings around them, especially when they're not getting their cut. Galway got greedy and didn't look after the lads. Now the lads are going to look after him.”
Denise clutching Ben so tight he was in grievous danger of smothering.
”The way it was supposed to happen was, Galway sets up a deal with Sheridan. c.o.ke, like. Sheridan bites. Once Sheridan is on the hook, Gonzo hits him on the bounce. The boys walk away, quids in. It's so sweet it's rotting my teeth just talking about it.”
Gonzo said nothing. Galway twitched.
”Only thing is, there's no c.o.ke. Only other thing is, Tony Sheridan isn't playing ball. So Galway's getting nervous, because there's only so many times you can pull the scam he's pulling, and that's once. So Galway goes for the Big Kahuna and Imelda Sheridan winds up dead. Now the pressure is back on Tony, but Galway needs a fall guy. He tells Sheridan that I've been snooping around with a camera. The timing couldn't have been any worse. Tony is nailing a drug dealer's wife, they're waiting on Galway to bring a s.h.i.+pment through, and all of a sudden Gonzo is squeezing them on the c.o.ke front. Then they find out there are compromising photos doing the rounds. All that c.o.ke slos.h.i.+ng around, and there's the possibility that Sheridan is going to have the tabloids crawling up his crevices.”
Denise was staring at me across the top of Ben's head, who had nodded off to sleep. The excitement had finally sapped his energy.
”So Galway and Sheridan cook up a way to take Gonz out of the picture, feeding him dodgy pills. Nice plan, except Galway and Gonz are best buds. Gonz pulled a choker in the toilets and Galway whisked him away. Then Galway rang Brady and told him to let me go. On the way home I get mown down and Gonzo comes out of the woodwork, putting the bounce on Sheridan again, this time for murder, aka The Big Kahuna.”
I looked at Gonzo.
”That was the idea, yeah? You wanted them to nail me so you could sit back and milk them. Except I f.u.c.ked it all up by staying alive. Then I really queered the pitch by playing hardball with Sheridan and Conway. So you tried to set me up again, tonight, by putting Katie in the frame.”
He didn't even have the decency to look embarra.s.sed. Denise transferred her wide-eyed gaze from me to Gonzo. He should have shrivelled up and died. He didn't.
”They could have killed me, Gonz. They tried, Christ knows they tried.”
”Don't take it personal, Harry.”
”Just business, Gonz. You set me up to take a bullet for a few lousy quid?”
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