The Group, page 15
“Right lads, I need you to focus, so eyes front. Now listen to what I have to say because I believe all our lives may depend on it.” She hesitated for second to let her statement sink in. “When and it will be when, Charlie eventually decides to comes home from whatever bolthole he’s hiding in, well I don’t expect he will be in the best of moods. For a start, he’s going to be that pissed off at both of you for failing to protect him, in what he will call his called hour of need, so he’ll more than likely shoot you dead, right where you’re standing. You see boys, in his eyes you’ll have failed him, just a couple of losers, who he can no longer trust.”
Dougie groaned, while John started to object saying it wasn’t their fault. Mary waved them quiet and continued,
“Boys, it’s time we all faced up to the facts and they are that right now, we are, all three of us, living on borrowed time and yes, I have include myself in there as well. So as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures and giving our position, I have come to the conclusion that the only way out of our possibly terminal situation is… that we have to kill Charlie first, before he kills us. It’s really quite simple when you think about it, we kill him or he kills us. I don’t know about you, but I know my preference.”
It was like they had been hit by a lightning bolt, as a case of sudden sobriety struck the two men. They stared opened mouthed and in total disbelief at Mary. It was John, who after a few stuttered starts managed to put a coherent sentence together, while at the same time still looking around the room anxiously to see if this was some kind of test.
“For god’s sake Mary, think about what you’re saying. I mean to say he’s your man, your husband and he’s been our mate for the last twenty years. You can’t be serious, do you know what you’re asking us to do for fuck’s sake!”
Mary smiled gently at John while leaning over the table and taking hold of his hands.
“John, John, would you listen to yourself. You of all people know what Charlie is capable of doing. He could be looking at you straight in the face, giving you that big smile of his, telling you how highly he thinks of you and telling you all about the big bonus you’re about to receive, while at the same time he would stick a blade into your belly. Loyalty means everything and nothing to him, everyone is expendable, and that would include you and your families. Go on, deny it if you can.”
She released his hands after a gentle reassuring squeeze and a smile.
John stared into his black coffee as if trying to will some sort of solution to magically appear. But deep down he knew everything Mary was saying was true, but before he could respond it was Dougie, not known for being the sharpest tool in the box who answered for him.
“Let’s face it John, you know as well as I do that she’s right. It’s him or us. If we don’t top the bastard then we my friend are well and truly fucked. I’m with you Mary.” Then, with a smile, “Sorry, I should say boss.”
John looked at them both and found himself reluctantly agreeing.
“You’re right, both of you. Okay I’m in. Let’s kill the bastard! There should be plenty of others who will back you Mary. Let’s face it; Charlie’s pushed more than a few of the boys to breaking-point, and for those that don’t agree to the changes, well then...”
“Like Charlie, we’ll have to make them redundant as well.” added Dougie.
“Boys, we have plans to make and not much time, so we will have to move quickly,” said Mary emphasising the seriousness of their position. “He could turn up at any time. John… Dougie… if we get this right, then all three of us could make a killing, literally.”
Mary felt pleased with herself that the proposal was going so well. She decided to give the two men an opportunity to allow the magnitude of their decision to sink in and ponder on what the future would bring. Mary left them for a minute and made a fresh pot of coffee, she really needed a drink but given her accomplices delicate condition she thought, “It was best stick to the coffee.”
With their cups fully recharged Mary continued.
“Right then lads, the first thing we have to do is act, in public at least, like we are concerned about Charlie and Jakes unexplained disappearance. I have no doubt whatever that he will be watching what we are doing about it. So he must be made to think that we are genuinely worried. If he was to start thinking otherwise, then it wouldn’t take him long to figure out that something was up. For a start with I intend to contact the police, who I have complete faith in to do, absolutely nothing or to be of any help at all and then after that it’s the papers, to plead for any information on “my poor husband’s” whereabouts. Once that’s out of the way we have to be ready to move and quickly. So John, I need you and Dougie to go out there and find some more like minded souls. Remember, we’ll only get one chance at this, so let’s make it count.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: DUNDEE, OCTOBER 13TH, 9.00PM
With a crash, the kitchen door burst open and in rushed Sam waving a copy of the Daily Record.
“Well I’ve certainly got to hand it to you Ben, it’s all happening just as you said it would. It would seem that Mrs Stewart is worried sick about her husband’s disappearance and is telling everyone and anyone who will listen to her, that her Charlie boy has been a victim of foul play. But surprisingly it would appear no one believes her or perhaps I should say no one cares enough to believe her.”
Sam raised the copy of the newspaper up in front of himself. The headline read “WHERE IS MAD DOG? GLASGOW CRIME KING DISAPPEARS! Wife Frantic…”
VR took the paper from Sam, read the article and smiled.
“Well then this would appear to be the correct time to put, “operation cover up” into action. All we have to do is convince everyone involved, the police, press and his wife, that Stewart’s disappearance is totally self-inflicted. At this stage in the proceedings the last thing we need to happen, is a full scale enquiry into his disappearance.”
She turned and faced Sam. Gripping him by the shoulders she smiled.
“Sam my boy, this is it, your big moment, your time to shine. This is your mission, if you should wish to accept it. We want you, to go out into the town and find us a woman. Not any old woman, but a very special type of woman, if you know what I mean. What I want, no wait I think I’ll rephrase that. What we want you to find for us, is a so called, lady of the night. Do you think you are you up for it?”
“Too bloody right I am VR. Christ, I was born for the part.”
It wasn’t a secret that this was the part of the plan that Sam had been looking forward to. He could, at long last put all those bloody drama classes that his parents had forced him to attend as a kid, to some practical use.
Sam spent the rest of the day completing his preparations for his “big night”. For days now he had studied the photos of Jake that Phil had taken during his surveillance trips to Glasgow, looking for any similarities that they might share and now he had the real thing to help refine his disguise. True, Jake was tied to a bed, and still obviously in shock due the recent turn of events, but on the plus side this did make it easier to observe him. Both men were roughly of the same height and build, but sadly that was where any similarity ended. Jake was in his late forties to early fifties and Sam was twenty. Jake had black hair which was thinning rapidly to the extent that some people, but then only those such as the very foolish or unwise, would call him balding and as for Sam, well, he had shoulder length blond hair but these small minor facts didn’t seem to bother him.
“I can always wear a hat. I’m sure no one will notice.”
After borrowing some of Jake’s clothes, Sam made the transformation into the “mad dogs” henchman. He looked at his image in the mirror as he turned slightly this way and that so he could view himself from as many different angles as possible. Finally feeling confident with the finished result he turned confidently to Phil for an opinion.
“Well, what do you think Phil? Not to shoddy eh. At a distance, and at night, this should be enough to convince anyone that I’m Jake.”
Phil being in an optimistic mood could see where Sam was going but reckoned he still had some way to go. A baggy suit and an overcoat did not make a killers mate.
“Well I suppose it’ll all depend on how dark it is and how hard the rain is blowing into the face of whoever it is that you’re speaking to.” Phil was far from convinced, so taking another step back and closing his eyes to a squint. “Yep, you might just get away with it and it is raining quite heavy outside. Anyway there’s no time like the present to find out, so let’s get on with it.”
Phil felt concern for his friend as he watched Sam heading excitedly towards the car.
“God, he’s like a kid on his way to a party. I’ll have to have a word with him.”
Both men settled in the car, Phil behind the wheel and Sam wide eyed beside him.
“Look Sam, take a bit of advice and don’t go getting too cocky out there. Remember who you are and don’t actually try to be Big Jake, it will only land you in trouble.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know! Come on, I’m ready for this.”
Phil shook his head in despair and proceeded to drive Sam into the centre of Dundee. When they reach the Seagate area of town he stopped the car to let Sam out. As Sam started to leave the car, Phil grabbed his arm.
“Sam, I know that’ll do your best, but remember what I said and most importantly try to get a looker. You know what I mean, no dogs, okay? It’ll make the photos look better, if you get my drift.”
Sam peered through the side window at Phil, as the Irishman rolled his tongue over his lips in what he thought and hoped was a highly suggestive way.
Sam looked at him sadly.
“You do know that you are disgusting and in serious need of psychiatric help?”
Phil laughed made an obscene gesture and drove off into the night.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The night continued as it had started, wet and miserable. As for VR’s so called ‘ladies of the night’, unsurprisingly, they were nowhere to be seen. Sam had now walked the entire length of the street several times and his earlier enthusiasm was now rapidly disappearing. He was at the point of giving up and heading for home, defeated, when events took an unexpected twist. On the opposite side of the road stood two men, both similarly dressed in black and apparently taken shelter from the rain in a doorway. Both appeared to be taking an active interest in Sam and after a short discussion they hesitantly began to cross the road and approach him. Sam was unsure what to do and was instantly on alert. The shorter of the two men approached him in what Sam considered to an attempt at an aggressive manner and spoke to him.
“And hello there to you big man. You’re looking like you’re, lost. Maybe my friend and I can be of some… assistance.”
He pointed with an exaggerated flourish of his hand towards his companion.
“My friend,” Once more he pointed at his companion. “Angus, was just saying to me, “Oh Jason”, that’s me by the way,” He now pointed at himself. “Jason. Anyway, he said “would you take a look at that poor man standing over there. He looks fair drookit and I’m sure that bonnet on his heid, if indeed that’s what it is, is just about to drop deed.”
Jason turned excitedly to his friend.
“Oh Angus, will you just listen to yourself, it’s like poetry, Rabbie Burns couldn’t do any better. But anyway, I digress, we were just wondering if... you were out looking for a bit of company?”
Sam stared silently at the two men for a moment, trying to take in the surreal scene. He was feeling the cold, freezing to be exact, totally miserable and wet to the core. The rain had soaked completely through his rain coat. He had failed miserably to find a woman, any woman never mind a lady of the bloody night, and now as if to finish of a perfect night he was getting chatted up by two men wearing long leather coats. These they wore over the top of what looked like string vests, leather trousers and their outfits were topped off with what could only be described as a shock of green spiky hair.
“Christ all mighty, the things you meet in Dundee at night. They look like a couple of refugees from the days of punk.”
“Look lads, I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, so no offence meant,” he said in what he thought was his best Glaswegian accent “You see, what I’m looking for is a woman, but not just any old bird, but a certain type of woman if you take my meaning. You see, I have this friend, Charlie. Well he’s more of my boss than a friend. Anyway he has been a very bad lad, and when he gets like that then he needs to be chastised, maybe even punished, but in a certain type of way. Do you get my drift?”
At first Jason and Angus looked disappointedly at one another when suddenly Angus spun around and excitedly whispered into Jason’s ear. Sam looked on suspiciously at the two men, as Angus continued to whisper to Jason. Sam could see by their actions that they were both getting quite excited as both men turned to face him. Once again it was Jason who did the speaking.
“Well, first of all, we would like to offer our own services for the job. But I must be entirely honest with you. You see, neither of us, have actually ever tried what you’re proposing, but if nothing else we are game and willing to try anything, well at least once.”
“Very game,” tittered Angus.
Sam thought about it for a moment, but the image of Charlie, at the mercy of these two, was possibly an image too far and the thought of having to explain it to VR was enough to persuade him to answer in the negative.
“Look lads and yet again please don’t take any offence, as it really is a kind offer, but it really has to be a woman.”
“Oh, well that’s a pity, but there’s no harm in asking. Okay then, so if it has to be a woman then we can still help. There is a friend of ours who may be able to help you. She’s into the whole discipline thing. Her name is Carol, but she likes to be known by her professional name, Mistress Carol. I think she would be more your, opps, sorry, slip of the tongue, I mean of course your friends type. Would you like me to phone her to see if she is available?”
Sam’s face lit up, he could see success arising like a damp phoenix from the rain soaked pavement
“Lads if you could help then that would be great, she sounds perfect.”
As Jason phoned to make arrangements Angus sidled up to Sam, and leaning towards him said.
“She has only been into this sort of thing for just over a year now. She used to be such a shy girl, wouldn’t say boo to a ghost. You know the type, no boyfriends in fact no real friends at all to speak of. Don’t get me wrong she’s a right bonnie lassie, but she was always a bit short on confidence. When she eventually built up the courage to speak to someone, well, she always found it impossible to look at them straight in the face; her eyes would never leave the floor. I mean to say, she was able to describe people’s shoes better than their faces. But then, completely out of the blue it all changed the day when she went on some TV programme. You know the type, Jerry Springer with a Scottish accent. It was meant to be all about extremely shy people and how they managed to get on with their lives and such.
Anyway one of the couples, who appeared on the show, said they used to be just like her, but then they found a new pastime that they could both relate to, Sadomasochism. Okay, I know that perhaps it’s not to everybody’s taste, but what the hell, each to their own I say. Anyway, to cut a long story short, she became friends with them and before you know it she became hooked on it as well. She did some research, and eventually found out about a group of like-minded souls living in Edinburgh. Anyway she joined this group for a couple of years but about a year or so ago she had to come home to help look after her Dad. The poor old sod had a stroke or something nasty like that. So anyway, Carol has to do a little work now and then, you know, just to help pay the bills.”
Angus went silent before once taking a step closer to Sam.
“Now Jake, I need you to help me out here, so before you meet her you must promise that you and your friend will to be nice to her. You will, won’t you?”
Sam looked down and his body stiffened as he saw and felt the point of a knife pressing against his groin area. Before he had any time to react, Angus’s free hand had deftly reached inside his coat and removed his wallet. He opened it slowly while never once taking his eyes of Sam. Taking a step back, he looked in the wallet and removed a business card.
“Right then big man, what did you say your name was?”
“Jake, Jake Peters,” Sam replied.
“Fair enough, that’s what it says here. Now I want you listen and listen very carefully Jake Peters, if anything… anything at all, should happen to Carol, then I want you to remember that we know who you are and where to find you. That’s you and your family. You do understand, don’t you Jake?”
Sam nodded and Angus put the knife away. He handed Sam back the wallet but pocketed the card.
For once Sam was grateful for the rain that night, as it helped to hide the beads of sweat as they rolled down his face. He thought to himself that even VR could never off hoped for this outcome. Here tonight were witnesses that Jake was out on the town looking for a prostitute for Stewart.
Jason re-joined the two men to inform them that Jake was in luck, and that Carol had agreed to meet then in the Wine Bar in one hour, and as for their commission, Jake was to buy the drinks. Angus left his macho side behind as he clapped his hands and cried, “Oh, goodie! Cocktails it is!”
Sam happily agreed. “Christ I need a drink myself.” But first he phoned VR to tell her to prepare Stewart.
“Assignment accomplished, I should be home in a couple hours, but I will phone when we are on our way so you had better get the package ready.”
The prearranged message was kept short and sweet, as VR had instructed, but she was intrigued as to why it would take him a couple of hours to travel the two miles back to the house.
