Chapter 15
Friday, April 23rd. 6:17 pm.
‘Would you like a bite to eat?’ said Hartley.
‘Not really.’ Nicole sighed. ‘After the day I’ve had, I think alcohol will suffice.’
All she really wanted to do was ring Alf back in order to put her thoughts into actions.
‘OK, I’ll just get a snack, and watch some TV before bed.’ he remarked, ‘But I think an early night is in order, after what we’ve both been through today.’
‘Thank fuck for that.’ she thought,
Nicole poured herself another large vodka, and sat down, patiently waiting for him to go upstairs.
Hartley must have eaten all that he’d wanted whilst in the kitchen, and came through and switched on the TV.
After watching an hour long documentary about wildlife in the Amazon forest, Hartley started to feel rather tired. He was fidgeting around in the chair, as though he couldn’t get comfortable.
‘I think I’m off up now,’ he remarked, slowly starting to stand up, ‘I’m shattered. But you enjoy your drink, and try to relax. I’ll probably be asleep by the time you come to bed. Goodnight.’
Nicole gave him fifteen minutes, and then went to the foot of the stairs. Where, usually she would be able to hear his snoring, it was always loud.
‘Great.’ she thought.
True to form, it hadn’t taken Hartley more than a few minutes to drop off, and he was well away, snoring like a trouper.
No sooner had she dialled Alf’s number, than he must have pressed accept at the first ring.
‘Alf,’ she sounded quietly confident. ‘Ring that CCTV guy up and arrange a meeting for tomorrow morning.’
‘Hang on.’ he didn’t seem to like the thought of that.
‘You want me to let him know where I live. Don’t you think that if he has got what he claims, then that leaves me in an even more precarious position than I am already?’
‘No.’ she paused to think.
‘No. Arrange to meet at the warehouse where you kept his lad. I want you, the diamond, Matt, Lazarus and Benny, plus his son if possible. Although the son isn’t a necessity.’
‘And then what?’ Alf was sounding a touch dubious.
‘What the fuck is she up to?’ he thought.
‘Don’t worry,’ she was flying by the seat of her pants. ‘I’ve got enough cash to pay him off. Then, once he’s out of the picture, we can carry on, sell the gem and then we can all get paid.’
To Alf, it sounded like she thought she’d got it all mapped out. However, he still had a great deal of doubt. He’d been part of the criminal fraternity for far too long, to just accept what other people said. He’d learned never to trust anybody.
But at this moment he had to go along with Nicole, and play it by ear.
‘OK. I’ll give you a call the minute I’ve spoken to him.’
‘Good.’ she wanted to give him some false reassurance and blind hope.
‘It’ll all work out, you’ll see. And then you can get into my pants and fuck me like you’ve never fucked anyone before. I just hope that you’re up for the challenge, because I take some satisfying, as you bloody well know.’ she laughed.
‘I’ll ring Benny now, and make the arrangements.’
The line went dead.
Nicole had her agenda, but was also aware, that Alf was no mug. Even if at times he tried to throw people off track by appearing that way.
He’d got away with armed robbery and murder too many times, for him to have come in with the last tide.
She had to keep her wits about her, and be well prepared to follow through with her plan. If she wasn’t true to herself, and believed that she could pull this off, then she would be right up shit creek with the paddle nowhere to be found.
Nicole made herself a coffee to help her keep a reasonably clear head, as she thought about her next move.
Even though she had everything worked out, she wasn’t one for complacency, and liked to think things through, step by step.
Friday, April 23rd. 11:04 pm.
Her mobile rang. She looked at the caller display, it was Alf.
‘Yes.’ she answered.
‘All sorted. Benny and his lad will be at the unit at 10 tomorrow morning. Is that what you wanted?
‘Yes, that’s perfect.’ she was half way through her plan.
‘So, let me get this straight.’ Nicole wasn’t taking anything for granted.
‘You, Matt and Lazarus will be there, along with the diamond.’
‘Yes.’
‘Benny, his son, and obviously me.’
‘Yes,’ replied Alf, ‘where are you going with this, you already know who’ll be there.’
‘I’m just making sure that everything’s in place. I don’t want any cockups. All I want is for us to get Benny off our backs and the gem sold, so that we can all get our money.’
‘That sounds good to me.’ answered Alf.
‘See you in the morning then.’
They both hung up at the same time, neither one of them trusting the other.
Saturday, April 24th. 5:48 am.
After spending a rather sleepless night, Nicole rose early, she had things to do.
Without disturbing Hartley, and without him knowing what she was up to.
She needed the SIG Sauer P226 handgun that he’d been given by an ex army friend. Who’d thought, that because of the business he was in, he needed some kind of protection. The SIG had a magazine that held 15 rounds of ammo, which was more than enough for her to complete the task.
Carefully and quietly she slipped out from under the duvet, and, after slipping on a flimsy dressing gown, made her way to the office, or Library as Hartley would refer to it, when tying to impress a client.
Just because he’d got a bookcase with around a hundred or so novels on the shelves. Not that he’d read more than half a dozen of them. Plus a couple of dictionary’s and a thesaurus, he thought that qualified it to be called a library. When in fact. It was a small box room with this bookcase and a desk for his tower computer system. This is where he would do any work at home, which hadn’t been completed during the day.
Having previously chosen her handbag. Big enough to hold the gun, without bulging too much. She didn’t want to cause the others to be suspicious. Nicole made her way straight to where the gun was kept.
Hartley always hid it at the back of a draw filled with old invoices. ‘No one will look in there,’ he’d thought.
She lifted it out, made sure that the clip was full, and placed it in her handbag, attempting to cover it with her purse, and a couple of handkerchiefs.
‘One task completed.’ she thought, as she attempted to get back into bed, without her nearest and dearest realising that she’d been anywhere.
‘Where’ve you been?’ remarked Hartley sleepily, as she slipped back under the duvet.
‘Just to the bathroom.’
‘What’s up with the ensuite? You don’t need your dressing gown for that.’
‘I wanted a drink of milk as well, so I nipped down stairs, and then headed for the bathroom. That way I wouldn’t disturb you.’
‘That was thoughtful, thanks.’ he remarked as he turned over, and, slowly but surely went back to sleep.
With Hartley snoring away, Nicole lay there at his side, mulling over her plan of action.
She had to get this right. No mistakes. No fuckups. Or else.
Somehow, she had to excuse herself from duties at the shop. Being Saturday, the one day she would normally work, it wasn’t going to be easy.
Saturday, April 24th. 6:45 am.
The alarm clock sounded and Hartley was, as usual, up straight away.
He’d always been the same.
The second the buzzer started sounding, he would jump up, as though he’d been lying awake all the time, just waiting for it to go off.
As was the norm, the two of them climbed out of bed.
Nicole headed for the bathroom, and Hartley would commandeer the ensuite.
Once showered and dressed, they would both sit down to breakfast.
Hartley with his muesli, and Nicole with her strawberries, blueberries and yoghurt.
This was exactly what she wanted. Everything had to appear normal. Hartley preoccupied with the gold, silver, and diamond exchange rates, especially the exchange rates between the £, the euro, and the $.
The minute breakfast was over, which was always carried out with long periods of silence, just the occasionally comment when one of them had something to say. They made their way to the shop.
And even though she’d got her plan all worked out, she was beginning to get a little apprehensive.
Was she going to have the guts to pull this off?
Yes.
She had no choice.
It had gone too far for her to pull out now.
Hopefully, she thought, if it all works out, she wouldn’t only be a millionaire, but she’d have enough money to live a life of luxury for the rest of her natural.
Yes, she was going to have to do something she never thought she could. And, somehow, even though it was more out of a sense of decency, whatever that may be, Nicole would have to release Benny and his son. After all, it wasn’t their greed, or their fault that they’d been dragged into this situation; it was all hers and Alf’s doing.