Chapter 26
Tuesday, April 27th. 11:18 pm.
As soon as Nicole had left, Alf made his way upstairs. And after paying a visit to the bathroom, he headed for the bedroom which he’d chosen to occupy for the duration of his stay.
He sat on top of the bed with another can of Fosters, wondering what the fuckin’ hell he’d gotten himself into.
Yes, he was a criminal. Yes he was a thief. A burglar. A fraudster.
But NO. I’m no killer. That was Lazarus’ line of work.
‘If I’m not careful,’ he thought, ‘it’s going to be me rather than the shit, which hits the fan. And I don’t like the thought of that.’
Even after everything that Nicole had said about not double-crossing him, Alf still didn’t feel one hundred percent confident.
He took another slurp from the can, as his mind started to work overtime.
Would Nicole and Benny do a runner with all the cash?
Was it even conceivable that Nicole would leave Benny out in the cold as well as him, and keep the lot for herself?
It was a remote possibility that she could even be in cahoots with Chan Lee, and neither he nor Benny had any inkling about it whatsoever.
‘Get a grip.’ he said out loud.
‘Nicole wouldn’t do anything like that.’ he thought. ‘She wouldn’t leave him in the lurch. If she had of been thinking along those lines, there was no way she’d let him stay in one of their rental properties. That would be far too close to home.’
‘I still need to have some kind of a plan, a plan A. There’s no way I can leave things to chance.’
Alf picked up his mobile that was lying on top of the bedside table.
Opened the contact app and pressed Harry’s number, and even though it was late, he’d a good idea that Harry would still be up.
‘Yip.’
‘That you Harry?’
‘Who wants to know?’
‘It’s only me. Alf.’
‘Alf? Alf who?’
‘Come on you crazy cunt, stop messing about. You know exactly who it is.’
‘Like I said. Alf who?’
‘It’s shifty Cunliffe, who’d ya think.’
‘Hi Alf.’ Harry coughed. ‘Just being careful. You never know who might be trying to catch me out. How you doing then? Or is it more like, what do you want?’
‘Need a gun.’ remarked Alf. ‘Are you in a position to help me out?’
‘I thought Lazarus was your gunslinger, have you parted company?’
‘You could say that. He’s probably shooting up in the next world by now, I shouldn’t wonder.’
‘Fuck. Lazarus bit the bullet then. How?’
‘Long story and I haven’t really got the time right now. Have you not seen my mug shot in the Post Office?’
‘Don’t get out much these days. Got others doing the running around these days. Old age and poverty, you know.’
Alf laughed.
‘Old age maybe. Poverty. Never. With the action you’ve been involved in over the years, I’ll bet you’ve got a big fuckin’ hell of a stash, tucked away.’
‘No comment. So you want a weapon. Any particular reason, or should I not ask?’
‘Best not. What you don’t know can’t hurt.’
‘How big. Hand or shot.’
‘Small hand. Something that’ll fit in a jacket pocket, and with a silencer.’
‘Is a Glock 17 any use?’
‘Perfect, as long as it has a full clip. I’m not sure how many shots I’m going to need, and I can’t take any chances.’
‘No problem. When do you want to collect it?’
‘A bit difficult. Any chance of a delivery?’
‘Could be arranged considering its you. What’s the address?’
Even though Alf was hold up in the house, he’d no idea of the actual address.
‘Shit. I don’t know. Hang on a minute.’
Harry could hear footsteps, then a door creaking open. A few seconds later what sounded like draws being opened and closed.
‘Alf.’ he shouted down the phone. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Just a sec.’
‘Here we are.’ Alf gave a sigh of relief. ‘I’ve found the address.’
‘What the hell’s going down over there? You don’t even know where you are.’
‘Like I said. Long story.’
Alf rhymed the address of for him.
‘How soon do you want it?’
‘As early as you can in the morning.’
‘It’s morning already if you hadn’t noticed. What time?’
‘Would ten be too soon?’
‘Consider it done.’
‘Cheers pal. I owe you one.’
‘You owe me more than one. Just give me a shout when you’re done with it, and I’ll get shut of it for you.’
‘Thanks Harry.’
As they ended the call Alf thought of something else that was imperative.
He needed to get hold of Chan Lee to arrange the time. But after looking at his watch he thought it would be wise to leave it until first thing in the morning. The last thing he wanted to do was upset the Hong Kong mafia.