Chapter 31
Thursday, April 29th. 6:16 am.
Nicole was up early.
She was sat at the dining table writing out a list of things she wanted to pick up for Alf, and a number of places that needed a visit, when Hartley walked in.
‘What’s up with you?’ he enquired, ‘you’re up earlier than usual.’
‘I’ve got a lot on my mind.’ she replied.
Then, after a moments thought, she continued.
‘Do you need me in the shop today?’
It didn’t take more than two seconds for his reply to arrive.
‘I was expecting this to happen,’ said Hartley, pleased that he’d had enough foresight to make the relevant arrangements, ‘so I’ve got both Victoria and Becky working today. I’ve got a few things to do. I need to go to the bank, and I’ve got a meeting with Proudlove’s at two o’clock.’
‘What do you want with our estate agents?’ queried Nicole. ‘Your not thinking of buying more properties are you?’
‘No.’ Then came the reply she didn’t want to hear, ‘I’m thinking of selling the domestic rentals. We don’t really need them. And you clearly don’t have time to look after the tenants. What, with spending so much of your days with Eve and Beth.’
‘There’s no problem with the tenants at all.’ she couldn’t let him sell the houses, or where was Alf going to stay.
She had to stop these sales.
‘Don’t sell them,’ she was all but pleading, ‘every one of the families are settled, and we never have any problem with late payments or complaints from their neighbours.’
‘I don’t know. They’re probably more trouble than they’re worth.’
Nicole didn’t want to appear desperate to keep the properties, just the one where Alf was hold up. Plus, she knew it would probably take at least a couple of months for any sales to go through, even if the houses were snapped up pretty quickly.
‘It’s up to you,’ she remarked, ‘but would it not be worth just keeping hold of one or two, even if its just for the sake of the tenants.’
‘We’ll see.’ Hartley replied. ‘I’m still going to see Proudlove’s and get them valued.’
Thursday, April 29th. 7:35 am.
Hartley was just about to leave for work, when Nicole’s mobile sounded. The usual ring tone of ‘do you think I’m sexy’ always annoyed her husband. He’d always said that she gave tack, a whole new meaning, and before she could answer the call, he headed for the door.
‘Will I see you later?’ he mouthed as he could see her putting her phone up to her ear.
‘Maybe.’ she shrugged her shoulder displaying doubt.
Nicole waited until he’d gone outside before answering the call.
She’d already glanced at the caller display, and knew that it was Benny on the other end of the line.
‘Hi. How come you’re ring me at this time of day?’ said Nicole, ‘I hope there’s nothing wrong’
‘Unfortunately yes, there is something wrong. Big time.’ Benny was speaking quickly and sounded rather panic struck.
‘What is it? You don’t sound too good.’
‘We need to talk – like – now.’
‘What’s so urgent?’
‘I’ve had a call from a bloke who appears to know everything about the money and the Appleford. He’s demanding five million quid, or he’s taking some kind of evidence to the Police.’
‘What evidence?’ enquired Nicole, ‘there’s only us three that know what’s going on, since you got rid of Chan Lee and his mate.’
‘Well clearly somebody else knows. Otherwise how would he know that the diamond is called Appleford, and that we’ve got hold of twenty million quid?’
There was a moments silence then Benny continued.
‘Anyway, it doesn’t matter how he know, the fact is he does. We need to get together and try to come up with either five million quid, or some other way of getting this guy off our backs.’ he paused. ‘So I suggest you get hold of Alf, and we arrange a meet, like – now.’
‘He’s hold up in one of our rental houses, so I’ll give you the address and you can get over there straight away. I’ll probably get there first. So I’ll see you soon.’
Nicole gave Benny the address. Then, as quick as she could, jumped in her car and shot off in the direction of the house.
Thursday, April 29th. 8:06 am.
Benny said his goodbye’s to Caroline and the kids, and said that he was heading off to work. He told them that a fault had occurred on one of the CCTV systems, and needed his urgent attention.
As he was climbing into his van, his mobile sounded.
His boss. Clive Woodbridge.
‘What the hell does he want at this time?’ thought Benny.
‘Hello boss. What can I do for you, I’m just about to set off. I’m due at the Royal Hotel by a quarter to nine for a service call.’
‘Just making sure you’re on the ball.’ said Woodbridge. ‘After your disappearance yesterday, I’m just making sure that you’re actually working.’
‘There’s no need to keep checking up on me,’ Benny was sounding a bit pissed off, ‘I’ve been one of your best employees for the last three years, so I’m not going to jeopardize my job on silly excursions. Oh and just for the record,’ he was trying to appear as genuine as he could, ‘it was me that went AWOL, not George of any of the other guys, so you don’t need to take it out on them.’
‘I won’t,’ replied Woodbridge, ‘just make sure you do your job.’
He hung up before Benny could reply.
‘What the fuck was all that about?’ he thought. ‘He should know that I would be out and about by this time.’
He pushed the call to the back of his mind. He needed to get to the house where Alf and Nicole would be waiting.
Thursday, April 29th. 8:37 am.
Nicole arrived at Alf’s hideaway before Benny, and let herself in.
Alf was still in bed.
‘Get up you lazy bastard,’ she shouted through the bedroom door, ‘something’s cropped up.’
‘Uhh.’ Alf grunted as he lay all nice and cosy under the quilt. ‘What time is it?’
‘Never mind about the time, just get up.’
She made her way downstairs, giving him time to climb out of bed and come round. By the time he got to the bottom of the stairs, Nicole was letting Benny in through the front door.
Alf rubbed his eyes. Even though he’d been up a few minutes, he still hadn’t woken up completely.
‘What’s going on?’ he looked at Benny. ‘Shouldn’t you be in work?’
‘Shut up Alf and listen.’ said Nicole.
‘Right Benny,’ she was looking him straight in the eye, ‘what is going on?’
‘’I got a phone call last night from a bloke who says he knows about everything we’ve been up to. He knows about the money. He knows about the Appleford. He says he’s got proof of who we are, and what we’ve done. And he wants five million quid to keep quiet. So. What are we going to do?’
‘And you’ve no idea who this guy is?’ asked Nicole.
‘No. His voice was muffled as though he had a handkerchief or something over the mouthpiece.’
‘Did he say anything else?’ queried Alf, by now starting to wake up.
‘Just that he’d be in touch in a couple of days, because he knows it will take that long for you to get the cash from your offshore account transferred.’
‘He knew about that?’ questioned Nicole, stunned.
‘Like I said,’ continued Benny, ‘he says he knows everything, and has evidence that the Police would love to get their hands on.’
There was a very uncomfortable silence resounding around the room, as each of them considered their predicament.
After a couple of minutes Nicole broke the silence.
‘As far as I can see, we’ll have to go along with whatever he wants. But sooner or later we’ll have to come face to face, even if it’s only to hand over his cash. We will then do to him what you did to Chan Lee. There’s no way he’s getting away with that kind of money.’
‘Is that wise.’ remarked Alf. ‘We’re already wanted for murder and robbery. Do we really want to add multiple murders to the charge sheet.’
Nicole looked at Benny, then turned her gaze to Alf.
‘No Alf,’ she said, ‘Benny and me aren’t wanted for murder and robbery. The Police are only looking for you. So if I was you, I’d do what I’m told.’
She paused.
‘All we can do is carry on. You go back to work Benny, and I’ll see about sorting the money out. As soon as you hear from this bloke again, get in touch, and we’ll take it from there.’
‘And what about me?’ asked Alf.
‘Just do what you’re already doing. Nothing.’ Nicole replied. ‘But I must admit you do do it brilliantly.’