‘Just checking, love. By the way,’ he said. ‘Do you remember that young Luke we helped out?’
She nodded. ‘Course I do. He looked like a car crash.’
‘Well, I saw him the other day and he asked after you. Just thought I’d let you know.’ He grinned teasingly. Especially when he saw the disgusted look on her face.
‘I wouldn’t recognise him if I passed him in the street. Don’t even know what he looks like under all that bruising and blood. Why is he asking about me?’
‘Just courtesy, I suppose.’ Alex knew he was fishing to see if she had seen or heard from him. He found it odd that Luke had asked, but maybe he was overthinking it. He was a father and she was his little girl after all.
Deana threw her head back and rolled her eyes towards the ceiling. ‘That’s where you’ve got the money from, isn’t it? I take it he has been in touch about the plants we helped him with?’
‘Yes, we sold the plants and to be fair, Luke is an honest thief and paid up.’
‘Fair enough. I presume he is just grateful you saved his arse.’ As an afterthought, a frown crossed her brow. ‘So if you get fifty k, what do I get? I helped him too,’ she laughed. ‘Don’t I get a percentage?’
‘Well, I’m not sure what he wants to give you.’ Alex winked. ‘But he was asking about you.’
Slapping him on the arm, Deana laughed. ‘Don’t be rude, he doesn’t look like he’s got it in him.’
‘How would you know? You just said, you don’t know what he looks like.’ They both burst out laughing. Just then Maggie reappeared and smiled at them both. ‘What are you two laughing about? And what are your plans for today Alex?’ she asked.
‘I’m going to get some new bolts for the back doors,’ he answered. Looking up, he saw Pauline passing through the hallway. ‘Those ones up there look a bit old to me,’ he corrected himself.
‘Old? Bloody hell Alex, I doubt they’ve been replaced since they built the place. I’m going for my tea break now Maggie, if that’s okay.’ Without waiting for an answer and making her way to the kitchen and small sitting room, Pauline shouted back to them, ‘Do you want one?’
Grinning, Alex shook his head. ‘This place just gets better and better. The staff are offering us our own tea and biscuits now.’ Alex laughed and leaned in closer to Maggie so that only she could hear.
‘I’ve also got to go to the police station today, Maggie. Another glorious day in their back room.’ Rolling his eyes to the ceiling, he sighed. ‘Just keep your eyes open while I am gone.’ He was about to walk out of the door, when surprisingly Percy was stood there about to knock. ‘Shit Percy, you made me jump! What is it?’
‘I need a word,’ Percy whispered, and looked around furtively. ‘Outside.’
‘Well, as I was going outside anyway, I’ll come.’ Alex wondered what other snippets Percy had in store.
‘Some friends of mine, they are from Liverpool… they were wondering if you knew anyone called Luke?’
Taken aback, Alex tried keeping his composure, ‘Luke who?’ he asked nonchalantly.
‘Just Luke. He’s a bad lot and owes them money and stuff.’
Puzzled, Alex tried to get a bit more information from Percy. ‘What’s that got to do with me, Percy? A lot of people come in the pub, but I don’t know all of their names. Can’t be arsed asking most of the time.’
‘No I don’t think he comes into the pub. But they bought something the other day and they wondered if it was from this Luke bloke. He hasn’t been seen for a while, but a van like Mark’s was seen in the supermarket car park. They wondered if Mark might have said something to you about it?’
‘Percy, I’ve no idea what you’re talking about. If it was Mark’s van then ask Mark why he was at a supermarket. Why do people go to supermarkets Percy? To bloody shop of course! I’m not sure what this has to do with me.’
Stammering and blushing slightly, Percy bowed his head. ‘No, no offence Alex. It’s just that you hear and see a lot in the pub, and I wondered if you had heard anything.’
‘Well, I do hear a lot, but I’m not sure what it is that I am supposed to have heard.’
‘You spoke to a friend of mine the other week. He was in his car – a BMW – and you spoke to him apparently. He asked who you were.’
‘I didn’t know you had any friends Percy.’ Drumming his fingers on his chin, Alex recalled that night instantly, not that he was going to reveal this to Percy. ‘It doesn’t spring to mind Percy. What else did he say?’ Alex snapped, although a thought did cross his mind. Maybe they hadn’t been found at all. Maybe it had just been Percy’s friend asking about him and Alex had jumped to conclusions. ‘Is this the same bloke that you said asked about me the other day? Because I suggest you tell him that if he wants to know anything about me, then he should come and bloody well ask me.’
Realising he had annoyed Alex, Percy shook his head. ‘Oh no Alex, it’s not the same bloke, honest. No offence mate. I just thought I would ask.’
‘Well now you’ve wasted my time with your conundrums. I’m going out and if I bump into anyone from Liverpool in a BMW on the way, I will talk to them and tell them to mind their own fucking business about me.’ Alex stormed off, leaving a very sheepish Percy in his wake.
As Alex walked, his mind wandered. He knew someone would have been watching that night when he’d dropped off the plants. Thankfully, he had been dressed as Mark and in Mark’s van, but that could become a problem. He needed to inform Luke that they had their suspicions about him still being alive. The fire investigators had never announced they had found the remains of a body in the house and there had been no police investigation regarding it. So they could think that Luke had escaped somehow and that he had maybe caused the explosion himself. That was, of course, after he had taken what he could of the plants and sold it back to them. Was that why Percy was asking him about Luke? Alex had given Percy the message from a ‘friend’ himself and they now wanted to know if this mysterious friend was Luke, back from the dead.
Alex felt stunned as he sat in the back room of the police station surrounded by specialist detectives. After going through a few more things with them, they had announced that the case was almost ready to go to court.
‘It seems that one of the heads of the families has had heart problems. We want him to stand trial, which will hopefully give him a heart attack,’ one detective scoffed disgustedly. ‘I want him more than the others, that Spanish shit. He trafficked girls and boys abroad. Most of them were homeless and he and his gang groomed and sold them. We haven’t found half of them and of the ones we have found, none of them will give evidence at the trial. Some are so hooked on drugs, you can hardly see their arms for the track marks. The guy is Pereira’s cousin. Did you know him?’ The detective glared at Alex. He knew full well that Alex knew him; what he really wanted to know was whether Alex had been involved in any of that.
Stern-faced, Alex looked up towards the detective. ‘You know I know Diego. But no, I wasn’t involved in his sex rackets. You know what I am. I’m just a hired killer.’
The police officers looked tired and drawn sat drinking coffee out of plastic cups. Spanish detectives had also been flown in and after dealing with things from their part of the world, they had also contacted the FBI. too.
Alex had always known the court case was coming, but now it all seemed very real and he felt suddenly nervous. His stomach somersaulted at the thought of sitting there in front of his old ‘friends’ giving evidence against them. His hands felt clammy as he reached for his coffee.
‘Are you ready for this, Alex? A lot of Pereira’s men have turned on him and agreed to give evidence. It seems like all we needed was one sure thing – you Alex – and all the others followed like sheep.’ Slapping Alex on the shoulder, another detective gave a weak smile. ‘Thanks Alex, we all appreciate it. There are a lot of civilians out there who will sleep better at night, knowing that lot are going away for a long time.’
‘What happens to me and my family after the trial? That’s if we live that long.’
‘That is entirely up to you Alex. There is still a bounty on your head and there probably always will be. We’ve given our word to keep you safe. We can move you all to another country, give you new identities, whatever you want.’
‘It’s going to crush Maggie and the kids to leave. She has grown to love that pub and the kids love the area and their schools. But the threat of death will always hang over us. And you won’t always be there to provide protection. Christ, sometimes I wish I hadn’t bothered!’
