‘You found anything yet?’ Jez asked as he paced the floor in the kitchen.
It was seven in the evening and Jez was getting ready to head to Martini Beach Club. His management team had organised a celebrity appearance for the evening and the place was expected to be packed out.
‘You know I can’t talk to you about that, Jez.’ Billy replied.
Jez took a steadying breath. ‘Billy, I know you value your job and all that, but I need a name. This bastard has fucked me over and you are the one connection I have. Is it who I told you it was?’
‘Look, Jez, this is a massive operation. The police in the UK have been looking to take down this guy for years and I’m not going to be the officer who fucks it up. So, I’m sorry, but I can’t give you a name. If you want to know for sure it’s the guy you’re looking for you’re going to have to come to Glasgow yourself. Or give it up and accept the loss.’
Jez dropped his hand down by his side and stared out of the window which looked out at the pool from the lower level of the house. Charlene was sat on the terrace, sipping a cocktail. As per usual. The boys were out with their mates. Being twenty and eighteen and living in Majorca, Jez barely saw them nowadays. He’d always had the idea of his sons working for him in the family business, but they just weren’t interested. Too busy living it up in Spain with their mates. Maria had gone home for the evening. The silence around him was deafening. He hadn’t spoken to Charlene properly in weeks. Actually, if he was being honest with himself, he and his wife hadn’t had a proper, honest to god conversation since the birth of their second son.
Raising the phone to his ear again, Jez closed his eyes and tried to keep his voice steady. ‘I don’t accept losses unless it’s my own fault. So, if you’re telling me that you can’t help me, I suppose I’m just going to have to do what you suggest and come to Glasgow. It’ll be nice to see the place again, take a look around the scheme, meet up with the boys again.’
He listened as Billy was quiet. He didn’t like his old friend’s response and the fact that he refused to give up the name of the guy he was looking for. He respected it, though.
‘Then I guess we’ll run into each other very soon.’
Jez didn’t say goodbye, he simply hung up and slammed the phone down on the counter. He had hoped that someone would bring his money and Cole Woods back to him. Going to Glasgow wasn’t going to be easy for him. There were issues from the past in Glasgow. He’d spent two decades keeping those issues in the dark while he’d built a better life for himself in Spain. Going back there could potentially uncover things he’d rather stayed hidden.