Jed Abrams rubbed his eyes, pressing his fingers into the sockets until he saw stars. The copying machines were working flat out, but he still had another hundred to complete before the bloody Latvian mafia arrived in the morning. And, he’d got a new film to shoot that he didn’t want to do, what with the police sniffing around about Carly. He didn’t dare cancel it though, he was far more scared of Irina Akis than of anybody in the British police force.
But Jed could feel the panic rising in his chest. That Inspector already thought the murder had something to do with him, and he didn’t know what to do about that. What if he came back with a search warrant? No, it mustn’t happen. He’d have to speak to Irina and get the stuff moved somewhere else until it all died down.
He reached for the vodka bottle and was, as usual, surprised to find it empty. Nowadays, he didn’t feel better when he drank. In fact, the best he could hope for was that he passed out more often, sometimes losing whole days.
Now his drinking was affecting the business and he knew he had to stop. Good job Chas was reliable and the punters liked her. If he could only make it into the major leagues with the films, he could give all this up and go and live somewhere warm.
His mobile rang. Sweat broke out on his forehead as he watched the phone ringing and vibrating on the desk. He knew there was no way out. Once you were in with these people, you stayed in until they didn’t need you anymore. And then, if you had been a loyal servant, they would reward you with more money than you could imagine. If you hadn’t… Jed had been very loyal, but he was under no illusion that they would kill him in a second rather than jeopardise their operation.
He spoke to Grigor about the delivery, and then to Irina about the new film. Irina was unimpressed when he told her about the police. There was no way they could change the date or the time, they had actors booked. Didn’t Jed realise that they were on deadlines too? She said she would sort something out when they arrived.
By the time the call ended, Jed thought he had convinced them that he didn’t have anything to do with Carly’s death. But he wouldn’t relax until they were gone again with the North Sea between them. There was something so chilling about Irina, like she had a piece missing when they handed out emotions. Abrams had only tried his charm on her once. It was her laugh that had really shrivelled him, that and the stamping on his foot with her boot.
The three Latvians would get off the container ship in the early hours of the following morning and drive the empty van over from Harwich. Jed estimated four or five hours driving time, so they’d be here around nine o’clock in the morning. He swapped the DVDs over and made his way to the bed in the corner. He had to do another few hours at the Studio so he may as well get some sleep while he could.