Stone nibbled at the croissants and drank two cups of black coffee that had been brought to his suite. He was interrupted from his meagre breakfast as his phone rang.
‘Who’s calling?’ Stone asked quickly.
‘Sounds like my mate Harry. How are you today, my friend?’
Stone held the phone away and looked at it. He was not sure what he had heard.
‘Are you there, Harry?’ the caller persisted.
‘They’ve just put you away, banged you up for three years with no parole.’
‘Don’t get nasty, Harry, just because one of my boys called on you and gave a little fist towards your face. It was a gentle nudge to remind you I trusted you, matey, with a lot of money to look after. And look where we are now. My man said you didn’t want to cooperate with him, but please take it as a gentle nod between friends. You still owe a quarter of a million. That’s a lot of money we won’t let you forget.’
‘You’re not out from behind bars, are you? You were in cell block C, shut away for money laundering, GBH, fraud, racketeering is what I heard,’ Stone said again in a torrent.
‘Between friends that’s all a bit strong, Harry. And it don’t mean I don’t do jobs. I lead a busy life with my mates in here. And that’s why I’m calling you.’
‘What’re you after?’
‘You listen to me for a couple of minutes, matey. I’ve got something for you. You do what I ask and maybe we make some money together. And maybe then you can pay off what you owe me and a few of my boys out there. Then maybe we leave you alone. No more physical stuff. How does that sound?’
By now Stone would quickly have put the phone down on any crass caller making idle threats. But today it was different. He knew this man. Xavier was his name. Was it a Christian name or something more? The name was indelibly sticking. Stone could not forget him, and he suddenly felt the closeness of this ruthless narcotics dealer as if he was in the next room.
‘One more hit and I’ll call the cops. I’ll spill to ’em all I know about you next time. You keep your crooks right away from me,’ Stone said.
‘The cops and me are friends now, Harry. They even come to see me in my new home. So, I’m talking to ’em all the time. You know what I mean?’ Xavier sneered.
‘Your festering lump of dirty cash is gone – forget it. You’ve now got ten seconds before I close the call. What do you want?’
‘I was talking to one of my mates over dinner last night – yeah it was good, a plateful of beef stew and I didn’t have to do the washing up afterwards – and with my other pals I’ve made in here we could all sit round as if we were buddies, and we had a good game of poker. Do you ever play poker, Harry?’
‘Shut it – I don’t want to listen to all that crap. You’re in jail – it’s where you belong, and it’s where you’re staying.’
‘I don’t like that talk, matey, ‘cos I was telling you something you might like to hear. You got a pencil handy? You can write, can’t you?’
Stone found a pencil with a small pad of paper on a sideboard; he grunted and listened. There was a quarter of a million outstanding to this thug, cash which had been lost in more games than poker. The pencil hovered in Stone’s hand.
‘You there still?’ Xavier asked.
‘I said get on with it.’
‘My friend I dined with last night is a man of the world. And he’s had a nod from one of his partners on the outside who keeps his money interests running for him. You see, there’s a corporation out there on the stock market that’s going to be bought, taken over, in a few days’ time. And a man of business like you will know what that means, Harry, won’t you? The price of its shares will jump up as soon as that bit of very private hidden information is shared with the world. Cos that’s what always happens on takeovers like this.’
‘Do you think I would believe anything coming from another con like you, banged up with a hundred other thugs?’
‘Electric Motors Inc. It’s going to be bought out at a high price, double what it’s trading at now. And we’ve got a couple of weeks before the party happens. So listen, Harry, a stockbroker friend is going to buy some shares for me. I’ve got some real cash standing around, you know, saved from hard work over the last year. Fifty grand when I last looked. And do you know what? My stockbroker friends think I’m still living at my nice pad in the East End.’ There was a loud croaky laugh and Stone held the phone away from his ear.
‘You’re in fairyland. You’d do better to put that money on a horse; at least you can watch the thing as you lose the lot.’
‘Harry, hold on. You’re not the sort of man who walks away from a deal that’s a dead cert for making easy money. And listen to this. I don’t have to spend my own money to live in here and have dinner with my business contacts. It’s all free, so today I’m putting up fifty grand to get some shares in Electric Motors Inc.’
‘What do you know about Electric Motors Inc that’s not out there? And why’re you telling me all this?’
‘Harry, they’re a big business – they build engines for motors like big cars. The noise is they’ve got something new for electric cars and an American business is scooping up the whole lot. Beyond that, I know nothing about ’em, don’t need to. But Harry, trust me cos I want you to come in on this little deal. Big chance for you to make some notes to pay off the quarter of a million debt that you’re trying to wriggle out of.’
‘I’m never paying you a quarter of a million, so forget it. And how does this jailbird, serving time along with all you other crooks in cell block C, know what is going on at Electric Motors Inc?’ Stone asked. ‘How shady is he to be stuck behind bars?’
‘Please don’t call my friends crooks – that’s a nasty word, and it’s not one we use when we’re having dinner together.’
‘Get on with it – I don’t have any more time to waste with you.’
‘Harry, my friend’s in here with me because the last time he was invited to go to The Old Bailey for a couple of days they told him he’d done a bit of fraud. Nothing serious and it’s only because some rat squealed on him that he got caught. Upright gentleman otherwise with some mates in high places. And they sent him this bit of insider information – it’s worth gold.’
‘I’m not interested, and I will never trust what a thug like you is telling me. So, get back to your cell, and remember I’m on the outside, and you’re on the inside.’
‘Okay, just watch the papers then, this time in two weeks. Not in The Sun what you read but in the pink ones like we get delivered to us in here with stock prices,’ Xavier said.
Stone groaned – he knew all about insider information, and he knew where to find prices of stocks and shares.
‘I trust you, matey to keep this bit of info quiet. Don’t spill it around or you’ll spoil it for the next time. But think about this special stuff that only people like you and me know of. And remember, matey, until you repay a quarter of a million… well, let’s leave that for another day.’
‘You call your gangster thugs right off, got it?’
‘Harry, calm down. You know how these things work. Get somebody onto it; get your money lined up because there’s going to be a few more tips from my mate – I hear there are tips of some very private things going on. They’ll be worth gold. You’ll make the fastest few quid ever in your life. And with it you get a final chance to clear your debts. Okay?’
Ten seconds later, Stone put his phone down, feeling hot. That man Xavier with the shiny bald head was going nowhere today; he had a lot of time to waste on poker and stock market tips that were probably no more than prison gossip.
But Xavier would walk out of the front gates of that jail in three years’ time. Stone had deep distrust of this underworld gangster and the memory was still raw of Xavier chasing his money. Stone felt his ankle – he could still see the mad dog right inside Marine House, which had bitten a lump from his flesh.
Stone sat upright. His body felt tense and the hit to his right temple was still throbbing. For some time Stone had pushed Xavier out of his sight, out of his mind. But with his heavies, he was now inching, in a permeable way, closer again. Listening to the throaty voice of Xavier from behind bars repulsed Stone.
For a few minutes he lay on the sofa and stared at the name Electric Motors Inc he had scribbled on a pad. He would maybe follow that up. Sometime. Someday. Or maybe he would forget it quickly. He was very uncertain.