It was cold in the early morning; Stone was tired and irritable as he left the taxi at the front of Marine House. He did not see him or hear him until he had paid the taxi driver. He was suddenly stopped at the foot of the steps that led to the front door of Marine House. It was the same large man who had landed a heavy fist on his face in his kitchen. Stone looked up and saw the wispy grey beard, intimidating stare and menacing eyes as they glared at him this cold morning.
‘Mr Xavier told me to keep a look out for you. We don’t want you to run away, like, because there’s the large number of notes that you owe.’
‘Get out of my way – tell your trash I haven’t got it and I’m not paying anything.’
‘No, it don’t work like that. Mr Xavier says to remind you about Electric Motors Inc. There’s money there for you, he says. So don’t gamble with your luck anymore. Some people out there are getting very grouchy. If I don’t see your money very soon, then me and me mates’ll be around to deal with you. We’ll show you the knife first before we use it and you’ll know what that means, Harry.’
The thug leant close into Stone’s face as he spoke, and Stone pushed him away.
‘I wouldn’t do that again, Harry. Because I’m going to be here to watch you until you pay up.’
Stone felt the sudden hard slap across his face, and he stumbled onto the bottom step to his front door. The overnight bag he had carried from Nevis, holding the diamonds, fell onto the path.
‘So, what’ve you got in there? Feels heavy enough of bundles of £20 notes all ready to give to Mr Xavier.’
The threatening man in front of him held the bag in his hand as if he was weighing it. He went to undo the zip that held it closed, but it was locked. Stone reached out to grab the bag, but his back would not let him as he felt a stab of pain stretch from one side to the other.
‘What say I let you have this bag back if you give me some notes for my trouble coming to see you this week? Eh, Harry?’
Stone took out his wallet and counted out five £20 notes. He held them out and they were snatched away in one quick move.
Stone watched as Xavier’s hooded thug slouched away. As he climbed the steps to the large front door of Marine House, he was cold, angry, wiping his eyes where the hard fingers had slapped him. The inside of Marine House was gloomy and quiet. The diamonds could have been snatched – Stone shivered; he was helpless as he felt the tentacles of a racketeer he thought had been put away for five years squeeze tighter.
In the gloom of his study at the back of the house, he spread three diamonds across his desk. Pain was nagging at his right hip; there was a tiredness after his visit to Nevis; and he felt weak. The whisky bottle was not far away; it was only early morning, but he took a swig.
He knew nothing about glistening pieces of rock and their real value. Were they dud? Was he being conned? And did he really have to give up ten per cent just so that he could handle them? It did not take him long to flick through an old diary from his desk drawer for the number of a contact he had known for many years. It was still early, but he called. With no pleasantries, he arranged to meet Sol in Hatton Garden mid-afternoon, tomorrow.
Even in the early morning, he was unsettled. In the sitting room, he looked across to the sea that had an early morning mist. He felt the growing menace of Xavier and his gangsters; they were pushing, hustling him on Electric Motors Inc. As if it was something he had forgotten about, he quickly opened his laptop to check on its share price. This was just not real; he ran his hand through his hair as he saw a row of red figures and, as if it was mocking him, a red arrow pointing to the bottom of the page. The value of Electric Motors Inc was still going down.
Roger was right – Electric Motors was sinking fast. But Stone’s brain worked quickly. An odd logic still gripped him. With the price of the shares much lower, he could buy more of them, and when they went up, he would make more money. It would be a gamble, but the whole of life was a gamble, as he was rapidly finding out. He would deal Electric Motors. Tomorrow, after he had seen Sol with a big diamond, when he felt less tired.
Stone had a lot to do in a short time; his impatience started to make him worried where it was all going to end.