To get some air from the closed space of his suite in Claridge’s, Stone stood for a moment on the busy pavement outside the hotel. The nagging pain in his hip and back was constantly with him; this morning he was feeling tired. His phone buzzed in his pocket. This had to be Josh with agreement to selling Marine House. Stone momentarily forgot his pain and eagerly pulled it out.
‘Harry, my friend. How’re you doing this bright, sunny day?’
It was Xavier. He had a bounce in his voice, and for a moment, Stone thought he must have got out of jail. His tone was light, flippant, free for a while from the daily confinement of his liberty. Perhaps it was that he had been smoking something. Stone stood on a street corner for a moment, just listening. His eye quickly attuned his brain to the image that would never leave him. His brain saw Xavier’s ugly, shiny bald head and rippling square lump of neck. And how close was he?
‘What do you want?’ Stone’s loudness was lost in the air.
‘Where are you, matey? I can hear people talking. I hope they can’t listen to what I’m saying.’
There was silence for half a minute as Stone crossed the road. The flashing image he held was as if Xavier was walking by his side. Stone even looked over his shoulder, thinking he might see this racketeer, with his grinning face, walking with him.
‘Did you check on Electric Motors Inc? How much did you put in, matey? How much did you make?’
‘I didn’t go for it, and you’re just gambling.’
‘Listen, Harry, don’t talk like that because I got another big deal for you. Don’t stand off again; you’ll find it’s real money. My man is sharing what he knows; he likes to spread it around but only to a few select people. And you’re one of them. Because remember, matey, you still owe a quarter of a million and some of my boys are getting all over a bit fidgety about it. This’ll help you make it up so you can repay that pile. Have you got a pencil handy?’
‘I’m listening.’
‘Goldnight. Runs a couple of casinos and a couple of nightclubs. All right in the middle of London. They’re spreading into high-street bookies, and an American outfit from Las Vegas is going to buy the whole business on the stock market, and it’s going to happen by the end of this week. My friend I enjoy dinner with says to get onto it, this one’s a cert.’
‘Never heard of Goldnight. I don’t know what they do, so why should I want to get in on it?’
‘Harry, don’t sound stupid. You’re not following this closely enough are you, matey? You don’t need to know all that stuff about what they do. Just go and press the right buttons on your shiny new computer, and it’ll come out right at the other end,’ Xavier said.
‘How much are you gambling with this time?’
‘The thirty grand I made on Electric Motors. That sound good? Do you trust me now?’
‘You’re a thieving con. Who is this other crook with you, guffing out this stuff?’
‘Don’t get nasty, Harry. We’ll both want to keep these deals running, won’t we?
There was a pause. Stone held the phone away and looked at it until he heard it speak to him.
‘And there’s something you gotta do, Harry. My mate who shares the next room to me needs to spread some backhanders around. There’s a few little inducements that need paying to some of his close contacts. For services rendered by those boys who work in the big buildings by the tower of London. Do you know what I mean?’ Xavier said, his voice still floating easily and not with his usual croak.
Stone said nothing as he walked slowly along a quiet backroad of Mayfair.
‘I hope you’re still listening, Harry. Because this is important. My business partner in here needs to oil their greasy hands. So, please, matey, gather five grand in notes. And do you know your way around central London, places in the City?’
‘What’re you after?’
‘Trust me, Harry this is good. There’s a pub in Leadenhall Market, right in the middle of the City, called the Lamb Tavern. There will be someone there waiting to see you at the bar. He’s tall; he’s a city gent with a light-grey suit and black briefcase. Tomorrow morning, midday. Okay?’
‘Give away five grand in notes to one of your mates, who do you think I am?’
‘Harry, it sounds from your voice you don’t trust me. So, matey, listen, that goes both ways, and I gotta get the quarter million back from you that you squandered. So, do what I say, and you keep safe.’
‘I’m not taking five grand anywhere, so stop…’
The phone suddenly clicked off. Stone looked at it and put it in his pocket. Of course he knew Leadenhall Market; he knew it well. Nearly a century ago, his dad worked there. He swept up after horses that had trampled through the place on their deliveries. But that was before he took to drink and left home for good. Stone had a familiarity with Leadenhall Market, though today it gave him no comfort that he should take cash there to oil some greasy palms for Xavier’s mate in the next cell.
For a few minutes, Stone stood still on the pavement – he took out his wallet and wrote on a scrap of paper the word “Goldnight”. He felt a tug, a lure to get onto this. Electric Motors had been good; he had missed joining the party. And now, with his life expectancy quickly draining away, what had he got to lose by using insider tips from the middle of HMP Belmarsh? He put his wallet back in his pocket and laughed.
Something was holding him back, and he was hesitant. An inmate convicted for fraud with a contact in the City would soon be traced. A lot of money flowing to buy into these deals just before the leaked news became public was asking for somebody with a search warrant to knock on his door. Last time they came, it was 6.00 in the morning; they trampled all over the house. And Lady Ruth had got to hear about it. And where was Josh with his promise that he would talk to his sister if he could get £100,000 to him upfront?
Uneasily, Stone looked around. He had a growing fear that this racketeer, who had blackmailed him into corners, or his cronies, could still find him. He walked slowly back to Claridge’s, and he began to feel better. It was obvious. Get the name of the City gent at the Lamb Tavern, then he could get insider feeds direct. And at a stroke, wipe Xavier inside HMP Belmarsh right out of his life. Forever.