Stone crossed over the road back to Marine House. He was going to pour his first whisky of the day and take the palliative medication prescribed by his consultant. But as he was climbing the steps to the front door, his mobile buzzed in his pocket. He knew who it was; this was a call he would answer.
‘Harry, I have to clear something with you, mate. We’ve been giving you nice tips, and my boys are getting angry; they’re ready to follow you up if you don’t pay a lump of the outstanding money. A solid quarter million is the debt. Remember?’
It was Xavier who sounded distant just because he had not raised his voice.
‘Can you hear me because this is getting important?’ Xavier persisted.
‘Why don’t you listen? I’ve told you many times that I don’t owe you and your thugs, so forget it.’
‘No, mate, can’t do that. This is not how this is going to work out anymore. And do you know what? I’m being harassed in here by some of my partners who had earned that cash with some tight deals out there on the pavement. Dodging the cops, looking out for knives with long, sharp blades being flashed all around them. Some shooters too. It’s safer in these walls. So, for starters, a down payment of £25,000 is what they want; all in notes’ll do.’ Xavier’s voice was unusually light, and his words ran easily off his lips.
‘Have you got something good to tell me before I finish this call?’
Stone held the phone away and sat down heavily in the chair next to his desk in his study.
‘Next Tuesday, one of my boys’ll knock on the door of your big pad in Brighton, so if you want to keep out of trouble, do what I ask and give him the cash. Then we all live safely. Until the next time.’
‘There won’t be another time. Don’t push me. And tell your thugs to keep away from Marine House.’
‘That don’t sound like you, Harry. What’s biting?’
‘Your money’s dirty from narcotics, street heroin dealing, extortion, GBH. I don’t want any part of that.’
‘Hold it, matey, how much have you made out of my tip for Electric Motors Inc and Goldnight Inc? And how much of that money have you used to repay the quarter of a million you owe?’
‘For the last time, get it into your thick, ugly head – I don’t owe you anything. You tried to ram that money on me, I didn’t play with it, so don’t place your sticky fingers around me, trying to lever away fifty grand on Sapphire Holdings with fake IDs in Geneva. Keep that con man Chad away. Got it?’
Stone spoke quickly and put his elbows on his desk. There was a pause – Stone grinned to himself – he’d got one over this thug.
‘Sounds like you’ve nearly been conned, matey, from one of my boys being dirty, a bit tricky. You know what I mean?’
Xavier laughed, followed by a guttural cough.
‘Yeah, I’m warning you, don’t try that fancy stuff again. I can smell a rat and your mob stink like vermin,’ Stone said.
‘Okay. Some words of advice, matey. First, never listen to any voices but mine. But look out, Harry, for when one of my boys knocks on your door for some readies. Twenty-five grand in Bobby Moores on account’ll keep you safe just for a very short while.’
Stone held the phone away and it left Xavier shouting into the air. He grunted. Was this man still in jail? He sounded so close.
‘Don’t keep spouting that nonsense. You can whistle for twenty-five grand because I haven’t got it.’
‘I’m not listening to that. So keep your back covered because someone’ll come and deal with you for the last time, and you know what that means. But before we go, just one other little thing, matey. I don’t know who you got to deliver the five grand to my mole in Leadenhall Market, but when it was counted up, there were five hundred of the readies short. A little man who spoke posh. Seemed to know my mole so I hope you’re keeping our insider deals tight. We don’t want everybody poking their finger in our pie, do we? Harry, you take it yourself next time.’
There was a pause. Stone did not reply; he did not know how to. But he soon heard Xavier’s gravelly voice.
‘So, ta ta, I gotta go now, matey. I’m ready for my elevenses. But we’ll talk again, soon I hope.’
Stone clenched his fists and walked quickly into the sitting room. He poured a large measure of whisky and paced round the elegant room. Stone’s foul mood deepened.
It was the sinister, threatening face of the crook behind bars in HMP Belmarsh, shouting for phantom money, that made Stone fretful. Xavier and his hoods were still very close; he could smell their hostile menace wafting in the air, and that would never mix with Claire calling at Marine House.