It’s getting uncomfortable. Neither of them would ever say it. They’re brothers. Calum and William should be able to deal with this. William gets it. He knows that Calum can’t just run. He needs to have everything in place first. Say he runs to London. Tries to get all the things he needs for a new ID when he arrives. That’ll take a while. He doesn’t know where to go, for a start. So by the time he has everything, Jamieson knows he’s run. Sends someone after him. They catch him. They’ve got him bang to rights. They won’t forgive and forget. Stay in the city; get everything organized more quickly. Then disappear completely. If they catch you in the meantime? Well, you never left the city. You were at your brother’s house. Lying low after a job. Gives Calum a chance to tell them what they want to hear.
All of which is fine, until you live it. The sheer intensity of it. Every sound a scare. A knock on the door while they’re having breakfast. Calum running into the spare bedroom. William going nervously to the door. Terrified at first. Then angry at his own fear. Defiant by the time he’s opening the door and seeing his friend, Maurice ‘Sly’ Cooper.
‘William,’ Sly’s saying. ‘I was starting to think you had fallen off the world. Where you been?’
Pausing before he answers. Not thinking about himself, but thinking about Calum. People must be talking. Talking about the fact that William hasn’t been out much. Not his usual, social self. Been to work, but mostly ignoring his friends. Keeping appointments, but making no new ones. ‘I’ve been here. Busy, you know. Work stuff.’
Sly comes in, stays five minutes and leaves. He’ll have got the message that he wasn’t entirely welcome. He’ll go back and tell their mutual friends that something’s definitely going on with William. And they’ll speculate. Things can’t go on this way.
‘He’s gone,’ William’s saying to Calum. Calum coming out of the spare room and looking at his brother. Seeing the tension in him. There’s going to be another day of this.
‘Maybe I can find somewhere else to stay for the night,’ Calum’s saying. ‘Wouldn’t be any great hardship for me. Bed-and-breakfast. Maybe find an empty flat somewhere. It would be safer.’
‘No,’ William’s saying with force. ‘I won’t have that. No way. You stay here until it’s time. It wouldn’t be safer to go somewhere else. Not now–you know that. More chance of someone seeing you. You’d be throwing away everything you’ve done so far. You’re nearly out, Calum. Nearly out of that business. You’re not going to do anything to let them catch you now.’
Can’t argue with his brother. Doesn’t want to. Going somewhere else is inviting failure. He has to stick it out here. No matter how unpleasant it becomes. The phone rings. They both look up sharply. William’s laughing and walking across to it. Trying to take away some of the tension. Calum’s watching. Listening. William agreeing with someone. Checking his watch and saying it’ll be fine. Skipping across to the table and getting a pen. Writing something down on the front page of a newspaper. Then hanging up.
‘That was Barry Fairly; he’s got your stuff. Wants me to go pick it up right away.’
Calum’s nodding. This is good news. Progress. But also a worry. Anything could happen here. Could easily be a set-up. ‘You know where to go?’ he’s asking.
‘Yeah, he gave me an address. Some office. I know the street, I’ll find the building.’
William’s gone to get a coat and the rest of the payment. Calum’s standing by the front door. William’s smart, but he still needs instruction. Even if he doesn’t like hearing it, he needs it.
‘Listen,’ Calum’s saying when his brother reaches the front door. ‘When you get there, park a little away from the building. Check every car on the street. If there’s anyone out of place, just leave. Come back here. When you get inside, if there’s anyone other than Fairly, leave. Even if it’s just him, collect the stuff, hand over the money, get out. Nothing else. Fairly tries to get you talking, ignore him.’
William’s raising a hand and smiling. ‘Don’t worry. I’m going to be more cautious than I’ve ever been. Captain Cautious. In and out like lightning. They won’t see me for dust. I’ll be a blur of dodgy ID and bank notes. Okay?’ Seems like a joke, but serious.
‘You stick to that,’ Calum’s saying.
It’s an ordinary little street. William’s driving down it for the second time. Found somewhere to park a few doors down from the office Fairly named. Office above a gadget shop. Plenty of little shops on the street. Well-populated area. That’s reassuring. Maybe it’s supposed to be. He looked in every car on his first approach. Now walking slowly along the wrong side of the street, looking for anything out of place. Nobody sitting in a car waiting. Nobody hanging around a doorway or alleyway. If someone’s hiding, then they’re doing a fine job. Just shoppers, all disinterested in William. Across the street and up to the door. Not the door to the gadget shop, a plain door to the right of it. Pressing a buzzer and waiting. A buzz for a reply. William pushing open the door, finding himself at the bottom of dimly lit stairs. Starting to get pretty damned nervous now. This is the sort of thing Calum does regularly. This is his life. That’s what William’s thinking as he walks up the stairs. Walking into the unknown.
A plain door at the top of the stairs. No markings. An office, Fairly said. An office that doesn’t advertise, obviously. Standing outside staring at a blank door isn’t going to get him anywhere. William’s pushing the door open. An office inside. Three desks. A bunch of filing cabinets. Computers on the desk, but there’s something odd about the place. Takes William a few seconds to realize. There’s nothing lying around that could identify what work they do here. There are times, in the garage, when he’s been careful to keep some documents out of view. Cars he shouldn’t be handling, that sort of thing. This is obviously a whole company of things worth hiding. Probably loan-sharking, something like that. Which isn’t reassuring. Not even Barry Fairly sitting alone at one of the desks is reassuring. He’s the only one here, but there’s a door behind him and another to his right. Anyone could be in there. Anyone could come up the stairs behind William and block him in. This is not a time to relax.
‘Don’t worry,’ Barry’s saying, ‘this place is safe. I do some work for the guy who owns it. He lets me use it now and then. It’s fine.’
Now it sounds like Barry’s trying too hard to reassure him. William’s getting paranoid. ‘You have the stuff?’ he’s asking.
‘I do,’ Barry’s saying, tapping a plastic bag on the desk. ‘You have the money?’
‘I do,’ William’s saying. Taking a wad of notes from his pocket. Taking a few steps across to the desk where Barry’s sitting. Putting the two hundred pounds down beside the bag. Doing his best to look confident. Not an easy trick. He’s picking up the bag and opening it. Yes, he remembers what Calum said. Get it and get out, quick as you can. But he’s not going to get outside and find that he has a couple of pieces of cardboard in there. He has to know that he’s getting what he came for. Pulling out a passport. Looks convincing. Driver’s licence the same.
‘There’s a printout in there with a few details about the ID. Stuff that isn’t on the passport or licence. Parents’ names. That sort of thing,’ Barry’s saying.
‘Looks good to me,’ William’s nodding, dropping them back into the bag. ‘I’m sure we can do more business in the future. A lot more.’
Out the door and down the stairs. Going a little faster than his sense of pride says is proper. Never mind that. Out the front door and onto the street. Crashing into someone. Dropping the bag. William taking a step back, getting ready to throw a punch. Ready to run. To do anything that keeps him alive.
‘Whoa, look out there, fellow,’ a short guy in his thirties is saying. ‘I didn’t see you.’ He’s looking at William with bemusement now, seeing the intensity of his reaction.
‘Sorry,’ William’s saying. Pulling himself together. ‘I was in such a rush. My fault.’ Saying it with a smile. The man stepping back out of William’s way. Walking on down the street, glancing back over his shoulder as he goes. William’s reaching down and picking up the bag. Looking up and down the street. Nobody suspicious. Nobody paying him any attention, other than the guy he crashed into. Walking briskly back to his car. By the time he reaches it he’s so glad to be there that he doesn’t even check for threats. Just gets in, starts up and drives.
‘Here you go, Donald Tompkin–everything you need to fuck off with.’ A relieved grin on William’s face as he drops the bag on the kitchen table.
‘No problems?’ Calum’s asking.
‘Nope.’
‘And you weren’t followed?’
‘Nope,’ William’s saying, and wishing he’d checked.
Calum’s taking the passport and driver’s licence out of the bag. They look good. Perfect, in fact. As good as he hoped Barry Fairly could manage. Just about the last piece of the puzzle. Just needs to set up bank accounts in his new ID and use them to pay for his plane ticket.
‘Thanks, William,’ he’s saying with a smile. ‘You’ve done brilliantly. And that’s the last thing I’ll ask of you.’ A fact that’s a relief to both men.