Big Dougie was crouching behind a bush, unseen by the three figures chatting to each other and smoking cigarettes in the distance. It was getting dark and the air was hot and heavy. His targets were heavily armed – two of them had sub-machine guns, the other a pump-action shotgun; he was armed only with a Glock pistol. Still, he was a good shot. In two or three seconds he should be able to neutralise them and then he’d be in. He’d be able to pick up their weapons too.
He slipped the safety off and stood up.
‘Oi, cock-suckers!’ he shouted as he opened fire. The first of his shots took out pump-action guy, a headshot. Dougie saw blood and brains fly, then bam, bam, bam, three body shots into one of the guards before he had had time to react. He saw a muzzle flash from the third and dived to the right, not fast enough though… he was hit. He staggered to his feet and put two shots into the body of the last one standing but then…
A hand on his shoulder.
‘Turn that fucking thing off, you big jessy. Millar’s here.’
Dougie sighed and saved his game, Hell’s Gate 3. It was going badly – he had lost four of his team of five and they had only breached the outer perimeter of the compound. And now he was badly injured. It was all a lot more fun than real life – it didn’t have Millar in it.
He joined Ray in looking out of the second-floor window of the flat in the street in Marchmont, very close to the Meadows, the grassy park that separated the area from the university. It was a highly respectable suburb in central Edinburgh.
Millar got out of the taxi.
‘He doesn’t look very happy,’ Dougie said.
‘Since when did Millar ever look happy?’ Ray pointed out. ‘Is he with anyone? I can’t see properly, there’s a van in the way.’
‘Naw. Oh, wait, fuck…’ Big Dougie had the advantage of his height and positioning at the window.
‘Who is it?’ Ray asked.
‘Chris.’
‘Wee Chris?’ Ray wondered.
‘I wish. It’s fucking Falkirk Chris.’ Dougie’s voice was dejected.
‘Shite, that nitwit,’ Ray said with feeling. He and Dougie both detested the short-assed Fife homophobe. He was a fucking moron. And a self-important know-it-all.
He buzzed them up. A couple of minutes later Millar and Falkirk Chris were in the living room.
Falkirk Chris was a wee guy. He reached to below Millar’s shoulders. He had sandy brown hair and pale blue eyes that were mean slits that he peered out at the world through. He had a habit of speaking very emphatically with gaps between each word, so that talking to him was like repeatedly being jabbed in the chest by a finger as… each… point… was… forcefully… made.
Ray had told Dougie that Falkirk Chris mistook emphasis for intelligence. He was a nasty piece of work. He was like a sneer made flesh. He was also, in both Dougie and Ray’s opinion, very poor at doing his job. You could use Chris to frighten civilians but anyone who could handle themselves could take him on without worry. He was useless in a fight. Chris knew this and it made him even nastier.
There were two sofas in the flat; Millar and Chris sat on one, Dougie and Ray on the other.
Dougie looked around. Millar was not as crimson-faced as he could be. He could see that Ray, who knew him well, had relaxed slightly. He guessed that Millar’s temper was under control, although that could change at any second. For now, anyway, he was OK.
Falkirk Chris, dressed in a horrible blue rayon tracksuit that Dougie wouldn’t be seen dead in and garish trainers, a gold chain round his neck, was staring at him pugnaciously. Dougie shook his head. They both knew that they could take Chris out without breaking sweat. One day, Dougie prayed, he would get the chance to do so. Chris was not bright – the only reason he was currently Millar’s enforcer in East Lothian was his unexpected promotion after Jordan had been killed by McDonald. Before that he had been tucked away in Fife.
Ray was looking uncomfortable.
‘What the fuck have you two been up to with regards to finding McDonald?’ asked Millar, conversationally.
‘Mr Millar is very eager that he should be found,’ Falkirk Chris said, jumping in before Ray could answer.
No shit, thought Dougie. He looked at Ray. Ray was staring aggressively at Chris. Who asked you? he was obviously thinking. He allowed his lip to visibly curl with disdain. Chris noticed; Dougie watched in satisfaction as his face reddened with anger.
Ray patiently explained what he’d done.
‘We’ve put word out that there’s two K for anyone who gives us his whereabouts. He’s well known, someone will call. He’s stuck here in Edinburgh – it’s all he knows, here and Glasgow, and he can’t go to Glasgow, that’s our turf.’
‘And what about the girl? Morag McMillan? What happened yesterday? She’s dead the now.’ Falkirk Chris pointed at Ray dramatically.
Christ, who the fuck does he think he is? thought Dougie. The last few times Chris had stood in the dock he must have been taking notes from the prosecutor.
Ray looked at Millar; he wasn’t going to be told when to speak by Chris. Millar nodded assent – answer the question.
Ray sighed. ‘We went round there. Dougie rang the bell, someone answered, they didnae speak, we both assumed it was her. We went up the stairs, we passed someone coming down…’
‘We didnae pay them any heed,’ said Dougie. ‘Someone in a hoodie.’
‘Almost certainly the killer,’ Chris said.
Ray gestured with his hands, a kind of ‘so what?’. Dougie nodded agreement. Even if they could have known that hoodie had killed Morag – who they’d thought at the time was alive anyway – what did he think they should have done, made a citizen’s arrest?
‘Go on,’ said Millar. ‘Were they carrying anything?’
‘I don’t know,’ Ray said. ‘We weren’t focussed on that. We got to the door, locked. Dougie forced it. We found her inside. She was dead.’
‘We didn’t want her dead,’ Chris said.
What’s with the ‘we’? thought Dougie, seething with irritation. Ray dealt with the point Chris had raised.
‘I know Mr Millar didnae want her dead, Chris,’ he said patiently, as though talking to a child, ‘or he’d have told me to kill her. Try and keep up.’ Chris scowled. ‘We were told to get the laptop and a manuscript. Neither of which were there,’ Ray replied.
‘How did she die?’ Millar sounded intrigued.
Ray shrugged. ‘Fuck knows. She hadn’t been stabbed – there was no blood.’
‘There were no marks around her neck either,’ said Dougie. ‘She hadn’t been strangled.’
‘Any signs of sex?’
‘Her clothes looked pretty intact to me,’ said Ray. ‘To be honest I wasn’t really looking.’
‘I don’t really care, but we didn’t do it,’ Millar said, ‘so who did?’
‘I don’t know, boss,’ Ray replied. ‘Anyway, we looked for the laptop, couldnae find it, we left.’
‘Well, I still want that laptop. I don’t know how we’ll get it now.’ He scratched his head. ‘We don’t even know who’s got it, come to that.’
‘Could it be McDonald?’ asked Dougie.
‘Why would McDonald kill a girl he didn’t know and steal her laptop?’ asked Millar.
‘He killed Jordan… so maybe…’
Millar shook his head wearily. ‘Just stop havering, Dougie.’
‘So what now, boss?’ Ray asked quickly, changing the subject.
‘I’m going to be staying for a few days in Edinburgh,’ Millar said. ‘I’ve got business here. I’m going to be at the Astoria. Chris will be staying with you.’ Ray and Dougie exchanged a glance of horror. Millar stood up. ‘You three can find McDonald, and remember I want to know where Aurora Cameron is—’ he looked at Dougie ‘—and you can ask him about Morag as well since you’ve got such a hard-on for him doing that, and then you kill him. Nobody fucks with me or my crew.’
‘Yes, boss,’ said Ray, glumly.
‘You can call me any time, but not Saturday night, I’m busy then. I’ll be round on Sunday evening. You can update me then. And I’d like some good news this time, got that?’
Millar stood up and left the lounge. They sat in silence like children whose parent had just left the room. They heard the front door slam behind him and then the echoing boom of the street door as the sound echoed up the stairwell.
Ray looked across at Falkirk Chris, who had been staring mournfully at Millar’s back as he left the room, like a dog being left behind in the car.
Isn’t this cosy? thought Dougie.
‘Well, hoo-fucking-ray,’ said Ray, speaking for all three of them.