A Shot In The Night (John Harper Series Book 2) (7 page)

I
was tempted to finish him off but instead I turned my back and walked away to
boos from the audience.  Tony was indicating to me to turn around and I offered
a glance as Micky tried to steady himself on the ropes.  Fraser was standing
there counting which I thought was maybe a little slow but before he got close
to finishing the fight the final bell sounded.  If I’d had the strength I
would’ve raised my arms but I just stood there in the middle of the ring with
my hands on my hips slowly filling my lungs up with air.

The
cornermen for Micky quickly entered and looked after their man, Tony joining
them as Fraser took a moment away and walked towards me.  I dug out the
gumshield from my mouth and managed to say, “You owe me a conversation.”

Sat
down in the small room that Max Fraser called an office I nursed the back of my
neck with an icepack.  I had showered and was back in my clothes but very much
feeling my age and the agony of nine minutes of physical contact.  There was
very little natural light in the room and the walls were lined with filing
cabinets which were labelled for accounts and fighter details.  Separating the
filing system was a well used and stained couch with a pillow and blanket on
the arm.  An old personal computer was on the desk behind which Fraser sat,
papers strewn across the wooden top.

I
was leaning back on a very battered chair which somehow retained some of its
cushioning, much more so than the one next to me which was sprouting stuffing
from a number of holes in the green faux leather.  Sat on the couch Tony was
peeling an orange, which made it a rather surreal environment.  He was the
first to talk which gave me more time to heal.

“So
boss what do you think, we gonna sign him up?”

Laughing
hurt so I quickly stopped.  Fraser didn’t so much as chuckle but he did nod
once, “You’ve got some experience in a ring.  Did you fight anyone I’d know?”

“Doubt
it, my career was very limited.  Your boy’s good.”

“He’s
too rash,” Tony said before Fraser could answer, “that little incident with the
elbows proves that.  If he was to try and get in the ring with some of the
better fighters around his weight he’ll get caught.”

Fraser
shot a glance at the other trainer before returning his gaze to me, “What do
you think?”

“He’s
quick but he stuck rigidly to his combo attacks at the start.”

“Ha!”
Tony exclaimed, “I knew you had noticed that.”

“What
I’d tell him is to move his head more against taller fighters; I suppose though
that it would be a rarity that he would fight someone of my height at his
weight.”

Fraser
nodded twice this time, “You’re right.  I’m still getting used to this
kickboxing stuff.  I’ve got a couple of trainers who come in and help out on it
but me and Toe here are old school boxers.  But you have change with the times;
everyone wants to be a Mixed Martial Arts fighter these days.”

“My
training was more in that mould,” I offered.

“Well
it’s more than your usual copper gets.  I don’t like police in my gym, Harper,
so as much as I respect you for getting in the ring and lasting the distance
I’d like you to leave when you’ve got what you want.”

“If
it means anything to you sir; I aint in the police anymore.  I work as a
private detective and it has come to my attention from a client that Tom
Morrison wasn’t the shooter of Joey Boulton.  I have no intention of letting
that boy go to prison for a crime he didn’t commit and over the course of my
investigation I have found out that you too don’t believe he did it,” I’d given
him as much as I could and I felt it may have been too much information.

“‘Over
the course of your investigation?’  Hell man, it’s only been a couple of days,”
Fraser said, “I know who hired you and I’m pretty sure I know who told you what
I suspected.  Morrison used to come down here when he was younger, his mum’s
house ain’t two streets over.  He’s fallen in with the gang but he isn’t a
killer.”

“What
makes you say that?”

“I’ve
trained enough men to know who have that look.  You have it for example. 
You’ve seen death and you didn’t blink.  It wouldn’t surprise me if you’d even
been on the delivery end,” Fraser said in a calm delivery.

I
closed my eyes and rubbed the ice on the top of my head and then stared back at
him, “I worked murders; I’ve seen the worst man has to offer.  However if this
is all you have to go on then it has been a waste of my time coming here.”

“It’s
not all.  Morrison was here when someone shot up my place.  He was passing when
he saw one of my fighters, Chris Tyler, who is a friend of his and he came in. 
We were closing up and as we went to leave someone opened up on the gym.  No
one was hurt but it came as a bit of fright to a lot of the lads, one of them
being Tommy.”

“After
something like that some people become aggressive or need the comfort that
owning a weapon provides,” I replied.

Fraser
shook his head once, as if head movements cost money and he was saving for a
rainy day, “That’s not what I saw.  Morrison isn’t a shooter.”

“Then
who is?”

The
two of them looked at each other and Tony shrugged ever so slightly before
Fraser spoke, “You’re looking for one of the gang members who is connected to
Big Saul.”

“I
thought Big Saul has connections to all the gangs if he even exists.”

“Saul
exists alright.  He is from around here but made enough money to move out of
the country.  One of the ways he stays out of the public eye and the attention
of the police.  He’s connected to this somehow, either as a rival looking to
disrupt his trade or maybe he’s just pruning the weeds of his organisation but
I assure you he is involved,” Fraser said in a manner that suggested I not
question his words.

I
rubbed my jaw thankful that Micky had not been tall enough to land heavy blows
on my face, “I am I to understand you know this Saul character?”

“You
don’t get a name like his without a reason,” Tony said, “Saul used to fight
here before he took to the business.  He learnt what pain was like and he
learnt what was needed to win.  The police never stood a chance against him.”

Whilst
he said that I kept an eye on Fraser who seemed surprised his cut man would say
so much to a stranger, and an ex-cop at that.  He didn’t stop him though which
meant that he respected Tony’s words enough to let him speak.  I needed more
information though if I was going to find the real shooter and help the
Harrison boy, “So I take it that Saul isn’t his real name?”

They
exchanged glances then Fraser answered, “I ain’t telling you anymore about
him.  We might not like the man but we respect him and he doesn’t mess with
us.”

“You
say he doesn’t mess with you but by your gym got shot up by someone linked with
your old boxer.”

“I
doubt he would have let anyone shoot at us.  If I had to guess, I’d say the
person who shot here was after one of the fighters.  People fall out with each
other all the time, that’s the way of life on the street,” Tony said.

“There
are plenty of kids out there who only have drugs as a prospect.  Children are
raised with it in their homes.  When I was a boy my father drank, now you get
kids growing up with crack addict parents,” Fraser added.

They
were moving me away from the topic of Saul and I was surprised by the subtlety
of it from two hardened boxers.  I shook my head, “Say you’re right and it was
someone random.  Say you’re right about Morrison not being the shooter; it
leaves us with a mystery shooter or shooters.  And it also does me no good
getting the boy off the hook for this one.  I don’t know the area, I don’t know
the people or the players so how about you help me help Morrison?”

“I’ve
got twenty in my gym right now who need my attention.  It’s tough enough
keeping the gangs out of here trying to hire my boys as heavies.  Why should I
care about one kid?” Fraser asked.

I
had thought that playing on his sense of local pride would have worked but he
was showing the same resolve that his fighter had had, “Because I think you two
feel somewhat responsible for what Saul does, you trained him after all.”

“Screw
Saul, he does what he wants.  We gave him direction if Tony and myself hadn’t
brought him in here he would have been worse.  We gave him structure and
discipline,” the gym owner said.

Tony
piped up as well, “If you’re looking for someone who could have done it then it
won’t be one of our lads.  This is one of the few places kids can go after
school or whenever.  The Tories shut it all down and have let the area rot. 
Hell it’s a surprise we are still going.”

“Yeah
you want to find a shooter you ask Matthew Thompson and his lot.”

“And
who is he?” I enquired feeling like there were finally giving me some
information I could use.

“Thompson
is a social worker at the centre down the road and part time in the schools in
the area.  The boy does the best he can with the kids round here and he has
less than us to work with.  If there has been someone to fall through the
cracks, he’ll have met them,” Fraser said with a certain amount of respect in
his voice.

It
wasn’t what I was expecting to hear but my job was to hunt down the leads that
would give me the facts I needed.  If I had to work harder for that and
continue in that pursuit then I would, “I guess I’ll go see him as well but I
do need help here.”

“You
earned my time by winning in the ring and you earned my respect with the way
you handled yourself during it.  It doesn’t mean I’m going to help you send
anyone I know to the clink,” Fraser said folding his arms, “Copper or not
that’s not how we work.”

“I
respect that and I don’t want you to break any confidences.  What I am asking
for is just a little help in relation to this shooter, for the good of your
community.”

Fraser
looked across at Tony who shrugged and then nodded slightly, “I don’t wanna see
that Morrison kid go to prison for something he didn’t do, Max.  We both know
he’s innocent and it can’t hurt to help.”

The
boss seemed to take the counsel onboard when he answered, “There’s a fight
event coming up at the weekend I’ve got a couple of boys involved, come to it
and speak to me there.  We should have something for you by then, just don’t
bother coming around here again.”

“I
think I’ve had enough already.”

I
drove back to my hotel room after leaving a card with Fraser and Tony in case
they wanted to contact me.  I had plenty of time before I was due to see
Richard but I was however in absolute agony.  My body was bruised and beaten
and I wasn’t used to it.  It had been months since I was last taken a battering
like that, not since I was in Hollingswood.  I knew that when I left the force
and began working for myself that it wouldn’t be easy.  I didn’t have the
protection from physical violence that a badge provided, sure I could lie and
people might believe me enough not to attack but I was still on my own now.

Soaking
in an ice cold bath was never enjoyable but it was needed.  Whilst there I rang
Harrison; which he took great offence to, I think it was the thought of me
being nude.  Something that had been said in Fraser’s office had clicked in my
mind.  I wanted Harrison to do a little online digging for me to see if he
could find out how the gym was managing to pay its bills.  His searches
wouldn’t be technically legal but I was confident he could get the job done. 
It also meant that I wasn’t paying him to just sit in the office.

The
two old boxers had confused me somewhat in relation to Big Saul.  I wasn’t
looking to bring down a drug kingpin or even interfere in his operations; that
wasn’t my job anymore.  No, I was looking to help out one young man and it
seemed that this Saul character was in the background.  Not that it mattered at
all, if I could prove that he didn’t shoot then all the better but with
Morrison confessing I needed to have physical evidence to get him to change his
testimony.  The bloody kid was making it hard for me.

Once
dressed in the jeans and a new shirt I lay on the bed and took out my trusty
notebook and wrote down as much as I could remember from the meeting.  Richard
was picking me up in twenty minutes and I had no idea where he wanted to go or
how long for.  It gave me enough time to go downstairs and grab a sandwich from
a convenience store but left me wondering when I could go meet Matthew
Thompson. If he could point me in the direction of a suspect for the shooting
this would be so much easier.  I also suspected because he worked in the area
he wouldn’t be beholden to the same code of silence.

Richard
was punctual arriving in a rented black saloon car.  He pulled up to the kerb
and got out to shake my hand and give me a warm embrace with a slap on the
back.  Rich isn’t as tall as me nor is he physically as imposing but he carries
himself in such a way that he seems to loom over you.  His jaw is ruggedly
chiselled and his eyes sharp and a very dark blue as if close to black.  Every
woman I had ever met in his company thought him attractive, with his quick to
smile mouth and hair that somehow made him look boyish in his forties.

“John
it’s a delight to see you again, been far too long,” he said with that quick
smile of his.

“Always
is my friend.  How long are you in the area?”

“As
long as I need to be of help to you.  Should we get going? You can fill me in
on the way,” Rich said opening the car door.

I
got in the passenger seat and nodded to him, “So you’re here for just me?”

“One
of the perks of being freelance John, I do what I want when I want.  Well most
of the time.  There’s something of interest in the area for me and although I
wouldn’t normally have taken it on I thought it would be good to see you, catch
up and all.”

See
it is gestures like that which make it difficult to dislike the man, “I take it
the work is along the lines of the cloak and dagger stuff you were up to in
Ireland?”

“And
if it was I wouldn’t be able to tell you about it now would I?”

“Of
course.  That being said anything I tell you is under the same protection.”

“Well
not as legally binding with the implications one would expect from certain
documents etcetera etcetera.”

“No
I’d just kill you myself,” I said with a laugh.  I quickly told him who had
hired me and the situation I was in.  Rich could be trusted more than anyone I knew
and he just nodded and listened.  He had a memory as good as mine if not
better.  When I finished he finally spoke.

“Seems
you’ve got yourself in a bit of a pickle fella.  I think I can help on the
shooting front.  Rifle owners are registered unless you have got one illegally
and there isn’t much call for weapons like that.”

I
nodded since he was just confirming what I already knew, “You telling me you
can get that information?”

“Not
so much at the moment.  What I can do however is introduce you to some people. 
Liverpool isn’t far from a military rifle range called Altcar.  There’s a
couple of shooting clubs that use it and I’m cleared there so I thought we
could have a word or two with them see if they have any information of use for
you.”

“You
think they will speak to me?  People in the North tend to keep things close to
their chest, not betray anything and I don’t have a badge to encourage them
anymore.”

Rich
laughed, “John you say it like I’m not from these parts.”

“Are
you?”

“You
don’t have the clearance to know.  If you’re worried about them talking then
leave it up to me, I’m pretty good at finding out things people don’t want to
share.”

“I’ll
follow your lead Major.”