Be Careful What You Wish For (4 page)

Terry sighed. ‘He’s the best boxer I’ve ever trained. He’s dedicated, talented, and on top of that, he’s a really decent young man. Obviously he’s devastated that he lost his title fight and it’s going to be a few months before he’s back in training again.’

‘How long have you worked with him?’

His eyes lit up like a spaniel who’s excited to see his owner after a long separation. ‘Since he was a kid. He used to come to my boxing gym when he was just a skinny little thing.’ He gazed off into the distance, a bright smile on his face. ‘Every day after school he’d turn up, begging me to let him box. I lost count of the amount of times I turned him away because he was too young, and he still didn’t take no for an answer. Every week he turned up to see if he was old enough. Determined.’ He chuckled. ‘Even then he was as determined as hell. All he kept saying was that he wanted to be the heavyweight champion of the world one day just like Ali. I gave up telling him in the end and let him do some training.’ Terry handed me a mug of steaming coffee. ‘He was a poor, urban street kid who thought that boxing would be the way out for him. He’s worked very hard to get where he is. I’m so proud of him.’

I glanced around the tired kitchen, wondering again where all the money was from Levi’s title fights. The way Terry spoke, it seemed like he loved and respected Levi, but could it be a front? Could Terry be involved in skimming from the hand that feeds him? Anything was possible.

‘Are you employed by Vinnie or Levi?’ I asked him.

I thought I saw a flash of disgust in Terry’s eyes at the mention of Vinnie. ‘I work for Levi. When Vinnie first agreed to be Levi’s promoter and manager, Levi insisted that I stay on as his trainer. Vinnie wasn’t too happy about it, even though I’m considered one of the best trainers in the country. Vinnie likes to have all-round control of his fighters, if you know what I mean.’ Terry gave a disapproving shake of his head. ‘It helps keep them in line.’

That figured. Vinnie always was a bit of a control freak.

I took a sip of strong coffee and felt grateful for the kick of caffeine. I had a feeling this was going to be a long day. ‘Do you know Carl Thomas?’

Terry ran the name over his lips a few times, thinking. ‘I don’t think so. Why?’

‘He was the guy who turned up at the fight, shouting at Levi. Did you notice that?’

He shook his head. ‘My eyes were on Levi the whole time. I’m oblivious to what goes on in the crowd when one of my fighters is in the ring. I saw it when I replayed the fight late last night, though. It happened just before the round was finishing so I was by Levi’s corner on the opposite side from Vinnie and this Carl Thomas, waiting to jump into the ring when the bell went.’

‘I watched the fight, Terry, and something’s not right. Surely Levi’s trained to not let anything going on outside the ring distract him? It just doesn’t make sense.’

‘You’re right.’ His voice dropped to a whisper. ‘I don’t know what that was all about, but I’m worried about Levi. He hasn’t been his usual self lately. He’s been…agitated, coming out with strange things.’

‘What kind of strange things?’ My curiosity cranked up a notch.

‘He keeps saying that he needs to face up to his responsibilities and make things right.’

‘And what do you think he meant by that?’ I asked.

Terry glanced out the window at Letitia, who swirled the brandy in her glass. ‘I don’t know, he wouldn’t tell me, but Letitia thinks he’s having an affair.’

‘Do you?’

He shook his head. ‘I’ve seen all sorts of things go on with my fighters over the years, but I’d lay money on it that Levi’s not playing around. He’s a family man. He loves Letitia to bits. But he…’ Terry trailed off.

I waited for him to carry on. When he didn’t, I said, ‘What?’

Terry’s voice dropped to barely a whisper. ‘Look, you didn’t get this from me, and I can’t believe I’m telling you this. But like I said, I’m worried about Levi and I just want to help him out of whatever mess he’s got into. I’ve tried to talk to him about things, but he won’t tell me what’s going on. And with what happened last night at the fight, his explanation doesn’t really make sense.’

‘Go on.’ I gave him an encouraging smile. ‘I want to help, too.’

‘I overheard an argument between Vinnie and Levi recently in the changing room at the gym. It was something to do with their contract.’ Terry shook his head. ‘You have to understand something. When Levi was a kid, Vinnie was like a god to him. He’s the number one boxing promoter in the country and has a string of heavyweight fighters in his corner. A guy like Vinnie could make or break Levi’s future career. Levi was young and impressionable. At the time, he didn’t have many male role models in his life. His dad was in the army and was hardly ever around to give him any guidance, and his mum was a drinker.’ Terry shrugged. ‘I suppose that was why he was easily manipulated by Vinnie and his flash ways. I’ve always tried to be there for Levi. I love him like he was my own son, but he’s got a stubborn streak, too. When he sets his mind on something, he’s got tunnel vision.’

Maybe Levi and I were similar. I knew all about tunnel vision. I would never let up until I’d solved a case.

‘So what was this argument about?’ I asked.

‘I don’t know exactly. At first I thought I’d made a mistake, but now I don’t think so.’ He took a deep breath before continuing. ‘I arrived at the gym one morning to get some equipment sorted out for the boxers. It was still really early so I assumed no one would be there, but when I went in, I could hear Vinnie and Levi arguing in the locker room. I heard the word “contract” mentioned a few times.’ Terry frowned. ‘I think they were arguing about Levi’s contract with Vinnie.’

‘Do you know the terms of the contract Vinnie and Levi agreed on?’

‘No. It was signed a long time ago when Levi was twenty, and he would never tell me. Levi was always secretive about what was in it.’ Terry took a sip of coffee. ‘Anyway, after I heard Levi mention the contract, curiosity got the better of me and I listened outside. The thing is…’ Terry paused and bit his lip. ‘The thing is…I’m pretty sure Vinnie told Levi to throw the fight.’ Terry gave me a sheepish look.

I let this sink in for a minute. ‘What do you mean, “pretty sure”? What did Vinnie say exactly?’

‘Well I heard Vinnie say, “You’re still under contract with me – you do what I fucking tell you. You will take the hit.”’ Terry gave me a knowing look. ‘Later on, when Vinnie had left, I tried to ask Levi if Vinnie was ordering him to throw the fight, but Levi dismissed it. Levi told me he was the world champ, why would he need to take a dive?’ Terry looked up at me with worried eyes. ‘I tried again to get out of Levi what was going on, but Levi just said they were arguing about a personal matter. I didn’t really believe him at the time, and now…with what happened last night, I think Levi really did throw the fight.’

‘OK, so you’re saying Vinnie wanted Levi to
deliberately
go out in the sixth round?’

Terry was about to say something else when Letitia appeared in the kitchen. She was even more unsteady on her feet now, and her cheeks were stained with streaks of mascara.

‘Can you see if Levi needs anything?’ she asked Terry, her words beginning to slur.

Terry squeezed her shoulder and smiled. ‘Of course.’ He disappeared up the hallway.

Letitia was obviously distressed, which made me feel pretty bad about asking my next question. ‘This might sound horrible, but I’m trying to get a picture of what’s going on with Levi at the moment. Terry says you’re under the impression Levi is having an affair. What makes you think that?’

Letitia gasped and turned angry eyes on me. ‘What kind of a question is that? How can you come into
my
home and ask me to tell you why I think my husband is having an affair?’ Her features twisted with pain.

‘I’m sorry, Letitia, but I need to find out exactly what happened with the fight and whether it was a deliberate injury or not. Now, I know that you may not like some of my questions, but it could have a bearing on what happened last night.’

‘Yeah?’ she snarled, resting a hand on her hip. ‘And how could Levi having an affair have anything to do with a boxing injury?’

I shrugged. ‘I don’t know yet. But I have to investigate every angle.’

‘Well, I’m not answering your questions.’ She folded her arms in a defiant stance. ‘You’re not investigating me!’

It didn’t matter, though. Terry had already told me Letitia thought that Levi was, and her demeanour confirmed the rest. Poor Letitia. I guess that could account for the brandy at ten-thirty in the morning.

The doorbell rang then, making Letitia jump. She glared at me as she stormed past to open it.

When I saw who was standing on the doorstep my scalp started tingling and an icy chill slid from my head to my feet. My brain did a silent shriek. At least I hoped it was silent.

Vinnie Dawson stepped into the hallway with his thuggy mate from the boxing match. Vinnie wore a very expensive looking charcoal suit and a beige cashmere coat. His chubby fingers, resembling chipolata sausages, were encased in lots of thick gold rings. He shrugged out of the coat and Thuggy took it, draping it over his arm. Apart from the fact that Vinnie was older than Thuggy by about twenty years, they looked pretty much the same. Same big belly, same bald head, same evil eyes. The only differences were that Thuggy wore a pair of jeans that were so tight he looked like he’d been vacuum-packed into them, and he had a gap in his front teeth big enough to fit a bus through. OK, I take back all I said about owners not really looking like their pets.

 ‘Well, well, well, Amber Fox.’ Vinnie’s pale eyes drilled into me. ‘I never thought I’d be crossing paths with you again.’

‘I’ve missed you, too, Vinnie. Or should I say VD.’ I gave him my best I’m-not-afraid-of-the-big-bad-wolf smile. ‘How’s Lee?’ I tilted my head. ‘Got used to life on the outside now, has he?’

Vinnie did something that could’ve passed for a growl. ‘You’re not worthy to even mention Lee’s name.’

‘That’s funny because I already did.’ I faked a smile so wide that my mouth started aching. OK, probably not a sensible idea to antagonize Vinnie “Hard-Nut” Dawson, but the sensible part of me had just vanished in a puff of smoke. Bad guys tended to bring out the sarcasm in me for some bizarre reason. Maybe I had a secret death wish, I don’t know. Sarcasm was good for putting up a front. If you were frightened or nervous or you just didn’t want to make yourself vulnerable by giving away your feelings, sarcasm was just the ticket.

Vinnie’s eyes narrowed to slits. ‘What are you doing here?’ He pulled out a toffee from his pocket, slowly unwrapped it as he kept his gaze firmly locked on me, and popped it in his mouth. Thuggy took the wrapper off him and held it in his meaty fist. ‘Why is there a cop in your house, Letitia?’ Vinnie chewed as he waited for an answer.

Letitia frowned. ‘A cop? I thought you were here about Levi’s medical insurance.’

‘I am. I used to be a cop,’ I told her.

Vinnie let out a long slow whistle. ‘Not a cop anymore, eh? So you haven’t got any of your little cop mates to back you up now, then? I must remember that.’ He stopped chewing and belted out a throaty cackle.

As if on cue, Thuggy did the same. I wondered if that was part of his job description: Evil throaty cackling must be required at a moment’s notice. Failure to do so will mean termination of employment and/or sudden, agonizing death.

My eyebrows headed north at the cackling. A pack of hyenas had nothing on these two. ‘Has
Lee
been up to his old tricks again robbing banks?’ OK, it could be a simple coincidence that Carl Thomas’s bank had recently been robbed before he showed up at Levi’s fight in the vicinity of Lee’s cousin, Vinnie. But I didn’t believe in coincidences.

Vinnie abruptly stopped cackling. So did Thuggy.

Addendum to job description: All evil, throaty cackling must cease and desist at a moment’s notice.

‘Any more mention of Lee and you’ll be sorry. I have the memory of an elephant.’ Vinnie tapped his forehead.

I eyed his huge stomach, which was only slightly smaller than the Acropolis. ‘Just the memory of an elephant?’

Vinnie sucked in his stomach and glared at me. ‘Don’t think I’ve forgotten it was you who put him away.’

I pulled a mock horror face. ‘Ooh, I’m scared.’ Actually, my knees were shaking a little bit, but I wasn’t going to let on. Amber Fox rule number one: don’t let elephant-gut criminals intimidate you.

Vinnie gave me a superior smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. ‘You will be. I think you should go now before my friend here takes a shine to you.’ He nodded towards Thuggy.