Even Angels Fall (30 page)

“Karma? I thought our Karma balanced out when I paid you a nice sum of money?”

“Oh it did… for a while…but that was before something else was brought to my attention that very much re-tipped the scale…” Marcus smiles, and his face is eager and excited, but also angry and full of venom. Alex has no idea why this is happening and once again the situation is totally out of his hands. Marcus has full control.

“And what might that be?” He sighs wearily, already tiring of the drawn out suspense.

“Chris Moorland…”

“What about him…?” Alex snaps.

“Moorland took you on as a business partner after hearing good things about you, Alex. In particular, how well you handle yourself in a difficult situation. How you solve problems, how you make people see that you’re not to be messed with. I can appreciate that. But apparently, there was one specific story he heard that impressed him the most…”

“The fight at Labyrinth…” Alex answers without thinking.

“Ah so he told you did he?”

“I don’t see how that concerns you…”

“Well, it must be fate, Alex… fate that we keep getting drawn together in this way because it does concern me, very much so…” He clears his throat and begins to pace nonchalantly back and forth as he tells his story, “That group of skinheads you fought that night, well… they’d crossed you, they lied, conned you out of money, damaged your profit and you couldn’t let it go. You had a problem, and you dealt with it, made sure it wouldn’t happen again. One young lad in particular who was the brains behind the operation, you put him in hospital - with broken ribs, a broken arm and a fractured skull. Now don’t get me wrong, I would probably have acted in exactly the same way if somebody messed with my business like that, but unfortunately for you, Alex… you fucked with the wrong boy…” Marcus grabs him by the throat and hauls him to his feet so that their faces are just inches apart, then, with a vicious smile, he steps back and turns towards the shadows where a figure is lurking. Alex follows Marcus’ gaze and as the man steps into the light he lets out an audible gasp. The skinhead he fought at the start of the year outside Labyrinth is standing in front of him, hopping from foot to foot with eager anticipation.

“This is Davey…” Marcus announces with pride, “He’s my best mate’s boy. Unfortunately my good friend is no longer with us god rest his soul but on his death bed I promised him I’d take care of his lad as if he were my own flesh and blood. Now imagine my shock, when I finally got wind of what happened that night and who was responsible for causing him such terrible injuries…”

“I can imagine you were elated…” Alex snarls through gritted teeth, staring at Marcus with absolute seething hatred. He can’t believe this. He can’t believe that once again something that appeared to be completely unrelated has brought Marcus back into his life and more trouble to his door. Will he ever be rid of him? Or will this vendetta he has against Alex never die? Not until they do?

“Let’s just say I wasn’t disappointed…” Marcus leers.

“It’s just another excuse to come gunning for me and you know it. You said yourself you would have done what I did, that he deserved it, so why are we really here…?”

“Any excuse to wipe the smile off your smug little bastard face…” He spits, “and of course, to keep my promise…” He adds, with fake sincerity. The two lackeys behind Alex step forward and grab hold of his arms as Davey approaches, circling like a lion ready to pounce on its prey. This is going to hurt. Davey doesn’t look like he will go easy and seen as Alex put him in hospital and embarrassed him in front of his crew, there is no reason why he should.

Alex tenses as much as he can and takes several fast, deep breaths, mentally preparing himself as Davey strides forward and punches him with all his strength. Alex’s mouth fills with blood and the impact causes a flash of bright light in his vision. He has no chance to recover as another punch hits him again from the other side, followed by several to his ribs and stomach. Alex can take him, he already has, and that is exactly why he is being held firmly in place unable to fight back and defend himself. This isn’t a rematch; this is revenge, pure and simple. And to Marcus, it is sport.

“That’s enough…” Davey stops on command and backs away, smiling at his handy work and Alex drops to his knees. He doesn’t make a sound, doesn’t gasp, or groan; instead he silently composes himself and remains as still as humanly possible, refusing to writhe in agony or even flinch despite how much pain he is in. He will never show weakness, never.

“Now I think our little exercise has demonstrated exactly what I mean when I say, ‘a world of pain’…” Marcus states, “And a world of pain is what you are looking at Alex, if you don’t soothe my anger with another down payment of your hard earned cash…”

“You have got to be kidding me…” Alex coughs, spitting up blood, “You want more money, for this?”

“I do not kid, Mr Matthews and I think I have just shown you how deadly serious I am…”

“I paid you everything I owed you and more…”

“Yes, but this little issue of you putting young Davey here in hospital can’t just be ignored. So the way I see it, you have two choices. You can either get me more money, let’s say another eight grand… or you can let Davey deal out the punishment, and let me assure you, he is more than hoping you will take option number two. As you put him in hospital I think it’s only fair that he beats on you until you also require a substantial amount of medical attention…”

“I don’t have the money…” Alex coughs.

“No… but you’re a resourceful young lad and you managed to get it for me last time, so I have every faith that you won’t fail me. I’ll give you a couple of weeks of course; I’m not completely unreasonable but if you don’t pay up, well, Davey will be very happy about that…” Marcus laughs before whistling sharply and gesturing to his crew, who follow him obediently back through the alleyway and out onto the street, “I’ll be in touch…” He shouts over his shoulder, and Alex falls back onto the sodden ground as they disappear out of sight.

He winces at the throbbing ache in his jaw and groans softly as he lets the excruciating pain consume him, kicking his legs out and staring up at the sky as he feels the light, cooling mist of rain on his battered and broken face.

A
dark purple bruise covers almost the entire right hand side of Alex’s face and he has a deep gash on his forehead, swelling under his eye, and a scab forming on his lip where it was split open by one of Davey’s brutal punches. Every time Abbey looks at him she can feel the panic rising in her chest, but getting upset isn’t going to help him. He has enough to worry about without her completely breaking down. She has to be strong.

He sits on the sofa with his phone to his ear, listening intently. Abbey is sat close by his side but she is careful not to touch him as he is in business mode - serious and focused - plus the bruising on his ribs makes him flinch at even the slightest movement. Lucy and Nathan are on the balcony, keeping their distance as the tension starts to build, while Darren, Liam and Tom sit opposite, waiting nervously.

“And when is he back?” Alex sighs, leaning forward and running his hand through his hair, “I see. No, no it’s not a problem. I’m aware of that, yeah…” Tom stands up and begins to pace slowly back and forth. It is obvious by Alex’s tone that the conversation he is having with one of Moorland’s associates down in London isn’t going how they had hoped, “Like I said, not a problem… I’ll be in touch. Cheers…” Alex hangs up and throws the phone onto the coffee table.

“Well?” Darren asks.

“He’s away… Barbados or somewhere, he doesn’t get back for another three weeks…”

“So now what…?” Liam looks at Alex and Tom expectantly, as Nathan and Lucy re- join them from outside.

“Now nothing…” Alex states, flatly, “It isn’t your problem. I’ll sort something…”

“How? You said yourself you don’t have the money and if Moorland isn’t around to help you out, what are you gonna do?” Liam presses further, obviously concerned.

“It’s not for you to worry about…” The room goes quiet and Abbey stares down at her hands, feeling suddenly nauseous. She knows what it means for Alex if he can’t pay Marcus. The beating he took from Davey as a warning will look like child’s play compared to what will happen if he doesn’t meet the deadline.

“So we just give up?”

“Liam…” Nathan scorns, gently, “Leave it alone mate…”

“Am I missing something? We need money like last time, yeah? So why don’t we get it like last time? Do another raid…?”

“No…” Alex snaps, before Liam can finish his sentence, “That’s not happening…”

“Why? Mate, you’re in shit, serious shit and it’s looking like the only way out, again…”

“It isn’t that simple…” Alex shakes his head, dismissing the suggestion in a calmer tone but just as resolutely.

“We pulled it off before…” Liam continues, “It all went to plan. If anything we’d be more prepared this time…”

“Do you still have the list of targets your contact gave you?” Darren asks pensively, and Alex and Tom both glare at him.

“It is not happening, end of discussion…” Alex growls.

“So you’re just gonna let this jumped up little skinhead put you in hospital then?”

“I won’t LET anyone put me in hospital, Daz. I’ve never let anyone get the fucking better of me in my entire life, but Marcus is relentless. He won’t let it go, not when it comes to hurting me, so what the fuck else can I do?!” He shouts, his composed exterior finally cracking as the hopelessness of the situation overwhelms him.

“You can let us help you, like we did before…”

“Liam, you don’t get it…” Nathan snaps.

“No you don’t fucking get it. It’s not up to you and I can speak for myself…” Liam shouts, back, angrily, “I can drive the van on my own. If you don’t want to be part of this Nate, then don’t be… I mean let’s face it you weren’t exactly on board last time were you? But I can make up my own fucking mind, we should do this, Alex…”

“My guy said if we ever needed the wheels again all I had to do was call…” Darren adds.

“No… it’s too risky. I had no right to ask you before; I’m not putting you in that position again…” Alex stands and paces towards the balcony and Abbey wraps her arms tightly around her waist, feeling scared and uneasy at the confrontational atmosphere. She hates seeing Alex suffer, almost more than she can stand, and she hates seeing her friends fighting amongst each other. Why did this have to happen? Why can’t they all go back to living in their happy, fun, care free little bubble?

“You’re not asking us…” Liam points out, solemnly, and Alex’s resolve starts to slip. He hates that this is happening. He hates that they are willing to put themselves at risk for him again when it was such a huge sacrifice the first time. But deep down, he knows that this is his only solution. It is the only way - like before - that he can get his hands on such a large sum of money in such a short space of time. Marcus acts as though he is doing Alex a favour by giving him a fortnight to pay up, but he knows all too well that he can’t access that sort of cash easily. It is just another way for him to prolong the torture and increase his enjoyment. Another one of his twisted games.

“We go for the second place on the list and we follow the same plan as before…” Darren suggests, “Same time frame, in and out, as quickly as possible…”

“You pulled it off last time…” Liam concludes.

“We were lucky last time…” Tom finally speaks and the others turn towards him in unison. He is clearly unhappy with how the conversation has played out and appears unconvinced that doing another raid is the right move, “That’s all it was… luck. And we had the element of surprise. It might have been forgotten about in the papers but the police are still looking for us, the case is still open, don’t fucking forget that. The risk is ten times what it was before…”

“It’s been months… they won’t be on high alert still, not now…”

“But they will be expecting another raid, Daz. They thought our job was done by career criminals, the only reason we managed to get away with it is because it was a one off. No other robberies to link together, no pattern, no further evidence. Another hit will give them way more to work with, it’ll bring the police one step closer to our fucking door…”

“But it’s only one more raid…” Liam argues, “They might link it together but then that really will be it, there’ll be no more to follow up on, no more evidence that’ll point to us…”

“Are you sure?” Tom snaps, “Even if we pull it off again, even if nothing goes wrong and we don’t fuck up, is this the last one, really?”

“Of course it is….” Liam scoffs, but Darren exhales a long, deep breath with his eyes fixed on the coffee table in front of him, and says nothing.

“That was the line before, remember?” Tom continues, “A one off. Never again. What happens next time Marcus decides he wants to make some easy money? What excuse will he find then to bribe Alex into paying for his life? If this carries on, Marcus won’t ever give it up; it’ll just be another way for him to make a fucking profit…”