Rotten to the Core (36 page)

             
“
F
ine, we
’
ll do it your way, we’ll call him soon, but you tell him if he wants to see his perfect little sister again
,
we want two hundred and fifty thousand pounds
.
I’m not going through all this shit for loose change
,
Jay, I think a quarter of a mill should see us right for a bit
;
get us started, you know
.
”

Reli
e
ved that he had managed to delay her, if only for a
little
while, Jay knelt over her and started kissing her softly, smelling the sweet scent of her perfume, pound signs swimming
a
round
in
his head.

43

The
warehouse’s
office
,
normally buzzing with noise and banter
,
was eerily quiet
.
T
he
four
men seated around the table
were not only deep in thought but
also
silent
from the shock of what they
had been
told
.
N
obody could believe what they
had heard
.

             
“So
,
let’s get this straight then
.
” Ryan rubbed his forehead fiercely
,
as if the information he had received had gone inside his head and caused it to throb like it might
explode
at any second
.
“Jay Shaw has rung you and demanded you give him a quarter of a million pounds
.
I
s he having a fucking giggle? Does he seriously think that you
’
re going to hand it over so that he can skip off into the sunset and live happily ever fucking after
?
W
hat is he
,
a
fucking comedian
?
I can tell you this now, if he thinks he
’
s getting a penny from you he’s a real fucking joker
.
”

Ryan looked at
each of
the men around the table
;
the tension had created an atmosphere that was intense
,
to say the least. Billy had just turned up with a face like thunder
:
they knew it was bad from the look in his eyes
.
H
e had called them into the office with an urgency that made them all worry.

The call that Billy had been waiting for had come in at nine o’clock
that
morning, it had confirmed what he had known all along, Jay
was
behind Kate’s disappearance, and so
Billy
hadn’t been shocked when
he
heard the familiar
,
malicious voice. What he had been surprised at was Jay’s demands.

Jay had spoke
n
quietly and calmly, informing
Billy
that his sister was alive and wel
l
and would be returned safe and sound once he had paid the cash that Jay asked for. Billy had started to l
o
se it
:
what a fucking cheek, how fucking dare
d
he, who did he think he was messing with
?
He
would
not get away with this. Taking his sister was crossing the line big time
.
Billy
would
break every bone in that imbecile
’
s body once he got his hands on him. Jay interrupted the name
-
calling and threats with a warning of his own.

             
“You have twenty
-
four hours to get the money together
,
Billy
b
oy, if you fuck this up or try anything stupid, I can’t make any promises
.
Kate will be returned in one piece
if you do what I say:
do I make myself clear
?
”

Billy was silenced at the thought of his sister being in
danger
and the loaded threat reminded him that he was dealing with a sick
,
twisted bastard. He reluctantly agreed to Jay’s ultimatum of paying a ransom for
Kate’s
safe return.
Billy
was told to sit by the phone at nine the following morning to wait for further instructions.

The room was silent
;
so far
,
Jonny hadn’t said a word,
although
he and Lee had exchanged numerous looks between themselves. They were all just sitting there
,
waiting for Billy to say something
:
anything. They could see
that
he was not up to dealing with this; he was finding it hard to keep it together. 
B
reaking the silence
,
Lee s
aid,

             
“When he calls you
,
we need to tell him that we agree to whatever he asks
.
”

Ryan laughed out
loud in complete disbelief
;
if it was up to him he would be out hunting this fucker down and when he found him
,
he would treat him to the slowest and most painful death possible, he wouldn’t be complying with his brainless demands.

             
“Let me finish
.
” Lee held
one
hand up
,
to stop Ryan from interrupting
,
and continued
:
“We need to play the game. Go along with what he says, and make him think that he has us by the short and
curlies
. If he thinks that he is the one giving out the orders and making all the demands
,
then we can catch him off guard.  We will be ready when he picks up the money, we will be three steps ahead of the
cunt
.
”

As always with the Ellis brothers, Jonny finished off his brother’s sentence
:

             
“We cannot risk Kate’s life in the smarmy fucker
’
s hands Billy; this is not a time for games. Pay Jay whatever he asks, we will get Kate back, and we will personally serve Jay up on a plate for you, he’ll be like a lamb to the fucking slaughter.”

Billy nodded at the men, his friends, who
m
he trusted
with
his life. This
wa
s exactly what he needed to hear, he was so emotionally fucked up about the situation
that
he couldn’t think straight, and he needed their support
;
only
with their help
c
ould
he
possibly get through this, it was Kate’s only real chance. Jonny and Lee were the brains of the group, and he
hoped
that between them they would sort out a plan that would leave
no room for fuck ups, and by the time they had executed it
,
Ryan, the muscle
of the group
, would have great pleasure in carrying out Jay’s reprisal. Billy
,
however
,
was going to make sure that he was there at the end, he would be the one to finally turn the lights out in Jay
’
s little fucked
-
up world.

Paul had spoken to his security team
;
every single one of his guys had been called in to work. It was being treated like a military operation
;
these were his best
men
, they knew what was expected of them
,
and Paul
was
confident that they would do as they were asked. He had briefed them
about
what was going on, and everybody was on red alert
.
T
hey were expected to
watch
everything that happened in the club tonight, not even so much as a bag of speed was to pass through th
e
doors. No fights
;
no scumbags
;
no trouble.
Paul
needed the
m to focus their
attention on Jay Shaw.

Every man
who
came in this place tonight was to be searched, and Jay Shaw was no exception, if he thought that he could just walk in tooled up, demands or no demands
,
he had another thin
k
coming. Paul knew that they had the upper hand
,
really
,
as everybody who worked
at the club
knew what Jay
looked like
:
the door men, the security, even most of the bar workers. He was a good looking fucker, one of the only things he actually had going for him
,
and a bloke like him stood out from the average crowd. Most of his security team had worked alongside him at some stage, so Paul had been surprised
that
this was
how
Jay wanted to play it. It seemed
strange
that he would want to make the exchange somewhere as public and personal as the club.

Paul was aware that there may be more than met the eye going on, particularly as Jay had been
outed
by him and by Goldie’s in general
:
h
e
wasn’t taking any chances that
Jay
might be using this as a chance
to get
a piece of revenge.

Yesterday had been the longest twenty
-
four hours in Paul’s life, there were moments when it had felt like time had actually stopped ticking. He and Billy had sat for most of the afternoon together
,
talking about Kate and how they thought she would be coping
and
what they would both like to do to Jay when they got their hands on him,
as well as
going over the plan for this evening
.
T
hey had talked it all through so many times that there was nothing left to say and then they had mostly just sat there in silence
,
both worrying at the worst
-
case scenario that this all could possibly bring them. Neither of the two men wanted to voice their fears
about
what this could be.

Paul had been gobsmacked when Billy had called and told him that Jay’s second call had come this morning
demanding that
the money
be
left by the DJ bo
oth
at midnight t
hat night
.
Jay had
said once he had picked the money up and got out
of the club safely
without anyone interfering or trying to do him any harm, then and only then would he text Billy
to
tell him
Kate’s whereabouts
:
h
e said that he was the only one who knew
this.
He had stating categorically that
if anything happened to him while
he was
picking the money up, Kate would be left where she was, in a remote location
where she
wouldn’t be found for weeks,
by which time
it would be too late for her.

Billy had asked what if he was being set up, what if he paid up and Jay didn’t stick to his end of the deal
?
Jay had just
replied
that he had no other choice but to trust him.