The Night the Rich Men Burned (21 page)

‘Anything I should know about any of these fellows?’ he’s asking. And they are all fellows, in case you’re wondering. Not a woman on the list. Jefferson has women who owe him. Female debts to sell. But not to Potty. Other people will pay better to have a woman to collect from.

Potty wants to know if there’s any good reason for him to avoid any of these names. If any of these men are connected to people that Potty would piss off by collecting on them. You don’t want to be collecting from a Jamie Stamford without realizing it. Potty’s smart, well connected. If any of these men were well connected he would know. But you always ask. Might be someone awkward, from lower down the chain. And if a problem turns up that Jefferson didn’t warn him about, Jefferson’s in trouble.

‘Could be. I don’t know how interesting it is to you. The boy Alex Glass, down for six thousand two hundred?’

‘Uh-huh. What about him?’

‘He used to be very tight with Oliver Peterkinney. You know the boy Peterkinney. Little kid, set up his own collection agency?’

‘I know of him,’ Potty’s saying. Of course he bloody does. Knows all about him. Keeping a close eye on that one. Got his fingers burnt with Patterson by not keeping a close eye on him. Won’t make that mistake a second time. Keeping a close eye on the boy because he seems to know what he’s doing. Everyone dismissing him as a kid. Like that matters. Doesn’t matter how young he is, he’s smart and tough. Smart and tough is worth watching. Managed to get some good people on board with him as well. Potty has a theory that there might be someone else in the background, pulling strings. Just a theory. Maybe Peterkinney isn’t just the front man. Maybe he is the boss.

‘Well, this kid Glass used to be his best pal. They ran together for years. Story is, it was Glass who got Peterkinney into the business. Got him a job with Marty Jones. Only in the last six months or so that they’ve grown apart. Glass doesn’t work for him, so, I don’t know. He doesn’t work for him, needs to borrow money from me. Maybe they ain’t that close any more. But they were. Close as brothers for many years.’

Potty’s processing all that. Just sitting there, looking straight ahead. A slight smile on his face, but that’s often there. Don’t read too much into that. He’s thinking. Thinking about Peterkinney, and about Alex MacArthur and Alan Bavidge and all the other pieces of the jigsaw scattered before him.

‘So the boy Glass did work for Marty, did he?’

Jefferson’s shrugging. ‘Did a bunch of scruff jobs for him. Low-end muscle work. Gofering. If he’s doing anything for him now then it’s not much. Certainly not enough to pay me off. His girlfriend works for Marty too,’ Jefferson’s saying. A sneer at the word ‘girlfriend’, turning quickly to a grin at the mention of working for Marty. Not hard to guess what a young woman working for Marty does. ‘She must be making money, but, I don’t know, not enough. Or they don’t share the finances. Whatever it is, I’ve not had a penny from him in nearly two months.’

‘So he doesn’t have enough to live on?’ Potty’s saying. There’s hope in that voice. The hope of a clever little plan. ‘Shame.’

‘I don’t know about enough to live on. Not enough to live the life he wants to live. One of my boys saw him at a party. Told me all about it. One of those parties, if you know what I mean.’ Hoping Potty does, because Potty isn’t the kind of guy you spell these things out to in gratuitous detail. ‘Expensive parties, those. I think the kid might be a user. But he was snorting his money away the night after he turns up here paying 6 per cent of what he owed me. Six per cent. So he’s living the life all right. Or trying to.’

A whore for a girlfriend. A party lifestyle. A past of working presumably violent jobs for Marty Jones. A childhood friend of the new kid on the block. Oh, this could work out nicely. Still has to play it the right way, but this could be the opportunity he’s been waiting for.

Potty’s buying up all three debts at the top of the list, because he’s feeling a little happier about life. Buying a couple towards the bottom as well, just to round it off. They all seem reasonably safe. He’ll turn a profit on every one of them, and rebuild his relationship with an important lender into the bargain. But that’s just work. None of that is what makes him happy. What makes him happy is thinking of what Alex Glass will do for him. What he will have to do for him.

6

There’s a different atmosphere when you’re under attack. Not scared. Thrilled, a little bit. Nervy, sure, but that’s not always a bad thing. If you’re under attack and struggling, it feels bad. But that’s not how Billy Patterson feels. He feels like he’s doing rather well. That’s where the thrill comes in. Someone’s attacking you and you’re standing up to it. Someone who considers themself a major player is failing to bring you down. Everyone can see it. Everyone knows. This could turn into the fight that confirms Billy Patterson as a serious force.

Potty’s made moves against a couple of guys. Bought one. That was disappointing. Disappointing, but no more than that. People get bought in this industry. It happens. Patterson did a good job of keeping it quiet. Potty spread the word around, but it didn’t seem to do a huge amount of damage. Truth is, it ended up being a relief. One man bought, nothing else happening. After the first attack, Patterson expected worse. Opening shot, followed by ever-increasing attacks. Didn’t happen. Little while later they beat every ounce of snot out of Andy Leven and then set his house on fire. He was in hospital for a couple of weeks. No surprise that his wife decided for him that he wasn’t going to work for Billy any more. Patterson understood, made no issue of it. Last he heard, the Levens were packing up their kids and moving out of the city.

That one was a win for Potty. It scared a few people in Patterson’s organization. He knew it. He and Alan Bavidge did a lot of work to reassure people. Worked extra hard to keep their heads down. Made sure they didn’t give Potty any more targets. For a while, there was worry. Then it all calmed down. Potty didn’t do anything. Potty didn’t know who to aim for next. That was when Patterson realized that the attack on Leven was Potty throwing a hissy fit. Only having one target and throwing the kitchen sink at it. Leven wasn’t important to Patterson. Potty got a win because he showed people how angry he was, how hard he could hit. Then, by doing nothing to follow it up, he lost all the impetus. A win, of sorts, for Patterson.

Yeah, it’s a worry that Potty’s hooked up with Alex MacArthur. MacArthur seems to have some hard-on for the boy Stamford. Going out of his way to hurt those who hurt Stamford. He should learn to accept that Stamford is just bad news. Cut him loose. Surprising that MacArthur isn’t doing that. Never known for his sentimentality, should’ve ditched the kid to make a point. No surprise that Stamford’s already back in debt somewhere else. No surprise that the new debt is causing all kinds of bother for MacArthur.

Word is Stamford’s down eighty grand to the Allen brothers. Eighty fucking grand? The Allens, who are actually first cousins, were stupid to let it get that far, but they did. They let him run and run, lose and lose, and now there’s an eighty-grand wedge between them and Alex MacArthur. The Allens are involved in the drug trade, mostly outside of the city. But it’s causing friction. Big fall-out between them and MacArthur. MacArthur telling his suppliers to stop supplying the Allens, even though they don’t compete for territory. All because MacArthur is willing to let Stamford get away with his bullshit. Makes you wonder if the old man is losing the plot.

Potty isn’t losing the plot. Chance would be a fine thing. So Patterson’s having a meeting with Alan Bavidge. There are things they need to do. Make alliances. Create more protection for themselves. My-enemy’s-enemy-is-my-friend can work, but you have to be careful. Alliances cost money, and your enemy’s enemy may turn out to be a greedy bastard. They may also have connections to another rival. Everyone’s connected to someone. Peter Jamieson, for example. He would be a great option. Rival of MacArthur. But he’s too close to Marty Jones. No deal there.

Bavidge is arriving, taking his seat. Looking tired. Looking ten years older than he is. Still hasn’t taken a bloody holiday. Hasn’t had a girlfriend for a while. The last one ended it with him. Needs a strong woman in his life. Someone to force him into relaxing. Patterson can’t do it. Tried and failed. Given up trying, for now. Later, maybe, he’ll try again. When the timing is better. Right now, he can’t afford to tell Bavidge to take a week off. He needs him.

‘What do you think of arranging a meeting with Charlie and Ian Allen?’ Patterson’s asking as Bavidge sits at the little round table.

Bavidge is shaking his head a little. ‘Don’t see the gain. They can’t give us anything. They won’t come into the city to work with us. And we sure as shit don’t need another Jamie Stamford debt on our books.’ Said with real distaste. Even Bavidge can see how badly he handled the last Stamford debt. Doesn’t want any repeat of that embarrassment.

‘Okay. But I want to start making moves. I want people backing us up. Not safe to go into this one alone.’

‘This one being?’

‘I want to take down Potty Cruickshank.’

‘Take down or take out?’

‘Whatever works.’

Bavidge is leaning back in the chair. This is a bigger discussion. The right one to be having. Overdue, frankly, but still intimidatingly big. You don’t just take out Potty Cruickshank. That’s a move with a lot of loose ends. You have to remove the danger from all his connections and contacts. All the employees who think they’re fit to step up and take his place. It’s a dangerous move.

‘You have a plan?’ Bavidge is asking. Patterson wouldn’t be mentioning the idea if there wasn’t a plan to back it up. Something workable. Something he’s confident they can put together.

‘Lenders that crossed to us are starting to cross back to Potty. I know this. Not a lot, but they’re selling to him again. Covering themselves in case we go to shit. If we don’t do something, we could lose out a lot here. We have to be seen to do something.’

‘That something being?’ Bavidge isn’t entirely convinced. Needs to be won round. They aren’t losing much business to Potty. Frankly, Potty’s doing a piss-poor job of getting at them.

‘That something being that we make a hit against Potty. Set someone else up for it. Jesus, there are plenty of candidates. But we get rid of him and let someone else take the blame. We move in and sweep up his best lenders. We try and get a few of his employees on board too. Try and take over. We won’t get it all, but we’ll get some. We won’t be the big enemy. They’ll blame someone else.’

Bavidge is frowning. Sounds complicated, and complicated doesn’t work as often as it should. ‘I take it you have a plan in mind. Someone you think will carry the can.’

Patterson’s smiling a little bit. ‘I do, as it happens. How would you feel about working for Marty Jones?’

‘Not good, funnily enough.’

‘Fair enough. How would you feel about pretending to work for him?’

‘A little better.’

‘Good. That’s my plan. You’re going to set up a meeting with someone. A gunman. I don’t know who yet. I’ll work that out in the next couple of days. Freelancer, obviously. You’re going to make it clear that you’re working for Marty. That the hit has Peter Jamieson’s backing. The person we have to worry about most is MacArthur. His reaction is the big one. He’ll be willing to believe that Jamieson was behind it. Making a move against him. People will be willing to believe that Marty would pull a stunt like that. Well, if he had Jamieson’s backing.’

It’s not the worst plan he’s ever heard. Sure, it has holes in it, but every plan does. It’s bullshit to think you can work something like this and have it watertight. You always need a bit of luck. Even the big organizations have holes in a lot of their plans, and this isn’t a big organization. This is a collection business with ambition.

‘It could work,’ Bavidge is saying, nodding his head. Then thinking about the holes in the plan. Trying to convince people that Marty was behind it. Need to leave a lot more evidence than an easily misled gunman. ‘Could also go horribly wrong. Like, deadly wrong. Like Alex MacArthur sending all his boys round to drill holes in our heads wrong.’

Patterson’s nodding and smiling. ‘That’s the fun of it, isn’t it?’

Bavidge is smiling back, but it’s a sad smile. He doesn’t feel that sense of fun any more. The thrill that used to be there. Patterson’s telling him that he’ll give him a call soon. Work out what gunman to use. Someone who can get at Potty and get away. It’s not a great plan, but it’s a plan.

‘Look at it this way, Alan,’ Patterson’s saying. ‘A week from now, this’ll be done. Potty out of the way. Us taking up some of his best lenders. Some of his people. Not all, but some. We’ll get through the messy aftermath. Then we’ll be looking forwards.’ Sounded good to Patterson, but Bavidge is just nodding. Shaking hands and leaving. Patterson shaking his head. Best man he’s got. Best muscle he’s ever likely to have. And all the time he insists on looking all vulnerable, a man who needs saving.

7

Keep yourself busy. Don’t spend all day sitting behind a desk. That’s a good way to forget the things you need to remember. If you want to run a collection business then you need to be on the street. You need to know who’s borrowing. You need to know what the lenders are doing. You need to see the business in action. Need to be seen by the people who owe you, the people who sell to you and the people who work for you. Peterkinney gets that. He’s not going to become some fat bastard sitting behind a desk like Potty Cruickshank.

So Peterkinney’s making a collection. He actually enjoys it now. Didn’t think much of it when he was working for Marty. There was a difference. That money was going to Marty. Well, most of it. Peterkinney got his cut. Then Marty waltzed off with the rest. Sure, he had to kick a share up to Jamieson, but Marty was still getting more than he deserved. A man who never made a collection in his life. Spends his days hanging out with his dipshit brother. Picking up women for his other business. Coming up with ideas to make more money without working for it. Effort got in the way of Marty’s work. Now the money is Peterkinney’s, and that knowledge makes the experience of collecting it so much sweeter.