The Night the Rich Men Burned (33 page)

‘He had a debt before,’ Arnie’s saying. ‘Bigger than this, and he paid off the whole thing. He can do it again.’ Desperate now. Trying to use the old debt as a persuading factor in the purchase of the new one. Arnie knows what Glass did to pay off that old debt. But he won’t tell. He’d rather walk out of here with no deal.

Oliver’s nodding. Now we’re getting to what matters. All the hints Jefferson dropped about Potty. ‘Managed to pay it off. Pay it off or work it off ?’

‘Paid it off, I think,’ Arnie’s saying with a shrug. Such a terrible liar.

‘All right, then. I’ll buy the debt. But you have to keep him honest. You got to make sure he pays me back; otherwise I look like I’m doing favours for friends. I look weak. That gets me into all sorts of trouble.’

You can see Arnie fighting to keep his temper in check. Oliver can see it and he loves it. That’s basically why he said it. Wanted to get the old man’s hackles up. See how he reacted to the suggestion that he was the one getting Oliver in trouble. That someone else needed to be kept honest. After all the moralizing yesterday, today Oliver has the chance to accuse his grandfather of causing trouble.

‘I’ll keep him straight,’ Arnie’s saying. ‘You’ll buy the debt?’

‘I’ll try.’

A nod. ‘Okay then. You can be in touch about paying it off. I’ll, uh, hear from you, then.’

‘You will.’

Peterkinney’s leaning back in the chair as his grandfather disappears out the door. This time with his tail between his legs. Ah, good old Alex Glass. You always had a head full of nonsense. Fancy turning up on his grandfather’s doorstep looking for help. What a tool. Now Peterkinney has the debt under his control. He has his grandfather’s permission to use it. His grandfather, for Christ’s sake. And he has something to use against Potty Cruickshank. Don’t know what it is yet, but it’s something. Yep, today is a good day for Oliver Peterkinney. Know what? It isn’t over yet.

11

Patience is an uncommon virtue. Patience is often profitable. In this business, people like to rush things. They worry that if they play a long game, someone else will blow the final whistle before their pay-off arrives. Peterkinney’s been smart. Playing the long game whenever that was his best chance of profit. Won’t always work. A long-play failure is the worst kind. You put money and effort into something over the course of months, even years, and it yields nothing. That’s infuriating. But not this time.

When he bought Collette Duffy’s debt, he was playing the long game. Looking to make the right connections. Profitable connections. For a few months, nothing happened. Just Collette being a hapless liability. A tenuous grasp of real life, that one. Didn’t seem to realize that she still had to pay off the debt, just because he was being nice to her. But he was patient, and kept being nice, kept letting her off the hook.

It was about three weeks ago that her brother got in touch. Told Peterkinney that he knew about the debt. Told him he was doing the right thing by playing soft with Collette. Didn’t exactly sound thankful because that’s not Liam Duffy’s way. Gratitude is a form of weakness. But he made it clear that he was aware of Peterkinney’s behaviour. That he was happy with it. Peterkinney was making the right impression with the right people.

Week after that, Liam Duffy suggests a meeting. Something casual. No big deal. The two of them met in a pub. Liam was a little less frosty this time. Talked about his sister. Actually paid up a little of her debt. Made it very clear indeed that if Peterkinney kept behaving to this high standard, there could be a profit in it for him. Duffy didn’t say it was his boss he was talking about, but he said the right people were taking notice. People who could put good work Peterkinney’s way. That was an easily deciphered code.

Couple more brief meetings with Duffy after that. They were obviously attempts by Duffy to make sure Peterkinney was a serious guy. Scouting him out. Scouting out his business. Asking a few pertinent questions about a man his boss might want to work with. Surprising that Duffy was as smart as he was. Surprising that Chris Argyle gave him so much responsibility. But there you go. People talking about a shake-up in the import side of the market. Big dealers falling out with each other and putting pressure on suppliers. Maybe Argyle is making changes as well.

Peterkinney hopes so, because he has his first meeting with the man tonight. Going round to his house. Going to have a nice polite chat about the kind of people Argyle would want pressured. This won’t be as straightforward as a normal collecting agreement. Argyle doesn’t have the usual supply of dimwits and suckers owing him money. Anyone in debt to Argyle is likely to be a serious person. They’re the only sorts of people Argyle does business with in the first place.

It’s a gamble. If Peterkinney suffered from self-doubt these days, he might worry that he’s not ready. This won’t be conventional collection. He won’t be buying the debt from Argyle and going after the target for himself. He’ll have a business agreement with Argyle to collect money on his behalf. He’ll get the protection that someone like Argyle can offer, but he will have to deliver. He will have to go and collect money from some real tough bastards. He will have to get that money, because most of it will go directly back to Argyle. He’ll need to collect every penny owed. Drop the ball, and Argyle gets angry with him. A failure here could be the last mistake he makes. But he’s ready. He’s sure his business is ready.

Going to Chris Argyle’s house. Shit, imagine. A year ago going to Marty Jones’s house would have seemed like a big deal. How small does that look now? Argyle has a big place north of the city. A rich bastard surrounded by a lot of other rich bastards. The very sort of place Peterkinney intends to land in one day. Big front garden and a wide driveway. Parking in front of the double garage. He’s never had a meeting of this scale before. Of this importance. He ought to be shitting his pants right about now, but he isn’t. He’s ringing the doorbell and taking a step back, looking back at the manicured front garden. Dressed for the occasion, shirt but no tie. Smart casual. He feels important. He feels good.

It’s Duffy who opens the door and welcomes him in. Seems in good spirits. Better than his usual grumpy self, anyway. Leading him through to a living room. Looks like a room that doesn’t get used much. For guests and business meetings, probably. Couple of couches, a big TV and a coffee table in the middle of the room. Big window looking out on the side garden. But no personal touches. No photos, no magazines or newspapers left lying around. A useful but little-used room. Argyle’s there. Sitting on one couch, staring idly towards the door. Looks like a man who’s just sat down after waiting in another, more entertaining room for the doorbell to ring.

Peterkinney doesn’t know a lot about Argyle. Knows what he does for his money. Knows the basics about his business and how he runs it. Doesn’t know any of the personal stuff. Middle height, thin on top, thicker around the middle. Not fat, just slack in the gut. He looks like a guy in his early fifties, which he is. Looks like any normal kind of guy. Could be a lawyer or a doctor. Some git working in a bank. Looks perfectly ordinary, which is probably the point.

‘Oliver, good to meet you, take a seat.’ Sounds like a bank manager too. Doesn’t have the thick accent that Peterkinney’s used to dealing with on a daily basis. Sounds like a well-educated, well-spoken sort of chap. A good egg. ‘Let’s talk business, shall we.’

The first few questions are all very normal. A few repetitions of things Duffy already asked. Just making sure he gives the same answers second time around. They want him to be consistent. Which he is being. Answering every question accurately. Answering them all with confidence. Displaying the fact that he is a man who knows his business. Which is exactly what they want to see.

‘If you and I have a business agreement,’ Argyle is saying, ‘then it will be different from anything you have now. You’ll be collecting from people who are willing to fight back. From some people who are determined to fight back. There are people who simply choose not to pay what they owe because they’d rather try a fight. People will rip you off on a deal, and believe they can handle the consequences. These will be people who have been preparing to fight for a while. It will take more than grunt to overcome them.’

‘I understand that,’ Peterkinney’s saying. ‘I’ve always employed on that basis. Make the assumption that people will fight back. Make the assumption that you need the best people around you. A good collection business isn’t about muscle, it’s about smarts. I have good people. People who can be subtle and use their judgement, as well as being tough.’ Saying it because it’s true. Saying it also because it’s what Argyle wants to hear.

Argyle does seem happy with that. He likes a lot of what he’s hearing from Peterkinney. The more they talk, the more Argyle understands that Peterkinney is ready. Duffy was right. This boy can go and fight battles for them. The business he has, the people he has around him, are good. Solid. He’s not some five-minute wonder. His age was a worry, but not now. Now his age is a strength. Gives him greater potential for longevity and growth.

After an hour or so of conversation, Argyle is convinced. He’ll give Peterkinney a couple of jobs. People he’s given supplies to who haven’t lived up to their end of the bargain. They were going to pay him back with money made from sales, but they didn’t get the sales they were looking for. Too bad. This is business. They still have to pay. They haven’t, and someone needs to persuade them. A simple enough job to start with. If Peterkinney does well with that, there could be more for him. Big jobs, big responsibility, big profit.

A cordial shake of the hand before Peterkinney leaves. As soon as Duffy has closed the front door behind him, Peterkinney is grinning. Wants to punch the air, but someone might be watching. There are a lot of windows in the house for someone to look out of. Probably cameras as well, although they’re not immediately visible. Argyle keeping his security low-key, so as not to alarm his neighbours.

He has music on in the car as he drives back south. Heading home, tapping the steering wheel happily as he does. Another leap forwards. Two in a day, when you think about it. Well, two in two days, but that’s being pedantic. This thing with Alex could give him a shot at Potty Cruickshank. With Greig doing his business and the second arrest coming, Potty’s looking nice and vulnerable. Now a deal with Chris Argyle. Yep, today was indeed a good day.

PART FIVE

1

Everything changed. It’s amazing to look back four months and think about it now. One ordinary day, the news started to filter around the city. People began to hear all about it. Made the news. Charges were brought. More arrests expected to follow. Peter Jamieson. John Young. Hugh ‘Shug’ Francis. David ‘Fizzy’ Waters. Shaun Hutton. All important men in their own right. Either important for what they’d done or for what they knew. A major player like Jamieson, with a string of charges against him. None of the really big charges. Not yet. But he’ll get time inside, everyone knows it. In one afternoon, without any warning, the industry in this city changed.

People had to change with it. Things you’d planned for months went out the window. Everything was different. Everyone was paranoid, for a start. If it could happen to those guys . . . Other organizations started to look weak. Alex MacArthur, arrested. Unbelievable. Un-be-fucking-lievable. They let him out, but he was weak. Straight away, people were talking. Don Park is moving to take control of the organization. That was the rumour then. Still the rumour now, months later. Park hasn’t taken over, but the stench of weakness from that organization is sharp. Jamieson and MacArthur in trouble. That unnerved everyone.

Of course, some people thought it would be all change. Those guys would fall and there would be a new order. Bright young things would step up and fill their shoes. That’s despite the fact that Jamieson was the bright young thing right up until he got arrested. But that wasn’t what happened. Never is. You don’t build something as big as they had without putting some safeguards in place. MacArthur was back on the streets and acting the boss. Even if Park was still trying to take control, he wasn’t doing it publicly. That would damage the very thing he was trying to take control of. So MacArthur’s organization kept on operating as it had, and pretended the rumours weren’t whirling around its head. And Jamieson’s organization. That was the most interesting.

Most interesting to Billy Patterson, anyway. Jamieson, the boss, was inside. His right-hand man, John Young, who should have stepped into his shoes, was inside too. That was the clincher. That was why everyone thought his business would fragment and disappear. Everyone would look for a different boss without Jamieson or Young to hold them together. But it didn’t happen. Didn’t happen because a group of senior men in the organization got together and did something nobody thought they would. They worked together effectively, loyally and intelligently. Most remarkable of all, to those on the outside, was that Marty Jones was one of those men.

He would have been a junior player at that first meeting. People are already talking about that meeting like it was something legendary. Was only three months ago. People love to mythologize these things. The meeting in the office above the nightclub. A big table brought into the office for the occasion. Extra security put on. All very Hollywood, to hear the story. Wasn’t actually like that at all. No big table to sit around, looking menacing. Just the chairs that were already there. No extra security, just the drivers and sidekicks of the men at the meeting. That lot all stayed outside the office, playing snooker. So not dramatic in presentation, but still vital.

Jamieson and Young had been inside a month, things were starting to settle and the organization needed a plan. It needed organizing. Marty got an invite. But he can’t have been an important part of it. Angus Lafferty, he was there. He would have been a big part. Kevin Currie was there too. He would have helped lead the way. Two or three other senior guys. But Marty was in the office, and that’s what mattered.