Criminally Insane (38 page)

“Hey Deano, great news about the kids.” The sun was shining and the view across the river was breathtaking. The view from the balcony was the reason he had bought the flat. It overlooked the water and a yacht marina, and on a sunny day, it was a little piece of paradise on the edge of the big bad city.

“Yes, they pulled through, man.” Dean Hines sounded tired. “I’ve never prayed so hard in my life.”

“I am made up for you.”

“Okay, thanks.” Dean sounded cautious. “That’s all the bullshit out of the way, what do you want?”

“I’m letting you know that when your kids are better, there is a job with me for you. Leon got greedy, Dean, and teaming up with the Turks would have ended up in a bloodbath eventually.”

“Leon was an arsehole,” Dean grunted. “I heard the Turks got whacked with Gus Rickman.”

“Yes, I heard that too. Rumours are that Gus was going to jump into bed with the Turks. He was a two-faced bastard, no one trusted him. If he’d done a deal with them, the other gangs would have turned on him and each other, fighting over the scraps.”

“He would have been massive with the Turks behind him,” Dean said. “Now that would have ended with tears.”

“Blood and tears, Deano, greed always ends that way. That’s why you should work for me.”

“Why would I want to work for you?”

“What are you going to do, Deano? How are you going to feed your kids and pay the mortgage?”

“I need to get away from all that shit, man.” Dean wasn’t convinced.

“You know me. I have fuck all to do with drugs, Dean. I know the kids want to get high, that’s fine, but I didn’t like the way Leon was force-feeding the weak ones who couldn’t pay for it, you know what I mean?”

“Yes, I know. Let me think about it.” Dean sounded keen. “I’ve got your number. I’ll call you.”

“Make sure you do.” The line went dead. A yacht drifted silently below the balcony, hoisting its mainsail as it headed out to the river. The water was calm today. Jinx Cotton reached down and picked up a bundle of rags from the decking. He tossed the bundle over the balcony into the river. There was a dull splash and the concentric ripples appeared to move with the fast moving water. The tide had turned, allowing the fresh water to flow at speed into the Irish Sea. The rags sunk quickly, weighed down by the Mach-10 machinegun hidden inside them. “Greed kills them all eventually.” Jinx raised his face to the sun and let its warmth soak through him. Today was the start of new era, and he felt good inside.