KILTED DESIRE 3 - New Blood (10 page)

   “Mr. Fitzgerald
, I have someone here who wants tae talk aboot Chris Walker. He wants tae talk tae yer.”

   “Why can’t yer sort it and find oot what he wants? Yer know we just need the money. I’m pretty busy here. We’ve just had a new shipment of eastern Europeans turn up.”

   “He’s here now Mr. Fitzgerald, he’s listening to us. He made me call yer.”

   “Och fer god’s sake man, what’s going on? What do yer mean he made yer call? Has he pulled a gun on yer
?”

   “Nae gun, but he pulled some Kung Fu shit. He’s got me in an arm lock. I cannae move.”

   “I thought yer were supposed tae be my top guy! One of the toughest men in the city yer always say,” he said laughing.

   “Mr. Fitzgerald, my name is Scott. I just came here tae talk but I’m afraid yer man here tried tae touch my girlfriend, so I had tae teach him some manners. I just want tae know more aboot how yer knew Chris Walker, and why people keep bothering his wife. Chris died a few weeks ago, but I just want tae try and get this
misunderstanding taken care of. I dinnae want any trouble.” Scott said, as he thought it was time to speak.

   “Scott, Chris owed me money. I didn’t know he’d died. He was supposed tae be coming tae work fer me.”

   “Okay, is there somewhere I can meet yer, tae talk aboot this?”

   “Aye, I’m in the office today, come over this afternoon. I’d actually like tae meet the man who put big bad Kenny
in his place. I may have a job fer yer here. Kenny can yer still hear me?”

“Aye, I’m still here.”

   “Give him the address, and be more respectful tae ladies in the future, yer big numpty.”

   “Aye Mr. Fitzgerald, I will.”

Scott released his grip, and wrote down the address that was reluctantly given to him. He was surprised at how much power this ‘Mr. Fitzgerald’ seemed to have over Kenny. He opened the door and motioned for Tiffany to leave the room. Kenny returned to his desk chair and sat down, repeatedly bending and straightening his arm, trying to get some feeling back in it. He didn’t say anything to Scott or even look at him again. Scott didn’t have anything to say either, he’d got what he came for, so quickly followed Tiffany out of the office. They left the premises and returned to the car.

   “I’m sorry, I knew I should nae have brought yer.”

   “I’m fine Scott.”

   “I have tae take yer back tae the hotel now, I cannae take yer with me tae see this guy. Please just trust me.”

   “I do Scott, and I kind of knew you were going to say that. Please be careful though.”

Chapter 9

  
As soon as they arrived back at the hotel, Scott started to do some more research. He made a few calls to people he knew that still lived in and around the Glasgow area. It seemed that Ally Fitzgerald had gained quite a reputation over the previous few years for being one of the city’s top organized crime bosses. It was basically what Scott had expected to hear, especially after his encounter earlier in the day. Everything pointed to that kind of scenario. The only thing he was still unsure about was why Chris had gotten involved with these people in the first place. Chris was a smart man, he’d have known what type of people they were, Scott thought. He tried to clear his mind, whatever reason Chris had for doing it, didn’t really matter. It was done now and there was nothing Scott could do to change that. What he could do though was to try and get things sorted out, so Sharon and the children wouldn’t be bothered by these thugs anymore. That was something Scott thought was important, he felt it was the least he could do after not being there to help Chris, when he needed him.

   Scott persuaded Tiffany to make use of the hotel’s spa, and encouraged her to get a massage and relax in the hot tub. There were some calls he needed to make and he didn’t want her to hear things that could worry her. She wanted to help him but reluctantly agreed to go and get pampered. Scott knew she’d be safe in the hotel, and it gave him time to do some real detective work. Scott’s past military work meant he had some good contacts in high places. He didn’t use them often for information, but when he did, he knew he could rely on the intelligence being accurate.

   An hour passed by, and Scott had gained a lot of useful knowledge. It turned out that the police had been watching Mr. Fitzgerald for a while. There were special undercover units on the case and they’d been collecting information for a while. He’d been arrested twice and a search warrant was issued for his business premises, but nothing was found. They’d had to release him. He had a crack team of lawyers behind him so the authorities were being extra careful. They couldn’t afford to try and arrest him again until they had some concrete evidence to convict him. Scott learned that ACF Leisure was just a front. He had slot machine arcades all over the city, plus he rented machines out to local pubs and clubs too. His main activities however, were illegal bookmaking, human trafficking, running a prostitution ring and drugs. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of illegal immigrants were allegedly in the United Kingdom because of him. They’d been brought in mainly from Eastern European countries like Kosovo, Albania, Serbia and others in that region. Most were put to work for less than minimum wage and were made to live in very poor, over-crowded conditions. Any young women brought in, were forced into a life of prostitution. Fitzgerald was also a suspect in the murder of other prominent figures in the Glasgow underworld. And if all that wasn’t enough, he was a major drug dealer too. Scott was trying to take stock of the situation, but he’d been advised by his contacts not to try and do anything alone.

   A few minutes later, while Scott was still weighing up his options, Tiffany returned to the room.

   “Hey Tiff, how was yer massage? Did yer have fun?”

   “Yeah it was great, the hot tub was nice too. So did you find out any information?”

   “Aye, pretty much what I expected.
The guy’s a local villain.”

   “So are you going to see him today?” she asked sounding concerned.

   “I will go over there, but nae today when he’s expecting me. I’ll go tomorrow.”

   “So why can’t we just go to the police?”

   “The police know aboot him, they’re watching him closely. They just have nae been able tae pin anything on him, yet.”

   “I know you said you were going to try and talk to him. And I realize you’re trying to help Sharon, but I get the impression that he’s not the kind of person you can reason with.”

   “Aye yer reet, but I have to try something. The one advantage I have is that he does nae know who I am, or what I know. I would nae be surprised if he tries tae offer me a job. I dinnae think I’ll be in any danger going there, but I’m still nae sure how I’m going tae be able tae stop them harassing Sharon.”

   “I understand why you’re going Scott, but I don’t like it. I just want to go home.”

   “I know babe, everything will be fine. We’ll still be going home on the day we’re due tae leave. I promise, I just feel that I have tae try and help a wee bit if I can. I could nae be there fer Chris, so I need tae feel that I did everything I could tae help Sharon, and especially his wee uns.” he said as he wrapped his big strong arms around her, hugging her tightly.

   The rest of the day and evening was spent relaxing around the suite and enjoying each other’s company. However the following morning, Scott persuaded Tiffany to make use of the hotels facilities again, while he made a trip to see Ally Fitzgerald. The address he’d been given was on Glasgow’s east side. It was a somewhat dilapidated industrial area, most of the buildings were Victorian brick structures. When Scott got to the street he was looking for, there wasn’t much in the way of signage or even numbers to point him in the right direction. A lot of the buildings in the street seemed to be abandoned, but as he drove on, he noticed that a couple did seem to have lights on inside them. He carried on driving and parked the car about a quarter of a mile away on another quiet road.

   As he walked back through the snowy streets to his destination, he couldn’t help but think how depressing the area was. He knew there were some nice areas of Glasgow but this certainly wasn’t one of them. After a few minutes he was back on the street that he needed to be on. About halfway down the road and after passing a few abandoned buildings, he came to a large metal gate. It was about 12 feet wide and was in between two buildings. Scott peered through the small gap at the side, there was an alley that went back around 50 feet and looked to open up into a courtyard. He could see cars parked in there. There didn’t seem to be much life anywhere else in the street so he pushed the gate. The old rusty panel creaked as it moved, Scott opened it just enough and walked through. The alleyway had an old cobblestoned surface and was extremely slippery. It did indeed open up into a courtyard, surrounded by two story brick buildings. There were about half a dozen cars there, one of which stood out. It was an extremely new and expensive looking silver Jaguar.

   There only appeared to be one entrance, it was an old wooden door. It looked like it had been painted green a number of years ago but most of it had peeled off. Scott knocked on the door and waited for a while. Nobody answered, he tried again and waited for another minute or so. Still nothing, so he turned the handle. It was unlocked. He pushed it open and peered inside. The sight of many rows of slot machines confirmed he was in the right place. There were a few foreign looking guys working on some of the machines, the backs were open and they were fiddling around inside. Scott wasn’t sure what language they were speaking but they weren’t local. He called out to them, and they looked up. One of them scurried away while the others continued to work. A minute or so later a large red haired man approached Scott. He had a full beard and moustache and shoulder length hair.

   “Who are yer? What do yer want?” he barked at Scott.

   “I’m here tae see Mr. Fitzgerald,” Scott said confidently.

   “And just w
ho the hell are yer?”

   “My name
’s Scott, he invited me tae come and talk tae him.”

   “Wait there by the door, I’ll be back in a minute,” he said aggressively before turning and walking away. He returned a few minutes later.

   “Come here, I need tae check yer clean.” The man ordered Scott.

Scott walked towards him and lifted his arms. The man patted him down thoroughly.

   “I have nae got any weapons,” Scott commented.

   “It’s nae just weapons I’m looking fer. Okay, come with me,” the man said and beckoned Scott to walk with him.
Scott followed him through the warehouse and up a flight of stairs. They went through an office where a lady was working on a computer and into another office. Sitting behind a desk in the large room was a tanned man who appeared to be in his 50’s. He had dark slicked back hair with a little grey showing at the sides. He was wearing a dark suit, but no tie. The top few buttons on his shirt were open too revealing a heavy looking gold chain.

   “He’s clean boss, nae guns or wires,” the man said. He waited by
the door as Scott walked towards the desk.

   “Scott, yer were supposed tae be here yesterday
. I dinnae like it when people dick me aroond,” the seated man said angrily.

   “Aye, I had something come up, sorry,” Scott responded.

   “Well, yer here now, so take a seat,” he said seeming to calm down a little and gesturing for Scott to sit down.

   “Thanks,” Scott replied as he sat.

   “That’s all Duncan, yer can go now,” he said to the other man, who promptly left shutting the door behind him.

   “Do yer want a drink Scott? Coffee, water, Scotch, what do yer say?”

   “Nae, I’m fine thanks.”

   “Pamela, bring me a coffee darling,” he said pressing an intercom button on his phone, before turning his attention to Scott again.

   “So why are yer so interested in Mr. Walker, Scott?”

   “He was an old army friend of mine, I heard from his ex-wife that yer guys went there looking fer him a few weeks after he’d died. I just wondered what all this was aboot.”

   “Aye well he lost a wee bit of money in one of my casinos, and he was supposed to come work fer me tae pay it off.”

   “What casino?”

   “Never yer mind what casino. The only thing we have tae work oot is how I’m going tae get my money. Is he really dead or are yer just trying tae mess with me? Because if yer are there’ll be trouble.”

   “It was on the news and
in the papers. I’m sure Sharon can show yer his death certificate if yer really dinnae believe her.”

   “This is 20 grand we’re talking aboot, it’s nae just loose change. Did he have any other assets?” he asked coldly.

   “Nae idea, like I said, I’m just an old friend. But I know Sharon does nae have anything so yer wasting yer time bothering her and the kids.”