The Wolves of London Read Online Free PDF Page B

low in the crowded room I could barely hear her. ‘It was unfair of me to ask.’
    I glanced quickly around the pub, but no one seemed to be paying us any attention. I still had a burning knot of anger in my belly, but I kept my voice calm.
    ‘What about Dean’s parents? Can’t he ask them for a loan?’
    She gave a brief, jerky shake of the head. ‘His dad’s dead. And his mum’s not that rich. And she’s ill a lot of the time, in and out of hospital. He says something like this would really upset her.’
    She’d be a lot more upset if her beloved son was found in a skip with his throat cut, I thought.
    ‘Hasn’t Dean got stuff he can sell?’ I suggested. ‘A car? A computer? An iPhone? At the risk of sounding like an old codger, don’t you kids have all sorts of fancy gadgets these days?’
    ‘It’s not enough, Dad,’ Candice’s voice was dwindling. ‘Mitch wants all the money in one go. We’d never be able to raise enough.’
    ‘I’m sure he’d be open to negotiation. Half now, half in a few weeks’ time. People like Mitch might be evil bastards, but at the end of the day they’re more interested in getting what they think is owed to them than in meting out punishment. Physical violence is messy and hard to hide. It often leads to the police getting involved, even if the victim is too scared to go to them himself.’
    Candice listened to me intently, but as soon as I’d finished she shook her head. ‘That might be what it was like in your day, Dad, but people like Mitch aren’t bothered about the police. One of Mitch’s guys told Dean that if he didn’t come up with the money in time, his loved ones would suffer. He knew Dean’s mum’s address, and he said something like “Wouldn’t it be a shame if your pretty girlfriend suddenly lost her looks?”’
    Candice’s crumbling resolve gave way, and all at once tears were running down her face.
    ‘I’m scared, Dad,’ she blurted through her sobs. ‘I’m scared of what’s going to happen.’
    My guts were twisting now, partly with fear and anxiety, but mostly with a boiling rage. How dare this dumb, fucking boyfriend of my daughter’s get himself into a situation where she might be harmed! How dare some vicious, jumped-up low-life threaten and frighten my little girl!
    The natural response of the average law-abiding citizen might have been to advise Candice to go to the police and tell them everything. Far more preferable for her boyfriend to get a rap on the knuckles, they might say, than for her to end up badly hurt or worse. But I knew better than to suggest such a thing. I knew that although the police would take Candice seriously – maybe even seriously enough to find Mitch and bring him in for questioning – their hands would effectively be tied. They wouldn’t be able to detain him for long without evidence, and people like Mitch usually had all the bases covered. Besides which, Mitch had no doubt already informed Dean that if he did go to the police, and if Mitch was arrested, then plans already laid would immediately spring into action – plans which would most likely involve certain of Mitch’s friends paying visits to both Dean’s mother and girlfriend.
    Reaching across the table, I took Candice’s small, limp hands in mine and gave them a squeeze. With more confidence and conviction than I was feeling, I said, ‘Nothing’s going to happen, Candice. Nothing at all. I promise you that.’
    She looked at me through swimming eyes, and the desperate hope in her face almost broke my heart. ‘What are you going to do?’ she whimpered.
    I thought about the past I’d vowed never to go back to, the telephone number I’d once been given that I’d vowed never to use.
    ‘I know some people,’ I said. ‘People who’ve been around a lot longer than this Mitch bloke, and who’ve got a lot more influence.’ I felt my stomach clench again, but I kept my gaze as steady as my voice. ‘I’ll give them a call. They’ll soon