Daniel Dayton Box Set by Shaun Baines

Author:Shaun Baines [Baines, Shaun]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sharpe Books
Published: 2019-04-14T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Three

“Evening, ladies. Make sure you behave tonight.”

Scalper Brown was head doorman at Newcastle’s Glitterball nightclub, a job he had held for eight years. The club was the biggest in the city, safely holding up to five hundred sweaty punters, though they routinely admitted more. It made his job impossible and Scalper often wondered if he was there for security or window dressing.

Most of the guys he’d started out with had gone on to better things. It was long tedious hours of vigilance interspersed with brief bouts of fire-fighting, like a sentry posted on a deserted border. It didn’t suit everyone, but Scalper liked the hours and, considering the alternative was jail, he was happy to remain on duty.

Three young women tottered by him, heading down to the cloakroom. God knows what they were checking in, he thought. If he took their clothes and stitched them together, he’d be lucky to end up with a handkerchief.

Scalper was in his forties and average height, but his hard, round muscles made him look taller. If he wasn’t working, he was working out. He shaved his head twice a day, not because he was going bald, but because he liked the feel of it. Years ago, someone had said he’d been scalped by Red Indians and the nickname stuck.

“Hey, Scalper, you ever seen anything like these?” Balancing on her five inch heels, a regular called Jackie exposed her large breasts.

Scalper laughed. “Put ’em away, love. My mother warned me about girls like you.”

Fairbanks, the new starter, watched Jackie disappear into the steam of the nightclub. “Does that happen often?” he asked.

It was his first night. He was twenty, but looked younger. Skinny and pale, he seemed as threatening as a lollipop. Health and Safety prohibited doormen from wearing jewellery, but when Fairbanks refused to remove his diamond stud earring, Scalper hired him immediately. They were short staffed and if he was prepared to have that thing torn from his ear in a fight, then maybe he was tougher than he looked.

“Happens all the time, mate,” Scalper said, “You might see a few more before the night is out.”

Fairbanks grinned and scanned the queue for potential trouble makers.

When Scalper was his age, he was already running with Ed Dayton and his crew. Ed was older than Scalper and a natural leader. He charmed the birds and the branches they sat on. Scalper, a young, bare knuckle fighter at the time, fell under his spell so when breaking windows and stealing chocolate bars escalated into extortion and robbery, Scalper barely noticed. It wasn’t until his beloved mother abandoned him that Scalper saw what he’d become. He was a thug; a petty criminal that disgusted and frightened her in equal measure. He knew he’d have to change.

But it wasn’t the kind of job he could resign from. He knew too much. Standing in front of Ed, looking into his steel grey eyes, Scalper’s stomach churned as he told him of his decision. Scalper was no fool. He made money for Ed and Ed had expensive tastes.

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