Top Dog by Dougie Brimson

Author:Dougie Brimson [Brimson, Dougie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Category C Publishing
Published: 2011-07-31T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

Thursday 20 April 2000

13.15

After folding the letter and sliding it into the envelope, Billy sealed the flap down and threw it into his out-tray.

Despite Hawk's reluctance, he had decided to proceed with his plan to lure Tracey Smith away from Mirren's. Not, as Hawk had pointed out, because he necessarily needed her, but because it was simply another way to apply pressure on her employer. At the very least, the offer he'd just written out would unsettle her. At best, she would walk. And that would leave Ian Mirren in the shit and wide open for a take-over. His goal was getting closer. He could almost smell it.

Thinking about Mirren brought a wry smile to his face and so he dug around in his pocket for his mobile and rang Mickey. Desperate to find out the latest.

‘No, we didn't do nothin’ to your man last night,’ replied an almost cheerful voice when he posed the question. ‘We couldn't. Wednesday and Thursday are collection days, mate. You should know that, you take half the bloody dosh. In fact, you should see what you're getting for your money. Why don't you go out with the lads tonight?’

‘Fuck that!’ replied Billy. ‘What do I want to do that for?’

‘I know it sounds daft, but it's a giggle. Honest.’

‘How the fuck d'you make that out?’

Mickey laughed. ‘Just watching the punters roll over. It's a power thing. Gives me a hard-on sometimes.’

Billy paused for a second. Up to a few weeks ago, the very idea of bullying would have left him cold. He'd been brought up to believe that it was cowardly and pathetic and although people who knew no better believed that's what they did at football, they were wrong. For the most part, the Saturday scene only involved people who wanted to be involved. Sometimes you came out on top, sometimes you didn't. Everyone who played the game knew and accepted that. Bullying was different, much different. Sure, as Mickey had said, it was about power, in that respect at least, it was no different to being in a firm. But in this instance it was about exerting that power over people who were weaker and scared, not equal. That was the big difference between what Mickey did and what he did at football.

But things had changed. The stuff with Mirren had shown him that no matter what his personal feelings, bullying was a useful weapon. One which worked. The money Mickey had handed him after they'd watched The Porcupine being totalled had proved that.

‘Tell you what,’ he said. ‘I'll shadow them if you come along with me.’

There was a pause and then Mickey replied. His voice if anything, sounding even more buoyant. ‘All right then, where d'you wanna meet?’

Billy sat in the passenger seat of Mickey's BMW and stared out into the darkness. He was bored out of his mind.

The first few pubs he'd walked into had actually given him quite a buzz. Nervous energy had been hammering through him as he'd watched the landlords hand over their money.

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