A bloodstained coat by Stephen Williams

Author:Stephen Williams [WILLIAMS, STEPHEN]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

Kenton Green looked very different from how he had in the club when he narrowly escaped arrest. It was only blind luck he knew about the exit behind the bar, having rented the venue before. Gone were the street clothes, replaced with a vintage Paul Smith two-piece and desert boots. He had dyed and clipped his hair into a crew-cut, and wore prescription-less clear glasses, giving him the look of an ageing architect.

He couldn’t change his eyes, though. His eyes were two dead slates, staring at Ridgeway with no humanity at all.

‘Tell me again how one tiny woman managed to beat the shit out of you and Bugzy?’ His voice was as flat as his gaze. Colourless and bereft of emotion.

Ridgeway stared back at him, but only out of one eye. The other was beaten closed, swollen from Raine’s head, when it had smashed into his face. There were rough stitches up his cheek and his nose would never be straight again. ‘She’s a lot tougher than she looks,’ was all he managed.

‘So it seems. First the fuck-up at her boat, and then outside the lock-up.’

‘It wasn’t outside the lock-up,’ protested Ridgeway. ‘I clocked her there, putting a tag on the van. It should have been simple. We parked up in a dead end and waited. We were going to punch her clock, but—’

Green slammed his palm on to the desk. Ridgeway flinched.

‘But you didn’t, did you? She fucked you both over like a couple of tarts, and now Bugzy’s in hospital.’

‘She’ll pay for that,’ began Ridgeway, darkly. ‘Bugzy’s face was grated on the road when she pushed him out of the van. Broken bones and half a fucking tongue missing. She hurt him bad.’

‘I don’t give a fuck how badly she hurt him,’ said Green calmly. ‘In fact, it would be better if she’d killed him. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about what he’s going to say, would I?’

‘I don’t think he’d—’

‘Shut the fuck up. I’m thinking.’

Ridgeway held his breath. When Green went quiet, it was time to be somewhere else.

‘How many are left?’ Green said finally.

Ridgeway looked at him, confused. ‘Sorry?’

‘Women. How many women do we have left?’

‘Oh, right. We’ve got two. One of them only arrived a few days ago. We were going to put her in the system once she’d been assessed.’

Kenton tapped his finger on the table, thinking. ‘No. There’s no time. Shove her in the factory. What about the other one?’

Ridgeway nodded, attempting a smile. With his swollen face only one side of his mouth moved, exposing the stumps of several broken teeth. ‘Promising. Looks like she’s got some fight.’

‘Okay. Start the process. Let everyone know this is the last one for a while so they’ll need to bid high.’

Ridgeway nodded and turned to leave, glad to be done with this particular conversation. But before he could exit his boss spoke again.

‘And you’d better find this woman, Raine, and shut her down permanently. She can identify you, which means she could have a way to me, and I can’t have that, can I?’

Ridgeway swallowed, nodding.

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