Take the A-Train (26 page)

‘They were going to kill us,’ I said through gritted teeth, but I didn’t know if she could hear me above the racket. ‘Now I’m giving them some pay back.’

I dropped down a gear and kept pushing. The wall bulged and collapsed slowly inwards. The jeep went through, tilted for a second, and the bodywork caught the light as it dropped. I heard the sound of the engine revving to a scream as it fell.

The impact was hard and metallic and the engine cut. There was silence for ten seconds or so after it hit, then the gas tank exploded and a ball of greasy red smoke mushroomed out of the hole in the ground. I switched off the engine of the truck and slumped over the wheel, reaching for Fiona’s hand. She squeezed my fingers and I squeezed back.

After a few seconds I rolled up the side window because I knew exactly what the smoke would smell like.

I
 saw Emerald one more time. I was back in hospital, but a prison hospital this time. Brixton. My leg was in plaster again, and in traction. I’d fucked it up good and proper driving that truck. By the time I got out I figured I’d be due for a disability pension. The place wasn’t too bad. The food was crap but I was on my own and it was warm. I had a permanent guard too. He brought me in chocolate and cigarettes.

Emerald came one afternoon early in the new year. He looked older and smaller than I remembered.

‘Nicky,’ he said as he pulled up a chair to the bedside. The officer stood and looked out through the bars of the window over Jebb Avenue.

‘Emerald,’ I replied. ‘How are you?’

‘Better than you by the looks of it.’

‘That wouldn’t be difficult, at least you’re out.’

‘Thanks to you I am, and so will you be. I’ve got the best brief in town working on it.’

‘Bail? I don’t think so,’ I said. ‘I’ve done this once too often. I think I’m in for good.’

‘For an accident that happened while they were trying to kill you? Your foot slipped off the clutch so I heard. Too bad.’

‘Too bad,’ I agreed.

‘You’ve done me a good turn, Nicky. I won’t forget that. I’ve made sure your bank balance is looking better.’

‘Thanks, Em. So what else is new?’

‘I’m retiring, Nicky.’

‘What, you?’

‘Yeah. I’m selling my places to Bim, just like he always wanted.’

‘I don’t believe it.’

‘I’m getting old, Nicky. Too old for all this. I didn’t know what was going on under my own nose. They stitched me up good and proper. Family too, and someone I thought was a friend. That would never have happened in the old days.’

I didn’t argue.

‘I’ve made a lot of money. I’m going home. There’s a warm place waiting for me and the missus. Better than this cold bloody country. I always hated the weather here.’

‘Sounds good,’ I said.

‘But I promise you one thing, Nicky. Before I leave you’ll be back in circulation. You’ve got my word on that.’

‘Your word was always good enough for me, Em. You know that.’

‘You’ve been a good friend, Nick. Better than my own. I’ll never forget it.’

‘And I’ll never forget you, Em.’

We shook hands. The officer ignored the breach of regulations.

‘Keep smiling, Nick. You’ve got a good woman waiting for you.’

‘I know, Em.’ He lumbered to his feet and the officer let him out.

He kept his word, but I never saw him again.

This ebook edition first published in 2013

First published in the UK in 1991
by No Exit Press
an imprint of Oldcastle Books
P O Box 394,
Harpenden, AL5 1XJ

noexit.co.uk

@NoExitPress

First published in 1991 by HEADLINE BOOK PUBLISHING PLC

All rights reserved
© Mark Timlin 1991

The right of Mark Timlin to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

ISBN

978-1-84344-180-9 (print)

978-1-84344-181-6 (epub)

978-1-84344-182-3 (kindle)

978-1-84344-183-0 (pdf)

Typesetting by Avocet Typeset, Somerton, Somerset

For more information about Crime Fiction go to
@CrimeTimeUK