Rotten to the Core (24 page)

Billy could picture Jay
,
looking like the smug slimy bastard he was, lying next to Tanya as she lied out of her skinny arse
; Billy
bet
ted
he
loved
every minute of this
.

             
“
O
h well, best you run back downstairs and put the kettle on then
,
Tan,
‘
cause I’m going to be home in five
.
”

             
“Oh
…
okay
,
babe
;
see you in five
.
”

Billy hung up
.
H
e
had
noted the panic in Tanya’s voice that she had tried to hide and could imagine the pair of them
were
running about like headless chickens, trying to get dressed
so
Jay
could leave
before Billy got
home and found out about their dirty little secret.
T
wo minutes later a very worried
-
looking Jay left the flat, looking
as if
someone had just shoved a rocket up his arse.

As Jay drove off
,
Billy
s
tarted his own engine, and pick
ing
up his phone once more rang Tanya
.

             
“Change of plan
,
Tan, I’ve got a bit of business to
at
tend to, looks like you’ll just be making tea for one
.
”

Not waiting for her reply
,
Billy hung up
.
Tanya
looked
at the dead handset wondering what the hell that was all about.

Although
Tanya was relieved that Jay hadn’t been caught, she was a little bit put out that they had been rudely interrupted, especially as she
had been
almost at the point of no return when Billy had called her. Smiling to herself as she put the phone
down
on the side she was blissfully unaware that Billy was on to her and at that particular moment
was
following Jay’s beamer down the road.

Billy had decided that he would tail Jay for a bit, check out what the guy was up to
;
he wanted to get all the pieces in place before
making
his move.

Looking around, Paul was pleased to see that again they were in for a busy night
.
T
he club was packed and
he
had heard from a few little birdies that Goldie’s
was becoming more and more well
-
known, and because of the great DJ line
-
ups that they put on, people were coming from all over. There were a lot of celebrity faces about most weekends, which of course was great for business
,
in one way, but in the beginning had been hard work, Paul had had to extend his security and hire
d
a PR girl
.
I
t had been manic trying to calm down punter
’
s reactions to certain celebs
.
H
e wanted them to have a great night out, not
to
be pestered by mad drunken fans. Kate had suggested cordoning off an area for VIPs near the DJ box, and that had proved a success. Paul hadn’t originally thought about a VIP area as such, he had figured at first that the private members
’
lounge upstairs would be enough. But this way,
p
eople could hear the latest tunes whilst checking out celebs from afar, which suited everyone. He had decided that because it was Kate’s idea and because she was proving to be a
n
asset, that she would be in charge of the VIP bar, it
w
ould be her baby
.
H
e
had
pretty much let her set it up and run it however she wished
,
although he had made sure that she had another member of staff with her at all times to ensure the quickest service
.
Paul continued to run the members
’
lounge upstairs
;
it made sense,
as
Paul could keep all the big
wigs happy and keep an eye on the entire club as the security room was up there too
;
he often checked out the monitors
to make sure everyone was happy and doing their jobs. The rest of the staff
ran
the other main bars
, and
everyone seemed to be happy, and it was just the way Paul liked it
:
smooth and controlled.

He spotted Billy pulling up a stool at the bar and decided to go and join him; he could do with a drink and five minutes off.

             
“It’s on the house, and I’ll have a
J
ack and
C
oke
,
” Paul interrupted
,
as he caught the end of Billy’s drink
s
order to the bartender
.

             
“Cheers Paul, nice one
;
thought you didn’t drink while you were working
, though?
” Billy smiled
.

             
“Well
,
that was the original plan, but every now and then won’t hurt
,
huh
?
” Paul could see all was not well
with Billy;
the bloke had worry etched on his forehead
.

             
“How’s my little sister doing
?
” Billy tried to make conversation
to
take his mind off the shitty day he
ha
d had. Following Jay seemed to have opened up a whole can of worms, Billy had seen a few things today, and to say he was annoyed was a massive understatement
;
he didn’t know how to play things, the rules had all changed today.

             
“Kate
’
s a little diamond
,
Billy
;
she has the punters eating out of her hands
.”

Bil
ly smiled
,
nodding in agreement
.
Kate had a way of being liked by everyone, he just hoped that no
-
one took that the wrong way and overstepped the mark
.

             
“
S
he
’
s no pushover though
;
she can shoot a man down with a stare if he crosses the line you know
.
”
L
aughing now
,
Paul
said
,
“I should
know
,
I’ve had the pleasure of watching the poor wounded guys
’
faces that have been on the receiving end
.
” As if he had read Billy’s mind
,
he continued
.
“She won’t get any trouble in here
,
Billy,
I’
ll personally make sure of it mate, besides she is actually a lot stronger
-
minded than she looks
.
”

Paul looked over to the bar where
Kate
was working; he could see her smiling
and
chatting away to Lucy, the other barmaid
on duty
. They were both laughing and joking as the
y
poured drinks
; being careful to include the
punters in the
ir
banter, they had everyone smiling
.
Turning back
,
he asked
,

             
“So how are things with you
,
Billy? You look like you have the weight of the world on those shoulders of yours, everything ok
ay
?”

He nodded to the barman to top up their glasses, as Billy sighed
;
he did have the weight of the world on his shoulders. He had been following Jay for a few more days now and had been to more hovels than the average rat
;
the guy had fingers in many pies, each and every one of them as cheap and nasty as the next.
Billy
had just seen him go into Kate’s friend’s Emma’s flat
;
God
kn
ew
what the guy was playing at. He
had
decided he would l
ie
low here for a bit and then go back and pay Emma a little visit when Jay had gone, see what the girl was playing at.

             
“Nothing that can’t be sorted out
,
”
Billy
replied
;
he had every intention of doing
so
later on
.

             
“Anything I can help with?” Paul was intrigued
.

             
“Na
h
, this is something that I should have settled a long time ago
…
something long overdue, besides
,
I think you
’ve
already had a bash at “it”, so to speak, a while back
.
”

Suddenly realising who Billy was hinting at
,
Paul
could
instantly
feel his hackles rise;
he
felt
his body tensing just at the thought of Jay
’
s name
.
H
e could handle that the guy had taken the piss and used the club to deal his crap from
;
it
went
on, it
was
n
’
t such a huge deal
,
Jay had been given a hiding
:
job done. But more and more
,
as Paul had got
to know Kate, he had grown more and more to physically hate Jay.
Kate
never
said
anything
outright about Jay’s behaviour
,
or
not
the
bad
side of it,
but he could sense that the whole thing just wasn’t right. Jay wasn’t capable of seeing how amazing Kate was, he certainly wouldn’t be capable of doing right by her. By the sounds of it
,
Kate knew he was generally up to no good, but she couldn’t have the slightest inkling of what he was actually up to, or there would be no way she would be with him
:
he was sure of that. Paul had decided when she had first mentioned being Jay
’
s girlfriend that he would keep
quiet
about
what
he knew
.
He would l
et Kate work it out in her own time
;
he had hoped that
would be
sooner rather than later.

             
“I’m sure that whatever needs doing
,
Billy, you’
re
more than capable of sorting it out, but if you need me, you just say the word
,
”
Paul said.

             
“
C
heers
mate
.
”
D
owning his drink
,
Billy gave Kate a
nod
and
indicated
that he was going upstairs
;
he had just come to see her, but she
was busy
,
and he hadn’t wanted her to feel like he was keeping tabs on her.

             
“See you later
,
mate
,
cheers for the drink
.
”