The Lottery Ticket (5 page)

      “Will dad be coming with us”, was an optimistic response from Rachel.

      “I don’t want to get your hopes up Rachel, but you know your dad likes to play bowls on Sundays. We could ask Nan if you like”? She proposed.

     “If we do go mum can I ask Mandy, she will be back from her holiday by then and I will be seeing her on Saturday”? Julie pleaded.

      “I don’t see why not”, replied Sandra.

With the breakfast pots cleared away they finished getting ready to leave. As Sandra’s mum lived in a bungalow not far from them she walked the girls round whilst wheeling her bike. This was her only form of transport as she rarely had the use of the van. Once a week she would use it to get the groceries from the supermarket but even then it was hit and miss as to whether Roger would be using it.

As she left the children at Nan’s and biked to her first client she thought some more about the picnic idea. They could take it to the ‘Rec’ and perhaps play ball or something. Not having the money to take the girls further a field the least she could do was to make a day of it away from the house and it would be nice for Julie to invite her friend.

      “Yes, we will go on a picnic outing”, she said to herself as she set about her work.

------ x ------

Thursday morning at 8 o’clock Roger busied himself getting himself ready to meet his
‘fence’.
He had no doubt that what he had to offer was worth more than the stuff he had handed over last time.

He drove over to the lockup and met Mick there with the keys. With little said between then they filled the van with the contents of the sacks from the Tuesday nights haul and Roger made his way to the meeting point for the swap.

The time Roger spent in prison had completely washed away any feelings towards another living soul. Even his family, try as they might, could not release any kind of emotion from him. The fact that he had robbed one of his daughter’s friends meant nothing to him.

The factory unit Roger drove up to was a drive in one. The blue Audi A6 stood to the side of the unit with the driver sitting inside. When he saw the van heading for the unit he recognised its driver and began to open the door. He had to be careful not to be seen with a known ex-con.

He opened the shutter doors and beckoned the van in to the open space.

In one corner of the unit was a small office by the side of this was a wide table. At the back of the unit were a number of wooden crates. Roger had been here before many times and he didn’t need to guess what these contained, for this was some of his handy work.

Roger also knew that he was not the only one that the
‘fence’
dealt with and that he drove a hard bargain with them all.

As he emptied the van of his spoils he laid them on the table. He stood back as the other man inspected the items one by one.

      “This is your best haul so far”, commented the
‘fence’.

      “I thought you might be pleased”, replied Roger as he eyed the jewellery for the first time.

      “Come into the office Roger and we’ll settle up”, said the
‘fence’
as he walked across the floor towards the office with Roger close on his heels.

The office as he called it consisted of a small table with a chair either side. It was obvious which chair Roger would be sitting in, it was the hard plastic one you often have to sit on in the doctor’s waiting room. The
‘fence’
slumped into the heavily padded chair that you would expect Lord Sugar to sit on in his boardroom.

This was not the environment for small talk or chit-chat. This was where the deals were struck and the goods changed hands for cash. These two men had one purpose in mind, to do the necessary negotiations and quickly leave.

The opening gambit from the
fence’
was for £500 for the lot. This was more than the gang had ever been offered before even with larger items.

      “You and I know that that lot out there is worth much more than that Keith”, Roger said, replying to the initial offer.

This was the first time the
‘fence’
had been named and he was not best pleased.

      “I warn you, don’t call me by name ever again”, the
‘fence’
reprimanded Roger.

His concern was that no one would overhear his name mentioned even though they were out of earshot of anyone else. He was a great believer in the saying that ‘walls have ears’.

Getting back to the negotiations he offered Roger a further £250. Although Roger was tempted he held out for more.

       “That stuff has got to be worth at least £1500”, he suggested.

       “Look, you know I could shop you anytime for what you do and who would they believe, me a detective sergeant or you an ex-con and besides there are two other reasons why you should accept my offer. Firstly this unit is not in my name, it’s in yours and secondly I have to find buyers for these things as you are well aware”, Keith retorted.

Roger had to weigh up the possibility of whether Keith was bluffing or not when he said the unit was in his name. For several seconds the room fell silent. Roger threw caution to the wind and demanded an offer of no less than £1200.

Keith admired Roger’s spunk and eventually they settled for £1000 with the commitment that Keith would give Roger a good deal on the wines and spirits if he pulled it off. The lead for the warehouse job was a tip off from none other than the
‘fence’.

The deal took no more than thirty minutes and once the money was passed over Roger got into his van and made the journey to Mick’s flat.

As he took the smelly lift up to the flat he felt pleased with his negotiating skills even though he was bargaining with one hand tied behind his back so to speak. He also knew that Keith would get at least three times the amount he had paid him.

He knocked on Mick’s door and was soon let inside. Yet again the place looked like a pig sty but he didn’t care as long as he didn’t have to live in it.

      “Get hold of the boys will you”, He asked Mick.

With this command Mick went to the phone and rung Bert and Pete.

      “They won’t be long”, He informed. “How did you get on with the fence”?

Roger told Mick to wait and he would tell them all what had happened at the meet. Mick guessed by the smile on Roger’s face that he had done well. It was just a matter of how well?

Now, although only Roger knew who the
‘fence’
was none of the others did. Keith on the other hand knew the whole gang as he was the officer who gave evidence that put them all away. It was another reason why they had managed to avoid being caught so far. Although they were small time crooks Keith was happy with the arrangement as he was supplementing his salary from the force. It was also giving his forthcoming pension a necessary boost.

After all he was fifty five now and would be unlikely to get promotion before he retired at sixty. He had been a detective sergeant for the past fourteen years and had been leap-frogged by younger officers over those years. He resented the nepotism that was rife in the local force but was wise enough not to show it.

He was always in control of his different criminal gangs and he looked after the ones who caused him no bother. This was the case with Roger’s gang and the reason he had tipped them off about the warehouse job. Alternatively, those that did not tow the line would be soundly put in their place and if they continued to make trouble they would find themselves back in front of the magistrates. All the gangs were ex-prisoners and none of them knew any of the other gangs that Keith had dealings with. He insisted that only the gang leaders would know him and only they would bring the merchandise to him.

The meeting between him and Roger had not gone as he would have liked. He was not in the habit of negotiating with the gang leaders. Whatever he offered he expected them to accept. Unbeknown to Roger the gang was on a warning and this meant only one thing in Keith’s eyes. Something would have to be done to bring them back in line.

Whilst waiting for Bert and Pete, Roger downed a couple of glasses of whisky. The knock on the door came as he handed the empty glass to Mick for a refill. Roger was so pleased with himself that he felt like celebrating. Once he had let the others in Mick obliged Roger by refilling his glass. He thrust a can into the hands of Bert and Pete as they removed dirty clothes from the chairs around the table. Not knowing quite what to do with them they looked at each other and decided to drop them on the floor.

      “I think you will be pleased with the outcome of my meeting with the
‘fence’
this morning” Roger bragged as he smiled at each of them. “Even though I say so myself I negotiated our best deal ever”, He continued.

He went on to tell them how he had stuck to his guns and managed to squeeze more out of the Fence than was first offered. He elaborated his story to make himself look big in the eyes of the others. He felt the need to do this because of the threat posed by Bert to take over the leadership role, if or when the opportunity presented itself. He knew of Bert’s ambition to lead but he was also aware that this would not happen whilst the others were satisfied with his leadership.

       “I finally managed to get £1000 out of him”, he finally announced.

The gasps that came from Pete and Mick were an indication of his success. The expression on Bert’s face was of disappointment as he knew the trinkets he had bagged were worth a lot more than the amount Roger had managed to get. Although he was unhappy with the outcome of the nights work he did not challenge Roger’s honesty in regard to the payout.

      “Here is your share Mick”, said Roger as he handed him ten £20 notes.

He guessed this would be mainly spent on restocking the drinks cupboard. He turned to Bert and handed him £450. “Take this for you and Pete”, he said.

The reason for the extra amount was due to Bert using his car on the jobs and him and Pete having to drive over to Mick’s most of the time. The remaining £350 was his. Everyone agreed when they first began to work together that as leader and with the role his van played in the business he should have the lion share of the takings. It was also agreed on the basis that he would deal solely with the
‘Fence’

Whatever Bert thought of the deal struck by Roger he was certain that if he said it was
a grand
then he knew it would have been that amount.

After a couple more drinks the gang split up. They had all been briefed on the forthcoming job at the warehouse and to maximise the quantity of boxes they would be able to take Roger had asked Bert to hire a ‘Luton’ type van. Before leaving the flat Bert assured them that the van would be available.

      “Will you need the lockup on Sunday”? Mick asked.

      “Not this time Mick, Bert and I will take the loot straight to the other place”, Roger replied.

This meant the factory unit that Roger had met Keith that morning. On the odd occasion that they had large items Roger would contact Keith and inform him of the need to go to the unit. On these occasions Bert had been with Roger to help him unload.

With a nod of the head as he reached the door Roger left the flat a couple of minutes after Bert and Pete. The next meeting would be in the car park of the ‘Angel’, a pub they had sometimes used in the city to plan a job.

Right now there were a couple of calls Roger wanted to make. First he would go to the bookies and put some of his takings on a horse that was fancied to do well by Claire Balding as she announced the runners and riders of the race card for the Thursday meeting. He still had time to place his bet as the horse was running in the 3.30 race that afternoon.

His second port of call would be to the off-licence to stock up with some beer and a bottle of his favourite whisky. He intended to watch the race on the box when he returned home.

Chapter 5
 

Returning Home
 

The Campbell’s had landed in the early hours of Friday morning and thought it best to make their way home as soon as they had gathered their luggage and passed through customs. They were all exhausted due to the long wait at the airport in Portugal, the flight home and the interminable wait for the cases to appear on the carousel in the baggage area.

They would have a stop on the way home to have breakfast and to give James a rest as they knew the journey home would be a long one.

The concerns of both David and Jennifer about James’s ability not to be ill on the aeroplane were allayed. He showed no signs either on the way out or on the way home, in fact he was totally enthralled with the whole experience. It appeared that his travel sickness was only noticeable when riding in the car.

After an hour or so of travelling they pulled into a service station and David ordered a cooked breakfast for them all. They sat and ate and continued the conversation they had been having in the car about the holiday. Each one had something they remembered most. For Jennifer it was the wildlife park they had visited in the second week.

David was taken by the sea life park and the snorkelling that he had done. As for Mandy she wished she could stay there forever. She had met a group of girls and took part in most of the entertainment on offer. James also like snorkelling with his dad and the hotel had a kid’s club which he liked. He joined in all the activities and won a tee-shirt in the art competition on the first week.

Back on the road it wasn’t long before both of the children were asleep. Jennifer was still wondering what souvenir they should give to the Simpson’s on their return.

David was thinking out loud about the house and if everything was alright.

He was contemplating how he would tackle the inevitable work he would need to do in the garden as well as cleaning the car before he went back to work on Monday. He also needed to collect the mail held back at the sorting office as soon as the car was unloaded.

After a further two hours driving they were close to home. Jennifer turned in her seat and gently woke the children.