‘I can’t believe you said that!’ Nicky explained. ‘It’s easy! Just like taking candy from a baby, all you got to do is creep up behind him and give him a wallop – just mess him up a bit!’
‘Why!’
‘You know why – he owes me a grand – I mean business!’
‘I might hit him too hard, what then!’
‘I wouldn’t be in your shoes!’
Warren wasn’t one of God’s brightest subjects. However he put fear into men’s hearts with his towering physique and size 12 boots – he was a good bodyguard. No one ever got passed him, when he stood in a door way, it was as good as having a door. Warren on the other hand was rather impetuous and short tempered and sometimes his actions were quite lethal and had a permanency about them. If Warren hit you, you didn’t ever get up again. If he missed it was better to pretend dead and stay down.
Nicky said ‘Are you listening to me!’ Nicky raised his eyebrows. ‘Just a small tap!’
Nicky put one of those cigarettes in his mouth and sucked on it – he’d given up smoking eleven days ago. It was foul tasting as usual and he tossed the object towards the rubbish bin. It missed like all the rest.
* * * *
Jack thought his end had come, bullets from many guns were racing towards him as he fled through the woods and then down this path, only to find a wall in the way, he was trapped. The trouble was that he never had the chance to explain his position as a high ranking German Officer. It was supposed to be a smooth operation. All he had to do was obtain a uniform of a private in the German Army. What he found was a dead German who just happened to be his target and I suppose he was glad in one sense that he didn’t have to lift a finger to do you know what, but at the same time it would be credited to his ability of being an expert in unarmed combat, and of course when the British forces inspected the body more closely they would realise that the man took his own life.
Jack had placed himself in jeopardy when he exchanged uniforms. He had not surrendered when challenged and decided to run as quickly as he could away from a group of British soldiers who seemed intent on firing first and asking questions later.
Jack stopped suddenly, no use in running away. He couldn’t go back. It was useless. He leaned against the wall and disappeared through it as the group of soldiers came round the corner.
* * * *
When Jack awoke he found himself in bed. At first he thought he was in hospital and any moment he would be marched off to be interrogated. After half an hour passed he gave up that idea and decided to investigate. He got out of bed. It was very quiet in the room and the sun was shafting through the patio doors which led out to a small balcony. He looked over the edge and found he was five floors up. He was dressed in pink striped pyjamas, which normally he would never be seen dead in. He walked into the bathroom and looked into a mirror and again his face had altered in appearance and yet he felt the same in other ways, it was an uncanny feeling. He washed and dressed and as before the clothes fitted him and they felt good and looser, just like……when I was a cowboy…a cowboy, when was I ever a cowboy? Jack shook his head, must get these silly ideas out of my head. He stopped suddenly in front of the mirror again. Where’s the uniform……..he mumbles to himself – what uniform, I didn’t have a uniform – what am I talking about – I must be going mad! Jack started to familiarise himself with the surroundings of the flat. Everything appeared to be kind of new, not rubbishy, with fitted carpets and designer lighting.
Jack was getting used to the idea of his position, ‘another adventure,’ he mumbled. Flashes of the past kept leaping into his mind and then disappearing and now a new set of characters were entering his life and all of a sudden the names of Nicky and Warren came into his mind and he wondered why when there was a knock on his door.
* * * *
Jack was finalising details of a deal and had acquired more than enough to pay off Nicky and a few other loan sharks that had fallen his way. This deal did not put him in debt with his new backer because he had promised to kill off Nicky Roland. It was a take it or leave it package. ‘I’ll take it!’ said Jack. ‘I’ll do just about anything to get him off of my back!’
Jack shook hands with his mysterious guest and he parted. Jack looked down at twelve and half thousand pounds, another 12½ thousand after the job was completed, can’t be bad. Where to hide it was another worry – why not bank it – it will be safe enough there if everything goes pear-shape and I have to pay it, he thought. Jack was packing the money in a large suitcase when he heard his doorbell go. He tip-toe’d to the door and looked through the peep-hole. It was Warren. Jarvis kept quiet, thinking, ‘What shall I do?’ – let him in, no I can’t do that. Nicky must have sent him.
Warren shouted through the door ‘I know you’re in there, I’ve been watching your flat for the last two hours – I’m coming in whether you like it or not!’
Action speak louder than words and Jarvis dived into his glory hole of a cupboard and tossing aside all things that were irrelevant for his escape, he spied what he was looking for, and picked up a length of rope. He went out to the balcony with case in hand, tied one end onto the railings and shinned down to the lower floor balcony and knocked on the window in frantically. He heard his flat door giving in to Warrens massive shoulders. A splinter of wood comes flying out of the window and he can heard a rush of size 12 boots scurrying across his floor as he knocked again at the window. At last the door opened and Jarvis pushes through saying, ‘Thank you,’ and saw the shadow of Warren as he clambered down the rope after him.
The rope snapped, but Warren managed to hold onto the rails and with a massive exertion of strength leapt over the balcony rails and fell headlong through the glass. Picking himself up said, ‘Thank you’ and disappeared out of the door after Jack. He had never ran so quickly in his life before, down and down those steps wasn’t easy and he could hear Warren’s boots scuffling not far behind. Jack opened his car by remote control, opened the door and flung himself into the driving seat and locked the doors. He started the engine up and Warren jumped onto his bonnet. Jack moved forward and braked suddenly to try and remove Warren, but to no avail. He held on like a leech. Jack was sweating now and had that worried look, like an old Spaniel. In the time that it took Jack to assess the situation Warren was sitting on the roof of the car and he swung one of his size 12 boots into the windscreen and it smashed completely and Warren’s big hairy hand came towards Jack’s throat.
Jack thought, ‘It’s now or never.’ as he pushed his foot on the accelerator right down to the floor. The jar of the car moving forward made Warren lose his grip, whether it was that dislodged him or the fact that he hit an overhead concrete beam – it was hard to say. Jack was free and he was off. He looked into his rear-view mirror. Warren was sitting rubbing his side and he clenched his other hand towards the car. ‘Damn him!’ Jack thought. ‘Looks like a double killing!’
Jack reached the bank and lodged his twelve and a half grand into his account. He felt a certain amount satisfaction at first, how he had managed to shake off Warren and at the same time thwart Nicky’s timely plan of having him worked over by Warren – he could have been killed!
But Jack hadn’t realised Warren’s potential tenacity. He was waiting for him outside the bank. ‘Oh dear!’ said Jack out loud. ‘What am I to do!’ ‘Pardon me!’ said a passer-by and when he looked he saw a beautiful looking brunette with curves in the right places. ‘Oh! Nothing – I was talking out loud!’ The girl started to move off. Jack called her back. ‘I say! You wouldn’t care to do me a favour, would you?’ The girl said ‘Maybe! ‘Well you see that man in the car, I wondered if you could distract him, somehow – he’s after me!’ The girl looked at the beefy man in the car and gulped rather nervously. ‘He’s big isn’t he! I don’t know! You haven’t murdered anyone?’ ‘No! Not yet!’ said Jack. The girl hesitated. ‘I’m not sure whether I can do this!’ ‘Of course you can!’ said Jack with as much conviction as a man sinking into quagmire. ‘Look, all you need to say – can you help me, I am looking for Stone Street, that’s all! I’ll take you to lunch if you do this for me and besides you will be saving me from going to the hospital as an in patient! I’ll meet you round the corner!’ pointing across the street. ‘By the way, what’s your name?’ ‘Sally Ann Dancer!’ As she walked away towards Warren, Jack thought what a lucky find, a beautiful find. Then her name struck a chord and he wondered where he had heard that name before, but as much as he tried he just could not bring it to mind.
Warren noticed this girl who came out of the bank, she was rather striking but she appeared to be lost. She seemed to go this way and that way, hesitating and stopping, with a look of despair etched on her face. Warren looked out of the car window. ‘Can I help you miss?’ ‘Yes!’ She said. ‘Can you direct me to Stone Street?’ Warren said ‘Er! Yes, of course!’ He turned his back on the bank. Jack made his move, he was out and round the corner before Warren even began to give his instructions to the young lady. Warren turned briefly and gave the bank a quick glance and carried on with his instructions. She thanked him and crossed the road in the direction he had indicated. He watched her every step of the way until she disappeared round the corner slap in the arms of Jack, who promptly kissed her fully on the mouth.
Jack linked his arm into hers and with a furtive look over his shoulder he whisked her away to a Bistro he knew of in a very quiet area of that part of town. Sally Ann was quite breathless as they entered the café. They sat next to the window, so that Jack could keep a watchful eye outside should Warren feel that it might be a good idea to follow the girl.
Jack and Sally wined and dined well without interruptions and Jack told his predicament to Sally. Sally said, ‘Do you have to kill this Nicky and Warren?’ Jack said, ‘Well! I have been paid quite a lot of money to do it and if I don’t fulfil the contract, I probably shall be the one being dead!’
‘Apparently my mysterious backer stated that Nicky Roland and his band of men were encroaching on his territory and they chose me to do the job, being an outsider because I would be able to spot my target without being noticed myself, being a small fish in a very large barrel, and besides they couldn’t be seen doing it as it may result in a gang war should they be recognised as starting it!’
Sally said she was sure there was a way of getting rid of Nicky and Warren and it seems to make sense that if you get rid of those two the rest of the gang will fold up and run away.
Jack said he would give some thought to the situation. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the appearance of Warren looking straight at them through the café window. The bulge in the jacket Warren was wearing signified that he was carrying a gun. ‘Looks like our plans are being decided for us,’ said Sally.
There was no escape as there was only one exit and that was the way they had come in. Jack paid the bill and both he and Sally went out to a fuming Warren who recognised the girl as the one he had given instructions to earlier.
He grabbed Sally’s arm and squeezed it tightly and said, ‘Just you wait – I’m going to have some fun with you later.’ At the same time he grabbed Jack by the back of the neck. His hand was so big he could almost close his fingers round to the front. Jack was beginning to choke and tears were forming in his eyes from the result of his brutal handling.
A car pulled up and Warren slung Sally bodily into the back of the car and slugged Jack with the gun butt and pushed him across Sally’s lap. Warren smirked as he got in the front seat by the driver and turned and pointed a gun at Sally. No one in the street had noticed anything different because Warren although very bulky could move like a ballet dancer – a lot quicker than most persons would give him credit for.
They soon arrived at Nicky’s headquarters. Jack was immediately tied up, but Sally was allowed to sit in comfort. Warren waved his gun about the room and Nicky said, ‘Quit waving that about.’ Warren said, ‘It didn’t matter as the gun was loaded with blanks.’ Sally’s eyes glazed over when she heard there were blanks in the gun. Nicky said, ‘Blanks! Why blanks?’ Warren stated that it was too dangerous to load with live bullets – ‘You know boss I don’t like shooting people. Hitting them is okay!’ Nicky went to a cupboard and pulled out an open cartridge box and placed them on the table in front of Warren. Well I’m afraid you will have to do some killing later, so you had better put some real bullets in your gun.
Jack began to stir and tried to move his hands, but he was all tied up. Sally had one hand on the table and the other was behind Jack’s chair trying to untie his bonds which was very difficult to do with one hand.
Nicky said, ‘Warren go and make a cup of tea for our guests, let’s be civilised about this.’ Warren grunted and went out into the kitchen. There was a clatter of cups and saucers from the next room.
Nicky said, ‘Jack I’m glad you’re awake, I’m so sorry about Warren he does hit very hard, the man doesn’t know his own strength – I’ve often told him about it, but as you know there are some dogs you can’t teach a new trick to.’
‘I heard over the grapevine that you have been paid a lot of money to take me out.’ Jack realised he had been sold out and he was going to be the fall guy and he wondered whether the money he was given was real. It was too late now to check that theory. He felt his hands loosen from the cords, but he left them where they were and if the chance came, he would have to commit murder to get them both out of the trouble they found themselves in.
‘You will not be getting the second half of your payment anyway,’ Jack then understood what had happened. Warren had happened. He must have seen his visitor and put two and two together and came up with the right answer. At that moment there was an almighty crash from the kitchen and briefly Warren came to the door holding his head and Nicky rushed out. Jack quickly seized the gun, emptied the blanks onto the floor by his feet and placed three live bullets in it and he only managed to get the gun back on the table in time, although the gun was much nearer to Jack and Sally, but that didn’t seem to matter because Jack was kissing Sally.
Nicky came back into the room and a somewhat glazed looking Warren came back with a tray of tea. It was mostly running round the tray as while Warren was making tea, the ironing board came out of the cupboard and hit him on the head, unfortunately the iron was tied to the board as he bent down to pick up a spoon.
‘Saying goodbye to one another – how touching.’ Warren picked up his gun and started waving it about and nobody noticed the contents of the cartridge case.
‘Stop waving that gun around!’
Warren said, ‘It’s only blanks, boss and aimed the gun at Nicky’s head and pressed the trigger – imagine the astonished look on Warren’s face as Nicky slumped forward across the table upsetting the cups and saucers. Jack quickly rose and upturned the table against Warren and another shot rang out. Somehow Warren had shot himself in the stomach as he must have been holding the gun loosely and as the table turned it bent the gun towards himself as he was about shoot at Jack and Sally.
* * * *
Sally and Jack were eating breakfast on the balcony of Jack’s flat and at the same time reading newspapers that had been delivered and read the headline “Gangsters fall out over money! Two killed in what looked like a squabble over money, a bag containing £12,500 was found in a well known villain’s hideout. The police are not looking for anyone else.”
They finished breakfast and went into the bedroom and Sally said to Jack, ‘I could never love someone who would commit murder – but in your case I’ll make an exception. So kiss me!’ As they clung to each other, they fell onto the bed and they both disappeared.
