powder round the rims of his nostrils.
He subjected Connolly to a rapid once-over, and then grinned like a monkey and said, ‘’ello, darlin’. Nice tits.’
‘Yeah, nice bum yourself,’ Connolly replied, injecting a bit of grimth into it. ‘Settle down, I want to talk to you.’
Undeterred, Tommy put his cue on the table and stepped round the end of it, to lean against the long side and look her up and down again. ‘What’s a nice girl like you doin’ in a place like this?’
‘Oh, that’s original,’ said Connolly.
‘Come looking for The Flynn, eh? An’ I don’t blame you, darlin’. Lots o’ girls have travelled the old Silk Route before. As in Silk Root, geddit?’ He gave an explanatory thrust of his pelvis. ‘J’wanna come back to my shag-pit for a little bit of that old Tommy magic? Let me light your fire, baby, y’know what I’m sayin’? I got some sweet blow, some tabs of E, and I ain’t got to work till tonight. We can rock the Kasbah a-a-all afternoon.’
Jeez, what an eejit, Connolly thought. ‘Would y’ever listen to yourself?’ she said. ‘Janey Mack, you’re in Barons Court, not Orange County.’
Out of the corner of her eye she had been watching the friend, who had got down off his stool and had been quietly working his way towards the exit, evidently a bit more on the ball than The Flynn. When Tommy mentioned the blow, he abandoned subtlety and did a legger out of the door and down the stairs.
Tommy turned his head towards the movement, registered what had happened, frowned and said, ‘What’s up with him?’
‘He’s twigged that I am not just a babe, Tommy darlin’, I’m a policeman babe. A copper. The plod. A Gard. Are you with me?’
‘Where’s your uniform, then?’
‘Jesus, Mary and Joseph. I’m a detective constable, ya gom,’ Connolly spelled it out. Unlike his friend, Tommy was evidently too amped to worry about it. Besides, people who took a lot of drugs socially often forgot, or refused to believe, that they were illegal. He only grinned the wider. ‘Woah! I’ve never got it on with the filth before. New experience or what! It’s getting me going. C’mon, darlin’, you are hot. Let’s go and r–i–ide to the stars on Tommy’s love rocket.’ He made a taking off gesture with one hand so extravagant he had to grab the table with the other for balance. ‘I’m gonna bang you till your ears rattle, babe.’
‘Will you cool the head, for feck’s sake,’ Connolly said with sobering weariness. ‘I want to talk to you about Michael Horden.’
‘Mike? What you want with Mike?’ He was still grinning and jiggling, but she could see now he was listening. ‘Jeez, that’s a downer. I mean, Mike’s OK, but he is not Tommy. No way.’
‘Never mind. I want to know about him. You worked with him, didn’t you, Tommy?’
‘I ain’t seen Mike in weeks,’ he said, the grin fading into sullenness. ‘You are really puttin’ me off now, you know that? I was ready to give you the full benefit of the Flynn Big Bang, and we could have had us a nice time, you bein’ what I would normally call one shaggable babe. But now you’re goin’ to have to do some fast talkin’ to get me back in the mood, know what I’m sayin’?’
‘Mike Horden,’ Connolly said implacably. ‘Tell me everything you know about him and I won’t pat you down and nick you for your stash. All right? I’m not interested in your drugs or your scrawny little bod, Tommy me darlin’, just information about Michael Horden. You got him the job at Ransom’s, didn’t you?’
Tommy shrugged. ‘He asked me if they were taking people on. I told him they were always interested in new people, if they looked right.’
‘And did he look right?’
‘Yeah. He was a top-looking bloke. I told him he ought to sign on wiv a nude butler agency. I do that, some nights. You can make top dollar, ’specially if you talk posh.’
‘Did he talk posh?’
‘He was tryna talk street wiv
He subjected Connolly to a rapid once-over, and then grinned like a monkey and said, ‘’ello, darlin’. Nice tits.’
‘Yeah, nice bum yourself,’ Connolly replied, injecting a bit of grimth into it. ‘Settle down, I want to talk to you.’
Undeterred, Tommy put his cue on the table and stepped round the end of it, to lean against the long side and look her up and down again. ‘What’s a nice girl like you doin’ in a place like this?’
‘Oh, that’s original,’ said Connolly.
‘Come looking for The Flynn, eh? An’ I don’t blame you, darlin’. Lots o’ girls have travelled the old Silk Route before. As in Silk Root, geddit?’ He gave an explanatory thrust of his pelvis. ‘J’wanna come back to my shag-pit for a little bit of that old Tommy magic? Let me light your fire, baby, y’know what I’m sayin’? I got some sweet blow, some tabs of E, and I ain’t got to work till tonight. We can rock the Kasbah a-a-all afternoon.’
Jeez, what an eejit, Connolly thought. ‘Would y’ever listen to yourself?’ she said. ‘Janey Mack, you’re in Barons Court, not Orange County.’
Out of the corner of her eye she had been watching the friend, who had got down off his stool and had been quietly working his way towards the exit, evidently a bit more on the ball than The Flynn. When Tommy mentioned the blow, he abandoned subtlety and did a legger out of the door and down the stairs.
Tommy turned his head towards the movement, registered what had happened, frowned and said, ‘What’s up with him?’
‘He’s twigged that I am not just a babe, Tommy darlin’, I’m a policeman babe. A copper. The plod. A Gard. Are you with me?’
‘Where’s your uniform, then?’
‘Jesus, Mary and Joseph. I’m a detective constable, ya gom,’ Connolly spelled it out. Unlike his friend, Tommy was evidently too amped to worry about it. Besides, people who took a lot of drugs socially often forgot, or refused to believe, that they were illegal. He only grinned the wider. ‘Woah! I’ve never got it on with the filth before. New experience or what! It’s getting me going. C’mon, darlin’, you are hot. Let’s go and r–i–ide to the stars on Tommy’s love rocket.’ He made a taking off gesture with one hand so extravagant he had to grab the table with the other for balance. ‘I’m gonna bang you till your ears rattle, babe.’
‘Will you cool the head, for feck’s sake,’ Connolly said with sobering weariness. ‘I want to talk to you about Michael Horden.’
‘Mike? What you want with Mike?’ He was still grinning and jiggling, but she could see now he was listening. ‘Jeez, that’s a downer. I mean, Mike’s OK, but he is not Tommy. No way.’
‘Never mind. I want to know about him. You worked with him, didn’t you, Tommy?’
‘I ain’t seen Mike in weeks,’ he said, the grin fading into sullenness. ‘You are really puttin’ me off now, you know that? I was ready to give you the full benefit of the Flynn Big Bang, and we could have had us a nice time, you bein’ what I would normally call one shaggable babe. But now you’re goin’ to have to do some fast talkin’ to get me back in the mood, know what I’m sayin’?’
‘Mike Horden,’ Connolly said implacably. ‘Tell me everything you know about him and I won’t pat you down and nick you for your stash. All right? I’m not interested in your drugs or your scrawny little bod, Tommy me darlin’, just information about Michael Horden. You got him the job at Ransom’s, didn’t you?’
Tommy shrugged. ‘He asked me if they were taking people on. I told him they were always interested in new people, if they looked right.’
‘And did he look right?’
‘Yeah. He was a top-looking bloke. I told him he ought to sign on wiv a nude butler agency. I do that, some nights. You can make top dollar, ’specially if you talk posh.’
‘Did he talk posh?’
‘He was tryna talk street wiv
Similar Books
