continued, 'but that disnae matter, because getting your drone back is much more important to me than havin' a mega bevvy away in the sun wae all ma pals.'
Unlike his son, Tommy Duff was no fool and he did not take kindly to anyone trying to take the piss. In his world receiving unconditional respect and fear in equal measure from the local community was essential to the smooth running of his business. So, if word was somehow to get round that he'd been done over by a pair of cheeky little toe-rags, his street credibility would suffer. As a consequence, Tommy badly wanted to shut this mess down as quickly as possible and then inflict the maximum pain possible, on whoever was behind the theft of his drone. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. It was bad enough to have the drone stolen on its very first outing. But now, to put the tin lid on it, the cheeky bastard of a thief wanted to sell it back to him. Not fuckin' funny, Tommy. At all. Doing nothing was not an option and there will be serious consequences down the line for those responsible, promised Tommy to himself. But the first priority was to get the drone back and then punish whoever was behind the scam.
'Okay, here's the plan, Danny. You go to the park tomorrow at eleven o'clock tomorrow morning with the five hundred in a big envelope. Then do exactly what you're told, so I can get my drone back in one piece. But the second you have your hands on the drone, you phone me right away, understand? After that all bets are off and it’ll be me who’s calling the shots. There are only two ways in and out of that park and I'll have some of our best boys covering both of them. I swear to God that, when I get my hands on whoever's behind this, they’ll be sorry they were ever born.'
Chapter 19
At ten-thirty the next morning Annie and Jamie were already in position, parked behind a row of lock-up garages, which they'd found the previous evening during a thorough recce of the area. The garages adjoined the park's boundary fence and were completely screened from passing traffic, making the location a perfect base for what Annie had in mind. She was talking through the details of her plan for the exchange with Fazzo, which was scheduled to take place at eleven o'clock. But it soon became obvious to her that Jamie was getting cold feet.
'Look, maybe we should just call it off, Annie, and quit while we're ahead. I mean this isn't a game, is it? These people are real gangsters, and they're going to be totally pissed off at having to hand over five hundred pounds just to get their own property back.'
'I know, it's great isn't it?' said Annie, smiling broadly. 'Trust me, Jamie, this isn't about the money. This is payback for what we've both suffered at the hands of that horrible little thug. So just relax and enjoy it.'
'Yeah, but seriously, Annie. If your plan goes wrong, we could both end up in adjacent beds back at the Infirmary.'
'Don't worry, nothing bad is going to happen, I promise. Thugs and bullies shouldn't get to win all the time and sometimes they need to be reminded of that. What they hate most in the world is being laughed at. They like to think that they're somehow totally cool and respected. So if we can pull this off, the thought that everyone in the area is laughing fit to burst at his expense will really hurt Fazzo.’
'Okay then, walk me through it one more time. Convince me,' said Jamie.
'Look I'm not stupid enough to think that they'll just hand over the money, without trying something. So we’ll be one step ahead of them all the way. This is just like one of our college assignments, remember, where we have to assess all of the known risks and then work out a plan to manage them. So that's what I've done.'
'Yes but this isn't a class assignment, is it? This is real life, Annie, and if we mess up here, the downside isn't just a low grade, it's a whole world of pain and blood. Our blood. That's the big
Unlike his son, Tommy Duff was no fool and he did not take kindly to anyone trying to take the piss. In his world receiving unconditional respect and fear in equal measure from the local community was essential to the smooth running of his business. So, if word was somehow to get round that he'd been done over by a pair of cheeky little toe-rags, his street credibility would suffer. As a consequence, Tommy badly wanted to shut this mess down as quickly as possible and then inflict the maximum pain possible, on whoever was behind the theft of his drone. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. It was bad enough to have the drone stolen on its very first outing. But now, to put the tin lid on it, the cheeky bastard of a thief wanted to sell it back to him. Not fuckin' funny, Tommy. At all. Doing nothing was not an option and there will be serious consequences down the line for those responsible, promised Tommy to himself. But the first priority was to get the drone back and then punish whoever was behind the scam.
'Okay, here's the plan, Danny. You go to the park tomorrow at eleven o'clock tomorrow morning with the five hundred in a big envelope. Then do exactly what you're told, so I can get my drone back in one piece. But the second you have your hands on the drone, you phone me right away, understand? After that all bets are off and it’ll be me who’s calling the shots. There are only two ways in and out of that park and I'll have some of our best boys covering both of them. I swear to God that, when I get my hands on whoever's behind this, they’ll be sorry they were ever born.'
Chapter 19
At ten-thirty the next morning Annie and Jamie were already in position, parked behind a row of lock-up garages, which they'd found the previous evening during a thorough recce of the area. The garages adjoined the park's boundary fence and were completely screened from passing traffic, making the location a perfect base for what Annie had in mind. She was talking through the details of her plan for the exchange with Fazzo, which was scheduled to take place at eleven o'clock. But it soon became obvious to her that Jamie was getting cold feet.
'Look, maybe we should just call it off, Annie, and quit while we're ahead. I mean this isn't a game, is it? These people are real gangsters, and they're going to be totally pissed off at having to hand over five hundred pounds just to get their own property back.'
'I know, it's great isn't it?' said Annie, smiling broadly. 'Trust me, Jamie, this isn't about the money. This is payback for what we've both suffered at the hands of that horrible little thug. So just relax and enjoy it.'
'Yeah, but seriously, Annie. If your plan goes wrong, we could both end up in adjacent beds back at the Infirmary.'
'Don't worry, nothing bad is going to happen, I promise. Thugs and bullies shouldn't get to win all the time and sometimes they need to be reminded of that. What they hate most in the world is being laughed at. They like to think that they're somehow totally cool and respected. So if we can pull this off, the thought that everyone in the area is laughing fit to burst at his expense will really hurt Fazzo.’
'Okay then, walk me through it one more time. Convince me,' said Jamie.
'Look I'm not stupid enough to think that they'll just hand over the money, without trying something. So we’ll be one step ahead of them all the way. This is just like one of our college assignments, remember, where we have to assess all of the known risks and then work out a plan to manage them. So that's what I've done.'
'Yes but this isn't a class assignment, is it? This is real life, Annie, and if we mess up here, the downside isn't just a low grade, it's a whole world of pain and blood. Our blood. That's the big
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