Pay Off by Stephen Leather Page B

bit of money involved, I suppose he just wants to confirm who he's working for.' That sounded about as solid as a self-assembly kitchen unit, because if it was bodyguards I'd wanted then I would obviously have gone to Tony, but he let that pass.
    'What do you want to do with him?' he asked.
    'Let me talk to him. I'll point out the error of his ways.'
    'I could get my two friends there to give him the good news.'
    'No, I don't want him hurt, he was just a little overenthusiastic. Can I borrow them for a few minutes, though?'
    'Sure. They won't break.'
    I walked over the bridge and down to the path where the three of them sat like a row of brass monkeys. I stood in front of Iwanek and he looked up at me, unsmiling.
    'Satisfied?' I asked, and I knew I had to be careful because everything I said would be relayed back to Tony and I was in enough trouble already. He just kept looking at me, curious rather than afraid.
    'Are you satisfied?' I repeated. I had to convince him that I was in control, a hard man who could cause him a lot of grief if I chose to. The two men sitting like a couple of bookends would go a long way to persuading him, and if the worst came to the worst I knew they could hurt him badly. But then I'd run the risk of losing him.
    'You wouldn't have expected me to accept the sort of job you offered without knowing what I was getting into,' he said, and the tone left me in no doubt that he was the hard man, not me.
    'You've already accepted the job and you took my money. It's too late to be checking up on me. You're hired and there's no going back. You've given me a dilemma, Jim. I can't have you following me all over London, now 88 can 1? You'll get in my way. But if I break your legs, correction, if I get these two to break your legs, then you'll be no use to me. What shall I do, Jim? Advise me.'
    'These two don't worry me,' he said, and I believed him. 'But I've got the message. I wanted to know who you are, what you do, and the sort of circles you move in. I still don't know what you're up to, but I've an idea now of the sort of business you're in. I won't bother you again. Give me a call when you're ready.'
    He got to his feet and walked off without a backward look, leaving me to escort the two heavies back to Tony.
    'I don't suppose you'd tell me what you're up to even if I asked,' he said. 'So I won't.'
    'I'll be all right,' I replied. 'I know what I'm doing.'
    I didn't hear a cock crow and the sky didn't split open to unleash a bolt of lightning, but I knew I'd lied three times and that the third lie had slipped off my tongue like butter off a hot knife. I left Tony behind and went off in search of a cab, having added years to the hypothetical portrait in my hypothetical attic.
    The evening sky was threatening rain as McKinley braked sharply in front of Sammy's flat, sharply enough to throw me forward but not sharply enough to snap the seat belt and send me tumbling over the bonnet. Not quite. The taxi driver who'd managed to slam on his brakes and squeal to a halt three inches from our rear bumper hit his horn angrily, reversed his cab and drove past glaring at McKinley who took not a blind bit of notice.
    'I'll wait here, boss,' he said.
    'You're double parked, Get-Up, but we won't be long,' I 89 replied, but I was only halfway out of the Granada as she came through the front door and down the steps.
    She'd curled her red hair and it bounced and shimmered as she walked, the ends stroking her bare shoulders. Her dress was long and black and could have been worn to a funeral if she'd wanted to be gang-raped by the pall bearers. It was slashed from the ground to just below her waist on both sides and her long brown legs flashed in and out as she clicked down the steps on high heels. Three things held the dress up, two thread-like silver chains across each shoulder and the swell of her breasts. Around her perfect neck was a single strand of pearls matched by a smaller group on her left wrist. It was all the