The Tale of the Wolf (The Kenino Wolf Series) by Cyrus Chainey Page B

Betsy.
    The day was dragging the way only sitting in a government office could: miserably. After about three hours that felt like forty years, during which I was sure I’d grown a beard, the receptionist informed me that Mrs Hardwicke would see me soon. I smiled meekly. It was already one o’clock, and whatever strength the fry up had given me had long since dissipated.
    I left just after seven exhausted, drained from my encounter with the system. The various forms and bureaucratic red tape that I’d had to get involved in wiped out my strength. But I’d recovered Betsy, she was mine again and I was allowed to drive her. I grabbed a mini-cab and raced towards The Hanging Man. Curtis had phoned and told me he’d done the recon.
    I reached just after eight. Tabatha and Curtis were already there, keen as mustard, sitting in one of the booths.
    ‘ Did you sort it or are you still a pedestrian?’ Tabatha said laughing when she saw me.
    ‘ Yes. It’s sorted.’ I returned.
    ‘ Shall we begin?’ Curtis was being ultra-professional.
    On the table was a folder, I sat down and Curtis flipped it open. As much as Curtis can be a bit of a clown, when it came to things like this I had to respect his professionalism.
    ‘ Okay.’ He continued. ‘I went down to the address you give me: big swanky place, proper country house. Your man was right … the place is empty’
    ‘ How do you know?’ I queried.
    ‘ I knocked the door.’
    ‘ What!’
    ‘ Don’t worry I was pretending to be a gardener. I had a load of tools in the ride. ’
    ‘ What if someone had answered? ’
    ‘ I would have done the gardening. Money’s money, Wolfy. I know what I’m doing. Anyway this is the place.’ He pulled out a couple of photos of the building. ‘I think the car switch is a good idea. We can park the second vehicle here.’ He pulled out an ordinance survey map. He’d circled the location. In one of my fits of paranoia I'd phoned Curtis and told him that we needed a car switch. I still didn’t trust any of it.
    ‘ What about the hedge? ’ Colin had said there was a secret entrance in to the compound; a hedge that overlapped another one, giving the impression from a distance of unbroken greenery.
    ‘ It was there. Everything your guy said was true to the letter. ’
    ‘ See?’ Tabatha said digging me in the ribs. ‘I told you Colin was alright. You’re just paranoid.’
    I smiled mockingly. I couldn’t be arsed to get in to it. Curtis finished giving us the run down. He’d really done his homework. It was really on. We were really going to do this.

    With Betsy stuck at Leon’s I got Curtis to give me a lift. I wasn’t going to move her until I’d double-checked the status of my beloved motor at the local police station, as well as my own. Regardless of what the DVLA was saying I was being cautious.
    I walked into my flat tired and weary, but excited, and then I saw him sitting in my armchair, and understood how joy is truly fleeting. It was Bosley.
    ‘ What d’fuck are you doing in my house?’ I’d just been planning a diamond heist and had come home to find Bosley sitting in my front room. To say my heart was pumping was an understatement. I had to play it cool. ‘I hope whatever reason you have is accompanied by a warrant.’
    He didn’t respond, just continued to stare daggers.
    ‘ A warrant? You know … the bit of paper that gives you the right to turnover my house?’
    ‘ This isn’t how it’s meant to be?’ he asked, looking round at the debris. The flat was wrecked. Bosley was raging but holding it in.
    ‘ What? How the fuck d’ya think I live?’
    All my personal belongings were scattered everywhere. My clothes, papers all my bits were on the floor. The furniture and all the electronics were where they were supposed to be but it was obvious that the place had been turned over.
    ‘ I didn’t do this,’ Bosley replied.
    ‘ Then who did?’
    ‘ I don’t know.’
    ‘ You don’t know? You’re