to hear that, son. Steer comes up for trial soon, so he has to
be sprung some time in the next few days.
You said fifteen thousand? Not much
for the risk involved.
Take it or leave it, son. This isnt
a cheap operation. Your role is only part of it. Theres also his new ID, a
safe passage out of the country, the dosh to tide him over till hes settled.
Theres whatever gear you and his girlfriend decide is needed. Theres a new ID
and a ticket out for her as well.
All right, all right, I get the
picture, Ill do it for the fifteen. You said up front?
Up front, but only for this job.
It was a step down in Raymonds
career and he felt obscurely ashamed. It wasnt the kind of job Wyatt would
line up for.
These paintings, he said.
Times running out for that, too.
Not this weekend but the weekend after. Two days when the collection will be
off the walls and in storage and the alarm system turned off while they
renovate. Chaffey turned his massive head to watch a girl walk by. Like I
said, its a two-man job. You found someone?
My uncle comes to mind.
Chaffey went still. Then he tossed
another pebble. Heard something about him during the week that doesnt exactly
inspire confidence.
Like what?
He tried to flog some precious
stones back to an insurance company and almost got caught by the cops.
Raymond felt the pull of conflicting
emotions. He could picture his uncles nerve and style, but why hadnt Wyatt
told him about the botched handover, had a laugh about it with him, if nothing
else? They were family, after all.
And did Wyatt still have the stones?
But he didnt get caught.
True, true, Chaffey said.
Plus hes stolen paintings before,
Raymond said. Art, stuff like that, its not my thing.
He recreated his apartment in his
head. Half a dozen prints hed rented, along with the furniture.
See if you can arrange a meeting,
Chaffey said.
Have to find him first, Raymond
thought. He coughed and said, About the prison break.
Yes?
Keep it between you and me. My
uncle doesnt need to know about it.
Chaffey swung his huge head around.
Raymond felt the force of the mans hard gaze. Men like Chaffey saw corruption
every day. It corrupted them, gave a corrupt spin to their insights.
You mean he wouldnt approve,
Chaffey said finally, and Raymond would quite happily have strangled Chaffey
then.
* * * *
Fifteen
Chaffey
called in favours and made promises and when Steer was finally moved to the
remand centre in Sunshine he made the trip out there by taxi. The place was
privately run and tried to kid itself that plenty of bright fresh paint and
natural light, and its situation alongside other public buildings, placed it at
the cutting edge of modern incarceration practice, but Chaffey wasnt fooled.
There was no concealing the rifles and batons, the commerce in drugs,
phonecards and cigarettes, the stench of hopelessness and hate the moment you
got through the main door.
Still, hed rather have a
consultation with Steer in the remand centre than in Pentridge, where the
interview rooms were grim and spare, the walls always cold to the touch, the
high windows too smeared and deep-set to catch the light, the air always
ringing with the smack of metal against metal.
Steer, they said, was helping the
maintenance crew. Thered be a thirty-minute wait. Chaffey mentally added
another thirty to that and asked to see the paperwork on his client.
The clerk sighed elaborately. You
want it now?
Chaffey was used to grudging prison
staff. One, he was a lawyer, he had it easy. He didnt have to be shut up with the
dregs of society for hours at a time. Two, lawyers, like cops, kept things to
themselves. They looked at a blokes file and their little minds ticked over
and they went off and did important things. They were right up themselves.
Three, Chaffey looked rich and fat. Four, he didnt wear a uniform. Chaffey
read all of these things in the sour face of the clerk, not necessarily in that
order.
The man put him in a smoky
be sprung some time in the next few days.
You said fifteen thousand? Not much
for the risk involved.
Take it or leave it, son. This isnt
a cheap operation. Your role is only part of it. Theres also his new ID, a
safe passage out of the country, the dosh to tide him over till hes settled.
Theres whatever gear you and his girlfriend decide is needed. Theres a new ID
and a ticket out for her as well.
All right, all right, I get the
picture, Ill do it for the fifteen. You said up front?
Up front, but only for this job.
It was a step down in Raymonds
career and he felt obscurely ashamed. It wasnt the kind of job Wyatt would
line up for.
These paintings, he said.
Times running out for that, too.
Not this weekend but the weekend after. Two days when the collection will be
off the walls and in storage and the alarm system turned off while they
renovate. Chaffey turned his massive head to watch a girl walk by. Like I
said, its a two-man job. You found someone?
My uncle comes to mind.
Chaffey went still. Then he tossed
another pebble. Heard something about him during the week that doesnt exactly
inspire confidence.
Like what?
He tried to flog some precious
stones back to an insurance company and almost got caught by the cops.
Raymond felt the pull of conflicting
emotions. He could picture his uncles nerve and style, but why hadnt Wyatt
told him about the botched handover, had a laugh about it with him, if nothing
else? They were family, after all.
And did Wyatt still have the stones?
But he didnt get caught.
True, true, Chaffey said.
Plus hes stolen paintings before,
Raymond said. Art, stuff like that, its not my thing.
He recreated his apartment in his
head. Half a dozen prints hed rented, along with the furniture.
See if you can arrange a meeting,
Chaffey said.
Have to find him first, Raymond
thought. He coughed and said, About the prison break.
Yes?
Keep it between you and me. My
uncle doesnt need to know about it.
Chaffey swung his huge head around.
Raymond felt the force of the mans hard gaze. Men like Chaffey saw corruption
every day. It corrupted them, gave a corrupt spin to their insights.
You mean he wouldnt approve,
Chaffey said finally, and Raymond would quite happily have strangled Chaffey
then.
* * * *
Fifteen
Chaffey
called in favours and made promises and when Steer was finally moved to the
remand centre in Sunshine he made the trip out there by taxi. The place was
privately run and tried to kid itself that plenty of bright fresh paint and
natural light, and its situation alongside other public buildings, placed it at
the cutting edge of modern incarceration practice, but Chaffey wasnt fooled.
There was no concealing the rifles and batons, the commerce in drugs,
phonecards and cigarettes, the stench of hopelessness and hate the moment you
got through the main door.
Still, hed rather have a
consultation with Steer in the remand centre than in Pentridge, where the
interview rooms were grim and spare, the walls always cold to the touch, the
high windows too smeared and deep-set to catch the light, the air always
ringing with the smack of metal against metal.
Steer, they said, was helping the
maintenance crew. Thered be a thirty-minute wait. Chaffey mentally added
another thirty to that and asked to see the paperwork on his client.
The clerk sighed elaborately. You
want it now?
Chaffey was used to grudging prison
staff. One, he was a lawyer, he had it easy. He didnt have to be shut up with the
dregs of society for hours at a time. Two, lawyers, like cops, kept things to
themselves. They looked at a blokes file and their little minds ticked over
and they went off and did important things. They were right up themselves.
Three, Chaffey looked rich and fat. Four, he didnt wear a uniform. Chaffey
read all of these things in the sour face of the clerk, not necessarily in that
order.
The man put him in a smoky
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