Kick Back

Twenty-three

They got back to the safe house at nine-thirty. Wyatt drove slowly past the building once and then came back. No cars, no pedestrians.

They found Hobba waiting for them in the flat. He had taken off his shoes and was slumped in an armchair. The room smelt of cigarette smoke and mints. ‘Nice,’ he said, when they came in. ‘This is the life. This is private enterprise for you.’

Wyatt ignored him. He crossed to the window and looked out.

Behind him, Pedersen entered reluctantly, scowling back at the indentations his feet had made in the thick carpet. He had changed out of his doorman’s uniform. Dressed in a flannelette shirt, jeans and japara again, he showed signs of feeling exposed and untidy. ‘We got to stay here how long?’

‘Until the day after the job,’ Wyatt said. ‘Don’t go home, either of you. Buy anything you might need. We don’t know what the Youngers have got in mind. If we stay here, no-one can find us before we pull the job. But keep your eyes open all the same.’

‘You should’ve wasted the little prick,’ Pedersen said.

Hobba sniggered. ‘Gave him a fair old fright though.’ He explained about the ponytail and the earring.

Pedersen snorted. ‘I like it.’

‘Had to be done,’ Hobba said, holding his arms wide.

They began to discuss it, grinning broadly. Wyatt watched them. After a while they felt it, and fell silent, settling back in their chairs.

‘Right,’ Wyatt said. ‘This is how we do it-a simple hijack.’

Pedersen began to nod, thinking it over. ‘It’s not fastened to the floor?’

‘No. I’ve seen the pictures.’

‘Then I like it. We’d be out quickly and we can open it or blow it elsewhere in our own time.’

Hobba frowned at Pedersen, playing devil’s advocate. ‘Like where? We can’t use your place now, in case the Youngers are watching, and I’m buggered if I’m going to wait on a side street somewhere while you work on it in the back of the van.’

They both looked at Wyatt.

‘We do it here,’ he said. ‘Downstairs in the lock-up garage.’

‘That’s a lot of coming and going.’

‘This place is like a tomb during the day. No-one can see into the garage. No-one knows who we are, where we’re from. I paid cash, the whole lot up front. We’ve got all the room we need, plenty of exits, privacy. It’s perfect.’

‘If you say so,’ Hobba said.

Pedersen leaned forward. ‘What if I have to blow the safe? You can’t hide that kind of a noise.’

‘We’ll take a chance,’ Wyatt said. ‘There’s no-one around and the lock-up is below ground level. While you two open the safe, I’ll keep watch up in the street. Can you get us some radios?’

Pedersen nodded.

‘By late tomorrow,’ Wyatt said, ‘we’ll have everything we need: the van, handcuffs, overalls, transfers, explosive, electric drill

He fell silent. They were all imagining the job. It seemed possible now.

Then Wyatt said, ‘Let’s see what we’ve got on Finn. What time did everyone arrive this morning?’

Pedersen opened his notebook. ‘Anna and the girl arrived at eight-thirty. Finn at nine.’

Wyatt turned to Hobba. ‘What time did they leave?’

‘The girl at five, Anna five-twenty, Finn five-thirty.’

‘Anything unusual?’

‘Pretty ordinary. Between ten and eleven, all three cut through to the coffee shop and came back after about fifteen minutes. Then at three-thirty, Finn went out.’

‘We’ll check on that over the next few days,’ Wyatt said. ‘When we hit on Friday we want them all in the office.’

‘What about the time?’ Hobba asked. ‘You still want to hit when it’s peak hour?’

‘It ties up the cops as well,’ Wyatt said. ‘Accidents, cars parked in the bus lanes. If we know the short cuts, we’ll be all right. I want this to go like clockwork.’

Hobba shrugged. ‘You’re the boss.’

They eased back in their bright fabric chairs. Outside a misty rain blew against the thick glass windows. It was warm and sheltered up here, high above the greasy streets and headlong traffic.