CHERUB: Class A - Robert Muchamore Page 0,71

Ducks sign.
‘Talk about what?’ Junior asked.
‘Anything,’ Keith said.
‘Do you think the cops are listening to you most of the time?’ James asked.
‘The cops have got microphones everywhere,’ Keith said. ‘The house in Luton, the house in Miami, my cars, my offices. I don’t even know what people I can trust any more. I’ve even got the secret service after me.’
‘MI5?’ James asked.
‘They’ve been after me ever since the corruption allegations inside Operation Snort,’ Keith nodded. ‘One of my better sources told me George is working for the cops. I don’t think it’s true, but you can never be sure. He’s a family man with a couple of kids. If the cops threatened him with a long stretch in prison, who knows what he’d be prepared to do?’
‘Are you gonna have him whacked?’ Junior asked.
Keith burst out laughing. ‘Son, if I had somebody killed every time I heard a rumour about an informant, I’d be a mass murderer. The cops plant most of these rumours, hoping it will create friction inside KMG. We get our own back by dropping rumours that straight cops are taking bribes.’
‘Have you ever had anyone killed?’ Junior asked.
‘I get problems and I tell people to make them go away,’ Keith said. ‘It’s not my business to know whether they tickle the guy’s feet until he promises to be a good boy, or chuck him off a tenth-floor balcony.’
‘Cool,’ Junior said, grinning.
‘You know that scene in the movies, where the car’s heading for the edge of the cliff, and the cop cars are chasing?’ Keith asked. ‘That’s where everyone thinks I’m at, but the cops don’t realise something.’
‘What?’ Junior said.
‘I’ve bailed out of the car,’ Keith said. ‘Everyone thinks I’m out here buying drugs, trying to get KMG up and running again. I’ve made a few noises in that direction, but all I’m really doing is settling debts and sorting out finances. I’ll be staying in America for a few months, until things die down back home, then I’m gonna rest on my laurels. How many millions does a man need anyway?’
‘That’s cool, Dad,’ Junior smiled. ‘I don’t ever want you going to prison.’
‘What will happen to KMG without you?’ James asked.
‘I expect it’ll break into a thousand pieces,’ Keith said. ‘Some people will go to prison. Some of the ones left on the outside will make contacts with my overseas suppliers and start importing cocaine themselves. In a year or two, nobody will even remember me. The same guys will be making deliveries and selling coke on the street; it’ll just be new faces supplying them and stacking the big money into foreign bank accounts. Give it four or five years and you’ll probably find one group has become dominant; a new KMG. The police will set up another Operation Snort type deal; they’ll break it up. Then the whole cycle will start again.’
‘Stopping KMG must have some effect on the cocaine trade,’ James said.
‘The police have budget cuts and efficiency targets, the drug dealers have got billions of pounds,’ Keith said. ‘It’s like the weediest kid in Year Seven picking a fight with the entire Year Twelve rugby team. The police might land the odd punch, but they’re always gonna get their arses kicked at the end of the day.’
‘Do you think you’ll stay out of prison?’ James asked.
‘I’m shelling out enough in bribes and legal fees,’ Keith said. ‘So let’s hope for the best, eh?’
The waitress came over with the three plates of food.
‘Anyway,’ Keith said, shovelling down his first mouthful of pasta, ‘all this serious talk’s gonna spoil my appetite. You boys want to go see a movie or something tonight?’
*
James waited until Junior was asleep before slipping out of the hotel room. He made his nightly call to John Jones from an alcove down the corridor that had an ice dispenser and a couple of Pepsi machines in it. James explained about Keith’s retirement plans.
‘We’ve tracked down more of Keith’s money with the information you copied off the computer,’ John said. ‘I was starting to suspect Keith wasn’t in Miami to do a drug deal and what you said confirms that. But I still don’t think he’s told you the whole truth.’
‘Why’s that?’ James asked.
‘We traced a transaction from one of Keith’s bank accounts in Trinidad. Keith just purchased half a million dollars worth of US treasury bonds in the name of Erin Moore. We contacted the bank and asked for details. Keith Moore has handed the bonds over to the bank,