He dashed out into the hallway and found Dave opening the door to Leon Tarasov.
‘Hi Mr Tarasov,’ Dave said, dressed in his boxers and sounding surprised.
‘I’m not your teacher, Dave. Call me Leon.’
‘I thought I was coming to see you at the car lot,’ Dave said.
‘I’ve got a little proposition,’ Leon said. ‘Easy work. Mind if I come in?’
Dave gave the impression of not being awake. ‘Um, I guess … Sure, sure.’
Dave led Leon through to the living-room. Leon’s giant gut lumbering down the hallway had an outlandish quality that reminded James of a geography lesson where he’d watched a video of a supertanker passing through the Panama canal. Leon collapsed on to the tiny sofa as James stepped through the doorway behind Dave.
‘You two have both been in trouble with the law,’ Leon began. ‘So you should understand the old saying: loose lips sink ships.’
Dave nodded. ‘I’m no grass.’
‘It’s not so much grassing with you young lads, it’s all this,’ Leon said, making his hands talk to each other. ‘Mouth. Word gets around, you understand?’
‘Loose lips sink ships,’ Dave smiled, as James nodded.
‘I know the only money you boys have coming in is social security. I was thinking in bed last night and I realised I could put something your way that’ll really kick start your finances. Maybe even to the tune of a couple of grand over the next month or so. You interested?’
James and Dave made a point of grinning at one another, like you’d expect from a couple of dirt-poor kids who’d just had four figures dangled under their noses.
‘Course we’re interested,’ Dave beamed.
‘Good,’ Leon said. ‘The scheme obviously isn’t legit, but it is solid. I know dudes who work for some of the biggest domestic cleaning agencies going. The clients are mostly well-off folks who can’t be bothered with the hassle of employing a cleaning lady. Instead, they ring up Big Kleen, The Brite House, Supa-Maid or whoever. Missus mop turns up and cleans when they’re out at work, and the closest they ever get to scraping the mould out of their own shower basin is when they pay their credit card bill.
‘Now here’s the beautiful part: at this time of year, most of these rich turds take a nice long holiday and cancel the cleaning service. That leaves my contacts holding sets of their house keys and burglar alarm codes for two or three weeks, while their expensive motors sit in the garage.’
‘Let me guess,’ Dave grinned, ‘the cars aren’t waiting for them when they get home.’
‘Bingo,’ Leon smiled, making a popping sound with his tongue. ‘We’re only interested in nearly new cars that can be shipped to eastern Europe, or stripped down for parts. Once I get the house keys and alarm codes, I send in a scout who has all the time in the world to search the house and find the car keys. The following day, someone else breaks in and sets off the burglar alarm. It hardly matters, because my scout will have found the car keys and left them in the driver’s door. You’ll be away before the cops get a sniff.’
‘Why can’t we use the house keys when we rob the joint?’ James asked.
Dave gave James a look of contempt. ‘Because then it’s obviously an inside job.’
‘Oh,’ James said, realising he was being slow. ‘Gotcha.’
‘Don’t the police ever suspect the cleaning agency?’ Dave asked.
‘It could happen,’ Leon said. ‘If you robbed ten cars in a short space of time and they all had links to one company, the police might tag on, but we spread it around – different areas, different companies – and keep the number of thefts sensible.
‘So anyway, with summer holiday season coming up, I could use an extra set of hands to do some of the actual breaking in and driving away.’
‘How much is in it for us?’ Dave asked.
‘Two-fifty a pop,’ Leon said.
‘Each?’ James asked.
‘One man can handle the job,’ Leon said. ‘You can both go if you want, but I’m not paying any extra.’
Dave knew this was a big step into Leon’s criminal world, but it might seem suspicious if he accepted without seeming apprehensive.
‘The thing is Leon, I’ve got previous. If I get nicked in another stolen car, I’m looking at two years’ juvenile detention.’
‘Look,’ Leon shrugged. ‘No hard feelings if this isn’t for you. I’m just making you guys an offer. Five or six jobs over the next month will earn you enough to get that car running and put