cinema in town, but he’d picked the garden centre because he didn’t think he’d encounter too many Jamaican gangsters on the prowl for potting compost and spider plants. He hadn’t counted upon Colin Wragg having a green-fingered girlfriend who’d been in the year below him at secondary school.
‘Aaron to reception please. Aaron to reception please.’
Aaron wasn’t surprised to hear his name over the tannoy. The manageress was always on his back, complaining about everything from over-watering plants to spilling soil in the car park. He sauntered out of the open-air section, but picked up speed when he got inside the store where his boss might have an eye on him.
As he came towards the counter, Aaron saw a large black man standing at the customer service desk with a police badge in his hand. The manageress looked annoyed and Aaron seethed: it was out of order for the police to come after him at work, although it was exactly the kind of sly stunt they liked to pull when they were trying to break you.
‘George Peck, Bedfordshire CID,’ Colin Wragg lied, as he flashed the badge again.
If this had been on the street, Aaron would have told the cop to either arrest him or piss off, but he’d lied about his criminal record on his job application and he didn’t want his new boss seeing him act cocky with the police.
‘I’ve got work to do,’ Aaron said. ‘Is this gonna take long?’
‘Ten minutes,’ Colin smiled. ‘Fifteen max.’
‘Make sure you clock out,’ the manageress said firmly.
Colin led Aaron past the checkouts and through the two sets of automatic doors into the car park.
‘I’m just parked up over there.’
But Colin didn’t put as much work into covering his Jamaican accent as he’d done in store and Aaron’s heart vaulted into his mouth. He glanced around and considered running, but Colin realised Aaron was suspicious and he ripped a pistol out of his jacket.
‘One move and I’ll blow a hole in your back.’
Aaron was terrified when he saw the gun, but more terrified to realise that he’d fallen into the hands of a gang that used machetes and electric shocks to get the truth.
‘What is it you want?’ Aaron asked.
‘Just shut your mouth. We’re going for a little ride.’
28. WAR
James parked up in a quiet road leading to an industrial estate. Wheels was fond of his Vauxhall and he’d already spoken to a mate who’d give it a respray and fit another set of false plates.
It took twenty minutes for James to get back to the Zoo and he worried as he walked. Sasha had a violent temper. He wouldn’t be impressed that the cops had been called during the collection of a loan payment and Wheels struck him as the type who’d try passing off as much blame as he could.
*
Aaron Reid felt sick. Sweat patches grew on his Discount Garden Centre polo shirt as Major Dee, Colin Wragg and Michael stared at the passing streets, giving him the silent treatment. He could handle the idea of dying – so long as he blocked out the prospect of never seeing his girlfriend and eight-month-old daughter again – but Major Dee had a reputation for making his enemies suffer. Aaron’s train of thought kept arriving at the same question: how bad will the pain get?
After a few miles of A-roads and roundabouts, they pulled on to the driveway of a detached house. With the gun at his back, Aaron was led down the hallway into a living room. It was a standard deal, with sofas, nested tables and a TV, but everything was covered in heavy-duty plastic sheets.
‘Have a seat,’ Major Dee said, as Colin shoved Aaron towards the sofa.
Michael wasn’t facing death, but he was still scared as he sank on to a plastic-covered armchair. He’d decided that he couldn’t watch Aaron die; but even with a gun strapped around his waist, taking out Major Dee and Colin would be tricky. He’d probably have to kill them both and he wasn’t certain he’d be able to pull the trigger.
‘As you can see, Aaron, we’re all set up to make you talk without spoiling the carpets.’ Dee smiled, as he reached under a plastic sheet and took a hammer drill from a cocktail cabinet. He pulled the trigger, sending the bit into a high-pitched spin.
‘I find the cordless model gives me enough freedom to work,’ Dee explained. ‘Top of the range. Eighteen-volt, variable speed, sixty-nine ninety-nine from the Argos catalogue.’
Aaron flinched as Dee