an alleyway, through wrought-iron gates, with chipped gold lettering that read, Marston Bowling Club est. 1852. There was no light coming through the glass entry doors, but Ning observed that the gates weren’t padlocked, and the security grilles and electronic lock on the main doors appeared to be recent additions.
Ning was pretty sure of her hunch now, but thought she might need more to convince Fay. Still acting drunk, Ning walked past the gates and cut down another alleyway which ran between the indoor bowling green and a breeze block wall that separated the club from the street.
Some of the weeds here came up to Ning’s knee, and there was litter and broken glass underfoot. Intriguingly, the building had ventilation grilles cut into the metal and every one had been covered over with a piece of hardboard. Shiny metal screw heads indicated that the boards were recent additions, presumably to keep up humidity inside and stop light escaping that might be visible from the street.
The further Ning walked, the more she also became aware of a hum of electrical equipment inside. She was now certain about her hunch, but though she hadn’t seen any CCTV cameras, Ning still reckoned there was a good chance she was being watched.
To complete the impression that she’d just wandered in drunk, Ning lobbed her empty beer bottle, pulled her denim shorts down to her ankles and squatted. It was creepy thinking that some random guy was probably sitting inside watching her pee, but it was the only thing she could think of that gave her a legitimate excuse to have wandered off the street and down the alleyway.
As her urine continued trickling towards a gutter, Ning staggered across the parking lot, and back on to a street of well-kept semis. As soon as she was out of sight of the club, she pulled out her phone to call Fay. But Ning didn’t want Fay to think she was too smart, so she decided to go back to Nebraska House for a couple of hours, take a shower, give James an update and call Fay up later.
*
James’ bike rolled up outside a laundrette, with Ryan riding shotgun.
‘Looks dead in there,’ James said. ‘Best not go back to the flat until this is sorted. Craig won’t like you hanging on to twenty grand of his money and he’s bound to have asked one of the lads from The Hangout to watch our front door.’
Ryan stepped off the bike, and pulled out the Alcatel as James led the way into the empty laundrette. He was a little shaken from James’ aggressive riding, but his attention was drawn by four missed calls on the phone.
‘They’re certainly keen to get hold of me,’ Ryan said.
The rain had finally stopped and they sat on a wooden bench, well out of the low sun. Ryan rested his crash helmet at his side.
‘I think Craig was messing with you,’ James explained.
Ryan looked curious. ‘How’d you mean?’
‘How many kids want to work for Hagar’s crew?’
‘Loads,’ Ryan said. ‘Guys like Warren who get a package are making hundreds of pounds every week. Some of the guys talk about when they get their package like winning the lottery or something.’
James nodded. ‘Hagar’s organisation needs a way to sort the kids who’ll work hard and stay loyal from the ones who are just attracted to the bling. How can you do that?’
Ryan nodded. ‘Some kind of test?’
James nodded. ‘So they send you off in the middle of the night to some bullshit safe-house, with a bag that looks like it’s full of cocaine, but it was probably just powdered milk or something. When you get there, Craig fixes it so that three of his guys are there to mug you. And the reaction to how you deal with the mugging shows your true character. Some kids – most I expect – will feel out of their depth and panic. A few – the good ones – will say sorry and spend some time scrubbing cars or whatever. And the ones who come out of that process, putting in some graft and showing determination to be part of the crew, are the ones Craig is really interested in recruiting.’
‘Makes sense,’ Ryan agreed. ‘And me bumping into that guy at the car-wash was pure coincidence?’
‘More of a balls-up on Craig’s part than a coincidence,’ James said. ‘Sending you to deliver the money in the place where one of the goons who jumped you works.’
‘So it’s another car-wash that