Page 39 of Diamond in the Rough

“Boss?”

“Yes, Maddox, remember? It’s only been two weeks.”

Nervous laughed fuzzed the line. “Sorry, Boss—”

“Tell me what’s happening.”

“I recognised the guy that approached Jake in Stationery Corner. We’d met him before, one of the arsonists we caught. Billy, long-haired, sweating, looked like a junkie.”

“The one I spoke to?”

“Yeah, that was him.”

Maddox shook his head. “He played me. I let him go.”

“Me and Amber found him. He meets at this café in Brixton. They sit by the window, a group of them, intimidate the other customers into leaving. The owner’s too scared to ask them to go somewhere else. They meet every Thursday according to her.”

“Who’s in the group?”

“The blond woman, Antonia, and Sergeant Dover. Some other guys too. We’ve been tracking them, watching from afar, trying to find out information. Antonia’s definitely Billy’s lover and Sergeant Dover their rat on the police force.”

“They’ve got people in here too.”

“They done anything?”

“No, always listening in though, standing too close, trying to stare me down.”

“Shit.”

“I think Billy’s the one pulling the strings, the others following.”

“Then we’ve got to take him out.”

Maddox bit his lip. “Do you think you can handle it?”

“Of course, Boss.”

“Don’t let me down.”

“I won’t.”

Maddox closed his eyes. “Thursday.”

“Thursday, Boss.”

Maddox ended the call and dropped the phone onto his chest.

Ernie sighed, making it obvious he’d been listening. “Arranging a hit from behind bars.”

“I need to take him out before he…”

“Before he what?”

Maddox gripped the phone, thought about typing Jake’s number in but stopped himself. “You don’t need to know.”

****

Maddox stirred the porridge with disdain.

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