Wednesday 6 February 2013

Don't Mess with Father Christmas parts 4 and 5


This is parts 4 and 5  click on the numbers for parts 1, 2 and 3
Alternatively click here for the entire story. 

Part 4 - Getting it Straight

Back at his flat Katerina was fast asleep on his double bed. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful. Vinny crept into bed beside her and shut his eyes. His body was tired and he needed to sleep but his mind had other ideas. Three female faces came to him whenever he closed his eyes, Georgina, Eleanora and Mila, all beautiful, all different, one dead, one would be dead if he ever found her and he was pretty sure he’d just signed the death warrant of the other. He sorted it through his head. What did he know? Georgina had stabbed him but her brothers had saved him, so this was a warning not an execution.
Someone had killed Eleanora because she had gone digging on his behalf, the MO was the same as his attack so he presumed it was Georgina or her brothers. Maybe that was meant to be a warning too but the good Samaritans had turned up too late. He’d ask Pieter who found the body. Father Christmas was head of the Romanian clan, he was a man not to be messed with, but why did he think Vinny or his boss was messing with him? So they’d been short changing them a little on the bootleg alcohol and cigarettes, they’d maybe over cut the coke they traded but nothing major; nothing worth murder. No, it made no sense. 

In all the time he’d been working for his boss he’d always known him to be straight with everyone. He was a hard man but basically fair. Vinny’s boss had fingers in many pies. But diamonds were his thing; genuine, fake, kosher, blood, the boss dealt them all. But he also had an import export business that most would die for. Booze, fags, drugs, CDs Vinny’s boss was behind every great party in the land. Then there were the girls, shipped in from Eastern Europe to work in the club and on the streets.
Vinny had started life as a football hooligan, one of the best. Vinny didn’t know fear. It was that reputation that led him to be recruited as a doorman for the boss’s strip club.
He was a natural, just the right balance of courtesy and menace. He knew how to be discreet, he'd take no nonsense from the punters and the girls felt safe with him. The boss liked him too, liked his ruthless streak, he'd watched with admiration as Vinny handled punters who had stepped out of line. Soon Vinny was being asked to deal with other little irritants, a task he relished. People would end up in hospital for exactly the amount of time his boss had requested, once or twice people just disappeared without a trace. When instructed for a job Vinny showed no emotion, he asked no questions; he just nodded his head and a few days later the job was done. It was doing one of these ‘jobs’ that got Vinny his first diamond and paid for the dental work too.   Doing security at the club was how he got to know Eleanora and the other girls. Vinny was a hard man but he had a soft spot for girls and they seemed to like him too. But his boss took a dim view of his fascination with the staff. He didn’t like his best girls being distracted by his best doorman, they were giving away something that they could charge for. But more importantly he didn’t like his security being distracted by matters of the flesh. So the boss’s solution was to promote Vinny to be one of his drivers. The boss had 3 drivers; it was a strange set up that Vinny never quite understood. They sat round the office all day like whores in a brothel waiting to be picked. The boss seemed to pick them on a whim, there seemed to be no rhyme or reason.  Vinny never spoke to the other two, he’d been instructed not to. They nodded heads in recognition but never exchanged a word. Vinny guessed this whole set-up was a scheme to protect the boss's safety; if the drivers didn't know who was working and when, then they couldn't compromise his security. Despite the vagaries of the job Vinny liked it, it was more advisor than driver. He was a trusted man, a confidant, a bodyguard; part of the inner circle.  So he was disappointed when the boss decided to move him on. It was dressed up as a promotion but while Vinny had hoped he'd be a ‘go to’ man he had in fact become more of a ‘go for’ man. He did the odd jobs; collecting money from the pimps and dealing with trusted customers like the Romanians, arranging rendezvous and handovers, escorting diamonds to far away places and coming back with girls for the club. It was more responsibility, more independence, higher salary but he felt out of the loop. He used to deal with the boss everyday, he had his ear, had direct contact but now he saw him once a week at best, and more often than not had to go through other people to get to him. The boss told him to be patient but that was easier said than done.
Vinny rubbed his eyes, he was losing focus. Katerina was snoring gently beside  him. There was a couple more things that puzzled him.
Eleanora, was she seen talking to him in the Admiral or did her questions to the Romanian girls get her into trouble or was she just targeted because she was a known moll of Vinny’s?
Then, if they were telling him not to mess with Father Christmas, then why wouldn’t they tell him who Father Christmas was? Why were they protecting his identity? How did he know who not to mess with? It was a woman’s logic.

Vinny got up and lit a cigarette. He went over to the window blowing out his first lungful of smoke. The city was bathed in streetlight orange; still but sinister. He finished his smoke and pulled on his trousers. He wasn't going to find the answers in this flat; he needed to get out. He drove around aimlessly not sure where to start. Eleanora's pitch was obviously empty; she was dead, Katerina was in his bed and Anna, well Anna was always a law unto herself. He drove over to see if Mila was still on her corner but even the Romanian girls had gone to bed. There were no lights on in her flat either. He parked outside for a while smoking a cigarette. He hoped she was still alive but if the pimp had found the extra cash or seen her leave in his car then Georgina would have dealt with her by now.
He called Pieter and arranged a meeting down by the river. He parked up the car in the side streets near the water and walked the last 100 metres, hoping the fresh air might clear his mind; it didn’t. He lit another cigarette and waited for the policeman to show up. Vinny hated waiting.
Soon enough he saw the hulking frame of Pieter come into view. A 45 years old heart attack candidate, Pieter was fundamentally a good cop; he just supplemented his earnings by letting Vinny know things that Vinny wanted to know.
'You liked her didn't you?'
Vinny nodded slowly, inhaling deeply and blowing out smoke.
'I got nothing new to say Vinny, her pals told us it was her first pick up of the night so if it was a sexual assault we'll know, she had a load of cash on her though. Bit odd that.'
'I gave her that.' Vinny's voice was barely audible.
'Can I ask why?'
Vinny gave Pieter a look that told him he most certainly could not.
'Who found her?'
‘Two lads on the way home from the pub, their story checks out.’
Dawn was beginning to break around them, the few birds left in the city were starting their morning chorus. Vinny stubbed out his fag and leant in close to the big copper.
'I want them Pieter. I want them. If you find them then you give them to me.'
Pieter shivered, he knew Vinny was a bad 'un but that hint of menace in his voice was enough to scare the dead.
'One last question, Pieter.' Vinny was still whispering. 'Who the fuck is Father Christmas?'
Pieter shrugged his shoulders and turned to walk away. But he knew and Vinny knew that he knew.

Part 5 Meeting Father Christmas


When he got back to the flat Katerina was sitting on the bed smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee. She was wearing his shirt. He leant over and kissed her forehead. She tried to force a smile but it looked more like a grimace. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot. Vinny leant against the wall.
‘Any news?’ Katerina’s voice was weak and fragile.
Vinny shook his head.
‘Why would anyone want to kill Eleanora? Why Vin?’
Vinny shook his head again
‘I dunno Kat, I dunno’ but he knew it was because he’d asked her to ask around. He knew and Kat knew he knew.
‘Vinny am I in danger?’
‘No Kat, I don’t think so, but you wanna take a few days away? I’ll fix it.’
Katerina nodded, tears forming in her eyes.
‘I wanna go home Vin.’
Vinny nodded, he knew she didn’t mean back to the hovel of a flat she shared with Eleanora but home home.
‘Ok Kat, I’ll sort it.’
Silence filled the room broken by the inhaling and exhaling of cigarette smoke. Then Katerina jumped as Vinny’s phone bleeped.
It was the phone he used for Pieter but it wasn’t Pieter’s number. Mila! He read the message.
‘She’s here.’
Vinny went over to a safe in his desk. He punched in a number and the door swung open. He took out a passport and a wad of cash. ‘Don’t go back to the flat.’ he said as he handed Katerina her documents.  ‘Book a ticket with this, keep the rest and leave today.’ With that he grabbed his keys and left the flat wondering how long it would take her to find the diamonds tucked inside her passport and wondering how he’d explain his moment of altruism to his boss.

As Vinny drove he was well aware this could be a trap, a set up, so he had to keep a clear mind and his wits about him. He parked up about 60 metres away from Mila’s flat. Up ahead he could see a little black Jeep. He’d seen it before somewhere. He wracked his brains and lit a cigarette. It was warmer today but rain in the air, the start of spring? The street was quiet, a few cars went by but there was hardly a soul to be seen. Vinny waited, Vinny didn’t like waiting. He checked his mirrors again - no one around. He’d wait for Georgina and then follow her. If the chance arose, he’d make his move but he was happy for this to be a recce, an exercise in gathering information; information was power.  The door to the house opened. The woman that emerged was unmistakably the woman who had stabbed him; stylish, sexy and moving with self-confidence. Vinny decided that he’d have his way with her before pulling the trigger. He didn’t need to worry about leaving traces, she would just disappear like the others. Following Georgina out of the house was another unmistakable figure; the small childlike Mila, she looked scared, Vinny feared the worst. They both got into the Jeep, now Vinny remembered where he had seen that car before. It was in the street on the day of the stabbing. It was beginning to make sense to him now.
He readied himself to start the car but they didn’t go anywhere.
His mobile bleeped. It was Mila's number again. He now knew this was a trap. He looked down at the message.
‘Father Christmas wants to see you. :-)’ The smiley face was a bit excessive thought Vinny.
Before he knew it, his passenger door opened and one of the Iscru brothers climbed in.
'Follow the Jeep, don't try anything, I’ve got a knife and Dan's in the car behind.’ His accent was thick, the voice tarred by 1000 cigarettes.  Vinny saw the glint of the knife in Gregor's hand and looked in the mirror to see the other ugly fucker right up his arse. He was stuck in the middle with Iscru.
He did as he was told. They drove towards the ring road. When they got on the dual carriageway Vinny thought about putting his foot to the floor, he could lose the Jeep and the heap Dan was driving in no time. But he’d still have to deal with the idiot with the blade next to him. Then the passenger door of the Jeep opened and Vinny saw something fall heavily on to the road. He swerved to avoid the object but instinct told him Mila was already dead... And so for that matter was he.

Twenty minutes later they pulled up outside a big house in the suburbs. Vinny approved, he thought it was the kind of place that he would buy if he were Father Christmas.
‘Don’t move.’ said Gregor flashing the knife to support his words.
Vinny waited until the Romanians had manoeuvred into place.
‘Don’t make sudden moves.’ Gregor was relishing the role of captor. ‘Get out of the car and follow Dan, I’ll be right behind you.’
Vinny had little option but to walk the metaphorical plank. He followed the Romanian gorilla up the path towards the front door. As he passed Georgina she smiled and blew him a kiss.
He had half a mind to punch her, claw her pretty face, ruin her looks; what did he have to lose? But Gregor had read his mind and put a steadying hand on his shoulder, keeping him on the straight and narrow.

Dan knocked on the door. Vinny could hardly believe his eyes when he saw who opened it.
‘Boss, what the hell are you doing here?’ Relief flooded Vinny’s body; his boss was here, now everything would sort itself out, this unseemly mess could be cleared up and they could all go home.
Before Vinny could shake his boss’s hand Georgina skipped passed him.
‘Papa’ she said and hugged the old man. Vinny’s relief turned to confusion as he watched his boss kiss that bitch on the cheek. Was his boss Father Christmas?
Vinny was led through the house to the study. His boss settled behind his desk and signalled to Vinny to sit in the chair opposite. They were alone except for one man who stood stock still in the corner. Vinny recognised him as one of his boss’s drivers.
‘What’s going on?’ Vinny didn’t usually feel fear, he’d never been afraid, not even when he took a beating from a rival faction at the football. Fear had never been part of his DNA. Until now; now he was terrified.
‘Vinny, Vinny, you’ve spent the last 6 months ripping me off and you have the gall to ask me what is going on? You think I wouldn’t find out that you’ve been squirreling away anything you can get your hands on. I trusted you.’
Vinny had no argument, since he’d been fired as a driver he’d been finding ways to feather his own nest, to look after himself, he'd stolen goods, overcharged customers and taken some extra commission from the pimps. He’d been careful, not too much from any one place, spread out his crime,  covered his tracks but obviously not careful enough.
‘But… you’re Father Christmas?’
‘Yes, it was a nickname I had back in Romania.’ because of my surname. When my daughter married that little runt Iscru I set him up in business running the girls on the other side of town and selling drugs and booze in places where I didn’t want to get my hands dirty. He had a free hand but still reported to me. I told him to call me Father Christmas as a code. He was good to start with and when the little toe rag started to cheat on my precious daughter well I could ignore it for the sake of the business. But when he started to beat her I had to take care of him. In fact, you did it for me, remember Georgi?’
Vinny nodded, it’d been his first kill.
‘I offered my daughter the business but she didn’t want it, so I took it over until my grandchildren were old enough to take it back into their own family. ’
‘Why stab me, why not just kill me.’
‘I wanted to see if you’d come to me for help Vinny. If you still trusted me’ his boss shook his head. ‘I’m disappointed.’
‘Fine, you got me, but why did you kill Eleanora?’
‘You were too close to her, she was too fond of you, she’d do anything for you. You asked her to get information she was getting too close, she had to be eliminated.’
‘How do you know all that?’
‘You have your girls and I have mine.’
‘Anna?’ Vinny nodded, he’d never trusted her.
‘No, Katerina.’ Father Christmas enjoyed the confused look on Vinny’s face.  
Vinny couldn't believe it. He'd been duped. She'd been in his flat reporting back on his moves. All the tears, the fragile little voice, that fucking whore should win an Oscar.
‘I warned you about your weakness Vinny. But would you listen to me? No. And I knew I could use it against you. Stand up.’
Vinny hesitated and then left his chair. His boss stood up too, Vinny watched his boss raise his gun until it was level with Vinny’s forehead.
‘And now, for the final time Vinny the Diamond, don’t mess with Father Christmas.’

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