“How long is a while ago?”
“He’s been inside, just out, I caught up with him, mates, you see, and—”
“Who? Before I fucking hang up. Who you been speaking to?”
“Leo Green.”
Silence.
“Leo Green, my mate,” Jamie said again.
“That was ages… years ago.”
“Like I said, he’s been locked up. But I want what he bought. I’m good for the money.”
“Yeah, you sound like you are. Posh twat, huh.”
“Does that matter? Money is money.”
A loud grunt.
“So.” Jamie inhaled deeply. “I’m having this tea party and I need at least three Alices.”
“You can’t afford it.”
“I can. Cash. On delivery.”
“I don’t deliver. You pick up.”
“Cash on pick-up. Even better. Happy to come to you.”
“How do I know you’re not the fucking pigs?”
“Because I hate the fucking pigs.” Jamie leaned closer to the phone, his voice lowering. “And I avoid them at all costs, because there are things that I’ve done, nasty, bloody, so-fucking-evil-you’d-be-sick things, that if they caught up with me, I’d be in the slammer until I’m shitting my pants and my dinner is liquidized.”
Silence.
Andrew was nodding, fingers spread on the table, clearly harnessing patience and willing a meeting.
“That’ll be sixty grand cash.”
“Small change for me. I’ll be back for more if the…Alices are of top quality.”
“’Course they’re fucking top quality. Big tits, tight cunts, easy to slap down if they get out of line. You’ll have your work cut out with three, but I’m guessing you’ve got a big fuck-off mansion with a basement to keep them in.”
“Really big fuck-off basement. This is just the start of my collection. You and I could do a lot of business going forward.”
Silence.
Fuck, had Jamie gone too far?
“Okay, you come to White Rabbit on Wednesday. I’ll send a What Three Words to this phone number. Any funny business, you’re fucking dead, okay, I guard my merchandise with bullets, muscle, and mean bastard dogs.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less. See you on Wednesday, oh…and if you have an Alice with red hair, upstairs and downstairs, that would be the icing on the cake.”
The other end of the line went dead.
“You think he bought it?” Dalton asked.
