Free Pay Dirt by Garry Disher Page B

looking at Leahs breasts. So, Tobin
said, am I in? Is it a goer?

    That depends. We still need a
low-loader or a breakdown truck, one that cant be traced back to us.

    Tobin actually tapped his nose
knowingly. Let me take care of that. So, am I in?

    Wyatt nodded.

    Tobin stuck out his hand and shook
Wyatts enthusiastically. Then he put his arm around Leah and squeezed her. It
was brief, as if it meant nothing, but he looked at Wyatt while he did it, and
Wyatt knew the gesture meant everything.

    * * * *

    SEVENTEEN

    On
Friday afternoon Trigg said, What do you mean, too expensive? Dont you kids
get pocket-money any more?

    The kid was about seventeen. He wore
a prefects uniform. His name was Wayne and he was Triggs main supplier at the
high school. Im just telling you what they tell me, he said. The speeds
too expensive, sos the dope.

    In my day kids had paper rounds,
they mowed lawns, washed cars. Too fucking slack. These days if theyre not
hanging around the mall theyre in Mooneys

    Trigg broke off. If the kids were in
Mooneys playing the pinball machines, how come Mooney kept holding out on the
seven hundred and fifty bucks he still owed? Fucking everyone in Goyder was
welshing on their debts.

    Fucking slack, he repeated.

    Wayne drank from the Southwark
stubbie that Trigg had given him. He let Trigg rave on. The fact that Trigg was
bent didnt mean that he wasnt like a parent when it came to what kids did
these days. Half smiling at Trigg, Wayne said, Some kids are doing all right
money-wise. The ones with a few dope plants. They charge less than you do.

    Trigg closed his eyes. It just wasnt
worth the hassle. By the time hed paid Wayne and the others, and allowed
subcontractors like Tobin some leeway on what they owed him, he never had
enough to meet the interest payment on his Mesic debt. He would have to start
coming down hard on a few people.

    So if thats all... Wayne said,
putting down the stubbie and retrieving his satchel from behind the door.

    Trigg attempted a smile. Youre in
a big hurry. Why dont you stay a bit longer?

    Wayne knew what it was about and his
face shut down. He swung the satchel at the level of his knees. I have to get
home.

    Trigg patted the two-seater couch. Just
ten minutes.

    Wayne took charge. He dropped the
satchel on the floor again and sat next to Trigg. He trailed his fingers
absorbedly over Triggs knee.

    Youve had a haircut, Trigg said.

    Wayne shrugged. He kept up the
movements of his hand.

    I suppose your girlfriend likes it?

    Now, now, Raymond, Wayne said.
With the subdued light, the closeness, and the choked breathing, the air in the
room was charged and avid. It hurt me last time, he said.

    Oh, babe, you shouldve told me. Well
do it another way.

    Ten minutes later Wayne said, Ten minutes,
and he was out of Triggs house within sixty seconds.

    Trigg made his phone calls then. He
felt clammy. He picked at his clothing as he talked.

    Mooney? he said. Youre not
getting any younger.

    I can give you a couple of hundred,
Mooney said apologetically.

    What do you do there, anyhow?
Trigg demanded. Let the kids play the machines for free?

    He cut the connection and dialled a
different number. Its Trigg. Youre not getting any younger.

    The voice on the other end seemed to
come through a mouthful of food. There were chewing noises and then a clearing
cough. Youve got me. You might as well repossess the car.

    Repossess the car? Jesus fucking
Christ, Trigg thought, no ones buying cars to begin with. Id hate to leave
you without wheels, he said. What say I come back a bit with the interest?
Could you pay me, oh, a thousand by next month?

    No good, sorry. The banks taken my
cheque book away. Theyre letting me stay on because they cant sell the farm.
But theyve seized me new plough, the wifes microwave

    Trigg cut the connection. He was
about to dial again but he felt fouled underneath and went into the bathroom,
stripped off, and had a shower.

    It was five oclock. He changed