Free Road Closed by Leigh Russell Page A

the kid’s bedroom where, let’s face it, the brat’s only got to wake up and you’ve landed yourself right in it. Mate of mine was sent down as a nonce for being picked up in some kid’s room. Gadgets, that’s what he was after, not some poxy kid.’ He spat on the pavement. ‘Kid wakes up and there’s Donny, in his bedroom. What a carry on that was. Mother screaming, father yelling, and the kid was only waving a cricket bat in Donny’s face. That bloody kid damn near had his eye out and for that the poor sod was put on the sex register before he could open his gob.’ He heaved a deep sigh. ‘Once they’ve got hold of you, no one listens.’
    Ray nodded his head wisely. ‘Ain’t that the truth.’
    ‘Steer clear of kids,’ Cal repeated. ‘They’re the devil.’
    Cal knew everything there was to know. ‘Done more jobs than you had hot dinners,’ he liked to boast, ‘and never beencaught, not since I was a teenager.’ He had done a stretch inside before he reached twenty, same as Ray. It gave them something in common.
    ‘Wasn’t called a young offenders’ institution in those days,’ Cal told him. ‘But it was the same in all but name. Bloody hole.’ Ray nodded. They went to the pub where they passed a comfortable evening exchanging experiences. ‘Makes you grow up fast, doing time,’ Cal said. That was when he had offered to put Ray up.
    ‘Stick with me and you’ll be all right, kid,’ he told Ray. ‘Two pairs of hands are better than one, and you look like you learn fast.’ Ray grinned.
    Cal’s previous partner was inside. ‘He was careless,’ Cal explained. ‘I got away, I’m quick like that, but he was too slow. Shame. We’d done a lot of jobs together, but you got to move on. You stick with me and you’ll be all right.’
    ‘What happens when he comes out?’
    ‘Who?’
    ‘What happens when your old mate gets out? What happens to me then? To us?’
    ‘He won’t be out for years. Don’t worry about him. Now, your round I think?’
    Thanks to Cal, Ray knew how to open security doors and how to get through closed windows. He was learning how to cut glass in the overgrown bushes beside the canal path. It was the perfect place to practise. No one else ever went down there. Cal had a stash of glass cutters. He had given one to Ray and made him promise not to bring it in the house or carry it around with him.
    ‘I know it looks like a pen, but it isn’t a pen,’ Cal explained. ‘It’s a giveaway.’ Ray kept it in a hole in the trunk of an overgrown tree beside the canal. ‘We’re going to be rich one day, you and me,’ Cal boasted, ‘thanks to these little beauties.’ He nodded at the glass cutter in Ray’s gloved hand.
    It had all been going so well. Now Ray was worried. Cal had set up a job and Ray had blown it. He didn’t care so much about losing the stuff. Of course he was gutted about the dosh but Cal would find them another job. Cal was clever like that. They had already broken into lots of houses. It wasn’t difficult. But Ray had let him down.
    ‘These people are all idiots,’ Cal said. ‘All that fancy gear in big houses, they’re asking for it to be lifted. All we’ve got to do is keep at it till we hit the jackpot.’
    The first few jobs had been disappointing. Then they had found something really worth nicking – and Ray had left the loot behind. As long as they kept going they would be lucky again, sooner or later, but Ray was afraid Cal wouldn’t want him tagging along any more. If Cal had done that last job on his own he might have had enough to retire on by now. But Ray wouldn’t know what to do without Cal. He had to do something to prove himself before Cal gave him the push.
    The idea came to Ray when he was standing at a bus stop in the rain. He studied the houses across the road and thought about everything Cal had taught him. That was when he had his brainwave. It was so simple. He was going to pull off a job all by himself. Then Cal would