Free Broken Faith by James Green Page B

of course not.’
    â€˜Not that witch of a wife of yours?’
    â€˜Certainly not. I don’t want her to know about you. It’s bad enough that I have to know you.’
    â€˜Well someone knew we were going to meet because we’ve got company. There was only one barman when we came in, now there’s two. Look around the place, it’s not exactly rush-hour is it? Why the second barman?’
    The original barman came out from behind the bar and brought the new bottle of wine to the table. Mercer nodded towards the bar.
    â€˜A bit quiet for extra staff isn’t it?’
    â€˜He’s new, a trainee, I show him what to do when it’s quiet.’
    â€˜I see.’
    The barman left.
    â€˜See, Mercer, he’s no one, just a trainee.’
    â€˜Trainee my arse, he’s a copper.’
    Henderson looked at the bar. The spare barman was intently studying the glass he was cleaning making it abundantly clear he was not at all interested in what was happening in the bar.
    Henderson looked around. Mercer was right, the place didn’t need a second barman and he didn’t look like he was being trained except at cleaning glasses. But Henderson didn’t want Mercer to be right.
    â€˜Maybe a ferry is due.’
    â€˜No it isn’t, that’s why we came here. If number two isn’t a copper I’ll eat my –’ But if Henderson wanted to know what Mercer would eat he was disappointed because now something had clicked in Mercer’s brain. ‘Fuck. It’s Costello. The bastard must have had me followed and that means he knows something. All the drinking together and talking about old times was just pissing about. His turning up was no accident, he’s here to stick his nose in. Well, I think we can make sure Jimmy fucking Costello gets fixed all right.’ He sat back and smiled at Henderson. ‘Maybe there should be an accident, and I think I know how to arrange one.’
    Henderson’s alarm grew.
    â€˜No. No violence, Mercer. You always said there would be no violence, but now Jarvis is dead and you’re talking about accidents.’
    â€˜I lied.’
    Henderson’s hand shook as he refilled his glass from the fresh bottle. His sweat glands were now on double-time. After he had taken a drink he took out his handkerchief and wiped his forehead.
    â€˜But if that man is really from the police then they know we’ve met and they –’
    â€˜Shut up. All they know is that we met. And that’s all they know for certain. If they knew more we’d both be sitting in an interrogation room or a cell by now.’
    â€˜But –’
    â€˜Shut it and keep it shut.’ Henderson shut it quickly and kept it shut while Mercer thought. ‘I called you, I asked to meet you. I wanted to ask you if you might do a bit of accountant work for me. We met here because we knew it would be quiet and a bar made it friendly. We talked about it but you decided you couldn’t help so we drank some wine and you asked me about my books. After we’d had a few drinks I left. You decided to have another bottle and stayed on. All right, you got it?’
    Henderson had got it but he didn’t like it.
    â€˜It sounds a bit thin to me.’
    â€˜I don’t give a Chinese shit what it sounds like to you, it’s what we’ll both say when they ask. If we both stick to it and say nothing else we’re clear. There’s fuck-all they can do. Understand?’
    Henderson nodded. His was not a violent nature, but it had been patently obvious ever since they had first met that Mercer’s was. Besides which he couldn’t think of anything better.
    Mercer poured a tiny amount of wine into his glass, swilled it around then stood up with a big smile on his face, big enough for the new barman to see from across the room. When he spoke it was loud enough for the barman to hear, for everyone to hear.
    â€˜Well, thanks