Free Seizure by Nick Oldham Page A

the solicitors’ interview room at the prison.
    â€˜Six more years. I’ll be forty-four when I get out of this shit hole, and that’s only if I stop myself from killing a screw or a queer. Forty-bloody-four. My life will be as good as over.’
    â€˜Forty-four isn’t old.’
    â€˜It is if you get sent down at thirty-four,’ Deakin snapped. He paced a few more steps then retook his seat, pondering for a while. ‘What other news have you got for me?’
    Baron squirmed slightly. ‘Dick Last and Jack Sumner got arrested.’
    Deakin inhaled the news, said nothing.
    â€˜The last robbery went tits-up,’ Baron said. ‘Dick Last had too much crap up his nose, it clouded his judgement and a security guard got whacked.’
    â€˜Idiots! I said no shooters,’ Deakin spat vehemently. He wiped the corners of his mouth.
    â€˜Fortunately the cops are just locking up all the usual suspects and because we’re careful, there’s no forensic links and the gun’s been disposed of. The only way they’ll get anything is if either blabs or gets careless. I reckon the cops’ll be keeping them both under surveillance for a while now, so we need to keep a low profile.’
    â€˜But other jobs are planned.’
    â€˜I know – we’ll just have to keep them on the back burner.’ Baron paused, hesitant. ‘There is something else . . .’
    Deakin’s eyelids half-covered his pupils. ‘That would be?’
    â€˜They’re both getting greedy. They want danger money, more of a slab than the thirty-five per cent.’
    Once more Deakin allowed the news to filter in. ‘On the whole, this consultation hasn’t been very positive, has it?’
    Baron could see the tension in the prisoner’s being, the calm before the violent storm. Deakin’s jaw jutted and he ground his teeth. ‘You tell them they can fuck off, OK? That money is mine. I do the planning, they subcontract whoever to help ’em out and pay them from the takings. That’s the way. My money,’ Deakin snapped and banged his palm down on the table – just the once. Then he whispered, ‘My retirement fund. Because the bastard cops have virtually seized all my friggin’ assets. Money I won’t see for another six years at this rate. How much did we take from the job?’
    â€˜Forty thousand, give or take.’
    â€˜That’s fourteen grand for them, less four for their hired numpties, which makes five grand each for Last and Sumner.’
    â€˜And you get twenty-six without getting your hands dirty.’
    Deakin’s triangular features sharpened. His eyes burned into Baron, who held up his hands defensively. ‘Their words, not mine.’
    â€˜OK, forty per cent for the next one.’
    â€˜They want sixty.’
    The short, derisive laugh from Deakin said it all. ‘No way.’
    â€˜And at the moment the money from the last one is still in their possession. They won’t hand anything over until they make a deal with you.’
    Deakin’s lips pursed. ‘They’re taking the piss.’
    â€˜There is an element of that, but they hold the money.’
    â€˜In that case I’ll have to do something about it.’
    â€˜Such as?’
    â€˜How much does Dick Last love his itty-bitty brother?’
    A grin spread across Baron’s face. ‘A lot, I’d say.’
    Deakin sniffed up. ‘But having said all that, my circumstances haven’t changed. I’m still in the slammer. I need to be out of here, Barry. Legally or illegally, even if it means on the run – and I’ll need all the money I can get if I break out . . . as if I could.’
    Baron’s face clouded over. Deakin picked up on it instantly. ‘What?’
    â€˜Maybe there is something . . .’ he said thoughtfully, eyes narrowing.
    The young man was in the gym, working out hard: