Heavy Duty People

9 THE TURN

Billy wasn't at Prayers on Monday. I assumed he was following Dazza's instructions and just laying low.

Early on Wednesday afternoon Dazza picked me up from home in a black BMW.

'Get in, we're going for a drive.'

'New car?'

'Hired for the day.'

He clearly wasn't in a chatty mood.

We only went across town, climbing up the back road. Uneasily I realised we were heading towards Billy's place, a feeling confirmed when Dazza turned off into the estate of detached executive homes high on a hill overlooking the town where Billy had bought himself a four bedroomed house with the cash from his dealing. We parked up a little way before we got to the house but from where we could see the front door and Dazza killed the engine. 'Stay there,' he said, hopping out of the driver's door and into the back seat.

A moment later Butcher appeared from out of a footpath on the other side of the road and came strolling along the pavement to slide in behind the wheel beside me.

'OK?' asked Dazza.

'OK,' said Butcher, without looking round.

'Now what?' I asked, wondering why Butcher hadn't taken off the pair of thin black leather riding gloves he was wearing.

'Now we wait,' said Dazza

'Are we watching Billy?'

'What the fuck does it look like we're doing? Now shut up, will you?'

'That's him,' said Butcher about an hour later reaching for the car keys, as a hundred yards or so down the road Billy came out of his house and walked across the road to where his car was parked.

We edged out into the road behind him car as he set off round the corner and slipped out into the light traffic on the main road, taking up station a couple of cars behind him as he headed down the hill into town. Dazza and Butcher obviously wanted to keep close enough to see which way he was going but far enough back not to be spotted which was why I realised that he, or more likely someone on Dazza's behalf, had hired a car that Billy wouldn't know.

'What are we looking for?' I asked.

'He's heading towards the cop shop isn't he?'

'Oh come on, he's just heading into town. He could be going anywhere,' I said. Although yes, he could be, I thought, as he turned right at the junction at the bottom of the hill onto the main shopping street, or out to Enderdale.

We turned right as well, still keeping our distance, but up ahead he was still just in sight, caught as the traffic bunched up again at the traffic lights. The cop shop was dead ahead across the lights, while left was out towards Enderdale and the clubhouse.

From where I was sitting in the stationary car I couldn't see whether he had any indicators going, although knowing Billy and how he drove a lack of them could mean anything or nothing. The lights changed to amber and then flicked to green. The car at the front of the queue pulled away straight ahead. Billy was second in line. I held my breath. Billy's car moved forwards and then to my relief he pulled left and disappeared round the corner.

Most of the traffic headed straight over with only a couple following Billy. Butcher ran the lights just as they switched to red. The road wound round a couple of snaking bends as it worked its way slightly uphill so at first we couldn't see Billy ahead of us but Butcher gunned the car through the twists to catch up with the car ahead and as we eased round the last bend and onto the long first straight up out of the valley we could see Billy's car about quarter of a mile ahead.