Wyatt - 01 - Kick Back (8 page)

Intercept? Pedersen said.

Yeah, you know, find out the route
when its being delivered or after its handed over, block the road, grab the
cash, you ride by on your Honda . . .

Wyatt was watching Anna Reid. Her
face was irritated now, but for a moment thered been something like panic
there. He heard her say, Whats with all this macho stuff? Do you want the
whole world to see? If they use a security service, are you going to shoot it
out with them? God! she said, shaking her head. She looked at Wyatt. What
about you? Have you been watching too many films?

Her green eyes were challenging and
complicated and unimpressed, and he wondered what exactly was eating her. Only
re-runs of Get Smart, he said. Yeah, I agree, a street snatch is out. What we
do is hit your office Friday afternoon when youre at work.

More irritation. Thats idiotic

Not if were quick and look
legitimate from the outside.

Hobba was looking interested. He
turned to Anna. What kind of safe is it?

She shrugged. Just a safe.

Its a little Chubb, Wyatt said.

That made her sit up. She put her
head on one side, concentrating on his face. The waiting room, she said,
nodding slowly. This afternoon.

Wyatt held her stare. Well tie
everyone up, he said. If youre one of the victims, you wont be suspected.

What about clients? What if I have
to go out? I need to know roughly when youll do it.

Wyatt waited. Finally he said, All
right. Cancel your late afternoon clients. If Finn has a client with him, too
bad. Well hit at four-fifteen. Will you all be there?

She nodded. Finn goes out for
coffee at three-thirty, but he only stays away ten minutes.

Four-fifteen? Pedersen said. Are
you mad?

Wyatt turned to him. Later. Okay?

Well, Jesus.

Anna was smiling, going over the
idea in her mind. Finn will think hes been hit by someone he does business
with. I like it. The smile faded. But what about my share? There I am, tied
up, while you lot disappear.

Hobba and Pedersen seemed to grow
alert at that. Wyatt looked at them warningly. He turned to the woman again. Youre
the finger, he said. You can put all three of us away. We wont rip you off.
Ill pay you myself on Saturday.

She gave him another complicated
look. He saw the motion in her throat as she swallowed. How will you get in
and out without attracting attention?

When Wyatt didnt reply she frowned
and looked round at the others. Finally Hobba answered her. Look, he said, its
best if you dont know. That helps protect you, and youll behave more
convincingly when the time comes.

Oh great. Shall I scream when the
time comes?

Wyatt handed her a pen and a scrap
of paper. Give me your address and phone number.

Why do I get the feeling this is no
longer my job? she said.

They ignored her, watching her
write. Then Wyatt pocketed the note and crossed to the door and stood there,
facing her, his hand on the door knob. She got up and walked towards him, half
amused, half angry.

Dont try to contact us, he said, and
we wont contact you, unless theres a hitch. If all goes well Ill let you
know on Saturday where to find me.

Her eyes were half closed. Wont
you be here?

She waited. When Wyatt didnt reply,
she gestured irritably and left the room.

* * * *

Twelve

When
she was gone Hobba raised an eyebrow and said, So, Wyatt, what do you reckon?

About what?

About what? Hobba threw up his
arms. Her. Anna. I like your chances there, pal.

Wyatt watched Hobba coldly. He
refused to be drawn, had no time for it, couldnt understand how anyone lacked
focus when they had a job on. Finally Hobba gave a self-conscious shrug and
said, Okay, how do you see the job?

Well use a van, something that wont
look out of place. We drive up, go in as tradesmen, lock the doors, disarm the
phones, crack the safe. Max, Chubbs are easy, right?

Some of them, Pedersen said. Hed
been playing with the zip on his japara. A van, he said, some sort of
disguise. Going to cost a fair bit. Guns too?

Yes, Wyatt said. But no shooting.

I got a gun, Hobba said. Wyatt,
you got guns.

Wyatt shook his head. Ive never
used my own on a job and Im not going to start now. We get new ones.

Wyatt waited, watching him. Hobba
liked to play devils advocate. It was how they ironed out the wrinkles. Where
from? Hobba said. They put Payne away last week for shipping M16s to Fiji,
and I wouldnt want to be caught with something that fell off the back of a
truck in the saloon bar of the Kings Head.

Max, what have you heard? Who else
is supplying?

Pedersen tugged back and forth on
his zip again, thinking. Eventually he said, Theres this guy near Burnley
Station. Somebody Flood.

Wyatt nodded. He knew of Flood.

Hobba got to his feet and stretched,
getting the kinks out of his massive back. He lit a cigarette and began to
circle the small area between the bed and the door to the corridor. What with?
he said. I havent got any spare cash. Max here hasnt.

Wyatt had withdrawn his final cache
that afternoon. It would do for the guns and incidentals and his hotel bill,
but that was about it. He said, Ill take care of the guns.

Hobba looked at him shrewdly but
said nothing. Pedersen removed his japara at last. The fawn shirt under it
blended with his sandy colouring, making his features even less distinct. He
folded the japara over his knee and said, Okay, you buy the guns. But where do
we get the cash for a van and the other stuff? I mean, this is pretty central
to the whole deal.

We bankroll it, Wyatt said. Pull
a couple of small jobs.

Hobba sat down again, his bulk
disturbing the surface of the bed. Ivan Younger is good for any of the stuff
we need.

Wyatt grinned. Yeah, well thats a
long story. He told them about Sugarfoot and Ivan and the dead housekeeper.

Was that you? Pedersen said,
amazed. He looked troubled, as if Wyatt had come down in the world. Ivan
Youngers someone you
buy from.
Hes not someone you
work for.

Hobba began to wheeze like an
accordion. He was laughing. You got out of it lucky. Young Sugar is going to
find himself in a shallow grave one day.

We could go on like this all night,
Wyatt thought. He said, So we cant use the Youngers. Who else is there?

He knew the answers to most of these
questions, but the scene changed quickly, so it was important to double check.
Hobba said, Eddie Loman.

Eddie Lomans good, Wyatt said. You
go and see him in the morning and order a van.

He wont come through unless we pay
him up front.

The way to deal with the Eddie
Lomans of this world is let them see some cash, say a thousand. Hell come
through then.

A thousand? I bloody havent got a
thousand.

Silently Wyatt pulled out his wallet
and counted out one thousand dollars. Give him this. Ill see about the guns.
Meanwhile, I want a stake-out on the target over the next few days. Max, youll
take the first shift tomorrow.

Pedersen nodded. He seemed pleased
to be working again.

Hobba was still looking for hitches.
We cant use our cars for the stake-out. Well have to use rentals. That means
fake ID.

Wyatt opened his wallet. This is my
passport photo. You get yours taken tonight, use one of those machines, and ask
Loman to fix us up with ID. As for the bankroll, theres one scam I know of,
but it wont bring in enough cash. We need a second scam.

A slow, wide smile formed on Hobbas
face. Ivan Younger runs a couple of call-girls over in Fitzroy. How would you
like to get back the five thousand he owes you?

* * * *

Thirteen

Later,
when he was alone, Wyatt heard the knock, two soft, confident raps. He opened
the door and Anna Reid was there, her low voice saying, I waited in the lobby.
I saw them leave.

She regarded him calmly, her hands
resting in the deep pockets of her jacket. Wyatt stared at her, then stepped
back wordlessly to let her in.

At the centre of the room she
removed the jacket and looked for somewhere to put it. She didnt speak. No
explanations or justifications, no Are you surprised? or the other openings
he expected.

But as she stepped by him to drape
the jacket on a chair, her arm brushed against him. He tensed. In the silence
she said, Two things. First, Ive been stealing from my trust account.

He nodded.

To repay a bookmaker, she said. I
have to put the money back before I get found out. Second, I could take some
polaroid photos of the layout and the alarm system if that would be a help.

Wyatt ran through the possibilities.
Perhaps she wanted him to trust her. Or she wanted to know if she could trust
him. Or it was all a game to her. Photos would be useful, he said. Take them
tomorrow. Ill be in touch.

She looked at him ironically. Youll
be in touch.

He nodded, refusing to smile. About
the money you owe, he said. You just decided youd ask Max to rob a safe for
you.

It wasnt quite as blatant as that.
I was explaining his parole provisions one day, and he told me I was wasting my
time. He said he expected to be back in jail again sooner or later.

That got your mind working.

She smiled. I didnt say anything
for a few days. He didnt seem like an idiot, but I couldnt be sure, so I sort
of circled around the topic to see how hed respond.

What did he say when you finally
mentioned it?

She shrugged. He didnt seem
surprised. I was just another crook; this was just another job.

They hadnt wasted time with small
talk or hedging, and now they were silent. But Wyatt wanted to know more. After
a while he said, How come youre Finns partner?

He knew my father in Brisbane. When
I came down here he took me on.

She looked, briefly troubled, at his
face, and he understood that she was unhappy. Beauty attracts the bad offers,
he thought, and shes accepted some of them. He said suddenly, Finn expected
you to go to bed with him.

Well, well, she said, raising her
eyebrows. She went serious again, wrapping her arms around her chest. At first
I didnt mind. I was young, he gave me a start, he can be very compelling.
Later on we stopped but he still looks at me like its there whenever he wants
it.

Wyatt was silent, waiting for her to
say more. She cocked her head. He lost a lot of money in the 87 stock market
crash. After a while I realised hed gone crooked. He started doing the
planning kickbacks, and there were lots of little things for example, every
month he has the place swept for wiretaps and bugs. He tells us its Telecom
doing maintenance.

How did you know about Fridays
drop?

Hes always very careful, but I
overhear bits and pieces and I fill in the gaps. Some of his planning appeal
work is genuine, but a lot of its riggedstraw objectors, inflated
settlements, all earning him huge kickbacks. When something big goes through,
he likes to brag.

Using it as a come-on, Wyatt said.

Her eyes were large and when she
smiled they seemed to lengthen and tilt upwards. She reached forward and
brushed his chest almost as if she hadnt done it. I was thinking about you
downstairs. Most people who arent straight eventually become wary and secretive.
I think with you it was the other way around.

So?

So lets hope it means youre less
likely to make mistakes.

Usually when they started analysing
him, understanding him, it was time to get out. But there were gaps in this job
and he might learn something. Besides, she made him feel alive and well. Her
knuckles brushed his chest again and he didnt flinch. You can afford to pick
and choose your jobs, she said.

If hed known her better he might
have told her about scraping the bottom of the barrel with people like the
Youngers. But he felt his luck had changed now; the Youngers were irrelevant. I
like working through the details, he said.

Thats obvious. Just now, when
everyone was here, you seemed to be interested only in the job. Not them, not me.

I keep the distractions till later.

Uh huh, she said, nodding
ironically.

He waited to see what she would do.

What she did was touch his chest on
the way out and say, I can do more than just take polaroids of the layout.

* * * *

Fourteen

Monday
night was Sugarfoot Youngers night for prowling the bars and dance floors of
Club H in King Street, keeping an eye on the patrons, thumping heads that got
out of line. Ivan had hard cash invested in Club H. Sugarfoot didnt know if
Club H was a Bauer operation or not. All he knew was, he hated the powder-blue
tux, and the women were slags. Youd think as bouncer hed be in a position to
grab some of the action, but he hadnt scored once. All the chicks seemed to
come from Mount Waverley and wanted to know how come he drove an old car.