Can’t hear ears gone loud very loud nice sounds for a Downtown club system probably black market probably paid for by a soft could report them worth a few brownie points other ops there either done it all ready or get pissed off if it’s shut down anyway good place drinks good good lookers too and easy could have taken one home Isis would have my balls and her brother would have my badge shit faced corporate no piss arsed corporates at the Baby Seal only ops and towners don’t care though friendly lot they don’t care what’s the time two forty five two forty five need cab no cabs here need tube downtown snub station two stops change to direct line home hour hour and half two fory five hour three forty five half hour four half four no four half four quarter quarter past four time for GMM fucking long way for a club club Baby Seal club good sounds can’t hear thank Franco for recommending club need sleep few hours got any Beat Beat Beat used Beat at weekend need to buy Beat shop at station don’t know come back to club tonight sleep eat come back WHAT get off me BLOODY HELL gun where’s gun WHAT WHO WHAT manchine FUCK IT’S A MANCHINE it’s a manchine no not manchine fucking cyborg fucking dead battery rust alley cyborg ought to fucking kill him tin arsed boltshitter could kill him got gun can’t be arsed go away leave me alone FUCK OFF can’t hear you anyway a single bullet POW between the eyes dead straight away cost me a bullet what bullet loaded still armour HEAP what’s in gun any bullets in gun got change have I got change got change from club fucking unis can stick unis up your tin arse how much is that too fucked to count too many to count can’t be much change from drinks all evening only changed a couple of large uni notes all evening a handful what’s a handful of unis can’t be much will be less than a bullet cheaper than shooting him here yes take them notes yes go away you freak dropped coins coins in gutter fuck coins can’t be arsed notes heres a note yes note yes you’re welcome fuck off buy some oil buy a battery buy a toaster and have babies go away fuck off
* * * * *
"Here you go Tick, just thrown out the night pot and made fresh, the dogs been heating a while though the delivery don’t get here till half three so you’re too early. Hundred uni note aren’t we the big man? You had a good night? Yeah yeah. Take it easy Tick."
* * * * *
"Good morning Officer, how are you this morning? Of course I wasn’t avoiding you, I have been in the back sorting out the delivery for the past half hour, a mix-up with the meat supplier, I told Marlon to fetch me when you arrived, Marlon I told you to let me know when Officer Ketch got here. Of course I know the date, the first of the month, how could I forget? Got your regular order right here, just finished bagging it up. Just how you like it. Any thing else I can get you? Three black, three white, four gut-busters and two rolls, of course. Pay? Don’t be ridiculous, I would not hear of it. It is my pleasure, a little community spirit, a thank you for keeping our streets and our businesses safe. Here you go, here’s your regular. You tell Sergeant Kidd it’s on me."
* * * * *
"Look I could just bust you for possession, throw you in the back of the Dozer and let the guys persuade you Timmy, but that would cause bad blood, you might not be my friend any more, you might forget to call me, you might not want to share with me any more. That would upset me, you wouldn’t want me to be upset would you Timmy? We are friends aren’t we Timmy?"
"Of course we are Sergeant Kidd, of course we are."
"Then why aren’t you helping me Timmy? Friends help each other don’t they?"
"Of course they do, I want to help you but whoever they are they’re playing it close to their chest, I can’t find the name of their supplier, I don’t know where they are getting the guns from, I swear, I’ve tried. They can’t be local, they’d know they were treading on your toes. No one would do that."
"Oh but someone is Timmy, what’s more someone has told us they are, told us to back off or they will make an official complaint. That upsets me Timmy. I want to know who."
"I’d tell you, I would but I can’t find their names. You gotta believe me."
"I do believe you Billy, because I know you wouldn’t lie to me, because we’re friends. So you don’t know the suppliers? What about the dealers? Do you have some dealer names for me?"
"Sure, sure I do. Here, numbers, addresses."
"Then we can remain friends Timmy. Here a little something for your trouble."
"You don’t have to…"
"Of course I do Timmy. You did me a favour and I’m pleased. When I’m pleased I’m generous. Keep pleasing me and I keep being generous. You understand me Timmy."
"Sure, sure thing Sergeant. I gotta go now, I gotta be somewhere."
* * * * *
"What will it be Tim?"
"Shit, give me a couple of Jiffys and a bag of Badvibes. You got nay PI in?"
"How many?"
"Just the one."
"Who’s the lucky girl, or is Shave Rave showing again on The Flesh Channel."
"Fuck you. You got one?"
"Yeah sure, I got all you want. You got the u’s?"
"I got em, here."
* * * * *
"What do we have Price?"
"Don’t really know, I recognise Rush, Alice, Pre-Solv and Hyponock. There’s also some FollowThru pills for constipation so I figure whoever buys them doesn’t really know what they’re getting. The rest is home-grown, I think this is Jiffy but the rest, who knows?"
"Anything else?"
"Some junk probably taken in payment, a couple of IDs, could be fake or stolen, couple of watches, a palm-comp…"
"It’s not his?"
"Not unless he was in to Gish recipes and had an appointment yesterday for a manicure. There’s also an SCL badge, if Boomer ain’t dead somewhere then he’s in for a demerit, a knife, a pistol, Darknight, naughty naughty, a spare clip for the Darknight, a packet of sticks,…"
"What brand?"
"Home rolled, some backstreet tobacconist. Packet says Jalepeno"
"More than my lungs worth. Anything else?"
"Just a stack of unis, notes mostly. Five, ten grand at a guess."
"Guess five, we got acceptable expenses, may as well save some poor paper shuffler from having to process the paperwork."
"Least we could do."
"Ill-gotten gains, might as well put them to a respectable use. Call Pharmacology, this file’s done, let’s go wind down."
* * * * *
"Thank you ladies, you were great. You have great hands, all my stress has drained away. Here, but yourself something nice."
* * * * *
"Thank you ladies, you’ve obviously been great. You’ve done well this evening, you’re good earners. Mr Darrin will be pleased with your work."
* * * * *
"Thank you Mr Walsh, excellent quality as always., you can’t see the holes at all. I’m sure they will pass inspection. Excellent. Mr Darrin will be pleased with your work. Here is the payment as agreed. I hope to see you again soon."
* * * * *
"Working late tonight Mr Walsh, there much call for clothes at ten at night? Business meeting? This time of day, what kind of business take place…? Oh hey, it’s none of my business right, we all got to make a living right. Forget I spoke. Here’s your chilli, you got nothing smaller that that Mr Walsh? No that’s okay, I’ve got change. See you tomorrow Mr Walsh."
* * * * *
"Evening Tick, anything? Oh go on you can sit and warm a while but you fall asleep and I’m kicking you out, you know that noise you make freaks the customers. If I get any that is. Kinda quiet tonight, that hassle earlier has made most people keep their head down. Seems some people disguised as Shivers crashed the Baby Seal, lot of dead, including enough Ops to mean it got investigated. Then the investigation uncovers Sergeant Kidd’s little enterprises and that didn’t end well. Could be Shiver control has a shake up and we get some by the books. No graft, no bending the rules, no looking the other way, no aiding and abetting, no end of fucking trouble. So you eaten? Quiet for you tonight as well then? No, don’t matter, here almost going to throw it away soon to make a fresh brew before the delivery gets here in an hour. Here, and here take this, go on. It’s just a hundred, I seen em before and I’ll see em again. They pass through here all the time."
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