The Drop

strange place for our first proper kiss but it had been a strange night. That kiss was a promise and we both made it.
    Palmer’s rented house could have been described as minimalist, as if the bare walls, limited furniture and an absence of family photos were some deliberate design statement. I knew differently. He was a bloke who just didn’t value stuff. He had a 42-inch plasma TV on one wall to watch the football on a Sunday afternoon, a fridge full of beers and a couple of small couches to sit on but precious little else, so we just stood around in his kitchen.
    Palmer had rounded them up. They were all there, just like I asked: Palmer, Toddy, Mickey Hunter, Danny, Kinane and all three of his sons.
    I turned to Hunter and nodded. He put two long, bulky, black holdalls on the kitchen table and unzipped them both. Hunter took out the weapons one by one and placed them carefully on the table. He had brought everything I’d asked for. If he had been surprised to see Kinane and his sons he didn’t make a big deal out of it, just nodded in the older man’s direction, then he talked us through the guns he’d brought with him.
    ‘Four Beretta semi-automatic shotguns. From what you tell me there’s no need to saw off the barrels?’ He was obviously trying to find out more but I wasn’t about to tell Mickey Hunter what I had planned.
    ‘No need,’ I confirmed.
    ‘I’m grateful for that small mercy.’ He held up the ammo to show us, ‘don’t fuck about with these, they’re two and a quarter-ounce Super Magnum cartridges. They’ll bring down a rampaging elephant,’ and we all nodded respectfully. Kinane and his sons picked up the shotguns and started loading them like they knew what they were doing, which I didn’t doubt.
    ‘Danny,’ said Hunter. My brother was paying attention alright and he even smiled when he saw what Hunter was taking out of the bag for him, ‘the SLR; British Army, standard-issue, semi-automatic rifle from your time and beyond. I don’t have to tell you anything about this, do I?’
    ‘No mate,’ said Danny as he picked it up, scrutinised its length closely, peered down its barrel then held it reverentially, ‘you don’t have to tell me anything about it.’
    ‘Better than the SA80 any day,’ said Palmer, appearing at his side, ‘that won’t jam in a bloody sand dune.’ The two of them were gazing at the rifle like it was a picture of an old and much-loved girlfriend.
    ‘I thought you might feel that way,’ Hunter told Palmer, ‘so I brought you one as well.’
    ‘Nice one.’
    ‘Sure you don’t need anything?’ Hunter asked me, ‘I put another shotgun in the car, just in case.’
    I shook my head. I was happier with the Glock and less likely to blow my own foot off with it.
    Hunter handed me the long, thin black bag, ‘and you asked for this.’
    ‘Thanks,’ I said taking it from him without another word.
    ‘You going to war?’ asked Hunter, a little nervously.
    ‘Maybe,’ he was still fishing. I jerked my head so he would follow me out of the kitchen where we couldn’t be heard. More importantly it would separate him from the others and he wouldn’t be able to hear me speaking to them later. ‘I need you to stay here with Toddy. Don’t go anywhere. Keep your phone handy.’
    ‘No sweat,’ he said, though he did look a bit worried, ‘I wasn’t planning to leave the country or anything.’
    ‘Make sure you don’t,’ I told him. Then I gave him a smile like he was my best mate.
    I returned to the front room and I didn’t waste any time. I went through it all; what happened to Bobby, Finney and Northam and who was behind it - except I left out the bit about me shooting Bobby, but you can’t blame me for that. I then told them what we were going to do about it. There weren’t many questions. They all knew we were in the shit and if we didn’t act now, we’d lose the city for good.
    We left Hunter and Toddy with Sarah. Danny and Palmer went in one car with two of Kinane’s sons. Kinane and his eldest came with me. Kinane sat up front while I drove.
    ‘I always thought I’d have the chance to sort it out,’ Kinane said, ‘you know, me and Bobby, even after all this time. We fell out over nowt really, pride more than anything. We were both stubborn fuckers, always were,’ he sounded almost affectionate, ‘these Russian tossers have robbed me of that and they are going to pay.’ I was glad he was angry and so confident. I wasn’t.