Seven Rules by Dayle MacKenzie

  Chapter Twenty Four

  The little jeweller was in the back room of the shop making dinner for himself and the huge man who was his guest. Archie had left over a day earlier, but Charlie and his crew had stayed. After night had fallen, an old delivery van arrived and the two bodies were removed.

  The men and the jeweller then set to removing any trace of the fight that had occurred in the back of the shop. They rolled up the bloodied rug and threw it in the van. The wooden floor boards were washed and Charlie produced a new rug for which he charged the jeweller a massively inflated price. Charlie left with the van, but not before going into serious detail with the jeweller about what they would do to him if he failed to honour their agreement.

  The little man had no intention of doing so. Charlie and his heavies were the lesser of two evils. He was glad to be rid of the sect.

  The jeweller and his guest sat down to their dinner. The big man smiled at the contents of the plate.

  “Bacon and eggs,” he said as he picked up his knife and fork. “This is a real treat. Ta very much.”

  The two settled into their meal. The big man had been there for most of the day. Charlie had promised him that someone else would arrive to replace him the next morning.

  “I’ll be quite happy to stay on if Charlie wants,” the man said, spitting food as he spoke. “You’re a better cook than my ol’ lady.”

  The jeweller smiled. He was getting on well with the big man. He’d been living alone since his mother died and was glad of the company.

  “I though we might have a glass of wine after dinner,” he said.

  “I’d rather have a beer, myself, but I’ll drink your wine if you in...”

  The sentence hung in mid-air unfinished. The jeweller looked up from his meal and saw the big man frozen, with a fork-full of food half way between his plate and his mouth. The blood was draining from his face.

  “What on earth is the matter?” asked the jeweller.

  “Bloody hell!” replied the big man staring past the jeweller.

  The jeweller was about to repeat the question but he sensed someone was behind him. He jumped as a voice addressed them both.

  “Hey, can one of you two get a hold of Archie or Charlie for me?”