Read Online The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter (Glasgow Trilogy) by Malcolm Mackay - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Malcolm Mackay
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does. He doesn’t want details. It’s usually safer not to know. He doesn’t
ask. This is the first time he’s asked anything at all. He’s known what Calum has been doing for almost eight years, and this is the first warning. That spooks Calum a little.
What’s prompted it? New people in the city? There are always new people in the city, people making moves against the established order. That alone is nothing worthy of comment. William must
know something else. He must know something specific that he doesn’t want to have to share. They don’t talk detail. He knows something specific, something relevant to Calum, something
that worries him.
14
A routine meeting. Routine for Young, anyway. Maybe not routine for the cop he’s meeting. Hardest thing in the business. Young always said it, and he had heard others say
it too. Getting a cop on board. Get someone on the payroll and keep them there. Hardest thing you can do. You have to judge it just right. You have to make sure you approach the right person at the
right time. Once you know they’re interested, you have to play them just right. You tempt them, you convince them, then you hook them. Once they’re in, things change. You have them over
a barrel, so they’re a little more secure. Still, they have the ability to bring you down if they’re feeling self-destructive. They can make life unbearable. They can be much more
hassle than they’re worth. You have to make them feel happy and secure. Make them feel like they’re not doing much wrong. Don’t let them know how important they are. If they want
to meet you, you meet them. If they want you to keep your distance, you do.
Over the years Young has managed to lure two cops onto the books. He holds them both at arm’s length, but they surely know who he is and who he works for. They know they’re working
for Peter Jamieson, although neither of them has ever met him. Both are male, uniformed officers. One is destined to stay that way. Young picked Paul Greig up years ago, but the man is so utterly
corrupt that he’s untrustworthy to everyone. Untrustworthy even by criminal standards. He takes money from numerous criminal enterprises in the city, helps them out occasionally. He seems to
be riddled with a desire to make life difficult. Young keeps him at a very safe distance indeed. He’s one to use only when really needed. A last resort. In case of emergency, call Greig. He
had been the first copper that Young had snared; it had seemed like an achievement. Over the years Young had lost trust in him. He was convinced Greig had sold info about the Jamieson organization
to other crime figures. That was why he needed a second.
He had heard about Joe Higgins from a number of people in the business. His family had been involved in all manner of unmentionable mishaps. His parents owed money to many different undesirable
people. His seventeen-year-old sister had embarked upon a chosen career that she needed to be rescued from immediately. There were questions to be raised about the legality of several things his
family had done, and several things he had done himself. A wonderfully calamitous bunch. John Young organized a meeting with the young man. A twenty-three-year-old cop. A lad who made an unlikely
recruit for the police force, but seemed to be doing his best. After the meeting Young came away with the impression that Higgins was both an unlikely copper and an unlikely member of his own
family. His family were tough, loud and unpleasant. The boy was nervous, polite and eager to please.
Young had laid all the options on the table. He’d been open with the boy, judging that the best approach to take. Don’t frighten him; don’t try to play at being his best
friend. The lad needs help, whether he realizes it or not. Young promised to make all the moneylenders go away. He promised to make his sister unemployable in her chosen field, and instead find her
something more dignified to do with
ask. This is the first time he’s asked anything at all. He’s known what Calum has been doing for almost eight years, and this is the first warning. That spooks Calum a little.
What’s prompted it? New people in the city? There are always new people in the city, people making moves against the established order. That alone is nothing worthy of comment. William must
know something else. He must know something specific that he doesn’t want to have to share. They don’t talk detail. He knows something specific, something relevant to Calum, something
that worries him.
14
A routine meeting. Routine for Young, anyway. Maybe not routine for the cop he’s meeting. Hardest thing in the business. Young always said it, and he had heard others say
it too. Getting a cop on board. Get someone on the payroll and keep them there. Hardest thing you can do. You have to judge it just right. You have to make sure you approach the right person at the
right time. Once you know they’re interested, you have to play them just right. You tempt them, you convince them, then you hook them. Once they’re in, things change. You have them over
a barrel, so they’re a little more secure. Still, they have the ability to bring you down if they’re feeling self-destructive. They can make life unbearable. They can be much more
hassle than they’re worth. You have to make them feel happy and secure. Make them feel like they’re not doing much wrong. Don’t let them know how important they are. If they want
to meet you, you meet them. If they want you to keep your distance, you do.
Over the years Young has managed to lure two cops onto the books. He holds them both at arm’s length, but they surely know who he is and who he works for. They know they’re working
for Peter Jamieson, although neither of them has ever met him. Both are male, uniformed officers. One is destined to stay that way. Young picked Paul Greig up years ago, but the man is so utterly
corrupt that he’s untrustworthy to everyone. Untrustworthy even by criminal standards. He takes money from numerous criminal enterprises in the city, helps them out occasionally. He seems to
be riddled with a desire to make life difficult. Young keeps him at a very safe distance indeed. He’s one to use only when really needed. A last resort. In case of emergency, call Greig. He
had been the first copper that Young had snared; it had seemed like an achievement. Over the years Young had lost trust in him. He was convinced Greig had sold info about the Jamieson organization
to other crime figures. That was why he needed a second.
He had heard about Joe Higgins from a number of people in the business. His family had been involved in all manner of unmentionable mishaps. His parents owed money to many different undesirable
people. His seventeen-year-old sister had embarked upon a chosen career that she needed to be rescued from immediately. There were questions to be raised about the legality of several things his
family had done, and several things he had done himself. A wonderfully calamitous bunch. John Young organized a meeting with the young man. A twenty-three-year-old cop. A lad who made an unlikely
recruit for the police force, but seemed to be doing his best. After the meeting Young came away with the impression that Higgins was both an unlikely copper and an unlikely member of his own
family. His family were tough, loud and unpleasant. The boy was nervous, polite and eager to please.
Young had laid all the options on the table. He’d been open with the boy, judging that the best approach to take. Don’t frighten him; don’t try to play at being his best
friend. The lad needs help, whether he realizes it or not. Young promised to make all the moneylenders go away. He promised to make his sister unemployable in her chosen field, and instead find her
something more dignified to do with
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