Finders Keepers Edie Baylis (phonics readers .TXT) 📖

‘Jonah was just saying we should concentrate on the son – Robert Adams.’ He glanced at Saul. ‘We had information some time ago that the man has a gambling problem and a lot of debt, therefore the chances of him being open to exchanging info for money is high.’

Saul glanced at Keith. Jonah going after Adams right now was not what he wanted to hear. He was keeping the knowledge about Adams’ link to Pointer to himself and didn’t want his brother involved.

After taking up position outside that crummy flat last night, they’d been saved a lengthy stake-out when the man put in an appearance early doors. He and Keith had been there less than an hour before Robert Adams had left his poky flat and driven off. Tailing him, he hadn’t gone anywhere exciting – just to the fucking chippy, but it had given them ample opportunity to eyeball the man.

Saul had very nearly passed out when he’d set eyes on the guy. The stoner hadn’t been lying and Keith’s info was bang on. Based on the handful of photographs he’d seen of the two-faced prick who had shafted his father, the bastard was a dead ringer for Pointer – there was no question who had fathered him, so no – Jonah digging on Adams was not something he’d agree to because he was having the wanker to himself.

Saul folded his arms across his wide chest and made a big show of looking pensive. ‘Yeah, Keith mentioned you’d previously got intel on the bloke. Off that estate agent, Manning, wasn’t it?’

Jonah nodded. ‘That’s correct and now we’ve got as much as we can from the stoner, Adams should be our next target.’

Saul shook his head and inspected his fingernails. They had no way finished with the stoner. Besides, he’d been very useful so far – not that Jonah would know that. ‘I don’t agree. Going after Adams now isn’t the best thing to do.’

Jonah bristled. ‘Why’s that?’

Saul looked between everyone in turn. ‘The police are still digging and they’re bound to be in close contact with the family - probably on a daily basis.’ He paused thoughtfully. ‘Putting a tail on Adams now could mean walking straight into a frying pan.’

He held out his hands theatrically. ‘I’m just taking a leaf out of your book, Jonah, and avoiding the heat whilst it’s still on full flame.’ Saul could see disagreeing had rattled his brother no end, but he couldn’t have Jonah and that eyjit Nero digging around now he and Keith were onto something. They just needed a bit more time.

‘What are you suggesting instead then? We can’t leave things much longer. Enough time has passed already to give the wankers who took our haul and shot Shepherd a head start. The police could be digging around for months yet.’

Saul nodded ‘I agree, but we don’t want to give the cops a hot trail back to us, do we? I suggest we leave it at least another few days – just until we get clarity on where the cops are at with the investigation.’ He glanced around the room again, seeing Keith nodding enthusiastically. Even Nero looked like he could see sense in the theory. ‘In the meantime, I’ll get feelers out to see if there’s been any word as to who was behind this and I don’t mean on the street or places we’ve tried before. I have a few contacts who aren’t linked who might prove useful.’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘I’ll also use some of my other contacts to get confirmation on the investigation.’

Saul rubbed his hands together. He was doing well here. ‘It’s no secret that I want to get to the bottom of this and neither is it news I didn’t agree with how the ‘original’ approach panned out... The way that was done achieved very little, short of being detrimental.’ He looked at Jonah pointedly. Yeah, brother – that was a dig – a BIG one and aimed right at you. Did you like it?

‘But what’s done is done and we must concentrate on where we’re at now. I for one am all for avoiding going back inside and the last thing I want is us all ending up in nick for the sake of rushing things?’ He smiled widely. ‘Trust me, we’ll catch up with who’s lifted our goods and we’ll also put the record straight with Pointer’s tart and the fucking O’Hara’s while we’re at it, but we need to be careful and do one thing at a time.’

Gritting his teeth, Jonah felt like punching Saul in the face. Saul made him sound like a prize twat; purposefully rushing things because he’d fucked up? He hadn’t fucked up. Saul was up to something and he didn’t like it. He didn’t trust his brother one iota.

‘I guess it makes sense...’ Nero reluctantly agreed. Despite everything, Saul’s take on things did seem the most sensible and logical way to go about this. Not that Jonah liked it, judging by his face. His neck tightened, hoping this wouldn’t become a tug of war between the Powell brothers. After all, it was all of their necks on the line.

Saul looked at Jonah. ‘Well? Do we have an agreement?’

‘The O’Hara’s are long done, but as for the rest of it - Ok,’ Jonah said resentfully. ‘We’ll wait another week and then weigh up where we are again from there. In the interim we’ll use this time to get as much info as possible, plus catch up with the other parts of the business which have taken a back seat the last couple of weeks.’

‘Yeah, we have started running a bit behind pace...’ Saul jibed. ‘Good job I’m back, isn’t it?’ He grinned. He was in control whether Jonah realised it yet or not. The O’Hara’s weren’t done – far from it. There was still that tosser who’d ended up in the loony bin to deal with. Just because he hadn’t