Inside Straight Read Free Page A

spend the rest of the night toasting themselves cross-eyed until last orders, when they'd finally stagger off to find a cab.
    At half-eight, I saw the staff door open and the night boss arrive to take me off. A line of dealers and inspectors followed. They headed for their allocated tables, tapped shoulders and sent the day dealers who weren't doing doubles into that one last quick spin that signalled the changeover and an early night.
    The night boss had a shaven head, darkened slightly by the shadow of male pattern baldness. He wore glasses and I guessed that the frames were fashionable, because I couldn't think of any other reason to wear them; they made him look like a war criminal. I caught a whiff of sweetish aftershave as he leaned in to introduce himself. Strong smells for the start of the shift, which meant he was prone to perspiration – he needed those strong smells to cover the body odour at five in the morning. Right now he was the olfactory equivalent of the Inception klaxon.
    "Kevin Nash."
    Another homosexual, if his handshake was anything to go by. I gave him my best non-judgemental smile. I'd need this one's support. "Graham Ellis."
    "How are you finding it so far?"
    "Fine. A bit slow, but days always are, aren't they?"
    "God, yeah. Especially here." Nodding, smiling, wide eyes behind lenses. "A bit different from the Palace, I'd imagine."
    "Yeah." I smiled at the floor, threw in a cliché to keep the conversation friendly: "But then, you know, every club has its own personality, doesn't it?"
    "You can say that again."
    I didn't. Once was enough.
    He nodded over my shoulder. "I heard you met Barry Pollard?"
    I followed the nod, saw the tattooed blackjack punter up at the bar, a pint in front of him. "There was a dispute. Nothing serious."
    "He didn't kick off?"
    I shook my head. "He was in the right. It wasn't a problem."
    "Lucky you. Listen, you want some advice, I would be careful there." Nash grabbed the pit sheet, scribbled something on it. "Keep an eye on him."
    "He seemed okay."
    "Okay? Oh dear." Nash hugged the pit sheet to what could have been either his chest or the upper part of his gut – the way he was built, I wasn't sure. He leaned in a little. His aftershave made my eyes prickle. "Let me tell you something – two weeks before we opened, Barry Pollard and two of his associates came round looking for Pete Rockwell. You know Pete?"
    "No."
    "Again, lucky you. He was the original GM, but he wasn't here long. Don't even think he was here for the opening. Right piece of work if you ask me."
    I hadn't.
    "Anyway, Pollard and his associates turn up, they want to speak to Pete. Turns out they have this proposition for him."
    "What kind of proposition?"
    "Well, you know, nobody knows for sure , but the general consensus is that Pollard was talking about how nice the new club was, blah-blah-blah, how he wished the organisation the best with it and all that, and how brave they were establishing a new club in such an untested location. After all, everyone knew that Ordsall was packed with villains, didn't they? And it would such a shame if something happened to the place, especially considering it was Sovereign's flagship—"
    "Protection."
    "Bingo."
    "So what did Rockwell do?"
    "Nothing. Just told them no and that was the end of it. He handed his notice in the following week. They had to get Jacqui in from Stockport to cover."
    "He didn't go to the police?"
    "God, no. Why would he do that?" Nash frowned at me. "The police aren't interested in attempted extortion, are they? Not when it's Barry Pollard. No, they want to get him on drugs or a nice juicy murder or something, don't they? Something that'll stick."
    "Sounds like you've been following his career."
    "Does it? I suppose I have. Nothing else happens round here, Graham, and it pays to know your punters. And all I'm saying to you is that if you did him a favour today, that's fine—"
    "I didn't do him a favour; I paid him what he was owed."
    "Hey,