The Sudden Arrival of Violence: A Glasgow Underworld Novel 3 (35 page)

He hears everything. Information flows freely, and Jamieson has to piece together the bits that matter. That’s where he’s going just now. A meeting with his lawyer. Led along the corridor, into the meeting room. His lawyer across the table. Standing up to shake his hand. The prison officer stepping outside and closing the door. A good lawyer is important.

‘How are you, Peter?’ the lawyer’s asking.

‘Same old. What’s the news?’ No pleasantries, down to business.

‘Spoke to Kevin Currie yesterday,’ the lawyer’s saying, sitting down. ‘He’s got his side of things under control for now, but he’s worried. People are sniffing around.’

‘Any attacks?’

The lawyer’s shaking his head.

He’s a chubby fellow, Jamieson’s lawyer. Charles Simpson, his name is. Good at his job. Likes the life. There’s a moral sacrifice in helping Peter Jamieson, but the rewards are good. Let’s face it, if he didn’t do it, someone else would. The world loses nothing from Simpson helping Jamieson. That’s how he sees it.

‘Did you speak to Lafferty?’

Simpson’s nodding. ‘Took a while. I think he was avoiding me. Maybe he didn’t know who I was.’

‘He knew.’

‘I called him a few times. Got a call back this morning. He said nothing’s changed. He’s been approached by all manner of people, but nobody serious.’

Jamieson’s nodding. Makes sense. The big players aren’t moving yet. The little guys trying to take advantage, but getting nowhere.

Chaos. That’s the news Simpson’s been bringing him. That’s what the other prisoners are hearing. Fisher’s name being mentioned a lot. Bastard’s having a field day. Arresting all manner of people. Jamieson the biggest: that’s the catch. But Fisher’s working his way down the chain. Arresting gun suppliers and counterfeiters. Chasing Alex MacArthur. They say he’s pushing MacArthur closer to the devil than he’s ever been. Coughing and wheezing and struggling. MacArthur’s operation is struggling all of a sudden. People are saying it’s about damn time that Don Park took over from him. That’s good news and bad. MacArthur’s looking inwards, which means he isn’t able to move against the Jamieson organization. But if Park takes over, he’ll have to be seen to make a move. The easiest big first impression would be sweeping up the remains of Jamieson’s businesses. The other big players are all sitting back. Watching and waiting. Nobody’s going to rush in. Foolish to rush in, if Jamieson is out of prison in a fortnight’s time. Better to wait and see what he gets. If he goes down, the vultures will move.

And he is going down. He knows it. Simpson knows it. It’s not whether he gets a custodial sentence, it’s how long he gets. Simpson’s confident he can beat the hard accusations. Confident they won’t even make it to court. Essentially, it’s Calum MacLean’s word against Peter Jamieson’s. Calum MacLean is nowhere to be seen. It’s not that a jury would automatically believe Jamieson over Calum, but Calum has to be there to make the accusations. Fisher’s been looking for him. A car went south. Abandoned just across the border. Must have taken a train, wherever he went from there. They won’t find Calum. He’s gone. Gone for good. Smart enough to stay disappeared. Even Jamieson probably won’t try to look.

Hutton’s kept his mouth shut. That’s important. He’s looking at a long stretch. Murdering William MacLean. He’s denying it, but that won’t get him far. He’s screwed. They got him at William’s garage. Just sitting there. Drunk as a lord, so they say. They found William’s phone lying on the floor of the garage. Hutton wouldn’t tell them anything. Didn’t say if Calum had been there. Didn’t tell them why he had the phone. There’s a story there somewhere, Jamieson’s sure, but Hutton isn’t telling.

Deana Burke is silent. Has to be. Only way she can beat her charge of withholding evidence. Young’s kept his mouth shut, too. The good thing about having a close right-hand man – there’s nothing he can accuse you of that doesn’t implicate himself. He’s looking at time, too.

Someone’s blabbed. Talked about drugs. Could have come from anyone. Someone has given the police the evidence that’s going to put both Jamieson and Young away. Simpson reckons two years, two and a half maybe. Depends on the judge. Depends a little on how much evidence finds its way into court. That’s the challenge now. Using contacts to bribe, intimidate and generally make evidence disappear. Three years max. First offence, you see. Dealing, but they can’t prove the scale. Can’t prove enough. But three years is enough to give Fisher what he wants. Even two would be enough, if he can get rid of Young as well. Jamieson and Young were the organization. Put both of them away and there’s a very good chance that everything they’ve left behind falls apart.

Jamieson thinks about that a lot. Two years inside. What’s left after that? Usually, fuck-all. Most organizations can’t survive that long without leadership. There are good people out there, looking after their bits of the organization for Jamieson. But even they can’t make it last two years. Opportunities will come along for the likes of Currie and Lafferty. Chances to stab Jamieson in the back. They’ll take those chances.

But there’s another thought. The one that claws away at the back of Jamieson’s mind. Young’s going down, too. But Simpson’s spoken to his lawyer. Won’t be any more than eighteen months. First offence. Not in charge. The evidence is that Young facilitated crimes. The evidence can’t place him at the scene or in charge. So he’ll be out first. Maybe with more than a year’s head start. That’s what bothers Jamieson more than anything: Young getting out first. He takes charge of whatever’s left of the organization; Jamieson comes out a year later. Then what?

Simpson’s telling him a few more things. PC Paul Greig has quit the force. He won’t be prosecuted, because quitting spares them a lot of embarrassment. Protecting their own. Fisher’s furious about that, so the story goes. Only thing that’s gone against him recently. No sign of Calum. No sign of George Daly. They buried William MacLean five days ago. Took a long time to release the body because of the murder charge. Lots of people at the funeral. Not Calum, though.

‘Any message you want me to deliver?’ Simpson’s asking him as he gets up to leave. Jamieson’s spoken to his wife. Does regularly. Easy to get a phone. Simpson wants to know if he should say anything to the world at large. The industry. John Young in particular.

‘Just make sure everyone knows what they need to do. Let them know that I’m still organizing. That I won’t accept any change in behaviour from people just because I’m in here.’

‘Okay. And for Mr Young?’

Jamieson’s pausing. ‘Nothing.’ And there will be nothing. Young, with all he knows, getting out first, has leaped from best friend to biggest threat. Jamieson knows how to deal with threats.

Acknowledgements

There are more people that deserve acknowledgement than I care to mention, so to everyone who’s helped and supported me, and everyone who’s helped this trilogy reach its conclusion, thank you.

About the Author

Malcolm Mackay
was born and grew up in Stornoway, where he still lives.
The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter
, his much-lauded debut, was the first in the Glasgow Trilogy, set in the city’s underworld. It was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger Award for Best Crime Debut of the Year, the Scottish First Book of the Year Award, and was voted Best Read by ITV3’s Specsavers Crime Thriller Club programme.
How A Gunman Says Goodbye
, the second book in the series, won the Deanston Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award.
The Sudden Arrival of Violence
is the final book in the trilogy.

Follow Malcolm
@malcolm_mackay

Also available in the
Glasgow Trilogy

THE NECESSARY DEATH OF
LEWIS WINTER

HOW A GUNMAN
SAYS GOODBYE

First published 2014 by Mantle

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ISBN 978-0-230-76469-9

Copyright © Malcolm Mackay 2014

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