BooksBarbecue
Back The Bad Place Save as PDF
Chapters (72)
  1. Cover
  2. THE BAD PLACE
  3. Contents
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Epigraph
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. 9
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. 30
  37. 31
  38. 32
  39. 33
  40. 34
  41. 35
  42. 36
  43. 37
  44. 38
  45. 39
  46. 40
  47. 41
  48. 42
  49. 43
  50. 44
  51. 45
  52. 46
  53. 47
  54. 48
  55. 49
  56. 50
  57. 51
  58. 52
  59. 53
  60. 54
  61. 55
  62. 56
  63. 57
  64. 58
  65. 59
  66. 60
  67. 61
  68. 62
  69. 63
  70. Acknowledgements
  71. About the author
  72. An Invitation from the Publisher

She kept her distance, ready to flee if the situation turned bad. Fact was, if Austin decided to get nasty, she didn’t stand a chance. Not that he would; attacking potential customers wasn’t a good idea when you were trying to build a profitable business.

‘You’ve been misinformed, someone’s winding you up, I don’t sell shit like that, so sling your hook.’ He rapped the back of his hand against Roy’s chest. ‘Come on, bruv, let’s go.’

The woman looked almost relieved and began to walk away. ‘Thanks for your time.’

‘Wait,’ said Austin.

Things had been tight lately, he owed people he really didn’t want on his case, and he considered her carefully. She was familiar to him somehow. He wracked his brains, trying to work out if he’d maybe seen her around the estate or at court, or even the local cop shop. If she was undercover police, he was totally fucked.

‘I can do you a deal, maybe,’ he said. ‘But it’ll cost you double the usual price. Because you don’t look like the usual skank who comes looking for product. You seem like a nice lady, and if you’re so intent on fucking up your life—’

‘It’s for a fr—’

‘Friend, right.’ He lifted a finger. ‘If you want the product, if you want it bad enough, then you’re going to have to pay me what I want.’

The woman looked away, thinking about it, but he knew she’d pay.

She nodded. ‘Whatever you say.’

He felt a little sad for her, but only for a moment. Because at the end of the day she was no different from any of the other middle-class day-trippers. She was the same as the artisan bakery guy, the advertising dude, and that woman who took the under-nines to the swings. For Austin, these people were all just customers with deep pockets.

‘It’s not for me,’ she said again.

‘Yeah.’ He yawned. ‘I don’t care.’

Austin nodded to Roy, who ran off towards the estate to get what she wanted.

‘Let’s get down to business,’ he said.

35

‘It was just a silly argument.’ Ursula sat on the sofa in the early hours of the morning. ‘Can’t you pull any strings?’

‘No, Mum,’ snapped Sasha. ‘I can’t, not if I want to keep my job.’

‘It was just a suggestion,’ said Ursula, making a disappointed face, and tightened her fingers in her lap.