A Dark Time For The Light

58

Just how scary was revealed a week or two later. Harry had a week’s break between jobs and Draco’s team were about to be interviewed by a TV crew making a documentary covering the earliest parts of the project and Jacinta deemed it wise that Draco not be within sight of TV cameras. They’d all taken the extra work when Stefan went off ill for a week and then Caroline had a family emergency, her mother was rushed into hospital, so they would all cover for him now. He was profoundly grateful as he was once again told to steer clear until his boss gave the all-clear.

So this was the week that Harry intended to introduce Alice to the Kilmarnock crew. As Steffie, too, was free this week, she offered to come along as a spare driver. Harry and Draco were to accompany them. Alice hired a car using a false licence and a fake name, a nice fast saloon, “No point in us having crap wheels, now, is there?”, as she checked the size of the boot. She paid cash for the car. She whisked them into a supermarket for picnic style munchies to sustain them on the long drive. She put Harry up front with her with Draco and Steffie behind. She thrust a road atlas at Harry, “You navigate, love, we’ll be coming off the Motorway near Carlisle and taking the ‘B’ roads up to Glasgow. You can read maps, can’t you?”. Harry ruefully shook his head. “I can, a bit”, Draco piped up. She smiled grimly, “Okay, you two, swap places”. They did. Steffie giggled, “I get skinning up detail, I take it?”. Alice smiled at her friend and simply handed the makings into the back seat.

They set off around ten in the morning and were headed north by mid-day. Alice screwed her earpiece in one ear, clipped her mike on and made some calls as she drove. She took a call in rapid German, nodding and “Ja”-ing, then closed the connection. She caught Steffie’s eye, “Lars and Heike will be in place in plenty of time. I’m just gonna give Danny a call, make sure he’s remembered what friggin’ day it is and make sure his feckless, lazy arse is out of bed”.

Harry and Draco exchanged looks. Alice caught it. “Look, boys, I’m sure you trust these mates of yours, but this is serious business and I don’t know any of them. I barely know you. I could be walking into a trap or a raid or a rip-off. It’s all about covering my back. If all goes well, then you won’t even see these people, but I’ll know they are there. I also ought to inform you that we are not without protection. We will be armed. These encounters can get jolly ugly and I’ve been doing this far too long to be fucked with”, she caught Harry’s eye in the rearview mirror and saw him gulp,

“Is there anything I need to know, that you haven’t told me, Harry?”, her voice was low, laced with suspicion as she saw the swallow and the clear nervousness in his face, “No, no”, he stammered out, “It’s all just, erm, a bit scary, that’s all. You’re just, erm, not messing about are you?”. She fixed him with a steely glare, “No, Harry. I don’t mess about. This is business, and very bloody serious. We can relax when I get to know them better, but right now, a lot could ride on this”.

Steffie handed her a joint across the back of the seat, “Chill out, Al, I’m sure it will be okay, you’re frightening these poor boys to death”, she took it and glanced at her best friend, “Yes, I’m sure it will too, but you guys have to understand, that’s all, it’s not a fucking game. Now, as you’ve got a captive audience, let’s lighten up a bit. Tell me about the shops in Diagon Alley”.

The boys relaxed somewhat and the conversation became animated and fun. Steffie asked about the picture on Harry’s birthday card and they were treated to a cheerful diatribe on the joys of Quidditch and Alice realised with a grin the heart of these boys’ rivalries. Poor Draco. Never had won against Harry all through school, “How did you two stay rivals once you became lovers?. Presumably you still had to play each other?”.

“Oh, yes! Only the fighting was dirtier, oh, erm, I mean, you know, dirty playing, not, erm, like that”. They all laughed aloud at Harry’s stumble. Draco purred, “Oh, I don’t know, Harry. The after-match showers?”. Harry was puce but grinning. He shot his lover a ‘look’ and Draco subsided with a chuckle.

Once they left the Motorway, they changed drivers. Steffie was to take the back roads from here on. She gently nudged Draco awake to navigate. Alice got her head down for a while in the back. Harry softly snoring beside her. They followed the Motorway, keeping roughly parallel as they wended their way north. About five miles from their destination, Steffie pulled over and woke the others. Draco was dozing again.

After a stretch of the legs and some food and drink, they all set off again, Alice on her phone. As she finished the call, she said, “Harry, call your people, tell them we’re about fifteen minutes away. Don’t say anything about, you know, but I want to know the vehicle type and registration and the number of people on board, please. Say nothing of my arrangements. Nothing at all”. Harry made the call.

They were already there, they were in a white Transit, unmarked, the reg was read out, “There’s four of them including the driver, Neville, Roland, who you are meeting, then Don, the driver, and Lee, the, erm....”. Alice smiled, “Backup? Muscle?. It’s good to know that your friends are being cautious. I like that. Now I want you two lads to switch your phones off and give them to Steffie. I’d hate to think you have a live line open, relaying this to God knows who, however accidentally”. The boys complied. Their nerves were back.

Alice made a quick call each to her outliers and gave details of the vehicle, then nodded and switched off her own phone, Steffie did the same, “Mobiles are great, but you can ‘read’ them with short wave scanners, we don’t want that now, do we?”. She pulled over and got out, popping the lid of the boot as she did so. She took out the spare wheel and fished into the tool compartment. Harry was aghast as he turned, squinting through the gap between the boot lid and the car. Alice was tucking a revolver in the waistband of her jeans, then covered it with her baggy sweater.

He said nothing, just went pale. He thought he was going to throw up with fear, but kept his meal down, he was trembling slightly and hoping he could go through with this. “You saw what I did back there, Harry?”. She pinned his eyes in the mirror. He barely nodded, “Yes”, he whispered.

They pulled into a large lorry park outside a transport cafe. Alice drove around a moment and oriented herself. There was Lars’ car. She spotted Danny’s van. Then the white transit. Don and Neville were outside it, Don smoking a cigarette. Alice turned her phone back on as she drove around them in a big circle, checking for people waiting in cars nearby. It looked clean. She called her cohorts, “I think it’s clean”. She received affirmatives from them both. Only then did she pull near to the Transit and kill the engine.

“Right. Just me and Harry. Lock the doors after me, Stef”. Harry and Alice got out and approached. Neville recognised Harry and came over with a smile. They hugged, but Harry resisted saying anything, he was shaking and it seemed not only himself was feeling anxious. He detected a tremble running through Neville.

He introduced Alice and Neville, and she walked the tall dark-haired boy off to one side and they talked in low voices. She established that he had what she desired in the quantities she’d requested and split up according to her instructions. They walked back to the van and Neville banged on the back doors. Lee opened it and Neville allowed Alice to board first. She was introduced to Roland and Lee, then took a quick look at the product. “We don’t do anything here, there are too many cameras about. There’s a spot about three miles from here. Follow me”.

She and Harry stepped back into the car and they peeled out of the car park, the white van following. As they exited and turned left away from the city, a maroon estate car pulled out along with a small red Escort van. The roads became twisty and countrified. She led them to a lonely little crossroads surrounded by trees. Leaving the three in her car, she went to inspect the merchandise. Very nice. Wonderful quality and an excellent price. These guys had absolutely no idea what they were doing. Complete amateurs. She let herself relax as she handed over the cash as her cohorts rang her and told them they were in place. She ordered the occupants of the Transit to face front and look down. She barked, “Dan”, into her phone, and the smaller van appeared. Half of the booty was loaded in and the man shot off. The maroon car was summoned next and most of the rest transferred. All this happened at the back of the van with the doors open, so Harry and Draco couldn’t see anything, but Steffie told them to look forward, eyes down all the same. She knew the drill.

Alice threw a large bin bag into the boot and they all drove off after Alice had shaken Neville’s hand. “Nice doing business, guys, here’s to a fruitful relationship, only next time we meet in the middle somewhere”. They exchanged numbers and Transit and Alice went in opposite directions to each other. She pulled up again, once they were alone on the road and she stashed the gun again.

She stepped into the back of the car as Steffie took the wheel again and off they went. She cheered as they hit the open road again, “Whoo, nice one, guys. Thanks a lot. Sorry to be a bit heavy about it all, but I’ve earned my right to paranoia”, she laughed at the boys’ scared faces, “It’s all right. We’re done now, we just have to get this heap back to London”.

In the event, Steffie drove most of the way, letting Alice sleep. Alice took over again and they had an uneventful ride back talking of Magic and the boys answering questions again. The women’s curiosity was insatiable, though the car around her fell quiet again south of Birmingham. She turned the radio on for some company and the traffic news on the approach to London. Good, they were going to get off easy tonight. The boys struggled awake as the Metropolis swallowed them up and Alice dropped them at their flat. She got out of the car and opened the boot. She pressed half a bin-bag full into their hands, “Thanks for the intro, boys, and please say nothing of what you’ve seen or heard today”. The two women waved as Alice pulled away.

They sat in their living room, still shell-shocked. Today had been a real wake-up to how others lived and did things, a far cry from the rarefied air of Hogwart’s. Draco held Harry who was still shaking, “Fuck, Dragon, she had a gun. I still don’t believe it, a fucking gun, loaded as well. I like the woman, but, whoo, she’s a bit bloody dangerous. I’m glad we don’t have to do that again. She seemed pretty happy about it though. Hmm d’you think we should warn Neville that she’s armed and that?”.

Draco shook his head, “I think we’d be really stupid to interfere, she didn’t wave it at anyone and everything went her way. She just piled on the heavy stuff to make sure. I bet once she gets to know them, she’ll feel able to trust a bit more, but that’s business on the wrong side of the law, Harry, like Hermione says, sometimes it ain’t pretty. I’ll admit, I was scared, especially when she was glaring at you like that, but, hey, look on the bright side. It’s not everyone that can say they’ve witnessed a big dope deal. Ten kilos, that’s quite a lot”.

Harry laughed then, “Ten? I don’t think so. When I gave her the price, she upped the order to fifty. It’s quite possible that Nev’s undercharging a bit, but at least they’ve found a way of getting rid of it on a regular basis”. He pulled the fragrant black plastic bin-bag towards him and inspected the contents. Big fat densely packed buds. Harry tied a knot in the bag and took it into the kitchen, balanced their kitchen scales and perched the bag on it, piling weights the other side. “Wow. Three kilos, give or take a gram. Not bad for a car ride, nearly crappin’ yourself and a nice picnic!!” Nev was quoting 3 grand for one as part of ten, so one alone would cost more, so there’s nearly nine grand’s worth of weed here. All in all a good day”. Out came the bong and they finished the day in a giggling stoned haze.