Burnout

Chapter 2

2

L.A. is a sprawling, pulsing, humming mass of a city. A good place to be if you wanna be another face in the crowd, where no one pays attention and most people are sat behind the glass of a tinted car window.

But the traffic is unbelievable. There's always a smoking auto wreck in the distance and a five-minute nip to the shops can turn into a four-hour crawl in a heartbeat.

That's why I use the Metro system. Either the orange and grey buses or the silver subway trains. Today I'm riding the bus towards Hollywood, straight to my second job.

If you were with me in Arizona, you're probably asking yourself where the leftover change went from the bank raid. Well, it went right into my daughter's university fund. She'd go absolutely apeshit if she knew it was blood money. She still thinks me and her mum get a grant from the government. And so long as she doesn't ask, I'm not gonna tell her. I buried a lot of bodies and did a lot of unpleasant things to get that money.

But that's all in the past. Now it's hard, honest labour. I'd even pay tax if the companies I'm working for weren't cooking the books and avoiding the minimum wage. Speaking of labour, my bus arrives at the stop a block away from my night job.

It's a short walk under a pink sky and through a side door as the neon sign above Infinity glows into life.

In the locker room, I sit and eat a pastrami sandwich I bought on my way out. I read a free newspaper I find on a bench before checking my watch. Eight p.m. Time for my shift.

I open my locker and pull out my stab vest. I fix the velcro straps and pull a fluorescent orange band up over the top of my right arm. The other guys on the team come in and we grunt at each other. Some big units among ‘em. I'm six-five and one of the smaller guys. Then there's Candice. Mess with her and she'll take that mess and beat you to death with it.

I'm only a week into the job. An outsider. They don't trust easy in here. And why should they? Most of 'em have got a sideline going on, either dealing on the door, in the club itself or out in the side streets.

Well they don't need to worry about me. I'm here to do my shift, keep my head down and preserve the peace. And I don't intend on getting to know anyone too well.

Infinity's a good gig, after all. When I turned up for the security firm trial, I thought I'd get a rundown bar or a seedy downtown nightclub. Somewhere the boozers and brawlers went to pickle their livers and punch, stab and shoot each other for a good time.

I certainly didn't expect the hottest VIP spot in town. Guess they must have been impressed by the way I took three of their senior instructors down. Or maybe it's 'cause I'm a polite bastard who can string a few words together, which is useful when you're spiriting the glitterati inside, away from the paparazzi.

And after a few hours of a Friday, the place starts to fill up with 'em. I stand in a dark corner of the main room, out of sight of the rich and famous and not so famous, but just damn rich, bloody beautiful or well connected. The club is decked out in leather and marble. There's a sunken dance floor in the middle and the clear glass bottom of a swimming pool above, with a couple of water dancers in skimpy bikinis.

The shimmer of the pool is part of the lighting scheme—a pale-blue glow with matching neon strips along the two-sided bar to my far right. People queue either side, while the really important people sit in roped-off booths ordering table-service champagne.

It's quiet on the radio. Usually is. No trouble on the door and not much to do but usher the odd drunk guy or girl out of the club. So I play spot the famous person. I reckon I've seen four or five tonight. Most of the crowd are stunning young things tanned from the California sun. And half of 'em look like high school kids.

Christ, I'm getting old.

As I'm stifling a yawn and feeling all of my four and a bit decades, Ty speaks in my ear. "Joshua Speed, in the house. Charlie, you're on the rope."

I move through the club, over to the VIP booths against the far wall. They're big, semi-circular areas with oversized white leather sofas. There's a reserved sign on the centre table and a purple rope in front. I stand by the rope and watch out for Hollywood's highest paid actor. It's pretty tough to miss the guy. He’s in his late-twenties but looks more like twenty-one. The same black-haired, blue-eyed, square-jawed heartthrob we're all used to seeing on the big screen. What was that latest piece of s**t he was in? Some superhero franchise thing.

Nonsense. Absolute bloody nonsense.

Gem, Speed's personal hostess for the night, leads him, two male friends and his two minders to the booth. They look like brothers with their matching black suits and shaved heads. They give me the eyeballs. I wonder why they need me to guard the rope in the first place. Must be beneath 'em. Not in the contract.

I unhook the rope and pull it aside. I don't look Speed or his entourage in the eye. We're trained not to do it. They get enough people staring and snapping cameras at 'em as it is. Instead, I stand by the rope and guard the booth.

People walk by and steal glances in Speed's direction as the champagne flows.

As the night wears on, Speed and his pals are getting pretty loud. Climbing up on tables. Pouring champagne into each other's gobs. Spilling the stuff over the floor and sofas. The minders sit back on their arses, letting Speed do what he wants. They hit me with a stare that says turn around.

I look across at Ty. He's the team leader. Six-eight, black and bald and carved out of granite. He's guarding his own booth of VIPs. One's a supermodel I recognise from one of those big billboards you see on the sides of buildings. I nod my head towards Speed and his entourage. Ty waves a subtle hand, down by his side—let it go. So I do, scanning the club for any signs of trouble.

"s**t," Ty says in my ear. "Carlos is in tonight."

"Who's that?" I ask.

"Far side of the room. White suit, black shirt."

I look across the club, over the dance floor to the far side. Carlos is a Latino guy with cornrows hair and a sharp black goatee. He walks with a human bulldozer in tow—another Latino with a shaved head and a white short-sleeve shirt that's too big for him.

And that's saying something.

"Who's Carlos?" I ask Ty.

"You don't wanna know," Ty says. "And don't go askin'."

"None of my business anyway," I say.

Gem returns to the booth with more champagne, tall with light-brown hair and a gold dress that goes well with her figure. I open the rope and let her in. She smiles and enters the booth. Pours the party some more bubbles and gets a slap on her toned arse for her trouble.

Speed is taking serious liberties if you ask me.

Gem smiles through it.

I feel like giving the little s**t a clip round the ear. Movie star or no movie star. But I turn away. Eyes to the front. Tracking Carlos as he moves around the club. He reminds me of those coyotes I saw during my time in Arizona. Skulking around. Head bowed. Eyes roaming from left to right. His black shirt open wide at the collar. Disco light bouncing off his platinum-plated teeth. Carlos moves around to my left, fixes his gaze on Speed's party and taps his giant friend on the arm. He points towards the booth. The two of 'em come my way.

Meanwhile. Speed is shouting over to the supermodel in Ty's booth. She's playing it cool. Speed takes a swig from a giant bottle of champers as Gem leaves the booth with a couple of empties. He freezes mid-drink. His face drops and drains. He lowers the bottle. I track his stare over to Carlos, closing in.

Speed shrinks into the leather sofa, as if trying to hide. The minders look worried. So does Ty.

Carlos stops in front of the booth. He's not that big a guy, but broad-shouldered. A mean glint in his eye. He looks me up and down, then past me, towards Speed.

"Can I help you, sir?" I ask.

Carlos smiles. It's not genuine. "No, but you can help yourself."

"Let him in, Charlie," Ty says.

I look across at him. "Serious?"

Ty raises both eyebrows. I look around at Speed. He and his party have quietened down. Speed's minders are on the edge of their seats, either side of the kid. Whoever this Carlos clown is, I guess the kid's well protected.

I unhook the rope and let Carlos in. "Good doggy," he says as he brushes past me.

Carlos' supersize friend barks low like a dog at me, his face in mine.

I ignore it. Like I said, not my business. But I keep a close eye on events. Carlos stands in front of the kid. He looks at Speed's bodyguards. The pair of 'em stand up and shuffle out of the way, onto other sofas.

Carlos and his friend take a seat either side of Speed.

Speed puts on a smile, but it's a nervous one as Carlos talks in his ear. Speed talks back, shoulders shrugging, hands out as if trying to reason with the man. Carlos puts an arm around Speed's shoulders. I can't hear s**t over the booming dance music, but he's making a point with a tattooed finger. Speed argues some more. Carlos lets go and stands in frustration. He taps a diamond-encrusted Rolex.

What's he saying? Time's almost up? I dunno, but Carlos and his pal clear out of the booth. I close the rope off behind them. They drift over to the bar without a look or a word in my direction.

I glance over my shoulder at Speed. He shrugs to his friends. Puts on another smile and reaches for a champagne glass. His hand shakes. He gets up and heads to the toilets with a minder and his mates in tow.

Not long after, he comes back. Red nostrils and pupils like saucers. The swagger back in his stride. He beckons the supermodel over. She's a six-foot brunette. She wafts past me into the booth. I try not to gawp. Instead I watch Carlos take a seat in the far corner of the club. He catches my eye. I look away. Don't want any trouble.

I unhook the rope again as Speed and the girl head down onto the dance floor, hand in hand. They're getting close. The music thumping. The swimming pool dancers spinning in the water.

I check my watch and roll my neck out. Hours left on the shift and this stab vest is pulling my shoulders forward, killing my posture.

Luckily, Gem comes over with a bottle of chilled water for both me and Ty. But Ty's elsewhere, turfing a drunk guy out of the club.

As I'm chugging the water down, I catch sight of Speed and the supermodel playing tonsil tennis. Speed is five-ten tops and she towers over him in her heels.

They break off and Speed leads her by the hand, up the dance floor steps. They're heading for the stairs up to the roof terrace. His minders are up on their feet, too, shadowing close behind.

Carlos nods to his friend and they rise from their seats. They follow on through the door that leads to the stairs up to the terrace. I look around and see Speed's entourage. One's on his phone. The other's copping a face full of a girl.

Sod this.

"Ty, this is Charlie. I'm heading up to the roof," I say into the microphone plugged into my right ear.

"I'm heading back in now," Ty says. "What's happening?"

"It's that Carlos guy," I say crossing the club, pushing my way through a throng of bodies. "I'm checking it out."

Ty tells me to stay put. Too late for that, pal, I'm already through the door and striding up the transparent staircase up to the roof. I head through a set of glass doors with chunky chrome handles.

The night is still. The stars out. Speed and the supermodel have their ankles in the water, laughing and flirting on the far right of the pool. The minders stand to the left of the pool, giving them space. Carlos and friend are a little ahead of me, passing by Speed's minders.

The minders don't do s**t about it.

I stay by the doors, in the shadows, seeing how it plays.

"What's the water like?" Carlos says.

Speed looks up and sees Carlos and his giant friend approaching slow around the pool.

"Josh?" the supermodel says.

Speed puffs his chest out, toughened up by the bubbly and coke. "Listen Carlos, I told you . . . I'm not gonna give you ten percent of my f*****g earnings."

"You f*****g owe me," Carlos says.

"For what?"

"Management services," Carlos says, as he rounds the far end of the pool. "You just fired your last agent, right?”

"Yeah, how do you know?"

"Forget about how I know," Carlos says. "I'm your new one."

"Oh yeah? Since when?" Speed says, getting to his feet.

"Since a month ago. You earned seventy million last year, correct?"

"I might have done," Speed says.

"Then a month, that's, uh—" Carlos struggles with the maths.

"Five-hundred and eighty three grand," his fat friend says.

"There," Carlos says, squaring up to Speed. "But I'm a nice guy. Let's call it an even five."

"Are you out of your f*****g mind?" Speed says.

"Please, watch your language," Carlos says. "There's a lady present."

As the supermodel pulls her feet out of the water, Speed looks across the pool at his minders. "Are you gonna get rid of this asshole, or what?"

Speed's minders are silent. They stay put.

"So where's the first p*****t?" Carlos says, stepping into Speed's face.

"What are you talking about?" Speed says. "I don't carry around that kind of cash."

"Then you can get it tonight," Carlos says.

"Tonight? What are you—?"

"Bank transfer. I give you my account details," Carlos says.

Speed shakes his head, disbelieving.

"What, you need an invoice or something?" Carlos says.

"You're not getting s**t," Speed says, only to take a punch from Carlos in the gut. He drops to one knee, coughing, wheezing. His minders do nothing.

The supermodel backtracks away slow on the balls of her feet, taking her shoes with her. Carlos drags the kid up to his feet by the collars of his shirt and snarls something quiet I can't hear from this distance. The supermodel pushes past me, back into the club, walking on shaken legs that go on forever.

"What's going on, Charlie?" Ty says in my ear.

"You'd better get up here," I say, keeping my voice low. "I could use some backup."

"For Carlos?" Ty says. "Don't do it Charlie, you don't know who you're—"

I pull out my earpiece and step out of the shadows. I walk along the opposite side of the pool to Carlos and Speed, past his minders. "There a problem here, gentlemen?" I ask.

Carlos pauses, Speed still in his grip. "No, no problem," he says. "Now run along little doggy before you get hurt."

"Looks like there's a problem to me," I say.

"Don't do it, buddy," one of the kid's minders says under his breath.

I ignore 'em and keep walking. One slow step after another along the poolside.

"Maybe we can all take it easy," I say. "Come to some sort of arrangement."

Carlos lets go of the kid and fixes his attention on me. His rather large friend cracks his knuckles. They clack like stones hitting a rock floor.

Carlos seems amused by me. "Okay, Kofi Anan. What do you f*****g suggest?"

I round the deep end of the pool and square off in front of Carlos. "Look, your business is your business. But I can't have it happening on club grounds." I hold up my hands to make peace. "You know how it is."

Carlos snorts. "What are you, British?"

"British, yeah."

"British, I see," Carlos says, slapping his friend on the arm. "That explains it, Mike. He doesn't know who he's talking to." Carlos thumbs his nose and leans towards me. "I'm gonna give you a pass on this one. Get the f**k out of here."

"I appreciate that," I say, "but I'm still gonna have to ask you gentlemen to leave."

"You got some big-ass cojones, Britishman." Carlos turns to his friend. "Hey Mike, get rid of this piece of shit."

Mike steps forward, ready to do some damage. He throws out a gorilla-sized hand. I grab it by the ends of his fingers and pull ‘em apart at the index and middle.

There's a nasty crack. He screams. I push his hand all the way back. A snap at the wrist. Doesn't matter how much meat you've got on 'em. Bones are bones. Mike screams again. He cradles his hand. I boot him hard on the side of the kneecap. He's down to a kneel. The next boot puts him in the pool.

As he falls in, the water makes its way politely out.

I turn to Carlos. His hand inside his suit jacket. He pulls a gold-plated piece. I catch his trigger hand and rip the gun away. I remove the clip fast and toss it in the pool. I open his jacket and slide the pistol back in his shoulder holster.

It all happens before he can react. I jam a thumb in a pressure point on the left side of his neck. "Seeing as you're so very important, you can use the secret entrance," I say, leading him away from the pool.

Mike pulls himself out of the water and rolls onto the tiles behind us.

"You too, Tiny Tim," I say to Mike. "Let's go."

We take the fire exit, down a very un-exclusive staircase and out into a deserted road down the side of the club. I push Carlos away into the road. Mike limps after him. A dripping mess, still whimpering over his broken fingers and fractured wrist.

Carlos turns to me. Speaks through gritted teeth. "Pick out a nice plot," he says. "You're a fuckin dead man."

I watch Carlos and Mike disappear into the night. I step inside the fire exit door and head back into the club.