Criminally Insane by Conrad Jones

opened the zip seal and the stench hit him like a sledgehammer. He tossed the offending bag away onto the bed and the hand spilled out. “You’re sick. I can’t believe you kept that. Why did you bring that? You should not have followed me there. What the hell is this all about?”
    “It’s about you crossing the line. It is about you shattering the boundaries every time I ask you to do something. It is about trust and greed. You have to push everything to the limit, don’t you. You have to go too far every time. There was no need to go that far.” Gecko pointed to the rotting hand.
    He hit Patrick hard with the butt of the gun and his accomplice fell to his knees. Another heavy blow silenced him. Putting a bullet into his brain crossed Gecko’s mind but he refrained when he heard voices in the corridor outside. He needed time to think about what had happened. Leaving a corpse in a city centre hotel was not a bright idea, and there was no way he could dispose of the body before someone discovered it. His accomplice had been self-indulgent to say the least, leaving a trail of evidence for the police to follow when they eventually found the woman. He had thought about cleaning up the factory unit but there was nothing there which could lead them to him, so he had left it. It was time to go on alone. He wished he had done things on his own from the start but it wasn’t something he could change. What was done was done, his past was his past, and he couldn’t alter it. He could shape the future though, and that was what he had to concentrate on. After a little rearranging of the hotel room, Gecko stepped onto the busy streets and blended into the crowd with the cash and the drugs safely tucked into his bag. He would deal with his accomplice later. Their partnership was over. There was one more task to complete, and then he would get rid of him for good.

Chapter Six
Connections Nightclub
    When Jinx opened his eyes, there were bells ringing in his head. He was cold and wet and water was pouring from the ceiling. There was smoke everywhere and women were screaming in the nightclub. He saw his fellow poker-playing gangsters picking themselves up from the floor. There were flames flickering up from the cellar and the doorframe was well alight. The fire was taking a hold and spreading quickly. Strong hands grabbed him and pulled his substantial frame upward.
    “Come on, Jinx. It’s time to get out of here.” The gravelly voice belonged to a monster called Gus. Gus Rickman was one of the top villains in the country and if anything happened in Liverpool then Gus knew about it before it happened. If he didn’t, there was trouble. Gus had been a competitive body builder in his younger days and although he had stopped competing, he was bigger than ever. He was shaven headed with a grey goatee beard and tattoos covering his arms. He was responsible for one of the biggest bullion robberies ever carried out, and the police didn’t even have him on their list of suspects. They had him linked to a few security van robberies a decade ago, but they never had enough evidence to charge him with anything. Jinx liked him because he was straight. There was no bullshit with Gus, what you see was what you got. Treat him with respect and he’d help you any way he could, but cross him at your peril.
    “Get the fire extinguishers!” someone shouted.
    “No!” Gus shouted over the noise. “Get everyone out of here and let it burn.”
    Confused faces looked at Gus. The fire was growing but they could extinguish it if they acted quickly. Jinx read his mind. Gus was right. Five kilos of cocaine belonging to the Turkish mob were missing. A decent size fire could hide a multitude of sins, and they had promised Jessie they would cover him. Letting the back of the club burn would just about do it. The fire brigade would save the rest of the building, maybe.
    “Move now!” Gus growled. People limped and carried others toward the main part of