‘Strong.’
‘And—’
‘Too early to tell. Damn you, Ronnie. Damn you for doing this.’
More silence.
Harry thought of his mother. The only reason he couldn’t ruin Ronnie.
She can’t lose both sons.
He thought of her face, of the heartbreak she’d endured when Harry had left. ‘What is it you want, Ronnie?’
‘To know what you plan to do. Break me? Or—’
‘Damned if I do. Damned if I don’t.’
‘You’re not looking at this the right way.’
‘And how should I look at it?’
‘A new start. For both of us.’
‘Redemption? That what you’re looking for?’ Harry said bitterly.
‘Yes. It is.’
‘Say what you’ve come here to say. You’re dancing around it and it’s pissing me off.’
Ronnie pointed down towards the city. ‘It’s broken. This place.’
‘It was starting to rise up again. Until you fucked it over.’
‘I’m going to be blunt. Then it’s up to you.’
Harry turned to face him.
Ronnie looked the same. Even smelled the same. But it was all a façade.
‘I want you to work with me.’
Harry scowled. ‘You keep saying that, but a partnership? Really?’
‘Yes. Really. There will always be some criminal you’re chasing in this city. Drugs have always been in Bradford. Always will be. You remove me and what do you get? Another arsehole to replace me. Crime is eternal. It will always be here. So play the game smarter, Harry.’
‘Sounds like your idea of paradise. Getting me to turn.’
Ronnie sniggered. ‘I don’t need to “get you” to turn. It’s already there. Within you. That rage. That anger. That need to hand out justice. Your way. The street way.’
Harry looked back out of the window. Across Bradford.
‘Crime isn’t about right and wrong. It’s a business. And I can hand you this city. My network has a stranglehold. We’re everywhere and – at the same time – we are nowhere. Ghosts in the night. Myths you can’t authenticate.’
‘I can,’ Harry said. ‘I could burn you right now.’
‘But you won’t. Because of Mum. Because of what we’ve done.’
Murder.
Deceit.
‘You obsess about your karma,’ Ronnie continued. ‘About shit coming back to bite you on the arse.’
‘We all do. Even you.’
‘Agreed. Which is why you leave the drugs to me. And in return, I’ll hand you every scumbag you can handle. On the books? Off them? Up to you.’
‘Who do you think I am?’
‘I know who you want to be. Play the game. I can give you fuckers you don’t even know exist. You can’t clean a city from behind a desk. You’ve got to get into the sewers. We are uniquely placed to change Bradford. This time – the right way. No Shakeel Ahmed. No distractions. Let’s build an empire. Let’s become—’
Ronnie nodded. ‘Give that kid of yours everything you want. Keep your job – hell, go for your boss’s. Every Gotham needs a Dark Knight.’
‘You finished?’
‘Yes.’
‘You can leave.’
‘Promise me you’ll think it over.’ Ronnie paused a beat. And then turned and left.
Harry remained impassive. He was looking at the darkening clouds in the sky.
Gotham City, once again reduced to nothing but broken dreams.
If he refused to join Ronnie, then there would only be one outcome. Sooner or later they were destined to collide. A fight that would ruin them both.
Or Harry could entertain his brother: try to control the monster. Curtail the virus.
But whichever decision he made, one thing was certain: Harry Virdee’s future was forever intertwined with Ronnie.
Alone or together, the battle for Bradford had begun.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you to my friend Vinod Lalji – for always believing in my writing and sharing in monumental plotting sessions. You never let me quit (many times) and I am so grateful. You remain the most twisted co-creator of plots I’ve had the pleasure of working with.
To my agent, Simon Trewin, the ‘game-changer’, and the amazing team at WME for their awesomeness.
My editor at Transworld, Bill Scott-Kerr, for his passion, vision and good old Yorkshire charm, and the extraordinary team at Transworld.
‘The Crimeandpublishment family’: to Graham Smith and Michael Malone for rescuing a manuscript and ultimately opening so many doors; to my incredible editor Morgen Bailey for polishing a rough draft of Streets of Darkness and making it shine; to the formidable writing team who are ‘Crimeandpublishment’, for inspiring, assisting and making difficult writing weeks more bearable.
To my staff at the pharmacy for putting up with me whenever I was writing/plotting/editing/procrastinating/moody/elated/subdued, etc., etc., etc.
To my parents, for demonstrating what hard work and single-mindedness can achieve. You arrived in this country in ‘negative equity’ yet proved dreams could be realized. Never easily, never without grafting, never without believing.
To my sister – quite simply for bringing the sunshine whenever I brought the rain.
Finally, thank you to my wife. For daring to fail with me. This is in many ways a joint effort. We are ‘team A. A. Dhand’ and without your patience, inspiration, constructive criticism and encouragement we would not have arrived here.
Ten years ago you told me we would win.
You were right.
Keep being right.
Keep doing what you do – it makes me do what I do.
About the Author
A. A. Dhand was raised in Bradford and spent his youth observing the city from behind the counter of a small convenience store. After qualifying as a pharmacist, he worked in London and travelled extensively before returning to Bradford to start his own business and begin writing. The history, diversity and darkness of the city have inspired his Harry Virdee novels.
For more information on A. A. Dhand, see his website at www.aadhand.com
TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS
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Transworld is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies
whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com
First published in Great Britain in 2016 by Bantam Press
an imprint of Transworld Publishers
Copyright © A. A. Dhand 2016
Cover images: Silhouettes © Shutterstock; Bradford © Alamy
A. A. Dhand has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Every effort has been made to obtain the necessary permissions with reference to copyright material, both illustrative and quoted. We apologize for any omissions in this respect and will be pleased to make the appropriate acknowledgements in any future edition.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781473540446
ISBN 9780593076644
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
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Table of Contents
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nbsp; About the Book
Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Copyright