Rafferty walked into the Rotten Unicorn. He waved at some of the crowd he

recognized as he went to a table in the back. It was close to the kitchen in case he had

to duck out the back.

He settled in place. All he had to do now was wait for something to happen. How

long could that take?

Josie, one of the servers, approached. She smiled at Rafferty as he watched the crowd.

“Expecting someone?,” she said.

“I don’t know,” said Rafferty. “Could I have a beer?”

“Yes,” said Josie. “We have some fish in, and some of the chicken you like.”

“I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stay,” said Rafferty. “If nothing happens, I’ll

take you up on the chicken.”

“Right,” said Josie. “I’ll be right back.”

She walked away, talking to some of the patrons at the bar.

Rafferty watched the crowd. He didn’t see anyone acting suspicious. Maybe they

were wasting their time. He had no way of knowing. He was getting paid to wait, so

he would wait.

Eventually something would happen.

Josie came back with his beer. He sipped it as he watched the room. Would Brown

enter the pub with guns blazing? Were the customers and staff at risk? Should he be

sitting here waiting for Brown to show up?

He and Hawley had put a dent in Brown’s manpower. That should keep the gangster

down for a bit. No one wanted to deal with someone under official scrutiny.

One of the customers got up and went to the bar. He asked for the phone. He made

a hurried call. He went back to his table next to the door.

Rafferty leaned back in his chair. Should he make a phone call himself? Should he

wait for Sir Laurence to show up and extricate him out of this mess? Did he want to

remain where he was?

How much time did he have before the villains arrived to take him away?

He decided the best thing to do was wait. He didn’t know what was going on outside

the pub. He didn’t want to walk into an ambush. Buying time seemed reasonable to

him.

Sir Laurence would have someone waiting outside in case there was trouble. He

doubted there would be an excessive presence. The knight seemed to like things on

the quiet side.

Rafferty watched the room while he sipped his beer. No one else moved for the

phone. People going out the door talked about work and what they were doing after.

The man who had used the phone sat at his table and smoked as he looked out the

window.

Josie made her way around the room. She cleaned the tables as she went. She paused

at Rafferty’s table before going into the kitchen.

“Would you like anything else?,” she said.

“Could you bring me another beer, and a plate of chicken,” said Rafferty. “I might be

here for a while.”

“I’ll get you an order,” said Josie. “We have some greens to go with it.”

“That would be good,” said Rafferty. “Thanks, Josie.”

“I’ll bring you another glass in a moment,” said Josie. She carried the dirty glasses

into the kitchen to be washed. She walked back out and went to the bar. She poured

out a glass of beer and carried it back to Rafferty. She set it on the table with a quiet

thump.

“Is there a problem?,” Josie asked.

“I angered Mick Brown, and I think one of his men is sitting at the table next to the

door,” said Rafferty. “I think he called Brown to tell him where I am.”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“You don’t seem that worried,” said Josie.

“He won’t do anything while I am eating dinner,” said Rafferty. “He’ll wait until I

head outside.”

“Do you want me to call the peelers for you?,” said Josie.

“No,” said Rafferty. “I don’t want the police involved in whatever happens. Brown

knows people on the force. It’s better if I handle things on my own.”

“No, it isn’t,” said Josie. “No one messes with the Unicorn.”

“Don’t worry, Josie,” said Rafferty. “Things will work out. I just want to eat before

there is a problem I have to fix.”

“Remember what I said,” said Josie. She walked through the swinging door to the

kitchen.

Rafferty smiled. You messed with the Unicorn, and you got the horn. He sipped at the

unfinished first glass of beer as he watched the room and waited. If Brown did make

a play inside the pub, there would be problems for him. Would he massacre all these

witnesses?

He realized he had no way to be certain what Brown would do to get back on top of

his game. Kidnaping Hawley and not killing him had been a mistake. Now the whole

police force was looking for him.

The ex-detective watched the man by the door as he waited for his chicken. If the man

left, he would too. He couldn’t let the front of the pub be shot up just to trap his

enemy.

Josie came with his plate after he had finished the first beer. He thanked her as he

picked at the food with a fork. He kept an eye on his watcher as he ate.

How long did he have? He decided to eat half the chicken at least. The greens didn’t

matter that much to him. If the bloke got up to go, he would be right behind.

Rafferty sliced off pieces of chicken with his knife and fork. He ate slowly to give the

idea that he wasn’t going anywhere for some time. He didn’t want his watcher to

know that he had been spotted.

“Hey, Jimmy,” said Tolliver, the bartender and owner of the pub. He looked like

someone had used his face for a punching bag and his body to smuggle a laundry.

“There’s a call for you.”

“Thanks, Toll,” said Rafferty. He walked over and picked up the receiver. “Rafferty

here.”

“Operator,” said the caller. “Ready for instructions?”

“Go ahead,” said Rafferty. He smiled. Fletcher had a plan to solve the problem.

“You are to wait ten minutes, then leave the Unicorn,” said the Operator. “Turn right

and walk down the street.”

“Got it,” said Rafferty. “Anything else?”

“No,” said the Operator. He hung up.

Rafferty handed the phone back to Tolliver before going back to his table. He

finished the chicken and his beer in a few minutes. He waited until the time was up

before he got up and went the door.

He went through and turned right like he had been instructed. The watchman came

out of the Unicorn and followed from a distance.

Rafferty wondered what trap was going to be sprung. He kept an eye on the street,

thinking about how empty it felt. Shouldn’t there be people walking along with him?

He heard the thumping of feet behind him. He turned.

The watchman had a cosh in hand as he rushed at the detective. He tried to bring the

weight in a sack down on his target’s head. Hands grabbed the arm to keep the

weapon at bay. He punched with the other hand to free his other arm.

Rafferty winced at the blow to his ribs. He pulled on the captured arm while turning.

He aimed his captive at the closest wall. The watchman put up a hand to protect his

face from the collision. The detective fell on the man and slammed his face in the

ground while trying to keep a grip on the wrist to keep the cosh at bay.

Cars rolled up. Men got out and surrounded the fight. Some of them had bandages

from what had happened earlier in the day. Mick Brown pushed through the remains

of his mob.

“Hands up, Rafferty,” said Brown. “It’s time for a slow ride.”

Rafferty stood. He held his hands up. He gave the watchman a kick in the ribs.

“The police are looking for you, Mick,” said Rafferty. “I think you should turn

yourself in.”

“I think that I am going to take care of you,” said Brown. “Then I’m leaving the

country.”

“Really?,” said Rafferty. He wished he had a bulletproof vest.

“Yes,” said Brown. He pulled a pistol from under his coat. “I need to make a public

example out of you. No one can be allowed to stand up to the Brown Gang.”

A black car rolled up on the other side of the gang’s transportation. A man in an old

army uniform and a face mask shot through the windows of the parked cars with a

revolver. That sent the gang scrambling.

Rafferty charged Brown as he ducked for cover. He hit the bigger man and they both

went down. Brown rocked him with a back hand to the face. He gritted his teeth and

slammed the man’s head against the concrete sidewalk. Brown brought the pistol to

shoot at point blank range. Rafferty fell on the arm, pointing the pistol at the man’s

own chin. The gangster pushed to get the weight off his arm so he could shoot. The

detective heaved up and crashed down with his full weight on that arm. The gun went

off.

Rafferty grabbed the pistol. He had seen plenty of men with their faces blown off

during the war. What was one more?

He rolled from the body and shot at the gang. They had concentrated their firing at

the black car and its masked driver. None had considered the detective a threat

compared to someone shooting at them. He proved them wrong in a handful of

seconds.

Rafferty got to his feet. He kicked weapons away from hands as he looked around.

Customers from inside the Unicorn poured out in the street. He waved at them.

The black car pulled away in a cloud of smoke.

Rafferty looked around. Police whistles filled the air. He made a face. It looked like

he was going to spend the rest of the night talking to his former colleagues about

what happened.

“Well, Jimmy,” said Tolliver. “It’s a good thing that other man saved your life, isn’t

it?”

Rafferty nodded. He dropped the empty pistol to the sidewalk.