New Story - written exclusively on Steemit - WiP - Bouncer Part 50

This is obviously going to be a full novel (almost there already).

I'm listening to the feedback and if something resonates, I've decided that I'll go with it (thanks @kiwideb).

Feel free to give feedback on characters, storylines etc - even if you think it's harsh.

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Catch up on the full story with the links below.

Full list of previous episodes

Pictures from Google free to use search

Please note: This is the FIRST DRAFT, no editing, written straight onto paper. I don't know how to highlight that any more than it is. I'll NOT be making any alterations to what's already been written. As a good friend and excellent author has said, First draft is a race to get the story down before it decides to stop telling itself to you. Thanks Glenn. @alienbutt

103 pages, 43,575 words so far.

The cover image needs work (thanks everyone for the feedback, please keep commenting) and I'll get it sorted soon. Things are still hectic with family in hospital etc so stories etc have to come second-place in the priorities race.

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Zack left them to discuss their own strategies. Joe and Crackers were strong enough team leaders to be able to guide them in the right directions and he trusted both men to do the right thing.

Zack joined Taylor, Anthony and Liz in the office.

“Viktor is bringing in the reserves, by the looks of things. There are four cars coming down from Manchester,” she said.

“He’s taking this seriously,” Taylor said.

“Not too serious. He’s not over-worried about tonight,” Liz said. “He’s bringing a few guys down. If he was really concerned, they’d be armed.”

“Armed?” Taylor said, his voice raising a little in concern. “You mean guns?”

Liz nodded and smiled at him. “Well I don’t mean the men look like octopuses,” she said. Her grin helped to break the tension in the office.

“In my opinion, Mikhail has seriously underestimated Viktor. He’s only encountered the businessman side of his nature, not the ruthless side and I think that may be his mistake,” she said.

“He has a ruthless side too?” Taylor said.

Liz laughed. “Yeah, I know, he seems like a total pussycat, doesn’t he? But he likes you two, that’s why you’ve not been on the other side of his nature. I’ve seen some people turn white at the very mention of his name.”

“I can imagine that,” Zack said. “I thought Mikhail knew Viktor well. Why has he underestimated him like this?”

“Mikhail knows of Viktor and because they’re from the same area, he believes he knows more than he actually does. Viktor plays on such underestimation and exploits it to his advantage. I think Mikhail and his brother-in-law will regret this show of force.”

Despite the extra bodies to deploy, the preparation ran smooth. Deb agreed to take on the role of Bar Manager for the time being and she promised to consider a permanent move if things worked out. She set to work as soon as the agreement was made and she re-organised a few things. Placing people together that could work well as a team or bounced-off each other. She also suggested allowing Ricky a little free rein to use his cocktail skills if the bar wasn’t too busy.

She put herself on the VIP bar again and took a radio with her so she could keep an eye on everything. The other two bars had a radio if she needed to be contacted and one of the glass-collectors could be used as a ‘floater’ if anyone needed a break from the bar.

Zack and Taylor went into the club to finalise everything and wait for Viktor to arrive.

Exactly one hour before opening, Viktor walked into the club. Zack and Taylor stood at the front door to greet him. It seemed like an army of suited men followed and Zack and Taylor were a little alarmed at the greater show of force than they had anticipated, until Zack recognised some of the men. The back-up team had tagged onto the group entering the club and made the group larger than it actually was.

Taylor looked out of the front doors and did a double-take. “Zack, come and take a look!” he said.

Behind the back-up team, a group of customers trailed after them, hoping to get into the club. Crackers stopped them at the front door and told them the club wasn’t open for another hour.

Zack looked at the group and saw a few others walking up the street in their direction. He shook his head with a smile on his face. “I’ll leave it to you to explain we’re not open yet, Crackers.

Zack left the back-up team in the capable hands of Joe and Crackers and followed Viktor up to the club.

Crackers nodded and spoke to the little group. “Sorry,” he said. “You have another hour to wait yet.”

“Yeah, we know,” a pretty girl at the front of the group said. “We’ve been waiting an hour already. We want to be the first ones in tonight. We heard how awesome it was last night.”

“You’ve got tickets, I hope,” Crackers said. “No ticket, no entry. It’s a strict policy for this evening.”

“We’ve all got our tickets,” the girl said and the group waved their tickets at Crackers. He grinned at their enthusiasm.

“I’ll make sure you get in first then,” he said and went back into the club and closed the door. He could hear the excited chattering and laughing on the street and he couldn’t help but grin.

Viktor stood waiting for Zack and Taylor to arrive before he started speaking.

“I would like to believe we will not have to use force this evening, but I would rather have my team here and not need them than need them and not have them,” he said.

Zack and Taylor both saw the sense in that strategy.