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Hayder and I went way back. Irrespective of whether it had been put in the diary or not, I would be there for her regardless of the cost, and we all knew it.

Chapter Four
     My Fat Boy roared past Edinburgh Sheriff Court, and I took my time making sure that all the punters saw us – my Harley Davidson motorbike was my greatest marketing tool.
    Slowly, I did a U-turn past the pompous statue of William Chambers before coming to a regal stop directly outside the gates to the Sheriff Court. There was a parking place for solo motorcycles further up the street, but I always parked Awesome where he could be seen.
    Riding my bike was my greatest source of joy, a pretty sad indictment on my life. Awesome was eight years old, and I can’t pretend that the one lady owner was careful. Oil dripped onto the road where I parked, but I wouldn’t part with the Fat Boy for anything. The bike had been a twenty-first birthday gift from the one man who truly loved me. Unfortunately, I had an easier relationship with the bike than I had with my benefactor, Glasgow Joe.
    The upside of riding a motorbike was that you could get through Edinburgh’s congested streets and find a parking space in relative safety from the parking wardens. The downside was that I had to arrive early to change out of my leathers.
    As I dismounted, I remembered another drawback. Helmet hair.
    It was 9.30 a.m. and the usual suspects were beginning to gather at the court entrance. Polyester suits were in abundance, and teenage girls with pussy pelmet skirts clung to the arms of aged Lotharios.
    My eyes drank in the scene, looking for my clients. At least I didn’t have to make them up any more. When I had first started building my practice, I noticed that the successful lawyers carried lots of files. They then made a great show of standing in the atrium of the court before the call-over of cases where they shouted out their clients’ names. The more successful you were, the more names you hollered.
    In the beginning I had one slim file. It was embarrassing. To keep myself amused I took old, fat files out of storage, stood next to the busiest lawyers and barked out fictitious names. The number of clients I called for, naturally, was always greater than my rivals.
    Mary McLennan, the woman I would always think of as my mother, used to tell me, ‘Be nice to those you meet on the way up, as you never know who you might need on the way down.’ Feeling alone today, as usual, I wished that I had listened to her.
    ‘Brodie!’
    Panic ran through my veins. I wasn’t expecting him to be at court today. Had I missed a date?
    Moses Tierney sauntered out of the shadows. The leader of the Dark Angels – and my most important client – looked his customary picture of sartorial elegance. His peroxide hair was spiked and gelled with military precision, and kohl enhanced his grey, wolf-like eyes, making his skin seem even whiter.
    The Dark Angels were rarely seen in daylight. Rather dramatically, they prided themselves upon being creatures of the darkness – which is difficult in Scotland during the summer months. Recently I suspected that Moses was trying to model himself on the London gangsters of the Fifties. Moses had made it known that he was now a legitimate businessman, flashing his money about and being a bit more careful about who he was dealing with – which would have been bad news for me if it had been the truth. In fact, his few legitimate ventures required the services of commercial lawyers so I was able to refer him to my partners.
    ‘What the fuck are you up to, Brodie?’
    Moses grabbed me by the collar of my leather jacket, and pulled me into the corner, away from the gathering crowds.
    ‘What do mean?’ I genuinely had no idea why he was so upset.
    ‘Look at that radge there.’ Moses pointed into the opposite corner where a Dark Angel stood looking shame-faced. I would have placed him in his late twenties, so he was quite old to be a member of Moses’