Málaga, 2001
I’d done a bit of business with the Mother Superior before, made her a lot of money, so she was happy to let me use her land. She knew I wanted to bury something, and she asked me if it was something valuable, and I said, no, quite the opposite.
I had to feel for Connor in the end, when he saw my gun. He was all ‘Come on, Vern’ and I was all ‘It’s just business, Baldy’.
You’re always going to have a rival in business.
Pepsi’s got Coke, Oasis have got Blur, AOL’s got BT Internet.
That’s capitalism, that’s what keeps everyone honest. You put up prices to gouge your customers, your competitor cuts their prices to steal them.
Competition is what makes business what it is.
And in my business, let’s say the less legal side of things, competition had an added complication. You start doing too well, start building your empire, there’s people out there with guns who want to kill you.
So why not be your own rival? Solves a lot of problems, doesn’t it?
So I’m going to be rivals with Connor Brooks. The man I’ve just shot and buried. Good luck competing with me from six feet under!
He’s actually about five foot under, because the sun was coming up and, however forgiving the Mother Superior might be, she probably has lines she won’t cross.
No one will believe Connor’s note. They’ll all know he’s done a runner. He’ll have to change his name, of course, also change his appearance a little, but that’s okay, I’ve already arranged all that for him.
I honestly think it’s going to work, I can’t go into the ins and outs of the whole thing, but I think I’m going to have a long and lucrative competition with Connor Brooks or, as the world will know him, Jakob Eriksson.
I’m not going to sell anything too controversial, I’ll leave that to Mr Eriksson. If I ever need anyone killed, well maybe Mr Eriksson can do that for me? I can be Mr Nice Guy, he can be the Bogeyman.
I’ve even found a lookalike to make the whole thing more believable. I’d tell you who, but you wouldn’t believe me. Honestly, you’d laugh. And he’s not the type to start asking questions.
I’ve created a shadow, and the great thing about shadows is that no one can ever catch them.
Imagine a rival who will never compete with you, will never undercut you, will never try to kill you. To be fair to me, it’s genius.
Sorry, Baldy, it’s nothing personal.
And welcome, Jakob Eriksson, I look forward to working with you.
My shadow.
The one man I know will never turn against me.