Last King of the Cross

How well did you know him?

My brother.

We're sweeping up the garbage the Royal Commission missed.

The ones who got away.

Anyone who runs a business in the Cross pays protection.

- From who? - From me.

Now we've got every two-bit fucking gangster

in the state, on the strip.

We might have just started a war.

It's cool, uh, we got the green light.

Fuck!

I want 'em all cleared out.

Grab some boys to go with you,

in case you going to be scared, yeah?

Oh, fuck, Sam, no, fuck, Sam.

You need to curb your dog

or there'll be consequences.

Tell your boss to go fuck himself.

It's 800 feet of road.

You can't control that? It's not fucking Columbia!

Go!

Double homicide.

It's not the best look for a senator, is it?

Change your statement.

Do you know how it feels to have to stick up for you,

when you are actively the one fucking us over?

What's up?

=The CollectorZ=

I'm going to get us some coffees.

What the fuck? Look at this fucking shit.

You gonna let that piece of shit

to get the fuck away with this?

We're going to chase every last one

of these cunts down, you understand?

Yes, Sammy.

- You understand? - Fuck yeah!

These fucks are paying with blood.

You finished?

What the fuck are you doing here?

What am I doing?

I'm doing what you should have done.

I'm here to protect the fucking street.

Protect?

By turning up with your tooled up idiots off your face!

How's that protecting anyone?

How's it make you any better?

How's it going to get any worse than this, John?

Do you still not get it?

You blow up that car, they burn down my club.

You fire more shots at them, they fire more shots at us.

Okay, where does it end? Them blowing up Mum's house?

This is exactly what he wants.

Okay, us fighting.

Now Ezra doesn't have his jacks doing his dirty work,

he's got these little fuckers doing it.

Okay? He wants a reaction from you and you, and,

you're giving it to him.

You're playing into his hand. Just...

You do you.

Remember?

I'll do me.

Fuck, you got so much Mum in you.

You told us under oath that Crellan shot Nasa Kalouri

out the front of his house and left him for dead.

That was my recollection.

But as you guys know,

I was under a lot of pressure to make a quick statement.

Since then, I've had time to decompress

and I realise I made a huge mistake.

Well, now you're making an even bigger one

by changing your story.

Fuck, eh! You must be pumped to see him.

What's on the cards?

A pop down the pub, have a few beers,

run through a list of cops who have topped themselves?

How fun.

Look,

I know you want this to be over with.

Fuck's sake, shut up!

Declan.

We really want to help you,

but we can't protect you unless we know

who we're protecting you from.

I don't know what to tell ya. All right?

My memory changed.

That's all I got to say.

Excuse me.

Now, if you guys don't mind, my family's getting home,

and I've got a fucking shit load to do.

The smart money's on Bill Allen, by the way.

And believe me, if the Assistant Commissioner

gave you up once, he can do it again.

Think about that when you tuck your kids in tonight.

Three months for murder.

That is some magical bullocks, mate.

It's got to be some kind of record, doesn't it?

I mean, who'd you have to suck off to get out so quick?

Old mate just caught a sudden dose of amnesia.

Right.

Really?

Fuck you.

I was looking at well over a decade

and I kept my mouth shut.

Also, do you pricks have any idea how much I loved my job?

I was a cop for 22 years and I loved every minute of it.

And the blokes that I went to work with every day,

I considered them my family.

I'd take a fucking bullet for them.

And yet I gave all of that up to protect you guys.

Not to mention having the Royal Commission

take that away from me permanently,

so are you fucking kidding me with the attitude?

Well, now, I think it's about time

you picked a fucking side, innit?

When do I start?

You know, you could always just tell them who did it.

Come on, John. It's not rocket science.

On one side of the street,

your brother's trying to fill the hole

in the Kings Cross drug market left by Joey Romano.

And on the other,

the Bui Doi think it's theirs for the taking.

That's not going to end well.

Then there's you in the middle with nothing to gain

and everything to lose.

You're telling me my life story?

Yeah, and the only person who can stop it

doesn't seem to be doing anything.

So you could be forgiven for thinking that

Ezra's stoking the flames, couldn't you?

Like, I assume that's what the garden party was all about?

Ezra Shipman and his mates?

The ex-Senator and the Assistant Commissioner of Police?

Hot and cold running girls laid on.

That was you?

Yeah, I...

I hope they were useful.

See, you and I, we've,

we've always wanted the same thing, John.

Just for different reasons.

Right now, I'm just trying to keep my brother alive.

- Hey, Sam! - Gentlemen.

- Hey, mate. - Sammy.

Mm, nice.

- Hey. What are you doing? - What?

You don't get to sit down

until every last slope is off the street.

Righto.

How many years have we worked together then?

- 30-odd years. - Right.

In all that time, right,

how many people have tried to take over the Cross?

It's a long fucking list, boss.

All right, but how many have succeeded, though?

Just one.

You might want to remind Sam of that.

Hey, mate.

You around?

Righto.

Look at you. Barely aged a day.

Funny, that.

So how you want to do this?

I figured you'd called to sort out the money for old mate.

Nah, don't worry about that. My way of saying thanks.

If you'd gotten talkative on the stand,

we might have been having this little chat

from the rec yard at Long Bay instead.

Long Bay might be the safest place for you

from what I'm hearing.

Your brother seems to have poked the bear.

Fuck, Johnny.

You're the owner of the four biggest clubs in the country.

You're making serious coin

and you want to get into a drug war?

You're the one who never wanted drugs

in the Cross in the first place.

Family.

- Hell of a thing. - Yeah.

Last of the crazy Lebs, huh?

- Is that what you reckon? - Johnny. Crazy? Yeah.

But the rest of it? Well.

That's a little premature.

I need to hear the words, mate.

Ezra wasn't too fast when I was looking down the barrel

at well over a decade in a twelve-by-eight cell.

You did something about it. And I'll never forget it.

Cross is changing, Johnny.

Crowds are thinning, moving up to Oxford Street,

away from the violence.

We have to keep up with the times, don't we?

It's food for thought.

But if you ever need me to square that debt,

then you just say the word.

Don't ever bring a gun to a meet with me again.

You don't need it.

Hey, you! You're home early.

Yeah, it was a,

slow night.

Whatcha doing?

Just reading about the little island my Yaya's from, Ikaria.