“Don’t stop,” he demanded.
Sam had no intention of stopping. She offered her throat as best she could to his urgent and deep thrusts. Every few thrusts she had to draw back to stop herself gagging too much. His hands held the back of her head, encouraging her to take him ever deeper. She was careful to maintain eye contact all the time. She wanted to please Eduardo. He had done so much for her. His grunts and faster thrusts told her what to expect. When he exploded in her mouth she was careful to waste nothing and smiled broadly when she had finished swallowing.
“That was different,” she said.
“I’m sorry,” he replied, quickly tucking himself back in his trousers with one hand.
“Don’t be silly. I loved it.”
She was still on her knees as he moved behind her. He bent down and kissed her lightly on the neck. He pulled her head back and smiled. He slipped his hand inside his jacket. “I really am sorry,” he repeated.
Sam didn’t understand why he was saying he was sorry until she saw the knife in his hand. She still didn’t really understand but without hesitation he swung the knife in an arc towards her throat. As she tried to move away she realized he still had a firm grip on the back of her hair and she was unable to avoid the blade slashing across her exposed throat. Her eyes pleaded with him for understanding. Her final thought was of her brother.
Miller telephoned Simpson and explained that Connor had been captured after a gunfight and wanted to do a deal. Connor knew of a high level IRA contact in the security services and was willing to trade the name and a description for a lighter sentence. Simpson was shocked he hadn’t heard of Connor’s arrest but Miller explained the general news blackout and specific intention not to let the security service know, so the IRA contact wasn’t forewarned.
“He’ll be in hospital for a few more days but he’s fundamentally okay,” Miller explained. “The doctors say we have to let him rest, so we are going to give him twenty four hours before we get into a serious negotiation with him.”
Simpson asked the obvious question. ”Who is the contact?”
“Don’t have a clue,” Miller replied. “But I believe Connor does probably have something worth trading.”
“So why are you telling me?” Simpson asked.
“I just want you to pass on our call to Jones.”
“You think it’s him?” Simpson shot back quickly.
“I don’t know. But Connor says he is very senior and they are blackmailing him.”
“It could be any number of people then. Even me!”
Miller ignored Simpson’s flippant remark. “Will you do it?”
“Where are you keeping him?”
Miller took that as a positive response. “He’s in the Chelsea hospital. We’ve got him in a private room. He won’t be fit enough to move for a couple of days but there’s nothing much wrong with his brain or speech.”
“Jones isn’t going to take kindly to this. If he isn’t the contact and I have to say it doesn’t sound very bloody likely that he is, then he’ll go ape shit at you trying to keep this from him. And even if it is him, I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.”
“Will you just tell him, please? Leave me to worry about the consequences.”
“OK. On your head be it.”
Simpson hadn’t bothered with any farewell pleasantries. Miller suddenly found himself holding a phone with nobody on the other end. He replaced the receiver confident that Simpson would play his part in the deception.
As the one call finished his phone rang again. He listened intently before thanking the caller for the update. So Murphy didn’t have a girlfriend but he had a younger sister Samantha, who had flown into Heathrow the day after the capture of her brother. She fitted the age of the girl in Ashdown’s betting shop and the park. That could explain a great deal. She would want Ashdown dead and Connor as well if he had been responsible for the rocket attack. Now they had a name they were making progress. They would find Samantha Murphy.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Tom and Melanie had gone back to the Imperial directly from Richmond Park. The first thing Tom had then done was to call the new hospital to ask after his brother. The news was positive. His brother had been moved to the London hospital without problem. There would be a long recuperation and some possible long term damage but for the first time the new Doctor had confirmed he was recovering well.
Allied to the safe return from the park it was cause for a celebration and they ordered room service and a bottle of champagne. It would be a slightly muted celebration given recent events. The real celebration would have to wait for Colin’s return home. Before that though, Colin was going to have another memorable visit to his bedside as Melanie was adamant she wanted to visit again, as soon as the doctors allowed. He had previously been very sleepy and drugged so Tom did wonder if he would just think of it subsequently as a dream. Tom was looking forward to seeing Colin in conversation with Melanie. His face was going to be a picture and the moment priceless.
Melanie had made a call to organize the protection they had discussed with Miller and two bodyguards were going to be with them from tomorrow morning. Tom thought it could be quite intrusive having two people follow them around everywhere but felt they had little choice. They wouldn’t be armed though, so he hoped they weren’t just recruiting two professional shields that would put themselves in the line of fire. Neither he nor Melanie wanted to be responsible for anyone else getting shot because of them.
Tom knew he had fallen in love with Melanie and
