‘Why after all these years?’ Barrow said to the man sitting opposite.
‘Are we certain?’
‘It’s him, no question.’
‘Have you told your wife?’ the man opposite said. The two men knew who they were referring to. One was his friend who had consoled his wife after he had died, the other man, older and wiser, had realised the importance of the work he had been doing, ensured that the funding, secretive, well hidden, and government, was available as required. Neither of the two men in the office trusted the other, although it did not matter. With Woolston back, both their livelihoods, their reputations, their lives were at stake.
‘I hope it never gets to that stage,’ Barrow replied.
‘He’s marked for death?’
‘We need his knowledge first.’
‘If he gets away again, you know what he could do?’
‘No more than he could do now. The risk remains the same.’
‘On your head, you know that.’
‘I know it,’ Barrow replied.
‘It’s complicated in that you married his wife.’
‘That was unforeseen.’
‘It’ll be personal with him.’
‘The man was dead. I married his widow. What’s the problem?’
‘If she ever finds out that you never believed him to be dead.’
‘She never will. Not from me. Will you tell her?’ Barrow said.
‘If he’s standing in front of me, gun in hand, what do you think?’
‘You’ll cry like a baby, tell him whatever he wants to hear, do whatever he wants.’
‘Of course I will.’
‘And afterwards?’
‘Once I have the upper hand, I’ll kill him without hesitation.’
‘Is that what Arbuthnot would have done?’
‘The man was a savage. You were there when he and that other man went to work on him. You saw how they held Woolston down, pummelled his face to a pulp, applied electric shocks, threatened his family.’
‘Malcolm is a tough bastard. He’ll protect them at all costs.’
‘He’ll come for them if they’re threatened again.’
‘You’d use them as bait?’
‘If they’re threatened, he’ll give himself up. Is that why you married his wife?’
‘Not totally.’
‘Barrow, you’re a bastard.’
A smile crept across Barrow’s face. He knew that he loved his wife, Gwen, even her daughter, but the stakes were bigger than either of them. He knew how to get Malcolm Woolston to give himself up, and this time the man would not be able to get free.
***
Big Greg realised that he should have dealt before with those who had caused him to adopt a life of the destitute, but it had been Robertson who had been the catalyst to cause him to return.
All those years of being careful, and then, in one instance, Robertson had revealed that he, Big Greg, was still alive. There was no way that they would have missed the alert. For once, there was indisputable proof that he was still alive, although he always suspected that they thought that he was. After all, hadn’t he phoned his wife to tell her that he’d be looking out for her the same day as he had disappeared. Ed Barrow must have read the signal, even if Gwen had not, and now the man was sitting at his table, sleeping with his wife.
Barrow should be the first, but he could wait. Big Greg had to make sure that his family were safe. He needed to let them know that he was alive, and they should disappear for a while. Only then could he act. But he knew that would not be possible. His daughter would not leave her husband without wanting to tell him, and emotionally how would she handle the knowledge that the father she had mourned, and in whose memory she still placed flowers on a plaque in the local cemetery every Sunday, was still alive. He could only imagine her reaction if he knocked on her door and announced himself.
It was clear that he would not be able to spirit them away, and where would they go? His funds were limited, it would be difficult to conceal them, and there was no way that they could become part of the homeless, not his daughter with a child. The options were few, and he was worried. A can of worms had been opened, and it was not going to close until all the worms were dead.
Big Greg had seen the man that he needed to visit next, leaving Ed Barrow’s office. He phoned Ed Barrow. ‘Leave them alone,’ he said when Barrow answered the phone.
‘Malcolm, where are you?’ Barrow replied. ‘My office door is always open.’
‘Not a chance. I’m giving you fair warning. If you harm my family, then you’re next.’
‘Look here, Malcolm, you stay hidden for all these years, and then you come back and start ordering me around. What right do you have?’
‘I have all the right. I knew what you were planning. How you intended to steal what I was developing and then to sell it to the highest bidder.’
‘No such thing.’
‘Arbuthnot talked. He was my proof. I have it on record.’
‘And what are you going to do with it? Tell the press, inform the prime minister. Get real, nobody’s interested in a few ratbag countries.’
‘You know that’s nonsense. It could give England a great financial benefit, a chance for low-cost energy, only you want to use it to make weapons of war.’
‘That’s how the world works. You may have your idealistic views, but this is the real world, and who do you think is funding us?’
‘The military?’
‘And where do they get their money?’
‘Your people didn’t come up with the solution after all these years?’
‘You
