‘And the government could be involved?’
‘Have you had any dealings with the government?’ Woolston asked. ‘What do you think?’
‘I trust in the government,’ Isaac said.
‘Clichéd response. You know them as well as I do.’
‘Are you willing to come in? It will go better at your trial.’
‘There’ll be no trial. They’ll capture me, force me to work for them, or else they’ll kill me.’
‘How can they force you?’
‘They have leverage, they would use Gwen and Sally, even my granddaughter.’
‘They could have done that before.’
‘I had died by then.’
‘But this time you’ll be alive.’
‘Exactly, and it’s possible I won’t even be in this country. I’m damned whatever I do. I’m sorry about Bob Robertson. He shouldn’t have let them know.’
‘He didn’t do it on purpose,’ Isaac said.
‘That’s as maybe. I acted irrationally, I won’t again.’
‘Are there others that need to die?’
‘Yes. Once I’ve dealt with them, then I will disappear.’
‘Where to?’
‘This time I won’t be faking my death. Whatever happens, please protect my family.’
The phone went dead.
Isaac turned to look at Larry. He shook his head in disbelief.
***
Sue Christie often walked the three miles from her office to the flat she had purchased twenty years previously. The woman was at peace with the world, the first time for several weeks, the first evening that she and Ed had made love in his office since Malcolm Woolston had returned. She smiled at the thought of it.
She knew that she was a sensitive woman and that she should have married her lover when he had asked her the first time, and then all this nonsense with his marrying Gwen would not have occurred. Although, sensitive as she was, she was also fiercely independent, and an evening at home on her own with no one to talk to, no one to argue with, no one to make love to, suited her fine. Marriage she knew, came with responsibilities, none of which she cared for.
Ed had always treated her well, kept her satisfied, and then there was another man that she knew. She belonged to a generation where the men preferred the occasional dalliance, and some women, especially her, were able to accommodate them.
It was getting late in the evening as she crossed the road near to her place when a man grabbed her. ‘Sue, we need to talk.’
Sue Christie looked up at the man holding her. A street light shone onto his face. ‘Malcolm,’ she exclaimed, fear gripping her.
‘Don’t worry. I’ll not harm you.’
Sue remembered a kind man when they had all been friends, but this was someone from the past, someone who had been dead. She was frightened. ‘Let me go. I’ve done nothing.’
‘Apart from screwing Ed behind my wife’s back.’
‘That’s only sex, nothing more, and besides, you’ve been dead for eleven years. Why are you here now?’
‘Unfinished business, you know that. We’ll talk inside your place.’
Sue fiddled in her handbag, attempting to find her phone. ‘Don’t try,’ Woolston said.
‘You’ve killed people.’
‘People who deserved to die. Did you know about Arbuthnot, what he did to me?’
‘Not really.’
The two walked towards the entrance to the block of flats where Sue lived. Woolston was holding the woman’s arm firmly. ‘Pretend that we’re good friends.’
‘We were once.’
‘A long time ago.’
Once inside the main entrance to the block of flats, Woolston eased his grip. Sue made an attempt to bolt for the safety of her flat. ‘I’ll not harm you. That’s my promise,’ he said.
Realising that she had no option, she acquiesced and let him into her flat. ‘Coffee?’ she said.
‘Yes, please. And don’t try to make a phone call. We need to talk first.’
Sue looked at the man, could see that he had aged, but apart from that, she had to admit that he looked fine. Even with his lack of hair and the baseball cap that he wore, she would have recognised him.
‘Why are you here?’
‘There are files in the office that I want.’
‘Why would I give them to you? And what files?’
‘They’re hidden.’
‘Where?’
‘I need your assurance that you’ll help first.’
‘Why would I help?’
‘Because you have a mother.’
Sue Christie jumped up in alarm. ‘You’re mad.’
‘Not mad, just determined. The moment I leave here, you’ll be on the phone to Ed.’
‘But my mother?’
‘Your mother is the last resort to force your assistance. You’ll be my first target.’
‘But I’ve done nothing wrong.’
‘Don’t play the little Miss Innocent with me. You knew what Ed was up to, you knew about Arbuthnot and Hutton and how they treated me. Were you in for a cut of the profits?’
‘What if I was? Life’s difficult; it’s dog eat dog out there. You and Gwen may have been idealistic, but the real world’s not like that. You must know that now.’
‘After eating out of rubbish bins, sleeping under bridges, yes, I know.’
‘But why? What was the point of it all? You could have been living a great life with Gwen and Sally. Was it all worth it?’
‘Would I act differently if I had my time over?’
‘Yes.’
‘Probably, but that’s history now. I must complete what I started out to do.’
‘And what is that?’
‘I must not allow my research to fall into the wrong hands.’
‘But they were British hands. Surely you can trust our government, our military, to do the right thing.’
‘The government that sells weapons to third world countries to use against their own people?’
‘Malcolm, it appears that all these years have not made you any smarter. Ed was right; you’re mad.’
‘I know my condition. I know what I was, what I have become. My only sanity is seeing this through.’
‘And what about Gwen and
