‘He’s now emerging from a lane onto a main thoroughfare and... Hell!’
‘What? Ramin, what’s happened?’ I sprinted towards town.
‘The signal’s gone dead!’
‘Paul!’ There was no response. ‘Ramin, tell Paul to get to the last known location.’
‘Neith, Paul’s signal has also gone dead. I’ve lost both their signals!’
That wasn’t possible. That had to be a conscious decision. Paul’s tracker was nothing like the ones we put on Beta subjects. Our trackers were integral parts of our kit and couldn’t be easily overrun by a sweeper. Even death didn’t switch them off. Only a manual override did that.
‘Neith. Treat Paul as hostile,’ said Ramin.
What was Ramin saying? In what universe would I not trust Paul?
‘Ramin, are you kidding? Clio? Can you hear this?’
‘Neith. I’m only talking to you. This is a direct line. Something is wrong, and right now you are the only person I have any faith in.’
#29 Julius – Beta Earth
‘Hello again.’
Julius pulled back in annoyance and was alarmed as the hand tightened its grip. The sun was blinding him and he still couldn’t see his assailant, but the voice sounded familiar. The man stepped in front of the sun.
‘There, now can you see me?’
With alarm, Julius recognised the man from Neith’s team, the one that had felled her with a punch to the head. The one that the rest of the team trusted.
‘What do you want? Get your hand off me.’
‘I will, but just to let you know, if you run or shout out, I will kill Rebecca.’
Julius froze as the other man smiled at him.
‘Excellent,’ he said, and smiled as he released Julius’ arm. ‘Now, let’s go and join her shall we? You don’t want to keep her waiting. You know how much she doesn’t like that. She’s sitting in Mulligan’s right now. Come on.’
And with that he crossed the road and headed towards the café, leaving Julius with no option but to follow him. Maybe he could play along? But why had he threatened to kill Rebecca? Was he no longer pretending to be a good guy? As they got to the front door, Julius confronted him.
‘I can’t remember your name,’ Julius hissed. ‘Does Neith know you’re here?’
‘Of course she does. Neith is always in control. Did you fall for her “trust me I’m a good guy” routine?’
He laughed as Julius’ face fell.
‘Never mind. I’m Paul by the way. Now, let’s go and say hello to Rebecca. Just follow my lead and no one will get hurt.’
The gentle hubbub of a lunchtime serving was in full swing, and the warmth of the kitchen enveloped them as they walked in. But Julius was shaking. All he wanted to do was divert this man and try to get Rebecca to safety.
‘Hello darling. You’re almost on time. What a lovely surprise,’ Rebecca said as she put her phone away and looked up, waiting for Julius to kiss her on the cheeks. She then put her hand out to Paul. ‘Hello?’
‘How do you do?’ Paul leant forward and shook her hand, smiling as he did so. ‘Paul Flint, a colleague of Julius’ visiting from Prague. I hope you don’t mind my joining you. I’m new in town and when I asked where was good to eat, he suggested I have lunch with you both. Mind you, I’m amazed Julius here was prepared to share your company.’
Laughing at Julius, he gave him a playful punch on the arm. ‘You are a sly old dog. Fancy not mentioning how beautiful Rebecca is.’
Rebecca demurred prettily but pulled out the chair closest to her and invited him to sit down. As he did so, he turned and raised an eyebrow at Julius.
The waitress came to take their order. When Julius said he wasn’t hungry, Paul laughed and ordered him a portion of chips.
‘Can’t have you fading away on poor Rebecca here. A girl like her needs a strong man by her side.’
Julius felt sick. Why was Rebecca simpering like an idiot? If she couldn’t sense how dangerous he was, surely she should be revolted by his appalling chat up lines.
Paul and Rebecca made small talk about her job until the food arrived. She was oblivious to Julius’ discomfort as she talked about her recent promotion and her dreams of working in London. As the waitress put down their food, Paul leant forward and dipped some chips in to the sauce. The tables around them were busy with their own conversations and now that their food had been delivered, they wouldn’t be interrupted again.
‘So, let’s get down to business. What caused your heartbeat to surge at 12.45?’
Rebecca looked puzzled, as the topic and tone of the conversation seemed to have veered off course.
‘Julius? Is something wrong with your heart?’
Paul turned back to her, the smile on his face now cold and flinty. ‘Eat your lunch like a good girl. The men are talking.’ As Rebecca recoiled, ready to retort, he swung his head back to Julius. ‘Tell her.’
‘Rebecca, please listen to me. This man is not a friend. I believe he’s involved in the murder of Charlie. You are perfectly safe, but please just stay quiet and calm.’
‘That’s right, darling. Quiet and calm, and you’ll be perfectly safe. I have a gun in my hand under the table, pointing at your guts. One word from you and I’ll blow you wide open.’
Rebecca made to stand up, but with his free hand Paul grabbed her wrist and squeezed it hard.
‘Quiet and calm.’
Terrified, Rebecca sat back down and took a shaky sip of soup after Paul instructed her to eat.
‘Now then,’ he said as he returned his attention to Julius, ‘12.45. What happened?’
Julius studied the café. Neith said she would be watching him, but no one seemed to be coming to the rescue. Maybe Paul was right, maybe Neith had also been playing him along. But despite hardly knowing the woman, he trusted her. She wasn’t in on this.
‘I received an antique ledger from Harvard that I’ve been waiting on for a few months.
