He rubbed his pointer finger back and forth over his bottom lip, the nail long, the feel of it exciting. It was so sharp it could do someone a bit of damage. He loved that nail, the only one he didn’t cut and, as was usual when he was alone and pondering, he raised it to the skin over his missing eye and poked. It hurt. The pain had him feeling better, more in control. The skin gave way under his touch, bowing inwards into the empty space beneath. Sometimes he thought he felt his eye in there, a resistance that stopped him prodding too deeply, but then he remembered what someone had told him once and realised that it was just his imagination. People who lost limbs swore they were still attached. His thoughts about his eye were no different.
His secret telephone vibrated, jolting him out of his musings. He dashed across the room to answer it, tripping on the rug in his haste. He lurched forward, thankfully landing on his bed, then reached under it to pull the phone out. His breath juddered out of him, and he took a moment to compose himself. If the phone enabled him to ring out, his boss would know what was going on as soon as it happened. As it didn’t, Colin had suffered with nerves ever since Jackson had arrived. Waiting, waiting.
He answered. “Yes, sir?”
“What is the latest?”
“Someone is here.”
“What? What do you mean someone is there? No one ever visits. Well, no one other than his girlfriends.” Pause. “Dirty boy.”
“It’s someone we don’t want here.” Colin took a deep breath. “I rather think we should abandon tonight’s affair, sir. Things could get tricky. And I know I said it before, but it would be better if you had a finished product.”
“Yes, you’ve made your thoughts on the matter quite clear, but really, you don’t need to think about it.” He paused, then, “If it’s just some fuck buddy of his visiting, put something in her drink that will make her ill so you can get rid of her.”
“No, no, it isn’t as simple as that, sir. It isn’t just a casual visitor.”
His boss sighed. “Explain.”
Colin closed his eye and willed himself to continue, knowing he’d probably get his head bitten off for his trouble. “Randall has hired a trained assassin to deal with our guest who is due later. The gentleman—for want of a better word—is at present in Randall’s office.” He opened his eye.
“Oh, for God’s sake.”
“Indeed.”
“What do you propose?”
The question startled Colin. He’d never been invited to give his opinion before, had always just taken orders or said his piece quickly and, for the most part, done as he’d been told. Except that one time.
“Oh, well,” he said, stalling. He wasn’t sure how to put it. He cleared his throat. “I thought you might want to call your guest off for a little while until I can deal with the gentleman.”
His boss chuckled. Then laughed. Heartily. Far too heartily for Colin’s liking.
“You? Deal with a trained assassin? After what happened before?”
“That was an accident. He got the better of me. I was in an intolerable position. As I explained, having Randall killed at that time would have been pointless for you.” But not for me. I would have been out of this mess. So why am I insistent on hanging around to make sure the software is closer to being complete? What does it matter to me if it isn’t? He wasn’t sure of the answer to that. “The software was in its infancy last time. But you wouldn’t listen, so I took matters into my own hands. And now you know I was right to do so. Now, Randall’s so close to finishing that your technicians might be able to complete it, but what if there’s some small bit of information they need—something that is vital and means the software won’t work without it?”
“Has he been discussing his project with you?”
“No, he never does, but there are ways and means of finding out information, as you well know. I also decided to take other matters into my own hands. He thinks I can’t get into his special room, but he’s quite wrong. If you called more often, you’d know I managed to get in there last week when he was…otherwise indisposed with one of his women in that horrid sex dungeon of his.”
“Sex dungeon?”
“Oh, yes.” Colin warmed to the conversation, proud that he knew things his boss didn’t. “There are whips and chains, all manner of things that would make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.”
His boss breathed heavily.
“So,” Colin went on, “as I was saying, I went into the room where he keeps the software. There was a pad on the desk with a list written down. It was in code, and all but one of the points he’d made had been ticked off.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s a list to do with the project.”
“Yes, it does. It was Morse code. You forget I can read that.”
“So it definitely isn’t finished.”
“No. I don’t believe we even need your guest to come here. I’ll deal with this assassin, then with Randall. Maybe the software is at the point where your people can figure out the last bit.” And if they can’t… I need to get away from here. Start my new life.
His boss spluttered.
Colin continued, “Like you said, I could put something in their drinks.”
“I’m possibly being a fool here, but very well. How long will you need?”
“A couple of hours.”
“They’re yours. When I call back, I expect both jobs to have been done. Then I’ll send my men to collect the
