Gripped by paranoia, the earl found he was biting his nails, a terrible habit his father spent years scolding him for. Taking his fingers from his mouth, Earl Bacon knew he had to find out what the old man knew.
‘Bring him to me,’ he commanded.
‘The old man?’
‘Yes.’
‘No. Biggleswade is too hot. You’ll just have to find someone else, Your Earlness. That’s enough for me. I’m out.’
The earl almost blew his top, and he was seething with fury when he switched tactic. ‘I’ll give you a million pounds,’ he stated quietly, confident it would change his employee’s attitude.
Francis almost crashed the car. ‘A million!’
‘Yes.’ Earl Bacon had no interest in money, only what it could be used for. He couldn’t possibly spend what he had and there was no point in hanging on to it, what worth would silly bits of paper have once the world ended? He could give it all to Francis if that were what it took to make sure he could be safe and secure in his bunker when the end came. ‘A million. I will transfer half of it now and the rest when you deliver Mr Harris and the old man to me.’
‘You want the dog too?’ Francis asked.
Shaking his head at the man’s stupidity, the earl asked, ‘What purpose could I possibly have for the dog? Kill it if it gets in your way. Just get me that old man. I need him alive. He has questions to answer.’
Francis sucked air between his teeth. Everything in his head was telling him to put the accelerator down and keep driving until he ran out of land and then cross whichever sea he had come to. A million pounds was a lot of money though, and with it, escape would be so much easier. He knew the earl had it. Chances were, if he checked his account now, the half up front would already be in there.
‘Okay,’ he said, with some resignation, slowing the car as he started to look for a place to turn. He was going back to Biggleswade, and now, by himself, he had two men to kidnap.
Rex and Hans
Unhappy when they took his human away and even more so when they corralled him into a cage inside a van, Rex felt genuine relief to have Hans with him. The sausage dog went into the cage next to his, lowered gently onto a blanket by the lady holding him. She spoke soothingly to both dogs, promising them a comfortable place to sleep, food, water, a check-up, which Rex wasn’t too sure about – it sounded like it might involve a thermometer – and all the attention they deserved.
The van ride hadn’t been a long one, and true to her word, the lady had snacks in her hand when they arrived wherever they were. The snacks proved to be a lure to get him inside the building – Hans got carried – where they then wanted to bath him. He was already soaked, his fur stuck to his body to make him look fifty percent smaller than usual so what on Earth did they want to bath him for?
‘I don’t need a bath!’ Rex barked, bucking against the lead as the man holding him tried to drag him toward the obvious doggy shower facility.
‘Just a quick splash and tickle,’ the man assured Rex. ‘You’re a bit stinky and there is mud in your coat, big fella.’
Rex bucked again, this time slipping his collar with a triumphant bark, ‘Not a chance, puny human! I am dog and shall outwit you!’
He pranced away, but a heavenly scent caught his nose and made him stop.
From somewhere out of sight, Hans’ voice drifted out, ‘What is that? It smells amazing!’
Rex’s nose was in the air. He was going to get caught by the man again, but he couldn’t help himself; he had to know where the smell was coming from. It smelled like all the best bits of meat all condensed down into one nose-curling odour.
‘Want some?’ asked the man.
Rex’s eyes popped out like they were on stalks. The man he’d just given the slip wasn’t chasing him and trying to wrestle him back into the shower, he was offering Rex something that was causing long ribbons of drool to fall from his jowls.
The man backed away and Rex followed. Floating on a cushion of the unbelievable smell, Rex was powerless to stop his legs walking all the way into the shower. The man kept the jar just out of reach; Rex would need to jump into the air to get to it, but the human was saying he could have it.
As they came into the shower, the man stuck his hand into the jar, scooping a big blob of the dark sticky mass before smearing it onto the tile at Rex’s nose height.
Rex fell upon it, licking at the blob with his rough tongue. Behind his ears something was happening, but he wasn’t really aware of it, whatever it was.
Chuckling to himself as he started to work shampoo into the big dog’s coat, the man said, ‘The old Bovril trick. It gets them every time.’
Meat and Two Veg
Albert awoke disorientated and a little confused, staring at the unfamiliar room for a second before his brain caught up with him. He was in hospital, of course. Memories of the previous evening flooded back and along with them, concern for Rex, Victor, and Hans the sausage dog in that order.
