《The Raven Effect》
Prologue
Dundee, once home to the famous ¡°3 J¡¯s¡± of Jute, Jam and Journalism; the birthplace of Emmy-award winning actor of screen and stage, Brian Cox, and home to the RRS (Royal Research Ship) Discovery, the ship that carried Capt Robert Falcon Scott and his crew to the Antarctic in 1902. Not only is Dundee home to this famous ship, but also to HMS Unicorn; one of the oldest surviving wooden-built warships, originally built and launched in 1824 in Kent, as a 46 gun Frigate for the Royal Navy. Dundee is a proud city, a welcoming and friendly city where the locals will treat you as one of their own.
Have you ever wondered how one simple announcement can change the landscape for years to come? James Valentine certainly did. In an age where most of the major players in computer design and software development are based in either the United States of America or Asia; it surprised everyone across the free world that The Polyamourous Group (the current leaders in their field) would choose Dundee as their new base of operations. James, a senior high-school student at Lekmaan Heights, knew that there was something strange about this but could not put his finger on it. The Polyamourous Group had issued a statement to the local media, this is what it said.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
¡°As the leader in computer design and software development throughout the world, The Polyamourous Group felt it was time to expand, to set ourselves up in a new home and to create jobs for a hard-working community, in a hard-working country. Scotland met the criteria with flying colours; and it was decided after the Chairman of the Board and our CEO visited the city and met with Lord Provost Gordon Kelly, that Dundee will be the home to our new headquarters and main Research and Development division, creating close to 1500 jobs over a 5 year period. A press conference is to be arranged at a later date where we will be able to answer all questions and discuss any concerns with members of the public¡±.
It sounded like one hell of a chance to rebuild Dundee¡¯s economy and nearly everyone was excited about the prospect of a multi-national company bringing jobs to a city where it was usually jobs going out. Only time would tell if James'' concerns were justified, so let us read his story...
Give Em Hell Kid
The bell sounded for registration, it was 9am on April 10th 2008. It was the last day of school before study leave and there would inevitably be a whole lot of shit to deal with. Traditionally, study leave was a week where you were supposed to go off and prepare for the end of year exams which would either set you out on the road to college, or invite you back for another year at the privately run and ultra expensive Lekmaan Heights High as a repeat year student.
¡°Hey Short-Stop!!!¡± said a voice from behind me. Surprised but yet happy, I instantly he knew who the voice belonged to although it had been a very long time since last we had spoken. I turned around and my gaze met that of the slender young woman in front of me, standing some 6ft tall. Michelle Emmanuel; name like an angel, attitude of a devil, body of a goddess. Her long brown hair and big blue eyes could draw you in no matter what she was saying or what you were doing. We had lost contact some 4 years ago when Michelle¡¯s father had taken a job in Annan, Dumfriesshire; so to see her here and now felt like a dream.
¡°I said Hey Short-Stop?¡± repeated Michelle who was now standing by my side. Slowly climbing out of dream world and back into reality, I managed to respond with a wave and a smile. The girl I¡¯d dreamed of for so long was now back and this time I needed to make a stand. Last time we were together, I made a fool of myself by hurtling from my skateboard into a plate-glass door. The next 3 months after that incident were the worst I could remember; having to use a rubber ring when sitting down just to stop the throbbing pains was not only degrading but embarrassing.
Finally managing to speak, I said ¡°So, couldn¡¯t keep away from me huh? I knew you always had a thing for me¡±. A roll of the eyes from Michelle was enough to tell me she still thought I was a joker but she smiled with a hint of seduction. ¡°What are you doing around these parts anyway? I thought you and the folks had moved away to Annan, chasing a dream?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve been back for a month now,¡± she said with a smile. ¡°My parents are still out there but I have unfinished business here, and whilst Annan is amazing, my heart will always be in Dundee. I have great friends there and live in a really friendly neighbourhood¡ but I belong here. This is where I was born and bred¡ No matter where I am, this city will forever be my home,¡± said Michelle as she flicked her hair over her left shoulder.
¡°You haven¡¯t changed a bit¡ still as soppy and emotional as ever. It¡¯s good to have you back; I¡¯ve missed you and thought about you a lot over the last 4 years¡±. An almost awkward silence took over the scene for a few moments. Michelle had a knack of always knowing what I wanted to say when I couldn¡¯t find the words. She also knew how I felt about her, which made things awkward and yet not¡ in a weird and wonderful way. Anyway, she walked over and gave me a re-assuring hug and, together, we walked up the hill towards the front gate.
Making our way through the car park slowly trying to delay as much as possible, the mundane class that was first on the timetable; Business Administration. It still hadn¡¯t been confirmed who would be taking the class as Dr Robertson, who had been my lecturer for the last 3 years, was found only a few days ago tied to a tree out by his home near Templeton Woods. Speculation was rife as to who did it and why he had been killed even though it was all just gossip; the only people who claimed to know anything were the local police force. Chief Constable Alfred Lonergan was never a popular figure with the general public, his suspected and often commented on links with underground figures throughout the country doing him no favours but there was nobody better in his field and that¡¯s what matters when it comes to law enforcement; so if there was anything suspicious about the death of Dr Robertson, you could be certain Lonergan would issue a gag on all officers within his constabulary until he decided it was right and proper for you to know about it.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
¡°Isn¡¯t it kind of pointless you transferring here right before your exams Michelle? Don¡¯t get me wrong, I love the fact you¡¯re back home and all, but it seems like an awful lot of hassle to transfer at such an important time that could make or break your dreams for the future¡± I said.
¡°I¡¯ve done all of the course work back in Annan and I was in a meeting with Principal Anderson yesterday morning who has assured me that all of my coursework has been delivered via courier to the school. He also arranged for all of the access codes I need for the computer systems, my swipe card for entering the school building and got me a locker right next to yours, out of coincidence I promise you. Besides James, the way you said that, it sounds like you don¡¯t ¡®want¡¯ me around,¡± said Michelle with a laugh to try and ease the tension between them. She put her hand on my shoulder and without a moment to spare, punched me square in the gut crumpling me to the floor. ¡°Yellow Car James, Yellow Car!!¡± she announced, pointing her finger across the car park to the BMW parked over by the entrance. It was a game we used to play as kids, though apparently I¡¯d forgotten all about it. At least she had moved on from giving me a dead leg to a gut shot, but she did pack one hell of a punch for a girl¡ though I¡¯d never tell her that or she¡¯d never stop.
¡°Bitch¡± I said trying not to smile even though I was wincing in pain. Michelle helped me to my feet and I put my arm around her neck in a headlock, dragging her for a few metres as payback, before we went into the tech building.
Walking along the corridor and turning into the PC suite, Michelle found us seats near the door half way back and we sat down and waited on the new professor. Quite a few people were whispering and pointing at Michelle as she came in, wondering who the new girl is and why she had come in on my arm. Michelle took no notice and logged into the systems using her ID card provided in the welcome pack she was presented with by Principal Anderson just a few days previously. As part of the security on every new PC profile, she was required to fill in online questionnaires and set-up the profile to meet her needs.
After 4 or 5 minutes there was no sign of any professor. The PC Suite started to become filled with the usual adolescent chatter, the nerds talking about some online game launch date, the jocks talking about their next game and how they planned to annihilate the opposition quickly, the ¡®it girls¡¯ talking about make-up, boys and other pointless things (you get the idea). As the noise started to get a little louder, there was a distant boom coming down the hall; a voice that everyone with the exception of Michelle knew meant that Sebastian Spence was on his way and business was about to pick up. Most of the students had either been given guidance by Spence as one of the house counsellors or had faced his wrath when hauled up by the disciplinary board. Michelle and I had been lucky enough to have no prior dealings with him but we still knew his name and that was enough to scare the wits out of anyone.
Waltzing in to the room, he slammed the door behind him nearly taking it off the hinges. "Welcome to Business Administration. My name is Mr. Spence and I will be your lecturer until after your exams. I do not tolerate slacking off and anyone who thinks this will be a walk down easy street like your time with Dr Robertson is extremely mistaken. Anyone who does not adhere to my rules and my methods of tutelage will find out soon enough that you do not screw around on my time unless you want to find yourself repeating the entire year,¡± he barked as he looked out over the students with a sense of disgust and anger.
Conflict of Interest
Sebastian Spence rolled his eyes and let out a fed up sigh, as the bell sounded for registration on April 10th 2008. It was the week before ¡®study leave¡¯ and from his experience in teaching, it meant that today was the day students would try and avoid doing anything constructive... well more than usual anyway. Principal Anderson had been very insistent that Spence was to take the class, feeding him some bullshit story about how he was ¡®the only one who could make something from this bunch of underachieving degenerates¡¯, in other words they were unruly and with Spence¡¯s bad temper being well known to every one of his colleagues and the student body alike, he got the impression that Anderson wanted some kind of confrontation and this was the best way to achieve it.
Spence wasn¡¯t exactly the most calm and collected lecturer at the best of times. Not to mention that he served as one of the 4 house counsellors and also sat on the somewhat controversial disciplinary board. Anyone unlucky enough to have him as a counsellor knew that there was no sympathy or empathy in this man¡¯s body; if you needed counselling from him, you were weak. Weakness was unacceptable in his domain; he lived by the motto ¡®kill or be killed¡¯.
He walked into the PC suite and slammed the door to silence the room and it certainly stopped the raucous noise. Spence put his clipboard on his desk and strode forward to the whiteboard so that he could have a good view of the entire room and all of the degenerates in his class. His eyes stopped at a desk occupied by a short, broad-shouldered kid with long black hair wearing dark clothing and an unusually tall young woman with red hair and equally dark clothing. He decided now that they would be his first targets should any of the students step out of line because they had made been stupid enough to sit directly in his firing line.
"Welcome to Business Administration. My name is Mr. Spence and I will be your lecturer until after your exams. I do not tolerate slacking off and anyone who thinks this will be a walk down easy street like your time with Dr Robertson, is extremely mistaken. Anyone who does not adhere to my rules and my methods of tutelage, will find out soon enough that you do not screw around on my time unless you want to find yourself repeating the entire year,¡± he barked.
¡°You will ALL pay attention and only speak when you are spoken to, we may live in a country where freedom of speech is a human right. Happily for me, and sadly for you, MY classroom is not a democracy and the only right I permit you to have is the right to silence and the right to breathe. Now, until I call your name from this register, I expect you to shut your mouths. If I so much as hear a peep from any of you, I will recommend you for expulsion. I¡¯d like to think my track record of discipline shows I¡¯m not bluffing¡±.
Looking down at the class list briefly, one name in particular caught out Spence and seemed to ignite some kind of inferno, based on the crimson colour of his face. He called out my name. ¡°Which one of you products of unplanned parenthood is James Valentine?¡± I stood up slowly, struggling to understand what I had just heard. ¡°Would I be wrong in thinking your father is this schools¡¯ most famous pupil, Mr Zander Valentine? The very man who took great delight in rubber stamping a slanderous news report about me a number of years ago? And now I get the pleasure of schooling his son¡± said Spence in a manner that could only be described as demonic.
¡°Mr Spence, I don¡¯t know who you are but I can confirm that yes, my father is Zander Valentine and yes he did attend this school. Might I suggest you pop another Valium pill and chill out, instead of trying to victimise me because of some issue you may or may not have with my father?¡± I replied with a cool voice.
¡°You are without a shadow of a doubt, your fathers¡¯ son¡ Ignorant, Arrogant and a Pissant¡± barked Spence, returning to his desk.
¡°Alright Class today is the final day of preparation before study leave. I would like to think that over the last year you have learned something under Dr. Robertson, though given the way he taught, it will surprise me if any of you remember what a formula even...¡± he stopped mid-sentence; his eyes flared with anger and his facial expression changing from tolerance to fury in a matter of seconds. Spence spotted one of the other guys in class, Rob, browsing an auction site for a new car.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what kind of car you are interested in buying, boy¡ The only woman who could ever be interested in you, would have to be butt-ugly or a tramp who gives it away. I suggest you try focussing on your revision, at least that way you can gain an education and find yourself a higher class of slut¡± said Spence with a soft yet venomous tone. At this point, I¡¯d had enough. Who the hell did this guy think he was?
¡°Sounds like you¡¯re speaking from experience there¡ Sir¡±. The class erupted in laughter at my quip. There were hollers, howls and high-fives aplenty.
Swallowing a lump in his throat almost out of shock, Spence snapped back, ¡°Surprise, Surprise. Valentine has just got to be the centre of attention and involve himself in things which don¡¯t concern him. You¡¯re not half the man your mother is, and I¡¯m not even sure you know who your REAL father is,¡±. Before he could finish the sentence, I jumped from my desk and tackled him to the ground. Who the fuck did he think he was, insulting my parents like that? As I went to start throwing punches at his pathetic little body, three guys from the Rugby team hauled me off him and tried to calm things down. I returned to my desk, grabbed my bag and booted the door to the room open. Not a chance in hell I was sitting listening to his shit. Michelle called after me but I had no intention of answering her¡ my blood boiled as I charged down the hall out of the building.
¡°You did what?¡± he asked. ¡°You said what to that student? Sebastian I sent you in to that class thinking that you could be the one to finally bring some authority to the classroom. Instead you went in there and nearly caused a RIOT!!! What on earth possessed you to indicate that the boys¡¯ father might not be his real father? Zander Valentine is the head honcho down there at Channel 3 news. All it would take is one word from him to the Minister for education and the government funding we receive to keep this private school afloat would be pulled without any hesitation. 5 years ago when nobody else would hire you, I took a gamble and gave you an opportunity to mould young minds into brilliant ones and this is how you repay me? Give me one, just ONE good reason why I shouldn¡¯t fire you on the spot?¡±
¡°Do as you wish Anderson,¡± replied Spence with a tad more arrogance than normal. ¡°You know that I have brought credibility to this so called institution of learning. You can look at what I¡¯ve achieved; what I¡¯ve done for the student body and know that I worked my ass off to ensure this school was able to compete on a scholarly level with the likes of Dundee High School, Morgan Academy, even Madras College in St. Andrews¡±. Spence was quite tall standing at 6ft 2, well built thanks to his training regime but all muscle, not one ounce of fat on him. With long blonde hair tied back in a pony-tail, he could easily be mistaken for a Hollywood pin-up or a sports superstar but no, he was an educator. Using his height and build to his advantage by towering over Principal Anderson, Spence stated quite clearly that if he was to continue working in this establishment then respect would need to be shown.
Anderson was in contrast a relatively short man and quite portly, but what he lacked in height and build was more than made up for in presence and fiery temper. He did however, have 2 choices and needed to decide what would be in the best interests of the school; Firstly to fire his unruly staff member and show him why Anderson was paid more and was able to make the big decisions; Secondly he could ignore the incident for the time being and keep a level of continuity within the school. After all, there was still quite a lot of questioning going on around the school and the city with reference to Dr Robertson¡¯s untimely and gruesome death just a week ago.
¡°Don¡¯t play hardball with me Sebastian. You were on the scrapheap when I offered you a life line, so all of your little achievements are thanks to me. Your threats carry no weight; I can see that in your eyes. As of this moment you are suspended, unpaid, for 3 months. I don¡¯t want to hear any of your complaints or gripes. My decision is final and there will be a full investigation into the incident. If I find that there was no justified reason for your outburst, then you''ll be back in the gutter. Now get out of my building and get out of my sight¡± said Anderson in a calm but serious voice. He walked around the desk and opened the door, emphasising the point that Spence was not going to talk his way out of this one.
With a snarl, Spence got up and replied ¡°I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re protecting that boy Valentine but I will say this to you Andrew; if it¡¯s the last thing I ever get to do, I¡¯ll take you both down to hell with me. You think that suspending me is going to achieve anything? You¡¯ve already lost one teacher this week and I use that term lightly, now you want to suspend me because a student wants to throw fisticuffs? You¡¯re pathetic. You can kiss my ass Anderson; my resignation will be on your in the morning¡±.
Spence made his way through the door and out of the corridor without the slightest hint of remorse for what he had just done. First things first however, he needed to deal with both Anderson and Valentine, embarrass them both and bring them to their knees. It would take careful planning and a lot of coffee, but Spence knew what he wanted to be done and would call on an old friend to put his plans into action.
Examination
It had been nearly a week since Spence and I had come so very close to a brawl for all in the classroom. Principal Anderson had made an ¡®executive decision¡¯ and removed me from Spence¡¯s tutelage, not because he thought I was responsible for the incident, but more for my own safety. Anderson had permitted me some free periods so that I could continue to prepare for today, the beginning of the S6 examinations. If I believed the gossip, I was set to break the records of my father and get 7 Advanced Higher passes, something so uncommon at the school that the local council had promised to reward the school with a financial grant for the value of ¡ê100,000 provided that A¡¯s were achieved.
I didn¡¯t need reminding that I was living in the shadow of my father but everywhere I turned people were talking about it and wishing me luck. Luck is never something I had needed and so ignored the encouragement, choosing instead to focus on the task at hand.
Making my way to the auditorium, I spotted some of my classmates and joined them. Michelle though wouldn¡¯t be there as she had been chosen in the first group of students to sit the examination earlier in the day.
The blacked out double doors opened and out stepped the independent adjudicator, issuing each student with their desk number and the relevant question paper as their name was called. The perspiration started to trickle down my back, and I knew that it was now or never. I had to prove not only to myself but everyone else that I am my own man, not just my fathers¡¯ son.
Everyone was guided to their seat and instructed with an evil eye ¡®not to even think about getting a head start by beginning the exam early, or you¡¯ll be signing your own forfeit slips¡¯. The clock struck 1300hrs and the silence began. The sound of test papers being shuffled or opened or flicked through seemed to be done simultaneously. Pens were clicked, and bags dumped on the floor, chairs noisily scraped backwards and forwards, coughing and chewing began simultaneously¡ Officially there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide and destiny was staring at the faces of everyone in that auditorium, however, for me it would be the face of Spence and that smug look I hated so much.
The time seemed to be so slow with every minute feeling as long as ten. When my eyes next left the page, it was just after 1530hrs. I¡¯d gone into great detail when answering the questions leaving nothing to chance. Luckily I was provided with an aisle seat, and so could slip away without causing disruption. Everyone seemed to gasp or lookup however as I started my journey to the adjudicator¡¯s position at the front of the auditorium. When I turned around it looked like they would either stay that way for a few moments or get their head back down and try to get finished as soon as possible to show that they were just as fast as me; risking the danger of making a costly error.
¡°Thank you Mr. Valentine and good luck¡± said the female adjudicator in a whisper as I handed over the paper. A smile crossed my face, and the confidence filled up once more. Now fate was the one to decide what happened, so I would go with the flow and think of this as just another quiz. However, there was one thing I couldn¡¯t get out of his mind... I say thing, I mean person... Michelle.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
To this day I still couldn¡¯t believe that luck had finally caught up with me, albeit 3 years later than expected. When we were kids, Michelle had told me that there was a ring she always looked at in the local jewellery store but could never afford¡ The ring was white gold with a diamond on the centre, and tiny sapphires on either side. ¡°It would be the perfect ring to receive if I ever got engaged... but by that time it will be on the finger of someone less deserving,¡± she had said. I wanted Michelle to have the ring so much so that when she had left, I¡¯d gone in and bought it for her, but asked the store owner to keep it on display in the hope that she would come back and one day, wear it as a token of my love for her.
Mr Morrison owned the jewellers¡¯ and happened to be a close friend of James¡¯s¡¯ father, and after pleading with him vigorously, he sold me the ring for a fraction of the price, under the agreement that I worked in the store to repay this favour. Now that she was back, I wasn¡¯t going to wait any longer to declare my long hidden undying love for her, by asking her to be my wife¡
A deep, booming voice brought me back from the brink of the day dreams and it made him jump just a little, though I blamed it on the cold weather¡ at least that was my version if anyone saw it happen. I could hear the voice clearly but could see nobody. It couldn¡¯t have been someone on the PA system as it had been disconnected from the auditorium entrance in order to keep the atmosphere as calm and relaxed as possible.
¡°Hmmmm... With 60 minutes left to complete the exam, who should be out of the door first but James ¡°Mr Fantastic¡± Valentine. I¡¯m going to love the day those results come in, for I already know that an F is in your future. Failure is a word you¡¯re not used to but from this day forward, I can assure you it¡¯s something that will haunt you for the rest of that pathetic little life you lead¡±.
At this point, I spotted the poorly hidden security camera sitting above the school emblem on the north wall. That was the only explanation, though they were apparently not functional just yet. Granted there was no flashing light to indicate recording in progress, but it was the only visible explanation for what was happening. I made a run for the exit door of the building and burst through without looking back.
In something that seemed to be like a scene from a Hollywood movie, Spence appeared to walk right out of the wall as though he had been intertwined with it, and watched James run off home as he let out an evil laugh echoing through the hallway of the eerily quiet auditorium.
Getting into my car, I switched on my cell phone and called my father like every regular Friday, this time though was different because I was slightly panicked and nervous by what had just happened. Before my father could say a word, I told him what had happened and asked that he send as much information as he could get about Sebastian Spence; I wanted to know everything about him so that I had an idea of what I was dealing with. Dad sounded confused but would send me a full and thorough report later that evening. Something fishy was going on, Dad knew this much but he was now more concerned for me than ever and being some tens of thousands of miles away did not make those concerns any easier to deal with.
Enquiries
A few days had passed and finally as promised, Dad sent on a full dossier detailing as much about Spence as could be found in the public domain and from his own experiences with him throughout his lifetime. In the email, Dad asked some questions about why I needed this information and what I was going to do with it because Spence was not a man to be messed with, he had connections in very high places who could wipe out anyone who crossed his path and nothing would be said. I ignored the questions, instead telling my father that I merely wanted to know what he was capable of; and what he has accomplished.
The tune on my cell phone burst in to life and it made me jump out of my skin after sitting in the darkness with the only light coming from my double monitor set-up. A female voice was on the other end of the phone.
¡°James? What¡¯s this I hear from your father about asking for information on Sebastian Spence? What do you need information on him for? He¡¯s a nasty evil man James. Do not go near him, he¡¯s more trouble than you can expect, do you understand me?¡± it said.
¡°Yes mom, I understand, I won¡¯t go near him. I just wanted to know what kind of person he is and what I should expect from him because of personal comments and threats he made regarding you and dad. I¡¯m not going to let some asshole professor speak down about you both or me because of some grudge he has that you were better academically than he was 20 years ago, that¡¯s bullshit!!¡± I said, getting slightly upset but in anger not sadness.
¡°I know son, I know, but please listen to me on this one. Sebastian Spence is not someone you want to get on the wrong side of. Like your father has said, he¡¯s a powerful man with friends in high places that can destroy anyone he takes a disliking to, and nothing would be said if he made someone disappear, so please be careful?¡± she answered with serious concern in her voice.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
¡°I will mom, I promise. Listen, after Michelle and I get out exam results through, we plan on taking a year out from studying and want to come see you and dad before we head out to Japan; how does that sound? Then you can both keep an eye on me and we can forget about that asshole altogether. You two should come with us because I know that Dad¡¯s looking forward to quitting at the end of this year and getting himself a nice early retirement settlement. I miss you both a lot, especially at times like these when I¡¯m stressed out¡±.
¡°That sounds like a great idea son. I¡¯m proud of you and Michelle and would love to see you both. You let us know when you want to fly out and we¡¯ll make the arrangements ok? We¡¯ll even try and get you set up with jobs so that you can get a little money together whilst you enjoy the sights and culture. Michelle is a real keeper son and I know you loved her a lot before she moved away, so now you have her, don¡¯t ever let her go. I can see great things for you both in the future, but you have to put in the hard graft and build the foundations now before it¡¯s too late. Anyway, it¡¯s time I was away to work, I have a few important meetings to chair today and it won¡¯t do if I show up with frizzy hair and bags under my eyes now will it? Infact, don¡¯t answer that¡± she said laughing herself.
¡°Ha-ha, ok mom, I¡¯ll speak to you later, it should be time I got to bed myself, Michelle and I are going away for a picnic in the forest tomorrow, a way to kind of celebrate her coming back and our first proper date. I love you; take care of dad for me ok? Bye¡± I said closing the cell phone over. Switching off the monitor, I went into the bedroom, slumped onto the bed, hauled the quilt cover over myself and fell into a deep sleep. The last few days had been quite punishing, mentally and all I wanted to do was rest and forget that I¡¯d ever met Sebastian Spence.
The Hiring
¡°Ok J.J, so what¡¯s this job you have lined up for us then?¡± asked Katy. The sound of her car kicked into life now that she had hit the motorway after being stuck in a traffic jam caused by some idiot who tried to take a bus under a low bridge some miles back.
Holding the phone away from her ear so that she wasn¡¯t going to be completely deafened, J.J put the phone on loudspeaker so that she could access her computer. ¡°I was checking my emails and got a strange one about a job. It left a number to call, so I used a payphone and spoke to the ¡®contact¡¯ who promised us a huge payday if we do a little spying, that¡¯s it, pretty sweet huh?¡±
¡°He sent me another email this morning and it reads; ¡®I need you to track down a young woman for me, find out where she goes and what she gets up to, there may be further instructions but I can assure you this is worth your time and effort¡ like 5 figures worth of time and effort¡¯. Sounds like a walk in the park to me, what do you think?¡±
¡°Yeah it sounds pretty good if it¡¯s legitimate but if we take this job, you better not screw it up like at the Robertson place. The next time I go into an operation like that and get slashed, you¡¯re finding a new partner, got it I?¡± she blasted as the phone flipped closed. It¡¯s fair to say that Katy would be bitter about the last mission until they had a successful one, mainly because she uses the anger from past experiences to drive her onwards toward improvement, though the level of perfection she had set herself was unreachable by her own words, still it was enough to keep her going.
J.J (Jacqui Jane) Fleisch and Katy Barclay were like family; they had grown up together in Fresno, California as kindergarten pals and had remained friends all through elementary and high school. After college, they were struggling to find work but never in a million years would they have suspected that an incident in 2001 would change their lives and set them on the career path they were clearly destined for.
After finishing their daily workout in the gym at the end of their block, they saw a street crime in progress with the victim being an elderly neighbour they loved and respected. The poor and defenceless old man was being held at knife point by a group of 4 tracksuit wearing youths, having just withdrawn money from the ATM by the local mini-mart. He was forced to stay on his knees whilst the knife dangled above his head with the warning that unless he handed over the cash, he¡¯d be penniless and lifeless. Needless to say J.J and Katy were gob-smacked, appalled and enraged.
As they made their way across to the scene, one of the delinquents pulled a 9mm pistol from his waistband and warned them ¡®not to get involved or face the consequences¡¯. Katy seeing this as a challenge, played rock/paper/scissors with J.J and as per usual, came out on the losing end. This of course momentarily amused the would-be muggers who now turned their attention to the girls and mocked them profusely.
¡°Damn J.J, looks like you won again,¡± said Katy with an almost believable frown. ¡°Well rules are rules so you can decide¡±. The boys were still armed but whilst before they had been chuckling away, after Katy¡¯s declaration, they became cautious. Knife boy made his way across to J.J and started to look her up and down, possibly as his next victim but then again there had been reports of young women being sexually assaulted by youths in groups much like this one. Gun-boy studied Katy from a little further back and started once more to raise his firearm to her forehead.
¡°The only thing you¡¯re going to decide bitch is how many times you want it inside of you, and I am not talking about my blade!¡± growled Knife boy as he advanced towards J.J. At that point she delivered a full throttle uppercut to his jaw, sending him and the knife flying backwards maybe 4 or 5 feet in opposite directions.
¡°I¡¯ve decided... it¡¯s the wrong day for you boys to play with toys¡± she said as she leaped toward the knife and scooped it up before punting her would be assailant in the ribs repeatedly. Completely dumbstruck by what he had just witnessed, Gun boy wasn¡¯t aware until it was too late that Katy had snuck up beside him and grabbed him by the crown jewels with enough force that she could have ripped them clean off.
¡°Drop the gun or I drop you and detach your ding-a-ling¡± she said with a sadistic grin. With every second that passed she squeezed tighter until he got the message and did as he was instructed. Realising that taking a beating from a girl was probably going to be worse than running; the boys took off and never showed their faces on the block again.
They went inside the apartment building and checked on the neighbour to see if he was alright and after staying with him long enough to make him feel safe and secure, they made their way back to the top floor flat they owned and settled down for the night.
The girls¡¯ exploits were talked about for weeks after that, to the extent that sometimes they would be sought out by people within a twenty square block who had been on the receiving end of gang-related problems. They were even offered money to begin with. After a few months the girls decided to open their own private protection firm, helping out where required for a reasonable sum.
After 4 years they had terrorised the local gangs so much so that they knew better than to set foot on the girls¡¯ turf. That however was when things changed for the worse and caused their sudden move from California to Glasgow. They were approached by the Fresno branch of the mob and were given an ¡®offer they couldn¡¯t refuse¡¯... in other words, the mob felt that they were the ones to offer protection and didn¡¯t take too kindly to some pretenders making a living at their expense. The capo regime had been sent by Don Lucas Exustio to offer the girls a way out; if they performed a high-profile, high-risk job for him then he would turn a blind eye to their line of business and allow them to operate without any interference from his family. However, if they refused then what would certainly follow would cause more harm and distress for the locals, with the blame being slapped on the heads of J.J and Katy.
Realising that they were in a bit of a predicament, they agreed to take on the job for the Don without question and were presented with some files detailing what the job would be, how he would like it executed and what was to happen after successfully completing the job.
It looked risky, and it turned out to be an absolute disaster. What should have been a simple bank job turned into a bloodbath and few of their team survived. They were sold out by the Don and consequently he put a price on their heads... dead or alive.
That was some 3 years ago now and although it wasn¡¯t something they would forget, it was not something they were worried about as much anymore. New identities, new appearances and the same bad attitude but at least the young women could live ¡®freely¡¯ knowing that their past lives as Caroline Rossi and Sabrina Foster were now a distant memory and unlikely ever to re-surface.
It was hard at first for them to find work in the Dundee and the surrounding areas because at this time, not only was the city in a recession but there were simply no jobs in their line of work. One night not long after arriving into town, the girls went to a back street bar, suggestively called Liquor Out, for a few quiet drinks and nothing more. Now to be perfectly honest, seeing 2 muscular young women walking into a bar can result in either weaker men being afraid of them and or muscular guys getting pissed off that there are more muscular women than them in the world. The girls found a corner booth near the back of the bar and got themselves comfy.
Three men walked over to the girls¡¯ table and sat down without so much as asking for an invite. They must have been in their early 30¡¯s with skinheads and goatee beards, each with different tattoos on their exposed arms and facial furniture (eyebrow studs, nose rings, ear tunnels, cheek bars, lip rings, tongue studs and chin rings to be precise). Rolling their eyes at each other, J.J and Katy knew what these men were after and what they would inevitably get (not the same thing, just to clear it up), but they played along and pretended to be sweet little ladies looking for some big strong men to buy them a drink or two and show some hospitality. This act continued for an hour or so until one of them men placed his hand on Katy¡¯s knee and started to slide it up her thigh. Looking directly into Katy¡¯s eyes, J.J smiled and out of nowhere, smashed her elbow into the jaw of the man beside her and knocked him flying out of the booth and onto the floor. The other two became angry and launched the table out of the way to cut off the girls escape, problem being that the girls weren¡¯t looking to run because they wanted to kick these scumbags asses and that¡¯s exactly what they would do.
As the first man was cradled on the floor holding his jaw, the second man with a ponytail goatee beard threw a punch in the direction of Katy¡¯s gut and connected pretty well as she doubled up but instead of following up, he celebrated and cheered like he¡¯d won a medal or something¡ bad idea. Whilst the third man had grabbed J.J in a bear hug from behind and started to squeeze at her rib cage, Katy slowly got back up to a vertical base and, tapping her attacker on the shoulder, unleashed a furious roundhouse kick into his neck and started to pummel his kidneys with quick-fire fists. The occasional knee in the groin helped to keep him down and ensure she was in control of the situation. J.J called out to Katy for help because being stuck in a bear hug kind of left you helpless no matter how well you are trained in the martial arts. Grabbing a bottle and smashing it over the man¡¯s temple, he quickly released the bear hug and collapsed to the floor, freeing J.J and allowing her to get some oxygen at last. One by one they picked up the men and threw them out of the bar via the door, piling them up on the sidewalk like garbage bags on trash day, then returned to the bar and paid their tab to the barman with a little extra to cover the cost of damages caused by the impromptu fight.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
Surprisingly and unexpectedly, they were treated to applause and much congratulation, for it appeared that the scumbags they had just beaten up were regular troublemakers and had been using the bar as a place to sell cocaine and heroin. The only reason they had been getting away with it was down to the fact they threatened and had assaulted the bar man on countless occasions when he demanded they leave or threaten them with the cops popping by. Chicken (as the regulars knew him purely for his cowardly behaviour when dealing with rowdy or aggressive patrons), or Kevin Curtis to his family and friends, was eternally grateful to the girls and couldn¡¯t thank them enough for cleaning up the bar for the first time in months where he hadn¡¯t needed the cops.
He had no real way to thank them for getting rid of the thugs but made an offer to them of work; they work as ¡®security¡¯ on the 6 nights a week the bar was open from 7pm ¡®til closing at 3am approximately, (they wouldn¡¯t have to stand on the door, they would get a private booth at the back of the bar, secluded and hidden so that they had privacy) and he would pay them $100 each a night, with free drinks as a thanks. It wasn¡¯t the kind of work they were looking for but realising their job prospects just now weren¡¯t great, they grudgingly accepted his offer and started work the next night. By then, talk or rather false accounts of their exploits, was all around town of the new door-women at the bar and how they had beat up some 12 men with nothing but their hands. This had resulted in a lot of business for the bar with more and more customers coming in and buying drinks just to catch a glimpse of the duo and see if they were as tough as they were being made out to be.
Most of the time the girls grabbed anyone who was a little too drunk and escorted them from the building or broke up fights between customers, there was the odd occasion or two where someone would try and start a fight with them and ended up getting an ass-whooping but as far as they were concerned, it was a paying job and that¡¯s what mattered. It was here that the girls managed to secure the kind of work they were looking for but specified they would only work during the day unless the money was worth it (they could afford to be picky because there was no shortage of people looking for hired hands to do some ¡®overtime¡¯ as it was called. Within a few months, J.J and Katy¡¯s reputation was starting to grow strong but they remained loyal to the barman who had given them their first job in town and maintained a strong friendship and business relationship with him, he¡¯d even described them as the daughters he had never been granted (being a single man with no wife or children in the past or on the horizon).
The weather of late hadn¡¯t been fantastic so today she would carry out her plan and have a nice countryside drive, exploring Carnoustie, situated just a few miles down the motorway, north-east was Arbroath with Dundee to the south-west. She looked in the rear view mirror at her allergy affected eyes and grunted, not at the fact her eyes were bloodshot, but more at the fact her eyeliner was starting to fade thanks to her hay fever allergy deciding to kick-in heavily today.
With her arm sticking out of the window, the wind blowing through her long red hair and her eyes fixed on the fields and hills rising off into the distance, it filled Katy with a sense of fulfilment and happiness, feelings she had always thought were beyond her reach and yet in a new place, a new world and a new life, things were finally beginning to look up. Pulling up to the gas station and honking the horn for the attendant to come and fill the truck with fuel before realising that it was self service, she stepped out and filled up the tank. Next she walked into the store with the intention of buying some refreshments and a bottle of water as her throat was quite parched. Looking around, she could only see a frail old man approaching the counter and kids reading music magazines in the far corner. She stopped by the refrigerator and picked up a few bottles of soda, then headed back to the counter and paid for her purchase and gas. She felt a hand on her shoulder and immediately tensed up.
¡°What the fuck do you think you¡¯re doing?¡± she said with an acid like tone.
¡°Well I knew you were feisty but this is something completely out of the ordinary Miss Barclay. Do you always greet potential employers with an attitude or is today the start of your ¡®monthly moments?¡± asked the well dressed man who Katy hadn¡¯t noticed previously in her browse around the store.
¡°I¡¯ve been keeping tabs on you for a month or so now and I know what you can do Katy, you¡¯re very accomplished with your hands, let alone a makeshift weapon. I think you and I should go and grab a coffee¡± he said softly and in a low voice, walking towards the supermarket caf¨¦. Pissed off and still wondering who the fuck this guy was, Katy followed him and sat down on the opposite side of the table in the booth.
¡°I have a proposition for you; it¡¯s financially rewarding and relatively simple. I need you to track down a young woman for me, find out where she goes and what she gets up to, there may be further instructions but I can assure you this is worth your time and effort¡¡± he said. This sounded all too familiar and indeed it was, for it was the exact same kind of job and description that J.J had been given from her unknown contact.
With her suspicious mind, Katy knew something was going on here but she couldn¡¯t quite put her finger on it. A few minutes of silence had gone by before they hailed the frail and petite waitress to take their order and as they were waiting, the mysterious man broke the ice and discussed the proposal somewhat further, with interruptions only for more coffee or food orders. Katy finally agreed in principal to take on the job but there were some questions she wanted answering.
¡°I want to know who the hell you are and why you came after us to do this job. I mean after all, this is pretty much a babysitting job and the kind of money you¡¯re laying down isn¡¯t the kind that babysitting pays out. Secondly, why did you make the exact same offer to my partner this morning if you wanted to ask me directly? And lastly, how did you manage to, as you said, ¡®keep tabs on us¡¯, when we only make contacts using an alias?¡± she asked, keeping her voice low but with a determined look.
¡°In answer to question 2, I wanted to see if Miss Fleisch would respond to a random query or if she would report back to you as the more senior member of your team. She told you I¡¯ll bet, with a huge smile and a pound sign in each eyeball,¡± he snorted, mocking her slightly. ¡°Despite this, I¡¯m 100% certain that I have managed to acquire the right team for this assignment. I suppose I should let you know though that this isn¡¯t going to be just one job and you will be required to complete some other tasks based upon the target¡¯s movements. The 5 figure some will be paid in 3 amounts as the job develops; one after you find her, one when you send on your report and one when you bring her to me. The fact I am willing to pay a lot of money for your services goes to show how highly your success rate is valued¡±.
Katy wasn¡¯t quite sure whether or not to be pissed off for letting this stranger suggest that she and J.J were joined at the hip or to be worried that he has been able to record their movements with little or no difficulty. They would have to start being more careful about what they did and how they did things.
¡°In answer to question 3, I have tracked you down through my contacts on the other side of the pond. I know some very influential people in California who are looking for a Miss Foster and Rossi respectively with regards to a botched job a few years back. They showed me photographs of these girls and after much thought I finally realised where I had seen them¡ At Liquor Out a few nights back when you were turfing out a few rowdy customers who looked no older than 15 years old. Now, in the grand scheme of things I could have turned over information about you and ruined your life¡ but I decided against letting them know you¡¯re here because I have a feeling we can form a good business relationship¡±.
To further prove that he had nothing to hide from her, he passed her his wallet, full of identification and photographs. Looking satisfied but not trusting him for a second, she handed back the wallet.
¡°Finally in answer to question 1; I¡¯m Sebastian Spence. I used to work for The Polyamourous Group but not for the side that everyone knows about. I worked for the underground side of the company a long time ago but changed my career and until yesterday I worked as a high-school teacher in Business Administration. A strange career choice you would think and rightly so, but it also helped me to plant the seeds of destruction elsewhere and that is exactly what the company asked me to do.¡±
¡°What does this have to do with you personally? Nothing at all, but you do have two things to think about¡± he said with a sinister smile. ¡°Firstly; you could do this job and walk away, no questions asked. We will make payments of $3000, $5000, and $12000 respectively as soon as each part of your mission is completed. Alternatively you could go back to your bar work with the occasional protection job, never knowing if or when the mob will or won¡¯t show up and extract revenge for whatever you did that caused you to flee¡±. His eyes wandered to the parking lot as though he had lost all interest in Katy. ¡°Just take my card and contact me as soon as you have decided what you want to do but I must warn you, my employers and I will not wait forever. We expect an answer from you one way or another 48 hours from now. I bid you good day Miss Barclay, and I hope to be seeing you very, very soon¡±.
Katy watched him eagerly as he rose from the table and paid their bill at the counter. She was left disappointed as Spence got in his black SUV (with blatantly illegal tinted windows) and slowly pulled out of the parking lot without any cop cars or other suspicious looking vehicles following suit. Maybe he wasn¡¯t out to get her and he was genuinely looking to hire the girls for a proper job but something wasn¡¯t quite right about him and that was never a good sign.
She reached for her cell phone and called J.J but got her voicemail, so she left a message. ¡°J.J, I don¡¯t have time to explain but you and I have been approached by the same person about the same job. I¡¯m heading home just now, you better get back home too for safety sake because if he could find me as I was driving down the road, minding my own business, he might have someone watching you. We¡¯ve got to find out what the hell is going on¡±.
Walking to her car casually, Katy got in and started the ignition, checking her mirror and putting the car into drive, slowly pulling away from the gas station and heading back towards the motorway. She picked up her cell phone and this time made a call to ¡®Big Red¡¯, a contact in Aberdeen who had hired her services in the early days when she had only arrived in Dundee. The girls had done him a few favours in the past by going outside of their contractual agreement to do a little extra where necessary and he had vowed to return the favour to them as and where he could help. Of course, real names were a no-no when contacting each other, purely for security reasons, so they all had codenames. He was Big Red, Katy was Silver Fox and J.J was The Jackal. The girls never did know what he was involved with or how he got his information but as long as he paid them for ¡®overtime¡¯ and they carried out the work, it was never really brought up.
¡°Big Red? It¡¯s Silver Fox. I need information on someone¡ Sebastian Spence. Uh huh¡ Okay¡ Email me the details as soon as possible. Do this for me and we¡¯re finally even Red. You have 23 hours and 57 minutes remaining,¡± said Katy as she ended the call. Never before had she needed to call ¡®Big Red¡¯ to get information on someone (usually it was the other way around) but this was very serious and she didn¡¯t like it that Spence had pretty much unravelled the web they had built since moving from California with what appeared to be no real problem.
Decisions
Arriving back at her apartment building, J.J walked from her car to the concierge, buzzed herself in and made her way up to the 4th floor via the stairs. It was high-time that the local council sorted out the elevator as it had been shut down for 3 months without any sign of a repairman. Opening the front door she picked up the mail from the letterbox and slammed the door shut. Going to her room, J.J sat down at her computer desk and switched the laptop on. Once it had loaded, she re-opened her most recent file and continued writing in her e-diary.
¡®We had been watching the house for the better part of 5 days when we got the chance between other jobs, and on day six it was decided we would go for it. The house belonged to a high school professor living just out of town. On the outside it looked like just a normal farm-house but inside he had renovated it to the extent that it was packed with the latest technology and gadgets. Anyone that has enough money to do that must be worth a pretty penny, so why shouldn¡¯t we have paid him a visit and collected the money he owed?? When we got in the house, we found 15 boxes of unpacked wide screen lcd TV¡¯s, 20 brand new top of the range laptops and pc¡¯s, cell phones which hadn¡¯t even been released on the market yet and a lot of ultra modern technology that could be sold for at least 4-5 figures each. Something didn¡¯t add up though because the value of this collection was more than enough to pay back the 10 grand he owed. Why then would he go out of his way to try and hide from us?
Just as we had finished making an inventory, the front door swung open and there stood Professor Robertson. He looked more shocked that his alarm hadn¡¯t gone off than upset that we¡¯d managed to gain access to his house. We were all frozen stiff for a few moments before he edged his way into the hall and closed the door behind him, fumbling at the locks. Great, he was going to try and be a hero by fighting us; that was the last thing we needed. As expected there was a fight and in the midst of it, Katy was slashed on her left forearm by an antique Spanish blade that Robertson had taken from the wall by the front door (we had noticed it when we entered the house but didn¡¯t think it was real¡ damn). There was a struggle to disarm him and punches were thrown, it must have been 4 or 5 minutes before we knocked him out cold with a candle holder to the temple.
We took him outside and tied him to a tree, prodding and poking at him with Katy¡¯s baseball bat. He was quite aggressive when he came round, as you would expect. We let him vent his anger but the last straw was when he spat directly into my mouth as I was yawning. Katy smashed the bat over his exposed ankle with full power and you could hear the bone shatter. After I swirled water around my mouth to get rid of the after-taste, I pounded on his kidneys and rib cage as though I were boxing for a world championship. After a few minutes the blood started to spew from his mouth and we decided it was time to go. We went back into the farmhouse, loaded our van with the goods and drove off''.
J.J heard a knock on her door and nearly jumped out of her skin as Katy announced she had arrived home. Before she could come in, J.J closed the diary and quickly hid it in the drawer under her bed. She then went to the lounge and slumped onto one of the reclining chairs in the main sitting area as Katy checked the answering machine. There were a couple of messages but only from marketing companies trying to sell her some kind of miracle grass growing shit (no help considering they didn¡¯t have a garden) and wondering if she would be interested in phoning them back to take part in a questionnaire regarding some charity or other. A beep followed both messages to declare that they were deleted. Grabbing a beer from the fridge and sitting down in the other recliner, Katy breathed a large sigh and opened the bottle, taking a long drink and setting it down on the table.
¡°Have you felt nervous or suspicious at all today?¡± asked Katy looking directly into J.J¡¯s eyes, ¡°Say a car following you, disappearing for a while down a different road and then picking you up again later? Did you notice anyone paying particular attention to you when you¡¯ve been standing in a queue or walking around town?¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t spot anything unusual at all but then I haven¡¯t been looking for anything until I got your voicemail. It¡¯s pretty weird that the same guy contacted us both separately in the space of a few hours though; I mean how did he know where you would be? There¡¯s no way in hell he found you by coincidence, it¡¯s not impossible but very unlikely¡± said J.J. The girls sat for a few moments staring at each other to see if one or the other was perhaps hiding something, given the situation they were in and what had happened today, you could forgive them for being just that little bit edgy.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
¡°Well one thing¡¯s for sure J.J, from now on; we¡¯re going to have to start watching everything and everyone all the time. Someone¡¯s obviously been clever enough to trace our steps so we need to properly cover our tracks at all times¡± Katy stated.
¡°So you actually met this guy and he offered you the exact same job as he emailed me with? Did he have a lisp and a southern accent? What did he look like? Can we trust him?¡± said J.J. The way she asked what he looked like sounded more like she was interested in dating him than questioning him, she was a sucker for Scotsmen.
¡°J.J, I know you¡¯ve not had any action since we got here, but trust me, he¡¯s in his mid thirties with a beard that needs drastically trimmed and the way he speaks is sneaky and sarcastic¡¡± remarked Katy. Her eyes were determined and her expression suspicious. ¡°In terms of can we trust him, I¡¯m not entirely sure but the kind of money he¡¯s offering we can¡¯t turn down so I think we should take this job. Pretty basic job really, we spy on the girl he¡¯s looking for, tell him where she goes and what she does, simple and easy¡±.
They were in need of money and this job was apparently going to pay well but they were beyond this kind of shit but they couldn¡¯t keep working at the bar much longer.
¡°So we either take this job and make some good money, or don¡¯t take the job and get paid shit money for the rest of our days,¡± said J.J. ¡°Make the call and tell him he¡¯s got a deal but we want to negotiate the price first.¡±
¡°Spence, if the contract is still on offer we want to take you up on it but we need some more information. The fee we will receive for doing this work had better be made clear before any agreement is reached tonight¡±.
¡°Well, I didn¡¯t expect you to call this quickly Miss Barclay but I am pleased you have decided to accept the offer. Let¡¯s talk business shall we? Firstly the deal has changed in terms of there is a second target and it¡¯s non-negotiable. There¡¯s a kid by the name of James Valentine that I want you to track down. This request isn¡¯t coming from my superiors, it¡¯s purely a personal matter and I¡¯ll guarantee you ¡ê100,000 for successful work in bringing him to a place of my choosing at a time and date to be specified by me once you¡¯ve managed to secure him. Are we still going to proceed with the deal or do I need to find someone else?¡±
¡°You better not change the contract any more than this Spence or you can forget it. We¡¯re not bounty hunters and we¡¯re certainly not babysitters but the way you¡¯re making this deal sound, that¡¯s exactly what we would be doing. Only because you¡¯ve given us an assurance, and even then I doubt you¡¯ll follow on with it, that we would get permanent contracts with this Polyamourous Company or whatever, are we going to go ahead with this crap¡±.
¡°Temper, Temper Miss Barclay. You have my word, and you can take that as though it were written in the bible, that the deal will not change and your contracts are definitely assured upon completion of this contract. I¡¯ll send you the details on your primary target, Dianne Gabriel in the next few hours. Details on Valentine will be made available by the end of this week and again I cannot stress the importance of bringing him in. I¡¯ll let you and Miss Fleisch have a chat about our deal and I hope the next time that we speak, it¡¯ll be on friendlier terms¡± said Spence as he disconnected the call.
¡°What the hell was that about¡± asked Jacqui. ¡°Did he say the deal has been altered? We¡¯re still getting paid aren¡¯t we? I¡¯ve just put down a deposit on a new pickup truck and I¡¯ll be damned if he¡¯s just screwed me out of 2 and a half grand¡±.
¡°We¡¯ve got a new target in addition to the girl but he said the second target is a personal problem. There¡¯s a hundred grand on this kid¡¯s head and Spence seems a little too fixated on getting this kid, for whatever reason. Either way, this could turn out to be a very successful deal for us. So you can stop worrying your pretty little head about your truck and start thinking about how we¡¯re going to run 2 operations at the same time, not to forget that we¡¯re currently holding down a job thanks to Kevin at the bar¡±. Katy went to the fridge and poured herself a glass of apple juice, downed it and stood at the counter separating their kitchen from the lounge. The last time the deal got changed, they ended up having to flee the country and creating a new lives for themselves and Katy would be damned if it was going to happen again.
Reconnaissance
On their break during another uninteresting night at work, J.J and Katy were talking about the job for Spence and where it could lead them. He clearly had connections and the girls liked the thought of working alongside a major corporation but at the same time, it totally defeated the purpose of setting up their own private protection firm. There was nothing better than being your own bosses but sometimes working for someone else had its perks¡ like a medical plan and lawyers. Spence had told the girls that this would be a 4 month job in all and should they be in any need of legal advice or medical work as a result of their employment then the company would ¡®take care of it¡¯.
¡°It sounds like a good deal to me Katy. If all we¡¯re doing is following this girl and tracking down the guy, maybe flexing our muscles if we come up against any trouble and eventually dropping them off when he wants them brought in, we can¡¯t lose. It¡¯s a win-win situation for us as we get to make powerful contacts and earn some serious cash at the same time,¡± said J.J with a smile.
¡°I know but you seem to forget the last time we got an easy job, it ended up as a bloodbath and we were framed by some very angry Mafioso types. Jacqui, I would love it if we could work legitimately without having to do shady deals like the Robertson job or this one because doing risky jobs can get you exposure to all underground figures worldwide. That means in theory that our names and faces could be passed back to The Don and we could then be set-up. I¡¯m not sure about you, but being caught and taken back to California, dead or alive, is not something I ever want to experience unless it¡¯s of my own free will,¡± replied Katy, showing her emotions for the first time in months. They had after all created new lives for themselves 3 years ago and Katy was understandably concerned for her family back home. Sure she had told them she was going away with J.J for a while but telling them never to contact her, she would call them had hurt the most. Her mom had the most comforting voice she had ever known; her dad could always cheer her up no matter how down she was feeling; she even missed Bruiser her golden retriever despite the fact the dog had always growled when she walked past.
¡°Katy, take a chill pill. You think I don¡¯t worry about getting taken out by the mob? I do¡ frequently. Every day when I wake up, if there¡¯s no horses head lying next to me, or nobody standing at my bedside with a pillow or silenced 9mm or garrotte then it¡¯s a good day. I have no doubt that our past will catch up to us but you can¡¯t focus on that and that alone¡± replied J.J. She too missed life back home but had been able to adjust more to life in Scotland, probably because being a few years younger than Katy had meant she was more inclined to go out and party than stay in and clean their weaponry thoroughly every weekend , whether it had been used or not. She knew they had to be careful but where in the handbook of life does it say you can¡¯t go out and let your hair down once a week even for a few hours?
Not even dignifying that with a response, Katy sat patiently with one eye on the inbox and the other on the bar where an apparent busload of students had just walked in and were already quite raucous and obviously drunk. They could at least walk in a straight line but it was the volume they spoke with and the fact there were maybe 20 or more of them, Katy was sure there would be trouble. ¡°How about you take a nice little walk over to the bar and make sure this lot know that they¡¯re not the only ones in here and ask them politely to pipe down?¡± Katy barked out of frustration. It wasn¡¯t directed at J.J deliberately but if she didn¡¯t vent some of her anger now then later she¡¯d get a recurrence of her stomach ulcer and that wouldn¡¯t help at all.
Shaking her head in disbelief that Katy was taking things way too seriously, J.J walked over to the bar and spoke to one of the more sober youths, advising them that if they didn¡¯t calm the rest of the rowdy group down, they would be ejected from the bar without a second thought. Things settled down a little as the night went on but it wasn¡¯t going to stay that way as there appeared to be some friction between two or three of them. It was more handbags at dawn than anything else but as J.J and Katy approached the feuding pair got separated with one being taken to the bathroom and one outside for fresh air. Nonetheless they still went across and had a word.
¡°Excuse me young lady,¡± Katy said to one of the youths at the bar, ¡°Your group were told to keep the noise down and to show some respect to the other paying customers. If things get heated again then you can find yourselves a new bar to fight in, are we clear? What¡¯s your name anyway?¡±
With a slight tremble in her voice, the youth replied ¡°I¡¯m Dianne Gabriel, but I am not with the rowdy group that came in. I¡¯ve been here for a while sitting at one of the booths by the entrance¡±. She looked a few years older than the others to her credit and looked very timid in comparison to them. She made her way to the bar, ordered her drinks and returned to her corner booth with a female friend, much older than her.
¡°Damn, I never noticed she wasn¡¯t with them but she was at the bar at the same time they were so I just put 2 and 2 together,¡± said J.J in a sheepish smile.
¡°Yeah and you came up with 5 as usual!¡± laughed Katy. Their attention though changed from the light-hearted teasing of each other to the gents¡¯ bathroom door nearly flying off its hinges and out came one of the youths that had been overly drunk and fighting earlier on. He made his way over to them and sat down on the stool next to theirs.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
¡°Ladies, you¡¯re looking mighty fine tonight (hic). How about I¡ buy you¡ (hic) a drink and we get to (hic) know each other ¡ a little better¡?¡± he said with an overly obvious wink before he started shushing them as though it were some kind of secret.
¡°How about this asshole, you back off and get yourself together or I throw you out of here on your ass and you get the honour of being the first person to piss me off tonight?? Your call¡¡± said J.J who was clearly in no mood to be hit on by a guy at least 7 or 8 years her junior. Sure she was only 26 and being hit on by late teens was fun, this guy could barely form a coherent sentence and was reeking worse than a brewery. Had she ever been this drunk when she and Katy had been late teens in California?
¡°Martyn!!! What the hell are you playing at? I thought I told you to stay in the bathroom and relax for a while?¡± said a young brunette walking from the gents in a rage. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry if he¡¯s offended you in any way. He¡¯s an idiot when he gets drunk and doesn¡¯t know what he¡¯s saying¡ though that¡¯s not specific to when he¡¯s had alcohol. Leave these people alone and pull yourself together man because I¡¯m not stopping you getting another beating if you make an ass of yourself¡±.
Katy smiled, she liked this girl and to an extent she reminded her of herself when they were younger. She had always been the protective one when it came to her friends but if they needed a kick up the backside, she would have no problem issuing it. ¡°No problem hun, what¡¯s your name anyways?¡±
¡°I¡¯m Michelle,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry about this. We¡¯re all just celebrating that we¡¯ve finished our exams and the boys are getting a little out of control but I promise you¡¯ll have no further problems tonight¡±.
¡°Michelle what¡¯s going on?¡± said another of the youths who had been outside with the other fighting moron. ¡°Is everything alright? Are these people bothering you?¡± He put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to re-assure her. ¡°There will be no more problems, it¡¯s sorted out,¡± he said in an un-necessarily aggressive tone of voice.
¡°James, just leave it. They weren¡¯t bothering me, they were making sure I was alright as Martyn and I had a bit of a disagreement. Go see to him, I¡¯ll get the rest of the group together and we can enjoy what¡¯s left of the night. I apologise again ladies for the disgraceful behaviour,¡± said Michelle as she walked back to the pool table where everyone else had gathered to watch the scene unfold.
Not long afterwards the group started to filter out to the street and make their way home with Katy and J.J watching eagerly to make sure no further trouble flared up. They had been looking forward to getting some action this evening (the fighting kind) but were sadly disappointed. Still, the night was young and the bar didn¡¯t close until 0300hrs so that gave them around 5 hours to find a fist fight.
¡°So girls, what¡¯s this you two have been talking about? You planning on leaving me on my own again to carry out some more of your ¡®private protection¡¯ work?¡± said the voice of Kevin Curtis, the bar owner. He said it with a smile of course, because he knew they would always come back, if not to work then for the banter they all shared. He¡¯d hired them as bouncers after a few weeks of them setting up shop in Dundee. One night, they had been in looking for work when a couple of rich-boys decided to try it on and see if they could get lucky. What started as innocent fun eventually escalated into a fist-flying frenzy and, to the amazement of the bar-flies, it was the guys and not the girls that ended up being embarrassed and running with their tails between their legs. Curtis had later told Katy and J.J that those men had been bothering him and costing him custom for the last few weeks and so if they wanted a small-time job working security for him, they were more than entitled to it. He couldn¡¯t pay them much but would be able to sort out suitable accommodation for them, free of charge. Needless to say the girls agreed and had managed to get themselves one hell of an apartment and a start in this strange new place.
¡°Oh Kev, you know we would never leave you in the shit. You¡¯re like a father to us and we would always clear it with you before carrying out any extra work. You gave us a roof over our heads and cash in our back pocket when we moved here, so why would we all of a sudden just pretend like you¡¯re not important to us?¡± asked J.J with a cheeky smile.
¡°Yeah,¡± said Katy. ¡°Besides, the last time we went out and did a job, we left you with the place for one night and when we came back it looked like a bomb had hit it¡± she joked. In all fairness, there had been a bit of a mess when they returned from the Robertson job but that was down to the decorators, who co-incidentally finished the job before schedule when the girls paid them a visit. ¡°In all fairness though Kevin, we do need some time off during the day so that we can collect on a contract from our other job. It¡¯s a good deal and should give us enough to pay you back at last for helping us out in the beginning¡±.
¡°Don¡¯t be stupid girls; I never gave you money to get it back. I helped you out because I saw something good in you and that¡¯s been returned to me tenfold by you two becoming like family to me. We¡¯re even, trust me on that and I¡¯ll have no arguments Jacqui. If you need some time off, that¡¯s fine. We shouldn¡¯t be too busy over the next few weeks during the day, it¡¯ll be the nights though that I¡¯ll need you the most. I can still give you 2 nights off but could we make them a Monday and Wednesday instead of two together?¡± he suggested. The girls agreed as this was a fair deal. ¡°Right, I¡¯ll get back to the bar and you two stay there and look mean¡±.
Katy returned to the computer and J.J returned to the bar, taking up her seat on the far side, giving her full view of the room. She saw Dianne get up and make her way toward the door with her older companion. She heard a beep on Katy¡¯s laptop and made her way over to see if it was anything exciting. It appeared that an email had come through from Spence at long last, with the details about the girl they were looking for. She was approximately 5ft 4 inches tall, 150lbs with a slender build, long black hair and turquoise blue eyes, with a nose stud and lip ring being the only decoration she wore (and by decoration, I mean make-up). It took a few minutes but when it hit her, she rushed to the door and looked around to see a car taking off but no sign of the person in the photo¡ Dianne Gabriel.
Summer Break
It had been a few weeks now since the exams had finished and I was planning a night out for some of my close friends because with the start of university looming after the summer, it could be a long time before we ever caught up again. The plan was to go into the city centre and visit as many pubs for 1 drink as we could before the night ended. Bearing in mind that Dundee is a large place, that¡¯s a lot of pubs but that was half the challenge. We would start out at The Firefly in Commercial Street and take it from there. The party so far, included Michelle and me; Brendan; Martyn and Lucy with Amy and Andy bringing up the proverbial rear.
Michelle was to meet up with Brendan, Martyn and Lucy who lived a few streets away from her and they would get a taxi into town. A taxi on a Friday night would be expensive but they could afford to let their hair down a little and have one last proper wild night as teens. I would be heading to town with Amy and Andy seeing as how we all lived in the same cul-de-sac.
The night started off easily enough, with everyone having Alco pops in bars 1 and 2 to break themselves in. After all, what¡¯s the point in drinking the hard stuff at the beginning if you want to make a night of it? It must have been around 11pm by the time we got to ¡°Liquor Out¡± in Union Street. It was a small bar that attracted the same custom week in, week out with occasional visitors or at least so we had heard. This was going to be the last bar for us as 17 drinks in 17 bars has started to take its toll.
There was a little friction between Martyn and Andy by this time, mainly because they had separated from the group and taken part in their own drinking contest by downing shot after shot in Archie¡¯s Bar (Number 14 in the pub crawl). When Andy threw up, Martyn declared himself the winner. Andy took exception to this, stating that because he was drinking doubles to Martyn¡¯s single shots, he had won. It was more handbags at dawn than anything else because both had trouble standing, so throwing punches was out of the question but throwing insults was all legal.
Michelle entered Liquor Out with Amy, Lucy and Brendan whilst I accompanied the quarrelling duo; grabbing them by a shoulder and stating that if they made any more problems then they would be left to their own devices as the group would not be split because of immature and stupid arguments. A grumble from each of the boys was enough to suggest they understood and entered the bar in single file. Once inside, they ordered a drink and sat near the doors, all seemingly good friends again and getting rather boisterous. There was a pool table at the back, so Lucy and Brendan decided to play with Amy playing the winner in a tournament. Michelle and I ended up playing mediators between Andy and Martyn to try and avoid any fisticuffs which looked like it could happen at any time.
Sure enough after 10 minutes of being in the bar, Andy tried and failed miserably to launch an ill-fated punch at Martyn and instead ended up falling through one of the tables. Martyn, clearly angered by this unprovoked attack started laying into Andy with his boots before I could shove Martyn into the gents¡¯. Michelle followed him to make sure Martyn calmed down. I then went and helped Andy to his feet before taking him outside for a dressing down. Lucy, Brendan and Amy picked the table back up and picked up the glasses that had been on it, lucky with no breakages but a terrible spill.
Michelle laid into Martyn in the gents¡¯ giving him hell for what he had just done. ¡°I don¡¯t give a fuck whether or not he did swing at you, kicking him with steel-toe boots is not the way to solve the problem Martyn. For crying out loud, you¡¯re the oldest one of us and yet you act like a spoilt little brat all of the time. I don¡¯t know why Amy puts up with Andy but what the hell does Lucy see in you?? You need to get a grip of your life and fast because you¡¯re going nowhere acting like this¡±.
¡°What the hell do you know Michelle? You¡¯ve been gone for so long you can hardly start the holier than thou treatment on me. I¡¯ve been here all my life and picked up the pieces when James fell apart when you left so don¡¯t think you can tell me how to run my life!!¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Michelle suddenly felt a need to answer nature¡¯s call and so instructed Martyn to stay put and just cool down because he wasn¡¯t getting out of this bathroom until he had chilled out. It didn¡¯t take long for him to ignore those demands and head back to the bar. Spotting the two tall hotties at the bar, Martyn thought he would try his luck.
¡°Ladies, you¡¯re looking mighty fine tonight (hic). How about I¡ buy you¡ (hic) a drink and we get to (hic) know each other ¡ a little better¡?¡± he said with an overly obvious wink before he started shushing them as though it were some kind of secret.
¡°How about this asshole, you back off and get yourself together or I throw you out of here on your ass and you get the honour of being the first person to piss me off tonight?? Your call¡¡± said the brunette who was clearly in no mood to be hit on by a guy at least 7 or 8 years her junior.
¡°Martyn!!! What the hell are you playing at? I thought I told you to stay in the bathroom and relax for a while?¡± said Michelle walking from the gents in a rage. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry if he¡¯s offended you in any way. He¡¯s an idiot when he gets drunk and doesn¡¯t know what he¡¯s saying¡ though that¡¯s not specific to when he¡¯s had alcohol. Leave these people alone and pull yourself together man because I¡¯m not stopping you getting another beating if you make an ass of yourself¡±.
The tall red-head smiled and replied ¡°No problem hun, what¡¯s your name anyways?¡±
¡°I¡¯m Michelle,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry about this. We¡¯re all just celebrating that we¡¯ve finished our exams and the boys are getting a little out of control but I promise you¡¯ll have no further problems tonight¡±.
¡°Michelle what¡¯s going on?¡± I said as I brought Andy back in to the bar. ¡°Is everything alright? Are these people bothering you?¡± I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to re-assure her. In an aggressive tone of voice ¡°There will be no more problems, it¡¯s sorted out¡±.
¡°James, just leave it. They weren¡¯t bothering me, they were making sure I was alright as Martyn and I had a bit of a disagreement. Go see to him, I¡¯ll get the rest of the group together and we can enjoy what¡¯s left of the night. I apologise again ladies for the disgraceful behaviour,¡± said Michelle as she walked back to the pool table where everyone else had gathered to watch the scene unfold.
Not long afterwards the group started to filter out to the street and make their way home with the two of us walking behind so that we could enjoy what was left of the night together.
Our walk pointed us towards the large bandstand on Magdalen Green as the rest of the group started to make their way home after the fracas at Liquor Out. As we sat down on the steps of the bandstand, the stars made an unexpected appearance, breaking free from the thick patches of cloud in the brilliantly dark night sky.
¡°With the odd exception, tonight hasn¡¯t been too bad at all Mr Valentine and yet you haven¡¯t even tried to steal a kiss... I¡¯m shocked but flattered,¡± said Michelle with a suggestive smile.
¡°You know me; I like to catch you off guard. How can I do that if you¡¯re expecting a kiss to be stolen? The future is yet to be decided and anything can happen. Right now, we¡¯re wild and young... so let¡¯s enjoy our youth whilst we can get away with it,¡± I replied, looking off into the distance. I was thinking whether or not now was the right time to ask for her hand in marriage and I guess that the jitters got me, because I froze up and didn¡¯t say anything more.
Michelle knew that when I was silent, thoughts were running around in my head and so it was best to leave me be. That wasn¡¯t it at all but it was as though my body had just shut down and I was powerless to say or do anything. She started to make her way down to the river front when she heard footsteps behind her. Half expecting to feel my warm arms around her waist, she raised her arms high and wide as though floating on the wind. The stars disappeared, replaced by a black gloved hand and a cloth with chloroform was pulled over her mouth and nose. She couldn¡¯t scream; she couldn¡¯t fight back and she couldn¡¯t understand why I was letting this happen. After a few minutes she slipped into unconsciousness and was taken away just as quietly as her attackers had arrived.
I came back to earth with a bump, mainly because I had slipped over the railing and landed right on my butt. After a few moments, I regained my thoughts and at this point realised that Michelle was nowhere to be seen and panic set in. I had to find her, but didn¡¯t know where to begin...
Family Values
Roger had been nice enough at the start of the relationship but his idea of a night out was watching football in the pub with the guys, or taking her to see Ice Hockey up at the Ice Arena. Now don¡¯t get me wrong, Lisa was a sports fan but there was only so much she could take and so she gave him a choice of sports or his family. With a beer bottle in hand, he made his decision, smashing it over her head and dragging her out into the street like an animal. Had it not been for Dianne and her friend Angelika getting out of a cab just across the street, who knows what he might have done?
Like the coward he was though, Roger ran to his convertible and sped off in the opposite direction, clearly aware that he was outnumbered; even if it was Lisa¡¯s kid and niece. They both went to the gym regularly and whilst not being ripped, could stand their ground in a fight with anyone, anywhere.
¡°Mom, are you alright?¡± asked Dianne, lifting her up by the arm with Angelika taking the other. ¡°I can¡¯t believe he would lift his... No actually I can because he¡¯s a worthless piece of... Come on inside and we¡¯ll get the kettle on¡±. They slowly helped Lisa back up into the house and set her down on the recliner armchair.
¡°What the hell was that all about anyway Aunt Lisa? I knew he was a little bitch all along and that confirms it... He¡¯ll hit you when we¡¯re not around because he knows what would have happened if we¡¯d been here,¡± snapped Angelika. Her mother had passed away a few years ago and her father was in no state to look after himself, let alone his 18 year old daughter.
¡°Just leave it kids, please? I gave him a choice of us or sports and he made his decision. I¡¯m just glad he¡¯s gone and after tonight, he¡¯ll be lucky if the courts give him anything other than the divorce papers. Dianne, call my solicitor for me and have him come over tomorrow morning so that I can explain everything. Angelika, please don¡¯t go after Roger because I can take him hurting me but I don¡¯t want anything to happen to either of you. Promise me girls, that you will not take actions in to your own hands?¡± begged Lisa. Her jaw ached where Roger had bounced her off the wall on the way out of the front door; her eyes were heavy and obviously bruised; her mouth was split and starting to swell up. The girls could see she was in serious pain and yet she still, in some way, had enough feelings for him not to let him get what he deserved.
The girls grudgingly agreed not to take matters in to their own hands but knew that it was the last thing Lisa needed after this cowardly attack. They would let things lie for a while until the divorce was finalised and then Roger would be fair game for a beat down. They had plenty of male friends that were involved with MMA organisations throughout Scotland and could always call in a favour so that it wasn¡¯t his blood on their hands. Technically she had asked them not to touch him but she hadn¡¯t said anything about anyone else working him over.
The day after the night before, Lisa decided the best way to forget about what Roger had put them through would be to go out and celebrate her soon to be single status. Angelika had heard of a place in Union Street called ¡®Liquor Out¡¯, offering cheap drinks, a good atmosphere and by all accounts, seemed to be a nice little place. It wasn¡¯t the biggest bar in town but in comparison to the franchised big boys scattered all over the place, it was well situated and well looked after by the bar staff and security that worked there.
Angelika wouldn¡¯t be able to make the night out as she would be working late but could pick up Lisa and Dianne when she finished so that they could take the party home. Ah, the life of an audio typist in a busy hospital¡ sure it was a secure job because you were always going to have to type up a doctors prognosis because they were too lazy to do it themselves, but at least you get your own office and window space in a dark, gloomy hallway. Okay, so it isn¡¯t that great but it¡¯s a job at a time when unemployment is at an all-time high and NHS provided jobs are pretty much a life-time guarantee as there¡¯s always going to be the need for NHS workers.
Dianne owned and ran her own store in town selling things like new age herbal remedies, retro and alternative clothing. It wasn''t the biggest store around; yet being positioned right between an electronics store and a mini-market meant she was never short of people popping in to have a look and see what was on offer. She had regular customers, mainly in their teenage years looking for bongs, cigarette papers, tobacco and black clothing, but those clients withstanding she did quite well. Amongst the teens and the random shoppers, there was also another kind of clientele that would frequent her store¡ the kind that could conjure white and dark magic. Dundee was starting to attract a fair amount of conjurers but because they consciously made an effort to fit into the local community, you would never have known whether they were a normal or a supernatural.
Lisa too led an interesting life as the Dean of Medicines at a privately run medical facility in Dundee. This however was not a facility that catered to the general public; it was owned by Goldstein Pharmaceuticals, an American firm that had bought over vacant land in the former industrial estate at West Pitkerro. Much like The Polyamourous Group, Goldstein Pharmaceuticals brought hundreds of jobs to the city. With the facility being privately owned and run, the hiring policy was on a par with that of the MI5, C.I.A and FBI agencies meaning that even the tiniest of transgressions would prevent you ever being considered for employment. Why such a severe, secure hiring policy? For now, let¡¯s just say that the clientele were ¡®gifted¡¯ and therefore unable to get the kind of medical care that the standard NHS or more publicly used private health services could offer. Lisa not only was responsible for the staff working within the facility, she also sat in on employment interviews and assisted with background checks on all applicants. Anyone that met her approval was pretty much a shoe-in for the job.
¡°Come on Dianne, move it or lose it. The night is young, the drink is cheap and we¡¯re going to paint the town red,¡± proclaimed an already tipsy Lisa. She had elected not to go in to work today based on the fact that she was still partially swollen around her face but the pain was nearly gone. Determined to prove to Roger (and more likely herself) that she was stronger than people expected her to be and could take a beating from her former partner and yet still have enough confidence in herself to go out and enjoy herself with her family. ¡°Dianne, I¡¯m not kidding young lady, if you¡¯re not down here in 5 minutes¡¡±
¡°You¡¯ll start without me? Unlikely mom,¡± replied Dianne as she came down the stairs taking 2 at a time. ¡°You know I¡¯d drink you under the table and that¡¯s even with a 4 bar start¡±. The grin on her face was as wide as a Cheshire cat and they both laughed a little. It¡¯s rare these days to see a mother and daughter get on so well but the closeness between the two had never really been a problem. Going back through the generations, the Cameron family had never really seen much in-fighting between the parents and youths, probably being due to the fact that at an early age, respect and discipline was taught to the children in a relaxing and fun way as opposed to a militaristic teaching.
¡°Oh Dianne¡ you seem to forget that before you were even a twinkle in my eye, the bars in Dundee knew that when I entered, it would be a high-profit night for themselves and the brewery. Plus I have at least a good 20 years experience in comparison to your 2 years??¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
¡°That¡¯s just your age showing though mother dear. You¡¯re used to the old fashioned drinks but you wouldn¡¯t last trying to match me with sambuca, absinthe or aftershock,¡± said Dianne as she grabbed her jacket and keys from the table.
¡°Ah but if it came down to malt whiskey, rum or gin; you¡¯d be on the floor by the time Angelika comes to get us.¡±
Lisa had already phoned ahead to order them a taxi, and as though by magic, a horn beeped outside to signal its arrival. Camphill Road in Broughty Ferry wasn¡¯t the busiest street in the world but the high walls and trees lining everyone¡¯s gardens meant you did have a little privacy. Dianne made sure to close the iron gates at the end of their driveway and joined her mother in the back seat. After giving the driver their destination, they buckled up and set off for what they hoped would be a night to remember.
They started off light with a glass of wine in The Mill on Dock Street and from there went to McClaffery¡¯s in the Seagate, the Irish bar. The token Guinness and Whisky were downed in there before moving on to The Barfly Bar in Commercial Street for a round of vodka mixers and finally on to Liquor Out in Union Street. By this time, they had attracted a few male admirers with offers of joining them for drinks elsewhere, all of which the girls declined but saved the numbers just in case things changed as the night wore on.
When they got inside Liquor Out, they managed to find a corner booth and set themselves up there for the night. Lisa by this point was starting to feel the effects of last night and so decided to have a drink, then water and continue down this route. Dianne followed suit and willingly agreed to match her mother drink for drink but not in a competitive way. After their second drink, there appeared a crowd of youths through the door, already apparently 3 sheets to the wind and not exactly trying to mask their inebriation.
Dianne passed through the group with little or no trouble and sat at the bar as she waited for the bartender to serve her drinks. From the corner of her right eye she saw one of the female bouncers walking towards her with a purpose and started to worry. Had she said or done something to offend anyone? Not that she could think of but then again maybe she wasn¡¯t the one they were looking for.
¡°Excuse me young lady, your group were told to keep the noise down and to show some respect to the other paying customers. If things get heated again then you can find yourselves a new bar to fight in, are we clear? What¡¯s your name anyway?¡± asked the bouncer standing over Dianne with ease.
¡°I¡¯m Dianne, but I am not with the rowdy group that came in. I¡¯ve been here for a while sitting at one of the booths by the entrance¡± she replied with a slight tremble in her voice. The bartender served her with the drinks she had paid for, she excused herself and scuttled across to her corner booth; knowing that she was still being watched.
¡°What was that all about, are you alright?¡± asked Lisa who had been watching with concern when Dianne was cornered by the butch woman at the bar.
¡°I¡¯m fine; she just thought we were involved with the rowdy crowd of kids that came in about ten minutes ago. Case of mistaken identity so everything is fine mom, trust me,¡± replied Dianne. Her phone vibrated across the table and after checking the caller display, was glad to see it was Angelika.
¡°Hey babe, that¡¯s me just finished. Where are you two lovely ladies hiding? I¡¯m nearly in town so finish your drinks and I¡¯ll meet you in 5 minutes,¡± she said.
¡°We¡¯re still in Liquor Out so we¡¯ll finish up and meet you outside. Be as quick as you can, things are getting a little heated in here,¡± replied Dianne.
¡°Will do hun, I¡¯m half way down riverside drive just now so shouldn¡¯t be much longer. See you in two.¡±
With that being said, Dianne slid out of the booth, put her jacket over her shoulders and downed her vodka, ensuring it barely touched the sides of her throat. Lisa was slightly inebriated by this point but was still able to fend for herself. Passing her jacket and handbag to Dianne, she slid out of the booth and right on to her backside. With a giggle and Dianne shaking her head, Lisa pulled herself up on the table and together they made their way towards the door. The female bouncer that had confronted her earlier looked over disapprovingly, watching the pair leave with an eagle eye.
As they stepped outside, as if by magic, roaring up the street was Angelika in her people carrier. She parked on the kerb and let the girls get in, then took off as though she was in the midst of a police chase. As she turned around to faster her seatbelt, Dianne had one last glance at the bar and saw both of the bouncers bolt out of the door looking for something or someone, and fix their eyes directly on her. They must have cursed or something because the taller one¡¯s face became crimson with rage to the extent that she booted over a wheelie bin and stormed back inside.
After a few moments, Angelika slowed down and put some jazz on as background music, loud enough to hear it but low enough so that they could speak without shouting.
¡°So what was going on in there to get you so spooked baby?¡± asked Angelika looking in her rear view mirror for a moment at Dianne.
¡°There was a rowdy crowd of kids there starting a fist-fight with each other and the bouncers had a case of mistaken identity, thinking I was involved. They didn¡¯t need to say anything for me to feel intimidated because they were like Amazonian women, huge and looking pretty muscular¡±.
¡°You could have taken them, you¡¯ve got the speed and height advantage being so small, they¡¯d need to bend down to chase you so you could run circles around them,¡± laughed Angelika.
¡°Hey, why are we in the car? I thought we were painting the town red tonight girls?¡± asked a semi-conscious Lisa.
¡°You¡¯re not painting anything mom, apart from the toilet bowl with vomit if you drink any more alcohol tonight. I can¡¯t believe you fell on your butt, talk about embarrassing,¡± joked Dianne. She prodded her mother in the ribs a few times to emphasise the point. They all shared a laugh and slipped back into silence as they drove on through the night, heading home to watch a few DVD¡¯s or more likely crawl into bed and enjoy a long sleep through the morning seeing as how tomorrow would be Sunday.
Pulling up to the driveway, Angelika spotted something hanging from the gate and so asked the others to wait in the car and stepped out to look at it. It was a plain brown envelope with no name attached but clearly full with something.
She put it under her arm and opened the gate, walked back to the car and drove back up to the front of the house; ushering Lisa and Dianne into the house before going back out to close the driveway gate. Checking to see if there had been any tampering with it or any evidence that someone had been nearby, she noticed a set of muddy footprints on the pavement outside the gates. This was unusual because it wasn¡¯t and hadn¡¯t been raining for a few days now but the prints looked fresh, maybe half an hour old if that.
When she got back into the house, she sat Lisa and Dianne down with a cup of coffee telling them what she had found. Together, they opened the package and found A4 sized photos of them taken but a few short hours ago. The photographs were of Lisa and Dianne strolling through the town; then sitting in Liquor Out; and snaps of Angelika at her work, arriving, sitting at her desk and getting in to her car. Someone was following them and had been able to get up close and personal shots of them without any real trouble and without their knowledge. The last photograph had a note on the back and after reading it, a shiver shot down their spines.
¡®Anyone can be traced; anyone can be followed;
Can you trust the ones you love? Can you trust yourself?
Someone has sold you out and it¡¯s up to you to figure out why;
Better find out soon before one of you disappears and the others expire¡¡¯
Your Not So Secret Stalker¡?
They sat there in total shock, wondering who would do this to them and, if the note could be believed, who would have sold them out. When the shock wore off, they talked about it, trying to find out if it was a code but to no avail; they looked through every book in Lisa¡¯s study that was filled with literature, trying to figure out if it was a poem from some obscure book or a song lyric from some little known song but nothing materialised. Even looking online for any reference to the warning came up with nothing substantial or concrete that could point them in the right direction. Unfortunately the situation was as clear and simple as much as they didn¡¯t want it to be.
Someone was out to get them; and someone wanted them dead¡
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The clock tick, tick, ticked away in the background as it had done for the last 4 hours and I lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling in a trance-like state. I hadn¡¯t slept a wink in the last few nights since Michelle¡¯s disappearance and strangely enough, my brain wasn¡¯t asking me to replenish it with sleep. It was far too focused on what had happened that night when Michelle had disappeared into thin air, just moments after we had embraced at the bandstand in Magdalen Green. I tried so hard to remember what had happened but came up a little short.
Getting up and putting on my dressing gown; I made my way to the kitchen in the cold and dark house; put on the kettle and made myself a cup of strong black tea. Bringing up the internet on my computer, I opened my emails half expecting to see some kind of ransom or threatening email about Michelle but no such emails materialised. I went to the glass panel and started to write out a timeline to establish where we had been and what we were doing up to the point of Michelle¡¯s vanishing.
Time Location
21:00 Town Centre having drinksThe genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
23:30 Andy and Martin fight at bar
00:00 Sit with Michelle at bandstand
0000-00:15 Michelle disappears
There was that half an hour window that I couldn¡¯t account for and that¡¯s what got to me more than anything. I pride myself on being able to remember even the most seemingly irrelevant detail and yet I couldn¡¯t remember what had happened in that 15 minute window. The more immature side of me suggested I could blame it on aliens; say I had been abducted and that¡¯s why I couldn¡¯t remember what had happened. The more sensible side however suggested I could very well have had my drink spiked and was so out of it that anything might have gone on around me and I would have never known even if it was in my direct line of vision.
Had the person or persons that stole Michelle away from me followed her from her past in Annan? Maybe the reason she came back here wasn¡¯t for school but for her own safety? I mean, she¡¯d been really quiet since she came back and if memory serves, she was always the life and soul of the party, but lately she¡¯s been the mother-like figure.
My head thumped and I really needed to just crash out for a while, let my brain recuperate and let my thoughts stop working triple overtime but it just wasn¡¯t going to happen. Until I could figure out what had happened, I¡¯d be awake and full of coffee, worries and fear.
The Hunt
When Spence heard that his hired guns had missed their chance to capture Dianne, he would be lying if he said it didn¡¯t bother him. Getting things done at the first time of asking was something he prided himself on and expected others to achieve the same result when he delegated them work. However, things were looking up because he had received notification that the contact he had assigned to photograph her and her family; delivered the package and warning with no trouble encountered. At least one of his new employees was able to follow instructions to his standard.
¡°Delivering the photographs is only the first phase of the plan as you know. Now comes phase 2 and this is where it gets a little bit trickier. You need to integrate yourself into the life either of the mother, the daughter or the niece. You¡¯ve got youth on your side and have proven before you can adapt easily to most situations so I¡¯m being lenient with you¡ get me a report within 72 hrs or find yourself new work. I expect results and not failure; is that clear? Good now stop wasting time by taking to me and start coming up with your new background story and identity,¡± said Spence as he put the phone back on the receiver. He was currently working from home because whilst he had fulfilled the requirements of his last contract with The Polyamourous Group by getting the attention of James Valentine; they claimed he was of more benefit as a field agent just now rather than sitting in an office building. His response to this was that they were pencil pushing pricks that didn¡¯t appreciate how much he had done for the company over the last 20 years, however whilst not agreeing with their decision he accepted it.
His home (and he used that term lightly) was situated on Richmond Terrace and rather conveniently looked over Magdalen Green. It was an A-listed building meaning that he could not touch the outside but the inside was a whole different story. It was suited and booted with more technological gadgets than James Bond, Batman and The Terminator rolled into one. What was supposed to be the lounge on the left of the main hallway that ran from the front to back of the building had been converted into a communications room with things such as a security camera control grid that probably controlled just as much of Dundee as the main police headquarters on West Bell Street, and you could bet it was illegally owned or The Polyamourous Group had obtained special permission for him to have the access to it. He also had multiple computer terminals hooked up to massive servers and god only knows what data they held. There was a rather large metal plate in the middle of the north-facing wall however that was poorly covered by a velvet curtain. Behind the curtain was a custom built elevator car that took him up to the master bedroom but more impressively down maybe 300 feet underground. To top it off, the tunnel ran all the way to Monifieth and you got there by using any one of the two underground tube trains complete with turnstiles for entering and exiting the tunnel, security staff to greet you and drivers to operate the trains. The Polyamourous Group were quick to build and use these tunnels but I could almost bet that the local council didn¡¯t know a damned thing about it. Hell even if they did, the amount of money they were getting in backhanders from the company would have ensured a blind eye was turned.
The d¨¦cor was a mixture of Victorian and Elizabethan wooden tables, units and desks; and then a more modern touch with pristine condition leather sofa¡¯s armchairs and recliners. He was definitely a man of luxury and a bachelor but you could be certain that with his reputation for ruthlessness that the only people he entertained (and even that would be on extremely special circumstances) were his direct superiors within the company.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The walls were generically painted black with golden lamps on the walls and with dark curtains dropping from ceiling to floor, shutting out any external light, creating a very uncomfortable atmosphere that he felt quite happy living in. The house had that old musky smell you would expect to find in an abandoned mansion somewhere out in the countryside. Spence was very fond of candles to the point that each and every surface throughout the entire house had at least 1 candle on it and the candle was scented with the smell of lavender.
His kitchen was stainless steel and all automated so that he didn¡¯t have to do much. His dishwasher was rarely used because he ate only when necessary; the fridge-freezer was an American sized one with an ice-cube maker on the inside door; the cooker had both gas and electric functionality with the main rings being electric and the oven being gas; there was also a coffee maker and a juicer/blender; but his pride and joy was the Japanese kitchen knife and chopping board set he had been given by the Japanese director of the board, Mr Takashi.
Spence had been assigned to Mr Takashi¡¯s team of accountants for a period of time in the late 90¡¯s and was expected to help balance the books for the Asian branch of The Polyamourous Group. Things were not going too good over there due to heavy competition in the computer design marker and it looked as though TPG might have gone to the wall, something that could not happen under any circumstances.
Mr Takashi told Spence that he needed to do whatever was required to keep the company afloat and so that¡¯s exactly what he did. His methods were never questioned and his actions never challenged; and with that level of respect between them both, Spence managed to bring the ship back in line with the projected targets during month 14 of the 18 month plan. As a thank you, Spence was treated to a banquet where the sushi chef made the meals at Mr Takashi¡¯s personal condo. Spence liked the way that the chef worked the knives and so he was gifted them with an inscription on the blades saying ¡®Hope in your heart that death takes you before this blade¡¯. Most would see that as a strange and unsettling message; Spence saw it as a way of life and if he could get his way, Valentine would be his next victim.
His beeper went off with a message telling him to call someone on the non-registered telephone line. That was another advantage of working for a major company like The Polyamourous Group, they have a lot of sway with telecoms companies and for a price they can ensure your line is untraceable. The particular landline telephone was in his study, so Spence made his way up the main hall staircase that led to the second floor of the house. The handrail had been carved with Celtic designs flowing throughout and in such immaculate condition that it looked as though it had just recently been fitted in the building. Sure he could use the elevator from the communications room to get to the study but that would defeat the purpose of having the staircase built.
Upon entering the study, he sat down at his desk and drew the curtains. The clock showed the time as being 10am, so whoever wanted to talk to him so bad had better have a damned good reason. Under his desk was a switch that controlled the projector and screen for the room. He picked up the headset for his phone and put it on then dialled the private number he had been sent on the beeper. Within a few moments the projector clicked to life and the corporate video calling system kicked in and Spence could see the person that had beeped him. Shock hit him for a few moments and he sat there completely numb, but after a few moments of his brain registering who had contacted him Spence finally managed to compose himself and displayed the sinister smile he often wore¡
¡°I¡¯m a busy man and don¡¯t have time for this kind of crap usually, but for you I¡¯ll make an exception¡¡±
The Double Cross
It was the morning after the night before and Jacqui hadn¡¯t managed to get a wink of sleep at all. Her mind was still focused on how they had Dianne right in their sights, hell in their place of business and yet she just waltzed out of the door without a care in the world and they had been too slow to realise it was her before she departed for god knows where. They hadn¡¯t even told Spence yet and that would no doubt be a fun occasion. From what Katy had told her, Spence was pretty ripped for someone at least in his 40¡¯s but taking him lightly because he was old would be a very stupid, poorly made decision. Something about him wasn¡¯t right but they couldn¡¯t quite put their finger on it and the last thing they wanted to do was cross someone that could be dangerous or volatile without even the slightest idea.
Katy had also not slept through the night but she had been planning how exactly they would track down Dianne because she was a perfectionist and failed to accept that last night had happened at all. I suppose you could say that was Katy¡¯s only fault, she would work herself to the bone just to get it right. Deadlines may be late but at least it¡¯d be done right and more often than not, people liked a job done properly, not abandoned half-assed because the time to finish the job had expired. Her cell phone beeped away to tell her she¡¯d been messaged and finally she realised why Jacqui constantly tried to change the tone. At 7am on a Sunday morning the last think she wanted to hear was ¡®We¡¯re Men¡ We¡¯re Men In Tights¡ We Roam Around The Forest Looking For Fights!!!¡¯
¡°Will you turn that god-damned thing off? It¡¯s 7 in the morning Katy and considering how we ended last night, I¡¯m not in the mood for that kind of shit bursting through the apartment,¡± yelled Jacqui from her room across the hall.
¡°Oh shut up J.J. You know, the more you complain the less likely I am to turn it off. So how about you pipe down in there and get some shut eye huh? Unless you can come up with any plan to get the girl back of course¡ what¡¯s that? Silence I hear? Thought so¡¡± replied Katy in an acid tone. This was one of the many times that she wondered whether them living together was such a good idea after all. Sure they knew too much about each other in terms of private life and social life, but at the same time a girl needs her space and well, there were times that she really desired having her own thing for once.
The landline bleeped into life but neither of the girls could be bothered getting up to answer at this time of day, so they let the answering machine pick it up. There was quite a bit of silence after the customary beep to signal when to leave your phone message, and this disturbed them a little. It must have been a full 2 minutes that the machine had beeped to start recording and it still hadn¡¯t beeped to click off. Jacqui rose from her bed and walked to the phone stand to see that it was indeed still recording and the caller hadn¡¯t ended the call. Curious, she picked up the handset.
¡°Hello? Look I don¡¯t know who this is but the point of staying on the line when the machine beeps is to leave a message, not to hang around like a creepy stalker. If you¡¯re not going to leave a message then clear the damned line¡±.
¡°Ah so you are capable of answering the phone Miss Fleisch. Glad to hear that you¡¯re alive, awake and well this morning. Tell me, how did last night go? I presume that you have some positive news for me,¡± said the voice on the other end of the phone.
¡°Well¡ I never thought I¡¯d be hearing from you again Big Red, especially since you and Katy finally became even last night. What can we do for you?¡± asked Jacqui with a smile.
¡°Let¡¯s just say I have some information that may be of use to you, but it is worth a lot more than you¡¯ve ever put on the table. Sound interesting enough?¡± he said in a soft and calming tone.
¡°I¡¯m listening,¡± said Katy from her bedroom where she had picked up her table-side phone. ¡°You said last night that we¡¯d be quits when you helped us out. What¡¯s changed?¡±
¡°Damn it Katy, you always have to do the negotiating with clients, can¡¯t you let me take the reigns once in a while?¡± barked Jacqui loud enough that she could hear her own voice in the other room with a booming, crystal clear echo.
¡°Girls, girls, girls¡ don¡¯t fight, there are plenty of deals going around and I¡¯m sure we can come to an amicable agreement,¡± laughed Big Red.
¡°I¡¯m glad you think this is funny, because I sure as hell don¡¯t and Jacqui, you need to grow up. The reason I deal with the negotiations is because I am the one that ends up doing all the leg work. Now, what¡¯s this proposition you have?¡± replied Katy who was getting increasingly pissed off with the whole situation.
¡°I know you¡¯re working for Sebastian Spence and that¡¯s why you wanted information on him. Don¡¯t ask me how I know but trust me when I say I know you are and that I¡¯m not happy about it. You two need some money and I can offer you double what he¡¯s paying you¡ but it means you would need to continue working for him and reporting everything that you do; everything he says and does; back to me. What I have at stake is of no concern to you but understand this, my goal must be achieved under any means necessary¡±.
¡°You want us to double cross one of the most dangerous men we¡¯ve ever worked for Red, but you''ll need to give us a pretty spectacular reason why this job for you takes precedence over the job for him. We¡¯re hired guns sure, but we¡¯re also not going to put ourselves in a position like back in the States,¡± replied Katy. ¡°We¡¯re old friends and I respect you so level with me. What¡¯s in it for you?¡±
¡°Okay, you want me to play my cards Katy. Fine I will but from now on, you cut the macho bullshit and we speak to each other like proper human beings. Agreed?¡± asked Big Red. The silence that filled the call for a minute gave him the satisfaction to know he had their attention. ¡°Dianne Gabriel is not the only person that Spence has his beady little eyes on. He may have told you girls that she is his main target but in actual fact, there¡¯s someone else that he wants even more than that. A kid about her age named James Valentine. Spence had a rival in his younger years, Zander Valentine, if you don¡¯t know who he is then Google him. Spence was recently teaching James at high-school and, after an altercation with said student, got himself fired. He wants revenge, and so how better a way to hurt the man that embarrassed him as a youth, than to take his son hostage. However, that¡¯s just the half of the tale because what he plans on doing with the kid is giving him electro-shock treatment and turning him into a lifeless, soulless mercenary for The Polyamourous Group¡¯s underground army. Don¡¯t ask me how I know this but let¡¯s just say you¡¯re not the only one who has hidden contacts. I can¡¯t let Spence get away with this for one important reason¡¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
¡°This James guy is your kid or something right Big Red? I mean there¡¯s bound to be a reason why you¡¯re telling us about Spence¡¯s big plan when it doesn¡¯t concern us¡± queried Jacqui before he could finish.
¡°¡ Yes, he¡¯s my son¡ but that¡¯s not the point... Look, my son needs protection and unfortunately I don¡¯t have the resources any more to put a security team on him. However I know that you two can be trusted, hence why I¡¯m coming to you for help¡±.
Katy walked through from the bedroom into the lounge and looked at Jacqui, mouthing ¡°What do we do now?¡± with a hand over the mouthpiece. They had been in difficult positions before but this was different because not only would they have to commit a double cross, they would also be solely responsible for the life of Big Red¡¯s kid¡ provided that they took the job on board.
¡°You know where to find us Red, so head on down here and we¡¯ll talk properly about this. I know this must be tough for you but don¡¯t worry, the kid will be fine because we¡¯ll be keeping an eye on him,¡± said Jacqui.
¡°How can we do this to Big Red? We¡¯ve just promised him we would take care of his kid and yet we¡¯re supposed to bring him in for Spence?¡± asked Jacqui as the girls sat in the lounge trying to come to terms with what was now going to become the most difficult job they had ever taken on.
¡°I haven¡¯t got the faintest idea at the moment, but either way someone is going to get pissed off at us and right now I¡¯m not sure who I¡¯m more concerned about that being. Big Red has done many favours for us in the past and has always looked after us. On the other hand, Spence is offering big money for some reason to bring this kid in and it¡¯s not the kind of money we can turn down¡± replied Katy as she stared into her mug of fruit tea, smelling the berries as the steam rose up past her face. ¡°Big Red told us to Google his proper name, Zander Valentine, so that we could find out exactly who he is. From the way he explained things, Spence has some personal beef with him and is taking it out on the kid, so if we can find out what the animosity was between them without asking Spence or Big Red directly, we might be able to find out which of the two would be the lesser evil¡ Crossing the man who wants to give us a permanent contract; or crossing the man that has looked after us since we started our new lives out here¡¡±
¡°Spence claims that he¡¯s seen our faces in some sort of underground wanted poster right? He knew our old names and even spoke of The Don as though those two were the best of friends. That frightens me, but then again, after what Big Red has told us, not everything Spence says can be trusted,¡± Katy said as she opened up her laptop and connected to the internet. ¡°Big Red also told us to look him up on the internet under his proper name, Zander Valentine. Well with the position we¡¯re in, couldn¡¯t hurt to find out who he really is right?¡±
J.J shrugged her shoulders and made her way to the kitchen and put the kettle on. They were clearly awake now and if that was how fate had intended it, then she¡¯d start the day with a cup of Earl Grey and some French toast, Katy opting for a bacon roll and a coffee. By the time the kettle had boiled, the toast had popped and she eventually made her way through to the lounge with their breakfast, Katy had already managed to bring up a few different sites with information about Zander; a fan-hosted site (why a TV hotshot needed a fan-site, who knew?); a biography page in one of those know-it-all sites, and his own personal webpage. As they ate and drank and conversed about the findings, it was clear to them that the decision they inevitably had to make, would be the hardest of their lives so far. Valentine Sr. was a very powerful man and had very powerful and influential friends worldwide, ranging from chairmen of multi-national conglomerates¡¯ to (perhaps his most influential friend), Former President of The United States Anthony Moore. One thing was for certain, regardless of who they sided with, things were about to get a lot more interesting.
He couldn¡¯t believe how easy it had been to convince them to aid him in the search for James. Sure it was going to be a little harder to try and convince his superiors that another test subject was required for the project, but hadn¡¯t they been the ones bemoaning the lack of progress over the last few months? The two targets, Dianne Gabriel and James Valentine would be treated slightly better than the rest of the cretins that would be picked up from the streets and alleyways around Dundee. Despite the compound being 5 miles underneath the River Tay, the facility was comprised of a state of the art military training facility; 5-star restaurant complete with multiple Michelin star chefs; a shopping centre featuring top-end clothing boutiques, jewellers and (in Spence¡¯s mind) other un-necessary distractions for the hard working employees of The Polyamourous Group.
As part of their contracts and the nature of the work being carried out down there, all employees were allowed 4 days a month maximum on the surface. Contractors, delivery companies, stockists had to sign a confidentiality agreement prior to being permitted on site. If for example someone shot their mouth off about this top-secret base underneath the river, you could be sure that any 1 of 2 things would happen. You would be relocated to the other side of the world away from your family and friends for an undetermined timeframe¡ or you were entered into the program against your will. With such a clandestine feel to how things were run, there was no conclusive proof (because nobody was brave or stupid enough to come out and talk about it in the free press), but there had been plenty of rumours about what happened if you failed to achieve your targets. Depending on the nature of your failure, execution was the most common outcome¡ although it was also suggested that your family (be that your wife or husband; your parents or children; hell all of your surviving family members would be enrolled into the program as your replacement¡ and then you¡¯d be executed BY your family as part of their initiation.