‘This is not like your typical spot of industrial espionage, Nick. This shit is seriously scary, the people who know anything about it are like vapour and any information is buried deep. You peel back one layer and you’re faced with another. I’m not sure trundling around Russia asking this stuff is even safe. So no, maybe you’re not paying me enough.’
Nick rubbed his eyes and sighed. ‘Sorry. I just … I just need to know more.’
‘Yeah, I think I got that.’ Walker’s voice was now annoyingly laced with humour, but Nick was relieved that he hadn’t just jacked in the whole thing altogether. ‘I’ll add Anya into the mix, okay? But I’m not promising anything.’
‘Thanks, mate; I owe you.’
‘I hope she’s worth all this,’ Walker said cautiously. ‘Got to say, some of the stuff we’ve found, well, it’s a bit … um … fucked up.’
‘She’s worth it,’ Nick told him firmly.
When he hung up the phone he almost dropped it in shock when Sam materialized from the shadows of the corridor.
‘Christ, how do you people do that? What’s wrong with just walking along like a normal person and announcing your presence with a simple “Hi there”? Jesus.’
‘Sorry, Whitney,’ Sam said through a smile. Nick rolled his eyes and was about to turn away to go back to the kitchen when Sam caught his arm.
‘Some things are best left buried,’ he told him, his smile having dropped and his eyes boring into Nick’s. ‘Don’t poke the hornets’ nest.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talk –’
‘You understand me. What you don’t understand is what you could find. You don’t know what you’re dealing with. You don’t know who she is.’
‘That’s what I want to find out,’ Nick told him.
‘You think you do but trust me, I’m telling you the truth, you don’t.’
* * *
Clive was fucking furious.He’d put months into winning over Matilda Chambers. Horse-obsessed single mothers were not exactly his usual type, but he’d made an exception; he needed a way into the Chambers family and he most definitely needed a way to get his hands on some cash.
His P.R. firm had been floundering for the last year, and Nick’s account was about the only lucrative contract he had left. Tilly might only work off and on at the stables, but she had a huge trust fund, not to mention a massive divorce settlement, seeing as her ex-husband had been enough of an idiot to be caught cheating on her. The stupid bastard had thought he could fuck with a Chambers and get away with it. He probably should have taken into account the kind of adversary he would be taking on with Tilly’s brother; poor sod didn’t stand a chance, not once Nick got his army of private investigators involved.
Clive wasn’t making that mistake, no way. He was marrying the horsey bitch and he’d keep his dick in his pants for as long as it took to get what he wanted. The last thing he needed was for some scrawny science dweeb sniffing around, upsetting all his plans.
And now she was going to end things?
With him?
Unbelievable.
He slammed the door to his room, pulled off the fucking wax jacket he’d bought to fit in with these freaks, and threw it on the floor in disgust. No way was he going on some lame Chambers family fishing trip, not in this mood and not after he’d just been dumped. ‘We can still have a nice evening tonight,’ she’d said. ‘It doesn’t have to get ugly, Clive.’ She could say what she liked; Clive was not giving up without a fight. He knew things about the Chamberses and he was not above blackmail. Tilly was weak; she’d soon crumble when confronted with his brand of persuasion.
He kicked the leg of the bed in frustration. Complacency – that had been his problem; he hadn’t thought for a moment that Tilly would actually dumphim. Maybe he should have made a bit more effort with the kid, but Clive hated children and that brat was a mouthy little shit that could use a good …
Something caught his eye across the room. His head whipped round and he was staring straight at that bloody great dog. Clive did not like dogs. The pug was bad enough (although it thankfully left him alone, having learnt that any attempt to slobber on him would be met with a swift kick when Tilly and the brat’s backs were turned) but this one gave him the creeps. He took a step back as the animal’s upper lip curled to bare its teeth, a low growl resonating through the room. It was then that he felt something sharp pierce the skin of his neck and everything went black.
* * *
‘Hello Sleepyhead.’Clive blinked until the blurry figure in front of him swam into focus. She was sitting cross-legged on the bed, staring at him with an eerily neutral expression.
‘What the …?’ he slurred slightly, then shook his head to clear it. ‘What in the fuck is going on?’ As he slowly blinked awake he could tell that he was propped up against the large headboard.
‘That is an interesting question, Clive,’ Goodie said with apparent genuine curiosity. ‘What in the fuckisgoing on with you? What exactly are you after? I, for one, do not like unanswered questions.’
Clive attempted to swing off the bed but was pulled back by strapping around his chest and abdomen, attaching him to the wide slats across the headboard. ‘Jesus Christ!’ he shouted, struggling against his restraints. ‘What in God’s name are you …? Have you completely lost your mind?’
Goodie smiled at him, and laid her hand on Salem’s head as he was sitting on the floor next to the bed, his teeth still bared at Clive.
