Chapter Thirty-Nine
Fox
I’d come home from work to find Haze and Jenny in the kitchen. The kids were already in bed and a Thai takeaway was laid out, with the table set for three. They had at least waited for me before digging into the spring rolls and divulging the latest on Drake.
I hadn’t yet told Haze about Jenny lying to us about being at the bank. With Haze being so dismissive last time I’d caught Jenny in a lie, I wanted to go to her with more evidence. Not a story she could rebuff by saying perhaps Jenny was too embarrassed to tell us she had money issues.
“Drake has been at the station,” announced Jenny. “He’s been asking for everything we have on Bill. He mentioned to my boss something about Interpol wanting to finally close their file on the Butcher.”
“Haven’t they already closed it?” I asked.
“Not according to Drake.”
“Fuck.”
Jenny shrugged. “He won’t find anything. I’ve checked everything a hundred times. We tied everything up.”
Who should we fear more? The shadowy Chameleon who was hoping to kill us, or the tenacious Interpol agent who was trying to catch us?
I felt that the younger me might have relished this challenge.
Coming up against two sparring opponents and getting the better of them both.
What a thrill! Adrenaline burning. The race to win.
But old me was just too tired by it all.
It was too much to handle. I felt like I needed to get away from it all. But how to take a holiday from anxiety?
“What about the bodies?” I asked. Drake was sniffing around, and we’d disposed of two corpses in the last two weeks.
“Both dump sites are clear, and neither Clark nor Danny have been reported missing yet. But even when they are, there’s nothing linking us to them.”
“The party is in nine days.” I shook my head. “We don’t have long to work out what exactly we’re walking into.”
Jenny flipped open her notebook. “Benjamin Norwood said he lets an events company run Restore Glory events for him. Unique Events is the company Danny said he was working for, right?”
Haze nodded. “I met him at their offices.”
“Unique Events is registered in the Cayman Islands. I looked through all the paperwork, and there’s no individual named in any of the documentation. It was all done through their lawyers, Backhouse Dunne.”
Haze got to her feet. “What the fuck?”
Jenny looked between us. “What?”
We filled her in on the drama with Bibi and Ted and the icy Diana Morgan.
Jenny chewed on the end of her pen. “Backhouse Dunne is a massive law firm. It’s got a reputation for representing all manner of dodgy clients. I don’t think a woman is engineering your downfall because of a four-year-old’s playground dispute.”
“You haven’t met her!” Haze snorted. “And don’t underestimate what a mother would do for her child. She’s already coming after us through planning permissions.”
“The timing doesn’t fit,” I reminded her. “The Chameleon was already in the country and coming after us to go to Balgray before Punchgate.”
Haze sat back down. “Okay, but I say we destroy her too, for getting us on the council’s radar.”
Jenny patted her hand. “Let’s just get through this Chameleon threat first. Unique Events doesn’t have a website, and they don’t seem to have put on any events other than ones for Restore Glory.”
“Norwood said they approached him and don’t charge anything for their services, as it’s for charity.
” Something in my muddled brain sparked.
Something that seemed to fit. “They’re a shadowy company who organize events for rich criminals to attend.
The Corporation is a shadowy organization who work with criminals. ”
Jenny looked up at me. “They’re one and the same?”
“And that’s why The Chameleon wants us to meet there,” said Haze. “He knows it’s a secure location, as it’s an event that’s been organized by his bosses.”
We were finally getting closer to understanding what lay ahead for us.
Jenny was flicking through her notebook. “The only thing we really know about The Corporation is that they are discreet. They kill people, but quietly. They’re not going to have some big gunfight waiting for you at Balgray.”
“You really think they’re using an events company in London as a cover?” Haze frowned. “There were lots of people at their office. They didn’t look old enough to be part of an international gang.”
Jenny shook her head. “They could be using freelancers to do their bidding without them having any idea of the bigger picture. The staff there are just organizing parties at stately homes. They wouldn’t know who they’re really working for, or how the company is being used.”
Jenny had mentioned previously that The Corporation has been so hard to pin down and track because there was no money trail to follow. Unique Events put on the parties and organized ticket sales. Something clicked. “It’s a perfect front for money laundering.”
Jenny nodded. “There are lots of different ways they can do it if they’re using a charity and criminals are the ones making big donations.”
David and Goliath. That’s what it was starting to feel like. Our little kitchen-table trio up against the might of an international gang.
Jenny looked at her notebook. “Did you see that it’s a masquerade ball? Convenient, considering the clientele.”
I shook my head. “We’re turning up to a party where we can’t see who anyone is; we just know that they’re likely to be linked to a gang that want us dead.”
Haze frowned.
It was good she was taking it seriously.
“What am I going to wear?” she murmured.
Or not.
I was feeling a little light-headed. I started stabbing at the pad Thai as they compared ideas on outfits that “shouted slay” and were also “comfortable enough to slay in.”
I chewed on the noodles. I hadn’t had one of my funny blackouts in days. Maybe they were finally over with?
Haze and Jenny were huddled together, cackling and looking at photos on Jenny’s phone.
Why did I sometimes feel like the third wheel?
Had Haze told Jenny about Clark Dixon? About how I hadn’t been able to finish him?
Had they been laughing together over my impotence?
Was my new weakness something they bonded over, mocking the big man who was now a big flop?
Haze put two spring rolls onto my plate without pausing her conversation with Jenny. She moved the sweet chili sauce toward me, knowing I couldn’t eat them without it.
No, she wouldn’t mock me behind my back. My weakness was her weakness. We were one. If I looked bad, she looked bad.
I might be constantly questioning myself, but I didn’t need to question my wife’s loyalty.
—
I woke up in the middle of the night in a panic about where I was.
It took a moment, but then I realized—it was okay.
I was in bed. I lay back on my pillow before bolting upright again.
Tomorrow was bin day. After coming home to the horrors of hearing that Drake had been here, in our home, I’d been more than a little distracted.
I headed down to the kitchen in my dressing gown and slipped on my loafers by the door.
I wheeled out the trash can from the side of our house and on to our driveway.
It was still dark. Streetlights on. The road quiet and empty.
I heard a noise down by the Campbells’ house.
Was someone there? I stood, staring into the darkness.
What would I do? Give chase in my dressing gown?
It was 1:05 a.m. A teenager could be creeping back to bed. I didn’t have to see everything as a threat. But I felt it. Someone was out there, watching us. Watching the house.
This was what our life choices had resulted in.
We’d tried to have it all, and look what we’d brought to our door.
I couldn’t entertain the thought of giving it all up.
It hadn’t gone so well last time we’d tried.
And we were making a difference. We were doing good things.
I wanted to leave a legacy for my children.
Make my mark on the world by making it a better place.
Yes, it was one I couldn’t ever shout about.
But maybe after Haze and I were dead, we could let them know.
A sealed letter, explaining the good we’d done.
Haze would roll her eyes at me for being “so fucking dramatic,” but I wanted our children to know us, to truly know us.
I just didn’t want that to happen until after we were already gone, in case they felt horror, not pride, at our bloodthirsty past.
It was difficult getting back to sleep.
Drake. Was he on to us?
The Chameleon. Was he coming for us?
Bibi. Had she inherited our violent streak?
Jenny. Was she betraying us?
Clark. Why hadn’t I been able to finish him?
Mike. When was I going to tell Haze?
I lay staring at the ceiling trying to calm my mind. Deep breaths as I started to drift off. I’d made a decision. I might not be able to get answers to all the questions I had racing around my head, but I could at least get a handle on one.
Tomorrow, I would tell Haze about Mike. She would understand that what I’d done had come from a place of love. It was going to be okay. And if it wasn’t? Well, she’d have to forgive me, as we were about to come head to head with the biggest threat we’d ever faced.