Kill or Die

by Samantha Lee Howe

  When she hangs up Subra is grinning like the cat who has not only got the cream but now has access to a lifetime’s supply.

  ‘How perfect. Michael will be in my hands and Annalise will never get hers on him,’ Subra says.

  ‘Who is this Michael? Why did Beech want him in charge?’ Solomon asks.

  ‘Oh, he’s no one important. A child of Beech’s vanity.’ Subra shrugs.

  ‘What do you plan to do with him?’ Solomon says.

  ‘Nothing sinister, my dear boy,’ she says. ‘I know you’re squeamish. But I happen to have access to some information only Beech was supposed to have. You see, I was Beech’s contingency plan. He always suspected Annalise would make a move if he was ever retired. Now, I’m going to take over the Network and Michael Kensington will help me do it.’

  Her boast seems far-fetched and impossible, but Subra’s confidence oozes from her smile. Solomon doesn’t believe that ‘nothing sinister’ will happen. Death follows Subra like a bad smell.

  ‘And what will you do with the Network then?’ Solomon asks, indulging what he thinks is her fantasy.

  ‘That I’ll keep to myself for now,’ Subra says.

  Her phone pings, and Subra sees the location of the drop. Michael Kensington will be waiting for her, alone, at Richmond Park.

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Michael

  ‘When they pick you up and are sure they aren’t followed, I’ll receive a text telling me where to find Beth,’ Ray says.

  ‘And we trust them?’ Neva asks. ‘What if she’s already dead?’

  ‘They sent me a recording showing me she was alive half an hour ago. We are going to have to take a chance that it was genuine. If they kill an MI5 agent, they will be opening themselves up for a whole lot of pain,’ Ray explains.

  ‘Could you tell where she was?’ I ask.

  ‘It looked like a hospital room,’ Ray says. ‘We’re checking all of the local ones to see if she’s turned up. Or at least Leon and Elsa are,’ Ray says.

  I make no response at the mention of Elsa; I’d already surmised that she was working for Ray. One of many field operatives that we usually never get to meet.

  ‘Ready?’ says Ray.

  I nod.

  We leave the safe house. Neva has another motorbike that Ray procured for her. She gets on, puts on her helmet and drives away, leaving me with Ray as previously agreed. She will be at the rendezvous before we get there.

  I get into Ray’s car. He holds out a bottle of water to me, and I take the tracker pill, swallowing it down with a large gulp of water.

  Ray takes out his phone and opens the tracker app. He connects the device to mine and shows me; it’s pulsing and static as we sit in the car unmoving. Then, he stows his phone in his pocket and we pull away.

  All appears to be good.

  I feel a little anxious as we enter Richmond Park and drive to the place arranged. The park is fairly quiet midweek at this time of day, and so we only see a few other cars. Ray drives slowly until he sees a park bench with a red balloon tied to it. This is the spot.

  Ray pulls the car over to the side near the park bench and I get out. He looks at his phone again, checks the tracker is still working, and then he drives away.

  I’m alone by the park bench now. There’s no sign of Neva, yet I’m certain she’s nearby. No matter what, I believe she has me in her sight.

  A black stretch limousine pulls up beside me. The blacked-out window rolls down and I look inside. I see a beautiful and enigmatic woman staring back at me.

  ‘Hello, Michael,’ she says.

  The driver of the limo gets out and opens the door for me.

  ‘Please get in,’ says the woman.

  ‘I wasn’t expecting this,’ I say.

  ‘There’s no reason why you shouldn’t return to us in style,’ Subra says.

  I get inside, forcing myself not to look around for Neva or Ray. As I take a seat opposite her, the chauffeur closes the door behind me.

  She’s not alone. There’s an attractive black guy sitting beside her. He doesn’t make eye contact with me but I recognise him from the photos on Jay Astor’s social media: it’s Solomon Granger. A circumstance that I can use to my own benefit if needed. How fortunate.

  ‘Whom do I have the pleasure of meeting?’ I ask.

  The woman smiles. ‘I’m Subra. Surely Mr Beech mentioned me to you.’

  ‘No. He didn’t tell me anything about anyone. So, if your plan was to get me back to stop me helping MI5, then you’ve wasted your time. I don’t know anything that can help you,’ I explain.

  ‘Of course you don’t,’ Subra says. ‘Can I offer you a drink?’

  She indicates the limo’s bar. There’s a bucket with champagne on ice and a bottle of expensive whisky.

  ‘No,’ I say. ‘Aren’t you going to frisk me?’

  ‘There’s no need,’ Subra says. ‘This whole car is built like a Faraday cage. Nothing can get in and electric pulses can’t get out. So, if they are tracking you, I’m afraid you’ll be cut off from their tracers. And if you’re carrying a weapon, then good. I may need you to use it for me.’

  I frown at her. ‘I thought you were here to collect me for the Network. And to free my colleague. Which you will do now, since you have me.’

  ‘Oh yes. Of course. How careless of me.’ She opens the window, holds out her mobile phone and presses send. She glances at the message. Once it’s away she pulls her hand back inside and then the car begins to move. She rolls the window back up. ‘There, we have our privacy again.’

  ‘Beth?’ I ask.

  ‘Don’t worry, she’ll be free as soon as Ray Martin reaches her. For now, I’d like to talk to you,’ Subra says.

  ‘I’m listening,’ I say.

  ‘Mr Beech wanted you to take over from him,’ Subra says. ‘I’m of a mind to make that still happen.’

  Subra outlines her plan to me. ‘No one will stop you walking in and taking over. They’ll welcome it. It is, after all, your birthright. And I’d second your move. They all hate Annalise.’

  ‘Sounds too easy,’ I say. ‘What’s the catch?’

  ‘You’d have to kill her. She won’t go down without a fight.’

  I sit back in the car. A million thoughts are running through my head. The thought of owning the Network is suddenly appealing. Yes, the other side of me, the Michael that Beech groomed, knows that everything of his should be mine. I try to push this urgent greed back down. That’s not me at all. Is Subra doing something to trigger me?

  ‘Take your inheritance,’ Subra says. ‘No one deserves it more.’

  I see Granger turn his head to look at Subra. I focus on him. Remember what I need to tell him. Angela… She’s … dead … the child. But even though I have the opportunity I don’t say the words. I don’t turn him on Subra. Instead, I sit and stare, unable to do anything else.

  Subra’s lips move but it is as if my head is under water. I can’t hear what she’s saying. I feel my mouth moving too now. I’m telling her about the tracker inside me, about Neva being on our tail, and Ray’s plan to send in the cavalry once she takes me to their safe house. It’s as though my private thoughts can’t help but tumble out. I try to focus on Granger. He can help me; I just need to say out loud the other things I know. It will break her hold. It has to.

  ‘So you’ll do it?’ Subra says. ‘You kill her, or you die, Michael. There will be only one opportunity. And believe me she’s strong and devious. She may even suspect me of duplicity.’

  I can feel the purr of the engine as the limo continues to drive away from the park.

  ‘Don’t worry about the tracker. I have something that will permanently disrupt it,’ she says. ‘And Neva can follow on, we’ll have need of her too.’

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Solomon

  The limo pulls into an underground car park and Solomon watches as Michael follows Subra’s instructions. Solomon is mesmerised by this process as she takes control of Michael
.

  In some form of hypnosis, Michael follows Subra from the vehicle. Solomon gets out too. He feels invisible, and surreal, as though he’s left his body and is just a spectral observer of Subra’s machinations.

  ‘Search him,’ Subra says, looking at Solomon.

  Disconcerted, Solomon pats down Michael’s coat and finds a mobile phone. He drops it into the back of the limo. He finds Michael’s Glock in the holster under his jacket.

  ‘Take it out for now,’ Subra says.

  ‘What about this tracker?’ Solomon asks but Subra ignores him.

  ‘Get in,’ she says to Michael pointing to a white SUV that’s parked on the left. Michael walks over, opens the back door and gets in. He sits on the back seat, quiet and passive. Solomon can’t understand how Subra is making him do it. He feels uncomfortable about the whole thing but doesn’t object. He wonders if she’s done this sort of thing to him in the past. Is that why she can make me do anything?

  But no, Solomon knows she hasn’t hypnotised him. Seduced, persuaded, coerced with her vibrant lifestyle, she did all that. Even so, he was just as much a puppet to her as Michael is now.

  Subra approaches the car and Solomon sees the Taser in her hand seconds before it shoots into Michael. Michael jerks but makes no sound. Subra tases him until he slumps.

  ‘You had him under your control, was that really necessary?’ Solomon asks. He feels sick. Her methods have never made him happy and he can’t help speaking out.

  ‘It was necessary to disrupt his ingested tracker,’ Subra says. ‘You drive.’

  She hands Solomon the keys and then Subra gets in the back of the car with Michael. The limo pulls away and leaves the car park, turning right onto the main road.

  ‘Go,’ says Subra.

  Solomon turns the ignition and pulls the car out of the parking lot.

  ‘Left,’ she says.

  ‘Where next?’ Solomon says.

  ‘Annalise has checked into the Tower Bridge Hotel. We’re going there.’

  As Michael remains unconscious, Subra places a different gun in the holster under his jacket.

  ‘When we get in, we’ll say we searched him. Hand over his Glock when we arrive,’ says Subra.

  ‘But if they search him again?’

  ‘They won’t,’ Subra says. ‘Annalise will take my word for it even if she’s wary. She knows I won’t leave a weapon in the hands of a dangerous enemy.’

  Solomon is not sure if he really wants to meet this Annalise in person, Subra is bad enough. But from what he’s heard Annalise is even more deadly.

  ‘He doesn’t look very dangerous to me right now. What did you do to him?’ Solomon says. ‘He just started taking orders―’

  ‘I spoke his trigger words,’ she says. ‘He’ll do anything I want now.’

  Solomon tries to work out what the words where that Subra used. She’d been spouting some philosophical line about how the world needed masters, then there were the strange words she’d said. They sounded … Latin, maybe. He wasn’t sure because he couldn’t remember the words or the order they fell in and he’s never been good with languages.

  ‘Take the next right,’ Subra says.

  Solomon turns the car down the next street. They’ve circled around the block and are now heading in the direction of Tower Bridge.

  Solomon glances in the rear-view mirror and sees Subra looking out of the back.

  ‘Are we being followed?’ he asks.

  ‘Undoubtedly,’ Subra says. ‘But we won’t see her even so.’

  At that moment a motorbike pulls up behind them.

  ‘Maybe I was wrong,’ Subra says.

  ‘That’s her?’ Solomon asks.

  Subra doesn’t answer. The bike overtakes them and Solomon can see that it’s not a woman but a slender man on the bike.

  The rider takes the next turning and zooms away.

  Solomon tries to focus on the road as they approach the hotel. They pull up in front of the door and then Subra begins to smack Michael on the cheek. He rouses. She whispers something to him again. He sits up straight: back under her control.

  ‘What about the car?’ Solomon says.

  ‘Leave it here, we won’t need it again,’ she says.

  Solomon follows Subra and Michael as they walk through the hotel reception. Subra goes straight to the lift and presses the call button. As they wait for the lift Solomon looks around. Wracked with guilt, he’s self-conscious and paranoid.

  Over by the reception desk a man in a black suit watches them. Solomon tries not to stare at him but the man is overly curious about them. He’s about to mention this to Subra when the lift arrives.

  ‘Get in,’ Subra says and both Michael and Solomon obey as if they are equally under her influence.

  Solomon turns and looks out on the reception. The man in the black suit is no longer standing by the desk. Solomon feels a prickle of anxiety as the lift ascends to the top floor. He doesn’t know whether it was the man in reception that concerns him, or the thought of meeting Annalise for the first time. He fears she is far more dangerous than Subra.

  He hates not knowing Subra’s full plan. Will she really tell Michael to kill Annalise? Solomon doesn’t want any part of this, but is unable to object. Since his return to her, he has grown increasingly anxious, afraid to be himself, and all because he knows deep down that she may kill him too on a whim.

  There are two black-suited men waiting in the corridor as they arrive. Solomon is sure that one of them was the man from downstairs. Though he must have run up the stairs to be here as they arrived, he isn’t out of breath and there isn’t even a bead of perspiration on his brow.

  ‘She’s expecting you,’ says one of the men and Subra smiles, confident and relaxed.

  Solomon has seen Subra like this before. She is still and calm, but underneath coiled and ready for a fight. She is at her most lethal right now.

  She passes the two bodyguards without acknowledging them and leads the way down the corridor, stopping at a door in the middle. The door opens, and Subra and Solomon top and tail Michael as the three of them enter.

  The door opens up into a glorious sitting area. There are two plush sofas, a wide-screen television, a bar/kitchen area and a dining table with shiny black granite placemats laid out as though guests are expected for dinner.

  ‘Sit there,’ says one of the bodyguards.

  The other one goes outside and closes the door behind him.

  Solomon takes his lead from Subra and the three of them sit down on a plush velvet sofa. Michael says nothing.

  ‘He’s unarmed, and in my control,’ she says to the guard

  The guard takes the Glock as Solomon holds it out.

  ‘And how is he so placid?’ Annalise asks as she comes out of the bedroom.

  She’s wearing a red silk kaftan, and Solomon admires her ageless beauty and the glorious platinum hair that tumbles down over her shoulders. Other than Subra, he has never seen such mature perfection. She walks towards them with the grace of a dancer. Holding his breath, Solomon finds himself staring at her.

  ‘Subra,’ Annalise says. ‘How wonderful to finally meet you in person. Only you are my equal in seductive talent.’

  Subra takes Annalise’s offered hand. They shake formally.

  ‘So, this is Michael, and he’s in your thrall,’ Annalise says.

  She ignores Solomon and his attentive gaze while she studies Michael’s passive expression.

  ‘I have complete control over him,’ Subra says.

  ‘A neat trick, one born from the school of Mr Beech, no doubt.’ Annalise smiles. ‘Fascinating. I always wondered who Beech used as a surrogate to carry Michael. It was you, wasn’t it?’

  Subra says nothing, though Solomon digests this information – was Michael her son?

  ‘He came to me, but I said no,’ continues Annalise. ‘I felt no desire to be restricted by pregnancy. Kritta was the other one, I believe. I knew that, just not which child she bore.’

&n
bsp; ‘We went through it together and gave birth on the same day,’ Subra says. ‘Mr Beech was eternally grateful to us both. And so he gave me the means to activate Michael, should I need it.’

  It is Annalise’s turn to wear a cold twitch of a smile.

  ‘And this is Solomon. Your little toy,’ Annalise says, turning to him.

  ‘I’m no one’s toy,’ Solomon says.

  ‘Be quiet, boy,’ Subra says.

  Solomon bristles at being called a ‘boy’. He’s tense and overwrought and is struggling to hide it.

  Subra whispers something under her breath. Michael stands. He reaches into his jacket, removes the gun she put in his holster earlier, and shoots the guard between the eyes before he can react.

  Annalise leaps back as Michael turns on her.

  ‘The committee will kill you for this,’ Annalise says.

  ‘They will applaud me,’ says Subra. ‘Did you really think any of us would want an upstart in charge? Kill her.’

  The gun levels on Annalise but as she looks down the barrel, she sees the hand holding it now trembling. Michael is fighting the kill order. Annalise narrows her eyes and a look of curiosity gives way to something else that Solomon can’t fathom.

  ‘Kill her!’ shouts Subra.

  Annalise uses Michael’s hesitation to dive into the bedroom. She slams and locks the door behind her.

  ‘Go after her,’ Subra yells. ‘Don’t fail me!’

  Michael doesn’t give chase and Subra tries to take the gun from his hands. She wrestles it free from his fingers and turns it on him.

  ‘Killed … Angela … Subra…’ Michael says.

  ‘What’s he saying?’ says Solomon.

  ‘Angela … child … born … killed…’

  ‘Shut up,’ says Subra. ‘Or I’ll blow your fucking brains out. You’re only useful to me if I own you.’

  She points the gun at Michael’s head.

  Solomon’s mind is a whirlwind of anxiety. His eyes dart from the dead guard to Subra and then to Michael. Michael knows something about Angela!

  ‘What about Angela?’ Solomon asks now. ‘Where is she?’