It had taken him many years to build a legitimate business empire that made him a lot of money but he could not resist a crooked deal. If H was a thinking mans thug then Hathaway was a businessman's crook. In fact if you could have a legitimate crooked business he would now be on the front page of the Financial Times as a Captain of Industry. But for Hathaway there was no buzz in business. Business made him vast amounts of money and a good lifestyle but no buzz. There was a buzz in robbery, arson, killing, fraud. Thenthere was a buzz. Thenyou got hard. Thenyou stuck it up the back of someone's arse and pulled the trigger…..whoosh.
Metaphorically of course…..
Thinking of the buzz made him stir; he clicked the mouse and looked at another big screen. A woman crouched on the floor and around her were half a dozen men with their cocks out and she was sucking them all. He watched for a while then bent down at his desk and pulled a handkerchief out of a bottom drawer embossed with the letter E. From the same drawer he took an envelope, already addressed, already stamped. He undid his zip, watched the woman on the screen and masturbated; at the last second he placed the handkerchief over his dick and shot into it.
He sat back and relaxed, waiting for his racing pulse to ease then he wiped his dick dry with the handkerchief, carefully folded it and placed it in the envelope ready for posting the next day. He looked up to the screen and watched the men and woman and loathing spread over him and he shut the screen off in disgust.
For some reason he immediately thought of H. Was H going to die? Was he going to live? H may survive death but would he survive life? In a coma, or wheelchair, paralysed or partially paralysed. Speaking gibberish, not speaking at all. What a fucking death on earth! A shudder shook him and he knew he was again visiting a darkness that he had within him.
What was it? Why was it? Who was it?
It had always been there like a raven on his shoulder. A black, ever present, screeching, clawing presence. What are you, you black monstrosity? For a moment a dread descended on him then as swiftly as it arrived it left.
It was late and he was tired and soon he would go to bed but first he wanted to get back to a world he was comfortable in so he decided to make a few thou. He tried to make five or ten thou a night if he had the time. It was easy and tax free so ………? Although he had millions and made millions he could not resist an opportunity to screw somebody. Anybody. Suckers were there to be taken or why else were there suckers?!
He clicked on an icon and a poker site came on line. He clicked on another button and on another monitor a matrix appeared showing all the cards and all the suits in a deck. On the same screen buttons had ‘normal’, ‘override’, ‘random’, ‘choose’ and ‘disconnect’ embedded on them. Hathaway went into the site and put himself down for a £500 buy-in six man Sit and Go. There were four already registered and a sixth quickly followed. Hathaway pursued his usual policy of only playing premium hands and taking a pot here and there. It kept him third or fourth in the chips and that was fine. When the table was down to three he clicked on the button marked ‘override’ and the screen table flickered for just a second then stabilised. He saw the cards.
Everybody's cards……
Of the six thousand chips the leader had just under three thousand and he and the other player around fifteen hundred each.
He had Ac 3c, chip leader who was 100 chips small blind had 4h 9d, the other player, table name pleezefold, had big blind with 200 chips and Kc Qc.
This was ideal.
Hathaway called the big blind, chip leader, Alfie, called and the big blind raised it to three times the big blind.
Hathaway called. Chip leader folded
Hathaway clicked the pointer of the mouse three times on the matrix glowing on the monitor and the flop came Jc, 10c, 9h.
Hathaway grinned. His opponent had a king straight and a possible king flush. He must be pissing himself. What would he do?
Would he go all in now but that could scare Hathaway off or play it slow and then get Hathaway?
There were already 1800 chips in the pot which was half their stack.
Hathaway put in the minimum raise of 200 and waited.
His opponent raised it to 400 which meant he was now completely pot committed. Hathaway went all in and his opponent followed.
Hathaway had a flush draw with a twenty eight percent chance of catching it and his opponent already had a king straight.
Hathaway clicked the mouse and another Ace came on the turn.
Boyo had improved his straight to Ace. Boyo should know that Hathaway's chances had now halved and Boyo would be tasting his money
Hathaway clicked again and a lowly two of clubs showed.
The lowest card in the deck to give him the winning Ace flush hand; dominating the straight! There were times when Hathaway was a touch sadistic. To lose to a lowly two of clubs; how undeniably pissing off-able. The chips moved towards him and his opponent vanished from the screen. Hathaway couldn't resist it so he typed ‘Lucky’ in the chat box. There was no reply.
Down to two and Hathaway pressed ‘normal’ and the hands were dealt.
They now had the same amount of chips each and he had Jc, 9s and his opponent 5s 8h.
Hathaway called the big blind and his aggressive opponent went all in. Hathaway looked at the monitor and saw what the flop was going to deliver was a possible gut shot straight and flush draw to Alfie. Good.
The Turn - the King of Diamonds would not change things but Alfie would get a Five of Clubs on the river, giving him the winning hand.
Hathaway pressed override, clicked on the matrix and the five changed to a 2d.
Hathaway called the all in.
The cards were dealt
and as all the chips moved to him he typed gg.
The reply came Alfie - Fu-ck you Ricoand the screen went blank.
Hathaway, aka Rico, smiled. It was nice to own a chain of bookies that had its own internet poker site…..
Hathaway looked for one more game; it would cover the wife's expenses for the month and then to bed………
H Chapter 57
God visits
In his home in Gerrards Cross just outside London, one of the more expensive areas of England, Luke was getting out of the shower. He had just completed a ten mile run around the streets and lanes and felt good. Ten miles hardly taxed him but it kept him toned, worked his cardio vascular system and gave him some fresh air. He put on a white Egyptian cotton robe and went downstairs. Going to the lounge he heard the front door bell ring so he diverted into the kitchen and looked at the small monitor and saw two women standing there; both appeared to be holding bibles. Morons? Seven day horizontalists? He grinned at his little joke. Just ignore them and they'll go away…….. The bell rang again and he was just about to go back upstairs when he changed his mind. He felt like a bit of company and these idiots would entertain him for a few minutes. He opened the door. ‘Yes?’
‘Good morning sir’ said the attractive auburn haired woman ‘we wonder whether we could talk to you for a few moments about how your life could be better?’
Luke noticed they were both attractive which struck him as unusual. Why would attractive women need God when they could lie on their backs and some idiot would give them everything they wanted?
‘My life is fine at the moment thank you; but yours, how about yours? Could your lives be better?’
Luke wanted a bit of intellectual stimulation. Let's give these two a hard time….
‘Our lives will only be better when we join the Lord in Heaven sir; until then we spend our days talking to people and praying to the Lord to forgive the world for its sins’
Touché
‘What is your name sir?’
He paused for a moment ‘Luke’
‘I am Elaine Luke, and this is Lynne’
‘Do you sin Luke? Would you like the Lords forgiveness?’
‘I do a bit so if he's got a minute get him down and he can sort me out now.’
Th
e ladies smiled. Luke was inwardly embarrassed. It was so lame and no doubt they had heard it before. If this was his intellectual repartee it was time he went back indoors… God one, Luke nil.
‘The Lord has a lot to do Luke but if you want to join us I am sure he would recognise that as a sign that you wanted to travel the road’
‘The road to where exactly?’
‘To salvation Luke. Where you will rejoice in the peace and tranquillity that is the Lords reward for the rejection of sin.’
‘Í think I would find that a little boring’
‘Luke have you never looked at a full moon, the setting sun, a flower glistening with morning dew, a new born lamb and felt His presence? Haven't you Luke? At that point haven't you secretly wished you were at one with God? He who created these things? He who gave you life?’
Luke was beginning to get irritated with these questions. They were too probing. Too personal. Too accurate? Had killing his fellow man become………wrong? It had never occurred to him before……why was it occurring now? He changed from irritation to aggravation.
‘You will have to excuse me now, but I have to get dressed to go out so if you wouldn't mind……’ and he forced a smile with his dismissal.
‘Of course Luke’ said the blonde ‘it was kind of you to give us and the Lord your time’
He nodded as though somehow agreeing that he had given any time at all to a non existent, omnipotent thing that scans trillions of planets across trillions of light years looking for people like him to save. What bollocks! Elaine held out her hand. ‘It was a pleasure to meet you Luke’
He took it and as she squeezed he involuntarily said ‘Ow’ and winced.
She looked surprised ‘Are you all right? Did I hurt you in some way Luke?’
He grinned foolishly ‘There was something sharp in ….er…your hand’
She looked at her hand then looked up apologetically. ‘It's my ring Luke. I broke it and they fixed it but it left a bit of a jagged edge. I am so sorry Luke’
‘It's not a problem at all it, just made me ……jump’
Lynn moved to him to shake his hand.
‘You haven't got a jagged ring as well have you?’ he asked jokingly.
She held up both hands and smiled. No rings of any kind.
‘Thank you again Luke, we have benefited by meeting you’
She shook his hand and they moved away a couple of paces and looked at him. Luke heard one say softly ‘About now….’
‘What………?’ and then his head started to go dizzy.
His survival instincts kicked in but as he tried to get to the door his knees buckled and he keeled over………
H Chapter 58
A nice swim
Lliam drove the Mercedes through Cannes and on down to a less busy Marina and parked by a small cafe. He sat at an empty table basking in the morning sun and ordered a light coffee, hot croissant with fresh butter and settled down to read an imported copy of The Times. A hundred yards away he could see the sleek yachts of the rich and famous and watched the men strut their stuff in their sailor outfits and the women show off their expensively natural melon shaped bosoms.
After a while he went back to the Merc and drove out of the marina, around the bay to a small inlet where he parked with one or two other cars. The glamour of the yachts was a couple of miles away and this was quiet and of no interest. Switching off the ignition he went to the back, took a vivid blue towel out of the boot, then bent down and put the magnetic key holder under the car.
He walked leisurely towards the sea and at the waters edge put down the towel and stripped down to the trunks he had put on before he left home. Wrapping the clothes in the towel he left them at the edge. If someone wanted to nick his clothes best of luck to them but he still went over to the man sitting nearby. Gesturing towards the small bundle he asked ‘Souhaitez-vous l'esprit?’
‘Non probleme’
Lliam waded in to the sea and even though it was warm he still instinctively hesitated for a second as the sea water rose and touched his balls. His arms reached out, he arched his body and dived into the beautiful clear sea, swimming thirty yards under water then surfaced feeling refreshed. Treading water for a couple of minutes he swam strongly out to sea for ten minutes and trod water again.
Water was his second home and the thought that the bottom was several hundred feet below did not bother him. Indeed he would want at his life's end to be buried at sea; to spend his days swimming amongst the fish and the coral on an endless journey following the ocean currents.
A hundred yards away he noticed a beautiful Sunseeker Manhattan 84 yacht with several people on board. They had been watching his easy, powerful swimming style and raised glasses of wine to him in salute. He waved back and smiled. Whilst his job of killing people paid quite well he was not in that bracket. He could certainly afford a decent boat, more than likely a mill or so, but the ongoing costs……..? The crew, the maintenance, the fuel?
Alas…
Some owners must be paying a mill a year in costs alone……… Shit.
His body was relaxing.
He and Luke had just come back from North Korea. Smuggled in from China four weeks earlier their contract was to put a bullet into KIM Jong Il's deputy.
He had no idea why?
He thought it would have been better to stick one into KIM Jong Il but apparently not. The people paying the money knew best….. Four days they trekked through the hot sweaty forests with their contact .Then installed in a house just four hundred yards from one of the palaces where the deputy had his headquarters and from where his cavalcade departed on his numerous tours of the city. They sat there for days, having several opportunities to blow him away but had not been given the go. And then the mission was aborted entirely. Just like that!
So they trekked back to China and a military plane took them to Kenya from where they found their own way home.
What a waste of time….but what a lot of money for it!
Had he been less distractedhe may have seen the bubbles starting to strike the surface around him but when he did it was too late. The divers with the air tanks on their backs came up from the bottom and each held one of his legs and pulled him down……
The yacht turned and slowly moved towards them…….
And the man sitting on the beach walked over, picked up his clothes, walked to the car, found the hidden key and drove off in the Merc.
H Chapter 59
Hbicask
H's recovery began, but in a bizarre way he was not as badly injured as Benny. His brain was unscathed to a large extent and all he needed were surroundings he knew to allow it to reconfigure itself and a bit of a rest. Benny was also healing well but still in some pain which the painkillers were helping to control. They were both extremely lucky as they could, indeed should, both be dead.
They moved to The London Clinic where they were allowed a room together and where they stayed for a further three weeks. H had physio for his unused muscles but was soon doing a million miles a day on an exercise bike in the physio suite. His trusty laptop was delivered hooked into hospital wi fi to play internet poker.
And Benny surreptitiously watched……..for any signs of degradation in his manner which the doctor's said could indicate a relapse or internal bleeding; but she saw nothing except a man who wanted to get back to his life……..
She wondered what life would be like now?
Would it change?
What was happening out there that someone would want to kill James?
Would they try again?
Should they move?
And the baby? Should she tell him about the baby? Tears welled in her eyes…..
When it was obvious they would soon be leaving the hospital Senor Reyes suggested a month or so, or forever if they wanted, in Colombia. James and Benny thanked him but both declined. Their life was here and here was where they were going to get on with it. Senora Reyes arranged for bullet proof glass to be put tem
porarily behind the windows in James apartment!
H Chapter 60
The twins
When Luke woke he saw his brother looking at him; through the bars in the next cage. Luke and Lliam didn't know where they were but they knew it wasn't where they wanted to be. They were both naked, in cages measuring about three foot square by four and a half feet high which were suspended from the ceiling at the end of a large room. In front were several empty chairs. It was a closed, airless room, with bright lights over them, dimmed lights over the chairs and a large clock on the wall in the distance.
‘What is this?’
Lliam shrugged.
‘Any idea where we are?’
He shrugged again ‘It ain't a beach in France I know that for sure’.
The cages were just big enough to sit in but their muscles ached after a few minutes and they had to continually move in that tiny, cramped space to ease them. For hours and hours no one came in the room. There was no food, no water, no sound. They urinated and defecated where they where, trying hard to scrape as much as they could out of the cages as they were sitting or kneeling in it.
After eighteen hours a man came in with a hood over his head and gave them water. They shouted questions at him but he just turned and left. Twelve hours later they were given more water and a morsel of food. Their bodies were racked with pain as their muscles could not move far enough to remove the acids building up in them and they cramped continually.
H When hell is the favourable option Page 21
