Dealing in Death: A Death and the Devil Extended Novella

by L. J. Hayward

  Dejana went to the railing and looked out at the view. I maintained optimum distance. Around us, people came and went, none of them sparking my instincts.

  Finally, Owen arrived. He was wearing jeans, football jersey, peak cap and sunglasses, but his body language screamed nervous tension. He gave a startled jerk when he saw me and skipped a couple of steps to the side to give me a wide berth.

  “I said, no one else,” Owen hissed when he reached Dejana, unintentionally loud by the way he then whipped around, looking for anyone who might have heard him.

  “I think he’s proved his worth,” was Dejana’s bland response before continuing in a much quieter voice. Her tone and words caught the young politician’s attention and he focused his jumpy attention on her.

  I stepped back another couple of paces, having absolutely no interest in whatever it was they were negotiating. From body language alone I knew it was something Dejana had that the man wanted, badly. And, eventually, it was something he got when Dejana dipped into a pocket and produced a data stick. He immediately snatched for it, but she held back, negotiating more. Nodding frantically, Owen pulled a phone out and made a hasty call. After a minute, he handed it over to Dejana, she spoke for a moment, then returned the phone. She then checked one of her own devices and, seemingly satisfied, offered him the stick.

  As this was happening, I was aware of people coming and going from the lookout—and then only going. By the time the man had the data stick in his hand, we were the only ones there.

  I was moving before a loud voice announced, “Australian Federal Police! Get down, get down!”

  Dejana and Owen spun around. His mouth was open in shock as black-clad police appeared from the trees on both sides of the pathway. Dejana had no time to show a reaction because I caught her in a sweep of my arms and threw us both over the railing.

  I rolled so I was on my back, Dejana on my chest. Spikey bushes broke our fall, though the hard rock underneath wasn’t a pleasant aftermath. The AFP team advanced, yelling for us to stop and for Owen to get down. I didn’t bother listening, instead tumbling again, taking us over the next little drop into the thicker vegetation below the rocky outcropping of the lookout. Dejana was thankfully silent except for involuntary gasps and yelps as the branches and bushes gave way under us in a staggering fall. Seconds later, we collected up against the trunk of a tree, solid ground beneath us.

  A precautionary hand over Dejana’s mouth, I listened. The AFP team was securing a now very vocal and indignant politician while the leader organised several of his officers to come after us. I doubted they would take the same, direct, route down, so we had a few moments to get further away.

  Apart from a few spots that would bruise, I’d survived the tumble well enough, as had Dejana. As quickly and quietly as I could, I led her further downward, heading towards the water. We came across a walking trail and followed it, but back in the trees. Sure enough, two AFP officers appeared not long later, moving swiftly but alert and checking the trees on either side of the track. Dejana and I flattened ourselves in the undergrowth until they were well gone. We were making our cautious way back towards civilisation when my implant pinged with a message from Nine.

  Finally in Sydney.

  Making sure we were secure, I stopped and called my sister.

  “The navy is getting to be a real—”

  “Where are you?” I cut off her opening diatribe. “I could use some help.”

  Her sigh was equal parts pained and resigned. “Already? You’re hopeless. I’m heading towards the bridge. Where are you?”

  I gave her a rapid report and she said she would get back in touch when she was closer. Dejana watched me the entire time, probably suspicious of my silence. I’d be very surprised if she was unaware of the existence of the neural implants, so I simply told her help was on the way and kept us moving.

  We had another couple of close encounters with the AFP but eventually made it back to the edge of the bushland. When Nine got in touch, I sent her our coordinates and a minute later, she roared up on a white Suzuki.

  “The things I do for you,” she muttered as I handed over the keys for the Monaro.

  I didn’t bother reminding her of all the things I’d done for her. She knew very well the secrets I kept on her behalf. Still, she popped an obnoxious wheely as she took off.

  “Is she like you?” Dejana asked when we were alone again.

  I didn’t answer and she just chuckled.

  It was close to half an hour later before the yellow car cruised by and pulled into the driveway of a house across the street. Dejana and I strolled out of the trees and calmly got in. Nine had moved into the backseat, leaving me to drive. Which was preferable for both of us.

  No one spoke as I took a very circuitous way back to the bus stop where I’d picked up Dejana.

  “Thank you,” she said when I pulled over.

  “How much longer do you expect me to be at your beck and call?”

  Dejana shrugged. “Depends on the fallout from today. I’ll have another transaction completed by tomorrow.” Then she got out and, straightening her torn jacket, walked away.

  “She’s blackmailing you?” Nine demanded as she scrambled over from the backseat.

  Dodging an errant foot, I said, “Not exactly.” I didn’t want Nine to know what Dejana had promised me. If Zero asked her, she would tell him.

  Nine snorted. “Sure sounded like it to me. She a facilitator?”

  “And accountant.” I slid the car back into the flow of traffic.

  Eyebrows arched almost into her hairline, Nine said, “Accountant? You really are serious about going legit.”

  “I am.”

  That shut Nine up for a while. Then she told me where to go so she could pick up another bike. Once she was astride a red Suzuki, I gave her the address of the garage complex and she beat me there.

  “Bit smaller than the last place,” she observed when I opened the door and let her in.

  “Suits my needs. I’m not living here this time.”

  She screwed her face up. “And how is married life?”

  I threw a spare bolt at her. Nine dodged it without even looking.

  “Have you offered yourself up to our psycho brother since we last talked?”

  Resigned to her taunts, I told Nine everything about my interactions with Two and my estimation of why he was here. Nine peppered my report with her opinions, about him and me both, but at the end, she shook her head.

  “You don’t really think he’s gone, do you?”

  “I haven’t heard from him in over a week.”

  Nine laughed. “So? Like that prick ever kept a promise.” Then she got serious. “Look, either way, why would he care enough about your spy to set up such an elaborate scheme?”

  “Because it’s me he really wants to hurt.”

  “Bingo. I don’t think the trap is for Loverboy at all.”

  “Then who? The profiler?”

  With a loud groan, Nine stalked over and slapped the back of my head, calling me a few choice names in Afrikaans as she did so. “The trap’s for you, and you’ve walked right into it.”

  Nine roared off on her new bike not long later, determined to find Two and “get answers.” I wished her luck but also hoped he was already out of the country. When I got back to the penthouse, I took a long, hot shower and worked out the kinks caused by the tumble from the lookout. I’d have several new bruises by morning that I would have to somehow keep hidden from Jack. He wouldn’t accept more excuses now the penthouse was finished.

  Added to that worry was the one Nine had seeded.

  If she was right and the trap was set for me, then Two had missed his mark. I knew Jack wasn’t cheating on me. The road had been rocky, but we’d made it through all the curves and chicanes Two had thrown in our way. Jack and I were together and it would take more than a temptation from the past to break us up now.

  Jack came in as I was running through a tai chi routine to help ke
ep my abused muscles from tightening up. He joined me, not saying a word that I wore a T-shirt instead of going bare chested. We moved together in quiet synchronicity, exchanging small smiles when our gazes met. At the end, Jack caught me around the waist and kissed my neck and cheeks noisily, before all but dropping me and heading for the bathroom.

  Washed and changed into jeans, he joined me at the dining table, making lip smacking sounds when I served up a simple dinner of rice and fish.

  “I hope it’s all right.” I sat opposite and poked at the salmon. It was my first attempt at cooking the Spanish rice.

  “It’s brilliant.” He hadn’t even had a bite yet.

  Amused, I muttered, “You must have had a hard day.”

  Swallowing his first mouthful with a swig of beer, Jack said, “Yeah. Things got official again today. The Judge killed another person last night.”

  No. Two had promised he wouldn’t kill as the Judge again. “He did?”

  “Woman. Twenty-three years old. He broke into her home and, God, he’s just a sick fuck. The only good thing is it’s made them start up Infinity again, and hopefully this time, they’ll catch him. Hopefully in the crossfire.”

  “This wasn’t supposed to happen.” It was out before I could stop it.

  “What?”

  Jack’s incredulous tone dashed my hopes he hadn’t heard and I met his gaze for a moment. It was as if all the good things of the past twenty-four hours had never happened. We were right back to Jack being confused and angry, and all my lies were about to be exposed.

  Two had broken his promise and I shouldn’t have felt so betrayed by that, but I was for some unfathomable reason. Betrayed and devastated because I’d just fallen directly into Two’s trap.

  I stood and walked away.

  “What did you say?” Jack demanded.

  Locking everything down was automatic. I couldn’t let Jack know about Two. He would only charge out into danger, looking for him, and that was a meeting that wouldn’t end in Jack’s favour. I wouldn’t let Two get Jack.

  “Do you know something? Ethan? What the hell did you say?”

  “Nothing, Jack. It wasn’t important. Just a random thought.” If he believed it, perhaps I could as well.

  “Don’t lie to me, Ethan.”

  “Then I won’t.” Everything inside me hurt, like the fall had been a hundred times longer, the impact a thousand times harder.

  Jack’s persistence lasted longer than usual. He ranted at me for nearly half an hour but I was sealed away behind enough locks nothing got through. Until he said, “For fuck’s sake, Ethan! This psycho is killing innocent people.”

  It was as if those reassurances Jack had given that the Judge and I weren’t the same in his eyes had never happened. Doors opened and pain and fear leaked out. “Like I do, Jack?”

  “Not anymore, right?” The doubt that turned the words into a question was blatant in his tone.

  “Not anymore,” I whispered even as I thought of the man I’d shot for Dejana. All I’d known about him was that he’d been reaching for a weapon. I didn’t know why he’d been there, or who he’d been. There hadn’t been time to find out, not with Two right beside me. There had been no choice.

  Maybe I was just a murderer.

  “Jesus Christ. I’m talking to an assassin about a serial killer. No wonder I don’t understand what the hell you’re saying.”

  It hurt like he’d stabbed me in the gut.

  “Just tell me what you know, Blade. Or I walk out and don’t come back.”

  Blade. Jack hadn’t called me that seriously in so long it was like a slash across my heart. He was right, we were just knives waiting to cut anyone who got too close. Seemed neither of us had yet learned how not to hurt the other. But this was my fault. I’d been lying right from the start. If I’d just had the courage to tell Jack how I’d been feeling, then perhaps Two wouldn’t have manoeuvred me exactly where he wanted me.

  “Fine. I don’t think I’ve left anything here. See you round, Blade.”

  I’d ruined everything and Jack was walking away, perhaps for the last time.

  Two had to pay for what he’d done and since I’d proven I was incapable of stopping him, it was time for the Office to have a go.

  “Look at them separately.”

  Jack turned slowly. “Pardon?”

  Everything about my past that I’d wanted to keep as far away from Jack as possible crowded up against my back. “The victims. Look at them as two groups, not one.” Unable to see anymore betrayal in his eyes, I let the mounting pressure of all those secrets and lies push me into the bedroom.

  Jack and his fellow assets would work through the hint in no time and then the life I’d come to want so badly, to need with every fibre of my being, would be ripped away.

  Just as Two had planned.

  The steel security door was too heavy to truly slam, but Jack managed to close it with enough force I heard it in the bedroom. Even through the wild clamouring in my head. Even as it felt like my chest was cleaving in two.

  I sank into a crouch, curling over my vulnerable spot, forehead to my knees.

  Two had killed again as the Judge. He’d promised me he wouldn’t, that he would leave Sydney and not bother me, or come after Jack, again.

  I was a fool. A complete and utter fool.

  I’d believed it to be the truth when I told Jack I’d quit dealing in death, but apparently the lying had started all the way back then. Stupidly, I hadn’t realised how wrong I’d been and hadn’t planned for anything that followed, and this was what it came to.

  Me, here, unable to find order in the chaotic emotions, and Jack furious with me for lying to him, repeatedly. It didn’t matter that I’d done it to protect him. He had every right to be angry.

  Just twenty-four hours ago, everything had been perfect. Jack and I had been here, in this room. He had done more than give me a blowjob. He’d ravished me. Worshipped me. Devoured me. Every inch of my skin had been stroked, kissed, nuzzled and licked until I’d been a quivering mess.

  That sort of affection survived arguments.

  But could it survive everything that was going to be exposed when Jack worked out just how I’d lied to him? Would it survive him knowing about my past?

  Would it survive Two’s efforts to destroy it?

  Even if it couldn’t, it didn’t change what I had to do now—make sure Jack survived whatever else Two may have planned.

  Purpose anchored me. All the bleeding emotions could be locked away while I had a target to aim for.

  The new injuries from that day made themselves known when I straightened up. I’d been curled over so long the strained and bruised muscles had stiffened. I was working them loose when my implant pinged.

  Hoping it was Nine with new information, I tapped the message and instantly knew it wasn’t from my sister.

  A video taken with an implant played, showing the interior of a stairwell. White walls, plain metal railing, and carpet on the steps. The footage was from Two’s perspective—it couldn’t be anyone else—who was walking with his head down, focused on the blue, red and yellow diamond pattern. A second set of footsteps came over the audio, fast and angry. The image shifted as Two turned his head away from the other man, but I caught a glimpse of his arm as they passed—red flannel sleeve and brown hand.

  Jack.

  My heart gave a single hard thump but I ruthlessly clamped down on the reactive fear.

  The men passed each other without pause but when Two was on the next level down, he stopped and spoke.

  “He told me about you.”

  Jack’s footsteps halted and after a long moment, he said, “He told me about you, too.” His tone was terse, the one he used when he really didn’t want to engage.

  I sucked in a sharp-edged breath. Jack knew Two?

  “Do you want to know what he said about you? He said you’re the only one who’s ever made him happy.”

  I stopped breathing altogether. My words, in T
wo’s mouth, and Jack couldn’t know who Two was talking about.

  “Sorry you had to hear that. See you round, Constable.”

  Constable?

  Ice crystallised in my heart. Two had been much, much closer to Jack this entire time than I’d even suspected. Spying on him from within the police strike force. Manipulating Jack and Quinn for his own amusement. Undoubtedly tampering with evidence to keep them from linking him to the killer, as well.

  Two had told me he’d taken a leaf from my book and planned the job out in detail. It just hadn’t been the job he’d been sent to do.

  The video was still playing while I realised how badly I’d misjudged Two, so I started it over and watched the rest.

  “See you round, Constable,” Jack said again.

  “Are you going up there to fuck Adam?”

  “What the hell? Where do you get off asking that? You kicked him aside, so it’s none of your business.”

  Two had apparently gotten very close to the profiler.

  “You already have a boyfriend.” Two’s voice dropped to a gravelly growl. “Are you a cheater, Jack?”

  “Yeah. I’m going up there to make him happy. Good night, Constable.” Jack’s even angrier footsteps receded from the audio.

  After a moment, Two continued on and I followed his process down the stairs, through a foyer and onto the street, where he turned and gave me a sterling view of the hotel where Quinn was staying.

  It took me under fifteen minutes to reach the hotel. I knew I was possibly walking into a sight that may destroy me, but I had to do what I could to make sure Jack was safe.

  The door to Quinn’s room opened as I came out of the stairwell. Jack stepped out, his back to me, but stopped when Quinn spoke from within the room.

  “I’m sorry, Nishant. I haven’t had a great evening, in case you couldn’t tell. Stay. Tell me what happened, and I’ll try to be sympathetic.”

  His voice, so earnest and pleading, stopped me in my tracks. I didn’t like that Quinn seemed so honest. Tired and honest. And I hated that it made Jack turn around and go back in. I stalked forwards, determined to stop whatever was going to happen in that room.