It was the morning after the night before and Jacqui hadn’t managed to get a wink of sleep at all. Her mind was still focused on how they had Dianne right in their sights, hell in their place of business and yet she just waltzed out of the door without a care in the world and they had been too slow to realise it was her before she departed for god knows where. They hadn’t even told Spence yet and that would no doubt be a fun occasion. From what Katy had told her, Spence was pretty ripped for someone at least in his 40’s but taking him lightly because he was old would be a very stupid, poorly made decision. Something about him wasn’t right but they couldn’t quite put their finger on it and the last thing they wanted to do was cross someone that could be dangerous or volatile without even the slightest idea.

Katy had also not slept through the night but she had been planning how exactly they would track down Dianne because she was a perfectionist and failed to accept that last night had happened at all. I suppose you could say that was Katy’s only fault, she would work herself to the bone just to get it right. Deadlines may be late but at least it’d be done right and more often than not, people liked a job done properly, not abandoned half-assed because the time to finish the job had expired. Her cell phone beeped away to tell her she’d been messaged and finally she realised why Jacqui constantly tried to change the tone. At 7am on a Sunday morning the last think she wanted to hear was ‘We’re Men… We’re Men In Tights… We Roam Around The Forest Looking For Fights!!!’

“Will you turn that god-damned thing off? It’s 7 in the morning Katy and considering how we ended last night, I’m not in the mood for that kind of shit bursting through the apartment,” yelled Jacqui from her room across the hall.

“Oh shut up J.J. You know, the more you complain the less likely I am to turn it off. So how about you pipe down in there and get some shut eye huh? Unless you can come up with any plan to get the girl back of course… what’s that? Silence I hear? Thought so…” replied Katy in an acid tone. This was one of the many times that she wondered whether them living together was such a good idea after all. Sure they knew too much about each other in terms of private life and social life, but at the same time a girl needs her space and well, there were times that she really desired having her own thing for once.

The landline bleeped into life but neither of the girls could be bothered getting up to answer at this time of day, so they let the answering machine pick it up. There was quite a bit of silence after the customary beep to signal when to leave your phone message, and this disturbed them a little. It must have been a full 2 minutes that the machine had beeped to start recording and it still hadn’t beeped to click off. Jacqui rose from her bed and walked to the phone stand to see that it was indeed still recording and the caller hadn’t ended the call. Curious, she picked up the handset.

“Hello? Look I don’t know who this is but the point of staying on the line when the machine beeps is to leave a message, not to hang around like a creepy stalker. If you’re not going to leave a message then clear the damned line”.

“Ah so you are capable of answering the phone Miss Fleisch. Glad to hear that you’re alive, awake and well this morning. Tell me, how did last night go? I presume that you have some positive news for me,” said the voice on the other end of the phone.

“Well… I never thought I’d be hearing from you again Big Red, especially since you and Katy finally became even last night. What can we do for you?” asked Jacqui with a smile.

“Let’s just say I have some information that may be of use to you, but it is worth a lot more than you’ve ever put on the table. Sound interesting enough?” he said in a soft and calming tone.

“I’m listening,” said Katy from her bedroom where she had picked up her table-side phone. “You said last night that we’d be quits when you helped us out. What’s changed?”

“Damn it Katy, you always have to do the negotiating with clients, can’t you let me take the reigns once in a while?” barked Jacqui loud enough that she could hear her own voice in the other room with a booming, crystal clear echo.

“Girls, girls, girls… don’t fight, there are plenty of deals going around and I’m sure we can come to an amicable agreement,” laughed Big Red.

“I’m glad you think this is funny, because I sure as hell don’t and Jacqui, you need to grow up. The reason I deal with the negotiations is because I am the one that ends up doing all the leg work. Now, what’s this proposition you have?” replied Katy who was getting increasingly pissed off with the whole situation.

“I know you’re working for Sebastian Spence and that’s why you wanted information on him. Don’t ask me how I know but trust me when I say I know you are and that I’m not happy about it. You two need some money and I can offer you double what he’s paying you… but it means you would need to continue working for him and reporting everything that you do; everything he says and does; back to me. What I have at stake is of no concern to you but understand this, my goal must be achieved under any means necessary”.

“You want us to double cross one of the most dangerous men we’ve ever worked for Red, but you'll need to give us a pretty spectacular reason why this job for you takes precedence over the job for him. We’re hired guns sure, but we’re also not going to put ourselves in a position like back in the States,” replied Katy. “We’re old friends and I respect you so level with me. What’s in it for you?”

“Okay, you want me to play my cards Katy. Fine I will but from now on, you cut the macho bullshit and we speak to each other like proper human beings. Agreed?” asked Big Red. The silence that filled the call for a minute gave him the satisfaction to know he had their attention. “Dianne Gabriel is not the only person that Spence has his beady little eyes on. He may have told you girls that she is his main target but in actual fact, there’s someone else that he wants even more than that. A kid about her age named James Valentine. Spence had a rival in his younger years, Zander Valentine, if you don’t know who he is then Google him. Spence was recently teaching James at high-school and, after an altercation with said student, got himself fired. He wants revenge, and so how better a way to hurt the man that embarrassed him as a youth, than to take his son hostage. However, that’s just the half of the tale because what he plans on doing with the kid is giving him electro-shock treatment and turning him into a lifeless, soulless mercenary for The Polyamourous Group’s underground army. Don’t ask me how I know this but let’s just say you’re not the only one who has hidden contacts. I can’t let Spence get away with this for one important reason…”

“This James guy is your kid or something right Big Red? I mean there’s bound to be a reason why you’re telling us about Spence’s big plan when it doesn’t concern us” queried Jacqui before he could finish.

“… Yes, he’s my son… but that’s not the point... Look, my son needs protection and unfortunately I don’t have the resources any more to put a security team on him. However I know that you two can be trusted, hence why I’m coming to you for help”.

Katy walked through from the bedroom into the lounge and looked at Jacqui, mouthing “What do we do now?” with a hand over the mouthpiece. They had been in difficult positions before but this was different because not only would they have to commit a double cross, they would also be solely responsible for the life of Big Red’s kid… provided that they took the job on board.

“You know where to find us Red, so head on down here and we’ll talk properly about this. I know this must be tough for you but don’t worry, the kid will be fine because we’ll be keeping an eye on him,” said Jacqui.

“How can we do this to Big Red? We’ve just promised him we would take care of his kid and yet we’re supposed to bring him in for Spence?” asked Jacqui as the girls sat in the lounge trying to come to terms with what was now going to become the most difficult job they had ever taken on.

“I haven’t got the faintest idea at the moment, but either way someone is going to get pissed off at us and right now I’m not sure who I’m more concerned about that being. Big Red has done many favours for us in the past and has always looked after us. On the other hand, Spence is offering big money for some reason to bring this kid in and it’s not the kind of money we can turn down” replied Katy as she stared into her mug of fruit tea, smelling the berries as the steam rose up past her face. “Big Red told us to Google his proper name, Zander Valentine, so that we could find out exactly who he is. From the way he explained things, Spence has some personal beef with him and is taking it out on the kid, so if we can find out what the animosity was between them without asking Spence or Big Red directly, we might be able to find out which of the two would be the lesser evil… Crossing the man who wants to give us a permanent contract; or crossing the man that has looked after us since we started our new lives out here…”

“Spence claims that he’s seen our faces in some sort of underground wanted poster right? He knew our old names and even spoke of The Don as though those two were the best of friends. That frightens me, but then again, after what Big Red has told us, not everything Spence says can be trusted,” Katy said as she opened up her laptop and connected to the internet. “Big Red also told us to look him up on the internet under his proper name, Zander Valentine. Well with the position we’re in, couldn’t hurt to find out who he really is right?”

J.J shrugged her shoulders and made her way to the kitchen and put the kettle on. They were clearly awake now and if that was how fate had intended it, then she’d start the day with a cup of Earl Grey and some French toast, Katy opting for a bacon roll and a coffee. By the time the kettle had boiled, the toast had popped and she eventually made her way through to the lounge with their breakfast, Katy had already managed to bring up a few different sites with information about Zander; a fan-hosted site (why a TV hotshot needed a fan-site, who knew?); a biography page in one of those know-it-all sites, and his own personal webpage. As they ate and drank and conversed about the findings, it was clear to them that the decision they inevitably had to make, would be the hardest of their lives so far. Valentine Sr. was a very powerful man and had very powerful and influential friends worldwide, ranging from chairmen of multi-national conglomerates’ to (perhaps his most influential friend), Former President of The United States Anthony Moore. One thing was for certain, regardless of who they sided with, things were about to get a lot more interesting.

He couldn’t believe how easy it had been to convince them to aid him in the search for James. Sure it was going to be a little harder to try and convince his superiors that another test subject was required for the project, but hadn’t they been the ones bemoaning the lack of progress over the last few months? The two targets, Dianne Gabriel and James Valentine would be treated slightly better than the rest of the cretins that would be picked up from the streets and alleyways around Dundee. Despite the compound being 5 miles underneath the River Tay, the facility was comprised of a state of the art military training facility; 5-star restaurant complete with multiple Michelin star chefs; a shopping centre featuring top-end clothing boutiques, jewellers and (in Spence’s mind) other un-necessary distractions for the hard working employees of The Polyamourous Group.

As part of their contracts and the nature of the work being carried out down there, all employees were allowed 4 days a month maximum on the surface. Contractors, delivery companies, stockists had to sign a confidentiality agreement prior to being permitted on site. If for example someone shot their mouth off about this top-secret base underneath the river, you could be sure that any 1 of 2 things would happen. You would be relocated to the other side of the world away from your family and friends for an undetermined timeframe… or you were entered into the program against your will. With such a clandestine feel to how things were run, there was no conclusive proof (because nobody was brave or stupid enough to come out and talk about it in the free press), but there had been plenty of rumours about what happened if you failed to achieve your targets. Depending on the nature of your failure, execution was the most common outcome… although it was also suggested that your family (be that your wife or husband; your parents or children; hell all of your surviving family members would be enrolled into the program as your replacement… and then you’d be executed BY your family as part of their initiation.