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‘You’re bleeding’ Lime’s fat finger aimed at Nathans face. He placed a hand under his nose and swiped from left to right. The blood streaked along one finger.

‘I didn’t realise you were asleep’ he began.

‘Neither did I, what is it Doc?’

‘Well, I’m not sure how to put this’

‘Put what Doc?’

‘Well, it’s getting late, maybe we should talk tomorrow!’

‘Look, you just woke me to tell me something so just spit the fucker out and then leave me alone!’ he shouted.

‘Okay, if that’s what you want Mr Crawley!’ William sat himself down upon the corner of the desk, the documents on top were pushed to the floor.

‘Let’s start by saying…..I know!’

‘You know, what the fuck does that mean, you know?’ Nathan began to feel agitated.

‘I have seen your files Mr Crawley, I know!’ nodding his head

Nathan paused before he fired another insult towards him. He’s bluffing. Jack hid those files…..he’s fucking bluffing.

‘I’m not sure I follow you’

‘Oh you do, the Psychological details, the reason why you left the force. Nathan, I know.’ His smile irritated his opponent.

‘Bullshit!’

‘Ha, I disagree Mr Crawley’, the brown envelope was removed from inside his coat. ‘This here, this is all of your personal details….I mean, the real personal shit. I’ve read it, you’re unfit to be working on this case Nathan. Jack knows it, you know it…..now I know it’.

‘What do you want Lime?’

‘Simple, I want you out of here!’

‘Once the case is closed I will be’

‘No you don’t understand, silly you. I mean now Nathan, I want you gone….NOW’ his face dropped any expressions as he starred into Nathans eyes.

‘You’re fucking with me, don’t fuck with me Lime!’ he edged on his seat, preparing to strike.

‘I’m not, you go now and you don’t come back. If you do, well, this information goes to the Director and he takes you and Jack down. It will then find the desk of a well-known journalist, who, upon receiving, will contact me to discuss the matter. That is when I shoot you down Nathan, and whilst you’re burning in a flame of shame and embarrassment, I will be reaping the benefits and basking in warm rays of publicity and fortune’ his smirk had returned.

‘So, it’s simple really. You leave and get the fuck out of my sight for good, go home and be with your wife, Elle. Or you smash my face in and stay put, then you go down and drag your prick of a friend along with you…….the option is yours!’ he sat back waiting for Nathans reply. Nathan sat stunned by the words he had just heard. One minute he was dreaming about a beast killing a child and being covered in copious amounts of blood, to the man he despised greatly issuing him a verbal warning to clear off and become a ghost. He was speechless, not knowing how to respond.

‘I’ll take your silence as an answer, I can confirm that it is the correct one Nathan’ he stood and cleared his throat.

‘Well, I bid you fare well.’ He turned to exit the room and stopped sharply. ‘Oh, there is one more thing’ his fist connected with Nathans jaw and sent him to the ground. The blow was unexpected and the Doctor shook his hand as the punch caused an immediate pain to his wrist.

‘Now, pick yourself up and fuck off!’ he exited for good this time, the door slammed shut behind him.

Nathan sat up as the slow trickle of blood escaped his lip. His ear rang from the punch and he pulled himself up onto his feet. He stood, unable to process what had just happened. His heart sank as he came to the terms that it was real, what had happened was no dream, no awful vision from the lack of sleep. He needed to tell Jack, he had to do it now.

He left the office and headed to Jack, he spotted him leaning against the wall by the coffee machine. Jack turned to see the person moving around in the shadows.

‘Jesus Nathan, can’t sleep?’ his face looked worn, the bags collecting under his dry eyes.

‘Jack……we have a problem, a huge problem!’

The phone that sat upon Jack’s desk crumpled into several pieces as it connected with the far wall. The news of William Lime’s current threat had hit him hard. He had finished cursing as the communication device was launched with fury, his head now sat in his hands as he leaned upon the oak table top.

‘Fucking Lime’ the words muffled as his palms absorbed them.

‘Jack, what are we going to do?’

‘We don’t have much of an option, do we?’ Jack stood and patrolled the office, his foot gently kicked the handset of the phone as he passed its remains.

‘Nathan, we can’t let this obstruct the case. I know it may sound harsh, and your my friend and stuff, but this is a huge cluster fuck…..a cluster fuck that shouldn’t have re-surfaced. How did he find out?’

‘I’m not sure, he didn’t say. He must have seen the files Jack, he had a printout of them. If the files were in your personal folder, then he had access to it.’

‘Which means he was given the authority from higher, the sneaky little shit’. Jack interlocked his fingers behind his silver hair and paced back to his chair. Nathan sat upon the guest seat, his elbows balanced upon his knees.

‘We know how this is going to end, right?’

‘I think so Jack, there’s not really another option’

Jack played with the scenario in his head, it was early in the morning and he still had the report to finish writing.

‘Here’s what we can do’ he started. ‘The hotel room is still being paid for, you use that as your office, a secret hide-away. The updates that the team receive will be delivered to you so that you are kept up to speed. If I need your assistance with anything, I’ll call you on the mobile. Nathan you can still help me, I need it. You’re just going to be out of sight’.

Nathan pondered the idea, he didn’t want to pack up and leave, the case was feeling more like a personal vendetta that he needed to finish. But another part of him toyed with the idea of calling it a day and going home to Elle, back to the tranquillity of his Spanish Villa. He looked Jack in the eyes.

‘Okay, I’ll do it’.

***

He stopped the van at the entrance to his new girl’s street. He had a clear sight of her safe place. He sat patiently, deciding on the way that he would remain static for thirty minutes at a time. Once his watch beeped that the time was up he would complete a lap of the estate, parking in a different location but still keeping his eyes on the target. He set the stop watch and made himself comfortable. The clock in the dashboard displayed the numbers sixteen and twenty two, he gazed up to the darkening sky and hoped that his choice of time for the abduction was not a bad one. He sat in silence, the small furry creature in the back scurried in its cage.

‘Sshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh’ he whispered, the finger placed upon his lips.

The children threw snowballs at each other, the white balls erupting as they made contact with the receiving child’s body. He watched them play, jumping happily and rolling in the glistening powder. The guardians would gradually appear from their homes and beckon their children inside, the kids pretending not to hear and would carry on playing. The streets slowly began to empty as the night pulled closer. The engine sprang to life as his watch beeped, it rolled from its position and drove slowly down the road. His eyes observed Megan’s home, the lights were on…..they were home.

The lap took only several minutes and he was back on the street, moving the vehicle closer to the house. He parked it and killed the engine, his passenger unaware of its planned use. He set the timer as before and gazed upon the front of her safe place, noticing movement in the bottom left window. The darkness began to move in over them, he started to doubt his decision to act sooner than later. If it gets too dark, she won’t come out to play. Her guardian won’t leave her side. I won’t be able to get her.