Heller's Revenge (26 page)

“Even though it meant you had to
get rough with him?”

“As I said, he took like a man.
He’s going to be a shrewd business-owner in the future. I should be
luring him over to my side now, while he’s young.”

“Heller, I get so angry with you
and then I just can’t stay angry.”

He threw me a puzzled glance.
“Why would you want to?”

I laughed, despite myself.
“That’s a very good question! I don’t really. Life’s too
short.”

“It certainly is,” he replied
grimly. Silence for a while.

“Where are we meeting? Surely
not anywhere that he’s suggested?”

“Of course not. We’re meeting at
my downtown office.” I’d almost forgotten about that off-site
office. Daniel had told me about it when I’d first started, but I’d
never had any reason to visit, not having much to do with the
administrative side of Heller’s business. He pulled into the
driveway of a high-rise office block and used a swipe card to
access the basement carpark. We took the lift to the seventeenth
floor and I experienced an inner pride to see the
Heller’s
logo on the floor directory.

He pushed confidently through
the glass doors and was greeted very warmly by his staff that
worked in this satellite office. This was where his IT, human
resources, finance and legal staff worked, all supervised by
Daniel. I wasn’t sure why there was the divide in office locations,
but I suspected it had something to do with his extreme need for
security in his home environment and was also in case he was raided
at some point. All of his important records were stored at the
Warehouse or were stored completely off-site of both locations. His
official business address was the downtown office, not the
Warehouse. He was such a cautious man and again I wished I knew
more about him.
Like his real name
, I thought wryly.

He introduced me to a few of his
senior staff, including his lawyer, Corby, who I’d already met
briefly some months ago. While Corby filled Heller in on the
arrangements for our meeting today, I looked around idly. I
couldn’t fail to notice that I was the object of much covert
interest among his other staff. God only knows what they’d heard
about me. Probably that I was Heller’s woman, which seemed to be
the general consensus among the security men. Or maybe they were
just staring at my unattractive bruising. They were quite removed
from the ugly side of Heller’s business.

We were using Corby’s office for
the meeting. I sat quietly on the edge of a chair, while they went
over a few last details. At the appointed time, Marcus’ father,
Chris Kirnin, was ushered into the office. None of us shook hands.
Heller sat back in his chair, a disparaging expression on his face.
My arms were crossed with unmistakable hostility. Kirnin’s eyes
flickered over to me throughout the meeting, as if trying to place
me.

“How’s Marcus?” Kirnin asked
gruffly. He was almost the antithesis of Heller, with black hair
and eyes, a pocked face, as ugly as sin. He was older than Heller,
but was bigger than him, a massive presence in the office.

Corby spoke up smoothly. “We
wouldn’t know that first hand, of course. But we’ve heard from our
informants that he is fine and is looking forward to going
home.”

Kirnin smiled or snarled. It was
impossible to tell which. “His mother made me meet with you,
especially after that last broadcast. Gotta hand it to you, Heller.
You know how to play on a woman’s weaknesses. I would have let the
little shit go longer. Help him grow some balls. But she’s always
been a soft pussy.” He looked over at me. I glared at him, my lip
curling in utter hatred. Heller threw me a warning glance.

“Charming,” commented Corby. “I
can see why your son’s so fond of you.”

Kirnin scowled. “I don’t care
what the little shit’s been saying about me. Where are these papers
you want me to sign? I’ve got another meeting soon.”

Corby busied himself with the
paperwork and stood behind him. “Now Mr Kirnin, just to make sure
that you understand what you’re signing here. This is a complete
acknowledgement of your illegal activities in respect to harassing
and seriously injuring
Heller’s
staff and property over the
last few years. And this paper here is your agreement to desist in
any such activity in the future. If you fail to keep your word,
then obviously your acknowledgement will be turned over to the
proper authorities for their full investigation. Aided by your very
inclusive confession, of course. And other pieces of evidence that
we have chosen not to make known to you today. If this is
satisfactory, then please sign here, here and here. And in return,
our informants have Marcus sitting in a vehicle outside this
building at this moment, waiting for you to exit.”

He frowned, but pulled out an
expensive gold pen from his pocket and signed his name and the date
on all papers with a lavish flourish. He was about to stand up to
leave when Corby pushed him back down in his seat with some
friendly pressure.

“Mr Kirnin, I don’t think you’ve
met Tilly Chalmers, one of our employees. Tilly, this is Chris
Kirnin, the man who has robbed you of your chance to have any
children.”

Kirnin had the decency to flush
a little. I stood up and walked over to him, standing in front of
him. He had a lovely son that he didn’t seem to love and I could
now never have a son of my own because of him. It wasn’t fair. I
was more than a little angry.

“Your son is ten times the man
you will ever be. I know from talking to him a few times that he
would never choose to target women and children, stealing their
futures,” I said to him with contempt, trying not to be
emotional.

“You ought to tell your boss to
stay away from my top clients,” he returned in a cold, flat
voice.

I backhanded him as hard as I
could across his ugly face. He jumped up, knocking back his chair,
his fists clenched, looming over me menacingly. Heller sprang to
his feet and crossed the room in an instant, pushing me behind him,
his own fists clenched. Corby wasn’t far behind. Kirnin took a deep
breath.

“My people went too far that
day. I apologise for that, because it was not on my instruction. It
was a regretful error of judgement on their behalf. The people
involved have been disciplined.”

I honestly think I was about to
launch a full-on attack on the man after that comment. Niq and I,
with our horrendous injuries, were nothing more than a ‘regretful
error of judgement’ to him. I felt Heller’s hand on my arm,
silently urging restraint. I closed my eyes and thought about all
the good things in life: Daniel’s growing confidence, Niq coming
home, Dixie’s laugh, Will’s kisses, Heller’s . . . well, Heller’s
everything, really.

The situation defused and Kirnin
left. I watched down from my great height at his reunion with
Marcus. It was less than loving. It looked as though there were
words between them, probably Kirnin berating Marcus for being
stupid enough to be kidnapped in the first place. But it was
gratifying to see that Marcus wasn’t taking any rubbish from his
father. The heated exchange I witnessed from far above appeared as
though it was mutually antagonistic.
Good luck, Marcus. Escape
as soon as you can from that bastard,
I wished silently.

I gave Corby a quick peck on the
cheek goodbye. Smiling, he said I could visit him anytime. I gave
him a half-smile in return and Heller and I left.

“Are you sure those papers are
legal enough to keep Kirnin honest?” I asked with concern as we
drove home afterwards.

Heller regarded me with
amusement. “They were drawn up by a lawyer, so I’m assuming that
they’re going to be legally airtight.”

“And that will be the end of it?
Niq and I can go to the shops again without worrying?”

“Neither of you are allowed out
without me ever again. Sorry.” And I wasn’t sure if he was joking
or not.

That night I was feeling very
affectionate. I should have gone to Will’s place, but Heller
wouldn’t let me, so I cuddled up against him instead and forced him
to kiss me. He was happy to comply.

“Last night you weren’t speaking
to me and tonight you’re kissing me?” he questioned.

“I want to celebrate life. And
love. Niq’s coming home, Marcus is returned to his mother and I’m
okay. Mostly.”

“I’m always willing to celebrate
any occasion with you.”

I kissed him intensely, pushing
my body up against his, my hands roaming over his. I glided my hand
over his erection. He groaned deep in his throat and grabbed my
hand, pulling it away. “Matilda, stop it! I don’t want to hurt you.
You’re not ready to be physical yet.”

I freed my hand and continued my
explorations. He snatched it away from his boxers again and clasped
it tightly.

“Stop it, Matilda! I’m only
human.”

“You’re not really.” I kissed
him and tried to free my hand from his grasp. He wouldn’t let it
go.

“Yes, I am, trust me. Especially
at times like this.”

“Heller,” I complained and gave
up, flopping back down on my side of the bed. “I need sex.”

“So do I. It’s been a long
time.”

“Really? You haven’t been out?”
That wasn’t like him. He must have been worried about us.

“No, not since . . . your
sister-in-law.”

Remembering that situation
killed my desire for him instantly. “They’ve separated. Brian’s
moved back home. Mum was hysterical.”

“I don’t care.”

I turned on my side to face him,
searching his eyes for any sign that he was remorseful about
breaking up a marriage. There was nothing. His icy blue eyes gazed
back unwaveringly, no guilt or regret evident. He could be such a
cold man.

“This Saturday, I’m planning on
going out. I’ll drop you at Armstrong’s house on the way and pick
you up when I’m finished.”

I smiled, happy again. “Thank
you, Heller. That would be great.”

“It will probably be very early
though, four or five in the morning, when I pick you up.”

“I don’t mind. That’s almost the
whole night.”

“And you have to promise to take
it easy.”

“Don’t think I want to promise
that!” And I rolled over and went to sleep, anticipation of
Saturday night filling my thoughts.

The next day Heller, Daniel and
I collected Niq from the hospital. He was heartbreakingly small and
slight, his light blue eyes even more enormous than usual in his
pale, thin face. He had made a good recovery, but had no memory of
the accident or even our shopping trip. The pins had been removed
from his leg, and his youth and good health contributed to him
being able to walk again fairly well. He was very excited about
returning home and I sat in the backseat with him, holding his
hand. It was wonderful to listen to his animated chattering
again.

Heller carried him up the
stairs, paying no heed to his squawks of protest. Niq and I spent
the rest of the day lying in Heller’s big bed, holding hands,
watching TV and talking. I told him everything that had happened
while he was in hospital, including an edited version of the Marcus
story, and he entertained me with his wickedly funny observations
about hospital life.

“What was it like being in a
coma?” I asked curiously.

He thought for a minute, his
face scrunched in concentration. “It was kind of like being in a
room by myself and the room was made of one-way mirrors. I could
see and hear everyone on the outside, but I couldn’t talk to them.
I couldn’t communicate. No one could hear me speak or see me move.
It was weird.”

“So when everyone was sitting by
your bed talking, you could hear everything they said?”

“Yes, and I was trying to talk
back, but they couldn’t hear me. I remember waiting to see you, and
I was worried because I saw everyone else outside the glass room,
but never you.”

“I was unconscious for a while,
and then I couldn’t move for a long time. I fractured my pelvis. I
came to you as soon as I was able to move.”

“I remember. I looked out of the
glass room one day and you were finally sitting there in a
wheelchair, crying and crying. You looked so sad that I wanted to
comfort you, but I couldn’t get out of the glass room. I tried so
hard to communicate with you, but you couldn’t hear me and kept
crying. I kicked and kicked at the glass, until it cracked making a
little hole and I was able to call your name through it to let you
know that I was all right.”

“That’s when you said ‘Tilly’
that day.”

“Maybe, I dunno. I don’t
remember,” he shrugged. “Over the next few days or weeks, I
couldn’t tell, I kept kicking at the glass until I broke it all
away and I woke up properly.”

“Heller will never let us go
shopping again.”

“Oh well, back to online
shopping again,” he said philosophically. I squeezed his hand and
smiled at him.

We spent the next few days lying
in bed, resting and chatting about everything.

“Niq, how did you meet Heller?”
I’d always wondered.

“I’ve lived with him since I was
about eight, so I don’t remember everything. He used to live near
me when I was a kid. I guess you could say he kidnapped me.”

What? Not another one?
Was
Heller’s hobby kidnapping boys or something?
I thought,
shocked, but let Niq continue.

“I was neglected as a kid. My
mother wasn’t a good carer. She didn’t look after me. She was a
junkie and there would be days, even weeks, when she left me to
look after myself because she was out of it. Sometimes she even
disappeared for days and I was left in the house all by myself, day
and night. I don’t know who my father is. She probably didn’t know
either. She rented a dirty little house, more like a shack, I
guess. The yard was overgrown. The house was full of rubbish. I
remember it stank and there were cockroaches everywhere. Most of
the time there was no food, and she sold anything we owned to buy
more drugs. We had no furniture. I didn’t even have a bed. I slept
on a dirty rug on the bare floor. We didn’t have any electricity
because it was cut off.”