Station Alpha: (Soldiering On #1) (18 page)

Chapter 22

They arrived an hour later at the address that Jimmy had given them, apparently for one of the subsidiaries of Disik and Sons where he was working that day. It was just to the south of the central business district, on the west side of the large river that ran a jagged path through Portsboro.

They found a park not too far away, and strolled down by the docks towards the low office building by the water’s edge. The familiar smell—of garbage, oil, and God knew what—hung in the air, heavy and oppressive. A debris control barge was further down the river, oblivious to the world above the waterline.

The building at the address Jimmy had given them was squat and nondescript. It huddled back from the water, protected by the surrounding buildings. The door was propped open, but the bright sun above them meant that all they could see of the interior was darkness.

Christine stepped inside, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the light change. Cheap navy carpet graced the floor of the reception area. The walls were painted a dull white, and small prints of historic sketches of the area peppered the wall. The room was more like the waiting room at a veterinary office than a subsidiary of a large company.

A receptionist sat behind a large desk, squinting down at a file in front of her. She looked up as Christine moved towards her. There was a coldness in her eyes, a sense of hostility that made Christine hesitate.

“We’re here to see Mr. Jimmy Disik,” she told the woman.

“I’ll bring you through.” She eyed Paul as she passed, but Christine couldn’t tell what she was thinking. He, for his part, returned her stare, not backing down. The woman was unperturbed.

She led them down a short corridor, to an average office amongst five others just like it. She knocked. An eerie silence settled over the group as they waited for an answer, and Christine realised that there were no other sounds emanating from the building. It was a Thursday, and there was no reason for the office to be empty.

A tingle began at the back of her neck, spreading down until her palms itched. Dread pooled low in her gut.

The door swung open before she could say anything, revealing Jimmy. He was his usual civilised self in a pressed suit from what she could only assume was a very expensive designer. His hair was perfectly in place, and he smiled as he saw her.

Christine tried to remind herself that she had nothing to be afraid of. It almost worked.

“Come in, Christine,” he said, stepping back from the doorway. He caught sight of Paul and his eyes narrowed slightly. “You brought a friend.”

“Yes. This is Paul,” she told him. Some instinct told her to keep the fact that Paul was technically still her bodyguard and an employee of Soldiering On a secret. Perhaps Paul had the same idea, because he didn’t mention it as he offered his hand for Jimmy to shake.

Jimmy took it, briefly, then dismissed Paul as he turned back to Christine.

“Have a seat.”

She did so, and Paul pulled up beside her. He took her hand, stroking his thumb in a calming circle across the back of it. Her breath steadied slightly at his touch.

Jimmy sat opposite her, his carefully ordered desk between them. The rest of the room was equally sterile, with no personal touches at all.

The door clicked shut behind them. It may as well have been the toll of a death knell for the way it ratcheted up the tension in the room. There was something in the way Jimmy was eyeing her—something almost predatory in his gaze—that made her want to flee.

“So, Christine. I wanted to personally apologise for any part I may have played in your ordeal.”

“There’s no need,” Christine began.

“But I feel that there is,” Jimmy interrupted. “I believe that the man—Klim—was after information from my father. Information he believed you had.”

“That’s how I understand it, yes.”

“And do you have the information?” Jimmy’s tone was deceptively light. Christine gripped Paul’s hand. He was tense with readiness beside her.

“No,” she whispered. She cleared her throat until she knew her voice would come out stronger. “I didn’t know such information existed until all this craziness began.”

“Pity. You were meant to be the best.”

“I’m…I’m sorry?” Her breath was coming faster now.

“I hired you because I was told that you were the best at understanding information. You were meant to find what I needed in that mountainous pile of junk.” Jimmy’s voice was getting louder as he pointed his finger aggressively in her direction. His civilised veneer was peeling away, revealing the monster underneath.

“If that’s what you wanted, you should have given me more time. Or told me that’s what you wanted.” The flame of anger licked at her, coaxing her into a fury.

“I don’t have time. I need to pay off my debts, the company’s debts. Our tax bill alone…” A sound of frustration escaped him. He ran a hand through his hair, mussing it wildly.

“That’s no excuse. You were going to kidnap me!”

“You needed to work faster!”

They stared each other down in silence across the desk.

Jimmy cleared his throat. “It was the reason I sent the men to your house. I’d run out of time. They were going to take you to my father’s house, to work until you found it.”

Christine shuddered.

“And Klim?” Paul asked.

Jimmy scoffed. “He’s been asking me for the money for years. He must have known that when I hired an information expert to look into my father’s files that I was looking for the money, too.”

“So the two of you weren’t working together?”

“No,” Jimmy said contemptuously. “And the idiot nearly ruined everything by getting involved. All this could have been avoided if he and his family hadn’t hired that company to watch you. That ruined all of my plans.”

The wild anger in his eyes was alarming. He no longer seemed completely in control.

“I think we should go,” Christine told him with all the dignity that she could muster. She was halfway out of the chair when Jimmy’s hand appeared to jerk, and suddenly there was a gun aimed in her direction. She slowly sank back down.

“I think not,” Jimmy replied calmly, once again in control of himself.

Paul leaned forward while Christine sat, frozen in fear. “There are other ways to go about this.”

Jimmy turned his cold eyes on Paul. “This is the most expedient way.”

“You are a partner in a massive corporation, surely they have the money—” He broke off as Jimmy laughed without humour.

“We are bleeding money. The company hasn’t had a big contract in years. It’s not like it used to be. You can’t just offer a kickback to a city official and then get the go ahead. There are checks and processes.” He paused. “And I know what you’ll say. Sell off some subsidiaries. We’ve done that. At least, the ones no one would notice. But there comes a time when the world will start getting suspicious. They’ll know why we are selling off our assets. We have to keep up appearances, or people won’t trust us to be able to deliver. I need an injection of cash. Fast. And that money belongs to the company anyway.”

“So ask your father.” Christine had regained her voice.

He scoffed. “I did. The senile old fart couldn’t tell me a thing.”

“Well-”

“Enough! Will you help me or not?”

“Of course I won’t!”

“Then we’ll have to do this the hard way. We’ll both go to my father’s house and search until you find what I need.” He stood, gesturing with his gun towards the door. Christine stood on shaky legs, barely able to stay upright.

Jimmy came around the desk. Christine realised she was still holding Paul’s hand. She didn’t let go.

The gun flashed in the overhead fluorescent light as Jimmy gestured with it once again. Christine couldn’t move. She knew once she was out of that room she wouldn’t stand a chance.

“And your boyfriend can stay here,” Jimmy sneered. He pulled out a bunch of cable ties from his pocket, waving them in Paul’s direction. He’d planned this.

Paul squeezed her hand, drawing her attention. He didn’t say anything as she glanced at him. Just looked at her steadily. But she knew that he was giving her a message. He was telling her to trust him.

Christine didn’t hesitate. She let go of his hand and stood. Jimmy moved towards them, his eyes on Paul.

“Once I tie down your hands, you’ll be completely vulnerable,” Jimmy said with a cruel smile.

A shiver ran down her spine as he got closer.

Jimmy reached out to Paul’s wrists, the gun drooping slightly as his attention waned. Christine was so focused on the shining, metal barrel that she missed Paul’s flash of movement.

Jimmy dropped as if his knee had given out. He caught himself before he hit the floor, but Paul was there, dragging him backwards. He ended up almost on Paul’s lap, with a hard bicep wrapped around his neck, trapping him in a headlock.

Paul held steady, even as Jimmy’s arm flailed wildly. Without thinking, Christine stepped forward, reaching for the gun.

Jimmy saw her movement, his eyes widening as her fingers grazed his weapon. He fired. She flinched. The bullet embedded in the ceiling. Small particles of dust trickled down on them.

Paul tightened his hold on Jimmy’s neck. His face was turning an alarming shade of red, but he appeared not to notice. Christine again reached for the gun, but Jimmy was ready for her. He lowered it in her direction before her fingers closed over it.

She locked eyes with Paul. He gave her a single nod. She heaved at the weapon, pushing Jimmy’s arm up and away from her. He was so surprised he didn’t think to counteract her movement.

Almost instantly after, Paul gave Jimmy a solid punch to the temple. Dazed, his grip loosened on the gun.

Christine dived for it, managing to wrench it out of his grasp. She pointed it in Jimmy’s direction, her hands shaking. But, then, she realised that she would most likely hit Paul if she fired so she carefully placed the gun on the desk beside her and stepped away.

Paul pushed a groggy Jimmy to the floor. The instant he hit the floor, he passed out, dead to the world.

He looked up at Christine, smiling. “Teaches him to underestimate a woman and a man in a wheelchair, huh? Never should have got close to me.”

Christine pressed her hand over her violently beating heart, but she couldn’t hold back the sob that was building within her. She hiccupped rather inelegantly, then threw herself at Paul. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her face into his shoulder.

She breathed deep, comforted by his familiar autumn smell and the steady thump of his heart. His hand moved across her back in a soothing swoop.

He paused after too short a time. “I need to call Duncan. And the police.”

She sighed and reluctantly disengaged from him. She straightened, looking down at Jimmy. Between his actions and the surname Disik, the chances were that he would go to prison for a really long time.

Christine found she didn’t care in the slightest.

Calls were made, and the police and Duncan arrived about the same time.

Duncan waited to speak to them until Jimmy had been taken away and she and Paul had given their preliminary statements to the police. Christine refused to leave Paul’s side all through the questioning.

Among the blue-clad officers was a beautiful woman with deep black skin that Duncan seemed to know quite well. The two chatted quietly to the side as they waited for them.

Finally, the police officers were finished with them, but asked her and Paul to come down to the station to finalise things the next day.

Night was beginning to fall, and the air was growing chillier. They were still near the docks, but the awful scent had begun to dissipate since the heat of the day had passed.

Duncan appeared in front of her. Christine didn’t have the energy to do much more than blink her surprise. Her brain didn’t seem to be working at full capacity.

“I’m so sorry,” Duncan told her. “This is my fault.”

“And mine,” said the beautiful woman. Duncan slanted her an admonishing look.

“Christine, this is Destiny. I think you talked with her on the phone. She’s saved our arse a bunch of times, and this is definitely not her fault.”

Christine looked between the two. “Nice to meet you in person,” she said with a wan smile. Paul slipped his hand into hers, making her feel a little revitalised.

Destiny nodded. “Now I can put a face to the voice.”

“It’s good to see you again, Destiny,” Paul said.

“And you,” Destiny replied with a smile.

Duncan shuffled, drawing attention back to him. “I spent all morning either in the hospital with Blake, or trying to get in to see Klim Vovk at the station and interview him further.”

“Unfortunately, my colleagues wouldn’t let him through,” Destiny interrupted. “Or we might have figured it out sooner that Klim wasn’t the one that had arranged the attacks on you. I did what I could to convince them, but…” she trailed off with an apologetic shrug.

“It’s okay,” Christine managed. “You’ve helped a lot on this case.”