A day comes and goes.

Another day arrives.

The phone doesn’t ring.

And another day.

What’s happening?

She reaches for the phone, then snatches her hand back.

They’ll call when they’re ready…

But they don’t.

The following morning, she watches the clock: eight am…

Eight-thirty…

Nine o’clock…

Nine-fifteen…

She picks up the phone again, dials out. “Hello, Hofferman and Partners? Is Mr Devlin there, please? It’s Mitch Kimberley.”

“I’m sorry, Miss Kimberley, Mr Devlin is not available….” The voice chokes, breaking into uncontrolled sobs. “He’s been murdered. Gunned down. His little girl is in hospital too.”

Mitch, heart hammering, “Theo. Let me talk to Theo Aldred.”

The sound muffles…

hand over

“Mr Aldred

catches in her throat. “When will he be free?

Mitch hears, “No, I’ve a wife and

repeats, “Mr Aldred is not

slams down the

backwards, hands clasped to her mouth, she fights for air, then she dashes for the door. White-faced, she sprints to the elevator, bangs on the call button then walks

in the lobby, she spins, looking for what

A newspaper… local…

The headline…

she reads,

Romani Case outrage…

Prominent lawyer gunned down…

reported as murdered by a gunman or gunmen as yet unidentified in an incident in the grounds of the school attended by his nine-year-old daughter. The daughter herself is also reported as injured but

it on the counter. Full-blown panic swells inside her. Her stomach rises. Pushing a fist to her mouth, she sets off at a run for the nearest bathroom, just reaching a cubicle before she loses

breakfast. Trembling, she flushes, then gags and vomits again. At length, scarlet-faced and sweating, Mitch

She’s on her own…

*****

James

for the day. Going for a drink with

drops with a finality that suggests he’s glad of an excuse to see the back of

would bring her. I’d

get Ross to bring the car around. Meet you in the lobby in

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