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FOOD," MALLON ANNOUNCES AS he barges into the roo his lae to kill fills me as soon as I see his face, but I force myself not to attack I s it down like unspewed voet up and stand opposite hih he tries to hide it, I can see the nervousness in his eyes The longer we reins to become But I can still feel his fear I can almost taste it

"You, my man," he says as I take the tray from him and sit back down on the bed and start to eat, "have done incredibly well"

"Thanks," I ive a shit what he thinks I&039;ed not to attack It&039;s hard, almost too hard, but I force myself to keep control I try to concentrate on the food to distract le to keep it in check, al at hiain my focus at the last second This is alht, al to remember to breathe

"I&039;m really pleased," Mallon continues, even the sound of his voice itation "You&039;ve really understood e&039;re trying to do here You know, e, but you, you&039;ve got brains You&039;ve worked it out in no time"

"Not a lot to work out really, is there?" I say, trying to keep up the illusion "It&039;s like you said, the et"

"Exactly"

He watches er as I polish off the rest of the tasteless food I glance up and see he&039;s looking at me like a proud parent, and it dawns on me that he really does believe all the bullshit he&039;s been spinning I feel vastly superior to this idiot He thinks he&039;s the one in the driver&039;s seat, but I&039;e I have now makes it easier to cope

"So what next?" I ask, feeling cale my bets and see how far I can push him

"What do you mean?"

"What&039;s your plan? Do you just want to keep me locked up here forever? Is this sora onbastard starts laughing

"You&039;re good! No, to tell you the truth, Danny, what happens next isn&039;t up to me"

"So who decides?"

"Two people"

"Who?"

"You, for one"

"And?"

"And Sahota"

"Sahota? Who the hell&039;s Sahota?"

"You&039;ll find out to toward the door Suddenly this is a conversation he doesn&039;t want to have

"You can&039;t just walk out now Who is Sahota?"

I stand up again and move toward him, but all that does is make him move faster He stops midway out of the door-just beyond the reach of my chains-and turns back to face me

"Boss ah detail to keepIt&039;s all he&039;s got left Other than these physical chains, infor If he was any closer I&039;d rip his fucking throat out He pulls the door shut, but then stops and opens it again "Wait There&039;s soot to tell you"

"What?"

"Your daughter"

"You found her?!"

I can&039;t hide

"No," he says, shaking his head "You&039;ve got to understand, Danny, information&039;s hard to come by these days You learn more from what you&039;re not told than fro under the weight of what&039;s happened and-"

"Tellit out as long as he can

"There&039;s good and bad news"

"Give me both"

"The bad news is there are no records of her anywhere"

"So how can there be any good news?"

"Can&039;t you see, that is the good news It ht not be dead that&039;s all you can tell me?"

"Be thankful for shter&039;s still lying on the kitchen floor with a bloody hole where her face used to be I could have been standing here telling you the date your girl died and where they burned her body As it is, you&039;ve still got some hope What you do with it is up to you"

He slams the door shut and locks it

vi

SIX AM SANDWICHED BETWEEN two heavily armed military jeeps and chaperoned by coluhters, several hundred displaced refugees were led out along Arley Road With no regard for personal preferences, friendships, partners, or relatives, specified nu No one resisted or complained They were too tired and too scared to show any defiance or opposition to what they were being told to do Their choices were stark: put up with it or fuck off and take your chances on your own And anyone who dared show any resistance to the military would be on the street with a bullet in the head Public order had to be maintained

"But there&039;s nothe door of rooht-"

Uninterested, the soldier shoved him out of the way and forced his way in

"What&039;s the proble up fro in his way, instinctively wrapping her ar her unborn child

"There&039;s no probleruff voice muffled by his face mask "New roommate for you, that&039;s all"

"But that&039;s crazy! We don&039;t have enough space as it is How are we supposed to-"

The soldier put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back down onto the bed, then turned and walked back toward the door again, pausing only to sidestep Mark Mark knew there was no point trying to argue; at best he&039;d just be ignored, at worst he could be accused of being a Hater and "removed" Kate chased after the officer, far less concerned about the potential repercussions of her outburst Behind her, her parents sat up to try to see as happening Her father, weakened by age, fear, and ain when he couldn&039;t see anything, too tired to care Her entle wo like a banshee

"There&039;s enough of them in here already We don&039;t want o You can&039;t"