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‘I don’t think so’

‘Oh, , I love you so much’

‘Wait for my phone call’

‘Always’

I kiss her on the forehead, breathe in the scent of her, to fortifywith Jay is over quickly Obviously, he thinks I’ve taken leave ofpause that finds its way into his sentences But he is too discreet to co copies of the papers Victoria requested Copies of Sorab’s return, copies of my freedom from the world I somehow became trapped in I feel a flicker of excite

I get outside on the street and a long black limousine with heavily tinted s stops in front of me The back door closest to me opens I am not afraid of death I never have been I’ll do what I have to do to keep my faet into it

‘Monfort,’ I state quietly

‘And what should I call you?’ he asks tonelessly

‘Hopefully, you won’t see ain, and that will be a ht his skin is particularly repulsive White and translucent, the veins grass green Like the daain’

‘After today I’m finished’

‘I’ off the train is a dangerous business’

I look at my platinum Greubel Forsey Tourbillion, acquired for a cool half a million dollars at Christie’s Io I take it off and place the timepiece on the console between Monfort and less, but to the true insider and the practitioner of dark esoteric energy, he will understand it perfectly The gesture is unet out of the car, close the door, and begin to walk in the opposite direction Ten yards away Brian et in

‘Take ton

I turn away from the hen I hear her come in Not fast Slowly This is the last part I am almost free The lock on the chain is about to break

The door closes behind her She is dressed in a black and white suit, and her trade and loose around her shoulders Our eyeselse but reatest enemy

I hold out my phone

She doesn’t say a word Looks at the papers I have spread out on the plastic table, and takes the phone froers don’t touch

She dials, waits for the connection and says just three words: ‘The Speculative Woman’ Then she ends the call and puts it down on the table between us I sit and so does she Neither of us says anything After a while she picks up the papers that are on the table and casually, as if they are a h them

I turn my head and look outside It is a beautiful day The sun is shining I a to manifest in some physical way I take shallow breaths and controluninterestedly through the papers After a while even she cannot be bothered to fake interest in them She tosses them on the table and looks in my direction I don’t turn to look at her so she, too, turns her head and looks out of the entyso loud she can probably hear it I pick it up and Brian says, ‘We got him’