And in Clare he could see the same determination and desire to succeed in everything she did. Whether it was excelling in her school work or just ensuring a pile of presents looked as impressive as they could. Her talents were clear to everyone.
They both knew she would eclipse any of their achievements as she grew into adulthood. Some parents might have felt threatened at the prospect of this. But not them. They wouldn’t try and live through their daughter. They’d live it with her. Supporting her all the way. Emotionally. Financially. Whatever way she needed. She would always be their proudest achievement.
Climbing the stairs Michael slipped into their bedroom, aware of Colette typing steadily at her keyboard in the study next door. Reaching into his bedside drawer he pulled out a further gift. One he wanted to give her privately.
Gently knocking on the door to their study he entered the room, keeping the present concealed behind his back.
“
How are you getting on?” he asked quietly.
A look of absolute concentration was etched on Colette’s face. Her long hair was drawn back in a ponytail, her brow furrowed as she pondered yet another technological issue. Folders glistening in plastic wallets where stacked up next to the keyboard. A green box file sat on a stool next to the desk.
Looking up, she smiled wearily, rubbing the tiredness from her eyes.
“
It’s never-ending. It really is. I think I’ve solved one problem and then two more crop-up. I’ll be glad when this bloody tender is over and I can get some sleep.”
Michael squeezed her arm gently, looking into her tired face. Even with her hair scraped back and no make-up on she was still stunningly beautiful. High cheekbones were offset by her large brown eyes, and although normally framed by her luxurious hair, he’d been mesmerised by her looks since the first moment she met. Years of marriage still hadn’t dulled that for him.
“
What exactly are you doing?” Michael asked, perusing the folders on the desk, their meanings largely lost on him.
Leaning back in the swivel chair, and fiddling with her ponytail Colette tried to distill all the information she’d been reviewing.
“
You know the big tender we’re bidding for. Well, if we don’t get it, or at least part of it, then huge parts of our core business are going to be automatically hoovered up by our competitors. And that means one of two things. Either mass redundancies and a major streamlining of the business and its operations, or SW Technologies goes to the wall.”
“
So you could lose your job?” Michael asked, concerned at this new revelation. He knew Colette was involved with a major IT project, but she’d never discussed it with him in these terms before.
“
Potentially, yes. Although if I did I’d get a very sizeable separation package as I’ve been with the company for so long. We’d be OK, so don’t worry. What I’m trying to do is work out a business plan that safeguards all of the jobs at SW Technologies. And that means winning the tender.”
Michael nodded, absorbing his wife’s problem. If anyone could write the appropriate business plan then it was Colette. And if they needed to entrust someone with saving jobs then she was exactly the person for the task. Direct when she needed to be, but compassionate also, always putting others first. It was one of the first things that had attracted him to her.
“
Look, I know this is important, but why don’t you take a break? It is your birthday after all. You’ve been working since before 8. And besides Clare has a surprise for you downstairs which she’s been working really hard on.”
At the mention of Clare and her endeavours the strain on Colette’s face ebbed away, replaced by a warm smile. It was typical of Clare to have done something like this, whatever the surprise was.
“
OK, you’re right. I probably do need a break. It’ll help me clear my head a little. The rest of this can wait until tomorrow.”
A mischievous smile crossed Michael’s face as Colette rose from her seat. She eyed him suspiciously, suddenly aware he was holding something behind his back. Something out of sight.
“
What are you up to?” she playfully, trying unsuccessfully, to see what he was clasping.
“
I wanted to give you this before you came down. It’s not for Clare’s eyes.”
Raising his eyebrows knowingly he handed Colette the present, a soft item, silver ribbon adding to its decoration.
Quickly ripping the paper Colette broke into an amused smile as she pulled out the black lace negligee.
“
I was hoping I might get to see you in that later,” Michael whispered seductively, leaning in to kiss her.
“
I bet you are,” Colette laughed wickedly, letting the garment unfold, revealing just how see-through it really was.
“
Come on, let’s get the rest of the presents open,” Michael said finally, as their long kiss ended.
Following him out of the room Colette quickly stashed the lace negligee in their bedroom before joining Michael in the lounge.
“
I see someone’s been busy,” she said, laughing as she looked at the tower of presents that greeted her. “I’m guessing you didn’t do that.”
“
No, that’s far too organised for me,” Michael retorted as Clare stuck her head round the door from the kitchen.
“
That’s good timing mummy,” she said, beaming a big smile, a dash of icing sugar staining her left cheek.
“
What have you been up to then?” Colette asked warmly, relieved to be away from her computer and all the problems of the tender.
Disappearing back into the kitchen Clare returned, carefully carrying the birthday cake she had made and iced. Different coloured stars were arranged all around the edge of the cake. In the middle was one large royal blue candle. Below it were words, jaggedly iced, reading: ‘Happy Birthday Mummy’.
Colette could feel a lump in her throat rising, fearing she might cry at her daughter’s handiwork.
“
I’ve only put one candle on as I couldn’t fit 38 on there,” Clare said cheekily, her eyes sparkling.
“
Who told you I was 38?” Colette protested playfully, casting an accusing look at Michael.
After placing the cake on the coffee table Colette pulled her daughter close to her, holding her tightly, as she admired her cake. Her daughter’s talents never failed to amaze her.
Pulling away Clare jumped onto the sofa, patting for her mother to sit beside her.
“
Right come on then, mummy. I want you to open my presents.”
Smiling, Colette did as she was ordered. And leaning forward she reached for the biggest present in the pile and began to unwrap.
Michael could feel the sweat oozing from every pore. It seemed as if every part of his body was on fire from the pain he was feeling. His shoulder was throbbing from where the Doberman had bitten him. And he was sure the wound was infected. Needless to say the bastards at SemComNet hadn’t attended to the wound. His head also ached from where Brown had viciously kicked him. And now the rest of his body seemed to irradiate pain from the trauma of their situation.
He was going to die. He knew that for certain. The others tied up next to him must have known it also. They weren’t going to be able to get out of this situation alive. Their civil liberties couldn’t be infringed in such a vile way with the prospect of being released afterwards.
He looked down at his heaving, sweaty body. Like Simon and Ben, he had been stripped naked and tied roughly to a chair bolted to the clinical white floor. His wrists and forearms were tied tightly to the arm of the chair. His legs were spread and had also been restrained.
But despite everything, even he hadn’t been quite prepared for had happened next. Two of Trevellion’s henchman had restrained him into the chair, punching him in the right kidney to subdue him, attaching two electrodes to his genitals. The wire from the electrodes led back to a small black unit, resting on a table a few feet in front of where all three men were restrained. They’d all received the same treatment.
But now they were just waiting. Waiting for whatever questioning and sick form of torture SemComNet could invent for them. As images of what they’d done to Colette filled his mind, he knew something diabolical was in store. He wasn’t quite sure Simon and Ben knew as much.
On the table opposite, next to the small black unit, was a pack of cigarettes. He wondered who they belonged to and who would be carrying out the ‘questioning’. Would it be Trevellion himself? When he’d come to see Trevellion previously he hadn’t smoked in his presence. And his office didn’t have the stale smell of stale cigarettes hanging in the air.
SemComNet must have someone else in mind to do the deed he thought, looking round their confined cell.
The room was painted completely white; floors, walls and ceilings. There were no windows, computers, phones or electrical sockets. Just a light switch inside the door and the table opposite. It was austere. And that was what bothered Michael most. Lacking feeling or emotion. Just like their captors.
To his right Simon and Ben were strapped helplessly to their seats, sweating profusely, looking like death. How ironic he thought bitterly, as he listened to Ben wheezing from where he’d hyperventilated as he’d been stripped and strapped to his chair. His breathing had calmed down a little. But he was in a bad way. They all were.
Without warning, and with no sound of footsteps from the corridor beyond, the solitary door to the room swung open, revealing Brown and the two security guards who had restrained them earlier. The two guards stood to attention, staying outside the door as it swung shut. Brown perched himself on the edge of the shiny metallic table before reaching for the pack of cigarettes.
Michael looked contemptuously at him as he lit the cigarette.
“
So how long have you been on Trevellion’s payroll then you bastard?” he said venomously.
“
Longer than you can possibly imagine,” Brown replied, standing up from the table, pacing menacingly in front of the three men.
“
Did you ever really think you had any chance in getting to UKCitizensNet or to Trevellion? We’ve been playing you from day one. We’ve known every move you’ve made. There was only ever going to be one outcome to this.”
A look of confusion spread across Michael’s face as Brown eyed the other two men, his gaze tracing a path from the electrodes attached between their legs back to the black unit on the table.
“
But how? The soldiers who attacked your base could have killed you. The men at the Biomedical Campus were firing on our car and could have killed you.”
A knowing smile crossed Brown’s face as he exhaled a plume of smoke into the air.
“
I agree, there were certain risks of accompanying you on your inevitable journey back to SemComNet on your revenge mission. But all the soldiers and teams that were pursuing us were all briefed to shoot to kill. It had to look authentic to keep you on the right path back to us. And I was prepared to accept the risks to my own life because I believe in the cause. The ends justified the means.”
“
What cause?” Michael snapped indignantly at Brown’s cryptic response.
“
I think that’s something for Trevellion to share with you if he feels it appropriate. Assuming you ever see him again of course.”
Michael tried to fight back his fear as he caught sight again of the wires attached to him. He needed more answers than this. Needed to buy time before Brown began to work on them.
“
So what was the point of playing me then? If you knew I was going to come back to SemComNet to try and kill Trevellion and destroy UKCitizensNet why didn’t you just get rid of me when you had the chance? Why this charade? Why waste your time with someone as inconsequential as me? Why pretend to help me?”
“
So many questions, Michael. You know, despite all you’ve been through, you still don’t get it, do you? SemComNet had been working on the app for nearly two years without getting it to a satisfactory state to use it as intended. Then one day in you walk to see Trevellion telling him you’ve got some files that were previously lost that your wife’s company had been working on. And what do you know, these files happen to fill a lot of the knowledge gaps SemComNet had been trying to fill. SemComNet’s role wasn’t just to run UKCitizensNet. That’s a piece of piss. They were also commissioned to use the network’s infrastructure as a means to develop a stealth weapon, deliverable over wireless and non-wireless networks. But then you know this part, don’t you? Once we knew the files existed it was just a simple matter of contacting you, filling your head with conspiracy theories about UKCitizensNet, most of which are actually true by the way, and convincing you SemComNet and Trevellion were to blame for the deaths of your wife and daughter. Given your increasing thirst to avenge their deaths it wasn’t going to take much to make you believe anything we wanted. Even the fact Colette was somehow communicating to you from the beyond the grave. And so it proved.”