The Devil To Pay (Hennessey.) (14 page)

They said nothing so Glissando continued, ‘you just left without following through on your suspicions.’

‘Th…the guy had a gun and…’ he broke off and swallowed deeply as if preventing his heart from popping out of his mouth.

The taller man offered, ‘those woods, they’re huge and dense; it would take days to find her. We think the guy with the gun was telling the truth, he didn’t look the type to mix with people, especially young girls, and I don’t think she would have gone to a guy like that. He was weird.’

Glissando stared some more then said, ‘you know what I hear, Rosencrantz? I hear “I think,” “I think” this and “I think” that. I don’t like “I think,” I hate “I think.” “I think” is nothing, it’s cautious, it’s circumspect, it’s neither here nor there, it’s cowardly.’ He stood up, and leaned over the desk like a headmaster lecturing wayward pupils. ‘You know what I
do
like? I like I
know
, I
love
I know, I know is firm, it’s brave, it’s heroic.’

The two men glanced at each other and two pairs of eyes said the same thing, this guy is mad, and in their world mad meant dangerous.

Glissando caught the look and read it perfectly; after all he had seen it many times in the eyes of his employees and associates and even his own family. But he was not made angry by it; on the contrary, it elated him. Again he was tempted to laugh but again he controlled himself. He stood and stared out of the window.

Rosencrantz tried to control his breathing but his voice came out on a croak, ‘would…would you like us to go back and scour the area, make sure?’

Glissando turned to them his eyes narrowed, ‘it’s not a matter of what I would
like,
Rosencrantz, but of what is
right
. That girl defied me, she lied to me, she deceived me and that is not right, Rosencrantz, no, no, no. That has to be put right, don’t you agree.’

It was not really a question but both men nodded enthusiastically anyway.

‘But you know what I would do if I were you? I would find that Australian woman; the one who you say prevented you from accomplishing your mission last night. Find her and ask her if Desdemona said where she was going. We know she did not take her to the hospital, I’ve checked with all the local ones. And Desdemona would not go to the police.'

Glissando sat down again, ‘what about the person or people she called out too?’

‘First find the woman and ask her who it was, get a name. Use the private investigator story again. But be discreet, go carefully.’

‘Carefully? You mean you don’t want us to…you know’ Rosencrantz sounded confused as well as disappointed.

‘Yes, Rosencrantz,
carefully
, just ask questions, don’t hurt her, we don’t want the local cops snooping around asking questions.’ His lips twitched into the semblance of a smile, ‘we can leave the fun for later, if she’s…uncooperative. But initially, be nice, be polite, you can do that can’t you?’

They said, ‘yes, Mr. Glissando,’ in unison then turned to leave but halted when Glissando said, ‘oh and boys?’

‘Yes sir?’

‘Don’t hurt Desi…too much, that pleasure will be all mine.’

This time both men grinned then left the room.

Glissando could now let the anger out. He clenched his hands until his fingernails dug into his knuckles and drew blood. That bitch, that ungrateful, traitorous whore. She had outwitted him, lured him into a false sense of security with her false words of love and devotion then when his defences were down, when he had trusted her again she had spied her chance and ran, ran from
him
. “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth is it to have a thankless child.” Well, when he had her back she would whisper no more words of love, no, she would scream them, then she would beg for a death that he would not grant her, not for a long, long time.

The phone on his desk brought him out of his fantasy; he took a deep breath and picked it up. He didn’t speak, but the slightly nervous voice of his secretary said, ‘Mr. Glissando. He’s here.’

Glissando was afraid of no man, or woman, he was afraid of nothing and no one so had to ask himself why his stomach did a somersault with trepidation whenever he heard those words, which to his relief was not too often. He very much wanted to say, tell him to wait, or even, I’m in the middle of something, ask him to come back later. But he didn’t and that troubled him.

He said, ‘send him in.’ He leaned back in his chair looking relaxed as though the discomfort he’d felt at the words “he’s here” had never happened.

He wanted to turn his back and stare out of the window like he had with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, but somehow he couldn’t bring himself to do it and he despised himself and the man who made him uncertain. But he did look down at some papers on his desk and did not glance up as the door opened and the man entered.

The man hesitated at the door and smirked when Glissando did not look up from his papers. He knew he was doing this on purpose; he was making a point, although who he was making the point to he wasn’t sure but then he didn’t think Glissando did either.

He had seen those two goons; Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, God, what
was
that crap anyway, calling people by names from Shakespeare’s plays? They had looked sheepish and scared so something must have happened to upset their boss; he liked the idea of the asshole being upset.

He walked forwards and spent a moment looking down at the top of Glissando’s head. Glissando felt a chill as the man cast a shadow over him, he told himself it was because he had blocked out the sun, but he knew better. He could see the man’s reflection in the polished gleam of his mahogany desk. The man then hooked a foot around a chair, dragged it towards him and sat down.

Glissando did look up then and stared at the man who had done what no one else dared to do, sit in his presence without being invited too. He so much wanted to ask him what the hell he thought he was doing, to tell him to get the fuck up and out of his office, but he didn’t. He didn’t even want to analyse why he didn’t, just as he didn’t want to analyse why he hadn’t told him to wait in the outer office, because if he did he knew he would have to admit that the man scared him. He would also have to admit that was why he hated this man so much, because he was the only person alive who did.

He tried to convey his displeasure as he had with his two heavies, by staring; he wanted to disconcert the man, to make him uncomfortable. It wasn’t working, the bastard just stared right back with those dark blue eyes that seemed to look right through him. It was Glissando who blinked first. He held onto his anger with difficulty, using every trick in his repertoire to control himself.

He said, ‘well, Mr. Hennessey, how are you?’

Hennessey shrugged, ‘well enough.’ He did not return the pleasantry and ask how Glissando was, mostly because he didn’t give a fuck how he was. Just as Glissando didn’t give a rat’s ass how he was, unless each told the other he had only hours to live of course.

‘It went well I take it, no problems?’ Glissando said.

‘I wouldn’t be here if there had been.’

‘No, of course not. But it was a tricky one, the…subject, was an important man, well guarded.’

Hennessey shrugged again but said nothing.

Glissando turned to his computer and said, ‘so, I suppose you’ve come for your payment,’ a smile accompanied this statement, ‘unless that last one was pro- bono of course.’

Hennessey’s lips turned up at the corners as he gave an even falser smile than Glissando’s.
‘Well I would, but then every other killer for hire would start doing freebies, we’d never be taken seriously again.’

Glissando smiled but there was no humour in it. God how he hated this man, with his disturbing blue eyes, a blue that he had never seen before, so dark a blue that sometimes they appeared black. Hated him with his hard, cold face and his total disregard for his, Glissando’s, superior position, he disrespected him at every turn, it was not to be tolerated. And yet he did tolerate it…for now anyway.’

He keyed some figures into the computer on his desk then turned it around so that it faced Hennessey and said, ‘would you enter your number and password please then press enter.’

Hennessey did and Glissando turned the computer back round, ‘well another mission and another transaction safely accomplished. The money will be in your bank account within minutes as usual.’

Hennessey nodded but did not rise from his seat; his gaze seemed riveted on the view from the window behind Glissando’s head. Yet there was really nothing to see, just well kept lawns and a tennis court, where two men and two women knocked a ball back across the court to each other. He could tell they were laughing although they could not be heard through the soundproofed glass. Hennessey had no doubt that it was bullet proof too, it needed to be.

Glissando was hated and abhorred by high and low alike. The low because he had once been one of them and now had what they did not, and used them to get it. The high because he was not one of them and never would be, no matter how rich he was or how high he rose. This house was a symbol of the kind of man Glissando was, crude, pretentious, ostentatious and vulgar.

Hennessey did not hate Glissando; he had no feelings about him one way or the other.

He worked for him from time to time because he was useful and he paid well, but for the right price he would not hesitate to extinguish him too, he might take more pleasure in “doing him” than he usually did, but then he would forget him just as he forgot the others. The joys of having a selective memory.

But for a man who usually didn’t give a fuck about his clients, or anyone else come to think about it, Hennessey’s natural curiosity caused him to wonder what it was that had made Glissando so angry. And he knew he was, as good as Glissando was at hiding his feelings; Hennessey was finely tuned to the emotions of others.

He studied the people outside; none of them were the girl that usually hung around. Although Glissando always told her to beat it when he was here, obviously she was not privy to Glissando’s secrets, but he had seen her with Glissando out in the garden or in the pool area every time he had been here. Except for that time just over a year ago, and today of course. 

He shifted his gaze from the window to Glissando who was watching him intently a malevolent gleam in his eyes. He rose and said, ‘until next time then.’

Glissando did not rise and did not offer to shake Hennessey’s hand; it was not that sort of relationship. Besides he did not know where his hand might have been, or he
did
know and that’s way he did not want to touch him, he did not want to be tainted by the blood on this man’s hands. Glissando did not let himself dwell on the fact that it was blood that he had paid Hennessey to shed therefore was on his hands too. He said, ‘until next time.’

Hennessey turned and walked across the room opened the door then turned back to and said, ‘I hope you sort out your trouble, Mr. Glissando.’

Glissando raised his eyebrows in surprise then narrowed his eyes and for a moment Hennessey caught a glimpse of why people trembled in his presence. He himself was only amused by the look and he did not tremble, but then he was not “people” was he. He turned and walked out of the door closing it softly behind him.

Glissando stared at the door as if he could see Hennessey through the wooden panels and if he concentrated hard enough he could cause him to fall down dead. How he despised that guy with his supercilious arrogance. If he wasn’t so damn useful he would have him removed…permanently.

But even as he thought this he knew it was not that simple, Hennessey was just too good, too damn suspicious and cautious, he would never get caught unawares. Besides, he was very good at what he did, he never left a trace behind, he cleaned up after…after he did what he was paid to do. He never asked questions and he would never rat out a client if he was ever caught, which was highly unlikely. No, he would tolerate him…for now. But there would come a time when he would dispose of Hennessey, before Hennessey disposed of Glissando.

He leaned back in his chair and returned to what he had been thinking about before Hennessey’s arrival. Desi, that traitorous bitch, that ungrateful whore. He had been her friend, her benefactor, her saviour, and how had she repaid his benevolence? By lying and stealing and ultimately running from him. She had humiliated him, and that was not to be born. Oh, how he would make her pay. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern had better find her or he would be using Hennessey’s services a lot sooner than he had intended, for them as well as for her. He would do it now but that would deprive him of the fun he intended to have with her.

He swivelled his chair around and stared through the window. The sun was shining; his guests were still at play in the gardens and on the tennis courts. The peacocks he had had brought here from Australia were strutting their stuff on the newly mown grass, but he saw none of these things, he just saw Desi’s face, Desi’s lovely, angelic face flushed pink when he complimented her or when he entered her body. Desi’s deep brown eyes cast down as he stroked her hair, or kissed her forehead or gripped her small but sweet breasts. Desi’s full sweet lips swollen with the force of his kiss or when wrapped around his dick.

Then he visualised her face swollen and bloodied and distorted with agony. He saw her lovely hair matted with sweat and heard her screams of pain and her pleas for mercy as he took her again and again, from the front
and
from behind. He became hard just thinking about that, about having Desi in his power again. His erection was almost painful as he visualised her in his fun chamber. Oh, what he would do and how she would scream and beg, but this time he would not weaken, he would never let her leave that place, he would keep her there forever and visit her when it suited him.