Die Alone

very hard to tell plenty of people, but no one seemed to want to listen.’
Lane shifted in her seat and sighed. ‘That’s because there’s no evidence linking him to any of the crimes he’s suspected of. And now, as you’re probably aware, he’s made a move into politics.’
I’d read in the papers that Alastair Sheridan had been shoehorned into a safe government seat and was now an MP, and that the hedge fund he managed was doing incredibly well, which just shows you how much justice there is in the world. ‘I’m aware,’ I said.
‘Well, what you’re probably not aware of is how popular he is within his parliamentary party,’ continued Lane. ‘The government have lost control, the opposition are a complete mess, and Alastair Sheridan is looking increasingly like a potential leader, someone who can turn things around. The public know nothing of what he’s suspected of, neither do most MPs. He’s even being talked about as our next Prime Minister. We can’t let that happen.’
‘Who’s “we”?’
‘I work for the security services, Mr Mason. I’m not going to give you any more detail than that. Only a handful of people in the world even know I’m here talking to you, but they include individuals at the very top of government.’
I’ve learned over the years that corruption and a complete disregard for the law go right to the very top in both business and government, and it wouldn’t have surprised me if senior politicians had sanctioned last night’s hijack.
‘Did you set up the prison riot? Because if so, it almost went very, very wrong. If it hadn’t been for some cheap netting, I’d be in the morgue now.’
Lane shook her head. ‘Your enemies did that. Mr Sheridan, and of course his close friend Mr Kalaman, who I believe you’re also acquainted with.’
Cem Kalaman. There are three things you need to know about him. One: he’s a violent underworld figure who runs a criminal empire worth at least a billion pounds. Two: nearly twenty years ago he murdered his own father so that he could take over the business. And three: he has been Alastair Sheridan’s partner in crime since the very beginning. Two very different men but the backbone, and last surviving members, of a cabal of killers who’d murdered possibly dozens of young women over three decades.
‘We were planning on getting you transferred and taking you then,’ continued Lane, ‘but things had to be brought forward very fast. We had intelligence that there was going to be an attempt on your life, but we didn’t know how or when. When we got word you’d been injured in the riot and were being transferred to the hospital, we moved fast.’
I sat back in the chair and thought about this. It made some sense, but it also left a lot of unanswered questions, like how did they get there so fast? And of course, the most important question of all.
‘So what do you want me for now?’
Lane sipped her drink before replacing the cup carefully on the saucer. ‘I think you already know,’ she said. ‘We want you to kill Alastair Sheridan.’
She’d delivered the request so coldly that it made me snort in disbelief. ‘Don’t you think that’s a little extreme? You know, for a democracy where the law is supposedly sacrosanct? There must be an easier way. Why not try gathering evidence against him, like I was trying to do before I was arrested? He’s committed enough crimes.’
‘We’ve tried,’ said Lane. ‘But he’s got good security, he’s savvy, and he has friends in high places.’
‘Even though they know what he’s done?’
‘What it’s alleged he’s done. Remember, there’s no actual evidence. And he doesn’t look like a killer, does he? He looks and sounds like a charming, handsome and charismatic man. And looks count. Most people would never believe it. Unfortunately for Mr Sheridan, the people who count do. So they’ve decided on a course of action, and the reason we’ve chosen you to take him down rather than anyone else is—’
‘You don’t have to tell me,’ I said. ‘I’m expendable.’
‘That’s not quite how I’d have put it. But yes, if you fail and you’re caught, it wouldn’t be that difficult to concoct a motive for you as a damaged man suffering from PTSD, with an irrational grudge against Alastair Sheridan. And if you succeed and you’re caught, everything about Sheridan will come out anyway. Either way, you’ll be on your own, and no one will believe you if you try to blame it on the security services.’
‘You’re not exactly selling it to me.’
Lane smiled behind the balaclava. ‘That’s the advantage for us. We don’t have to. You’re a man awaiting trial for double murder with a half-a-million-pound price tag on his head. You’re not exactly operating from a position of strength. And if you decide you don’t want to take the job, we’ll put a needle in your arm again, drop you off somewhere, and let the police take you back in, where you’re almost certain to be murdered on Alastair Sheridan and Cem Kalaman’s orders at some point in the next few months.’ She paused, leaning forward in her chair and resting her gloved hands on the table. ‘But if you succeed in killing Sheridan, you’ll receive a new passport, a new identity, a new face, and you can start a new life somewhere a long, long way from here.’
‘What about Cem Kalaman?’ I asked her.
‘He’s not in our remit,’ said Lane. ‘But without Sheridan’s help, he’ll fall soon enough. There are a number of investigations into his affairs at the moment.’
I thought about what was being offered to me. Lane was right. I wasn’t negotiating from a position of strength. They held all the cards. But there was something else too. A little over a year ago I’d personally promised Steve and Karen Brennan, the parents of Sheridan and Kalaman’s first and youngest victim, thirteen-year-old Dana, that I wouldn’t rest until I’d brought her killers to justice, and