The Consultant - NaNoWriMo2021

Chapter 29

'Oh my God Daniel. What the fuck have you done? He dying, and he doesn't have much time. We have to call an ambulance.'

Daniel looks genuinely shocked. It's clear that he hadn't intended to do this, but had lashed out in rage after realising that just as he had never trusted Sebastian and had lied to him from the beginning, Sebastian had never really trusted him either. Not exactly a marriage made in heaven I thought to myself irreverently as I knelt next to Sebastian who was twitching now; the puddle of fluids growing by the second.

'Fucker deserves it. There's no point calling anyone. For one, how the fuck would you explain this?' He waves at the body and the mess it is making. 'Secondly, he deserves it. You have no idea what he has done Fin. No idea at all.'

'You mean what you have both done don't you? You were partners so however guilty Sebastian is, was. You are just as guilty.'

'You really don't get it do you? That first job, all those years ago, when I was a teenager. My first job with Sebastian was to hack into the General Register Office to get the birth details on two children. Then I had to trace the older one; where he had gone to school, university, where he was doing his doctorate. The finally I had to hack into his email and use that and his phone to determine his plans for a specific day, then track him as he made his way along a street in Oxford. Sebastian did the rest, ending the kid's life, and making it look like it was a bomb intended for someone else. Did you really think the whole thing was an accident?'

'Alex,' I breathed. 'You both killed Alex.' Daniel's look of triumph had been replaced by what I guess for a sociopath as regret.

'I didn't know him. He meant nothing to me, it was just a job. But for Sebastian, well it was very personal indeed. He targeted him and I can assure you, there was no mercy at all.'

'But why? Why would you target my brother? What did he ever do to anyone?' This was not the time to mention that Alex had been a complete arsehole, wrapping my parents and his teachers around his little finger almost as if by magic.

'I don't know exactly, but it's something to do with your dad and Sebastian.' Just at that point, Sebastian drew in a long breath and then exhaled. His body was still. He had gone. Daniel's smirk returned. 'I guess we'll never know now will we?'

I looked up at him, still on my knees but the rage inside me was powerful, focusing my mind and giving an outlet to the unexpected grief that had welled up inside me as I had realised that Alex's death had not been an accident, and that I had been robbed of ever having a proper relationship with my brother. Somehow, it all made sense now. Everything my therapist had told me over the years, the rage, the guilt, the unfinished business, everything made sense and it was Sebastian and Daniel who took that away, who caused my parents such terrible grief, and left me unable to compete with a dead brother whom I could never live up to.

'I will kill you for this Daniel.' I have never threatened to kill anyone before, but this was not an idle threat. I could barely control the rage inside me but I knew that one way or another, it would end in violence. The impending arrival of my father's SIS team was no longer a factor in my plans.

'I will kill you, and I will take everything from you, just as you did to me.' Daniel stared at me, trying to figure out how serious I was and evidently he decided that there was at least some risk, as he pointed his weapon at me and gestured for me to get up. I rose slowly to my feet and met his gaze square on. He considered me for a few more seconds then pointed towards the door.

'Take me to my father Fin. Let's not make this any harder than it has to be.' I walk in silence, not glancing back at Sebastian's body and not attempting to get closer to Daniel. I will bide my time and strike only when I have a chance, when he's distracted.

We walk from the kitchen, through the hallway and into the sitting room, where we find Felix splayed out across a sofa, his limbs hanging down lifelessly.

'Dad!' Daniel pushes me forwards and circles around to be next his father, keeping his pistol pointed at me as he bends down to check Felix's breathing.

'He's alive, but only just. What did you do you bitch?'

'Me? I didn't do anything. This was your husband's work. He gave him a truth serum. I have no idea what he planned to do with him, but he made him tell me how he felt about me, and then dumped him in here.'

'Bastard,' muttered Daniel as he gently slapped his father's face, trying to wake him. 'What serum did he use? Was it sodium pentothal?' I nod and he curses again under his breath. 'We need to get him in the car. That shit is terminal if the dose is even slightly wrong. Help me with him.'

I step forward and take Felix's legs. He is not a small guy and he weighs a tonne.

'Don't think of trying anything. Once we get him in the car, I will let you go and you will never see me again. I'll dump him at A&E and disappear. This is over now; not how I had anticipated, but over nevertheless.' I stay silent, helping him to move Felix who clearly does need medical attention, but I am under no illusions that Daniel will just let me go. I know too much, and there is now way he can completely disappear. He needs to finish this if he is going to run, and I know full well that this includes getting rid of me. I pray silently to any Gods that might be listening, that the team will arrive soon. I don't have long, I'm unarmed and at just about every disadvantage, including being injured after Aubrey attacked me. I need my Dad to end this.