Chapters (68)
As planned, two men were waiting for them in the car park. Neither was wielding an obvious weapon like the cut-down shotgun Granger had handed her, but she imagined that, like him, they were probably carrying concealed side arms. It made her feel a lot better. Her mood improved even more when she recognised one of them as Birendra.
‘Miss Julianne,’ said the young Gurkha. ‘I am sorry I did not get to talk with you at Mr Shah’s party. I had to leave early to supervise your arrangements here. We have swapped your room again, and myself and the other men will be keeping watch overnight. Mr Cooley has equipped you, I see?’
She found herself at a loss for a moment until she realised he was talking about Granger, the cab driver. And the shotgun he’d given her.
‘Oh yes,’ she replied. ‘All good.’
Birendra handed her a set of room keys and walked her over to a stairwell. She waved goodbye and thanks to Granger, even though, apparently, he would be hanging around. ‘No worries,’ he called back.
‘We’ve put you up on the second floor,’ said Birendra. ‘Fewer lines of attack than the ground-floor apartment you were in. I hope that is okay.’
She laid her hand on his shoulder and squeezed. ‘It’s perfect, thank you.’
The wharves still rumbled with the noise of heavy construction work. It would continue through the night, but her eyes were drooping, filled with sand, and Jules didn’t think she’d even notice. She promised herself that, come morning, she would find some way of making contact with the Rhino. For now, she could barely walk in a straight line.
It did not occur to her to ask Birendra how he’d gained access to her room to move her bags into the new lodgings. Perhaps a bribe to the manager? Perhaps a spot of standover. She didn’t care. When she was alone again, after he had done a final sweep of the new room and left her to rest, Jules forced herself to have a shower, washing away the grime and sweat of a long and terrible day. By the time she crawled into a tee-shirt and then into bed – having carefully placed the shottie, pointing away from her, on the bedside table – she was struggling to remain conscious. She fell into a deep sleep within seconds of laying her head down.