Jax tightened his grip, both with his legs and his arm, before rolling a quarter-turn to get his free arm access to the cavity under his shelf. Halim resumed his fight, attempting to kick, shake and bite his way out as Jax felt for the pills.

‘Shhhh,’ Jax whispered again. ‘It will be quick. Painless. I promise.’

Jax heard a metallic clink as he knocked into the mint-tin that contained his pills. He pulled it out and, one-handed, opened the flip-lid with his thumb. He applied a little more pressure, attempting to still Halim – one buck would be enough to send the pills all over the room – as he tipped the pills gently onto the floor.

The capsule Jax needed was red and yellow, but there were ten pills that colour and only two of the ten contained the heart-attack inducing and completely untraceable poison called oleander. He reached over and grabbed the closest red and yellow pill before lifting it into his line of sight. He struggled to focus amid a fresh fight from Halim, but managed a smile when he saw the little black letter on the pill casing was a D.

D for death.

Jax now needed to get the pill into Halim’s mouth without allowing him to scream. Holding the pill between his ring finger and his palm, Jax used his index finger and thumb to pincer Halim’s nostrils shut. He started fighting for air.

Halim was turning blue when Jax finally removed his hands from both his mouth and his nose. Halim gasped and gulped, not even noticing the pill go down his throat. Jax had thrown it down his pharynx as soon as he’d drawn his first desperate breath. Jax quickly shut Halim’s mouth again before he could scream. The rest happened fast: first Halim fighting, next Halim fitting, and then Halim dying.

Jax toyed with the idea of dragging Halim to the bathroom after finding his toiletry bag, but he was quick to dismiss the idea – the man was too heavy, the bathroom too far away, and the risk of being seen too high. Instead he left Halim where he was, putting the kettle next to his body after re-hiding his contraband and replacing the false front.

The guards wouldn’t be able to work out why Halim had been in Jax and Khalil’s room making himself a cup of tea when he had the heart attack, nor would they care. Jax had overheard Bashir telling Halim not to steal Jax’s phone, so he’d be angry that Halim had gone against his orders. He would also be happy that Jax had thought fast, removing the phone from Halim’s stiff hand and hiding it before alerting the guard. Halim was dead but the phone deal wasn’t.

Jax delivered the first two phones at the end of that week.

CHAPTER 36

Federal Highway, Collector, NSW, Australia