Damn Ratner for putting him in this situation! Why doesn’t he understand how serious it is? It’s been going on so long he probably thinks himself invincible. A third possibility also comes to mind, more alarming than the other two. Maybe Ratner understands all too well the gravity of it and is working it for his own ends. From the moment Cullen got promoted above him, Ratner’s resentment has festered like an open sore on an old dog. What if all this is part of an elaborate ploy to take Cullen down? Could Ratner be capable of such a thing? He’d ruin himself in the process but perhaps that would be a price he was prepared to pay in order to exact his revenge?

That can’t happen. Cullen cannot allow that to happen. Especially not now. Not with Veronica hell-bent on starting a family. A voice in his head says, go home, you’re tired and overwrought. Even if you do catch Ratner sneaking back from some early morning side hustle, no good will come of confronting him at home. But there’s another voice in his head, reaching up and out from the deep recesses of Cullen’s past. The closer he gets to Ratner’s house the louder it becomes until, turning into Ratner’s road, it has become a raw, red scream.

Cullen sails past the corner shop and pulls up beside Ratner’s driveway. His hands are shaking on the wheel. I must calm down, he thinks, or I’ll run the risk of making a fool of myself. He turns and checks the house. Ratner’s silver VW in the driveway. A light on in the porch, another in the hallway. All the upstairs curtains closed. He braces himself, takes a few calming breaths, but instead of feeling more resolute he experiences the heat draining out of him. I am so tired, he thinks. Perhaps a nap will help.

He wakes some time later, blinded and skewered to his seat. He blinks and turns into the light, which, he sees now, is coming from the headlights of the VW as it pulls out of Ratner’s drive. Befuddled with sleep, he checks his watch. He’s only been down for twenty minutes. It dawns on him that Ratner is on the move. In that instant the VW pulls forward and, fearing he’ll be seen, Cullen ducks and at the same time reaches for the ignition key. The VW turns and moves down the street. Cullen follows at a distance, pressing himself into the seat so that his face is in shadow.