Sleep, food, Danya, Mimi, Blaire, home, Jules,Jules,Jules…
‘Mr Lachlan?Sir?’
He opens his eyes, blinks hard.
Paola is standing in front of him.‘Huh?’
‘You were asleep on your feet,’ she tells him quietly.‘Eat some cheese.’
‘I will, thank you.’Once he gets eyes on Jules, confirms he’s fine, Lachlan then scans around for a silver platter of something with cheese on it, but they stopped serving food a while ago.
He’ll need to go to the kitchen.
It’s that or pass out.
He spies one of the two security units and pulls him aside.
‘I’ll be gone for two minutes,’ he tells the man.‘Are you capable of maintaining safety for two minutes?’
The man scoffs.‘I don’t answer to you.’
‘Yes or no?’
‘Yes.Now fuck off.’
The kitchens are winding down for the night, but a few people remain for whatever is needed or wanted later.There’s a platter of all different kinds of cheese in the fridge.Lachlan helps himself, washes it down with a sugary fruit drink and then a full glass of water.He takes a fork with him, slips it into his pocket planning to prong his thigh if he feels drowsy again.
He was headed to check the perimeter when he hearsvoicesnearby.
Lachlan creeps closer like he did with Whitlock and Kessler only this time it’s the Delacroix twins and Richard Vale.
He stays perfectly still, breathing slow and low.
‘…for years, and onlynowhe’s finally listening to me?!’Richard Vale complains, giving a protracted sniff.Cocaine for sure.‘He’s been blind forso longabout his “darling Mikki”.Haven’t we all warned him?’
‘Alistair has a blind spot for him, but it’s the same for her,’ Madeline agrees.
‘They’re disgustingly involved,’ Vale declares.
‘Meaning what?’Prescott asks.
‘No, not like… not like that, of course.I just mean his inability to assess allegiance.His own nostalgia for thegood old daysweakens him.’
‘You ought not to let him hear you say such a thing, Dicky.’
‘I would hardly say it to his face, but we all know it’s true.For years I have tried to bend his ear to the concept of Mikhail playing dual sides.He’s ignored me entirely until now.’
‘So it wasyouwho convinced him Mikhail is up to something?’
‘Well, no, but I was the one saying it for years.’
‘Yes, but it came from you wishingyouwere Mikhail, not any intelligent data of credible threat,’ she giggles.‘Anyway, how do you know for sure?Alistair is always playing more than one person at more than one game.’
‘Because Alistair told Kessler to watch himandRoman.’
‘That’s because Roman is too close to the girl.’
‘Itisa shame about the age gap,’ Prescott sighs.
