six months before it’s back to full strength. But hopefully I can go on some missions before then.’
Ning tripped on James’ dirty running gear as Kerry stood up to kiss her on the cheek. ‘Congrats!’ Ning said. ‘Show us the ring.’
‘Ring?’ Ryan said.
‘How did you know?’ Kerry asked, as she showed off her engagement finger. ‘It’s supposed to be under wraps.’
Ning shrugged. ‘You know campus gossip. I think everyone knows.’
‘Knows what?’ Ryan asked.
‘James popped the question,’ Ning said. ‘How can you not know that?’
Ryan shrugged. ‘That’s girly gossip. So when’s the baby due?’
‘Oh you’re funny, Ryan,’ James said. ‘How about you sit your arse on my sofa before I kick it?’
‘I would if it wasn’t covered in porno mags and dirty clothes,’ Ryan answered.
‘He’d better improve his personal habits if he thinks he’s gonna marry me,’ Kerry said.
‘Have you set the day?’ Ning asked, as she dropped on to the sofa next to Kerry.
‘It won’t be for a good while,’ Kerry said.
‘It’s really because we’re living apart,’ James explained. ‘I’m working here, she’s still studying in America.’
‘We’ve been going out since I was twelve, on and off,’ Kerry said, as she smiled at James. ‘He said it’s time we really committed to each other. Long-distance relationships are hard, but this one’s worth fighting for.’
‘Now where’s this bloody preview disk?’ James asked.
‘I don’t know how you can live in this squalor,’ Kerry said. ‘You must waste half the day just trying to find stuff.’
‘I know where things are, as long as people don’t keep moving them,’ James said.
After a couple of minutes, James worked out that the disk he was looking for had been in his DVD player all along and pressed play.
‘So this is a preview of a BBC Panorama programme that’s going out next Tuesday,’ James said. ‘It’s all about the Crewdsons, The Hangout and the whole scandal.’
‘The one I so brilliantly uncovered,’ Ryan said, as James realised there was no room on the sofa and wheeled the office chair over from his desk.
‘If your head gets any bigger, Ryan, you won’t get it through the door,’ Ning said.
‘You and Ning should totally get it on,’ James said.
Kerry nodded in agreement. ‘There’s definitely chemistry between you two.’
Ning scoffed. ‘He’s got his psycho girlfriend Grace, and I’ve got more sense.’
‘Does Hagar get mentioned in this documentary?’ Ryan asked, keen to change the subject.
James shook his head. ‘Hagar seemed like the big cheese, but in the end he was just one of fifty street operators who sold gear for the Crewdsons. Fay and Ning trashed Hagar’s grow house and his supply of coke and heroin went down the pan. One of the cops told me that Eli’s still limping along, but Hagar’s vanished.’
‘I don’t suppose he’s short of a few quid, mind,’ Ning said.
‘I still can’t believe that Barry guy was a drug kingpin,’ Ryan said. ‘Clarks shoes, ginger beard. He just seemed like a science teacher, or some other massive knob.’
‘Isn’t that exactly why the Crewdsons got away with it for so long?’ Kerry asked.
‘All right, it’s playing,’ James said, as he reached over the back of the sofa and grabbed a handful of popcorn. ‘Everyone shut the hell up.’
*
Fay Hoyt gripped Warren around the waist as their bicycle came to a halt under a huge oak. She grabbed four neatly folded bath towels out of a saddlebag and cradled them in her arm as she gave Warren a long kiss on the lips.
‘The nurse look is sexy,’ Warren said, as he admired breasts packed inside a crisp white polo shirt, which went along with navy trousers and new white pumps.
‘Kinky,’ Fay teased, as she cradled the back of Warren’s neck and blew gently inside his ear. ‘I love you.’
‘Stay on the bike then,’ Warren said. ‘We’ll just keep on riding.’
‘Nah,’ Fay said, giving a slight smile as she took a single step backwards. ‘I’ll be fifteen minutes, tops.’
Fay looked back and blew a kiss as she started down a footpath between tall trees. She’d expected to feel more nervous, but low sun cutting through branches and golden leaves crunching underfoot gave her a sense of calm.
Alessandro’s Health Resort nestled deep in woodland. A huge two-storey cabin, clad in Douglas fir beams, with steam rising off hot tubs on guest balconies and a car park stuffed with very expensive metal.
Fay slid a magnetic pass through a lock on a side door. For eight hundred pounds a night, the guests walked on marble and thick carpet, but Fay found herself in