offering was insane, you know? I mean, a really massive amount. It would have set us up for life. The only problem was, to earn that money I had to do something … something illegal. Something pretty bad.’
Mike and Devon exchanged glances.
Gemma was right, Devon thought. This was her theory – that Danny had somehow got himself into some sort of serious trouble. Why didn’t we listen to her?
‘Go on,’ he said.
Danny looked from one of them to the other and then inhaled again and let the breath out slowly.
‘Look, I can’t tell you everything, I can’t name names or anything, it’s too dangerous. But I’ve spent my working life defending companies against online hacking and they were asking me to do the exact opposite. To hack into the system of a major company, and … well, in the simplest of terms, to basically move some money around. To steal it, essentially. A lot of money. I thought about it for a while, really thought about it. I mean, it was fraud, major league fraud, and if I was caught I knew I’d go down for years. It was a huge risk, but the money was so good. So feckin’ good. And so I said I’d do it. Just the once, take the money and be set for life, as I said. I was an eejit, I know that now. But how often does a chance like that come along, a chance to change your whole life? It was like winning the lottery. So I started the process. And then, I don’t know why, one day a few weeks later I suddenly came to my senses, just like that. I think it was Gemma, chatting to me about babies, about our future, one day. I wanted all that, wanted a family, and I suddenly realized it wasn’t the money that was important after all, it was her and our future together. I’d be throwing all that away if things went wrong, if I got caught. I’d ruin everything. So I got hold of the guy and told him I was pulling out of the job. Except, well it wasn’t that easy.’
He picked up his mug, swallowed a mouthful of tea. Then he smiled briefly, his dark brown eyes crinkling at the corners, before his expression became serious again.
‘I bet. How did he react?’ asked Devon.
‘He told me he’d kill me,’ he said simply.
He paused again, running a finger around the rim of his mug.
‘They said that if I didn’t do the job, they’d hunt me down and kill me. I knew too much, you see? I knew everything they were planning. And even though I promised, swore on my mother’s life that I’d never breathe a word to a living soul, that wasn’t enough. If I didn’t do the job, it would be curtains. They gave me a deadline – the end of January – and said I had to do the job by then or it would all be over. And that if I went to the police before that, they wouldn’t just kill me, they’d kill Gemma and my mum and my brother Liam, too. My brother. He wouldn’t hurt a fly, you know? Innocent as a five-year-old. I don’t even know how they knew about him, about my family, but they did, they knew everything. So I had no choice, did I? If I did the job, and got caught, my life would be over. If I didn’t, my life would be over too, and people I love would die alongside me. So I had no choice. I had to run, I had to disappear.’
‘Phew-eeeee.’ Mike let out a long, low whistle.
‘I know, right?’ Danny lifted his mug again, drank, then sat staring into the tea.
‘So, you made a plan, to make everyone think you were dead,’ said Devon.
Danny nodded.
‘Look, I’m not proud of it, OK? Especially in the light of all the trouble I’ve caused now. But at the time … well, I couldn’t think of a better way. If everyone thought I was dead, the threat would be over, wouldn’t it? So that’s how it all started. Call me stupid.’
‘Well, maybe not your finest idea. But no point on dwelling on that now,’ said Devon. ‘Tell us about it.’
Danny steepled his hands together, leaning his chin on his index fingers. He looked like a little boy about to explain his latest prank, Devon thought.
‘OK, here we go. I needed to disappear, overnight. And then move