Janux noticed Curtis seemed as calm as ever while she herself was terrified. He was always completely unruffled when it came to doing anything risky. “I suppose we’d better go over there then and try to get inside.” Janux made her mind go back to the night before when their passion had been at its most intense.
“Let’s get it done before they decide to return home,” Curtis stated in a matter-of-fact tone.
They both put on their gloves to prevent any incriminating fingerprints and set off across the road.
Within a few minutes, Curtis had got the bathroom window open. He’d had to resort to using a pocket-knife he carried everywhere with him.
“I want you to get inside the house, Trainee Assistant, and open one of the doors. Here, stand on this box.”
Janux found she was slim enough to squeeze through the old-fashioned sash-window, which Curtis had managed to push up just the right amount. She trembled, not knowing if there was a dog, or if anyone else might be in the house.
Once inside the bathroom, Janux took in her surroundings. There was a shower, basin and toilet, all of which seemed in need of a good clean. She tiptoed out into the hallway and went straight to the front door, which had a Yale lock. This undid straight away and Curtis came in, shutting the door quietly behind him.
“Let’s stay together,” he said. “We’ll start with the bedrooms.”
After a quick survey they saw it was a two-bedroom house with a study, which also contained a bed – probably for The Controller. Curtis signalled for Janux to start searching in the desk drawers while he inspected the insides of a medium-sized suitcase that rested on a chair at the foot of the bed.
Janux opened the top drawer of the desk and rifled inside. At the back was a small address book. She saw the names and addresses of the so-called aberrations listed, including her own. Under L the name Lodax and her address were also written, followed by a note saying ‘see D’. Upon turning to the letter D she saw the name Doxal Frurster, under which was an address in Dublin, Ireland. In a flash she understood that Doxal was an anagram of Lodax, slipped the address book into her pocket and continued searching.
“What have we here?” Curtis said, holding up a leather-covered notebook. “Looks like a list of all the employees of The Controller and how they earn their money.”
He began reading: “$5,000 for each killing of an aberration. The termination to be done in whichever way suits the killer. The ancient Ryxin way of plunging a knife into the beating heart of the victim is no longer compulsory, although preferred in order to get the message out there that these transgressors are never to be tolerated in any part of the galaxy. This is in keeping with the law of King Dymon 3rd – the last ruler of planet Ryxin before it died. $1,000 for each discovery of a new aberration. $500 for a severe wounding from an attempted killing which incapacitates an aberration. Ordinary wages $150 per week, providing the employee can prove he or she is making a concerted effort to eliminate anyone on the list. Failure to prove this means no wages will be paid that week.”
“I’ve found an address book,” Janux said.
“Good, take it with you. There’s a list of employees here, including one called Doxal Frurster. Have you heard of him?” Curtis asked.
“That’s a woman’s name, sir. I believe it’s an anagram of Lodax and is also in the address book with a Dublin address.”
“If you’re right that could mean she’s in this up to her neck. Keep looking, Trainee Assistant. We’d better get a move on.”
Janux searched the other desk drawers and looked all around the room as she waited for Curtis to finish with the suitcase. He tried to pocket the leather bound notebook but it was too large so tucked it into his belt then signalled her to follow him into the first bedroom.
“This room’s like a tip,” Curtis said as he opened the top drawer of the bedside table and after much rummaging came up with nothing. Janux was hunting in the pockets of several jackets hanging in the wardrobe. All she found was an envelope addressed to Spryz Frurster with an Irish stamp on it. She slipped that into her pocket too.
“Come on,” Curtis whispered urgently. “I think I heard something.”
Suddenly there was a loud knocking on the front door. They stood frozen to the spot and didn’t move. The knocking started again, even louder. Then a voice called, “Dry-cleaning for Mr Legox. Anyone home?”
After a few minutes they heard footsteps going back down the steps.
“We’d better go,” Curtis said, and they opened the front door carefully, inspecting the driveway. There was no one in sight, but tucked into the screen door was a dry-cleaner’s card.
CHAPTER 29
Janux dreaded being asked to write up a report on the day’s proceedings. As soon as they arrived home she went to the spare bedroom which also served as her study and threw herself down on the bed. She was exhausted. They’d been having late nights and rising early every morning, and she’d spent every spare minute typing up her reports and then going over them in great detail with Curtis.
Last night had almost ended in tears when she was attempting to explain exactly why she wanted her pistol back.
“For protection, of course,” she’d almost shouted.
“You could end up killing someone,” Curtis had said.
“I know that, but it could save me from being killed,” she’d countered. “Please try and understand how I feel. I’m scared as hell.”
Curtis had hesitated. “Sorry, darling, I didn’t realise how bad it’s been for you.”
Now Janux had had enough. If someone was going to be paid $5,000 to kill her, she definitely had something to worry about. Added to that was the way Curtis had been going to leave her on her own last night without even thinking of the danger she could’ve been in - and she wouldn’t have had her pistol to protect herself. It was only because she’d protested that Curtis had second thoughts. But why couldn’t he have seen that for himself? She could feel the tears coming to her eyes.
Janux awoke to a banging sound. She had got into bed fully clothed and gone into a deep sleep almost instantly.
“Janux, are you all right?” Curtis was calling out.
Then she remembered she’d locked the bedroom door. “Just a minute,” she called back. She got out of bed, still feeling groggy, turned the key and let Curtis in.
“You had me worried, Janux,” he said, coming over and sitting down on the side of the bed after Janux had climbed back in. “Why didn’t you tell me you needed to rest?”
“I want to go and get my pistol,” Janux said, knowing she sounded petulant and probably selfish but she didn’t care.
“We’re going to your bach soon,” he said. “That’s what I want to discuss with you. You see, I want to draw the killers to Chamonix Beach. Don’t worry, once they think you’re there alone they’ll be after you – I’m convinced of that.”
“You mean set me up as a target?” Janux said, her heart sinking.
“Yes, that’s the only way we can get them to show themselves. But I won’t do it unless you agree. And let me assure you – you will not be alone. Jack and I will be there to make sure no harm comes to you. I can also ask Eurwyn to come so that you can tell us what’s happening without the killers being able to intercept the messages. Then, on behalf of the Ryxin Justice Department, we will arrest them. I’ve already told the RJD about my plan and they approve. The welfare of Ryxin women is very high on their priority list, believe me.”
Janux tried to picture herself at the bach, climbing up to get her pistol from out of the manhole. She’d have to do that quickly, before the killers got there. But once she had that – regardless of what happened next – she’d at least have a way of defending herself.
Curtis waited and saw that Janux was weighing up the pros and cons. She had every right to be afraid of these people. They were ruthless, merciless killers. And The Controller was not going to leave Muritai Island until Janux and the other women were dead. These people never gave up until t
he job was done.
“I’ll do it,” Janux said, flopping back on the bed and sighing.
“Good on you, darling.” Curtis leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “We’ll work out the full plan first thing in the morning. Now go back to sleep.”
Baxy had driven Eurwyn back to the Ryxin Women’s Refuge after their night celebrating. Her husband was away for another week and Baxy assured her he would be around the next day to see how she was. Meanwhile he’d do some spying on her behalf and do all he could to protect her. He felt more in love with Eurwyn than he did Lodax, and in fact found he wasn’t even missing Lodax. After checking up on Sly, who was snoring loudly, Baxy went straight to bed and only woke up when he heard his name being called.
It was Sly, shouting angrily from his bedroom. “Baxy, you fool, hurry up and get in here. You’ve forgotten to cook my breakfast, boy. Baxy, Baxeeee.”
Baxy dragged himself out of bed feeling groggy and nauseous. “Coming, master, coming,” he called, having pulled on his trousers followed by a crumpled tee-shirt. He saw that it was already 9.00 a.m. and he usually had Sly’s breakfast ready for him by eight o’clock.
When he entered the room he was surprised to see Sly smiling at him. “I know why you’re tired and slept in, boy. I know,” he said, his smile growing wider.
“You do?” Baxy answered, feeling confused. How could Sly know he’d been drinking at the pub with a woman he was supposed to be eliminating?
“You’ve done it, haven’t you, boy? Slit Janux Lennan’s throat? I can see it in your eyes.”
Baxy shuddered inwardly. He knew he wasn’t made of that kind of stuff anymore. He used to fantasise about raping Janux, but that was before he’
d met Eurwyn. She had completely taken over his heart now. “Not yet, master,” he said, “I’m preparing the way. It won’t be long now.”
Sly’s face looked suddenly crinkled and animal-like as he bared his nicotine-stained teeth in a vicious snarl. “If you don’t do it soon we’ll be broke, boy. Have you ever thought of that? Broke. She’s worth $5,000 dead and nothing alive. Get it? Now make my breakfast and do it quick. You’re going off the rails, Baxy, and you need to get your act sorted.”
“Yes, dear master,” he replied weakly and bowed before leaving the room. A vision of his father dragging him out to the dog-kennel flashed before his eyes. He knew he’d have to do something soon or the master would no longer tolerate him and then he’d have nowhere to live.
Curtis was up by 5 a.m. and crouched before his laptop in the study, typing out plans for a sting to lure the pure-blood killers to Chamonix Beach.
He contacted the Ryxin Justice Department again and asked them to be stationed nearby when the time came for those responsible to be arrested. The head of security instructed Curtis to ensure he had proof of guilt so that when the perpetrators came before the committee of six they’d have no avenue of escape.
The Ryxin PI handbook gave him instructions on how to install a hidden camera. He’d put in an urgent order to buy two of these devices from the bureau and they were to arrive by courier the following morning.
For the main lounge room of Janux’s bach he’d chosen the wall-clock hidden camera, motion-activated with a built-in DVR. For the kitchen area he’d asked for an air-freshener hidden camera, also motion-activated and with built-in DVR. Once he’d installed them and tested the equipment, they could put the plan into action.
The rest of the day was spent going over everything with Janux. He explained that once the cameras had arrived next morning, Jack was going to accompany him to the bach and help him to install and test them. Then in the afternoon the sting operation would begin.
Ixola was to make it known to everyone, including Baxy, that she and Eurwyn were holed-up at the Ryxin Women’s Refuge. While the truth was that Eurwyn had been persuaded to accompany Curtis and Jack so that Janux could send messages to her alone and she could pass on the information to the men, letting them know when to enter the bach. She was told to tell no one of her involvement, not even Baxy.
At 3 p.m. Curtis, Jack and Eurwyn were to drive to the end of Ngahere Road, hide the Fiat behind some trees there and walk through the native bush until they reached the road to Chamonix Beach. Curtis worked out the trip would take them an hour, so at 3.45 p.m. Janux was to travel by scooter to the bach, arriving approximately the same time Curtis, Jack and Eurwyn did.
“Remember, Janux, when you get to the bach leave your scooter where it is clearly visible. We’ll be hiding in the shed only a short distance away. And don’t forget your peppermints.”
Sure, the pure-bloods wouldn’t be able to levitate her if the smell of peppermints surrounded her, but there were other ways to kill her and collect the $5,000. Would it be all three of them, or only two so they got a greater share of the profits? She and Curtis still weren’t sure who the killer really was. Only that they were soon going to find out.
With Eurwyn hidden nearby, Janux felt a sense of comfort in that Eurwyn alone would pick up her messages. But she also knew her life had never before been in so much danger. As far as the pure-bloods knew, she was now the only known one at large and they thought it was highly likely The Controller wanted to get back to Ireland. Perhaps he hadn’t anticipated the job of elimination was going to take this long. Or was it more mercenary than that? Was he going to miss out on a bonus from his boss if they weren’t all killed within a stated time frame?
Janux’s imagination was running wild. What if they decided to kill her before she got to the bach? Maybe knock her off the scooter and make it look like an accident? She already knew from the Cliffside Drive notebook that The Controller didn’t care how the women were killed though Curtis seemed to think the killers preferred the traditional way – a knife plunged into the victim’s beating heart. He believed they wanted it known the victims had been purposely chosen. But Janux didn’t think the killers really cared as long as the women were dead and they could stand over them, feeling some sort of Ryxin power coursing through their perverse, cold-blooded veins.
Finally the afternoon came. The cameras had been installed and tested and now they must act.
After Curtis left to pick up Eurwyn and Jack and make their way to the bach on foot, Janux went straight to the garage. She had already ensured the scooter had a full tank of petrol. Curtis was going to send her a message when they were about twenty minutes away from Chamonix Beach and then she was to set off.
Finally at 3.40 p.m. Curtis sent the message and Janux, with her pack full of all the PI gear she could muster, set off for her beloved bach. She kept looking in her rear-view mirror and checking the traffic coming towards her or passing her but didn’t notice anything strange.
Baxy had been waiting a long time for this moment. He’d parked a short distance away from Curtis’s home overlooking Tauiwi Bay, his jeep hidden behind a large clump of flax bushes. At last he saw the target leaving the safety of her home. He knew where she’d be heading. He also knew she now trusted him. Well, she was about to get a big surprise. He relished the thought of scaring Janux and seeing her on her knees – begging to be spared.
He tried not to think too much about the act of killing her. No doubt when the time came he could do it all right. Though Sly had changed his mind about how Baxy was to kill Janux. Apparently slitting someone’s throat wasn’t the way The Controller wanted it done. Sly had made a point of telling him to follow what the others had done and plunge the knife straight into her heart.
Baxy laughed loudly at the thought of actually doing it. His laugh bordered on maniacal while he started the jeep’s engine and began to follow Janux from a long way back. This time he didn’t want to scare her out of going there.
As he drove Baxy hummed to himself and allowed some traffic to get between him and the target so she wouldn’t become suspicious. What he didn’t notice was a red four-wheel-drive SUV that pulled out onto the road a little way behind him with three men sitting inside, intent on going the same way as him.
Curtis, Jack and Eurwyn were almost at Chamonix Beach now. They had walked through the expanse of native wood at the end of Ngahere Road and tramped northwards, keeping away from the road and the beach. Both were too exposed. However there were plenty of straggly bushes on the land side of the road and they kept to this, finally seeing the bach in the distance. So far they’d heard no motor vehicles approaching.
Curtis inserted the key in the rusty padlock in the shed door.
“It won’t turn,” he said, cursing silently and straining to hear the sound of Janux’s scooter.
“Here, try some of this.” Jack brought out a tube of antibiotic ointment that was part of his pocket first aid kit. “It might be greasy enough to loosen the lock.”
Curtis covered the key in ointment and tried again. He had to work the key and jiggle it around before he finally heard a click and the padlock opened. The shed was dark but had a dirty window in the side facing the road. He went over and looked out. From here he could only see a section of the road, enough to spot any vehicle arriving.
After closing the door after them and bringing the padlock inside, they sat down in the gloom and waited. Curtis had a pistol of his own, which he’d been able to buy after qualifying as a PI. The Ryxin Private Investigation Bureau kept a store of the recommended brand for their qualified PIs to buy off them and Curtis had bought his, a Glock 17, that way. Janux had inherited her pistol from Roscoe, who must’ve bought it on the black market.
Janux had the scooter racing along at full throttle and had to be careful on the last two kilometres as the road was unsealed. She didn’t want to come a cropper from losing control in the loose gravel.
She knew there was at least one vehicle following her although she hadn’t seen it, and knew she was right when she saw a cloud of dust coming behind her. Whoever it was kept their distance so they never actually came into Janux’s view. Then upon seeing her bach she immediately sent a brief message to Eurwyn to say she was arriving.
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