Page 50 of Reinventing Cato
He dropped back on the bed and Vigge joined him.
“You said you weren’t sure whether you wanted the job. Is that still true?”
“I don’t know. Part of me does, part of me doesn’t. But being threatened about taking it has pissed me off. If I don’t want it, then I’d like it to be my decision.”
“Who wouldn’t want you to have the job?”
Cato shrugged. “Other candidates? Someone who has a grudge against me? Someone I pipped to the post in some research project? A one-night-stand who didn’t want to be a one-night-stand?” He grimaced. “I told a lot of people, including you, that I had an interview with NASA. Look where showing off has got me. I need to learn to keep my mouth shut. How my father would love to hear me say that.”
Vigge reached out and ran his index finger over Cato’s lips. “I quite like your mouth open.”
Cato nipped his finger.
“Ouch, tiger. Maybe I don’t.”
“What should I do?” Cato whispered. “Should I tell the police? I mean, properly. Not just you. Oh God, does this count as telling the police? Will you have to write it up? Open a case or whatever it is you do?”
“I could report it as a third party if you want me to, but really you should go to the police yourself.”
“I don’t feel I can. The risk is too great.”
Vigge hesitated. “It could just be someone wanting to scare you.”
“They managed that.” Cato sagged. “I have some time. The NASA guys talked about another interview. Online. It could be weeks before they make an offer and that’s assuming they want me.”
“And you might not want them.”
“I won’t risk the safety of my family. Not for a job. Not for anything. But once I give way on this, what next? I know giving in to blackmail is the wrong thing to do, but this has made me unsettled and I’m rarely unsettled.”
“Screenshot the message in case it gets accidentally deleted. Send me a copy.”
“Okay.”
“Have you been in touch with your provider?”
Cato shook his head. “Don’t see the point. What can they do? I don’t hold out any hope of the call being traced. I don’t need to block the number, it no longer exists. Changingmine would be a pain in the arse and it doesn’t take away the fact that the threat is out there.”
“What’s your number?”
Vigge put the details in his phone, then called Cato’s before he took hold of his hand. “It’s almost certain that you know the person who sent this. It’ll be one of your friends or someone linked to that circle of friends, or a colleague, or maybe a member of your own family. Whoever sent it had to know your phone number, for a start. If it was someone you don’t know, who also wants the job, then how did they get your number?”
Cato sighed. “It wouldn’t be that difficult. I’m constantly giving talks, going to talks and my contact details get shared.”
“It’s unlikely money is the motive. So jealousy? They obviously intend to frighten and alarm you. Who fits? You need to make a list.”
“I’d like to say no one, but I think more people than I can count might be more accurate. If there hadn’t been that threat about someone in my family dying… Do you think I should warn them? Tell NASA?”
“I think you should wait. See if you get another message. The job’s not been offered and that does give you time, you’re right about that.”
Cato sagged against him. “I think I hoped you’d be able to wave some magic police wand.”
“What were you going to do if I hadn’t come?”
“I’d googled you. I was going to call every police station in Cambridgeshire and ask to speak to you. Then work my way through other counties in the south until I found you.” Cato paused. “And that was before I had the text message.”
Cato’s tentative smile was like an arrow in Vigge’s heart. Sweet and painful at the same time.
Cato wished Vigge would put his arm around him. Almost before he’d completed the thought, it was exactly what Vigge did.
