Page 136 of Tell No One
“No, thank you. I’ll wrap up some of this for you to take with you.”
“That’s so kind. Thank you.”
Tag followed Delaney into the next room and closed the door. A tall grey-haired man stared at him with what looked like amazement.
“What did you do to my secretary?”
“Nothing.” Tag blinked.
The man held out his hand. “I’m Henry King-Smith. It’s good to meet you, Tag.”
Tag shook his hand.
“Take a seat, both of you.”
They sat down.
Henry stared at him. “I wanted to see you in person, to thank you. You’re a remarkable young man. Very few people would have been able to do what you did, to cope with what you had to endure.”
“Yeah, he is a bit of a grump.” Tag smiled at Delaney but he didn’t smile back.
Henry chuckled. “You went above and beyond.”
“You didn’t give him much choice, did you?” Delaney said.
Tag put his hand on Delaney’s sleeve and he jerked his arm away.Shit, shouldn’t I have touched him?Tag sat on his fingers.
“Is everything sorted now?” Tag asked. “Will I have to go to court?”
“Almost everyone involved has been bending over backwards to blame anyone other than themselves. But eventually those who are faced with life in prison have cooperated and pleaded guilty in order to reduce the length of their sentences. Their money can’t save them from prison. Their reputations are ruined. Their partners will likely divorce them. Their children will no longer speak to them. Yet I think death would have been a more suitable punishment.”
“How did those people get to be like that?” Tag asked. “What made them think it was okay to hunt a human being?”
“Don’t think of them as like you and me,” Henry said. “They might appear to have normal jobs, wives and families. They might have dogs and cats that they profess to love. But they’re monsters.”
“But how did it even start?” Tag gulped. “Whose idea was it?”
“Norbury claims it was Feely’s and vice versa.” Henry shrugged. “A way to earn a lot of money. A chance remark on a hunt for big game and suddenly the pair had found a market. Bad people are out there. Fortunately for us, they are in the minority and it’s their bad luck if we stumble across them. There’s a lot goes on inside the deep web that we’re not aware of. Websites that aren’t indexed by web search engines are hard to find but we had a hint that Norbury was up to something. And when Ahsan disappeared, we were concerned he might end up being hunted.”
“We nearly died,” Tag said quietly.
“Your quick thinking saved Ahsan. I’m only sorry that you had to go through so much, including Delaney shooting you. I’m sure…”
Henry carried on talking but Tag had stopped listening. He could feel Delaney coiling like a spring. Delaney had shot him?What the hell?
“…and I’m glad you two are still friends,” Henry said.
“We are.” Tag spoke before Delaney could, though he wasn’t sure they were friends, or had ever been friends. Why hadn’t Delaney told him? He hadn’t meant to shoot him, obviously. So what had happened? Was that why he’d been so…off?Oh God, of course it is.
“We’ve done two things of which I hope you’ll approve,” Henry said. “The first is to put fifty thousand pounds in your bank account. The second is that your criminal record has been expunged. Not something that can usually be made to happen but an exception was made in view of the role you played in this operation.”
Tag stopped thinking about Delaney shooting him. “Does that mean if I’m asked if I have a criminal record, I can say no?”
Henry nodded. “I had a look at your case. I was surprised they took the word of your sister and brother over yours. Your parents seemed unnaturally keen for you to take the blame. Your lawyer didn’t do a good job.”
“He told me I was lucky I hadn’t been charged with murder because of Louise’s old injuries,” Tag whispered. “And…”
“And what?” Henry asked.
