Chapter 4

Maleagant sighed, her breath creating a fine mist in front of her face. "I can't believe she let us out."

"What are you going to do?" Jonas asked. "We've done everything on that list. Harrison and Williams and the others are seeded. There's nothing else to do."

"Let's go see Klaas," she said, and began striding along the sidewalk in the dark, towards the rusting and bent gates of the cemetery.

Jonas matched her pace. "There's not going to be anything else. Not until tomorrow. When are you going to tell them?"

She said nothing, walking through the gates and onto the winding cobblestone path that parted the pale grass.

The Hekkers family crypt was situated at the far end of the graveyard, between two dead trees whose twisted branches reached out in the darkness, as if to grasp any traveller that dared venture near. The crypt itself was made of a grey stone, bleak and low against the ground, the statue of a crying angel hanging over it.

A small piece of paper was stuck on the heavy doors.

Jonas peeled it off and produced his phone, turning on the screen and pointing it at the note. "One more: Senator Jackson."

"That's not right," Maleagant said, taking the note from him. "This isn't supposed to come until Monday."

"Someone's in a hurry." Jonas switched on his phone's brilliant flashlight beam, and swept it around, illuminating the headstones and the empty spaces between here. "Let's get out of here."

Maleagant glanced at her watch. "It's only ten. He usually delivers after midnight, doesn't he?"

"Don't ask me. He might have put this here yesterday, for all we know. We didn't check then, did we?"

"I did."

"You're getting paranoid. Even then, he might have put it here this morning. This is why I told you to set up cameras."

She shook her head. "No, he'd know."

"You're just being paranoid. Tell Dirk or Val, and show them the first letter. They'll understand. I promise you, Holly."

"We don't know if-"

"For goodness' sake, we can tell them. He has no way of knowing, and they'll agree with our current plan."

"Then where did the second letter come from?"

Jonas paused.

"Tell me."

He was staring at the space between the headstones. "He's around here. I just saw someone duck behind that statue."

"What?"

"He's watching us." Jonas' hand went into his pistol in its shoulder strap. "Cover me." He started towards the rows of graves, gun raised.

Maleagant kept her own sidearm pointed through the trees.

A high-pitched sound began, raising itself in frequency until she could no longer hear it. A shudder washed over her, and her hand twitched. The barrel of her TT-30 swung to the left, to where Jonas.

Without even thinking, she pulled the trigger.

The next thing Marcel knew, a bag had been placed over his head, and a thick rope was wrapped around his neck. The night air met him again, striking the entirety of his body as he was tossed out of the helicopter.

In seconds, he had stopped moving.

Bishop pulled at the rope, dragging the body back into the helicopter and dumping it across from him. "One down," he said, "How'd I do?"

"Very good," the man on the other side said. "You know who's next, right?"

"I've memorised the list."

"Get her. We can't afford any loose ends."

"Tomorrow. I can't get to her today, but I know where she goes in the morning. Then we'll get her."

"Good." The connection cut itself.

"Oh my god…" Maleagant scrambled over to Jonas' prone body. He was clutching at the small red hole in his chest, using his grey blazer to stop the blood flow. "I'm sorry…"

"Did you get him?"

She opened her mouth and closed it, glancing back at the crypt doors. "No, I couldn't see him. Too dark. But he didn't shoot you."

"Then who did?"

"...I did."

"The fuck, Holly?" His brow was scrunched up. "This isn't time for training! We've almost got him!"

"No, I didn't mean to shoot you."

"Then why did you?!"

"I just...felt like I need to. I wanted to kill you," she realised, and fell back onto the grass. "I wanted to kill you."

Jonas crawled to his knees. "We have to go back. Dirk and Val can't find us here."

"You're right...but I don't want to shoot you again!"

"No choice, carry me back." He lifted an arm.

Maleagant slipped under his shoulder, standing up and hefting him with her. "Damn, you're heavy."

Jonas' gun pressed against her chest. "Don't worry, I'm not going to pull the trigger if you don't try to kill me."

She nodded, and made her way back onto the sidewalk and across the street to one of the parked cars. Her elbow easily smashed through the driver's window, and she flicked the locks off.

Jonas was laid across the backseat, her gun still pointing at Holly as she took the wheel in her hands. "Call Dirk and Val and tell them I'm injured. Don't say you did it, or they'll freak out. Drive."

Maleagant put her foot on the accelerator, steering with one hand, while the other went to the buttons on her spectacles. "Dirk, Jonas got shot."

"What? Who?"

"I don't know. We're heading back there right now."

"I'll get Doctor Estok ready for surgery. Did you at least get a glimpse at who fired?"

"I did," she said, glancing at herself in the rearview mirror. "I'm going to step on it - see you later!" She cut the connection.

"I've a theory," Jonas said.

"Yeah?" She screeched around the corner, the back end of their car almost smacking a convertible.

"Same thing as V-day. Increases aggression and switches off inhibitions, right? Sounds exactly like what you described."

"Can you put the gun down now?"

"It might not be that. Where's the note?"

Maleagant tossed the piece of scrunched-up paper at him. "Don't let them see that."

"They deserve to know."

"Not yet," she whispered. "When we find out who put it there, then I'll tell them."

Jonas said nothing.

She tore down the stretch, jerk in to a stop just in front of their house. The door opened with single flick, to Caradoc and Estok waiting in front of the raised garage shutter.

Maleagant dropped to her knees on the grass in front of them, tossing her pistol away. "I lied."

Caradoc raised an eyebrow.

"I was the one who shot him."

"Sir."

Tahal tore his gaze away from the Mona Lisa replica on his bedroom wall, and looked at the guard who poked his head in through the doorway.

"The prison Marcel was in was attacked two hours ago."

"Is he dead?"

"Yes, sir. Our team found the body floating in the river. We secured it before the police could."

"Cause of death?"

"Broken neck, sir. From the marks, he was hanged and then dropped into the water."

"Kingsman?"

"Doesn't match their M.O., sir. And they have no reason to wait a year before killing him. The Council's invited you to sit with them."

"I'm going. You think it's plausible that he had some crucial information and his kidnapper extracted it from him?"

"Very likely, sir."

"It's not the others?"

"The taps you installed suggest nothing. This was done by an outsider, not someone in the Council."

He pursed his lips. "And Diana. Found her yet?"

"I'm afraid not, sir. It's likely she's using a fake ID. One we don't know about."

Tahal turned back to the painting. "Report any updates to me."

"Understood, sir." The man backed out of his room, quietly shutting the door.

Tahal clenched his fists.

Maleagant found herself in a white padded cell, identical to the one they had put Diana in. The only difference was she didn't have a straitjacket on, but her blazer, shoes, watch and other equipment were missing.

The back of her neck burned. Well, not the entire back of her neck, just a little area to the right. She raised her fingers, and traced the line of a scar down a short distance.

With a hiss, the door to her cell unsealed, and Gawain stepped in, pistol in hand. It was pointed down at the ground. "Feeling better?"

"What's this?" She scratched lightly at the scar.

"Jonas told me you said you felt a sudden need to kill him. Like the influence of Valentine's signal. So we put a chip in you to counteract any further effects."

"Wait, you didn't protect from Valentine's signal before? That's just shitty planning, isn't it?"

"We did ward against it. We took over and reconfigured his satellites to broadcast a counter-signal instead."

"Except it worked again today."

"Exactly. Oberon is working on that."

"Where'd you get the chips so quickly?"

"Remember Antoine? We cut it out and Oberon replicated it for you. There are two theories right now: either they've modified the signal, or short-range isn't preventable with our satellites. Whatever the cause, it's a good thing to have that."

"It...it won't explode, won't it?"

"Oberon removed that component."

Maleagant sighed. "I'm guessing I'm staying in here until you guys do this or that or whatever."

"We'll let you out after Arthur says so," Gawain said. "Don't worry, Holly, you didn't do anything wrong." She turned to leave.

"Wait."

Gawain spun back to face her.

"What if it isn't Valentine's signal? What if...I don't know, but if I'm really going crazy or something then maybe you should just kill me."

"You're not crazy, Holly. But if you're a sleeper or something, in a way that you don't even realise it, then...I'll be happy to do the honours."

She said nothing.

Gawain pulled the door closed, but a hand shot out and grabbed it edge.

Jonas stepped into the room, a bandage wrapped around his right shoulder. "Give me a moment, will you?"

Gawain nodded, and slipped outside.

Maleagant watched as the door was closed and re-sealed, and Jonas walked behind her. "I didn't tell them."

"I know."

"This is going to get us killed. First we trust Diana, and now we're going to keep tagging people."

"Hey, you agreed to work with Diana."

"Only because it seemed like a good idea at the time. And now we've just found out that the signal that can make us kill each other still works."

"We don't know that."

He shook his head. "Whatever...I forgive you. You weren't yourself when you shot me. I'll give you a week, then I'll tell them about the letter."

"I might be stuck here for a week."

"That's all I'm giving you. Find out what how that letter got there, and if it's safe, we can tell them together."

Maleagant nodded.