Predator. Wilbur Smith

her bedside cabinet. She rubbed her eyes as she blearily made out Ronnie Bunter’s name on the screen. ‘Hey, Ronnie,’ she murmured, trying not to wake Cross. He stirred and for a moment she was worried, but then he grunted and rolled over, taking half the duvet with him as he fell back to sleep.

      ‘Hi, look, I’m sorry to be calling you now,’ Bunter was saying. ‘I guess it must be pretty early in England.’

      ‘Quarter to five in the morning.’

      ‘Oh, maybe I should call back later …’

      ‘No, it’s OK, I’m awake now. Hold on, I’m just going somewhere I can talk.’ Jo got out of bed and tiptoed across to her bathroom. She closed the door behind her, turned on the light, groaned at her pallid, un-made-up, early-morning face in the bathroom mirror and said, ‘So, how are you?’

      ‘Oh, you know, getting by.’

      Obviously, he wasn’t. ‘And how’s Betty?’ Jo asked.

      ‘Not so good,’ Bunter said sadly. ‘Her condition’s gotten a lot worse. That’s kind of why I called you.’

      Jo frowned, concerned as much by the exhaustion she could hear in her old boss’s voice as the news he was bringing her: ‘How do you mean?’

      ‘Well, I guess I’m going to have to take a step back, away from the firm, so I can spend more time with Betty, whatever time she has left …’

      ‘Oh, Ronnie, that’s such a beautiful thing to do,’ said Jo, ‘putting Betty first like that. God, I think you’ve got me shedding a tear!’

      She reached for a face towel and dabbed it against her eyes as Bunter said, ‘I guess that means that Brad will be taking over.’

      Jo forgot all about her tears as she absorbed the thought of such a radical, unexpected changing of the guard. ‘OK-ay-ay …’

      ‘You sound kinda sceptical about that idea.’

      ‘No, not at all, Brad’s a great attorney.’

      ‘But he’s not the right person, I get it. And I don’t necessarily disagree. Maybe I should make someone else senior partner …’

      ‘But, Ronnie, you can’t do that. I mean, this is a family business. Your daddy started it. You took it on. If Brad didn’t take over from you, that’s basically telling everyone in Texas law that you don’t think your boy is any good. Brad would never forgive you till the day he died. You’d lose him as a son. He has to get the job.’

      ‘Yeah, you’re right,’ said Bunter without much enthusiasm. ‘Maybe I’m just being old-fashioned. I guess the way Brad practises law is more in tune with the way the whole world is these days.’

      ‘I guess.’

      ‘But, Jo, there’s something else I have to tell you, and you’re not going to like it.’

      Jo was struck by an icy feeling of dread as she realized that whatever Bunter was about to tell her was the real reason he had called now, rather than waiting for a more sociable time of day. ‘Go ahead …’ she said.

      ‘Johnny Congo’s escaped. I just saw it on the TV news. Someone – they don’t know who just yet – ambushed the convoy taking him to Huntsville for the execution.’

      ‘Oh God, no …’ Jo leaned her back against the wall and slid slowly down till she came to rest on the marble tiles of the bathroom floor. She could hear the sound of footsteps outside the bathroom. Hector must have woken up. Jo held her head in one hand, her eyes screwed shut as she lowered her voice and asked, ‘What happened? Does anyone know where he is right now?’

      ‘No, they don’t even know for sure that he’s alive. But in the absence of a body, we have to assume he is.’

      Jo said nothing. Bunter broke the silence. ‘I’m so sorry, Jo, I know what a shock this must be to you.’

      Her voice was cracking as she said, ‘It’s my fault.’

      ‘No, don’t you go thinking that. How could you possibly be to blame for what happened today?’

      ‘Because it wouldn’t have happened if I’d let Heck kill Johnny, when he had the chance. He wanted to do it, but I said no.’

      ‘Of course you did. You believe in the rule of law, as you should.’

      ‘But what good is the rule of law if people like Johnny Congo can defy it, and get away with their crimes?’ Jo asked, feeling as though all her most cherished beliefs suddenly counted for nothing. ‘I was the one who wanted to play by the rules and now that monster is out there …’

      ‘Listen, Hector’s beaten Congo once, he can do it again. He’d never blame you, either. He’s a better man than that.’

      ‘He’d never blame me out loud, no. But deep down inside, he’ll know that he was right, and that Catherine Cayla’s in jeopardy because I wouldn’t let him trust his own instincts.’

      Jo was crying again now. She cursed under her breath, looked around for something to wipe her face and pulled some toilet paper from the roll as she heard Bunter saying, ‘Listen, Jo, I know how tough it must be for you right now, but sweetheart, take some advice from an old man who’s seen a lot in his time. Don’t rush into anything. Take your time to process what I’ve just told you, and give Hector time to do the same thing too. Believe me, things’ll work out better that way. You’ll be a lot stronger facing up to this as a couple than as two individuals.’

      Jo shook her head, as if Bunter could see her. ‘No, I can’t … I have to leave. Being with Heck is like living beneath a volcano. When the volcano’s quiet and the sun’s shining, life is wonderful. But you know that the volcano’s going to erupt some day, and when it does, your whole world will be destroyed. I thought I could deal with that, but now Congo’s free and I feel so scared … I can’t live like that any more.’

      At the very moment she was talking about leaving Cross, the one thing Jo suddenly wanted more than anything else in the world was to feel his arms around her and to lean her head against his chest. There was a pause before Bunter said, ‘Well, if that’s really how you feel, you’d better come on back to the firm. If you and Heck are meant to be together, you’ll find your way to each other again. But until you do, come back to Houston, back to the office. It’ll be good for you, and good for us too.’

      ‘But I already quit.’

      ‘Did you? I don’t recall getting a formal letter of resignation from you. And I damn sure never fired you.’

      ‘I guess not,’ Jo admitted. ‘But if you’re not going to be there, what am I going to do?’

      She got up and examined herself in the mirror again. Her complexion still looked just as pale as it had before and her hair was a mess, but now she had red, watery eyes as well. She resolved that she wasn’t going to leave the bathroom until she’d made herself look a hell of a lot more presentable. If she was going to leave Hector, she didn’t want him to remember her looking anything at all like this.

      ‘Be my eyes and ears,’ Bunter was saying. ‘The doc wants me to stay away as much as I can, but that’s going to be impossible unless I know for sure what’s going on.’

      ‘You want me to spy for you? I can’t see that being too popular.’

      ‘No, I don’t want you to spy for me. But you can represent me, like an ambassador, making my views known, and at the same time relaying back other people’s opinions to me. And of course, you can continue your work as a legal assistant. You’re damn good at the job, Jo. Folks’ll be glad to have you around.’

      ‘Thanks, Ronnie, I really appreciate that. And I guess I’m going to hold you to it, too. I’m coming home to Houston. I wish more than anything else in the world that I weren’t. But I’ve got to leave Hector …’ She gave a deep, despairing sigh. ‘And now I’ve got to find a way to tell