The Hegemony Network (The Eddie Hill Mystery Crime Adventures Book 2) by Paul Casella

Author:Paul Casella [Casella, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-09-23T05:00:00+00:00

28

It had been a long night. Each time Eddie dared look through a half-closed eye at Lucy, she was unblinkingly staring at the ceiling. He clock watched for an eternity. The luminous red numbers flickered to renew countless times. Just one more number, and I will be asleep. Just three more numbers. Yes, it will only take three number changes. All three numbers changed at once. Six-zero-zero. With his back to Lucy, Eddie said, “Would you like tea?”

The reverberation of a new sound on Eddie’s consciousness shattered the silence as Lucy said, “Yes.”

He pushed the covers to one side and climbed out. He smiled at his wife as he pulled the dressing gown on and tied the belt. She continued to stare at the ceiling as if challenging it to make its move. They shared general conversation, nothing in particular, while moving around each other — first, in the bathroom, then in the kitchen. The unspoken narrative was apparent. There was no reason to discuss the obvious — they had to ask the bank why this had happened and who had the authority to make the decision. Eddie was eating his last mouthful of toast when he heard his phone ping. He hesitated to tell Lucy what it said.

“Our mortgage payment has been refused.”

He was, however, bothered by Lucy’s calmness.

“What shall we do?”

“Well, we need to get down to the bank as soon as it opens, for starters. Then we need to—”

Bzzzt. Bzzzt. . . Bzzzt. Eddie looked around for the source. The home phone was ringing. Eddie walked to the handset and said, “Well, they haven’t cut this off yet. Mind you. It’s only seven-thirty.”

The call was short.

Eddie said, “That was Jamie. The same has happened to him. We need to get over to his and have a chat. Tell work you can’t come in today. We need to find out what’s going on. It must have something to do with the business. Maybe we’ve been hacked or something.”

As Jamie closed the door behind Eddie and Lucy, it was his turn to hear a phone ring. He went to answer and left them to walk to the kitchen. Eddie filled the kettle and grabbed three mugs from the cabinet. He turned to speak to Lucy, but at the same time, Jamie appeared in the doorway. His face was ashen. He seemed unstable on his feet. Eddie asked, “What is it? Is it, Other Jamie?”

“No, nothing like that. It was Ian. He said he thought we should know.”

“Know what?”

“It’s Paula Hickman,” Jamie’s gaze drifted to the floor. “She was found dead on the pavement outside her block last night. They think she fell from her balcony.”

Eddie grabbed the countertop in case he needed steadying himself. “Dead?”

“Yes, dead. And it’s worse. Not that it can be worse. Ian said it was because of what she did. He thinks it sounds suspicious. He said it was the” Jamie looked up at them, as if for the first time, “modus operandi of the Russians.

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