Page 81 of Border Control

“Sure. I'll take some footage of the interior of this thing.” Hefting his camera Terry heads for the barn.

“No you bloody well won't!” Ellen storms, following him, Floss snarling at her heels.

Rain spits from the heavens. Morgan snaps up an umbrella but doesn't put it between us. It puts him in an untouchable cocoon, leaving me in the cold.

I'm alone, just me and Morgan and his horrible smile, in the drizzle of the empty yard.

Until I spot Dom stalking from the machine shed. He's not subtle, he's enormous and purple, and he's marching with purpose. Something about the set of his shoulders makes me think he's on the warpath.

Fuck.

I grab Morgan's arm. “Come on, let's go for a walk and talk about the case.”

He wrenches his limb from my grasp. “I'm fine right here. This won't take long.”

I know I should be focusing on him, but Dom's getting closer, those huge fists like boulders.

“You're right, so how about a drive instead.”

Morgan frowns at me.

“Do you like cars?” I try brightly, pulling him towards my BMW, away from Dom's path, putting my baby between us and the angry alien.

‘Stop!’ I try sending to Dom, shoving it towards him.

But his pace is relentless. He's glaring at Morgan’s back, and any moment Morgan's going to see him.

If the guy would shut up, that is. “Your performance has been shockingly poor recently, and this is the final nail in the coffin,” he pants as we round my car.

If I don't get Morgan out of here, he'll be the one in a coffin. What did Dom teach me about the mind link to reach him? Do I need to be open or closed right now? Cold panic crawls between my shoulder blades.

I'm probably going to get written up, but Dom's going to kill someone if I can't make him stop.

“That's nice, Morgan, but we really need to talk about this later?—”

He splutters, “Nice? You're out of your mind. I'll be recommending to the firm that you're terminated, effective immediately.”

My mind goes blank. Just a scream from far away, as if behind several locked doors, slowly getting louder.

Fired. Fired?

“You can't fire me,” I point out, but my voice is muffled even to me.

He scoffs. “As a partner, my voice carries weight. You'll be on your arse before the end of the day.”

No. No, I can't be fired. The inquiry’s only a few weeks in, John or another solicitor might need to utilize my knowledge. I’ve worked on this for literal years, no one else knows as much as I do about the victims, their circumstances, what this means to them.

“You can’t do that,” I say, lungs refusing to draw breath. Accu-care, getting away with what they did, refusing to take accountability. Walking away. Because I wasn’t there to stop it.

‘Law-rah trouble risk help save.’Nevare’s jumble of thoughts crashes down on me.

‘Danger. Formation delta,’ Arik orders, voice muffled as if he’s very far away.

The crunch of gravel makes me look over toward the machine shed. Dom’s only a few feet from us, the purple of his eyes overtaken by a soulless glassy blue.

‘Scanning all mind waves,’Nevare says. The flood hits me all at once, Nevare’s power driving jagged shards of thought straight into my skull. A greedy grin, the glint of money stacked higher than the barn from Terry; a softer, wind-hardened worryfrom Ellen, wound around a purple-steel core. I gasp. Her bond with Ilia. Another image, from knee-height, wondering if I can get my teeth into Terry’s leg. Floss.

And then a hand clasped in mine. Opposite, the slick suits of Accu-care, all men, all their smiles sharp, triumphant. My lungs seize.