Out of Sight Out of Mind by Evonne Wareham

subject A going to get lucky?’
    ‘It’s to be hoped so.’
    ‘Anything we can do, to help it along?’
    ‘No.’ Calver shook his head, eyes hooded. ‘But there’s every chance. Propinquity is a great aphrodisiac.’
    ‘Hmm.’ The other man ran a finger over the file. ‘You have a tail on them?’
    ‘Not yet.’
    ‘No bugs and no tail? How the fuck d’you expect to know what’s going on?’
    ‘It only needs the lightest of surveillance at present, sir. Trust me on this one. Anything more might attract attention. Remember who we’re dealing with. This way we have capacity to increase, should it become necessary.’
    ‘Plenty, as you seem to be doing fuck all at the moment.’
    ‘Everything is going according to plan, sir.’
    ‘You’re not watching and you’re not listening, but everything is going according to plan. Just dandy.’
    ‘It’s all in there.’ Calver nodded to the file.
    ‘Précis for me. How do we know the contact has been made?’
    ‘We know.’ There was satisfaction in Calver’s voice. ‘This morning Madison Albi began to trawl the Internet for information on amnesia.’
    When Calver had gone, the CEO rifled through the file, grunting in approval, before dropping it into the drawer of the desk and locking it. The information was presented in the most guarded terms. In the unlikely event of anyone but himself or Calver reading it, almost all they would get would be that subject A was male, subject B female. There was nothing on the page about the scope of the project, or the untold billions of pounds, dollars, euros and yen that it was expected to generate.
    On the other side of the building Alec Calver entered an empty room. Passing through it, he shoved open a door, kicking it shut behind him. One hand loosened his tie; the other patted over his pockets.
    ‘Sod it!’
    ‘Here.’ The shaven-headed giant, lounging in front of a computer screen, tossed over a pack of cigarettes. Calver caught it and extracted one, pocketing the remainder with a swift glance upward to the smoke sensor above him. The complex wiring, designed to keep the building smoke-free, had been carefully dismantled and rerouted away from this room.
    The man at the computer clicked his fingers. ‘Packet.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘I want the packet back, you thieving bastard.’
    ‘Oh.’ Alec dug it out and handed it over. ‘Sorry, Vic. Mind on other things.’
    ‘Yeah,’ Vic agreed sceptically. ‘So – did we make King Kong happy?’
    ‘Ecstatic, as far as I could tell.’ Alec lit the cigarette and leaned on the desk, drawing deep, and blowing a perfect smoke ring in the direction of the defunct detector. ‘He’s still banging on about bugs and surveillance, though.’
    ‘Plenty of time for that.’
    ‘That’s what I told him. The bitch is sharp. No point in leaving trails if we don’t need to.’
    Vic’s eyes narrowed. ‘You ever know me to leave a trail?’
    ‘You never handled anything like Madison Albi before. This one reads minds.’
    ‘She wouldn’t need a crystal ball to read mine.’ Vic made a graphic gesture. ‘I’d like to handle
her,
no problem.’
    ‘Get in line, sucker.’
    Vic gave a crack of laughter. ‘You, too?’ His eyes widened as he sorted through the implications. ‘And old hairy arse upstairs?’
    ‘Him, too. He thinks she has a superlative body and an inventive mind.’
    Vic whistled. ‘Didn’t think he knew words that long.’ He laughed again. ‘Who would have thought it, me and ape-face, brothers under the skin. Inventive. I like that. Some of the stuff I’d like to do to her might be classed as inventive.’
    He gestured to the computer. A picture of Madison, taken with a long lens, had been enhanced and cropped and made into a screensaver.
    ‘That is
crude
.’
    ‘Like I haven’t seen you looking,’ Vic taunted. ‘Say, how about when this is all done, we scoop up what’s left of her and bring her over here? Have a little fun. Take turns like. Might be a