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Lee’s done exactly what he came here to do. He puts his gun back into his pocket, knowing that Arby’s definitely picked up on his intentions of killing both Tess and Amanda should he make the wrong decision. Oh-so-pleased with himself, Lee now treats himself to a slow drag from his electronic fag.
Upon his exhalation, Tess returns to the living room.
“Amanda, go to your room, please. You can take your orange juice with you.”
“But Mummy, cartoons are starting!”
“Do as I say, Amanda. Now.”
Amanda thrusts out her lower lip.
“I’ll call you back out when I’m finished here. Go now, there’s a good girl.”
After a heavy sigh, Amanda gets up from the sofa with a frown, shuffles off to her bedroom, and closes the door behind her.
Tess pivots sharply to face Lee. “Now,” she says, “what’s this I just heard you say about it being time for Pietre to come home?’”
Arby struggles, “Tess, it’s alright…”
“I wasn’t speaking to you, Pietre. I was asking Lee.”
“Just an expression,” Lee says, conjuring up the words as calmly as he can. “As I mentioned earlier, Arby and I used to work together. We were all like family there. I never left that old job, and I was suggesting he come back to us.”
“Pietre has a job, thank you very much. He’s a very good plumber.”
“That may be so, but I was offering him a much more lucrative venture.”
Tess crosses her arms and tilts her head to one side. “Oh, really? And you needed to bring a gun with you to make this offer?”
Lee’s eyebrows jump up his forehead.
“That’s right, I saw your gun on the table out of the corner of my eye when I came in to give Amanda her juice.”
Lee’s pulse quickens. He was so careful, slipping that gun surreptitiously from his pocket when Tess left the room; even Amanda didn’t see it. And he put it back just in time as she was returning with the juice – or so he thought…
“Well?” Tess asks.
Lee pockets his fag and adjusts his tie to stall for time, then comes up with what he hopes will be interpreted as a credible answer. “Just routine for me is all,” he says nonchalantly. “I always carry a handgun. Crime’s been up lately, and you never know.”
“Hmm. I suppose you’re right,” Tess says with a nod.
Good, she bought it!
“Would you excuse me for a moment, please?” Tess leaves the room.
Lee lowers his voice even more than before Tess made her recent unexpected entrance. “Arby, you’re gonna have to grab your bag right now and say your goodbyes. Tell them you have a plumbing job to do. Then you’re gonna meet me outside and up the street where I’m parked. Do as I say, and Tess and Amanda won’t be harmed. Understand?”
Arby's facial expression doesn’t change, except for his blinking quickly two times. But what Lee understands in the next instant is that Tess has stormed back into the room, and she’s holding… Is that a chainsaw?
“And I don’t believe for a minute that you had dental gas in that bag of yours,” Tess announces, glaring at Lee.
What?
“Look, I’m not so sure I want to know what you and Pietre were up to in the ‘old days,’ or whether you’re just making it all up. But what I do know is that he won’t be leaving for another job – and he’s certainly not going anywhere with you.”
“Now, now,” Lee says. “Calm down, Tess. You hardly know me – and you’re jumping to conclusions without any foundation.”
Tess slowly raises her weapon. “I used this hedge trimmer out back just this morning. But I could just as well use it right now if I wanted. I reckon it's sharp enough.”
“What do you mean?” Lee asks. He catches a quick glance at Arby, who begins to chuckle. Arby? Chuckling? Lee’s never seen any semblance of laughter, let alone a chuckle, from the man.
“I’m thinking you’d like to keep that good arm of yours, then?” Tess asks. “Am I right?”
“That’s my Tess,” Arby pipes up proudly. He's now laughing full out, and it’s the most disconcerting sound Lee’s ever heard.
“Get out of my house, Lee,” Tess says through clenched teeth. She powers up her weapon – and now that’s the most disconcerting sound Lee’s ever heard.
With lightning speed, and keeping his eyes on Tess the while, Lee assesses the situation. She's standing still, which means she could only be giving an empty threat and she doesn’t really intend on following through. And yet, that hedge trimmer is definitely on and running. He could attempt to reach into his pocket right now, pull out his gun and shoot Tess in the head, but if he doesn’t time it perfectly, she just might lunge forward and start hacking away at his arm – or even worse, his neck – before he can do the job. And then there’s Arby, who’s definitely on Tess’s side, and wouldn’t hesitate to help her out.
Still, his killer’s instinct compels him to slowly creep the fingers of his right hand down his suit jacket, aiming for his pocket. He can do this. He can just grab the gun, like he’s done so many times before, and-
WHIRRRRRR! Tess stomps forward with a crazed look in her eyes. “I said get out!”
Shit! Lee is up like a shot and getting his feet tangled up in the chair legs. He manages to break free and backs away to his left. Now, how to get out? He’ll need to get all the way around that table to get to the front door – but Arby’s in the way, sitting on the other side of the table, and he’s not moving, and even if Lee were to climb over the table to escape and head for the front door, there’s Tess, and she’s also in the way, and he doesn’t trust her, and he’d have to somehow dash past her and hope she doesn’t go after him. Lee's breath comes fast and shallow. With nervous shakes of his head, he cries, “How?”
“Through the kitchen! NOW!” Tess commands. Arby stands up and shoves his chair forward, still laughing like the man-child lunatic he is, allowing her space to scurry past him and chase Lee into said kitchen.
“Alright! Alright! I’m going!’ Lee sprints through the kitchen with Tess closing in on him. He screams – How utterly embarrassing and undignified! – and finds the kitchen door. He wrenches it open and takes an Olympian-worthy leap out of the house. Looking over his shoulder, he sees that he’s well ahead of Tess now, but he can still hear that chainsaw, so he scrambles through the garden and hurls himself over a wooden fence which brings him to the next house’s garden. Fueled by adrenaline, he dashes through multiple other people’s gardens, jumping fences, snapping twigs, tripping over children’s toys, and dodging barking dogs along the way until he finally makes it to the end of the row of houses, stumbles around to the front, and reaches the safety of the pavement.
Free at last. He doubles over at the waist with his right hand on his knee, panting, coughing, and wheezing – Fuck Wilson Wilson for doing this to his lung! – until he catches his breath. He’s alive – but unfortunately, his shoes are irreparably scuffed, and his suit is much worse for wear; full of grass stains, torn threads, and with one long tear on his right trouser leg, right up to his knee.
Oh, Shit! He left behind his bag! He limps slowly back up the pavement toward Tess’s house – but he’s not considering knocking on the door in hopes of getting it. Not now, after everything that’s happened. Maybe he’ll just shout out for it when he gets there and hope for the best – but he’ll also be ready to run from Tess again if necessary.
It’s a painful uphill journey, but finally he reaches the house. He can hear the couple’s laughter inside and sees Arby looking out the window at him. Seconds later, Arby opens the front door of the house and flings the bag out onto the pavement. Lee’s relieved to hear the distinctive clank of the gas canister inside; Thank Goodness he won’t need to answer to Milner for loss of Network equipment.
“Goodbye, Lee,” Arby says in a menacing monotone.
“Goodbye then,” Lee says, keeping his eyes on Arby as he gingerly lifts the bag. After Arby slams the door, Lee sighs and heads back down the pavement.
Counting himself fortunate, Lee formulates Plan B – because he’s been charged with bringing Arby back, and he can’t afford to fail in his assignment. He needs to keep proving his usefulness to The Network, especially after that previous mistake he had made regarding Wilson Wilson - otherwise he could be banished and killed. Worse, he could also be tortured first by one of the younger up and coming torturers; he’s heard that one of them is especially skilled in dealing with the genitals.
Lee shudders.
Plan B will consist of his surveilling the area from a distant parked car and taking note of Arby’s comings and goings, but perhaps more importantly, Tess’s comings and goings. When Tess is away, and Arby appears, Lee will rush him, armed with his gun, and wrestle him into the car. Then they’ll both ride off to their future.
What Lee considers he really ought to do is call a team to come out and kill Tess and Amanda, as well. But no, not before abducting Arby. Maybe he’ll see to getting Tess and Amanda killed after.
But for the time being, anything concerning Arby can wait, because right now Lee wants to get on with his more immediate concern: buying new shoes and a new suit. Hmm, maybe a lime green this time...