TEN

Jay had calculated the benefits and risks of telling Sarah about the events of the last few days. His hand throbbed under the bandage and he was stiff from the bruising to his ribs. He went to the bathroom and swallowed some painkillers. Fatigue caught up with him and he yawned. He realised he could use the Agency's help in tracking down his father and had to trust Sarah. The choice was made. He washed his face and went back to the lounge-room.

'What I'm going to say to you does not go in your report. It stays between you and me until I figure it out.'

'We figure it out.'

'We figure it out, then. I need to know that you'll not say anything until I say so.'

'That's a tough ask. You know what I do. I can't lie to my bosses.'

It was an anticipated response from an NSIS agent. Jay had grown up surrounded by agents and knew their values and behaviours and their code of conduct. 'I'm not asking you to lie, just not to say anything until we have a few more facts,' he said.

'This had better be good.'

Perhaps unbelievable, he thought. 'I wouldn't exactly say it's good. Do I have your word?'

'For now. What is it?' she asked.

Jay started with the interrogation. He detailed the beatings, having his hand nailed to the table, being tattooed and urinated on. Sarah sat forward and displayed a range of emotions, from shock to disgust. She let him speak without interrupting. He mentioned the Sub Rosa statement from Primrose and the threat to his father, his escape and the ransacking of his room. He told her about the message on his father's computer and the intruder. The only things he didn't mention were his sexual encounter with Catherine Primrose and the video being used to blackmail him. The reason for not mentioning them yet was that he had allowed himself to be compromised and it embarrassed him.

'This is out of control,' she said. 'I want to make sure I heard you right.'

Jay yawned, sat back and started to unwind the bandage. 'I'm listening.'

'Last night you had a few drinks with the Primroses. You wake up battered and bruised in a secret interrogation facility. First assumption would be that they slipped something in your drink.'

He thought back to the drinking session. 'I'd say that for a fact. No other way to get me there without me remembering it, no matter how much I had to drink.'

'OK, I'll go with that. Clearly Catherine Primrose shouldn't have been there and this is when you first realised it wasn't a training exercise. Why haven't I heard of this secret facility?'

'Wouldn't be a secret if we told everyone about it.'

She bit down on her lip and continued. 'It's obviously guarded, so how did they get you there without being seen?'

'Secret facility wouldn't be complete without a secret entrance.'

She rolled her eyes. 'I've got to see this place. So, then you get a beating and have your hand nailed to a table, which, I might add, is truly sick.'

'Can't argue with you there.' Jay was pleased that Sarah had begun to empathise with his plight. It certainly would make it easier to convince her of the Primrose mindset. He needed her help.

'You get pissed on and tattooed, both disgusting, and Warren Primrose mentions this Sub Rosa stuff. Something about keeping secrets?'

'From what I can recall. I was fairly out of it by then and I haven't followed it up yet.'

She nodded. 'Something we'll need to do. Show me the tattoo.'

Jay finished unrolling the bandage and leaned forward again. He held out his hand for Sarah to see. She moved forward and took his hand in hers, raising it closer to her eyes. Her soft touch sent a shiver down his spine.

'Bit girlish,' she said. 'Looks fairly professional though, I've seen a lot of home-made tattoos and this rates way above them. You should be glad that they didn't mess it up.'

'As happy as a pig in shit.'

She ignored the comment and kept studying his hand and wrist. 'What's even more impressive is that you have very little swelling in your hand where the nail went in. This is a precision hit. Normally someone would just go for the middle of the hand and hit like hell until it went through.'

'What's normal about nailing someone's hand to a table?'

She rolled her eyes. 'I know it's not normal, I'm just saying that this looks like a practised incision. Know what I mean?'

'Hadn't thought about it actually, but I get what you're saying – like these two have done it before.'

She looked up wide-eyed and dropped his hand on the table.

He winced. 'Shit!'

She went to her backpack, pulled out her laptop and fired it up. Her knees jumped up and down and the laptop bounced with them. She chewed her lip as though she were chewing gum while waiting for the computer to boot up.

Jay caught his breath, distracted by the pain she had inflicted. 'What the hell is wrong with you?' he asked.

She ignored him and started typing away on the computer. He fell back into the chair and waited. She continued to chew on her lip and tap at the keyboard.

'That's it!' she said, too loud.

Jay had started to drift off in the chair and he jolted upright at the sudden outburst.

'That's it,' she said again, this time quieter. She lifted her head from the screen and looked over to Jay. 'He has – had – the same tattoo. Damn, I must have missed it.'

'Slow down. Who has the same tattoo?'

'Had. Lazarau. Right here on his record for physical description. I never noticed.'

'You know, technically, although he is dead, he still has the tattoo,' he said.

'What?'

'You said he had the tattoo and I said ...'

'Whatever ... semantics. Shit, I should have seen this.' She stared at the screen.

Jay took a moment and analysed the information. 'So there is your link between Primrose and Lazarau. But why would Lazarau put you onto me at the same time as Primrose was planting this graffiti on my arm? At least we can assume that I was supposed to take Lazarau's place in collecting classified documents.'

'Yeah, but you're right: why would Lazarau put me onto you? He would have known that it would have led to Primrose. Unless Primrose left Lazarau high and dry after the arrest.'

'Or left him high and dry before the arrest and that's why he was trying to sell out to someone else,' he said.

'Either way, I need to speak to Primrose,' she said.

'We need to speak to that freak,' he corrected.

'Yes, we. That still leaves the questions of who went through your room; who was here and left that message on your dad's computer, which I'm going to check shortly; and where is your dad?'

'Logistically, it would have been difficult for Primrose to have been the person who ransacked my room or was here. That doesn't mean he is not responsible though, and maybe even for the shank delivered to Lazarau. If he is involved there has to be someone else, apart from that tart of his, helping him,' he said. He yawned again.

'Have you had any sleep yet?' she asked.

'Only if you count the couple of times I was knocked out.'

'You need to get some rest.'

'We need to pay Primrose a visit.'

'We will. I want to be prepared. I need to check your dad's computer and do some research.'

'Primrose will be at work until at least 5 o'clock this afternoon.' Jay checked his watch. 'That gives us plenty of time. Wake me in two hours.'

She nodded, already making her way through to the study. 'I assume it's not password protected,' she said.

'It is. Hang on, I'm coming.'

Sarah turned. 'Then how did someone leave a message on there?'

'I'm too tired to think about it at the moment. Let me know if you figure it out – after I wake up.' Jay made his way past her and logged on to the computer. He walked out and went into the spare room without another word.