The driver pulled me to my feet, but I shook him off with an angry gesture.
“God damn it, are you blind, you cretin!”
I spotted my briefcase poking out from under a nearby parked car and just knew that the expensive laptop inside would be damaged.
No time to worry about that now, I had a plane to catch and I was late.
I had spent most of the night breaking into Graham’s office, poking about until I’d found the evidence I needed. The laptop had been locked in the bottom of a filing cabinet, an easy thing to open if you know how - and I knew how.
Placing the prize on the ostentatious glass and chrome desk, I smiled with pleasure after typing in the password.
Graham hadn’t changed it.
Well that was his hard luck. The laptop contained enough information to get him off my back. This would put him behind bars for the next twelve years.
Now all I had to do was get somewhere safe - somewhere his overgrown apes couldn’t find me.
That’s where my luck began to run out - although I hadn’t realise it at the time.
Graham must have had some idea that I was up to no good, because one of his minders suddenly showed up.
I tried talking my way out, but when he wouldn’t back off, I had no choice.
The knife is a silent weapon. One I loved using. We have a special kind of relationship. I smiled, watching the light reflect from its shiny surface before returning it to its sheath.
It took only a few mouse clicks to discover there was a seat left on a flight to Inverness. I had an hour. I could make the flight if I hurried.
It was early morning. The traffic was light, but I still missed seeing the car hurtling towards me as I ran across the road.
Grabbing my case I turned back to have another go at the cretin who’d almost killed me, but changed direction when I saw the taxi heading up the road.
In the back of the taxi I examined the laptop, wondering if the hard drive was damaged or not. It looked okay but what did I know?
“Can you hurry it up, my plane leaves in fifty minutes.”
The driver grunted at me over his shoulder and I relaxed back in the seat.
I’d begun to calm down now that the adrenaline rush was over.
Rubbing my leg I thought back to the accident, sure that I’d seen the driver who’d knocked me down somewhere before.
“Get your money ready guv. If you jump out at the round-about it’ll save you a good five minutes.”
* * *
“The Gates are now closing for flight EH201 to Inverness.”
I’d managed to push my way through the throng at Security, raising a few mutters from the long queue.
Now I was racing across the waiting area, trying not to trip on my shoelaces, which I hadn’t retied. Every second counted if I was going to catch that flight - and catch it I had to.
The corridor was a long one and I ran as fast as I could, swinging my way around the door frame onto the stairs, taking them three at a time, almost falling down the last few.
“Wait, wait. I’m here!”
The attendant took a cursory glance at my boarding pass and waved me through.
* * *
The only seat left was right at the back of the plane and I sat in the tight seat trying to get my breath back, my heart pounding as though it was about to make a flight of its own.
I knew I’d seen that driver before. It was one of Graham’s goons! I suddenly realised that it had been no accident. The bastard had deliberately run me down.
“. . . please sir?”
“Hm, what?”
Turning my head I saw a flight attendant hovering over my row of seats, looking at me expectantly.
“Your briefcase sir. I’ll need to put it in the overhead lockers.”
“Oh yeah, right.”
The plane accelerated down the runway and I felt the old terror creeping over me again.
I had a phobia about flying, terrified that the plane would fall from the sky and I’d be forced to watch the ground rushing up towards me through the tiny cabin window. Every little bump or vibration was a torture when I flew, which is why I always took medication.
Always.
Except this time.
What with the rush, and the anger at being knocked over, it hadn’t entered my head. Not until now, when it was too late.
Locking my fingers around the arms of the seat, I closed my eyes, trying my best not to throw up, every nerve burning as though it were on fire.
I stayed that way for the next ninety minutes, praying that the flight would end, so terrified that it was almost preferable that the plane did dive into the ground.
Half an hour later I knew there was something terribly wrong.
I looked around for a flight attendant. Not one to be seen.
My panic began to grow, like a big ball being pumped up in my throat. Sweat was running down my face and my feet danced on the floor like a drummer practising a new set.
Where the hell were the flight attendants?
Turning to the passenger next to me, my heart did a flip.
Stretching out a trembling finger, I touched her waxy skin, just to make sure. She was as cold as a frozen turkey. Her vacant eyes staring into space, as though she were searching for the worlds biggest secret.
It was then that all my passed deeds came flooding back to me, and I realised for the first time that I hadn’t nearly been killed —
That I was in fact, on a one-way journey full of hopelessness.