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Chapter 35
Gerda and Bruno sat down on the to spare chairs at our table. Bruno's eyes were dark like coals and impenetrable. I wanted to say no but couldn't think of a reason to refuse his offer of work except to say that I was in love with Jennifer and never wanted to see him again.
"What sort of work?" There were two Barrys now. One looked cool, indifferent and playing hard to get so he could push the price up. The other was the Barry that nobody could see and was trembling with rage and wanting the ground to swallow him up.
"It's web cam work, like the one you installed here at Smokey's."
His face was inscrutable and he ran his hand across his bald head as if he was stroking his hair. Gerda was sitting close to him and had her hand under the table on his leg. She had a contented smile on her face like a female cat that had just enjoyed a good meal. I wondered what he was doing for her that was keeping her so contented and wished the world would stay the same for long enough for me to halfway understand it.
"What sort of money are you paying for this job?"
Bruno took her pen and a notebook from the inside breast pocket his jacket. His chest was broad and his white shirt was open at the front revealing tufts of graying chest hair. He tore off a page and wrote an amount on the piece of paper then pushed it towards me faced down.
"It's just a few days work," he said.
I looked down at the paper. It had more zeros on it than my monthly salary slip.
"Why don't you do it?" It was Gerda weighing in with the encouragement. She'd taken hand from underneath the table and away from Bruno's leg so she could rest it on mine. It was cool and soft but I didn't like the thought of where it had been so I moved my hand away.
"Where do you want me to do it?"
Bruno's eyes glittered. He could see I was giving in. He was enjoying watching me squirm. Some small and sane part inside me questioned loudly why I hadn't immediately said no! Was I so easily bought?
He pulled the paper back to him, wrote an address and then passed it back to me.
I scrutinized the address where he wanted me to do the work and became even more confused. It looked like the address of the video recording studio where I'd taken Jennifer and then waited so painfully outside imagining what they were doing to her.
I added the zero to the price and pushed it back trying to stop my hand from trembling. What had I to lose? I didn't want the job and I didn't want anything to do with this man or his dodgy deals. For the price now quoted on that piece of paper, he could have hired half-a-dozen web site programmers. It was an excellent way saying no without the 'n'.
He turned to Gerda. "Your friend is expensive," he said. "But on the basis you recommended him, I'll go along with it."
He scribbled a note on the paper and posted back to me.
The note said
'Agreed but you'd better be good - or Gerda will pay the difference!'
It was as if I was being sucked into a volcano and every time I tried to get out I was pulled even closer into the bubbling couldron. I didn't want to owe this man anything and I didn't want Gerda to be obligated towards him either. There was still a chance for me to get out. All I had to say was 'go away!' But I was fascinated.
Questions assailed me from all directions. What had Jennifer done that afternoon while I had been waiting outside the video recording studio? Why had she been there? What was her real relationship with Bruno? Had she lied to me and, if so, why?
To discover the answer to any of these questions, I had to get closer to Bruno; I had to get involved. Gerda had already jumped in headfirst and appeared to be thriving. Perhaps she was on a honeymoon and a harsher reality would emerge later when she would need me to be around. On the other hand, perhaps my worst fears were just that - worst fears.
"When you want me to start the work?"
"Tomorrow! There's someone there who will show you what to do. The equipment has been delivered already. It just needs installing and configuring which you will be able to do when the premises are free the day after."
As I left to make my way back to the cavern for an evenings work on Smokey's website to free the next day up for this new job, I looked back. Bruno with Gerda on his arm was on his way into Smokey's main bar.
My elderly private eye, who had not said a word after Bruno and Gerda arrived, was still sitting at the table. Perhaps it was my imagination but she seemed to have a new strange stillness and watchfulness about her.
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