Gui’s place was like a metal box. It was off the coast at the other end of the island, where people rarely trespassed because of the untamed forest that reached a peak high of sixty feet. There were snakes, the town people liked to say, with mouths big enough to eat your face.
At first, they thought they wouldn’t be able to find the entrance to the perfectly square, short building, but then they caught sight of a barely-visible door with the same metal sheen. Nikki pressed a button and spoke into the speaker.
‘Gui?’ She looked at Radzi, who encouraged her to go on. ‘You may not remember me, but I’m Dominique, Nick’s sister. I need your help.’
When they let inside, Gui’s face was blinking at them on the large screen across the empty hall. Nikki’s heart did a back-flip; somehow she’d forgotten how good-looking Gui was, and unlike everyone else she knew, he hadn’t lost his mischievous look since Nick died.
‘Pull up a couple of chairs to seat yourselves,’ said the face on the screen. ‘There’s a stack of them at the back.’
Radzi unloaded two plastic chairs and set them awkwardly in the middle of the vast vacancy.
‘Is this how you greet your guests?’ she asked. ‘It’s hardly a living room.’
‘I have no energy for guests, Nikki. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly with you in person.’
‘You remember me.’
For the first time, those epicanthic eyes looked tired. ‘It would be very hard to forget, considering that I failed Nick’s last request. Who’s that with you?’
The next five minutes was spent trying to convince Gui that Radzi was, without question, trustworthy.
‘Fine.’ The face on the screen had a tick of annoyance to it. ‘I know the people I can’t trust anyway. What do you want?’
‘I should have come much earlier, but everyone was too distraught over his death. The whole town came to the funeral, except Daniel, Madrah and you.’ She looked at Gui’s face accusingly. ‘It’s hard not to wonder, since everyone was already thinking it – how could you three not show up to your best friend’s funeral? Or even to the wake?’
‘And what did you tell them?’
‘That all of you were too overcome by what happened,’ replied Nikki disgustedly. ‘That you would visit his grave in your own time.’
Gui’s face nodded. ‘You always had a knack of keeping up appearances, Nikki. It’s a funny gift, don’t you think? But you were right, in a way. We visited his grave in our own way, simply because it didn’t feel right then.’
‘What were you all up to, those couple of years? What happened? No one’s seen Daniel and Madrah since six months ago – it’s like they vanished completely, no private detective could uncover their trail – and you live in this metal … place …’ She folded her arms, knowing she was working herself into a rage. ‘I came here to know everything.’
There was a pause. Gui’s face raised his eyebrows at Radzi. ‘You’re really sure he can be trusted?’
‘I just told you!’ she burst out, showing Gui a clenched fist. ‘He’s worth more than you lot put together!’
‘All right, all right,’ the face replied hastily. ‘You want to know everything? You got it. It’s about time anyway.’
He heaved a long sigh. ‘I was – I am – the oldest of the gang, two years older than Nick himself. But however young we were, we knew what we were doing. Abraxane combines very well with Paliperidone, did you know? Your brother found that out. And the result was something that could paralyse pain receptors. Not very different from hospital anaesthetics, except that it could be store-bought and did not induce unconsciousness. It was Nick’s star baby.’
Nikki’s mind felt very confused. ‘All those articles, with the pictures of criminals and small babies and …’
Gui held up a hand. ‘Your brother wasn’t perfect, but so were the rest of us. We were too young, those few months ago. We thought we could save the world, change people, make things different – the four geniuses of the local Coska school would one day make headlines. It wasn’t until two months before Nick’s accident that we realized the real stuff we were getting ourselves into.’ His face wondered at the memory. ‘If you remember Daniel, then you know how close he was to your brother. He died one day after Nick, in the mainland. His body was found hanging in a construction site.’
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