Abacus

for yourself.”
    “Yes , I have. And they will be dealt with accordingly,” he said, grimacing as he stuffed the photos into his hospital gown pocket.
    “ I must admit I am a bit surprised you would think we were out to kill you.”
    “You were the obvious choice, especially since you cut off communication with me.”
    “Randall , you are our best and we have invested too much time and money in you to have you killed. You should know that.” Randall watched Noel slowly get to his feet. “I know you have thrown your DL phone away, and I can’t blame you. If I need to talk to you I will call you on your work mobile phone. It will come up as a silent number and can’t be traced or recorded.”
    “What happens now?” Randall asked, following closely.
    “In the next few weeks you will receive that promotion.”
    “What promotion? ”
    “ Your promotion to Inspector. DL has decided you are now stepping up from individuals to groups. Your new rank and position will allow you to do this. You now have Abacus status to choose those who require culling. You will be outstanding, Randall, outstanding as always.”
    He opened the door for the old man in the knitted cardigan, who could have been anyone’s grandfather. Turning to salute Randall, he continued his slow stroll down the hall, until he disappeared around a corner. Randall closed the door to his room and leant with his back against it. Pulling the photos from his pocket, he thought, Now everything makes sense. But first things first. I have two loose ends to sort out.

CHAPTER 28 - THE CROCODILE ROCK

    “Wow, things have certainly progressed here,” Randall chirped, looking out at the huge gum tree illuminated by his headlights.
    He could see the p resident’s feet were now just above head height with the best part of a leg missing. The half eaten Peter, as expected, was now further up the tree out of reach. At the base of the tree, he could see the darkened outline of a huge object. It was a crocodile.
    Getting out of the car under torchlight and with gun drawn, he walked towards the beast. Shining his torch at the croc, he could see a gaping wound in its midsection. It was a fatal injury. Next to the croc lay the handgun he had earlier left in the tree. Shining his torch at the croc’s head, he counted six closely grouped bullet holes.
    “Good shootin’ , partner,” he complimented, looking up at the president. “But I wouldn’t have used all six; you should have saved one for me, or the next croc that comes along.” He picked up the gun and put it in his pocket. “But I imagine you would have panicked a little when the big guy came in nice and close for a cuddle.” He looked closely at the huge piece out of the crocodile’s side. “Jeez, they are so bloody hungry, they’re cannibalising. You’ve been bloody lucky to last this long, Rodney.”
    Randall ’s eye was drawn to the glint of the shiny blade of the pocketknife he had earlier left in the tree. It now lay on the ground about three metres away. The pale-faced president sobbed as he looked down at his missing limb. The blood had now stopped running and had congealed on the stump. But judging by the area of red-stained ground below him, he had lost a significant amount of blood. Picking up the blade and making a slashing motion, Randall asked, “Why didn’t you cut yourself down?”
    The lethargic president yelled, “My legs are fucked! They bit one off and I can only just move the other a little.”
    “Mmmm,” he said, looking at his missing limb. “Yeah, I can see now that you are in a bit of a bind. On the ground you’re not gonna get very far, are you?”
    Shining his torch to the opposing sid e of the trunk, he saw the half-eaten corpse of Peter the sergeant at arms. His corpse swung in the breeze with its lifeless arms hanging either side of his shredded torso. His face was ghostly pale, with eyes forced open through fear. As the corpse twisted in the breeze, the eyes scanned hauntingly out into the darkness.
    Randall followed the trail of bright white intestines, which led from the cavity under his rib cage, down to the ground and trailed all the way in a continuous line into the murky waterway. “Shit, they certainly have terrible table manners,” he said, aiming his torch to capture the president’s reaction.
    Lowering the beam , he saw a wet patch in his crotch. “You’ve seen much, I can see you are scared. Aren’t you, Rod?”
    “Yes, yes , I am scared,