Abacus

white dentures.
    “Your mama is right, Georgie. You don’t look so good,” she said, squinting to get him in focus.
    “Everything is al l right, don’t worry. I just have a stomach bug that’s all,” he said with a calming gesture with his hands.
    “I told you he was sick,” his mother said, dabbing his forehead with a tea towel.
    “Stomach bug, mum, not fever. I’ll be right,” he said, gently pushing her hand away.
    Georgie looked down at the lovingly made lamb dinner in front of him. He couldn’t eat. He did feel sick to the stomach, but it was through worry. While outwardly he had shown Randall he was in control and solid, the truth was he was shitting bricks. Big bricks.
    “I’m going for a lie down,” he said , getting to his feet and rubbing his mother’s shoulder. “Thanks for dinner, Mum, I will take it to work tomorrow.”
    His gran dmother looked over her glasses. “I go to see Doctor Campo tomorrow, Georgie. You come with me and he will fix you.”
    “I’m right, I’m right,” he said, trying to be polite.
    His mother looked lovingly into his eyes and clasped her hands on her chest. “You might have sickness in your heart. I think it’s time. I think maybe you need a girlfriend, Georgie.”
    George turned to hide his smile. Here we go, the matchmakers are at it again , he thought.
    “What about Cynthia from the church, Georgie? She is good girl. Good girl, Georgie,” his grandmother called out as he headed out the kitchen.
    “I live with two wome n, I don’t need another,” he muttered on the way to his bedroom.
    Georgie lay on the bed looking up at the ceiling. He had been worried sick for weeks. His worry coincided with his decision to hand the diary over to Randall. The indictments of the offences he could be convicted of played over in his head. He had even started to plan his own defence.
    A ccessory after the fact, murder… eight years hard labour. Pervert the cause of justice… six years hard labour.
    His worry was pointless. He was committed. He had chosen team Randall. His career, his life and reputation were now in his hands. While he was confident Randall had not killed Digby, the bashing and threat did take place uncomfortably close to his disappearance. Once he had handed over the diary there was no turning back. He hadn’t asked Randall what he had done with it. He didn’t need to. The diary would have been destroyed. Randall did not take chances. Digby was a piece of crap so his demise was not a concern, however, the possible fallout from his death was. Now with the interference from the Digby family, and the loose end of the CCTV footage, the pressure would be on Randall. Georgie’s only saving grace was that he knew his boss was both tough and extremely loyal. There was nothing anyone could say to him to break him, and he knew that his boss would always keep him protected. Notwithstanding this he shouldn’t have been concerned. But he was.

CHAPTER 21 – CUT HER LOOSE

    Later that evening, Randall sat on his back porch of his home with a beer in hand, staring at his overgrown backyard. His hectic double life meant that he never managed to get on top of the gardening. His life was chaotic at the moment. He was tired, run down and longed for a long vacation with his kids.
    He looked down a t his ever-faithful dog Arnold, seated at his feet with his ears pricked up. “At least the overgrown garden makes every day an adventure for you, Arn,” he said softly, patting his loyal companion on the head. Arnold wagged his tail energetically, appreciating the attention from his master.
    Randall leant across and poured a mouthful of beer into his empty dog bowl. “Let’s have a quiet beer together, Arn, it’s been a very hectic bloody week, mate.” He reflected on the week’s events to the tune of Arnold slapping up the beer with his tongue.
    Amazingly, he had moved on from the mummified scrotum affair, which would have finished off the average man. Digby, however, presented a new set of challenges. All in all the week’s trying events really paled into insignificance for him when he thought about his true calling, his work for DL, and the pursuit of the evasive Jenkins. This was perhaps why he so easily moved on from times of torture and torment. Aside from his kids, nothing else in life was nearly as important.
    Loo king out into the darkness, he thought about life after Jenkins. His whole existence was geared to eliminating him. His sole motivation in