Chapter 2

Victor Freeman was what they call a self-made man. He was forty three years old, and though no one would ever suspect it, a millionaire. Six years before, he had left the army where, because of his talent for leadership and tactics he had reached the rank of major. As a captain he had served in Iraq in the SAS and came back unscathed. His latter life in the army was shrouded in secrecy, and although an officially retired army man, he was employed by government agencies and disappeared from time to time on various missions about which he spoke to no one.

All through his time in the army he had saved his pay carefully, and invested it wisely, being thought dull by his fellow officers, and he retired after completing sixteen years’ service with a very large bank balance, a massive investment portfolio, his lump sum, a relatively small army pension and a much larger income from his part time covert operations.

He invested vigorously in the property business at a time when property values were rising rapidly, and worked hard for long hours, using bank loans carefully, and shrewdly buying, improving and then selling properties until after only three years he was a much richer man. He continued to accumulate a fortune until he could afford to buy some complete blocks of flats and have them adapted and improved to his own specifications. In this he was ruthlessly efficient.

Now he owned a large house in the countryside outside the Northern town where his properties lay, and a pied-a-terre at the top of the block where Susan Clemson lived. The block was one of his own and his flat was the penthouse on the fifth floor which he had had adapted to his own specifications. He no longer managed the flats himself, having consigned that to a management company run by a friend of his, whom he had helped to set up in business.

He continued to play the Stock Market very successfully, went running, played squash, and visited the gym twice a week. He was a healthy and very fit – he needed to be for the missions in which he was required to engage. All in all he thought he was a contented man, as far as it went.

One thing he did do personally was to keep a close watch on each of his apartment buildings. He visited them each week and checked things were going well. He was concerned for his tenants, and ensured that the owner-occupiers who had bought their flats within his blocks were served properly and the buildings kept in good repair. There was a clause in the deeds prohibiting sub-letting.

He had recently become concerned at the state of his own building. The concierge, an old man, had died after a long illness, during which management had slipped. The cleaning firm cut corners, thinking the old man would not notice, the lift was dirty and the windows of the common areas left uncleaned.

In each of his buildings he had fitted discrete audio and visual surveillance in the common areas on each floor, which gave audible warning to the concierge when movement was detected. There were screens and speakers to monitor the common areas in the office of the concierge.

It had paid dividends for the owners and tenants of the flats, since a number of potential burglars were caught before they could do much damage. It also pleased the local police, boosting their arrest and conviction rate. They turned out rapidly whenever called to any of his buildings.

He had been in the empty concierge’s flat looking over the place before advertisements were to be posted for the position the following week, when he heard the commotion on the first floor on the speakers. He went to the screens and listened and watched as the two men threatened a young woman. While he watched he heard their insistence that she have sex with them and he immediately phoned George Corrigan, the owner of the firm managing his flats.

“George,” he spoke quickly, “There are two goons threatening a young woman in my block. Know anything about it?”

“Yes, Jim, They should be serving an eviction notice on the tenants. Unpaid rents over three months.”

“No time now George to explain. They are trying to rape her. Get them out. Give the girl another week. NOW GEORGE before they rape her. And get them fired.”

George knew better than to argue. He got on the phone and issued the order to the repossession company, with the threat that if anything happened to the girl not only would the two men go to gaol, but he’d put the company out of business as well.

Then he phoned Victor back. “What’s going on Victor?”

“You know I don’t like to interfere in your handling of the flats, but this time I’m calling the shots. From what I heard, the woman in question has two small children, and her boyfriend or partner left her a while ago. He was supposed to be paying the rent. It seems to me that he’s had all his mail redirected and she thought he was still paying, so she got none of the demands for arrears of rent.

“I want to help her; she’s got nothing. She seems to have been left in the lurch by this man. I want you to ask her to your offices tomorrow with her children to discuss ways of helping her out of her problem. Send a taxi for her. I’ll let you know my plan later. Stay on the line while I take the phone to her flat. Oh, and George, don’t mention that I’m in any way involved. I’m just another tenant.”

George assented with a sigh, and Victor watched until he saw the two men leave hurriedly, and smiled. Then, he locked the office and ascended the stairs (the men were using the lift). As he did so, he told George to be ready.

He knocked at the door, and was entranced by the young woman who answered. She was more than just pretty. How old was she, twenty two, twenty five? He handed her the phone and waited for it to be returned.

After the conversation with her, such as it was, he walked back to his flat. He formulated a plan and once at ease in his own armchair, he phoned George again.

He told him exactly what he wanted. He would personally provide her salary via George’s managing company. She would be offered the concierge’s flat, which had two bedrooms instead of the single bedroom she now had. It would be rent-free. She would take over the cleaning and care of the block and the work of the concierge.

She would have free range to make the place feel more friendly. If she did well she would be given a large bonus, if she were not up to the job she would have a month to make other arrangements. The debt for the present flat would be put down to her ex-partner, and so the burden would be lifted from her. The advantage to her was that she could keep the children with her all the time, saving child-care costs. Under no circumstances was she to know it was he who was doing this, or that he was the landlord of the block.

George noted all the points and read them back to Victor. “She must be quite a girl!” he commented to Victor.

“Yes, I think she may be rather special,” he responded.

He did not think he had much of a chance of a friendship with her, but if she did accept him, he did not want her to feel an obligation to him. He realised he wanted that friendship very badly.

In fact, he was quite a lonely man, though he had learned to be content with his lot. His wife had divorced him after only eighteen months of marriage, stating that life with him was too boring for her. He had to agree. She thought that because he was rich and had a high range car she would live a life of clubbing and parties. He was not that type. Her parting shot had been that while he was not exciting enough for her, the sex was brilliant, but she had wanted more than a wonderful sex partner.