Chapter 3

I awoke in the same suite to a phone call from Trevor Burham, “Look, mate, don’t worry about putting this on your own tab. The new government is set to take office and I’m already having doubts. Remember when Annie assured me that nothing would be different? Well, just this very morning, man, she told me that she hoped that last night was great for me, because it would be ‘a good long time before you get to stick that sausage back in my pudding.’ She also laughed and told me that swearing on a stack of Bibles was meaningless to her, because she didn’t believe in that ‘patriarchal rubbish,’ anyway.

“Anyway, feel free to take the firm for a sweet, costly ride. I plan to do just that myself. I don’t know what the travel mess will be once they consolidate their power, but for now, a holiday in Montreal sounds rather pleasant to me. There’s any amount of business that can in theory be done there, since they’re still in the Commonwealth. From there, well, a rendezvous would be easier to arrange. In person. I shall take my sons out of the country, of course, but since it’s a holiday, what can she do? What happens to me is one thing, but her current duplicity makes me believe that she intends something nasty for them, too. I still have my Canadian passport, after all,” Trevor curtly informed him while Nina listened in with them.

“Where are you? And is this your regular cell? If it is, get a burner, mate. Get a burner phone pronto! Let me guess, you’re starting a new firm outside of the UK as quickly as you can,” I speculated.

“Bingo, and only with those staff smart enough to make a dash for it. I doubt that we shall be the only executives to abandon our firms on the sly. And, yes, this is a burner phone. How daft do you think that I am? I withdrew what funds I could to help purchase it, plus I wanted to keep her as poor as I could. I shan’t be around when she seizes my assets back home. That’s a loss that I’ll have to cut when the divorce goes through. I shan’t lose any sleep over what I did. I’m just glad that I acted before they could freeze the account.

“Thankfully, Her Majesty’s Government still has to present its first bill and that can’t happen until the next session. The Queen’s Speech should be very chilling this year, I dare say. If I were an MP, I shan’t even stick around for Question Time. Trust me, I can find a position for you, both of you, until or unless you opt for something else. My present firm will soon be in arrears, though regrettably, the new female management are likely to see that as proof that men are inept or something. Since they probably already think that way, it’s more than worth it to give them one last good rogering. I really hope that they put Melinda in charge. She’ll soon be up to her neck in red ink,” Trevor laughed with some hushed excitement.

“So, in a nutshell, Annie’s a fucking liar and you’re about to turn thief. This is what politics does to marriage, husbands and wives alike. I shan’t miss Christine, that’s to be sure,” I noted.

“Anyway, here I go. Wish me luck, mates, and by Jove, even half of yours would be nice. Fortunate bastard, being out of the country when the curtain dropped. Not an iron curtain this time, chap. Just a satin one. Goodbye and give Nina my love. She’ll take much better care of you than Christine or Annie ever could. She’s a right proper woman, that Punjabi girl,” Trevor hung up, leaving me with a feeling of real dread.

“Is it just me, or did that phone call raise your hackles, too?” Nina remarked.

“No, it isn’t just you, darling. I’m more than a little bothered by it myself. I wish him the best, but I fear for the worst. He might well have waited too long. I hope that I’m wrong. If I’m right, the lucky escape will be death. Anything else shall be even worse than that. I don’t even wish to contemplate it. I fear for him, rather greatly in fact. I definitely don’t plan on adjusting our plans for him or even considering it until I know that he’s safely out of Great Britain. No sane fellow would stay in that country right now, except maybe in Scotland, and even that is not quite clear,” I fretted a bit over Trevor’s uncertain fate.

In fact, not more than three minutes after Trevor called from that burner phone, there was another call from that same number. The voice on the other end was unfamiliar, chilling, and definitely feminine. I didn’t know who this was, but it unnerved me.

“The chap who held this phone has made a run for it. I don’t know who you are or even where the bloody hell you are, but if you’re a subversive, as I think that you are, know this: we shall find him, and then we shall grab you as well. The fool evidently didn’t know that his wife had him followed, tagged. A bloody good thing that she did. He shall never be able to take his sons out of England, not now, not ever. This is a brand new country and you blokes don’t get to cut and run from it. You don’t get to vote with your feet. You never get to vote on anything again. You’re our prisoners and you shall never break free,” the icy, posh accent told me, making my blood run cold.

“You cunts are sorely mistaken. I would recommend not making any threats across the pond, bitch. I’m already gone and I’m never coming back. I’m defecting to the United States. At least for now. Maybe Australia later, maybe South Africa. I’m never coming back home. The man that you seek is a Jew. He has the Right of Return to Israel. He’ll get out and you’ll never see him again,” I deliberately fed my contact a lie ... Trevor Burham was as goy as me.

“That was a clever bit of misdirection. Hopefully, it buys him time,” Nina remarked after the stranger hung up.