Page 16 of Deadmen's Queen

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Alan replied defiantly. “I do my job.”

“Then how come you didn't see anything unusual like a complete stranger in the premises at night.” Bast reached out casually and flicked an invisible piece of lint off Alan’s sweat-soaked shirt. “Are you really that shit at your job, Alan?”

“I told you,” Alan rasped, defiance flickering in his eyes. “I didn't see anyone. Don't know how he got past me.”

Bast narrowed his eyes at him. “Alan, are you blind or simply incompetent?”

“I keep to myself. If they ain't causing a ruckus, I don’t pay them no mind,” Alan defended.

Bast leaned back on the chair, drumming his fingers against the backrest. His gaze was cold, calculating.

“Interesting,” he mused aloud. “Alan, did anyone ever teach you the importance of doing your job properly?”

Alan’s silence was damning and Bast smirked.

“Knight,” he said without taking his eyes off Alan. I stepped forward, my fists clenching at my side.

“Yes, boss?”

“Can we ensure that our friend here understands what failure means?” Bast ordered, a chilling note in his voice.

A nasty grin spreads across my face. “With pleasure.”

I stepped forward and delivered a punch straight to Alan's gut. His face contorted in pain as he sucked in a sharp breath.

“So, Alan, perhaps my friend here has managed to jog your memory and you can tell me how this happened so many times on your watch?”

“For fuck’s sake,” Alan wheezed, glaring up at Bast. “It’s a fucking shit job. I show up, clock in, walk round every two hours, clock out. I get paid. It’s a fucking job, I’m not a shitting bodyguard, and these rich bitches bring guys in at every hour of the day and night. Your whore probably invited him in, and he left the note after fucking her raw.”

My fist connected with the side of Alan’s face so hard I heard a cracking sound just before he crashed sideways to the floor.

Bast's gaze hardened. “Wrong answer,” he said, his voice like ice. He rose from his chair, stalking around the table until he stood next to Alan.

“I don't think you understand the situation you're in,” Bast said, leaning down. I could see the guard shiver as Bast spoke. “You let a threatening individual get close to my girl without noticing anything amiss. And now you’re insulting her. That upsets me, and it upsets my friend here. And you really don’t want to upset either of us.”

“I told you; I didn’t see anything!” Alan insisted, voice shaking but resolved.

“Alan,” Bast drawled ominously, “You should consider being more cooperative.” He straightened up and walked back around the table, resuming his seat across from the guard. I leaned down and picked Alan’s chair back upright again.

“I’m not one for patience,” Bast warned him. “So, I suggest you start talking.”

“It’s just some fucking notes, mate,” Alan whined.

“Well, some notes, a threatening gift, and then last night he snuck in, went through her belongings, and covered her bedroom in pigs’ blood and left a dead bird on her bed with a knife through its chest. Can you see how that behaviour might upset her, Alan?”

He nodded. “Shit, yeah.”

“Exactly, I’m glad we’re getting on the same page here, Alan. That bodes well for you. Now, clearly this person managed to get a hold of a spare key to her dorm. Do you have a spare key?”

Alan shook his head. “I have a master, but it stays on my keyring the whole time, and there’s another at the main university office, but they’re kept locked up. Honestly, mate, I have no idea how he got hold of a copy.”

“Unless maybe you thought you’d make a little cash on the side?” I asked. “Take a little sweetener to lend someone your key when you weren’t on shift?”

“What?” He looked up at me, eyes wide. “What are you on about?” He sounded genuine, but there was a nervous twitch at the corner of one eye that made me think I’d hit on something.

“We know you've been slacking off. Letting just anyone waltz past you. What I can't figure out is—are you that incompetent, or did someone pay you to look the other way?”

“I'm not involved in anything,” Alan growled, turning his head away. I straightened up, exchanging a look with Bast.

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