Mr Black

3. Guy Black

"s**t! s**t! s**t!"

Cassidy was going to kill him if Kingsley didn't kill him first. Guy ground to a halt when the devil himself stood at the other end of the corridor. He was never going to make it to his girlfriend's art gallery opening night. Quickly, he spun around, only to be greeted by more guards, cutting him off. One of them was Brigid McGrath, the daughter of Sean McGrath, the big boss of the London-Irish mob. Only God knew what she was doing here associated with Charles Kingsley. Unless the London-Irish were the buyers of the bioweapon, but what would they want with such a deadly item? Unless war was about to break out between them and the New Peaky Blinders from Birmingham. Drugs and arms trading had been on the rise recently, and competition within the underworld was deadlier than ever before. But it seemed excessive for the London-Irish to use a bioweapon against the competition.

Guy's heart accelerated into overdrive as he looked back and forth between both ends of the corridor. He was surrounded with no clear exit in sight, and with Charles Kingsley leading the troops, Guy was a dead man walking. Kingsley was three years older than Guy at twenty-five years of age and had inherited Kingsley Consolidates from his late father, who mysteriously disappeared last year. It was clear to Guy that Kingsley murdered his own father, but with no evidence, body, or murder weapon and an alibi that checked out, Kingsley got away with it.

Kingsley was tall, over six feet, with handsome features that could compete with a male model with his thick blonde hair combed back, and he always wore an expensive looking tailored suit in black. He always wore black. No doubt in Guy's mind Kingsley had every girl falling for his every need. There wasn't a limit to how much Guy hated this rich, stuck up toff. The sight of him had Guy's insides churning, and he wanted nothing more than to throw up all over him.

"Is it too much of me to ask to see the man behind the mask?" Kingsley's voice was smooth and melodic but with a hint of upper-class Englishman arrogance. "Please."

There it was, please. Kingsley had a thing about manners, and it irritated Guy to the core. He didn't understand how a cruel, sadistic man could have such good manners. Kingsley's green eyes narrowed as they ventured up and down Guy's body in an attempt to exploit a weakness, but he couldn't find one. Guy took Kingsley's moment of inspection to gather his surroundings as he came up with a possible escape plan. Two guards and Brigid stood behind him with another guard, and Kingsley stood in front of him.

"So, the masked man doesn't like to speak." Kingsley started his game of manipulation. "I wonder why. Hiding a secret?"

Guy continued to not say a word. He didn't want to waste his breath on him.

"I'll take back the N2 Virus now, thank you." Kingsley reached his hand out towards Guy and flicked his fingers, gesturing for Guy to hand back the bioweapon he had stolen.

At least now, Guy knew that the bioweapon was a virus of some sort, but he wondered what "N2" stood for. Still, no way in hell was Guy going to willingly give back such a deadly weapon that could take millions of lives. Kingsley had to be out of his mind to so boldly ask for it back. Guy couldn't help himself and started laughing at the entire situation he'd found himself caught in the middle of. He wished now that he hadn't agreed to the job and had gone with Cassidy to the art gallery opening instead. Then he could have been sipping on a glass of wine by now while admiring his girlfriend's hard work. But no, he had to say yes to the job because no matter how much he loved Cassidy, he just loved the thrill of the job.

"You find this amusing." Kingsley's thin lips pulled back into a dark smirk. "It's not funny when a civilian's life is on the line."

Guy immediately stopped laughing when Kingsley waved his hand behind him, and two more guards came walking up the corridor, handling a man as he struggled to escape from their firm grasps. Guy's heart sunk to his stomach as dread washed over him. It was Danny Clyde, his best friend and another member of Mikey's band. What the hell was he doing here? Kingsley couldn't possibly know who he was, and if he did, he would have used Cassidy against him, not Danny. Again, what was Danny doing here? Guy had never seen his friend look so scared in his entire life as his eyes glistened with moisture, and his entire body trembled as he fought against the security guards holding him captive. He glanced over at Guy and stopped in his struggle and stared at his friend, his brown eyes widening, highly confused. Even with half of his face covered with a bandana, Danny instantly recognised him.

"I found him wandering outside of the building looking for someone. Do you know him?" Kingsley questioned.

"I've never met him before in my life." Guy shrugged.

"You won't mind me killing him, then."

Out of nowhere, Kingsley grabbed Danny by the collar and pulled him into a headlock and placed a sharp knife across his neck. Danny started to panic, tears spilling down his cheeks, and his chest heaved anxiously. He stared Guy in his eyes, begging him to save his life. Guy couldn't let Danny die, but he couldn't let Kingsley have the virus. He didn't know what to do. For once, since he started working for the government, he'd found himself in a position where no outcome ended happily, and he hated not being in control of the situation. It made him feel weak.

One death or millions. Guy had to remind himself of the stakes at hand, but could he really sacrifice his best friend's life to save millions?

Guy swallowed back the nerves. However, his body betrayed him when Kingsley pressed the knife harder against Danny's neck, and his foot nudged forward, ready to dive forward and save his friend's life. He managed to hold himself back before giving away that he knew Danny, but it was too late. Kingsley had caught the simple act.

"Everyone has a weakness. Yours is seeing other people suffer. Especially those who are close to you."

"I don't know him." Guy's hand edged towards the gun held within the holster strapped to his right thigh.

"Ah, ah!" Brigid pointed the end of her hunter knife into the back of his neck. "Drop the gun and raise your hands." She spoke with a strong Irish accent, and it was hard to distinguish what she was saying.

Brigid McGrath was highly trained in martial arts and an expert with knives. She was not to be messed with, along with her younger sister, Siobhan McGrath. They were the London-Irish mob's most deadly assassins. Even if Guy so much as broke a sweat, she would plunge the knife into the back of his neck. He dropped the gun. It clattered loudly against the floor, and he slowly raised his hands.

"Thank you, Brigid." Kingsley nodded towards his associate and tightened his hold on Danny, whose eyes grew wide, glinting with fear. "There is no need to deny that you don't know this man. I saw the way your eyes met. You don't just know him. He's a friend."

Danny winced when Kingsley pierced the knife through his skin, and a trickle of blood oozed down his neck and stained his white shirt like a blotch of ink. Danny was wearing the tuxedo for Cassidy's gallery, except the dinner jacket was now torn, and his bowtie was hanging loose around his neck. With closer inspection, Guy could see that Danny's lower lip was bust and swollen, and his right eye was gradually turning purple. Had Kingsley tortured him? Guy's fist curled tightly, knowing that Kingsley had hurt his best friend.

"Now hand over the N2 Virus, or I will kill your friend!" Kingsley growled and sawed the knife against the already open wound, and Danny cried.

If Kingsley cut a millimetre deeper, then Danny would be choking on his own blood. Guy didn't know what to do. He had no strategy or exit plan, and he always had a plan, no matter what was thrown in his way. He'd just never anticipated coming across a scenario like this one. Guy stared directly at his friend. He'd never seen him look so scared in his entire life, his face drained of colour like he was about to faint. What was he supposed to do?

"Give Kingsley the bioweapon!" Nikki was back online, and Guy's heart pounded against his chest. He'd never been so happy to hear her voice. "The door to your left leads to a laboratory with its own private fire exit. Do what you do best and cause a distraction. I'll be on my way with back up."

Of course, the laboratory. Guy felt like an i***t for not working out he was on the scientific floor. Why didn't he think of that? He knew why. His better judgement had been clouded by Danny's appearance. Guy's eyes flicked towards the door to his left, and he slyly smirked to himself. He could always count on Nikki to find him a way out whenever he was stuck. He now had the perfect plan.

"I'll do what you want. Please, don't hurt him!" Guy began his convincing act. "It's in my bag's front pocket."

"No!" Danny choked.

Kingsley flicked the knife away from Danny's throat and nodded towards Brigid. She took her knife away from the back of Guy's neck and unzipped his bag and took the vial out. She smirked at Kingsley, confirming that it was the N2 Virus. Meanwhile, while Brigid was distracted, Guy reached for the knife strapped to his back and hidden under his bag. In one swift movement, while Brigid passed the vial to Kingsley and while the guards were distracted by the transaction, Guy kicked the glass vial out from Brigid's hand, threw his knife at the chest of the guard stood behind him, and shouted at Danny to catch the vial before it smashed against the ground. During the ensuing chaos, Guy grabbed his gun from the floor and shot at Kingsley, who leapt for cover behind his security. With his gun still pointed towards the guards, Guy quickly dragged Danny towards the laboratory.

"In there now!" Guy pushed him.

Without question, Danny opened the door, and Guy skidded inside after him. Bang! A shot rang out, and Guy bit down an agonised cry, not wanting to show that he'd been hit. He didn't want to worry Danny. Guy steadied his breaths, hoping the adrenaline would keep him alive for now, but he already knew the damage was bad, and it was far worse than it felt. He could still feel the bullet inside of him, and it was deep. He pressed his hand against his bleeding side. He would think about the consequences later, once he'd gotten Danny safely out of the building. His life was more important than his own. He quickly barricaded the door with a chair.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Guy ripped the bandana from his face and glared at his friend.

Still clutching his side, he ran around the laboratory, grimacing in pain as he turned on all the gas taps.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?" Danny threw his hands up into the air over-dramatically. "What's with the guns and the fighting and the stealth get-up you're wearing?" His hands waved up and down at Guy's black outfit.

"I am not explaining myself until you tell me why you're here when you should be at Cassidy's art gallery," Guy argued.

"I could ask you the same thing!"

Guy gave him a pointed glare, which frightened Danny into submission.

"I followed you!" he confessed. "Mikey's been really worried about you lately, as has Cassidy because you've been disappearing all month. So, I wanted to find out what it was you got up to. I thought maybe you were an alcoholic and went to the pub every night. Right now, seeing all of this...I wish you were an alcoholic getting wasted." His voice trailed off into silence when he sniffed the air and turned and looked at what Guy was doing with the gas taps.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Guy turned on the last gas tap in the room.

"Trying to get us killed!" Danny cried in outrage.

"More like saving our lives." Guy smiled mischievously. "Come on, this way!"

Guy dragged him towards the fire exit and slammed his body against the handle bar, but it wouldn't budge. It was locked. It seemed Kingsley had locked up all exits out of the building.

"Enigma, it looks like I'm going to have to go with the emergency exit plan. Be prepared for a crash landing!" Guy tightened the straps of his bag.

"I'm on my way and don't set the building on fire when you leave. Agent Miller's orders."

"I'm not promising anything!" Guy smirked with a plan even Nikki didn't know about.

Guy scuffled over to the large glass window that overlooked the city and smashed the corner with the butt of his gun and slotted it back into his holster. The heavy wind howled and blew the rain into his face. He gazed down to the street below. He was high enough; his plan could work.

"Do you still have the vial?" Guy faced Danny, and his friend nodded.

"Good! Keep a hold of it for me. Don't give it to anyone, and whatever you do, don't let it smash, or we both die!"

Guy grabbed an empty decoy vial from the laboratory workbench, snatched Danny, and walked over to the smashed window.

"Okay." Guy wrapped his arms around his friend, who looked highly confused by his actions. "On the count of three, we're going to jump out of this window."

"WHAT?" Danny screamed. "Are you insane?"

"Very." Guy smirked back. "One..." Guy held on tightly to his friend and jumped out of the window just as Brigid barged their way through the door and shot at them.

The room exploded in a fiery blaze and projected the pair of them further forward than Guy had anticipated. It took him off course, but he could deal with that. Fire alarms blared from inside the building, along with the sound of Brigid's screaming. Guy had no choice. He had to blow up the lab. It was where they created the N2 Virus, and all accounts of it had to be destroyed.

Danny started screaming until his lungs gave out, while Guy couldn't help but laugh the entire time they were falling to the pavement. Guy pulled on a piece of cord attached to his bag, and a parachute shot out and flung them up. A rush of air flew past his face and whipped his hair into his eyes as he jumped to the ground, keeping a tight hold of his friend, who was still screaming, though no sound was coming out of his mouth anymore. His face was frozen, petrified by the whole ordeal. They landed and tumbled forward, grazing themselves against the pavement. Guy smashed the decoy vial just as Nikki pulled up on the road. This was Guy's only chance to hide the last vial in existence.

"Danny, promise me you will keep a hold of that vial for me. Hide it in a place no one would ever think to look and don't let anyone know you have it. Do you understand me?"

Danny reluctantly nodded his head and hid the vial within his jacket pocket without further questions, trusting his friend. Nikki stepped out of the car, along with Agent Miller, Guy's boss at MI6, who was a complete and utter arsehole. He cared for nothing but his own reputation. During the time Guy had made his escape, Miller had managed to cordon off both ends of the street to stop any civilians from entering and to make sure everything was hush-hush from the public. His usual cover-up story was a gas leak, which technically was true this time, since Guy opened all the gas taps. Miller marched towards Guy with a stiff upper lip and an upturned face. More black land rovers parked behind, and agents marched out of the vehicles and headed into the building to arrest Charles Kingsley. At least the backup came. Better late than never.

"Agent One," Miller called, using Guy's code name. "I thought I told you not to blow the facility up!" he shouted while staring up at the smoking building, alarms still ringing out.

"Technically, it was Brigid McGrath who set the trigger off." Guy smirked, then flinched from the sudden sharp pain shooting up the side of his body. The adrenaline was wearing off, and he could feel the impact of the bullet wound.

Miller glared at Guy, his eyes narrowed, his face scrunched up, made livid by his agent's actions. "This is not funny, Agent One. We needed as many samples of that bioweapon we could get our hands on!"

Guy's smirk vanished into a sharp line. "So the defence department can make a weapon out of it and use it against our enemies while killing thousands of innocent lives in the process. I saw the plans in your office."

Miller's upturned lip trembled with anger. "That is a securely locked office that is impenetrable without the correct security measure. How did you get inside?"

"I penetrated it with my d**k, that's how!" Guy joked, and Danny sniggered.

At least his friend was smiling against and not trembling with fear anymore. After what had happened between him and Kingsley, Guy wouldn't be surprised if Danny had nightmares for the next couple of weeks as a result. Miller turned his attention to Danny and furrowed his brows, finally noticing his presence, but he didn't question it.

"The N2 Virus now, please." Miller lowered his voice and reached his hand out to Guy, but he continued to stare at Danny.

Guy hesitated. How did Miller know it was called the N2 Virus when he himself only learned what it was called? He was glad now that he'd blown up the lab and hidden the final vial.

"It smashed when I landed." Guy pointed to the broken glass of the decoy sprawled across the floor. "Bye bye, virus. Well, it looks like no one is going to be tampering with it for now, which I think is for the best."

Miller was fuming, and his face turned a putrid red, and he, unfortunately, channelled all of his anger onto Danny. Guy's friend had been through hell tonight, and now he had to deal with Miller.

"Who the hell is this?" He pointed a long finger at Danny.

"No one. Just a civilian that got mixed up in it all."

"Hi." Danny smiled and waved. Guy elbowed him to shut him up. He was not helping by being joyful. Miller hated joyful people.

Miller's eyes turned to thin slits as he narrowed his gaze between the pair of them.

"Agent Kane, who is this man?" Miller ordered.

With the best puppy-eyed impression, he could muster, Guy pleaded with Nikki not to say a word to Miller about Danny, but Guy knew her all too well. She stuck by the rules, which he couldn't complain about. Nikki's non-rule-breaking had saved his life plenty of times, which had made her the best partner Guy had ever had while working with the secret intelligence service.

"He's called Danny Clyde. He is the guitarist of Lost Dreams and a friend of Guy's from school."

Guy's heart sunk, and Nikki shrugged, her eyes glimmering apologetically. With big brown eyes like those, he couldn't be mad with her. She was only doing her job.

"So, you bring your friends to work now? The board will hear about this." Miller gave Guy a deceitful smirk, and Guy scowled.

"He followed me. I didn't know he was here, but you should be happy, because now you have a key witness to use against Charles Kingsley. No harm done. In fact, it's all in your favour. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm late for my girlfriend's art gallery opening." Guy checked the time.

"s**t! The art gallery will be closing soon. Cassidy is going to kill me." He looked at Nikki. "Can you drive me?"

"I can drive. My car is right around the corner." Danny pointed in the direction of his car.

"Sorry, Danny, but Nikki is the best driver in the agency, and I have a lot to explain to you on the way. Now, let's go!" Guy grabbed Danny's collar and limped over to the car, then turned back to look at Miller.

"Don't bother with the board. I quit!" Guy threw his badge onto the floor.

"You can't walk out on us, Guy Black!"

"Watch me!"

A sudden rush of pain washed over Guy, and he felt dizzy, his vision spiralling. He stopped and gazed down at his wounded side and took his hand away and instantly felt sick, looking at his palm coated in blood. Oh no, this wasn't good.

"On second thought–" Guy collapsed.