Free The Silent Pool by Phil Kurthausen

measure, sending him back into a prone position. Then he threw the gun far and high into the scrap metal mountain and turned to leave. The girl shook her head.
    Outside he pulled her away from the entrance. ‘OK, who are you and why are you following me?’
    The girl smiled. ‘Aren't you going to thank me for saving your life?’ she asked.
    Erasmus grinned at her. ‘Where are my manners? Thank you, thank you very much.’ The smile dropped like an anchor. ‘Now tell me, who the fuck are you?’
    The girl reached into her handbag – Erasmus could see the notebook in there that she had at the café – and pulled out a card, which she handed to Erasmus. He read it: Rachel Harrop, journalist,
Liverpool Echo
.
    ‘Oh shit. Come on we need to talk,’ he said.
    ‘You can buy me a coffee. We both know you like coffee, Erasmus.’
    ‘How do you know my name?’ he asked but she was already walking away from him. Erasmus looked to the sky and then followed.
    She led him to a low rent coffee bar off a side street of Smithdown Lane. The café was empty apart from an old woman playing the rather incongruous fruit machine in the corner. Rachel insisted on buying and fetched them two coffees.
    As she approached the table Erasmus could see that the cockiness had gone. She looked pale and shaky and the coffee was slopping out of the cracked mugs she carried. Erasmus stood up and took the mugs from her, placing them on the table. He guided her into her chair.
    ‘Post combat stress. You need sugar and then rest. Hang on.’
    Erasmus went to the counter and bought a chocolate bar from the bored looking woman behind the counter.
    ‘She had a skin full, has she?’ said the woman, laughing so hard that the fat under her arms flapped like an giant bird's wings.
    Erasmus ignored her and returned to the table. He broke a chunk of the chocolate bar off and handed it to Rachel. ‘Eat it.’
    She half smiled and then took the chocolate and popped it in her mouth. ‘I don't know what happened, I felt fine back there, elated even, and I hate violence.’
    ‘It's normal. You'll feel better in a minute. If you tell me why you're following me it may take your mind off things.’
    ‘Ha, I knew it was a ploy you being kind.’ She took a deep breath, composed herself and then looked at him. ‘What do you know about the Bovind Foundation?’
    ‘I know Bovind is one of the richest men on the planet, his company invented Lightspeed, the family friendly web browser. He's from Liverpool originally, isn't he?’
    ‘He is but you'd never guess it now. He speaks and looks like an American. But more importantly he has that crazy messianic religious belief of the truly deluded and self righteous.’
    ‘So you're not a fan. But what does Bovind have to do with me?’
    Rachel studied Erasmus carefully. Her glasses and sweater reminded Erasmus of one of the girls from
Scooby Do
.
    ‘To my editor Bovind is Liverpool's only hope of staving off the city's bankruptcy. There are rumours the Mayor's office is about to announce a unique funding deal: Liverpool the city as sponsored by Intracom. My editor sees this as the best thing that could happen to the city. They are even running a feature on him this week. The working title's “Liverpool's Messiah”. Trust me my sources are impeccable. Bovind is coming to the rescue tomorrow.’
    Colour had returned to her cheeks. Erasmus handed her some more chocolate, which she eagerly accepted.
    ‘So what's the problem with someone saving the city? My daughter's classes were cancelled yesterday because the city can't pay the teachers. Maybe your editor is right and, by the way, what does this have to do with you following me?’
    Rachel nodded slowly. ‘Lightspeed in every classroom means your kid only gets to see what they, Intracom, want her to see. It's the only software that can robustly censor out porn, violence, the dark netherworld of the web that you gravitate to when you're growing up. But it also ranks