Spider

62

West Village, SoHo, New York As the last grey dregs of night filtered into the first warm reds of dawn Howie stretched out his aching bones on the couch opposite the one on which Jack was snoring. He and Carrie had screamed at each other in the bedroom, bawled at each other in the kitchen and even thrown things at each other in the back yard, until they finally ran out of fight-power a little after four a.m. The row had been enough to wake most of the neighbourhood, but Jack had slept all the way through the emotional earthquake. In the harsh light of morning, Howie felt as exhausted as he looked. His head hurt worse than any hangover he'd ever had and he felt more depressed, angry and humiliated than he'd done since someone at high school had stolen all his clothes and sports gear while he was in the showers.

By the time they rode to the office, Jack knew something was seriously wrong. 'So what happened to upset Carrie?' he asked, yawning as he fought off the fug from the sleeping pill. 'I noticed we both got the big freeze this morning.'

Howie let out a long pained grunt and turned down the radio. 'She told me last night she's been fucking someone else. We spent most of the night rowing around you, but you slept through it.'

'Sorry, buddy. I hate sleeping pills, but every now and then I have to take one just to get a decent eight hours.'

'Sorry what? That you slept through it? Or that she's been balling someone?'

They both laughed. Jack started thinking about practicalities. 'I guess you've got round two coming up tonight, so I'll fix a Holiday Inn or somewhere else to shift to.'

'Might be an idea,' said Howie. 'In fact, maybe we can get a two-room discount; I'll probably need to check in as well.'

'It's that bad?'

'Maybe. The sad thing is, I really don't know if I want to fix things. Could be that we've had our time. Perhaps we're all burned out anyway.'

'You want my advice?'

'Go ahead.'

'Don't rush it. Maybe you're right, the best might be behind you, but you've got the kids to think about. It could turn out to be a wake-up call for both of you.'

'Man, right now the last thing I want is a wake-up call, I'd rather have eight hours of zedz,' joked Howie. A news jingle trickled out of the speakers and he turned up the radio. 'Let's see what the friggin' press know that we don't.'

From the sombre tone of the newscaster's voice Jack and Howie gathered that the first story was a tragic one, and they rightly feared that the subject matter might concern them. 'Some breaking news, just in. The controversial news channel Pan Arabia this morning showed more disturbing footage featuring a young woman who it claims is being held captive and is being slowly tortured to death somewhere in America. The video released half an hour ago on the English-speaking version of the Arab-owned news network, shows the woman, believed to be white and in her mid-twenties, tied naked to some form of restraining table. Pan Arabia's crime editor Tariq el Daher defended his channel's decision to broadcast more footage -'

'The fuckers must have disconnected our trace equipment,' said Howie, slamming his hand on the steering wheel.

Tariq's voice was calm and unemotional. 'Pan Arabia believes it is in the interest of both the American public and the victim involved to have broadcast the footage. Not only are we upholding the democratic principles of freedom of speech and the right to uncensored news, but we are broadcasting this material to ensure that the complacency of the FBI and the police services across America is brought to a rapid end. If this young woman dies, then her blood will be on their hands. We urge all law-enforcement officials everywhere to make her survival a priority. If, today, America puts the same money and resources into finding this woman as it does into fighting foreign wars, then by tonight she will be home safely with her loved ones.'

'Son of a bitch!' cursed Howie, banging the steering wheel again.

The newscaster came back to round the report off. 'The terrorist organization al-Qaeda has already released a statement saying that it has no knowledge or involvement with the kidnapping or the video footage being exclusively screened on Pan Arabia. It went to great lengths to stress that it has always condemned any torture of individuals.'

Howie turned the radio down. 'A veiled reference to Abu Ghraib?'

'Not so veiled,' said Jack.

Howie flicked on the indicator, checked his mirror and squealed the wheels as he spun the car around. 'Let's go see our friend Tariq. He might just be the perfect outlet for all my pent-up anger.'