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Jack and Jennie were sitting on the sofa watching TV, although to be more accurate, Jennie was converting packs of Doritos into vast fatty deposits and Jack was trying to think on how to Google for a way to 'disappear' her without raising red flags everywhere.

"Perhaps Google wasn't the answer" thought Jack as his wife started on another family size pack.

Jack had an idea but decided to wait until Jennie fell asleep which she did a while later. He pulled out his mobile and texted "how can I search without being traced" to an old friend.

Twenty minutes later the friend responded with "get tor or i2p then search on duckduckgo.com or search silk road". Jack put his phone away.

"What are you doing ?" enquired Jennie.

"Nothing." lied Jack "I'm off to bed now."

"OK I'm just going to watch the end of this and then I'll come too." replied Jennie, winking.

"OK" said Jack, "Ugh grotesque !" thought Jack and went upstairs.

Jack brushed his teeth, got his tablet and climbed into bed. He typed in "duckduckgo.com" and saw a duck inside a red circle above a search box. "Oh !" thought Jack, who hadn't expected something with such a silly name to actually work.

He typed "i2p" and looked at the top listing. "The Invisible Internet Project." thought Jack "This could be handy."

Downstairs Jennie made a Herculean effort to lift her huge body off the sofa and failed with a loud thump. Jack switched off his tablet and put it under the bed. Jennie tried again and succeeded - barely. She waddled across the room to the stairs and started the long climb up. Jack pretended to be asleep when Jennie flopped into bed next to him.

"The grotty bitch didn't clean her teeth again." thought Jack "She's really gotta go." and fell asleep a while later.

"Oh for fucks sake !!" thought Jack as he woke to the sound of a hippopotamus snoring next to him. He slipped out of bed and quietly went down stairs to the living room and switched on his laptop. He remembered what he had been told by his friend. He downloaded the Tor software to anonymise his internet connection and set it up. He started searching for ways to un-wife and hit gold. He left a message and went back to bed, but he couldn't sleep with Jennie's snoring and the evil thoughts going through his mind.


DI Hanson also couldn't sleep. He was trying to figure out how people could search for ways to murder their wives without being flagged by GCHQ or the NSA. Perhaps there is some kind of invisible network, but where would you find it ? DI Hanson wasn't really a 'techie' by nature, but he knew people who were and decided to chat to a few the next day. He also needed to touch base with his boss to keep her up to date.


Jack woke up and went down stairs again to his laptop. He open the lid and entered his password. To his surprise, amongst the spam and work-related junk there was a short message. It was a list of instructions. Jack made a note on a bit of paper and deleted the message.

"Honey put the kettle on !" screamed Jennie from her bed.

"OK" yelled Jack and went to the kitchen. He filled up the kettle, put it back on it's base and switched it on. It was at that point the full gravity of what he was about to do hit him. He took a couple of mugs down from the cupboard and started doing the coffee.


DI Hanson walked along the corridor and stood outside a door. The name tag said "Alison Coulson - Chief Inspector". DI Hanson knocked on the door and walked in.


"I'm just going out for a bit" shouted Jack but Jennie didn't hear as she was in the bath.

Jack removed the piece of paper with the notes he took earlier. As he walked and read the note, he was unaware of the two men following him. He walked into the supermarket as instructed, walked into the cafeteria, got a coffee and sat down.

"OK ... what now ?" thought Jack as he looked around. He felt a strange vibration in his pocket and got out his mobile. To his surprise, it wasn't ringing. The vibration continued so Jack felt his other pockets and to his surprise found a second phone and a USB memory stick. As he pulled the phone out it stopped. He looked at the screen and there was a text message waiting from someone called TSDS. He read the message.

The two men that had been following him were in the same cafeteria watching. It had been one of them that placed the phone and USB memory stick in Jack's pocket when he was getting his coffee. He scrolled the message and read some more. Jack finished his coffee and went home.

"Task complete" texted one of the men to someone higher up the food-chain. They both got up and left.


DI Hanson left his boss's office with a feeling of accomplishment. They had decided that the best move was to go up the chain of command and try to get GCHQ involved. A lowly DI wouldn't get to know all the technical details but at least things could move forward.


Jack got home and checked to see if Jennie was home. She wasn't so he went to his laptop, inserted the USB memory stick and switched on. He watched loads of text gibberish scroll up the screen and then it cleared to show a log-in box. He re-read the text message on the phone to get the password and entered it into the box on the laptop screen. He was presented with a very odd looking Windows-like desktop.

He read the next part of the text message and clicked the icon called "Target Details" and was presented with a small form. He filled-in the form with details about his wife's health, her work and routine, he read the part about tailored, untraceable terminations, he read the part about blended payment methods, he ticked the box to say he could pay the £5,126,000 fee and he also ticked the box that he understood there was no going back when he clicked "Submit".

Jack paused. He was about to set off a sequence of events that would terminate the life of his wife of 15+ years. He thought of his huge wife snoring next to him for the rest of his life and clicked "Submit". He stared at the screen. Unknown to Jack, the USB memory stick had installed a special spyware program onto his laptop.

"Hi honey, I'm home" yelled Jennie and Jack nearly leapt out of his skin. He pulled the USB memory stick and re-booted the laptop into Windows. When Jack looked at Jennie, he noticed she looked a bit sweaty.

"Have you been running ?" joked Jack, "She would break every bone in her legs if she did !" he thought.

"Nearly." said Jennie, "I've been using the treadmill at the gym. I decided to lose some weight. I'm just going to shower" and she went upstairs.


Many miles away a text that read "Client 33 has activated system" appeared on a special mobile phone. The owner read it and put the phone down.


"Do you remember how we met all those years ago ?" enquired Jennie, not stuffing her face with food for once.

"Of course." replied Jack "It was a major turning point in my life". It certainly was, Jack had been at the lowest point in his life, broken, deeply in debt, near suicide, but then he met Jennie, and she had turned things around ... and he was about to have her killed.

"What an ungrateful prick I am." thought Jack "I can't kill Jennie. OK, she's rather fat but that's easy to sort out ... what to do ..." Jack felt mild panic as he got up from the sofa and went to his laptop. He searched for the local police station's contact details and thought about what he would say, totally unaware of the hidden spyware program monitoring his actions.

Many miles away a text that read "Client 33 search terms: kent police" appeared on a special mobile phone.

"Shit ! ... it might be nothing but best keep an eye on client 33" said the owner and put the phone down.


"What yer doing honey ?" enquired Jennie.

"Oh just remembered something I forgot to do at work" lied Jack as he faced a very stark choice :-

1. Allow Jennie to be murdered and live with the guilt, or
2. Go to the police, face many years in jail for attempted murder and lose Jennie anyway.

The police would also be very interested to know about the organization that Jack had hired to kill his wife, and that organization would be very interested to know who betrayed them to the police, with terminal consequences.

"I've got a few days before they do it. I need to think." thought Jack as he put his coat on.

"I'm just going out for wander !" shouted Jack to Jennie who was half asleep on the sofa.

Jack had to think, was there a third option that didn't involve murder or jail-time. He walked down the street totally unaware of the two men following him.

"He's going in the wrong direction for the police." said one of the men following Jack into a small two-way radio.

"OK just tail him." said the voice on the other end.

Jack thought of a third option. He would tell Jennie about the plot and the two of them would run away.

"Why would Jennie run away with someone who plotted her death ? damn !" thought Jack running out of viable options. He turned yet another corner and back onto the street that led back to his house. Jack's only viable option was to continue with Jennie's death. Jack could barely get the key into the door his hands were shaking so much.

Jennie was on the sofa. "She's asleep." thought Jack as he sat next to her and watched TV.

After a while Jack got up to get a drink. "Do you want a glass of wine, Jennie ?" asked Jack as he took a sip of his. Jennie didn't respond.

"The gym session must have really taken it out of her." thought Jack as he sat at the table and opened the lid on his laptop. He had an idea and got the USB memory stick from his pocket and inserted it back into the laptop.

"There must be a way to cancel this or contact them." thought Jack as he watched this weird system boot for the second time and entered the password. Jack looked at each icon on the screen.

An icon called "Job Status" caught Jack's eye, and he clicked it. A small window opened and Jack read its contents. It was mostly details of the job to bump off his wife, but one line made him freeze. A cold dread crept over Jack as he read "Target: Terminated."

"Jennie !" shouted Jack as he read the next line which said "Payment: Pending."

"JENNIE !!" shouted Jack a bit louder. He went back to the sofa and put his hand on her shoulder to try to wake her, but instead of feeling warm, soft flesh he felt cold, dead flesh, and he froze.

"The bastards did it !" cried Jack "Oh my fucking god, they actually went and killed my Jennie." cried Jack as he knelt down next to his dead wife.

Jack pulled himself together and remembered the briefing on the USB memory stick. It covered all things like acting natural, how to handle the police interview, disposing of any evidence, transferring cash, etc.

Jack took a deep breath and dialled 999, asked for an ambulance and gave his address. The operator make him establish his wife was actually dead and not unconscious. The ambulance arrived a few minutes later. The crew examined Jennie and concluded she had been dead for a few hours. They put her into the ambulance and drove to the hospital. Jack followed in his car.

The next day Jack got a visit from the police. The briefing said it was to be expected. Jack took a deep breath to calm himself. He needed to put on a good performance but was almost paralytic with fear. He invited the officers in, and they sat in the living room. Jack couldn't get his wife's murder out of his mind, and he was sure the autopsy would confirm his wife's death wasn't natural. Jack gave an abysmal performance and the experienced police officers could 'smell' the fear in Jack's body-language and speech.

Unknown to the three people in the room, the microphone on Jack's laptop relayed the conversation through the internet to a darkened room. The operator could also hear the fear in Jack's voice.

The operator picked up his mobile and texted "Client 33 is breaking down & needs to be terminated immediately. Preparing to wipe the laptop." to someone higher up the food-chain.

Jack finally broke down and confessed. The police officers arrested him. One officer grabbed the laptop and the other walked Jack to the police car and put him in the back. They climbed in the front and drove off. The laptop would be useless as evidence as it and the USB memory stick had been remotely wiped a few seconds before. The police car stopped at some traffic lights and an unmarked white van pulled up next to them.

Jack suddenly felt very hot. "Ahhh !" he screamed.

"Be quite !" shouted one of the police officers. Jack went quiet.

When they got to the police station Jack was dead. A few days later the autopsy showed that the cause of Jennie's death was heart attack brought on by a combination her extreme obesity, bad health, age and the sudden exertion at the gym. The autopsy on Jack would show he was killed by extreme heat to the upper body.


"How did you kill Jack ?" enquired the first man in the Rolls-Royce.

"Oh, we used a 20 kilowatt microwave mounted inside a white van." said the second man.

"Cool, a directed energy weapon, nice ... doesn't the metal body of the van stop the microwaves ?" asked the first man.

"No, the back section is fibreglass and painted glossy white to look like metal." replied the second.

"Nice. We should be able to use that a few more times before the police get wise. Don't forget to change the colours and vehicle types." said the first man.

"Good idea." replied the second man.

The Rolls-Royce sped on to Ramsgate where the yacht was moored. The two men got out and did anti-surveillance protocols. They met up again near a marina.

"I got to read the autopsy report on Jack and apparently he smelt of fried chicken !" said the second man.

"Oh that's fucking brilliant ... finger lick'n good !" joked the first man as they walked down the walkway and on to the yacht, still laughing.

"Did we receive full payment from him ?" asked the first man pouring two drinks at the bar.

"We got about half before we zapped him." replied the second man "He couldn't have told the fuzz anything really damaging but I had to be sure, plus it creates a deterrent for anybody else who might have similar thoughts." he continued.

"I think we should move some of the operation here." said the first man.

"Are we going international ?" asked the second man.

"Yes, but later on. We need to expand so get Debz recruiting more hackers, field ops, oh and weapons experts." said the first man.

"OK ... weapons ! are you starting an army ?" asked the second man.

"Not really, but we are bound to bump into armed police and special forces at some point so best be ready. We also need to get people inside the police and GCHQ." said the first man.

"The police should be easy enough but GCHQ ! That will be very hard." said the second man.

"I think we should have a party !" announced the first man.

"I agree" replied the second man.

"We need to go via Cannes to pick up a few guests ... and a client." said the first man.


Index Chapter 5 Chapter 7
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