"I knew you'd be back," Solomon said with a laugh.
Johanna returned his comment with a scowl, her gaunt face distorting into a horrific picture. It did not have the desired effect, Solomon's laugh grew louder and deeper as he slumped back into his soft chair as if he was some sort of king. To his followers he was, but not to Johanna, to her he was a killer. She hated him for what he had done, but now she needed his help.
The chair, that symbol of defiance, enraged her. It was the nicest chair in the slums but that said very little. Its wooden frame and soft floral cushions would look more at home in an elderly couple's conservatory than here, dirty and frayed. It sat, instead, in an old bunker, dimly lit and covered in grime. The only other furniture, scratched tables, plastic garden chairs and old office drawers and cupboards. There were more people here than furniture. But this gang was more than just a place to hang out, it was a family, a family criminals.
The smell of smoke mingled with sweat from myriad bodies, behind this a whiff of damp and soil. No, Solomon may see himself as a king among men but he was far from it. Johanna had not sought him out because he was a hero but because he was her only hope. She went to say something but had been silent for too long, "so I suppose you are here about your daughter."
"What do you know of my daughter?" Johanna snapped back.
Solomon leaned forward, trying to intimidate her, "I know everything."
"Then you know where she is," Johanna's eyes lit up.
"I know where she was taken, then, I'm afraid," he was patronising her, "the trail runs cold."
"I thought you knew everything," she had got one over him, it felt good, refreshing. Johanna relaxed.
But that feeling did not last long, Solomon was not taken aback, not stunned, not wounded. His deep laugh returned. "She has so much of you in her, doesn't she." Johanna's jaw tightened, locking into place. She wanted to bite back again but that would get her nowhere. Solomon continued, "I can get the information with a bit of digging, but first, I want to know what you are going to give me."
Johanna looked away, ashamed, "you know I have nothing."
"Well, it is just your luck I have a job that needs doing."
"What job?" she was scared now.
"A delivery I need collecting." The fear visibly emanated from Johanna's body, she knew Solomon was playing a game with her, she knew exactly what the mission would be, but she could do nothing but let him carry on. "I need someone to slip into Johnsonville undetected and meet a friend of mine at the Central Science Lab." As he explained the mission old memories resurface and the anger in Johanna grew, she tried to hold it back but it was like a dormant volcano waiting to erupt. "There you will be given a package, it is only a small package but something very important, an experimental medicine to rejuvenate cells in your body and allow you to live a longer life." Johanna shook, the talk of a long life almost too much to bear. Observing the change in her body, Solomon pasted a sly grin across his face, he knew what buttons to press and was about to hit them hard. "I hope you will not let me down, last time one of your family did a job for me they failed to complete it."
The explosion came, "how dare you talk about him like that you slimy dog." Johanna marched forward, fists clenched, ready to swing. The two heavies either side of the chair moved to intercept but Solomon stayed them by raising his hand, standing himself a second later. When Johanna got to him, stood face to face, her nerve was lost. How she wanted to batter him around the head, make him pay for what he had done to her family, but she needed him, she needed her daughter.
It was Solomon who spoke first, the grin still painted on, "so I take it that you will do the job?"
"Not for you, but for my daughter, you have already taken her father, you may as well take her mother too."
"Now, now, it was her father's choice."
"His choice! He worked for you for years, he gave his life to you so his family did not struggle, did not grovel in the dirt. How did you repay him for that service? His child in my belly, due any day, him waiting to be there at the birth. Could you leave him alone? Could you let him be? No, you had to prove you were in charge, you send him out on some crazy mission, you all but got him killed. Thanks to you his daughter has been scrabbling in the dirt, scraping to make ends meet, and all that without her father."
Solomon felt the venom in her voice, disregarded the flecks of spit that flew from her mouth as she ranted. To show the power he had he leaning in closer so their noses almost touched, saying, in a deep whisper, "I would have looked after you had you come to me."
"Why would I have come to you? So you could own me too! Own my daughter! That was a price I wasn't willing to pay."
"Strange how things change, because it looks like I own you now," with that Solomon turned away and called to his heavies, "see Johanna out and let her know that we will be in touch." As he sat on the cushioned throne, head propped up with one hand, he smiled to himself. Despite the news he heard coming out of Princips Ltd., he still had power.