the bathroom, ripped his clothes off and jumped into the shower. He washed his hair and lathered his body in a thick layer of soap. He stood under the shower spout letting the water run down his body, rinsing off the soap suds.
Robert got out of the shower and combed his hair into place, sprayed on some deodorant and got dressed into a pair of stonewashed jeans and a white Polo golf shirt. He checked himself in the mirror before opening the door and heading towards the elevator. He timed the elevator again, this time it took 25 seconds. He ran a calculation in his head to work out the average time it took from the seventh floor to the ground floor. It was an average of 24 seconds.
When the elevator stopped on the ground floor he walked out and paused in the foyer, looking around to see if he recognised anybody. The only person he recognised was the old lady who had made those stupid comments to the police officer. He walked over to the entrance to the restaurant and looked inside. The Jacksons were already seated and were chatting away to each other, “Now that’s how I want to grow old,” thought Robert to himself and he made his way over to their table.
“Good evening Mr and Mrs Jackson,” said Robert as he reached the table.
“Ah Robert,” said James as he stood up and shook Robert’s hand, “Please have a seat.”
“How did your business go today?” asked Judy.
“It went extraordinarily well, managed to get ink on two deals,” replied Robert, “How was the sight-seeing? Did you see anything worthwhile?”
“We went to the Capital building which was magnificent and then to the History Museum. I don’t like museums much but James loves them. He is a history buff,” said Judy.
“Sounds like I missed out,” said Robert.
“From what I have been told there was some action here today,” said James, “Something about a bomb scare.”
“Oh yes, I heard about that,” said Robert, “Probably some college kids playing a prank.”
“Weren’t you here when it happened?” asked Judy.
“No mam,” replied Robert, “I was still on the road.”
“I am always terrified of these bomb scares. Do you know that I was only a few blocks away from the bomb that went off in Oklahoma? Every time I hear the word bomb I want to jump out of my skin,” said Judy.
“You must be really lucky to be alive,” said Robert.
“Every day I thank the Lord for saving me,” said Judy, pulling the gold cross out from around her neck and giving it a small kiss, “Do you know that James here helped with the case?”
“Now now Judy,” interrupted James, “You know you are not allowed to talk about what happened in the past. A lot of that stuff is still confidential. I can get arrested if any information gets leaked.”
“Sorry dear,” replied Judy, “You just did such a good job that I wanted to tell Robert.”
“So tell me Robert,” said James, changing the subject, “Who do you think is gonna take the Super Bowl this year?”
“Personally I don’t like the Panthers. I’m a Bronco’s man,” replied Robert. “There is no way the Panthers are going to get through Von Miller.”
“I’m not a Panthers fan either. Never have liked them,” said James.
“I assume you are a Saint’s fan?” said Robert.
“Hell yea. Saints all the way!” said James loudly, banging his fist on the table.
“Calm down dear,” said Judy, resting her hand on his arm and turning to Robert, “You know he can really get upset about football.”
“I always see that as a good thing in people,” replied Robert, “It means they are passionate.”
“I really like this man,” said James, and he raised his hand in the air and snapped his fingers to get the attention of the waiter, “Now let’s get ourselves something to drink.”
The waiter appeared out of nowhere and within an instant was at James’s side, “Yes sir, what can I get for you?” he asked politely.
“I’ll have another double scotch,” replied James, and then turned to Robert, “What will you have?”
“Double Jack on the rocks, lots of ice,” said Robert.
“A man after my own heart,” said James, “I like him even more now!”
They had a festive time, eating, drinking, talking and laughing. Any threat that Robert felt about James’s previous employment was long forgotten. The drinks kept on flowing and James and Robert were becoming best mates with Judy the only one that remained sober. As the night wore on the restaurant emptied out and it was only Robert and the Jackson’s left. The staff had switched off half the lights and the waiter was sitting down as a table on the far side playing on his mobile phone.
“James, I think it’s time for me to hit the sack,” said Robert as he stood up and wobbled slightly.
“Was a great evening Robert, thank you for the company,” replied James.
“Goodnight Judy,” said Robert as he turned to Judy, took her hand gently and kissed the back of it. He then turned back to James and shook his hand, “Good night James, sleep well.”
James and Judy watched as Robert made his way out of the restaurant, stumbling slightly as he walked.
Robert woke up in a pool of sweat. He glanced over at the time, it was 4am. The nightmares had started the night after his first hit and hadn’t stopped. It was always the same one. He shot and killed a man who changed into the devil and chased after him. Robert ran away, screaming, but the devil kept getting closer and closer. He always woke up just before it caught him. He always wondered if he would wake up if the devil finally did catch him.
Years of drinking to keep up his charade had taught Robert a few valuable lessons. He had studied the effects of alcohol in detail and knew exactly how to counteract them. If he was unable to stick his finger down his throat and bring the alcohol up he would take a couple of Dihydromyricetin tablets with a litre of water. The tablets were designed to block the Glutamine rebound that occurs when you sleep after a night of heavy drinking.
Robert had taken eight Dihydromyricetin tablets with two litres of water before he went to bed and woke up feeling like a normal person. He walked to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror before opening the tap, filling his hands with cold water and splashing it onto his face. He towelled his face dry and opened up his wardrobe taking out a pair of shorts, a t-shirt some socks and a pair of sneakers.
He knew he wouldn’t be able to fall back to sleep, so he thought he would work out whatever alcohol remained in the Hotel gym. He grabbed his Keycard and opened the door and stepped out into the passage. There was an almost eerie silence at night. Robert looked up and down the passage and then made his way to the elevator. The gym was located on the top floor of the Hotel, overlooking the Austin skyline.
It was still dark outside when Robert began his workout. He started with a slow walk on the treadmill, increasing the pace gently until he reached a mild jog. After twenty minutes he felt he had warmed up his muscles and body enough and he switched to the indoor rowing machine. This was his main workout, and he set the machine goal to 6 miles and a time to beat of forty minutes. He had never broken forty minutes but had been close occasionally.
Robert started off at a medium pace, getting his body used to the rhythm. With each minute that passed he picked up the pace slightly. He kept his eye on the estimated distance, making sure he could give a final burst at the end to try to break that elusive forty minutes. The first twenty minutes were quite easy for Robert and he had hardly broken a sweat. He paused briefly however to have a drink of water and prepare himself for the final twenty minutes, which would be a lot more challenging.
The last twenty minutes seemed to take for ever and with two minutes remaining, he had just over 300 yards to go so it was going to be close. He put his head down and pulled as hard as he could, only looking up every few strokes to see if he was still on track. With a minute to go he was right on the edge and had to use all his strength to keep pulling as hard as he could, the sweat pouring down his face. Robert had to
squint to see the display and as he pulled his last stroke he saw the clock stop at 39:59, he had made it by one second.
He sat on the rower for a few minutes to catch his breath. He felt good. It was a major milestone he had been trying to achieve for the last two years and he had finally done it. More than that though, for Robert this felt like a good omen, on a day when he needed good omens. He grabbed a towel from the rack and wiped the sweat of his body, throwing it in the laundry bin on his way out.
Robert caught the elevator and went back down to his room, jumping into the shower straight away. He kept the water luke-warm to keep his muscles fresh. He stepped out of the shower and dried himself before changing into some brown Chino trousers and a long sleeve black turtleneck top. Robert looked at his watch, it was 7am, “Time for breakfast,” he thought to himself.
He picked up his rucksack and made his way down to the breakfast room, which was still empty, and chose a table in the corner. Robert ordered some scrambled eggs on toast with bacon and mushrooms on the side. The waiter came around offering coffee which he gratefully accepted, the caffeine giving him a nice mental boost. He finished the first cup in one gulp and signalled for the waiter to bring him a refill which he did.
Robert glanced out of the window towards the convention centre and saw that one of the entrance doors was wide open. He had to get inside there and have a look around. He signed the account to