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turned her insides to a warm flow of breathing life. And who had lifted the focus of her life from her past to a continuously evolving present.
    Judy grabbed the file and kept pace alongside her.
    “Well, his last fight in Marseille attracted a massive amount of gambling on Freddie to lose, even though on form he should have walked it. He was completely on top during the fight when suddenly the other guy butted him and ripped his eyebrow open. The referee had to stop the fight because the blood was pouring into Freddie’s eyes. The crowd and a big TV audience had all seen the butt and the ref disqualified the guy and awarded the win to Freddie.”
    “Is that normal?” Asked Anna.
    “It can be, but the view was that if the head butt had not been so obvious then the ref would have stopped the fight and the other guy would have won.”
    “So what did Freddie know?”
    “Good question. It looked as if he was going for the win... but why target him? We simply don’t know what he knew... but it gets far more complicated,” Judy continued excitedly. “Three weeks after the fight the ref ends up dead in the Hudson River. It seems like he had a gambling habit himself and had taken a loan from some sharks. According to his widow he was offered a free pass if he fixed the fight.”
    “So what went wrong?”
    “The other boxer was not too subtle and was very inferior to Freddie. The idea was that the ref would allow a lot of fighting on the inside... you know... that type of mauling where they kinda waltz with the other guys head up their nose. The guy was supposed to clash heads during a clinch. By the fourth round the guy is half dead and probably desperate. So - he just stands back and butts Freddie like it was a Friday night outside the pub. The ref had no choice.”
    “So why kill the ref?”
    “Simple... when the boys called for their cash he told them he had taped the conversation and would go to the FBI.”
    “Any suspects?”
    “Sure. It looks like an old fashioned movie style hit. But the cash and the backing come from anywhere between the North Korean government and the Chinese Triads.” Laughed Judy.
    “I get the picture.” Commented Anna.
    She knew that the internet provided a platform for any amount of criminal liaisons and deals. All manner of dirty cash sloshed around the worlds of internet gambling, drugs, girls and weapons.
    “So what does the widow know?”
    “She took the greyhound out of town - or at least a ticket was purchased in her name. The internet address of the booker was in New Jersey. I’ve got a feeling that the widow is keeping her head down or hasn’t got a head.” Said Judy with a professional nonchalance.
    At Vauxhall tube station they parted and headed off into the undergrowth of their own lives. She sat down gratefully and pondered how something already difficult had become impossible. And yet - she was going to see him. He had called her and she was going to see him! She was going to feel the thrill of his presence and maybe more - maybe anything.
    She closed her eyes and ran through the photos of him glistening and pumped up in his shorts and gloves. He was a modern day gladiator with soft brown eyes and apparently a taste for art. She let everything of the day slip away. Nothing was ever more than this - to be naked and tuned to the rhythm of this Earth and to each other. Falseness was stacked upon falseness, the joy of the moment always soured by the past. She felt again the warm tickling surge deep in her belly and knew that she was responding physically even to the thought of him. For tonight the tongue of lava flow would take her and if that was into his arms - or more- then so it would be. The fuse on the regret circuit had burned out with the overload. And it had just been so long... so bloody long.

Chapter 5
    Once back to the flat she had to organize her clothes. She had no idea where they were going - so she had no idea how to dress. There could be nothing worse