The Flat on the 7th Floor

by E. L Barry

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to unsettle you. Why don’t we meet after the group has finished and we can talk about it further?” she asked.

  “No, please leave me alone. I can’t cope with any more lies.”

  “I’m sorry. I know it’s hard to hear. If you change your mind, here is my card.” Josie reluctantly unclasped her hands to take it.

  She hadn’t realised she had been squeezing her hands so tightly that her nails had dug into her skin.

  Josie didn’t answer, confused all the more now. The letter to her mum was from Albere – but who was the man in the photograph? That could have been her father or someone else. Josie had no idea what her father looked like when she was a baby. For a start, he was hardly ever there, and he wasn’t sentimental at all. Where were the photographs of her family and her parents now anyway?

  When Gareth returned and took his seat, he passed Josie a takeaway cup. She sipped it, still immersed in her thoughts of what all this new information might mean to her now.

  “Are you okay, Jo?” Gareth asked.

  “Yeah, sorry. In a world of my own,” she replied. Her coffee tasted just like she made it herself. She glanced across at him in appreciation and continued, “Thank you, Gareth. This is perfect and just how I like it. How did you know?”

  Gareth grinned and tapped his nose secretively.

  “Anyway, what were you so deep in conversation about there? You look upset.”

  “Just a mistake of someone thinking I’m someone I’m not.” She tried to dismiss her concerns, although she couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was more truth to it than she wanted to admit.

  Chapter 18

  In the Q&A session, Josie avoided taking part. She was sure Gareth could sense she wasn’t in the mood for talking. He picked up his things and led Josie out as soon as they had said the obligatory ‘nice to meet you’ and ‘goodbyes’ so they didn’t appear rude.

  “Lunch?” Gareth asked, trying to cheer her up.

  “Sure. Where shall we go?”

  “How about the Riverbank?”

  The Riverbank was a pub that served classic pub food and was located next to the river, unsurprisingly. It was walkable from the library and with the rain still at bay, she agreed it was a good idea.

  “Sounds great, lead the way.”

  Josie started to feel more like herself now she was out in the fresh air.

  She had a quick look around to check that the 4x4 wasn’t following her and naturally set her walking pace to Gareth’s.

  He was a few inches taller than she was, and they both settled into a rhythm as they talked about what they found interesting and had learnt that morning.

  Josie noticed that each time they crossed the road Gareth would change what side of her he was walking on. Curious, she asked him, “Why do you swap sides?”

  He laughed, “No one has ever asked me that before!” He continued, “When I was walking with my grandfather as a child, he used to swap the hand I was holding so he was on the outside near the road, and I was on the inside. He told me that when I grew up, I would do the same. I didn’t understand at the time, but he was right,” he laughed.

  “It’s really thoughtful, but you’ll be the one drenched if a bus drives through a puddle. Hadn’t thought about that had you?” Josie teased.

  “It’s never too late to change a habit,” he teased back and pretended to swap sides.

  “No, don’t!” she giggled. “I don’t want to get wet today.”

  It was nice to be back to laughing and joking again. They arrived at the pub and ordered their food, which didn’t take long to arrive. As they ate, their conversation was relaxed.

  “I heard a rumour that you’re a karate black belt. Is that true?” Josie asked Gareth.

  “Yes, that one is true!”

  “So, which one isn’t true?” Josie teased.

  “That’s on a need-to-know basis and if you haven’t heard any others then I’m not about to start them again,” he laughed, “What about yours?”

  “Which ones? I’ve got plenty about me.”

  “I’ve heard that you can communicate in Morse code and sign language.”

  “Oh, where did you hear that? It’s true!”

  “One of the IT guys let it slip that you were at uni together.”

  “Interesting, and what were you two up to chatting about me in the first place?” she enquired with a smile.

  Gareth coughed, “Err, no particular reason. How’s your food?” he asked, looking embarrassed.

  Time flew by and Josie didn’t realise until she saw that it was getting dark outside. Neither of them had checked their phones and as she looked at Gareth’s tanned wrists, she realised that he wasn’t wearing a watch, just like her.

  No wonder they had lost track of time!

  “I’ve had a lovely time today, Gareth, it must be getting late, and I’ve got to go soon.”

  She reached into her bag to get her phone. She hadn’t looked at it since the morning. Gareth took his out too. Both became absorbed with reading their phones.

  Josie spoke first, “I need to go now.”

  “Me too,” Gareth said.

  They looked at each other.

  “Kim?” they said in unison.

  Josie nodded and suggested, “Okay, let’s go to hers together and see what’s going on.”

  They had both had missed calls from Kim, and, in addition, Josie had the usual missed call list of withheld numbers.

  I really should change my number!

  “Shall we go to my house and get my car or do you want to get yours?” Gareth asked.

  Josie had no idea who lived closer.

  Gareth continued, “Tell you what, let’s go in mine. My house is only a ten-minute walk away and I’m guessing it’s closer to Kim’s.”

  “Okay that works with me. Would you be alright dropping me off at mine on the way back?”

  “Sure, no problem.”

  “I’ve never been to Kim’s, so it’s probably easier for you to drive as you’ve been there a few times.”

  “Oh no, I’ve only been once to fix the boiler, and she directed me after the conference, so I’ll need to Satnav it.”

  “Ah, I thought you had been going to see her...” she trailed off.

  “I have, but at the coffee shop.”

  There was silence as they walked.

  Neither was sure why Kim had called them both and now she wasn’t answering their return calls and texts.

  When they arrived at Gareth’s, he noticed Josie looking at the house.

  “My dad helped me do it up when I bought it a few years back.”

  Josie felt the familiar pang of regret again, as she hadn’t yet bought a house herself. She congratulated him but didn’t elaborate on her flat situation. She could tell by his tone and the way he explained that he wasn’t gloating, and that he was genuinely proud of what he had achieved. She couldn’t help feeling pride for him too and replied, “Sounds amazing.”

  “Right, do we need anything before we go?” Gareth asked.

  “Don’t think so! The quicker we get over there the quicker we can help if there is a problem. Hopefully, she is okay and whatever it is has been sorted.”

  “I hope you’re right, here you go.”

  He opened the passenger side door for her to get in.

  Kim didn’t live that far from either of them. When they arrived, the front door was open.

  That’s unusual.

  Gareth noticed it too as he put his arm in front of her so he could go in first.

  “Kim?” he called out. There was no reply.

  “Kim are you there?” he called out again.

  He turned to Josie and said, “Do you know if you can get to the garden from the side gate?”

  “I’ll have a look,” Josie replied and walked across the grass.

  “No, it’s locked,” she shouted back and ran back to where Gareth was now at the front door and about to walk in.

&nbs
p; They looked at each other and said in unison, “Ready?”

  They couldn’t believe what they saw. The living room had been torn apart. The drawers had been emptied, books were strewn across the floor, cushions had been ripped to pieces and even the rugs had been rolled back. What had happened here and where was Kim?

  “Call the police,” Gareth instructed Josie as he stepped over things carefully to look in the next room.

  “Don’t touch anything…” Josie raised her voice to Gareth.

  She knew the police would want to take photos and dust for prints, whatever had happened.

  While Josie was looking for her phone, she told Gareth that she would check upstairs. She had to find Kim to make sure she was okay.

  The bathroom and bedrooms were in the same state – ransacked from top to bottom. There was no sign of Kim. There was no sign of blood either, but any evidence of a struggle would be hidden with the mess unless the police could read crime scenes better than she could, which they could, of course. Josie sighed with relief that there was still hope that Kim was okay.

  Josie, now back downstairs, called the police and was talking quickly to explain where they were and what they could see. An officer said they would be on their way shortly.

  “Josie,” Gareth called from the kitchen, “you have to see this. Kim’s not here but there is another note.”

  Josie’s stomach churned. The kitchen smelled awful. Whatever time this had happened there was enough time for the food that had been taken out of the fridge and freezer to mix and create a weird paste on the floor. Josie almost vomited as she felt an acidic taste rise in her throat.

  Covering her nose, she stood next to Gareth and could see the note left on the table.

  I WARNED YOU

  That was all it said. Like the last note, the letters were cut out of newspaper and stuck down like a ransom note. This time the paper was red, and the letters were black, creating an ominous feeling that something dark and demonic was going to happen.

  Were they really going to kill her?

  After the warning yesterday, Josie was very worried now. She didn’t understand what she was supposed to do.

  The first note said, ‘tell me or she dies’, but what was she supposed to tell?

  What did Kim have in her house that they were looking for? This had all started at the conference where Kim’s room had changed and someone else had been hurt. Was there a note in that room too? A missing piece to the puzzle perhaps?

  “Right,” Josie said louder than she thought, startling Gareth after they had been stunned into a lengthy silence.

  “This all started with me and it’s going to end with me.”

  “What do you mean?” Gareth asked quizzically.

  “Something weird is going on and I’m at the centre of it all. I need to figure out why I’m being sent messages. I have to make sure that Kim doesn’t get hurt and that nobody else does too. I’m going to sort this out on my own.”

  “Jo don’t shut me out. I can help you…”

  He stepped towards her and started to slip on the floor. She caught his hand to balance him and neither of them let go as he steadied himself and continued, “You can’t do this on your own. Kim is our friend, and we will find her. The police will follow it all up, so whatever you know you need to tell them…”

  A crunching sound came from behind, making them both jump and let go of each other.

  “Tell them what…?” a deep voice boomed. It was Detective Newton from the conference and PC Hinton following closely behind him.

  Josie thought on her feet quickly and replied, “I have to tell you that I think that Kim is seeing the same guy as me and if she is missing, I may be able to find out more tonight when I see him.”

  The half-truth flew out of her mouth so quickly that she almost believed it was true herself.

  I have to find the truth and know who to trust to get Kim out of this mess.

  Josie saw Gareth’s face look crestfallen.

  PC Hinton took their statements over the next two hours and eventually let them go.

  In the car, there was an awkward silence, especially as Josie understood the gravity of what had just happened. Kim was missing and Josie had made it worse by lying about Kim to cover her tracks. In doing so, she had also revealed she was going on another date with Nicholas. Why did she feel so wretched and why did she feel like she owed Gareth a big apology?

  I can’t tell him. I don’t even know what I would tell him, as I don’t know what’s going on myself, she thought, as they drove away from the house.

  “Wait…that’s Michael’s car.”

  “Who’s Michael? Someone else you’re dating?” Gareth said spitefully. Josie knew then that she had really got herself into trouble and was on her own now.

  Chapter 19

  Gareth dropped Josie off on the road outside her building. The silence in the car on the way was excruciating but Josie was determined not to bring Gareth into danger. She couldn’t tell him! His comment about dating had caught her off guard too.

  Is he bothered about that? He can’t be, can he? He’s so concerned about Kim and seeing her every day. The one day he’s not with her she goes missing.

  Josie said quietly, “They’ll find her…”

  He didn’t look at her and replied curtly, “I know. Look after yourself.”

  “Okay, see you soon,” Josie replied as she got out and closed the door behind her. Gareth drove off. As she watched him leave, she felt a pang of regret that she had pushed him away.

  Upstairs, Josie collapsed on the window seat and took a deep breath to figure out what she needed to do next.

  Something was bothering her, and she couldn’t put her finger on it. She took the ancestry speaker’s business card out of her bag and looked more closely at it. Getting her laptop out, she googled the name on the card. Josie read the reviews, the papers, social media posts and any other linked article that she could find.

  Everything about the speaker looked fine and matched what she had described about herself. Then she looked up Albere Jackson to see if she could find anything there. Until that morning, all she had was the letter that was signed ‘Albere’, but now that she had a possible surname maybe there was something else. She knew her mum hadn’t changed her name when she married her father, but now Josie wondered why her surname wasn’t the same as her father’s. What if her mother’s name wasn’t her maiden name, as Josie had assumed all along?

  Lots of results came up so she narrowed the search. Still loads of results. How about ‘Albere and Louise’? she thought.

  There were lots of results for Louise Jackson and for Albere Jackson but nothing obvious tying them together. Her mum’s death had been reported extensively at the time and seeing her picture now made her eyes fill with tears. Brushing them away, Josie was determined to keep going. The articles were pretty much the same with no new information.

  They seemed like well-rehearsed stories where everyone knew exactly what to say and stuck to it. They were pretty much carbon copy statements and there was no deviation – not even an independent journalist with a gossip column claiming any other theories.

  Maybe she wasn’t that high profile or maybe there is more to the story? Josie considered. I’ll look at a few more pages and see if anything else comes up and then I can get ready for tonight.

  Clicking through and skim reading the titles, something caught her eye, ‘Science and Fashion student wins award’. She stopped and opened the page. It was a university webpage from the same university that her mum had attended.

  Josie started reading. “University student wows her classmates with an innovative approach to fashion by combining her scientific mind and unique sense of style…”

  Josie looked up and with surprise in her voice said aloud, “So, she was a science student!”

  She continued to read. What was more, there were two pictures – the first was clearly of her mum in a beautiful gown and the second was her mum surrounded by
friends or classmates dressed for a ball. Josie recognised the woman from this morning next to her mum.

  So, they were friends and she is telling the truth. Josie thought as she scrolled down to see if there were names to match the image. Yes! Her mum and her friend were named and there was ‘Albere Jackson’ as clear as anything. Josie looked at the picture more closely. It was the same man in the picture she had found in her mum’s book. Josie stared back in disbelief.

  So, Albere was real. Josie’s mind raced.

  So, am I the baby? Who is my father? Why haven’t I been told about any of this?

  Josie went to the kitchen and got out a packet of biscuits. She was going out for dinner shortly but the urge to eat was so overpowering that she did it almost unconsciously, as she sat on the breakfast barstool contemplating what she had learnt.

  Eventually, after much thought she decided that it wasn’t her mum she needed to find out more about, but her father. He was still alive and probably the only one who could help her to uncover the past. She would have to call Mr Mellors again and convince him to let her see him without telling him why. The only other option would be to turn up unannounced and hope that she could find a way to get past the staff on duty. Josie thought it would be unlikely that she would be able to, but she had to try.

  I’ll do that tomorrow first thing, she thought, as Josie noticed the time and needed to get ready to meet Nicholas.

  The rain was still falling so Josie opted for a pair of skinny jeans, white blouse and a bright, short sleeve jacket. Her kitten heeled boots allowed her to wear warm socks underneath. She planned to wear her bigger jacket in the car and dash in without it, so Nicholas could see her full outfit immediately.

  She usually wore a single gem necklace but tonight she decided to wear her diamonds again. They complimented the lace trim and silvery buttons on her blouse. She chose her clutch bag and swapped what she needed into it. Josie felt good and hoped that Nicholas liked how she looked too.

  It felt like ages since she had seen Nicholas, even though it was only a week. He hadn’t called to confirm or cancel so Josie assumed their date was still on and drove over to the restaurant as planned. What was it Gareth said? ‘Ten minutes early is on time’?