Jacob's Ladder (Stone & Randall 1)
Page 29
‘Don’t be misled by her youth and beauty,’ he said with a smile. ‘She’s a genius and a multi-millionaire. Together, we now own Security Solutions.’
‘Oh?’
‘Athena started the company and ran it on her own before we became partners. She, and a guy called, Garth followed Pike to the abattoir. Without them, you’d probably be dead by now and we still wouldn’t have a clue who the killers were.’
Not trusting herself to speak, Molly mouthed a thank you to Athena.
‘I’m glad I was there, and glad you’re all right. Mr Randall’s been worried about you. Anyway, I only came to see that you were okay and you are, so I’ll wait outside now.’
After she’d gone Molly said, ‘You’ve not killed yourself then?’
‘No, now that the drugs are out of my system and I’m thinking clearly, I can see that there wouldn’t be much point to it. Sarah and the kids would understand.’
‘So, you have a new partner?’ She tried to sound as if she didn’t care, but she did.
‘Business partner, that’s all. You and I are still partners. The next case you get, I’ll be there in the shadows. Now that I have my own resources, and I don’t need to beg people for favours, it’ll be a lot simpler.’
‘What about that waitress, is she a partner as well?’
‘Well yes, but Kiri’s a different type of partner.’
‘Oh, I know what type of partner she is.’
‘She’s a partner who’s late with her bloody period.’
‘You’re joking?’
‘That’s what she told me this morning. Looks like I’m going to be a dad again.’
‘Congratulations, I suppose. Although, I think you’re a bit old to be having children.’
‘Charlie Chaplin was eighty-two.’
‘So, you have three partners then?’
He scratched his head. ‘So it would seem.’
‘Jacob Myers was there, you know?’
‘Athena said there was four men in the abattoir. He obviously crept out while we weren’t looking.’
She told him what she’d said to Tony earlier about him not being the person in the photograph, about the room and the drawing of Jacob’s Ladder on the wall. ‘He’s still out there, and it won’t be finished until we kill him.’
‘I wonder if he’s had plastic surgery. That would be one way to disappear.’
‘Whatever he’s done, we need to find him, Sir.’
‘I need access to what they found in the abattoir.’
‘I’ll see what I can do, but I’m not back to work until the 5th January.’
‘Call me when you have something worthwhile.’
‘Okay. I’m tired now, you can go.’
***
‘If you can’t come to the surgery, then the surgery must come to you, Molly Stone.’
She was worn out with the procession of visitors. ‘Hello, Doctor. Was I meant to come to the surgery today?’
‘I said I’d ring you, but as you’ve been all over the news, and in the newspapers, I thought the least I could do was to come along in person and give you the results.’
She’d forgotten all about the tests for her schizophrenia. For the first time in a long time there had been more important things to think about. ‘Go on, Doctor, tell me the bad news.’
‘I have some bad news for you, Molly, but it’s not what you think. First, I can tell you that all the tests we did were negative. There is zero risk of you developing schizophrenia.’
She pushed herself up in bed. ‘Really? But I thought…’
‘Now for the bad news. The reason there is zero risk of you developing the condition is that the man you thought of as your biological father wasn’t.’
Molly heard Dr Lytton’s words, but didn’t understand what he was saying. ‘I’m sorry, Doctor… What do you mean?’
‘As part of the tests that I asked for, the laboratory compared your DNA with your father’s – there was no match. I can only apologise for assuming that your father was a biological parent.’
‘You mean I was adopted?’
‘No, your mother gave birth to you, I checked her records, but Richard Stone was not your father.’
‘Oh God, who was then?’
‘I have no idea, Molly.’
‘Thank you for letting me know, Doctor.’
‘I’m sorry to be the bearer of such devastating news, Molly. Come and see me when they release you, and we’ll see what we can do to get to the bottom of this.’
‘Can you leave me now?’
‘Of course,’ He left and pulled the door to.
She lay back down and cried silently. If she wasn’t Molly Stone, who the hell was she? She would need to look for some answers in her parent’s possessions, which she hadn’t touched since the man she had always known as daddy killed her mother. An unbelievable thought crossed her mind, but she banished it to a dark place even before it had taken shape.
***
She woke with a gloved hand covering her mouth. Her eyes opened wide with terror as she felt a needle pierce the skin of her upper arm.
All the memories, the feelings of uselessness, and the horror of what those bastards had done to her, that she had been trying so hard to force into a small box in the back of her mind, came flooding back.
As the Rohypnol reached her brain, a deep calm came over her.
‘Hello, Molly.’
She had heard that voice before, but she couldn’t connect a face to it.
‘Who are you?’
‘Don’t you remember me, Molly?’
‘I…’
The man stood over her, his face just out of focus.
‘It’s Jacob, Molly. I thought I’d come and let you know that I haven’t forgotten you.’
His gloved hand brushed her face, and as Jacob left she began to cry.
####
About the Author
Tim Ellis was born in the bowels of Hammersmith Hospital, London, on a dark and stormy night, grew up in Cheadle, Cheshire, and now lives in Essex with his wife and five Shitzus. In-between, he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps at eighteen and completed twenty-two years service, leaving in 1993 having achieved the rank of Warrant Officer Class 1 (Regimental Sergeant Major). Since then he has worked in secondary education as a senior financial manager, in higher education as an associate lecturer/tutor at Lincoln and Anglia Ruskin Universities, and as a consultant for the National College of School Leadership. His final job, before retiring to write full time in 2009, was as Head and teacher of Behavioural Sciences (Psychology/Sociology) in a secondary school. He has a PhD and an MBA in Educational Management, and an MA in Education.
Discover other titles by Tim Ellis at
http://timellis.weebly.com/
Warrior
(Adult Historical Fiction)
Path of Destiny
Scourge of the Steppe
The Knowledge of Time
(Young Adult Science Fiction)
Second Civilisation
Orc Quest
(Young Adult Fantasy)
Prophecy
Adult Crime:
Solomon’s Key
Jacob’s Ladder
Body 13
The Graves at Angel Brook
A Life for a Life
The Wages of Sin
The Flesh is Weak
The Shadow of Death
Collected Short Stories/Poetry
Untended Treasures
Where do you want to go today?
Winter of my Heart (Poetry)
Also due out in 2011/2012:
Quigg and the Twelve Murders of Christmas (Novella)
The Skulls Beneath Eternity Wharf (Quigg 3)
The Timekeeper's Apprentice
Orc Quest II: The Last Human
His Wrath is Come (Parish & Richards 5)