54 Bad Things
When Rupert and Ashley entered the lobby, they saw a woman sitting on the leather divan, with her head bowed in her hands.
Ashley recognised her immediately and went over.
“Isabella?”
The woman looked up with a mixture of relief and concern on her face.
“Oh thank God, you are here.” Her Polish accent was thick in her desperation.
“What’s wrong?” Ashley asked, sitting next to her whilst Rupert was called away by one of the security men.
“I have been so worried, Ashley. I don’t know where else to go. I tried to call you, but you weren’t home, and I have tried his office but no answer.”
Ashley took the woman’s hands and notice that she was trembling. “Now, Isabella, calm down, and tell me what happened.”
“It’s James. I haven't heard from him since yesterday, and he was supposed to pick me up from the airport this morning, but he no show. I know he come to see you for dinner yesterday, but when he didn’t call or answer his phone…”
She trailed off here as tears filled her eyes.
Ashley looked across at Rupert, who was standing by the security desk, using the phone. “When did you last hear from him?” she asked.
“Last night. He called me from the office and told me that he was coming over to see you.”
“No,” Ashley bit her lip. “We didn’t see him last night. He was supposed to come over, but he didn’t show and then…”
Ashley didn’t finish here sentence. She didn’t really know how to explain what happened, and how they’d all completely forgotten about James, as a result.
“…I keep calling you, him and no answer…” Isabella was continuing. “I even went round his home and there’s no sign of his car. I’m worried, Ashley. I see bad things.”
“What?”
Isabella looked into Ashley’s eyes and froze. “My Got.”
“What?” Ashley asked, alarmed.
“You too.”
“Me too what?”
“Bad things.”
She didn’t know what to say, but Isabella’s words were making her feel very anxious.
“Isabella, I don’t know…”
Ashley broke off here when she noticed Rupert walking back to them. His face, stoical, ashen.
She jumped up from her seat. “What’s wrong?”
He looked at her with vacant eyes, and said, “Elisabeth is dead.”
Ashley gasped, and Isabella began to cry.
55 THE Confession
“I told you, Jay, I don’t want to go,” Rachel said, dumping the dishes into the sink and squirting them with detergent.
It was Monday evening. They had just finished eating dinner.
Rachel had had over a day to consider how, exactly, she was going to confront her boyfriend about his relationship with Keri, the same Keri who had mysteriously vanished.
And it was precisely that last bit that she struggled with. Each and every time she thought about the two of them, she couldn’t help but wonder if her boyfriend had had anything do with her disappearance. But then she’d go on to question why she’d even had the thought in the first place. Was her subconscious trying to tell her something or had she merely watched way too many thrillers?
Either way, the last thing she fancied doing right now was going to another one of those parties, and sucking up to Jason’s so-called business colleagues.
At least not until they had this out.
She scrubbed the dishes.
“Why not?”
“I told you, I just don’t feel like it.”
“Why not?”
“Because those places make me feel uncomfortable, Jay. Last time I walked in on two women doing lines in the bloody toilets!”
“That’s not everyone, Rach,” Jason said as casually as he could, thrusting his hands into his pockets.
She looked at him, incredulously. “It was two more than I expected.”
Jason reeled in his irritation, “So what? If they do drugs, it’s their business, not ours.”
“Well, it becomes our business, Jay, when we start to socialise with them.”
“It didn’t bother you the last two times we’ve been there.”
She threw him an indignant look, “Well it bothers me now. And I didn’t say anything because you told me those people were your investors. Why else do you think I put up with the slimy bastards feeling me up? I wanted to make a good impression for you.”
“Yes, exactly,” Jason leant over the sink, trying to distract her attention from the washing up to look at him. “And you did so well, babe. They were really impressed with you. Think about what this could do for my career. A bit of harmless flirtation isn’t going to hurt anybody, is it?”
She stopped what she was doing. “Do you know what astounds me, Jay?”
He shrugged.
“How normal this all seems to you. Let them touch your butt, let them paw you, soon you’ll be asking me to give out blowjobs!”
Jason said nothing.
Rachel looked up at him, and a thought crossed her mind. A terrible thought, one she wanted to dismiss as quickly as it had appeared, but she couldn’t. She could not dismiss it, for there was something in Jason’s expression that made her think she wasn’t that far from the truth.
She shook her head. “You’re fucking unbelievable,” she seethed, then snapped back to her dishwashing.
Jason just stared at her. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
No reply. Just scrubbing.
“Rach? What’s the problem?”
“You’re the fucking problem!” She yelled, finally giving him her eyes.
She was angry. He could see it now, and this wasn’t just about the party. This was about something else.
He watched her scrub and rescrub the same pan.
“Rach, if you don’t…”
“...did you have something to do with Keri Paxton’s disappearance?” She blurted.
“What?”
“You heard me, Jay. Did you have something to do with Keri Paxton’s disappearance, yes or no? It’s a simple question.”
“Is that what this is about? Some bird we don’t even know.”
“You know her,” Rachel threw at him. “You seemed to know her really well, despite the fact that you’ve been acting like you didn’t.”
“Rach, I don’t know what you think you know but…”
“...I don’t think I know, Jay. I know it. I have the transcripts and recordings of your conversations with her.”
He straightened. “What?”
“That’s right. She kept a record of all of her conversations with all of her men, including you.”
Jason’s face had suddenly lost its colour.
Rachel nodded, “Thought so.”
“It’s not what you think,” he said, quickly.
“Then why don’t you tell me, Jay, because right now, right now I could quite easily report you to the police.”
He looked at her, aghast, “And tell them what? That I happened to know some girl who decided to up and leave without telling anyone.”
“I think we both know that you knew her better than most.”
“So what, you think I killed her, is that it?”
“Did you?”
She met his gaze.
“Jesus,” he whispered. He looked hurt. “You really think that little of me, Rach? I thought you loved me.”
She felt the look on his face dilute her resolve, but she resisted it. “Why didn’t you tell me you knew her?”
He swallowed. “What the fuck did you expect me to say, Rach? Oh hello, thanks for giving up everything you know to come down here and be with me, oh and by the way, you know that bird that’s gone missing? Well, I happened to bang her a couple of times? Come on, Rach, I was scared. You’d just got here and you were so excited. Then all the weird shit started to happen…”
“…You could have said something…”
; “…What? Why? What possible reason could I have to tell you about that?”
“How about because I asked?”
“You didn’t ask, Rach. Not directly. You just kept talking about her.”
“Now you’re just splitting hairs,” she turned back to the dishes.
“I’m not. Think about it, babe. It just isn’t relevant to us. It was in the past. You’re my future, Rachel, can’t you see that?”
She looked at him. His eyes were welling up, and she wanted to fling her arms around him, but not so fast. She was still processing all of this.
He was right, though, wasn’t he? There was nothing in the transcripts to suggest that Keri was anything more than some girl he used to see. And, his not telling her may well seem like he had something to hide but, seriously, could this man, the one she knew she wanted to marry, really be involved in the girl’s disappearance?
She said nothing.
Instead, she proceeded to scrub the obstinate encrustation from the pan.
“Rach?”
He could tell that her stance had changed, because the tension in her shoulders had disappeared now.
He watched as the vigorous scrubbing shook her body, causing the runaway strands of hair from her ponytail to wiggle in front of her face, and her backside to move so enticingly, he wanted to unzip and push up behind her. But he knew now wasn’t the time, she wouldn’t be receptive and, besides, he had a job to do.
He sighed heavily, leaned up against the sink, folded his arms and then spoke, “I didn’t want to tell you this, Rach. But given the amount of hurt I’ve already caused you, I think it’s time I told you everything.”
He waited for her to stop and turn to him. She didn’t, but he knew she was listening. “Things aren’t going as well as I’ve made out.”
Now she stopped and looked up.
He forced a laugh. “In fact, things are pretty shitty, actually.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, warily.
Yes!
“Well, I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want you to be disappointed. I wanted you to be proud of me.”
“Jay, what are you talking about?” She said, sternly. Then, noticing her tone, she added, “You know I’m proud of you.”
“I know, but you probably won’t feel the same, once I tell you the truth about the kind of fuck up I am.” He shook his head away from her, “I thought I could pull off this deal but I, well, I overstretched, financially. And now the bank doesn’t want to know me anymore,” he said, sadly.
Rachel heard pain in his voice and it tugged at her love for him.
“Oh Jay,” she wiped her hands on her shorts. Then, she turned his head to face her, and wanted to crumble when she saw the tears in his eyes. His lovely, brown eyes that were now brimming with sadness. A little boy that had lost the one thing he treasured most.
“Oh baby.” She touched his arms and then caressed his face.
Go for the kill!
“I’m sorry, Rach. I’m sorry I’m such a disappointment to you.”
“Stop saying that. You aren’t a disappointment to me. I love you.”
“I just wanted to give you more. I wanted to give you the life that you deserve. Show you how much you mean to me, and I fucked it up.”
He screwed his face in anger.
“Oh, you dope. You think I fell in love with you for what you could give me? It’s not that, Jay. It’s you. You know me, I’m a survivor. Working is all I know. I didn’t want to be a kept woman anyway.”
He nodded while allowing a few tears to escape. Then, a great idea popped into his head.
He swallowed hard, “Just, you seemed really into that Harrison bloke and his missus and I just wanted to…”
“Shhh,” she hushed him by placing a finger on his mouth, and smiled with deep affection. “You think I want you to be like Rupert?”
He nodded, for he was unable to speak, such were the emotions he seemed to be wrestling with.
Gotcha!
“You couldn’t be wronger. Of course I admire Rupert, he’s a good man and he’s achieved a lot. But that’s only admiration. But you, I love you, Jay. I gave up my life to be with you. And, as much as I love this stuff, it’s nowhere near as important to me as you are, but you need to be honest with me, Jay. We need to be in this together.”
He pulled her to him. “I am sorry, Rach. I’m so sorry if I’ve been a bastard recently. Just with all this going on and not being able to tell you, it’s been killing me.”
She kissed his ear and his cheek. “Good, then let that be a lesson to you. I love you. You should know that you can tell me anything, anything.” She reiterated. “Just like now, I want you to tell me everything about the business, so we can decide on the next step, together.”
Jason smiled a sly smile that changed instantly, to a mixture of sadness and hope, as soon as he broke the embrace, and their eyes met.
And so they sat on the sofa and talked.
Rachel listened patiently as Jason weaved his story about how much his product had suffered, and how difficult it was to get people to invest in his computer programs.
He went on to explain how, these days, it wasn’t just about the product’s capabilities, but it was also about the brand. He told her how he had neglected the importance of this at his peril, and how he was now suffering for it.
The only way to truly get on in his business was to woo the real titans of the industry, and have them recommend him to their peers. But to do that, he needed money and the right connections.
After a lot of hard work, he’d managed to forge the right contacts, and had even convinced some of them to invest. In fact, it was their money that paid for the apartment at Heron Heights, and financed work on his computer program, but he couldn’t afford to sit back, he had to keep networking with these people, and make his presence felt to other potential investors and buyers.
So what was involved?
Nothing much.
Just keep attending these functions, small talk the fat cats, charm them and, yes if necessary, even flirt a little. Anything to get them to write the cheques.
This event, the one he had asked her to go to, would be major. Anybody who was anybody would be there, and he’d managed to get an invite.
All Rachel had to do was, be her usual charming self, and if the crusty old men took a fancy to her, so what? It’s not as if they could have her. But a bit of charm, and yes, flirting may well seduce the cash that he so desperately needed out of them.
“You mean, like a prostitute?” She asked, bluntly.
He stared at her.
This was going to be harder than he thought.
56 The Crows
Elisabeth’s funeral took place a week after her death.
Her body was laid to rest on the family’s estate, next to her parents’ graves.
Adam insisted that the funeral happen as soon as possible, since Elisabeth would not have wanted to have been kept waiting even in death. Similarly, he campaigned to have the will read, without delay, as the whole thing was distressing enough without having to unnecessarily draw it out longer than need be.
Rupert agreed.
Thus, on a blustery cold Sunday morning, the small cortège slowly snaked its way to a copse at the top of a hill that overlooked the estate. There, among gnarled and naked trees, that had long been stripped of their summer beauty, a grave had been neatly carved out of the earth.
The parish pastor spoke kind words about a strong woman, beloved cousin and friend, who would be dearly missed. All to the cawing soundtrack of a murder of crows that, like the ravens at the Tower of London, had lived among these trees for generations.
These professional mourners added a unique sombreness to the occasion that had, very few of those gathered, in floods of tears.
Rupert, dressed in a black suit, stood at the edge of his cousin’s grave, and wept openly for the woman who had become a sister and surrogate mother to him.
Elisabeth
Harrison may have been the queen bitch to many, but she was the queen of hearts to him.
Rupert was most likely one of the very few who truly understood that her worse fault was that she cared too deeply. She gave her heart completely and her love unreservedly. Ironically, it was these very things that, over the years, would prove to be her weakness, and the source of much emotional pain that, in turn, made her the caustic person that everybody knew.
The gale that was blowing around the mourners, pulling at hats and tugging at clothes, snatched the rose from Rupert’s hand and tossed it onto the coffin as Ashley slid a comforting arm around the man who was, once again, being subjected to the anguish of loss.
Opposite them, also dressed in a tight-fitting black suit, with pale white fists, an expressionless and composed demeanour, Adam stood against the blustery onslaught that had now released a shower of sleet. He was visibly trembling from the cold, but he felt nothing for his mind was elsewhere, crawling over various thoughts like fingers on a glass casket, behind which, lay the documents to his salvation.
The only question was, how soon could he get at them?
At three o’ clock that same afternoon, the few people mentioned in Elisabeth’s will, congregated in the library, where Rupert had spent most of his time, when visiting his uncle as a child.
As per Elisabeth’s last wishes, just two chairs had been set out in front of her father’s desk. Her lawyer, a tall man with a mop of salt and pepper hair, sat where her father once sat and, without any further ado, read the contents of the will.
Ashley, who had specifically been asked not to attend the reading, sat outside amongst the artefacts that had shaped Elisabeth’s life; family portraits, antique furnishings, and everything else that symbolised power and wealth.
It hadn’t been ten minutes since Ashley had watched Rupert and Adam disappear behind a thick wooden door, when an ear-piercing shrill smashed through it and reverberated around the building.
It was Adam, and he was racked with grief.
The same grief that Ashley later learned was not a derivative of the death of his girlfriend, but the cold fact that, although recently modified, Elisabeth Harrison’s will left him absolutely nothing.
Unspeakable Page 36
