The Original's Return (Book 1)

by David Watkins

  “I think we should talk to him.”

  “Why?” Jack said. “What good will that do? You going to ask him if he sent our dog to sleep? It’s ridiculous!”

  “He threatened her Jack and then the same day she’s out cold whilst we have a burglar in the house. That’s not right. She barks if someone comes up the drive for god’s sake.”

  He conceded the point.

  “I’ve spoken to the vets. They can see her in an hour or so, she said to just pop up. I’ll go and have a shower whilst Josh is asleep. Will you be ok?”

  “Yeah,” he replied. “I’m feeling much better. Let’s all go to the vets, then the pub.”

  “Is that a good idea?”

  Jack forced himself to smile. “Kill or cure, babe, kill or cure!” he said, forcing enthusiasm he didn’t feel into his voice.

  10

  Meyers and Knowles sat watching the Stadlers’ house from their front garden. Two mugs of tea sat on the picnic table between them, largely untouched. The garden overlooked the main road, but they could easily see the door in and out of the Stadlers from their spot.

  Knowles had returned just as Jack had announced he was going with Katie to the vets and pub and they’d both seen the opportunity that an empty house presented. They sat, watched and waited. A couple of hours passed. The bugs picked up the cries of the baby and the sounds of new parents trying to get organised for a trip out.

  Eventually, Jack and Katie appeared at the bottom of the drive.

  “Fuck me, I could have done a half marathon in that time,” Meyers said.

  “In your car maybe.”

  Katie was pushing an enormous four wheel buggy and Stadler was carrying a shoulder bag branded with Pampers on the side. He also had a dog on a lead. They looked both ways then walked up the road, the proud parents on their first outing with the newborn.

  “That dog is tiny,” Meyers said. “Well, maybe not tiny, but she’s not a big dog is she?”

  Knowles grunted and drank some tea. “Carruthers said they had two dogs.”

  “Best load up with that spray then.”

  “Yep.”

  11

  Fifteen minutes later they walked calmly to the front door of the Stadler’s house. It had been a good idea to wait as the Stadlers had returned once for something.

  Meyers picked the lock with a speed and proficiency that would have impressed professional thieves. They had been on the doorstep for maybe ten seconds: an acceptable risk in Knowles’ eyes. The hallway was short and had two doors immediately off on either side. The doors were open and they took a room each.

  Both held thumbs up. Meyers walked cautiously through to the kitchen whilst Knowles made his way upstairs. He winced and stood stock still when a stair creaked under his foot. Nothing moved. He eased his foot off the step which lessened but did not eradicate the squeak. Still no sounds in the house. At the top of the stairs he looked in one bedroom before Meyers re-joined him. Meyers gave a quick thumbs up as he stepped over the squeaky stair.

  They knew from the floor plans that upstairs had three bedrooms and a separate bathroom. All the doors were open except one. They quickly checked the other rooms and then stood outside the closed door. Still no sounds in the house. Meyers held up his spray canister and raised his eyebrows. Knowles shrugged. It was too quiet in the house; it felt empty.

  Knowles counted them down with his fingers, trying not to let his nerves show. He wasn’t overly keen on dogs: the bigger they were the more nervous he felt. Ridiculous given the training he had and the things he’d done, and he certainly would never tell anyone. After a count of 3, 2, 1 he yanked the final door open and they burst into the bedroom.

  It was an untidy room dominated by the king size double bed and the baby’s cot. A solitary wardrobe stood against one wall with a large chest of drawers next to it. A huge mirror rested on the chest of drawers, which also had all the makeup, perfume, aftershave and deodorants on it. Clothes lay in semi-neat piles on the bed, and packs of nappies lay on the floor next to a change mat for the baby.

  Other than that the room was empty.

  12

  “Garden?”

  Meyers voice made him jump. Knowles nodded and Meyers crossed to the hallway window. It gave him a view of the whole garden. Lawn rolled back to hedgerow and a small herb garden grew beside the kitchen door. A compost heap stood at the very rear of the garden, almost hidden by the lupin tree in front of it. The garden was also empty.

  “Big dog my fucking arse,” Meyers said.

  “He’s no bull-shitter,” Knowles said. So where was the other dog? “Come on. Let’s get a move on.”

  They worked quickly and finished setting bugs around the Stadler house. Cameras were installed in all the rooms, all hidden in smoke detectors or light fittings. Pressure sensitive triggers were put near to each door. They would activate when someone entered a room. It took just under fifteen minutes, but when they were done, they had full audio and visual coverage of the entire Stadler house and garden.

  Chapter 10

  1

  The Kings Arms was the quintessential British pub: a cosy bar sat opposite the main entrance with a log fire that spread warmth throughout; there was always someone at the bar regardless of time of day or night and all conversation died when strangers walked in. Only the landlord broke the stereotypical feel of it all, as he was skinny with pale, almost porcelain skin.

  He grinned broadly when he saw Jack and Katie. “First outing with the baba?” He came round from the bar, leaving a miserable looking barmaid Jack had never seen before, and cooed over Josh. “He’s got your nose Jack and your face Katie. He’s gorgeous!”

  “Thanks, Ken. That’s nice of you.” Jack said, pushing the pram next to a table. He unzipped the cover as the fire was going strong. “What do you want to drink honey?”

  “Coffee please.” She looked tired. Lots of people had stopped them on the way to the pub: it had taken twenty minutes to do a five minute journey. Better get used to it.

  “Breast feeding?” Ken asked. Katie nodded. “That’s good. My two were breast fed for a year and look at the size of them now!”

  Ken’s sons were at university now. One in his first year, the other about to graduate. Both were well over six foot, in stark contrast to their father. He sat next to Katie and they started chatting. They paused briefly as two men came in, but Ken continued making small talk. The miserable barmaid brightened at the sight of the two well-built men and went to serve them.

  Jack also went to the bar and sat on a stool. He nodded at the two men even though he didn’t recognise them. The barmaid, smiling now, came over and Jack caught the faintest of bottom wiggles as she turned away from the two men. He smiled to himself, ordered the drinks and just as he finished another man pulled up a stool next to him.

  “Jack,” Graham Edwards said.

  “Graham.” Jack kept his voice level and his smile even. Edwards had once said that John was ‘alright for a darkie’. His hand rested on the bar, showing the tattoo APAF on each knuckle: All Pigs Are Fascists.

  “Heard you fell into a cave. Saw you on the news.”

  “Yeah, I also had a baby.”

  “See, when city boys like you move to the country, you got to watch your step, see? Never know what mischief you could get into.” Edwards smirked, winking at the two strangers. “What kind of twat doesn’t see a fucking huge hole in front of him?”

  I could rip his face off.

  Where had that come from? Jack swallowed, trying to stay calm. At the same time, it was appealing to just beat the hell out of Edwards. He’d probably be given Freedom Of Huntleigh or something. Jack snorted a laugh.

  “Something funny Jackie boy?”

  “Graham, my name’s Jack, please don’t call me that.”

  “Sorry Jackie boy, didn’t mean nothing by it see? Just pulling your leg, like.”

  Jack stood up quickly and grabbed Edwards’s shirt. He lifted the bigger man up and pulled him towards h
im until they were face to face, inches apart. Jack felt his fingernails grow and saw black hair sprouting on his arm.

  “We are not friends. You are a fucking racist twat, now get out of my face and don’t come near me or my family again or I will fucking hurt you. Understand?” he hissed quietly. Edwards’s mouth dropped open. The barmaid froze, Jack’s pint in her hand.

  “Jack?” Katie asked. The tension in the bar was palpable.

  “Jack,” Ken said firmly. Despite his appearance, he was more than capable of keeping peace in his pub: his black belt in aikido ensured that. Jack let Edwards go and the hair receded instantly. He made a fist, feeling the fingernails shrink to normal size. Edwards held his ground for a moment longer, staring at Jack with a sullen grin on his face.

  “Anytime Jackie boy,” Edwards spat. “Don’t you worry, Ken, I was going anyways. Got a job to do, see.” Edwards left without another word or glance at anyone in the pub.

  “What was that Jack?” Katie asked, trying hard to keep her voice level.

  “I’ve always hated that prick,” Jack said.

  “Yeah, we all do, Jack, but you can’t beat him up in here,” Ken said. “It’d take me ages to clean the place up when he was done.”

  Jack laughed despite himself. In one line, Ken had removed all the tension in the bar.

  “Come sit down, Jack. First rounds on me, ok? You eating?”

  2

  Knowles watched the confrontation with interest. He tried to act like he wasn’t watching, but that was hard given how few people were in the pub. The man – Edwards – that Jack grabbed had a good foot height advantage and the build of a labourer. Jack had the build of a teacher, but he had definitely moved first.

  Interesting. Not as quiet as he first appears then.

  He continued watching as Jack let the bigger man go. Knowles caught a glimpse of something as Jack let his arms drop to his sides. He glanced at Meyers to see if he’d noticed anything, but the other gave no indication.

  Am I seeing things?

  He watched Jack return to his seat and order food. His left arm was in clear view now and it was a normal pale arm with a thin dusting of hair on it. Knowles shook his head as if to clear it.

  “Did you see that?” he asked quietly.

  “Yeah, I thought he was going to get a right slapping.” Meyers was fond of taking well known phrases and changing them slightly. It made for some bizarre imagery sometimes: usually funny, sometimes annoying.

  “No, his arms. Did you see his arms?”

  “What about them?”

  “Never mind,” Knowles said, exasperated. Had Meyers not seen it? Jack’s arm looked normal now. Had he imagined it?

  No. His arm suddenly sprouted thick black hair. The kind you normally see in the pornos Scarlet liked.

  Knowles took out his mobile, but the barmaid shook her head.

  “You can do it,” she said, “but it’s a pound in the fine box.” She pointed at a small box on the bar which was covered in a sheet of paper, badly sellotaped to it. The paper had a phone crossed out and ‘mobile phine’ written above it in WordArt.

  He went outside and speed dialled Carruthers’ mobile.

  “Where are you?”

  “About 45 minutes away. We’ve just finished our ride and-”

  “We’re in the pub. The Kings Arms. You’ve got 30 minutes. Get here.”

  3

  As usual, Jack had burger and chips. The burger was smothered in cheese and onions, then he covered it some more in HP sauce. Katie had a bowl of chips with cheese and onion on it. It was all that proper pub food should be: cheap, cheerful, tasty and very satisfying.

  They chatted whilst they ate. Katie had been frosty to him at first, but given that she didn’t like Edwards either, she let it go. She put Jack’s temper swing down to tiredness from the last few days. In all, it had been a pretty eventful week. The accident, the baby, the dog and now this in the pub. She sighed. Most families don’t have that in a year. She was glad that Ginny had been given the all clear. The dog was lying under the table, asleep.

  Ken came and took the plates away when they were done. Ginny woke long enough to steal a chip that fell off the plate and then settled straight back to sleep. Josh had now slept for over an hour.

  “We should go,” She said, looking at Josh. He sucked his bottom lip in and gave a very heavy sigh, but stayed asleep.

  “Good idea,” Jack said. He wasn’t too comfortable with leaving: Edwards might be waiting for him. Equally if they stayed, Josh might wake and scream the place down. Jack definitely wasn’t comfortable with ruining the sanctity of a pub with a screaming baby.

  They stood to leave. Ken waved from the bar. Katie went first and held the door open for Jack to wheel the pram through. He was halfway through the door when three men arrived all walking quickly. Jack didn’t recognise any of them. They stopped when they saw him coming with the pram and all stood to one side.

  “Cheers,” Jack said and then stopped, staring at the biggest man. “Do I know you?”

  The big man looked surprised. “No, I don’t think so.”

  “Are you sure? You look familiar to me. Did you use to live in London? Sutton maybe?”

  “No, sorry.” They locked eyes again.

  “My mistake,” Jack said in a tone that said he hadn’t made any mistake at all. He pushed the pram past them and he and Katie started walking home.

  “What was that all about?” she asked. “Have you seen him somewhere before in the village?”

  “No,” Jack said. “I don’t think I’ve seen him around the village.”

  No, not seen him. Something else. Something as familiar as sight.

  Smell.

  I’ve smelt him before.

  And with that thought, Jack knew exactly where he’d seen the man.

  4

  He didn’t tell Katie: what would be the point? How would he explain how he knew? I smelt the man who we just met. It sounded crazy to him, and he knew it was the truth. No, he needed time to think. Neither he nor Katie had seen the man before which meant he had to be someone who had just moved here or was on holiday.

  He has been in my house. He drugged my dog. Jack gripped the pram handle tighter and took a deep breath. I need to stay calm for Katie’s sake. And Josh. Otherwise I’ll go back and rip him apart with my bare hands.

  He shuddered at the thought, at the same time that it gave him a thrill. When he’d held Edwards in the pub, he’d felt the power surging down his arms. He knew he would have won the fight against the bigger man: he didn’t know if he’d be able to restrain himself. All his life he’d objected to bullies and others who liked to throw their weight around. It seemed that whatever had happened to him would now make it possible for him to stand up to these cowards. It thrilled and horrified him in equal measure.

  I have to be careful. Whatever this is, it could scare a lot of people.

  Plus, I don’t really know what this actually is. Am I turning into an animal like some kind of old story? What happens if I just embrace this?

  Chapter 11

  1

  Jack regretted his pint when a mid-afternoon slump kicked in just as Josh was letting rip with a huge wail. He would stop momentarily if he was fed or held, but then the screaming would start again. They both rushed around trying to get things to console him but to no avail. He eventually fell asleep just before six in the evening.

  They both flopped onto the sofa with the news in the background. Katie looked exhausted.

  “Jesus,” she managed to say.

  Jack chuckled. “Yeah. Just think, he’s not even teething yet.”

  “That’s not even approaching funny. Not even on the same planet.”

  “I know. But that’s the first time he’s been tough: maybe we’ve been lucky so far.”

  “Yeah.”

  She looked like she was going to say more, but the phone interrupted her. She answered it.

  “Hi, John. Yeah, he’s here. Pub at eight?” she
looked at Jack who nodded with a grin. “He’d love to. Bye!”

  She flopped back onto the sofa. “Another boys night. Lucky you!”

  “I won’t go if you don’t want me to.”

  “Don’t be daft. Go, enjoy. We won’t get too many nights out for about the next year, so make the most of it.”

  “Oh, I’ll just have a couple.”

  “You’re a terrible liar Jack.”

  2

  Scarlet wrote ‘pub 8 o’clock’ on the pad, and threw it at Knowles who was playing dice with the others.

  “Ok, who wants to go to the pub tonight?” he asked.

  “Not me,” Carruthers said. “I’m sure he recognised me.”

  “We’ve been through this,” Knowles said. “There’s no way he could have recognised you.”

  In response Carruthers shrugged. He’d known he’d been made the moment he saw Stadler coming out of the pub. He had no idea how, but Stadler had known who he was. It was the look in his eyes, pure hatred, just for a second.

  “I’ll go,” Scarlet said. “I fancy a night out in the sticks.”

  “Me too,” Jones said.

  “Ok. You two are up. Take radio earpieces and stay in contact. Go early.”

  “Early?” Jones smiled. “Well, ok, but only if you twist my arm.”

  “Go to the Kings Arms. If they are not there by 8:30, go to the other one.”

  3

  Jack was exhausted before he even reached the pub. Josh had woken in a better mood, but after bathing and dressing him then clearing everything away, a wave of tiredness had almost drowned Jack. The last thing he wanted to do was go to the pub. He resolved to have one drink, then go home.

  John was waiting for him, two pints in front of him in the Seven Stars. He pointed at his watch.

  “Don’t mate, I’m knackered.”

  “You look terrible.”

  “Yeah. Josh has learnt how to cry.”

  “Oh. Yeah that’s tough isn’t it? They’re drugged up to their eyeballs for the first couple of days.”