The Clearwater Chronicles (Book 1): Shadows in the Light

by David Barton

  Next I searched the mail trolleys that were parked up, ready to head up to the offices. I found the one that needed to be taking and hid my jacket and my top at the bottom. I took the mail lift up which led me to the right level. Getting off I started the rounds. Dropping of the mail like I had never stopped. It was like riding a bike, my body going into autopilot.

  Most of the people ignored me like they used to when I worked here. Slowly I made my way up to the very top of the building. The views out of the windows were amazing.

  I picked up the next piece of mail and noticed it was for the editor. It was now or never.

  My fist knocked on the big wooden door with the editor’s name printed on it. There was no answer so I turned the knob and poked my head inside. The whole office was empty. I slipped inside, shutting the door behind me. The only way I could insure I wouldn’t be disturbed was to place a chair against the door, hooking it under the knob.

  Now that I felt reasonably save I moved to the computer. I placed the piece of mail in his basket and plugged in the flash drive. It immediately brought up the encryption mode but was dismissed quickly allowing me access. Then came the screen I got stuck on at the internet café.

  Only this time I watched and the blue blobs all moved to the end of the maze. They turned into locks. Keys appeared and unlocked them. As they slowly dropped from the screen, files started appearing. I moved the mouse and started searching them individually.

  It was shocking the type of information I found. There were a lot of records of pay offs and deposits. Some of the amounts went into the millions and some of the people getting the pay offs were pretty influential.

  Other files showed unofficial projects that I had never heard of. The kind of projects that would bring suspicion down upon the business. As I went through them I found a file containing photos. When I opened it I was shocked to see that all of them were taken of the superhero that had crashed on my sofa this morning.

  I flicked through them and came across a collection that seemed interesting. One of them was of the hero being hit over the head by a gang member. Nothing out the ordinary with that one. Occupational hazard.

  Then there was the one that had caught my eye in the first place. It was the same scene only minus the gang. The hero was still lying on the floor. The next ten were like a flip book showing a man coming out of the shadows in the background.

  I went through the photos until the man looked up. His face lit by a nearby lamp post. My heart dropped as I recognised the man. It was my father. He was popping up in the most strangest places.

  I keep flicking through the photos. He kneels down over the hero, checking for a pulse. Then he picks him up and carries him off. My head was full of so many questions. Unfortunately no answers came with them.

  I was about to venture further into the files but I heard a voice outside of the office. I recognised it and I knew that man was going to come straight into his office. I moved faster. I sent one of the photos showing my father’s face to the printer then grabbed a spare flash drive from one of the drawers. I used it to make a complete copy. It would mean I could access the files without the need of a secure computer.

  As I watched the bar slowly filling up to completion I heard the man’s voice again. Soon I started hearing his footsteps on the carpet in the hallway. I ran to the door, pressing my ear up to the door. He was just outside. I quickly jogged back to desk to watch the percentage reach ninety. I gathered the photo from the printer, slipped it into my pocket then I looked back to see the bar fill to one hundred.

  I yanked both flash drives from the computer, pocketed one and threw the original one out the window. I didn’t have enough time to watch it fall through the air. Turning back around I ran to the door just as the knob started turning. My hands gripped the chair and I yanked on it as the man on other side started turning the handle.

  That’s when I froze in the corner, holding my breath. The door slowly opened blocking me in the corner. I watched the man slip his jacket off and hang it on something out of my vision. As soon as his back was turned I moved quickly trying to keep my feet from making too much noise.

  I held my breath as I moved. Waiting to hear the shouting from the office, telling me to stop. There was nothing, just the soft click as the door was shut. A smile grew on my face as I walked down the hallway, my hand in my pocket, fingers curled around the flash drive. I had gotten out of there without being seen. I might just get away with this.

  “Hey, mail man.”

  I froze, my heart stopped beating for a second. Swearing in my head I slowly turned my cheeks going red as I stared at the man. “Yes?” My voice came out like a child who had been called to the front of the class.

  He strolled up to me, nostrils flaring, anger in his eyes. He was more terrifying than I remembered. “You forgot your trolley.”

  “Pardon?”

  “Your mail cart. You left it in my room.”

  “Oh, right. Sorry sir.” I quickly moved passed him and took the cart out of his office. He mumbled something under his breath before disappearing back into his office. My heart wouldn’t slow down as I pushed the trolley.

  Even when I got back down into the mail room it was still pounding in my chest. Luckily I had gotten away with it. I changed back into my normal clothes by the lockers and made my way back through the mail room.

  The sound of all the machines sorting out the mail was a nice familiarity. Things were finally starting to look up. That was until I came face to face with my old boss. His hair was still bunched over his ears leaving his dome nice and bare.

  When he spoke his moustache wiggled in the weird way it always did. “I thought I saw you walking about down here. Come to beg for your job back?” I opened my mouth to speak but he was never one to listen. “It doesn’t matter what you’re about to say. There’s no way in hell that you’ll get your job back. Now, I’m going to call security and they will frisk you, making sure you haven’t stolen anything.” A little smile appeared. “Then they will chuck you out of the building like the garbage you are.”

  “It’s not like that.” He huffed and turned his hand reaching for the phone. I sucked in a breath trying to figure a way out.

  Then the phone rang before he could pick it up. I watched intently as he lifted it to his ear, “Mail room. Yes. Okay. I’ll be right up.” He hung up the phone and pointed his finger at me. “Don’t you dare move. I’ll be back down to continue this in a minute.”

  “Sure.” He gave me a disgruntled look before storming off. If he had been a cartoon character there would be steam coming out of his ears.

  Once he was out of the room I let out a long sigh. Then I heard a voice, “You’re not really going to stay there are you?”

  I turned and saw the friendly face I knew years ago. “Hey buddy. How’s it going?”

  “Better than you by the looks of it.” He waved his hand in the air, holding a mobile phone. “Now, I only brought you five minutes so you better get out of here whilst you can.”

  “Cheers.” I walk past him patting him on the shoulder. “It’s good to see you again.”

  “Yeah, let’s grab a drink some time, you’re buying.”

  “Sure.” I gave him a quick wave before heading up the stairs. I was away from the building in a minute and walking across the little park area that sat opposite the building. I made my way to the other side and took a seat on a bench.

  That is where I stopped, pulling out the flash drive. I moved it around in my hands thinking about the information it held. People were going around killing trying to get their hands on this thing. What the hell would happen if this was published? Would it be too public for something to happen or would it just make things worse?

  I was deep in thought about nothing, just gazing around the park when my phone let out a shrill noise from my pocket. I looked down at the alarm screen, showing that it was for my late lunch with my mother. It had been put back from the usual time because she had something to do.r />
  Maybe a lunch with my mother would do me good, give me something else to think about. It took me longer than I thought to get to the diner we always ate at. Only thing was, she wasn’t there. I was late and yet she wasn’t sitting there with an annoyed look on her face. She was never late.

  I pulled my phone out and dialled her number. It kept ringing and ringing. I was starting to get worried. Then a click ended the ringing and I heard her voice, “Hello?”

  “Mum, it’s me, Ryan.”

  “Oh. Hello honey. What’s wrong?” The way she spoke made it seem like she was out of breath.

  “Is everything okay? I was worried about you.”

  “Why would you be worried?” She giggled but it had nothing to do with me.

  “Mum, where are you?” I listen to the background noise. It didn’t give much away.

  “I’m just at home. Why are you calling me?”

  “It’s our late lunch? Remember? We moved it back a while ago.”

  “Oh, honey. I’m so sorry I won’t be able to make it at all today.”

  “Why not? Is there something wrong?”

  “What makes you think something is wrong?” Another giggle.

  I paused before stating, “You sound like something is wrong.”

  “I’m fine.”

  I hear a manly voice in the background. “Who’s that?”

  “Who?”

  I hear the deep voice again. “Seriously, who is that?”

  There was a pause before she said, “It’s Harvey.” Then I heard the two of them giggling.

  That’s when it dawned on me that they are together in a way no son should ever here about. “I think I’ll leave you to it.” I didn’t want to hear anymore giggling so I hung up the phone. Spinning it around between my thumb and forefinger, I stood there contemplating what I should do.

  I ended up deciding to have the lunch without her. Taking the booth we usually sat at I ordered and people watched by myself. My food came quickly and I munched it down.

  Most of time I spent there I was watching a couple sitting in a corner booth. One minute they were kissing and laughing about some unknown thing. The next, they were arguing loud enough that people walking outside on the path heard about it.

  I couldn’t help myself from giggling at their mood swings. Even after a few stares from the man I couldn’t help myself. Finishing my meal, the waitress came over and took my empty plate away after filling up my coffee mug. Today it was the cinnamon coffee. Always made it taste like Christmas.

  I sipped it and carried on people watching until the hot and cold couple stood up from their booth. Keeping my eyes looking out the window I watched their reflection as they moved through the diner. Until I saw his hand move from his body.

  As I turned my head to look his hand hit my cup, knocking it over. I watched it career off the table and into my lap. A scream shot out of my mouth and I jumped up to my feet, wiping my lap furiously.

  “You should keep your attention on your coffee and off of us.” Our eyes met as a little snigger came out of his crooked mouth. I was about to shout at the man in pure anger when he was suddenly shoved down onto the soaking table.

  He moaned as his face was pressed into the hot coffee and his arm was twisted behind his back. His partner just stood there with a shocked look on her face. “You don’t want to be messing with my boy.” The only thing that popped into my head at the point was the fact I hadn’t felt like I was his boy for years. “I’m going to let go of your arm and you’re going to walk away and never come here again.”

  “Okay, okay.” His voice was filled with the pain from the burning liquid and the twisted arm. He was let go and with a final glare the man walked out in a huff. His partner trailed behind him sobbing for her man’s wellbeing.

  Then my father looked at me with a smirk on his face. “You don’t have to thank me.”

  “Why would I thank you? Would it be for pushing me aside and sorting out my problem for me? Appearing out of nowhere and creating a scene in a place I regularly come to?”

  “Why would you come to this place on a regular basis?”

  “Once again, you’re not listening to me. You just attacked someone.” I looked over to the manager staring at us from inside the kitchen. “Just leave me alone.”

  I turn to walk away but a hand grabs my jacket sleeve. “Wait, you haven’t even heard why I came to see you?”

  “I don’t care why and I don’t even care how you managed to find me.”

  “I spoke to your mother.”

  “I don’t care. You can have as many conversations with her but you will stay away from me.”

  He blew out a long breath, still holding onto my sleeve. “I have something very important to talk to you about.”

  “It might be important to you but I can tell you now, I don’t care. Now let go.” I snatch myself out of his grip and started to walk away. “I have somewhere to be.”

  “You’re not going to see that girl again are you?”

  I stop in my tracks. “What if I am?” I turned around to receive his response.

  “I’ve already told her to stay away from you and I’m going to tell you the same thing. Stay away from her.”

  “You have no right to tell me what to do.”

  “I may have been an absent father but I was and I still am your father.”

  I blow out a sigh and walk up to him. Feeling my anger growing each step I took towards him. “Have you ever heard of the saying, anyone can be a father but it takes a special person to be a dad?” He nods slowly. “Well, you are neither of them. You are simply a sperm donor and that is how I will always see you.” With that said I spun around and walked out of the diner.

  Blowing my anger out of my mouth, my feet hit the concrete. I tried to calm myself down. It took all the way to the Chinese restaurant until I was finally able to push him out of my head. I ordered a small selection from the menu and with the bag full of food, I made my way over to Felicity’s apartment.

  When I got to the door, my fist froze in mid-air as my mind quickly thought back to what my father had said to me. He wanted us to stay away from each other. He never said what the reason was. What happened if somehow she was my sister or some other relative?

  Then the door suddenly opened. She stood there wearing a simple black dress and a very cute smile. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail with a few strands framing her face. Looking at her I verified how I felt about her. She is definitely not my sister.

  “You okay? You look a little lost.”

  “I’m not lost, just had something on my mind.”

  “Well, come on in then. Let’s see if I can help you forget about it.”

  “Thanks. Hoping so.” I slip past her and into her large apartment. The place is open planned like mine but on a much larger size. I saw a single door leading into a bedroom. From the slightly open door I can tell that she must like the colour purple.

  I lift the bag in my hand up in the air, “I brought the takeaway.”

  “Oh.”

  Looking at her I ask, “What’s wrong?”

  She nods towards the table behind me. “I already brought some.”

  I turn and see the dining table. There were so many tubs of Chinese I couldn’t see any part of the wooden table. “Oh.”

  “Yeah, I didn’t know what you liked so I got a large selection from the menu.”

  “I like any Chinese so I imagine it won’t last long.”

  “Me to. I could eat it every day if I didn’t care about gaining weight.”

  I look at her, seeing how slim she looked in her black dress. Then my eyes quickly darted back up to her face. “Plates?”

  “I’ll get those, why don’t you sit down and tuck in.”

  “Sure thing.” I take out my Chinese from the bag and add it to the selection on the table. Pulling out a seat I parked my butt. I didn’t bother waiting for a plate, picking up a spring roll I dig straight in.

  Felicity comes back wi
th perfect timing, as I look up with spring onions hanging out of my mouth. “Wow, that’s a very sexy look. Why don’t they have models eating those in perfume ads?”

  I quickly swallow the mouthful. “Shut it missy. Chinese isn’t the most sexiest food to eat.”

  “Maybe it will be better if you use a knife and fork?”

  “What, no chop sticks?”

  “I can’t use those things to safe my life.” She places a plate down in front of me. I grab a knife and fork from the middle of the table. Felicity sat down opposite me with her own plate. I watched as she started scooping food from different tubs onto her plate. Calling it a mountain of food would have been an understatement.

  For the next hour we took our time eating, talking plenty and laughing. It was the perfect thing to do. I was forgetting all about my day and the horrible things that happened.

  After we had been fully stuff from the Chinese, Felicity packed the left overs up in tubs and placed it inside her fridge. When she came back over to the table she was carrying a tin of chocolates. “These have to be eaten tonight. My diet is starting tomorrow.”

  “Diet? With a fridge full of Chinese takeaway?”

  “When you put it like that it seems less likely to happen but at least it’s a good excuse to eat the chocolates.” The tin was placed in the middle of the table and opened. Whilst we feasted upon them I kept looking at her body. I was amazed at how much she ate and yet stayed so thin. We left little balls around the table from the chocolate wrappers.

  It was all civil until she took the straw from her drink and started playing football with one of the wrappers. She laughed as it fell of my side of the table. “That’s one nil to me.” She laughed again.

  “Isn’t it a little unfair since I didn’t even realise we were playing.”

  “Use your initiative.”

  Then she started blowing another ball. I lowered my head to the table and started blowing with my mouth. Unfortunately I didn’t have the pin point power that she had with her straw and lost again. “You know, I think it’s time to change the odds.”