Marianne looked up startled as she heard someone coming back into reception. She fumbled to get the phone back to the main menu, only just managing to shove it up her sleeve before Gerard walked back in.
‘It’s all ok.’ he announced.
‘Great, well done.’ Marianne replied, walking over to him. As she reached out for a hug, she subtly shook the phone out from under her sleeve on to the table behind him.
Whilst embracing him, she was horrified to discover that his phone display was still illuminated. Without thinking, she planted a long kiss on his lips, before lunging forwards to throw a book over the top of it. Thankfully, her spontaneous display of affection seemed to render Gerard inactive for a few moments. He was undoubtedly in shock that it has actually happened, after their long drought of intimacy. It saddened her that it had not been a genuine kiss. It actually felt quite nice, and it was a sombre moment thinking that it might be the last if he was living this secret dark life.
Unfortunately for Marianne, Gerard spent the afternoon making blushing glances across the office at her, thinking that he was in for an evening of possible romance. Sadly, the situation couldn’t have been farther from the truth. Instead, Marianne planned to confront him that night. There was no other way for it. He had been a loving husband to her for the last fifteen years….she couldn’t deny that, so she had to give him a chance to explain himself.
She was sure he would never harm her, and without knowing the truth, she didn’t feel ready to go to the police. She toyed around with how she was going to go about it, and decided that the ignorant bystander was the best option, asking him ‘innocent’ questions.
Whilst Gerard was blissfully working out the takings from the previous night’s entertainment show, Marianne opened up the bookings for the 21st August. To her bewilderment, there weren’t any new bookings for that day. She glanced over at Gerard, to check he was still head down in his work, before clicking on the days leading up to it. She noticed one guest had only booked for three nights, from the 20th- 22nd August.
This was not the norm, as most guests came for a week, and also there was no payment made. She checked to see who had made the booking and it was Gerard. She decided she could wait no longer. She needed to confront him now.
Innocent question number one for now would be about this booking.
Innocent question number two, for when they arrived back home, would be about the J.H. file on the computer. She knew this question would unnerve him, and pave her way to the jugular. This subtle approach was better than just coming straight out with it, and this way, he would be leading himself down the road to damnation, without her having to drag it out of him cold.
Her finale would be to question him about the bank statements and texts. This would stump him completely, and would render him disabled to dig himself out of the hole he had landed himself in.
Marianne sat tapping her fingers on the desk waiting for her moment, which unfortunately came just as he leant in from behind her and kissed her on the cheek. Of all the moments he chose to get their flirting back on track, it had to be now! She was tempted to delay her questioning, but she just couldn’t.
‘Gerard, do you know why this guest has only booked for three days?’
He peered over her shoulder to look at the screen, and Marianne watched how his eyes widened and froze.
‘Sorry?’ he replied, buying some time before he had to come up with a believable answer.
Marianne repeated herself and noticed him squirming. ‘And also they do not appear to have paid.’
Gerard was now scratching his nose and biting his lip in a mock display of confusement.
‘Oh yes, they are an acquaintance of mine. They are paying on arrival.’
Marianne just nodded. She didn’t push it, as she knew she had him bothered. That is all she needed for now.
At 5pm, she left him in the office and went back to their bungalow to prepare his favourite salmon en croute. She wanted him to feel as relaxed as possible, so she could lure him into a false sense of security.
As she heard the front door bang shut, Gerard was very happy to be met by the whiff of his favourite dish. It temporarily disguised the anxiousness he had displayed when she mentioned his ‘acquaintance’ earlier. That was, until, she laid the next trip wires out for him to fall over.
After devouring the salmon and sitting back on the sofa with his non-alcohol beer, Marianne opened up the lap top. He was disappointed she wasn’t joining him, but she promised him she just had a bit of ‘shopping’ to do.
As she clicked away, she ‘just so happened’ to be tidying up the files of photos, when she discovered the file labelled ‘J.H’. It was time to deliver him the second loaded question. ‘What’s this file labelled J.H.?’
Gerard started to cough and splutter as his beer went down the wrong hole. Marianne rushed to pat him on the back and to express her fake concern as she tried to hide her contempt. Serves him right! she thought.
Gerard pushed her away, and snatched the lap top away from her.
‘What are you doing? Marianne cried.
‘Don’t worry with that…come and sit with me.’ Gerard scolded her, putting the lap top down beside him.
Marianne paused momentarily, before slowly sitting down beside him. She could feel the anger rising up inside of her, and could stand it no longer. She had to know the truth.
She clenched her fists, before throwing his hand off her knee, and launching herself off the sofa. ‘I know Gerard, I know!’ she screamed.
He was caught off guard by her outburst, but managed to remain staring blankly at the tv. He was scared to turn in her direction, in case his cover was blown. After a few seconds, he warily asked ‘Know what?’
Marianne snatched back the laptop and opened up the J.H. files. ‘I know about these files! What are these funds related to?!’ she demanded. ‘…and more importantly, this payment that is due on the 21st….what is this for?!’
He sat there paralysed, unable to explain herself.
Marianne turned and ran into the bedroom, grabbing the stool to reach for the brown envelope hidden beneath the clothes at the back of the wardrobe.
Gerard was still sitting rigid with fear, as she emptied the contents of the envelope onto the coffee table in front of him.
‘How do you explain these, who is The Mercury Group?’ she persisted. She pawed at the bank statements from the secret account, thrusting the 30,000 euro payments into his face. Gerard was desperately trying to search for an excuse, but nothing was coming to him. Her sudden discovery had come as a huge shock to him. Of course, he lived in fear that she would find out what had happened one day, but he wasn’t prepared for it today.
‘I know you are involved with Jozsef Halasz, and I know who he is, and what you are planning together.’ Marianne shouted, spitting with rage.
Gerard slowly turned to her, his face pained from being caught out. His rabbit caught in headlights demeanour, was a look Marianne never thought she would see from her husband.
He started to sob big gasping wails as he dropped to his knees and hung his head in shame. Marianne looked on as she saw her large valiant hero of a husband, reduced to a pathetic whimpering deceitful rodent.
‘How could you…..and why? Marianne blurted out, now fighting back the tears herself, determined not to show any signs of weakness.
Gerard lay on the floor shaking his head, before eventually summoning the words. ‘I owed him.’
‘What do you mean you owed him?!’
‘I owed him money, and he came to call in his debt.’
‘Money for what?..I don’t understand?’
Gerard held his head in his hands, before slowly continuing. ‘When I was in my early twenties, I worked for Jozsef Halasz, in a bar he owned in Budapest. He wasn’t that much older than me at the time, and we got on well. He would regularly dish out cocaine as a perk of the job, which I got to depend on, to keep me chatting to the punters all night. The problem was, I got
to the point where I needed it every night, and although Jozsef gave it to me for free at first, after a few weeks, he said I needed to start paying him. I subsequently racked up some serious amount of debt with him, but he always said there was no rush to pay him, as he was sure he might need my help with something at some point in the future. I was grateful at the time, but never realised he really meant it.’
Marianne listened intently, already finding it hard to stomach that her husband had been a cocaine addict. ‘But you never seem to have an addiction to drugs when we met?…drink yes…but not drugs.’
‘You were my saviour. I had managed to stay clean of drugs for a couple of months when I met you, so being with you, helped me stay off of them for good. When we came back to France together, I thought I had seen the last of Joszef…..that was until I got a phone call from him six years ago to call in his debt.’
‘How was this debt to be paid exactly?’ Marianne questioned. She was scared to hear it, but she knew she had to.
‘He said my debt would be paid if I was to allow one of Joszef’s friends stay at the campsite, and to aid the safe transportation of a package. He didn’t reveal what the package was, but I assumed, from his past, that it was drugs. I didn’t feel comfortable doing it at all, but I felt like I didn’t have a choice. Jozsef was not somebody you said no to. I successfully managed to execute the ‘transportation’ and I thought I was out of the woods until the alarm was raised that a child had gone missing. It was only then that I came to the horrific realisation that the ‘package’ was Anna Gerber.’
Marianne continued to listen through gritted teeth.
‘My whole world collapsed at that point. Not only did the business suffer catastrophically but I was disgusted that I had let myself become instrumental in the whole operation. I couldn’t go to the police, as with all the furore in the media about the case, Jozsef had contacted me, threatening your life if I talked to them.’
‘My life!!……so my life was at risk in all of this too!’ Marianne fumed.
Gerard nodded. ‘Yes…yes I am afraid so. That is why I couldn’t say no to him. If anything had happened to you, I would have killed myself.’
‘So if he was calling in this debt, what are all the payments in the J.H. files for?’
‘He paid me extra to keep me sweet.’
‘So what did you do with this money…..this blood money?!’
‘I never spent any of the money as I was sickened by what I had done. I didn’t hear from Jozsef again for four years, and although I couldn’t forget what had happened, we had started to get our life back on track. That was …..until…. I got this other fateful call from Jozsef. He had another package coming from the UK that he needed help with again. I was in shock and couldn’t believe that they would risk bringing another child through our campsite. At first I refused, and begged Jozsef to not get me involved, but I knew I didn’t have a choice. He threatened to make things very difficult for me if I didn’t comply. I just had to accept it was going to happen again, and I would have to turn a blind eye once more….no matter how much I hated what was going on.’
Marianne looked on in disgust, shaking her head in shame that this man was her husband. He looked up pleadingly at her for some empathy, but he was met by her cold dead eyes. Dead of any warmth towards him, and only emanating pity at the stupidity of the man in front of her.
‘So what about the 21st August?’ Marianne asked.
Gerard looked up at her shocked. ‘You know about the 21st August?’
‘Yes’ Marianne replied sternly, walking over to get his phone and keying in the password. He sat up, visibly shaken by what she was about to show him.
‘Here!’ she said, shoving the texts in his face.
He dropped his head into his hands. ‘I have no choice.’ he said wearily.
‘Yes you do!…you are going to the police!’ Marianne instructed forcefully.
After sitting in silence for an sombre hour, Gerard lay in a disgraced heap staring at the tv, while Marianne sat curled up on the sofa, trying to cocoon herself from the world that was collapsing around her. Neither of them could find the words to heal or remedy the situation. Not for that night anyway, so Marianne threw him a pillow and blanket to sleep in the lounge, before locking herself away in her bedroom and crying herself to sleep.
The following morning, she awoke to find Gerard preparing her breakfast. She wrapped herself up in her dressing gown, and sat on the other side of the breakfast bar from him, still wanting to keep her distance. Distance from the man she had loved for twenty-two years. Her wounded red eyes gazed down at the croissants and jam he had carefully laid out for her, but she couldn’t stomach anything. Gerard placed a mug of coffee down in front of her, before finally saying, ‘Ok, I’ll go to the police.’
Marianne was taken aback by his sudden acceptance. She was happy he was doing the right thing, but she wasn’t sure if she was ready to lose him, despite her hatred for him right now.
‘I need to know you will be safe though.’ he added.
Marianne nodded. ‘We will think of a solution.’
They had to go to the police to stop the next abduction happening, even if it meant sacrificing their own family life. If they didn’t stop it, who would
Chapter 28
Chloe awoke the next day feeling brighter after a more peaceful sleep. As she embarked on her journey to Budapest, Katrina, who had now become known as Sadie, was playing heavily on her mind. To feel that no-one was even missing her back home must have been heartbreaking, but to endure what life had thrown at her at such a young age, was incomprehensible.
‘So what does radio Budapest have to offer.’ she muttered to herself, scanning the stations. ‘Hungarian news…no thank you, folk music….err nope, …ah…that’s more like it.’ she said, pausing on Roxy FM, as it blasted out an old dance tune she finally recognised. Anything to make the long lonely drive bearable.
After what felt like a never ending road, Chloe could finally see the hills of Buda on the horizon, and the continuing flow of the River Danube. As she approached the regal arches of Chain Bridge, the proud stone lions guarding it’s entrance, welcomed her over to the Pest side of the city.
She drove past the vast stone gothic Parliament building, admiring it’s rustic coloured steeples, until she successfully found Hotel Oasis and checked into her room. Very chic, she thought, admiring the gold striped wallpaper and four poster bed.
As she started to unpack her, her phone started to ring.
‘Hi Diana, this is a nice surprise.’ Chloe answered, seeing her name flash up.
‘Hi, I thought you might be needing a little bit of moral support. How’s it going?’
‘Well, I wish you were with me for starters, but it’s going ok. We are getting in deeper now though, and I am not looking forward to today.’
‘Why, what are you doing?’
‘We’ve got to head over to one of the main suspect’s house. As I am sure you have faced many a time, I have no clue what is waiting for us there. Tatiana has promised that we are coming to the end of our journey soon though.’
‘Just hang on in there Chloe. You are doing amazingly well. As long as you have Harry there for you?’
‘Yes Harry…I know my lovely Harry. I haven’t felt him around me the last couple of days. I hope he will be there for me.’ Chloe pondered worryingly.
‘He will be there….you just need to ask him.’
‘Thanks Diana….we’ll go out for a drink when I’m back.’
‘Great…..well good luck for today, and you know I am here for you if you need to talk.’
‘Thank you….speak soon.’
Chloe looked at her watch and it was 9.35am. By her estimations Lucy and Tom would arrive around 11.30am. She pulled out her map and started to plan the route to Jozsef Halasz’s house in Briskolc. Chloe had no idea what they were going to find there. She just hoped they didn’t have to break into the house again after the last close shave. She didn’t
think her heart could take it.
From looking at his address on the internet, his house was located in the more upmarket side of the town. She toyed with the idea of driving over to his house before Lucy and Tom arrived, or to just take an initial explore of the town instead.
After fifteen minutes of deliberation, she finally decided to drive over to Briskolc. She had about an hour and a half before Lucy and Tom arrived, which was just time for a quick drive past. At least she would then know what they were facing when they got there, and any possible dangers ahead.
As she drove past the sign for Briskolc, she arrived at a small village comprising single tier buildings in pretty sherbet colours, a central clock tower, and some market stalls. She felt saddened to think how the village’s idyllic façade was tainted by the likes of Jozsef Halasz lurking in it’s rafters.
After a few wrong turns, she found his street, ‘Rubin Utca’ .
‘So… it should be along here somewhere.’ she muttered to herself, looking for the numbers. ‘Ah…number 8...here it is.’ Chloe removed her sunglasses to take a better look at the Spanish style villa house, with it’s traditional terracotta roof, yellow walls and ivory balustrade balcony. Large intimidating metal front gates shouted ‘no entry’, so she had no idea how they were going to get in if they had to.
She looked around to see if anybody was about, but it was very quiet, with just one lone person in the street putting some rubbish in a bin. She wanted to get out of her car and explore the area but there was something unnerving about the stillness. Just as she had made the decision to leave the safety of her car, the metal gates to the house automatically opened up.
Chloe quickly sunk lower down in the driving seat, as a black Mercedes convertible emerged from behind them. She could see a man and a woman in the front seats. The man’s black slicked back hair was catching the top of his shirt collar. He was wearing silver rimmed sunglasses, which concealed the top half of his creased tanned face, and his wrist was weighed down by a chunky silver watch, that glistened in the sun as he turned the steering wheel. Alongside him, sat a platinum blonde companion, whose matching deep walnut tan illuminated the huge diamond earrings dangling from each ear as she touched up her lipstick in the visor mirror.
The Truth Healer: A Riveting Spiritual Psychic Thriller Page 30
