Third Time Lucky (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Rosemary J. Anderson

  They had taken to chatting every day, sometimes for hours, others for bare minutes when he suddenly for no explicable reason disappeared, leaving her waiting and waiting and waiting. Occasionally, she found his messages difficult to understand. He had said he was an American, but still she had difficulty with some of the things he said and his expressions. But that was a small thing in the great scheme of things. She smiled. She should stop being so nitpicky. Alex had wanted to exchange e-mail addresses, something which at first she was hesitant to do, but eventually she had given in to his repeated requests and now she was glad she had, as it had all worked out so well. He had sent her poetry, lovely verses relating to grief, love, and loss, poems that romanced and comforted and made her feel special. No one had ever sent her poetry before and she was enchanted by his consideration and romantic nature. He had told her a little about his life and about his work. He was an experienced sailor employed by a small firm that supplied and piloted luxury yachts and so was often at sea. His wife was dead, had died giving birth to his daughter who was now seven and cared for by a nanny. Amazingly he didn’t live far from her, although cautiously she hadn’t yet given him her full address. However, on the profile she had completed she’d given the area of her residence and found to her delight he lived only twenty miles away.

  “It must be fate,” she murmured, happily contemplating when they would have their first meeting.

  Returning to her computer, she pressed a key and it sprang to life. Scanning the screen, she noted with disappointment that there were no new messages.

  * * * *

  The evening passed with her doing the usual chores of washing and ironing, watching television, and making the odd cup of tea, and every time she passed the computer she checked for messages. However, sadly there was no soft computerised voice stating…

  You have one new message!

  Bedtime came, and it was with a heavy heart and a feeling of insecurity that Holly pulled on her pyjamas, completed her ablutions, and climbed into bed. Pulling the duvet up and over her shoulders, she determinedly closed her eyes. However, sleep remained elusive. She tried counting sheep, reciting a nursery rhyme, and finally listing the items on the shopping list stuck to her fridge, but all was to no avail. Finally, unable to remain lying sleepless, Holly got out of bed and, pushing her feet into her fluffy red mules, padded out to the kitchen. Filling a saucepan with milk, she placed it on the stove to heat. Perhaps a hot drink would help. Spooning chocolate powder into a mug, she cast furtive glances at the computer. Should she check, just to see if he had got in touch? Hesitating, feeling undecided, she hurriedly turned off the gas as the milk sizzled its boiling point. Pouring the milk over the chocolate powder, she lifted the mug and resolutely turned away from the mocking blank screen, and step by reluctant step, returned to bed.

  * * * *

  A restless night’s sleep and Holly was up early getting breakfast, quickly running the duster over the flat and doing the numerous other little things she did before rushing off to work. However, although she stole a glance or two at the computer, she doggedly refused to switch it on and check her messages until she’d eaten.

  Cereal, toast, and coffee partaken, Holly took a deep breath and switched on her laptop. The seconds it took to boot up were some of the most nerve-racking she’d ever encountered.

  “You have one new message!”

  Holly grinned and happiness cast a glow in her heart and her stomach twisted in knots.

  Moving the icon onto the message, she breathed a sigh of relief when she noted it was from Alex.

  Hello, my dear, how are you? Well we are now on the high seas and I am counting the days until I return and we can marry. My daughter’s name is Mary-Jane and she is also looking forward to seeing you and for you becoming her mother. What have you been doing with yourself? Contact me soon, my dear, so we can make our happy arrangements.

  Love, Alex x

  Holly smiled, and a great feeling of relief washed over her. Alex had not only replied but he had also mentioned marriage. The thought of not being alone anymore was the most marvellous feeling in the world. Marriage to Alex would mean a new life, a husband, a daughter, and maybe in time, children, hers and Alex’s. It would finally mean a home and security everything she had ever wanted in life. Everything she had thought she had with Adam, she remembered feeling slightly tearful. Pulling herself together, she stubbornly ignored the rising feeling of caution and glanced at her watch. She had just time enough to write a message to Alex.

  Hello, Alex, I am so glad you are okay. What a lovely name your daughter has and I am really looking forward to meeting her. You say when you return that we will marry. That is a wonderful thought. It will be nice not to be lonely anymore. However, how does your daughter feel about having a stepmother? It’s a big upheaval for such a little girl? I haven’t been doing much, just work and then home, nothing as exciting as being at sea. Anyway I must go or I will be late for work. I will write again later so please look out for my message. Take care of yourself and I will check in when I return this evening. Love, Holly X

  Hitting Send, Holly hurriedly donned her coat and rushed out of the house, her thoughts churning with excitement. She was going to get married. She was going to get married. The words repeated in her mind like a happy mantra.

  Chapter Five

  Jules De Verne smiled a small twist of his lips that highlighted the savage scar that ran down one side of his olive pox-ridden face. “Gotcha!” he said to the computer screen as he read Holly’s message. These women were so stupid, needy, demanding, and easy.

  He swivelled around on his stool and, giving a thumbs-up, he grinned at the other five men sharing the room. Each had two or three women online that they were cultivating, and they had made a bet on who would bag theirs first, and he had won.

  Among a lot of cat-calling, whistling, and foot stamping, he made a small bow, his eyes hard and glittering with satisfaction.

  This woman Holly had been easy, although she was not his usual prey. This one, judging by her photo, was quite lovely. Young, in her early twenties, slim, with long auburn hair and green eyes and under different circumstances he would give her what all women really wanted—a really good fucking. That, after all, was all they were good for. The women he groomed were usually single and middle-aged and easily deceived. Living alone with their cats for company they were usually lonely, overweight, and as plain as a pike-staff and desperate to find the one. The one fool that would marry them.

  The women were so gullible living their dreary, boring lives and hoping, nay praying, that one day their prince would come. It amazed him that even though they hadn’t yet found a husband, they had the audacity to think that someone online would want them when no one else did.

  However, that suited him. This was his livelihood after all, and most of the time it was quite lucrative. His persona Alex was proving to be quite irresistible to lonely old hags, and now it was time to up the ante!

  * * * *

  Holly had a hard day. The café was busier than ever. She took orders, cleared tables, and served food. However, her mind wasn’t on the work but on Alex. She was going to get married. She wouldn’t be alone anymore. Her whole life would change, take on a new meaning. Alex was slightly older than she would have once contemplated, but what did that matter? He appeared nice. His picture showed a gentle-looking man in his fifties with black hair graying at the temples and blue eyes. He told her that he was of average height, just five eleven but was fit and an active outdoorsy type, loving to swim, walk, and cycle. He had a secure job, was financially well off, and was happy to have more children. Did she love him? She gave it serious thought…

  No she didn’t—not yet, but she liked him. He made her laugh and was romantic and he wanted similar things that she wanted and that was a good start. Whereas she wanted financial security, a house of her own, a man with which to share her life, and children, he wanted a life partner, a mother for his daughter, and someone to run
his home and be there when he got back from work. They were, she thought happily, an ideal match. Excitement coursed through her and she couldn’t wait to get home and see if she had another message.

  * * * *

  The evening was drawing in, the cold dampness of evening making the warmth of the flat very welcoming. Dumping her coat and bag on the nearest chair, Holly switched on the kettle and lifted the lid of her laptop. Her heart was beating fast, her mouth was dry, and her stomach was engaged in somersaults such was her nervous excitement.

  “You have one new message!”

  Holly couldn’t help it. She couldn’t help the wide smile that spread across her face, or the nervous fluttering of her stomach, and she couldn’t help the missed beat of her heart as she opened the message.

  Hello, dear, how are you? I will as you can see still be able to keep in contact with you whilst I am on the ocean. The sea has been rough today but I am okay. I look at the stars sparkling in the night sky and wonder what you are doing and whether you are thinking of me and our life together. My daughter will love having you as a mother as she is an obedient child. Anyway I will be in contact again soon.

  Love, Alex x

  Holly read the message and frowned slightly at the thought of the little girl being so obedient even when it came to having a stepmother. But she smiled. She supposed Alex knew her better than anyone and he was probably rather a strict parent as he had no wife. But what good news that they could keep in touch. It made her dreary life that much better to know she had Alex’s messages to come home to.

  Her fingers hovering over the keys, she thought what to chat to him about as life must be so boring onboard ship.

  Her fingers seemed to take on a life of their own as they skimmed over the keys, telling Alex humorous tidbits about her day and a few jokes she’d heard whilst at work. And finally, the English’s usual conversation gambit, that of the weather.

  * * * *

  Days passed and Holly hadn’t heard from Alex and although terribly disappointed he hadn’t replied immediately she put it down to the fact that he must be busy. She supposed sailing and doing the numerous things sailors did had to be a full-time job and fraught with danger. Dangers such as violent storms, whales, icebergs, and sharks, although she wasn’t quite sure exactly where Alex was heading. Unlocking her front door, Holly shook the rain from her umbrella and slipped her feet out of her wet shoes. It had been another horrible day with gale force winds and the distant rumbling of thunder. Rain dripped from her hair and chilled her skin, but not stopping to take off her coat, she switched on the computer, waiting impatiently for the laptop to boot up.

  “You have one new message!”

  Elation filled her causing her to grin happily at the screen as she opened the message.

  Hello, dear

  I have some very worrying news. We may be delayed longer than I thought. Our yacht has been boarded here on the high seas by pirates and we are lucky to be living. The whole crew has been incarcerated in the hold and we have been told that in order for us to be released our families must pay a ransom. My dear this is a very worrying concern, can you help? Will you help? Please remember that I love you and that our happiness is now at risk. Can you send five thousand pounds sterling to the kidnappers in order for me, your beloved, to be released? Please transfer the money to this account as soon as you can, my sweet one. Also I have been warned by the pirates that you must not be revealingly to anyone what has happened because if you do they will surely kill me. So silence is the name of the game, my angel. I await hearing from you. Love, Alex x

  Holly stared at the screen, the smile fading from her lips and the light of happiness in her eyes diminishing. She reread the message and the banking instructions underneath and caught her breath. It couldn’t be true. This couldn’t be happening, not now just when things were beginning to go right. She frowned over some of his words. The message didn’t read correctly, but this just proved that Alex was deeply stressed. She had to help, but how? She didn’t have five thousand pence let alone five thousand pounds. She lived from hand to mouth waiting each week for her wages, to pay the rent and bills and buy the meagre amount of groceries she could afford. Yet if she didn’t help, she may never see Alex again and worse—he may die!

  Pacing backward and forward all thoughts of dinner and bath leaving her mind, she worried at the problem, refusing to cry as much as she wanted to throw herself on the floor and howl her eyes out. She had to find a way to help Alex. She just had to!

  The hours passed and Holly counted the money in her purse, in the pink piggy bank, a present from Adam she kept on the shelf, and went online and checked her meagre savings. But she still didn’t have enough, not even half. Putting her head in her hands, she finally cried the bitter tears she had been holding in check. How could she help him?

  Minutes passed and Holly sniffed and snivelled into her sleeve, bemoaning the multifacets of fate that first allowed her to find someone, only to take them away again. It had been the same with Adam. First she had him and a happy life. The next moment he was gone. Suddenly she caught her breath. That was it! She could draw down the small pension of Adam’s, the only thing she had left. It was all she had, a tiny amount of money meant to make her life easier, give her a little bit of income, but without Alex she had nothing anyway. Smiling in relief, she quickly checked the papers and, ignoring the small voice of caution and the cashing-in clause, calculated just how much she could get.

  Staring at the hastily written figures scribbled onto the back of an envelope, Holly drew a deep tremulous breath and rechecked her figures. With the money from Adam’s pension and the pittance in her bank account and this week’s wages, she could just make the five thousand. Closing her mind to just how much money would be lost from drawing down the pension, money she could ill-afford to lose, she remained resolute and drew her laptop toward her. Alex was worth it. After all she was securing their future and that was worth any amount of money.

  * * * *

  It was done! Briefly she closed her eyes as reality clicked in. What she had just done was huge. It was life changing. It was momentous, the loss of her last scrap of security, but was it was worth it? It meant an end to loneliness, to poverty, and to despair, so, yes, it was definitely worth it. She couldn’t wait to tell Alex that he was saved. Opening the message page, she swiftly began to type.

  Hello, Alex.

  I am horrified to hear your news. Are you okay? Have you been hurt at all? It is a lot of money the pirates are demanding and as you know I do not have much. However, I have managed to get it but I have had to draw down Adam’s pension and use my small amount of savings but it’s worth it just to know you are safe.

  I know this is a very worrying situation so is there anyone I can contact for you? Maybe the company you work for, as didn’t you say you were sailing with one of your employers? Can his family help? I could contact them for you as I am sure they will be relieved to know that you are all okay, and maybe they will be able to do something, contact the local police or maybe the Coast Guard or whatever the equivalent is out there. Where exactly are you, as you didn’t say? Maybe I should ring your daughter’s nanny, or your parents. They would be worried but they have a right to know what’s happening to you. If you want me to let them know the situation please let me have their telephone numbers. Tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it.

  I’m sorry I’m rambling but it’s only because I’m so very scared for you.

  Anyway, happily now the pirates have the money you will soon be freed.

  Please contact me as soon as you can.

  Love, Holly x

  The wait was unbearable. Holly paced backward and forward, glancing at her computer screen with each passing minute. Why wasn’t Alex answering? Was he okay, or had the pirates hurt him or—killed him? She closed her eyes in despair-filled dread. Keeping busy she made yet another cup of tea. She drank it standing up staring out of the window. Then she paced some more. It was late, pas
t midnight now, but she couldn’t settle.

  Why wasn’t he answering!

  Finally, cold, tired, and hungry and about to give up and crawl into bed, she sat at the table to turn off her computer when the disembodied voice filled the silence.

  “You have one new message!”

  “At last,” she whispered, her hand trembling as she moved the mouse onto the message.

  Hello, dear.

  I have got your message and I am pleased with your compliance, but sadly my captors have upped the ante.

  “Ante,” Holly murmured automatically.

  …and now demand additional funds. They say that it is not enough and that they want more. So, my dear, please send a further five thousand. I know it is a lot to ask but I will pay you the money back when I return to your loving arms. I know, my dear, that if you truly love me and want to make a happy family with me you will do as I ask. The account number is the same, but be quick, my dear, as I fear for my life. As to contacting my company, or anyone else please do not do so, I don’t think it would be a very good idea at this stage and might even hinder my eventual freedom. Yours, Alex x

  “Nooo!” Holly cried in anguish, reading and rereading the message. Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. Burying her head in her hands, she cried out her fear, frustration, and utter despair. She had thought with paying the money that this nightmare would be over, but instead it had got worse.

  How on earth could she get more money? She had none and no family to ask for help. She was finally out of options.

  Chapter Six

  It was done!

  Holly felt scared, but elated for all that. After a sleepless night, a worrying day at work, and an even more worrying interview with the bank, it was done. Alex could now be saved. The bank had been difficult to deal with and had refused to lend her the money. Their reasons valid but upsetting for all that. She couldn’t reveal to them what she wanted it for. She didn’t earn enough, didn’t have any collateral and now didn’t have Adam’s pension either. Beyond despair she had been beside herself with worry wondering how she could get the money. Alex was relying on her. He was desperate. She was desperate. The whole situation was desperate and at the end of it, Alex might lose his life and that was unthinkable.