Jack looked at the poster hard and then looked at Suzi the receptionist,
“Let me see jack” Suzi said,
“Load of rubbish girl” Jack announced and walked to his office, “Jack I need to talk to you about something” Suzi exclaimed,
“What is it girl” Jack asked?
“Tommie sent me a text late last night saying he is with Tom and scared” she said, Jack looked at her hard, “ok girl I will look into it” he replied,
“I called for him this morning and his room was open, no sign of him and he’s late coming to work” she put in,
“I will look into it lass, probably hung over and still in Toms place or something” Jack replied and went to his office,
Tom was in Jacks office.
“So lad, I think me and you should have a good chat eh” Jack said to Tom,
Jack put the poster in front of Jack, “where is Tommie son” Jack asked Tom, Tom smiled, he’s recovering in my place, had a long night, too much for him, I gave him the day off boss” Tom said and lit a cigarette, he passed one to Jack,
“That you in the photo boy, not sure with my old eye sight” Jack asked, Tom stared at Jack,
“I have bad past and you know this, I told you a few things, it’s me but I had nothing to do with the missing security guard and the library manager hanging herself” Tom replied,
“Hold tight there, I didn’t say anything about any missing security guard or the library manager hanging herself boy” Jack growled!
Jack stared hard at Tom and lit a cigarette,
“I heard the police officers talking out there about it” Tom exclaimed,
“You got blood good hearing lad” Jack replied and walked out,
Tom watched him walk out and started to think,
Suzi knocked on the door, Tom told her to come in,
“Hi boss can I get you a coffee or something” she asked?
“Sure Suzi” Tom replied and smiled at her, he saw he eyes and knew she wanted to say something,
Suzi came back with a coffee and a sandwich that Tom liked, she sat down on the chair opposite him,
“Tom is Tommie ok, he is late and he sent me a text late last night from your place” she said,
“Tommie is fine, I gave him the day off as he is feeling under the weather, we drank too much last night, he said wanted to take some time off and visit a relative who is sick, I told him it would be ok” Tom told her, “he’s not answering his mobile” Suzi put in,
“I will look into it ok, you just do your job Suzi there’s a good girl” Tom announced and walked off to the bar,
The residents were just finishing their breakfasts as he walked in, one lady called Tom over, “excuse me but I would like to complain about a weird noise that kept us awake last night, she went on and on, “ok lady I will tell the frigging maintenance man and he will investigate this annoying noise you are hearing through the night” Tom yelled out and went to the bar, “Vodka double straight now” Tom asked!
Tina looked at him, “bit early boss” she commented,
“Just give me the fucking drink and do your job ok” Tom replied quite loudly!
Some guests got up and left after hearing him swearing,
“What’s up Tom” Toni asked?
“Too much for you to worry about my sweet, Tom drank his drink and went outside to smoke, Jack came out,
“now then, I want to see Tommie very soon ok also I think you are in a world of trouble and one more thing I have terminal cancer my boy so soon you will be on your own with this hotel” Jack announced,
Tom stared at him hard, “you serious” Tom asked?
“yes my boy, I maybe have a few weeks to go, I’m on strong tablets, I want you to do something for me, when its time and I will tell you, I want you to take me to a place and let me do the rest ok” Jack put in, “what are you talking about” Jack asked?
“my wife fell to her death a long while ago and I want to follow her that’s I want ok, a dying man’s last wish to his friend ok” Jack exclaimed,
“ok sir, I will do it, I want to hand all deeds of the hotel to you, everything to be in your name, I will be just a silent partner as I sense the army catching up with me and I don’t want this place going to the MOD or something else” Tom told Jack, “ok my boy, later we have a good talk, I want to know some things, there’s a lot of rumours flying about and that picture on the poster if my eyes don’t deceive me is of you, what you been up to Tom” Jack asked,
“Long story sir” Tom replied and went to go back inside, Jack started to cough badly and sat down on the steps wheezing and holding his chest, “I’ve had my innings son, you better get inside and sort the paperwork out then” Jack said and coughed again, Tom went inside and went up to his place on the roof, he found the deeds and other correspondence reference the hotel, he quickly typed up a letter to say that the hotel has been sold to Jack bla bla bla.
Tom printed it off and signed it and made it look all official, his name had been changed by deed pol a while back, there was no mention of any monies changing hands in the document, he went back down stairs,
Jo and Candi met him in reception, “Jacks in your office and in a bad way, Jo announced, Tom went through to his office,
“Here you go, just sign down the bottom and on this one too,
Jack signed the docs and sat back, he lit a cigarette, “you want one of these” Tom asked and passed him a glass of whisky,
“Jack drank it down, “that’s better my boy, now where is Tommie” he asked Tom,
“He’s not too well, we had a right session last night, I gave him the day off and he said he was going down south to see a relative, would be back next week, that’s it” Tom announced,
Jack gave him a hard stare.
“you’re a bad boy Tom” Jack exclaimed and smoked his cigarette, Tom and Jack sat in the office for a good while chatting and slowly getting drunk when Suzi the receptionist came through, “police outside want to speak to the owner of the hotel” she announced,
Jack stood up, “here we go then” Jack put in and walked through to the reception area,
“Officers what can I do for you” Jack announced
“Good morning sir, are you the owner of this hotel” one of the officers asked?
“I sure am sir” Jack exclaimed, “ok sir can we see some proof of ownership and your paperwork, the deeds to this place” the other officer put in, “certainly, I will be out in a moment, Suzi asked the police officers if they wanted a drink, they said yes, she rang through to the bar and spoke to Toni, Tina came out with some cold drinks whilst the officers waited, two guests came down the stairs talking to themselves, they saw the police officers, “yes I hope you’ve come to arrest the hotel manager he is so rude to his guests” the older lady announced,
“Has there been some problems here then” one of the police officers asked?
Jack came out with all the paper work showing he was the owner of the hotel” here you go officers, here is my driving licence showing my name and there is my name on the deeds handed over from a partner of the previous owners, all above board I can assure you” Jack slurred,
The elderly couple who were checking out demanded to see the manager to Suzi the receptionist Suzi at this time was unaware that Tom had signed over the hotel to Jack and told the couple to hang on a minute and she would give him a ring,
The police officers over heard what Suzi had said,
“I thought this gentleman was the owner of the hotel” one of the officers asked? Looking at Jack,
The old couple looked at Jack, where is the young man that greeted us when we arrived saying he was the owner of the hotel then every day we see him drinking in the bar and getting rowdy and swearing at people, its disgusting to run a nice hotel like this” the old man announced,
“Oh that would be the assistant manager, he’s a bit of a lad, just showing off that’s all” Suzi exclaimed, she saw Jack wink at her,
“Yes that young
whippersnapper, I’ve given him his last warning too” Jack announced,
Jack started to cough heavily and sat on the stairs, “excuse me officers, I have a terminal disease, getting to old for this game so I am” Jack announced, the police officers passed back the deeds and documents,
There was no dates on the paperwork and the officers were not too happy with it
The name on the deeds had been crossed out and Jacks name put in, there was a counter signature from Tom on there as a witness to it,
“I think we will to keep hold of these for a while and look further into it, there is something not right here, can we have a chat with your hotel manager, what is his name by the way” the other officer asked?
“Timothy, he’s away on business at the moment” Suzi put in,
“Sir, madam do you want to make an official complaint” one of the officers asked?
Jack stood up and walked to the reception where Suzi was, “I am truly sorry for my young managers behaviour and I would like to re-reimburse you for short stay”, Jack announced,
“I have another hotel down on the coast that I can put you up in for a week free of charge” Jack added and started to cough again,
“You need to take care of yourself sir” the other officer exclaimed,
The elderly couple was happy with what Jack had to say to them, they accepted the money back but turned the other hotel down for the time being as they had other plans, Suzi sorted out their monies and they left,
The two police officers asked if they could have a look around, just procedure they said, Jack was fine with it and called Greg the maintenance guy,
The two officers went into the bar area, Jack went to the toilet and called Greg and quickly told him what had happened and Tom was now the duty manager called Timothy and some more, Greg was ok with it as Jack said he would see him right later,
Greg met the two officers and showed them around the hotel, they asked if there was a basement, Greg knew there was and remembered Tom telling everyone that this was his area that he was doing up, he took the police men down there trying not to cause suspicion, he didn’t know what to expect when he went down the stone steps, Tom had been to work down there, the top of the wells stones had been removed and the round hole was now flush with the floor and covered over with stone coloured vinyl,
Some painting had been done and there was a big wine rack against the wall with quite a few bottles in it,
They looked around, “bit smelly down here, like somethings died” one of the officers commented,
“We have a sewerage problem underground that will be fixed soon” Greg bluffed, the smell was bad he thought to himself,
The officers looked around and took photos of the area, they went back upstairs as they received a call out over the radio and had to respond, the officers left the hotel and told the receptionist that they will be back at a later stage,
Jack came out of his office, Suzi looked at him hard, and Greg was there too,
“What is going on Jack Greg asked?
“Yes please tell” Suzi put in,
Tom walked out from the back and looked at everyone, “ok I have a lot of explaining to do, I will hold a meeting later tonight when the hotel has closed ok, all will be sorted” Tom announced and went to his place.
“oh Jack could you pass a message to all guest that they will have to check out today as we have been closed down for a while, reimburse them and say the normal sorry’s and shit, to do with a faulty sewerage pipe under Neath the building, health and safety reasons, the rest of the staff take the day off, chill out in the bar, whatever, Suzi just take care of the leaving guests please” Tom announced as he went up the stairs,
“Greg went into the bar area and told the girls, Suzi called Candi and Jo the maids and Jack called James the night guard what was going on.
Suzi called all the rooms and made excuses why the hotel had to be cleared and soon the reception area was full of complaining guests,
Jack was there explaining to them the health and safety issue with the sewerage leaking pipe, Greg had let off a few stink bombs on the stairs and in reception to make it all look kosha,
Within an hour all the guests had left the hotel,
Jack called Tom, “its time son” he said and hung up.
Tom rushed around and hired a car on the web that could be picked up just round the corner, Jack was outside the hotel sitting on the steps coughing and smoking when Tom pulled up in the hire car, Tom got out, “I see thieve towed the builders can away then, very strange them just leaving the van there like that, I tried to ring them but their phones are turned off, most peculiar” Jack announced staring at Tom,
“well we all know what the Irish are like don’t we” Tom put in, “steady on there, I not too sick that I cant give you a good slap” Jack told him and coughed again, Jack put his tissue to his mouth, Tom saw the blood on the hanky, “oh Jack, how long have you known about this” Tom asked, “a while back, was given a good year to go until something went wrong, never mind, I’ve been around the block a few times and some more” Jack put in and coughed some more,
“Ok old boy in you get, let’s go to East Bourne then so you can be with your wife” Tom said quietly and they got into the car and pulled off.
It took a good two hours to get to East Bourne and drive up the cliff roads to a pub, Tom parked the car and they got out, “one for the road then” Jack announced, Tom nodded and they both went into the pub,
Tom and Jack played a game of pool and had a game of darts, they had a light meal and chatted,
“I don’t want to know about Lexi or Tommie or the builders, you are what you are Tom, the police will catch up with you son, you need a plan,
sack those fuckers who are robbing you blind, they all hate me anyway, sell up and get out before it’s too late” Jack told him and started to cough again,
Tom got some more drinks, “I have a plan and I will be dealing with them I promise you, are you sure you want to do this” Tom asked Jack,
Jack leant forward and grabbed Tom’s hand, “Tom just do this one last thing for me and be on your way” Jack said and coughed up more blood, They left the pub and walked to the cliff area “This is that place they call lovers leap” Tom announced as he read a sign that was stuck in the ground,
Tom looked about, the weather was a bit bleak and foggy, there was no one around, Jack was close to the edge of the cliff, Tom went forward and Jack gave him a dig on the jaw,
Jack smiled at Tom,
“Get them back my lad, they are taking the piss” Jack said and stepped off into the fog,
Tom nodded “Good bye old man I will” he said and walked away.
CHAPTER 8:
TOM KEEPS HIS WORD:
Tom got into the hire car and drove back to London, it was getting late, he was thinking what Jack had said to him, he missed the old man already, “oh yes Jack they will pay” he said to himself and drove on,
It took Tom nearly two hours to get back to Soho, Tina had called him a few times but Tom didn’t answer, he parked the car where he picked it up and put the keys through the letter box of the hire car office,
Tom walked to the hotel, it was raining quite hard, Tom was really wet when he got to the hotel, the front door was closed, Tom went round and made his way to the back of the hotel, he went up the fire escape and opened the fire door on the fourth floor, it was a bit dodgy and didn’t quite lock properly, it had been reported by James the night guard and Tom said he would get it sorted but Tom left it be, he got his breath back after climbing up the steps and went inside, the hallway was in darkness as he walked down it quietly, Tom took the lift to his place and went to the CCTV and watched, all his staff was in the bar / restaurant area, there was food laid out on the tables and a lot of beer bottles scattered about, they all looked like they were having a good time,
The girls were dancing around and messing around, the chef was playing darts with James and the others were playing pool, Cand
i was laid on the couch and looked asleep, “oh yes I see you lot oh yes” Tom growled!
He walked around thinking, Tom went to his balcony and made a joint and had a strong drink and thought some more,
He realised that tomorrow was the end for him, the police investigations, him being AWOL and him being linked to the lady in the library and the missing security guard, his photo that the police had, the messed up rooms, guests bodies and the two bodies in his place up here, there was a lot more running through his mind, Tom felt that his time had come to as Jack had said to him,
Tom watched the CCTV and did some thinking, his phone kept ringing, he texted back saying he was caught up and would be there in a bit, have a good evening and he was looking forward to seeing everyone and having a party as tomorrow was going to be a good one with big changes and pay raises and bonuses,
Toni replied back: hurry up sexy and sounds great”
Tom read the text and smiled,
He had Jacks mobile in his pocket and it rang, tom looked at it the number was withheld, there was a voice mail and he listened to it, it was the local police, “hello sir it’s Soho police station here we are following up some inquires on your property and your status there also we have a lead on a person we are looking for that maybe employed by you, my police officers will be coming around in the morning to question you thanks Sargent Smith” the voicemail said,
Tom stood there and drank his drink, he felt a bit sick, “game over” he said to himself and walked around his place thinking, he had another joint and another large drink,
Twisted Tom Page 16
