by Tim Heath
With the partition between the front of the car and the back still up, Brendan made a quick call to Robert Sandle, wanting to meet him at last. Robert was short with him, saying very little and telling him that he’d send him a text message straight back and he was to do as it said. Brendan hung up confused but content. Seeing Jessica like that, being reminded of all the past and all the things he’d done in the name of ‘service’ to his boss, made Brendan resent himself even more for the fake he often felt he was. He resolved to do something about it finally, to meet Robert, to work with him if it meant breaking this whole dirty business open and getting rid of Nigel once and for all.
Robert Sandle had had an uneventful morning; he had done some more research, scanning through many pages of information and not thinking he was getting anywhere before he’d gone out for a walk.
The rain that was covering most of the country had yet to work its way down to the village, and he walked in semi-clear skies though there was a breeze picking up, pushing those greying clouds on the horizon ever closer.
Robert was in long before it started raining, which it did around eleven, great torrents now pouring down every side of the house, the old roof taking a pelting and making a lot of noise in the process.
It was around then that Brendan called Robert, entirely out of the blue and very different from how Brendan had been when they had last spoken, his whole attitude seemingly changed. Robert would have to guard what he said, knowing Nigel would listen to the call later. It was when Brendan said he wanted to meet that Robert knew things had changed, and Robert cut in, knowing that too much had already been voiced but saying he would text Brendan. Robert knew that, as he had sent the text from his phone, they wouldn’t be able to see what it stated unless they read the message on either handset.
Robert hung up and quickly tapped away at the computer, trying to find somewhere they could chat that would offer the least chance of anyone listening to them.
Indeed, Robert was aware all their phones were being monitored by Nigel’s team, so it made sense for a pay phone somewhere to be used to speak to Brendan, at least initially. Robert needed to know what Brendan wanted, and if indeed he was genuine. Knowing it was unlikely that Brendan would have physically been bugged with a tracking device, all Robert needed was five minutes to talk on a payphone making sure Brendan left all mobiles and electronic gadgets at the office. The tracking used was not on every single line that existed––that would have involved a massive amount of work––but instead it was on satellites listening down for specific keywords. Therefore what Robert was looking for was a telephone booth located near to somewhere that had a lot of continuous outside noise making it impossible to listen in on the call and thereby track which line was used, so that the satellite could then record the conversation.
It only took Robert five minutes to find a suitable location, not far from the airport but with a major demolition going on as well as road repairs happening at that moment. Robert recalled how the area had been a mess the last time he’d been there and confirming that the building project still had several months to run via the company’s website, he was sure there was enough outside noise from several sources to make it a perfect spot to speak to Brendan.
Robert typed a text message to Brendan quickly, telling him where to go, when, and what to leave behind. Robert pressed send and checked his watch. It gave him four hours before he needed to call the number.
Outside the wind was picking up, trees at the far side of the next-door field swayed slowly from side to side. The old house groaned as the wind rushed through the window frames and down the two chimneys. Robert got up and went to the bathroom to freshen up a little. In the lounge, the house phone started ringing, and he strolled over to it and picked it up.
“Hello, Robert, it’s Katie Taylor.”
She’d called. A small excited buzz ran through Robert as his pulse went up a notch.
“Hello. You aren't out walking the dog then?” Robert said, an obvious joke. She laughed deliberately, but it sounded genuine as well.
“I had some time to kill and was wondering…,” she trailed off a little before continuing, “if I could come over this afternoon?”
She spoke so softly, so gently. Everything in Robert knew this was a bad idea, knew she probably did this with lots of men, but something in him didn’t want to say no.
“Come over any time now, if you can brave the weather.”
“I’ll bring a bottle, and we can have some lunch. Let me get dressed, and I’ll see you in half an hour.”
She said her goodbye and put the phone down.
22
Tommy had been ruthless in his dealing with the four members of his team when they had arrived that day. Leaving them sitting together by themselves for thirty minutes, he deliberately let them sweat a bit before going in, telling them what they would be doing and sending them on their way to the club of their choice, having given them each two options from which to choose. It had been short and sweet, and they were all going their separate ways before lunchtime, so fast that none of the other players knew of anything until after they were gone. And Tommy was to make sure that whatever their choices were, they wouldn’t be back at the club; he gave them no option to turn down a move away to another team.
It was after going through all that, having felt much better than he’d thought he was going to feel, that Tommy had taken the call from Jessica and the morning’s events retold to him. Again through tears, Tommy listening in horror, as Jessica shared the account of the morning, saying how Brendan had come to take her home and that he had sorted out the man. She hadn't yet told Tommy what she’d done to the man, though the way Tommy was feeling, all he wanted to do was to hunt the guy down and make sure he would never be able to try and do something like that to anyone again.
Jessica cut in and asked him not to get angry, to just listen, which he did. She said how she felt safe with him, how she didn’t want ever to go back to work and didn’t want to be on her own. Jessica said she wanted to move in with Tommy and asked him whether that was a problem.
Tommy was overjoyed, thinking it the best thing he’d heard since being told he was going to be a football manager and in no time he’d booked on the other line a car to pick Jessica up and bring her to his home.
Jessica seemed much better by the end of the call and even sounded happy. When Tommy put the phone down something burned within him at the thought of what might have happened, and fear rose in him, for the first time in a long time, at the thought of losing her. And yet he’d only just got her back.
It’d been quite a morning by the time it came to lunch, so Tommy decided to hand the afternoon’s training session over to his coaches and instead headed off home for some his food, to tidy things away and to wait in anticipation for the arrival of his love, his girl, his Jessica.
Robert was doing the buttons up carefully on his shirt as he realised the time, Katie lying soundly asleep on the bed, an empty bottle of Merlot sitting next to two glasses on the small table beside the bed.
Tired, Robert walked out of the room trying not to make a sound, but Katie seemed dead to the world anyway. He went downstairs quietly, and it was almost time to call Brendan.
The call got answered within a couple of rings, and Robert could hear drilling and an aircraft in the background, so much so that it was clear Brendan was shouting to make himself heard.
“So you found it then.”
“It’s a dump of a place and noisy as hell! I’m sure you have a good enough reason for all this?” Brendan didn’t allow time for an answer. “Anyway, I want to meet you, to talk further about the things you said before.”
“Why the sudden change of heart?” Robert was cautious; such a quick shift seemed almost out of character, but then there was no knowing how he would feel if he were in the same situation.
“It’s like you said, I feel a fraud.”
Robert realised he hadn’t said those actual words. Brendan continue
d. “I think you know a lot more than you are letting on about the man I work for and I want to know everything. Who are you and how do you know so much?”
“All in good time, Brendan. But I’m glad we can work together on this. I can answer all your questions and give you everything you need to bring him down.”
“You know what he is capable of then? You know the protection he has around him? How do you think you can get close to him?” Brendan seemed to be speaking in such a way as if he was asking himself the same questions, as if this was stuff he’d tried to answer before for himself. Robert decided not to bother answering them all directly, not now anyway, instead just saying, “I know more than anyone of what he is capable. The level to which he’ll go will only increase the closer we get to him.”
Brendan liked the sound of the word we but didn’t say anything. Instead, he just waited before Robert continued:
“Okay, I’m prepared to meet with you face-to-face, and we can talk some more then. I’m going to have to know that I’ve got your complete cooperation though, and that’ll be hard to show.”
“Look...”
“Don’t try and prove anything yet. I’ll be in touch when I’ve worked out where we can safely meet. In the meantime know this. Any electronic piece of communication you have has been bugged so be careful what you say as Nigel will hear it within half an hour. He’ll also probably know you’ve spoken to me now, and that’ll scare him. You’re going to have to calm him, though Nigel won’t tell you, I would imagine, that he knew you’d met me. But know this––Nigel will do and say anything to get rid of me. There is nothing that he won’t do, and he certainly isn’t the man you think he is.”
Brendan was very intrigued by all this and couldn’t begin to think how he knew so much but only knew too well himself that Nigel put on a front when in public and was someone else in private. Brendan thought about Nigel’s whole charade with making himself look an old man when they met. He was genuinely wanting answers now and would await Robert’s further contact with interest.
“I guess I’ll be hearing from you shortly then,” he shouted as yet another large aircraft came in low overhead just before landing. They said their brief goodbyes and that was that. Robert turned and only then noticed that Katie had been standing in the doorway, resting against the door frame and just smiling at him. “I wondered what was so important that you left me alone in bed? Business was it?”
Not being aware of what she had heard and not knowing if any of it had been too alarming anyway, he just nodded and left things at that, going over to her and kissing her on the cheek. She pulled away as if not satisfied.
“What, no hug, no kiss on the lips? You going cold on me now?” Robert turned to look at her and saw the serious look on her face. Oh no, he thought to himself, she really is unstable. What have I got myself into?
She opened the dressing gown she had on and let it drop to the floor.
“I know you’re married, Katie,” Robert said finally.
“And yet you still had me. Big deal.”
“Look, I have a lot on my plate at the moment. I didn’t mean this all to happen, I just thought...”
She picked up the gown in apparent anger and stormed back upstairs shouting:
“Don’t say it; I don’t need to hear it. You’re just the same as all the rest!”
The bedroom door slammed, and he could only imagine she was putting her clothes back on.
A truck pulled up outside the front door at that moment, and Robert recognised the rattling old sound of Norman’s delivery vehicle. The wind had died down, but there were plenty of broken branches on the ground as Robert opened the door and waited for Norman to walk around the truck and come over towards him. “Quite a storm,” he said. “You still got power and telephone?”
“Yes, I just made a call, so all seems in working order.”
“Half the village is out, some trees coming down bringing lines with them. A tree’s gone right through the Taylor’s house; that’s why I’m here. I’m gathering some folk to do some searching as there’s no sign of Katherine or the dog.”
Hearing what had been said and shocked at the news, Katie walked out from the house as Norman was finishing, the old man looking up and knowing then all he needed to know.
“I was walking the dog and bumped into Robert before the rain started to come down. He suggested I sheltered here.”
For most people, including Norman, that usually would have been enough to convince him, but he’d known her long enough. Quite apart from her reputation in some circles as a wandering wife, he’d seen the dog many times, and if it were indeed here, as she had said it was, it would have been running around him by now and barking. Norman left it there and turned to Katie.
“It’s good that you are both safe then. Do you want a lift back to assess the damage?”
“Yes please,” she said.
“I’ll come along as well and help you out,” Robert added calmly and they all jumped into the truck, and Norman gently rolled it down the drive, not daring to ask where the dog was, sure of what had in fact been the case anyway.
The following day life was calm again in the village, and things were returning to normal. The sky was clear and bright, the only break in the blue were the lines left behind by the odd high altitude aeroplane as it crossed the country.
Robert had awoken early with the morning light flooding through a gap in the curtain, but he had too much to do to sleep for longer anyway.
After breakfast, he’d taken the car to a nearby village that had a library, and he’d spent a couple of hours further researching things he’d started to turn up on the Wentworth’s. There was quite a lot of information but most of it he’d seen before. But what had taken his interest was a minor reference to Switzerland, the family having once taken some trip there and it was from here that his research started to get exciting as Robert found possible homes where young Austin might have been sent. That opened up a whole realm of possibilities.
Robert spent the final hour with several books and maps of Switzerland open on a desk there, and he scribbled notes down meticulously. He did not yet know what conclusions to draw, but these locations would be where he would start further research later, with the aid of the internet on his home computer. Robert thought it no coincidence though that the older brother had died in a boating accident occurring reportedly in Switzerland as well. That only confirmed that it was a good enough place to start digging deeper when Robert got home.
He picked up his notes and left the library, spotting on the noticeboard on his way out a bad picture of himself with the words wanted in big bold letters above the photo, just the reminder he needed that wherever he was, he needed to be careful. He jogged over to the car to get back as quickly as he could, dropping his things onto the passenger seat, and was off down the road in no time, driving fast but safely the twenty minutes it took to get back to the house and the relative security it offered him.
Having eaten something for his lunch, Robert was so deep into his research that when his phone rang, he didn’t register the fact at first. He reached for it in frustration and answered it. It was Nigel Gamble again. They said their strained greetings, more like gladiatorial champions eyeing up the opposition, not wanting to give anything away to the other person. Before long they were talking a little more freely.
“You know I’ve been sleeping much better since we spoke. Isn’t that funny?” Nigel said. Robert couldn’t see the humour in it. Nigel continued:
“It must be because I know you are not that close. There’s something about the unknown enemy that has a crazy way of messing with the mind.”
Robert ignored the word enemy, just acknowledging how Nigel saw him and instead focused on the first thing he’d said:
“And why do you think I am not close?”
“Because I’d know. You’d be caught by now or something worse. You can’t be in the city because you’d be practically housebound. I guess that you’re in the
same place as the Door, probably in a suburb of the city or maybe a nearby village.”
“Well, you’ll never quite know, will you.”
“Might not need to––I could after all just decide to destroy everything outside the city. If I didn’t get you, I would get the Door and that way you’d be trapped either here or better still back there.”
He was talking much more aggressively now, and Robert didn’t like it, but he put it down to empty threats designed to intimidate him. Nigel instead suddenly changed the conversation:
“Anyway, enough playing games, as if I needed to impress upon you my superior position. I’ve been thinking about you and your predicament of having always been alone, the poor orphaned boy who nobody loved.” Robert let it ride and stayed quiet.
“You know, I could change all that for you, I really could. I could give you a family, a life. You would know no difference. All I would need to know was a little information, and with some research, I’m sure I could find your parents’ killer and get rid of him. Who knows what your life would have been had they been around for you? If you were back through the Door when I did it, you would get all the memories back––you would have your parents.”
“You would love that, wouldn’t you. But this is my life, and I have no parents!”
“You talk as if things can’t ever change? I can change things. If your parents’ killer’s grandparents were no more, there would be no killer to take your parents’ lives! Think about it. You still live by the notion that your past's set in stone and yet I set the future, I can change what happens. Haven’t you learnt anything by now?”
“There’s a million things that you would change in the process. And besides, who’s to say you just wouldn’t wipe out my grandparents and have done with me?”
