Family Business
Page 24
Graham held his breath, desperate for evidence that one of his burbled random Sarah facts had penetrated Jason’s hardened mind and registered a spark of recognition.
The eyes widened. The finger eased. The gun was lowered.
‘So you’re saying you were the one who got my mum pregnant, then ran off and left her and ruined her life?’
It was not the interpretation of the new information Graham was hoping for.
‘Well, not exactly. I didn’t intend to cause her trouble. I didn’t know she was pregnant. If she’d told me, I would have done the right thing but I didn’t know. It was the same with Andreas and his mother.’
He instantly regretted adding the last part.
Jason spun to face Andreas again. ‘He got your mum pregnant and left her as well?’
Andreas nodded, meekly.
‘I only meant it was the same in that I had no idea I’d fathered one child, never mind two, and that if I’d known about either of you I would have tried to be a proper father to you. I regret what happened but I can’t change the past. None of us can change the past; we can only influence the future. Please don’t do anything hasty now that you might regret later.’
Jason hung his head. He was wrestling with his thoughts. Graham had given him a dilemma. There was the faintest chink of hope for them.
‘All my life I’ve dreamed about being able to get my hands on the bastard who ruined my mother’s life,’ he reflected, sullenly. ‘She could have been dead in a ditch, as far as you were concerned, and that’s where she might have ended up if it wasn’t for Polecat. He was my real dad. We made it through despite what you did and now you expect me to give you a great big hug and call you daddy?’
He pointed the gun at Andreas again.
‘And him. You have the nerve to say he’s my brother? What have I got in common with this bloated, privileged fat fucker who’s never had to fight and graft for anything in his life? He’s not my brother. These two...’ He gestured with a flashing dart of his simmering eyes towards the two gunmen on either side of him. ‘These two are my brothers because we’ve killed for each other and we’d die for each other if we had to. They’re my family.
‘You two are nothing to me. You’re the kind of people who’ve never done anything other than look down on the likes of me for my whole life and you want me to let you go? Let you go so you can run straight to the coppers? No way. You don’t deserve to live. You deserve to die.’
With a defiant roar and in one last vain attempt to escape the seeming inevitability now closing in on them, Andreas hurled himself towards Jason but he could not close the ground between them quickly enough. A gunshot stopped his attempt and silenced his cry, the bullet striking his skull above the right eye and exiting in an explosive plume of blood as his body was propelled backwards to skid across the loose gravel before stopping close to the spot he had begun his final, useless attempt to grapple life from the teeth of death.
Graham watched the despairing move and its gruesome outcome in paralysed silence. He felt the shockwave of the impact of Andreas’s limp corpse as it rose momentarily and slumped to the ground with an empty thud. He stared, transfixed, as the first oozing trickle of dark liquid seeped from the back of his son’s skull to soak into the dirty ground.
He turned his gaze to face Jason again, unable to comprehend what his eyes had just shown him, only to see the gun now pointing at him and to feel the tear of the small pellet as it cracked into his ribcage and lodged in his spine, the force of it knocking him off his feet. He crumpled, his head rebounding as it struck the stony floor before coming to rest, leaving his unblinking eyes peering sightlessly towards the darkening skies.
From the distance, the sound of sirens penetrated the echoes of gunfire.
‘Jase, come on! Let’s go!’
The three gunmen jumped in their car and sped away.
As the spray of dust from their tyres settled in the still late summer air, it fell on the body, lying flat on the ground, of a man in his late-fifties whose thin greying hair was now flecked with dirt, his metal-rimmed glasses displaced and by his side. His chest rose slowly, fractionally, as the final laboured beats of his punctured heart pumped blood through a compact wound, disguising the point of entry with a spreading dark patch on his light shirt.
In those last, fading moments of his life he had no thoughts for those who had gone before him, their names saved from being lost in time by the diligence of his research. He had no thoughts for those yet to come or whether his name would one day be recalled and immortalised too. He had only one thought.
He thought of Janet.
Acknowledgements
It felt like a considerable personal achievement to see my first novel, Sunbeam, through to publication. The whole experience taught me a lot about myself as a writer and I learned many new skills through the stages of self-publishing, publicity and marketing.
But it was far from a lonely process and I am again hugely grateful to everyone who has helped in the production of Family Business.
Good research is always important and I received excellent guidance from Mark Lewis, Shaun Howe, Andy Summerfield and Alun Smith. Alun and the rest of the team at Meachers Global Logistics in Derby were especially invaluable. His patience in explaining how their business works allowed me to form a template for the haulage company in Family Business, though I’m certain no such shady goings-on ever happened at Meachers!
I must also give belated thanks to Helen Balfour for her advice on Sunbeam. Sorry for the oversight.
Family and friends have been exceptionally supportive throughout and I appreciate every kind and constructively critical word that has been offered. One of the real bonuses of this venture has been the opportunity to make new friends, whose input has proved so useful, but I must also offer thanks to those new friends I have not yet met.
I said before releasing Sunbeam that I would regard it a triumph if only one person I did not know read my book and enjoyed it and I have since confirmed that this is, indeed, the biggest compliment of all. To everyone who took the time to get in touch or write a review, I can only say that your efforts mean so much.
Nicky Lovick’s editing skills and Andrew Rainnie’s cover design helped see this through to the finished product. You’ve both been great to work with.
Writing a second novel has been less of a discovery but every bit as much of a joy. To everyone who has contributed to that, thank you very much for arming me with the confidence to complete this and other projects to come.
Also by Mark Eklid
Sunbeam
Published November 2019
John Baldwin has been on a downward spiral to self-destruction since the day he witnessed the murder of his best friend, Stef. It has cost him his marriage, his business and his dignity.
One year on from the day that turned his world upside down, he sees Stef again. John fears he has finally lost his mind but Stef is there to pull his friend back from the brink, not tip him over it. He offers John a fresh start; a new destiny.
John rebuilds his life. He has everything again but there is a price to pay. The killer is still on the loose and Stef wants revenge.
Reviews for Sunbeam
A plot that is so full of unexpected twists and turns that the reader is left guessing until the final page.
Derbyshire Life magazine
This was a cracking read.
Andy Angel, book blog review
Eklid tells a good tale and the smooth writing had me racing to see what was going to happen next.
Colman Keane, Reedsy Discovery review
A massive five stars from me, loved it.
Anita Waller, author
Don't worry about what genre it is, it sits across many. Just read it and enjoy.
Marilyn Pemberton, author
Sunbeam is an excellent first novel. The writing was superb; wordsmithery at its best.
Ralph Jones, author
Sunbeam had me from page one rig
ht through to the ending, which left me wondering... for days.
Moira Hodgkinson, author
More twists and turns than a Scalextric race track and couldn’t wait to get to the end to find out what happens.
Clare Naylor, Amazon review
This is not just a novel that provides a great read, but one that will make you think beyond the last page.
Tracy Holmes, Amazon review
What a fantastic book - up there as mainstream and could easily compete with Linwood Barclay and the like.
V G Wilcox, Amazon review
One of the best books I’ve read in a very long time.
Harris, Amazon review
To find out where to buy Sunbeam and for news of all of the author’s works, visit his website, markeklid.com