Twenty Years a Stranger (The Stranger Series Book 1)

by Deborah Twelves

  ‘You’re a fucking lying psycho with your stupid mind games,’ he yelled in my face.

  ‘Ha! Says you.’

  ‘Don’t think for one second I’ll let you get away with this. And for your information, this is my house and I’ll sleep here whenever I feel like it. See you soon, Grace,’ he mocked, in his Irish accent I had once found so sexy, but which now merely grated on me.

  On that note, he stormed out and slammed the door.

  I was shaking, despite my bravado and suddenly felt terrified that I had done the wrong thing in showing him my hand so openly.

  - What happened to keeping my powder dry?

  I sat down at the kitchen table and opened my laptop. There he was, Daniel 1, a little green cursor heading off down the drive in the direction of who knew where. At least I would now know whenever he was on his way back to the house and could prepare myself.

  Still furious with him and feeling braver now that I knew for sure the tracker was permanently fitted and working, I grabbed a pair of kitchen scissors and ran upstairs into his bedroom, ready to unleash my inner creative genius. Opening his wardrobe, I snatched out a plastic suit carrier containing his tux, dinner shirt and evening trousers. First I removed the trousers and laid them out on the bed, before roughly cutting a huge circle out of the crotch. Next I unpicked the buttons from the tux and the shirt, leaving them hanging on by a thread and cut through the armpit seams of the shirt. Finally, I replaced everything neatly back in the suit carrier, zipped it up and replaced it in the wardrobe. It took a mere five minutes. I was particularly proud of my skills in making it all look perfectly normal at first glance. Only when Daniel wanted to wear it to some black-tie dinner with one of his slappers would he realise the little trick I had played on him.

  I felt sure he would see the funny side of it.

  I thought to myself with disdain that Lorraine’s childish scrawling over everything in marker pen was not for me. I preferred a more grown-up, subtle approach.

  Back downstairs in the kitchen, I picked up the phone and rang my solicitor to tell her that there would be no more messing around. No more talk of settlements out of court. I was ready to throw myself at the mercy of the British judicial system, trusting that the law of the land would protect me as the innocent party in all this.

  I had to believe that justice would be done, but given that life is full of surprises, not all of them good, I suppose I really should have known better.

  PART III

  The Reckoning

  Kar·ma

  /ˈkärmə/ noun

  The definition of karma is the destiny that you earn through your actions and behaviour.[4]

  Karma is an ancient concept. The law of karma teaches us that all of our thoughts, words and actions begin a chain of cause and effect and that we will personally experience the effects of everything we cause. [5]

  The funeral

  True friends aren’t always the ones you’ve known the longest. They’re the ones who walked into your life, said, ‘I’m here for you,’ and proved it.

  Grace

  Charles’ death came as a devastating shock to us all. A bolt out of the blue that put everything else sharply into perspective. He suffered a massive stroke that cruelly snuffed out his life and in a matter of seconds, he was gone forever.

  He and Sam had recently returned from a four-month trip touring around South America and only a couple of weeks earlier I had spent the weekend with them, hearing about their adventures and talking about my still uncertain future once the divorce was finally over. Daniel was still refusing to cooperate, which came as no great surprise to anyone. He had failed to produce any of the required documents concerning his finances and was still bizarrely insisting that he did not even want a divorce. Nobody, least of all the judge, cared what he wanted and the hearing was scheduled for the following month, at the end of June. It was expected to be a two-day contested hearing, which would not be pretty (or cheap) and Daniel was apparently intending to represent himself, which promised to be entertaining.

  Charles had been on great form and I realised just how much I had missed him and Sam with all the dramas of the past few months. The three of us had put the world to rights over a few stiff gins and some very good red wine from his impressive collection in the cellar. It was almost like old times, as we reminisced about some of the fantastic holidays the four of us had enjoyed. Charles spoke a lot of sense as usual.

  ‘The thing is Grace, you have to remember that those were the good times we had, even though Daniel was part of the memories. You knew nothing of his other lives or his deceit then and I honestly believe that he lived in the moment, almost like a different person. with whoever he was with at the time. All of that stuff we did together was real and no one can take the great memories away from you. Don’t let him destroy your past and everything that was good about it and remember, if you hadn’t got together with him, we would probably never have met.’

  He paused briefly before adding, with a mischievous wink,

  ‘On the other hand, if he hadn’t been with you, I would almost certainly never have had anything to do with him as a friend.’

  I laughed, feeling suddenly more positive.

  ‘You’re right. Do you know, I hadn’t really thought of it like that. I’ve just been obsessing about the fact that my whole life has been built on a lie. I guess I need to remember that there were a hell of a lot of good times along the way.’

  ‘That’s it exactly. Cherish the good times and look forward to the future, ‘cos it’s going to be amazing. Cheers! To new beginnings!’

  He raised his glass and we all clinked in accordance.

  I could hardly believe he was gone.

  At sixty-eight, he was a good few years older than Samantha and I, but we never thought of him as any different in age to us. He was always so full of life and energy and he was most definitely not ready to leave this mortal coil. He and Sam both loved travelling and had already begun planning their next trip, a five-week 4x4 car rally round Madagascar in two years’ time. So much to look forward to. The house felt empty and hollow without him and Samantha was bereft without her soul mate. She wore his wedding ring on a chain around her neck, inscribed on the inside with the words they had said in their marriage vows: Together in love, life and beyond.

  They just hadn’t expected the ‘beyond’ part to come so soon.

  The day before the funeral, Samantha and I were alone in the kitchen.

  ‘Thanks, Grace,’ she said, flatly, ‘for being here. I don’t know how I’d have got through this last week without you.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous. You know I’ll always be here for you. But you are stronger than anyone I know. You will get through this and you will enjoy the rest of your life, just as you know Charles would have wanted you to. He lived his best life with you and he will be with us forever in our hearts.’

  We both burst into tears as the finality of it all hit us. We hugged for a long time, both alone now, but for very different reasons. We vowed to support each other and have each other’s backs, whatever life threw at us. Our bond of friendship was stronger than ever.

  ‘They’ll be bringing Charles home any time now. I wanted a bit of time with him on my own before the others all arrive this evening. I’ve told people to come any time after 6 pm,’ Samantha stated, beginning to think of the practicalities.

  ‘You take as long as you need. Don’t worry about anyone else. I’ll look after everything.’

  We had made a massive pot of Chilli to feed everyone that evening and intended to make the occasion as happy as possible. A chance for people to swap stories about a great friend, a father, a grandfather and a husband. A lot of friends were travelling from other parts of the UK or abroad to pay their final respects and every room in the house was full.

  That was the night I met Phili, a close friend of Samantha’s from childhood and my roommate for a couple of nights. We immediately got on like a house on fire and, as the evenin
g progressed and the alcohol flowed freely, I opened up to her about my own situation. To tell the truth, I actually got a bit of a kick out of seeing people’s shocked faces these days, taking every opportunity to hone my story-telling skills and entertain at Daniel’s expense. At around midnight that night, as we raised a toast to Charles before heading up to bed, I almost found myself looking around for him in the little crowd. It just somehow felt like his spirit was there with us, no longer in need of the still, lifeless body he had left behind in the coffin.

  I was tormented by an ominous feeling that Daniel would turn up at the funeral, although Sam had made it clear he was most definitely persona non grata. I had not seen him for several weeks, since the evening of the tracker being hardwired into his car, but his recent exchanges with my solicitor had been less than friendly.

  At 6.30 am, before the alarm went off, Phili suddenly sat bolt upright in bed and announced excitedly:

  ‘I know what we need to do if your vile husband dares to show his face today.’

  I groaned, still half asleep and not quite ready to cope with my bubbly new friend, who was speaking and acting like a woman possessed.

  ‘Do you know what time it is? The alarm hasn’t even gone off yet.’

  I snuggled under the duvet and yawned.

  ‘Never mind about that. Seriously, I’ve been thinking about it and I’ve come up with a great idea. Just hear me out. You’ll love it.’

  ‘Okay, go on then,’ I said, laughing at her over-zealous enthusiasm. Sleep was clearly not an option anymore and I had to concentrate as she outlined her plan, speaking rapidly.

  ‘First of all, we need to drug him. Then we kidnap him, drive his car into the woods near here, strip him naked and superglue him to the bonnet on his hands and knees with his arse in the air. We put a sign on the windscreen saying, All welcome, and we leave him there until somebody finds him. Or he dies. Either way works for me,’ she finished triumphantly, waiting for my reaction.

  She had clearly put a lot of thought into this. I laughed hysterically at the image she had conjured up, but at the same time, I found myself subconsciously wondering where I could get some superglue from. Just in case.

  ‘I have to say I like your style,’ I admitted. ‘I just think it might be a bit tricky to pull that one off today. Maybe with a bit more planning.’

  ‘Well I’m up for it whenever you want,’ she said animatedly.

  And I was pretty sure she genuinely meant it.

  Naturally, I was right about Daniel turning up, but it was not difficult to ignore him and I steadfastly avoided all eye contact with him as I stood outside the church a few hours later, surrounded by loyal friends. I tried not to make it all about me, but I couldn’t help being pleased that he was treated like a pariah and nobody wanted to be seen speaking more than a few cursory words to him. The church was packed inside and there was a further crowd of people outside, come to pay their respects to a much-loved man, who had made a huge impact on so many lives. The local Welsh male voice choir he loved to hear were singing as he was brought into church and the service was perfect, with lovingly spoken tributes from friends and family, carefully chosen words to capture the true essence of his life and character.

  Charles had wanted to be cremated and, as Phili and I arrived at the Crematorium, I noticed Daniel’s car was already parked up there. He obviously intended to stick it out to the bitter end. Glancing around furtively, I could not resist walking down the side of his car and dragging my key surreptitiously along the full length of the paintwork in an act of rebellious defiance. It was an opportunist crime and I hoped there was no hidden CCTV to incriminate me.

  Finally, it seemed even Daniel knew where he was not wanted and he had the good grace not to bother making an appearance at the wake. I stood and watched him kiss Samantha outside the Crem as she visibly recoiled, watched him offer her his sincerest condolences, get into his car and drive away. I realised with satisfaction that he had not noticed the deep scratch on the passenger side of the car. That would be a nice surprise for later.

  The wake was exactly as Charles would have wanted it, except he would, of course, have preferred to be at the party in person. People were laughing, talking about their favourite memories of him, reminiscing about scrapes they had got into together and the fun they had had over the years.

  There were people there from all walks of his life: people he had worked with, people he had grown up with, friends from the sailing scene, friends from his car rallying adventures, friends from the flying world, employees and colleagues.

  Samantha had done him proud and he would definitely have approved - I thought sadly.

  - God, I’m going to miss him.

  I fell in naturally with the sailing crowd of course and immediately started on the rum and cokes with Rob, Ben and Spike, so-called because of the marlin spike tool he carried on his harness as bowman on the boat. They had been part of Charles’ team on the Corel 45 back in the early days when we had all been on the race circuit together. Spike was a top bowman and I had learned a lot from him over the years. Naturally, they had all heard about Daniel and me and were hungry for the gossip.

  ‘I swear you lot are worse than a bunch of women,’ I teased.

  Fuelled by alcohol, I was more than happy to indulge them and spilled the beans about everything in glorious, technicolour detail. I felt a burning desire to humiliate Daniel and shatter the macho image of himself he had always been so keen to promote. Why should I protect his dignity? He hadn’t cared about mine for all those years. I had done nothing wrong in all this and I owed him no loyalty.

  I was, in fact, becoming a bit of a professional storyteller and took great delight in making them all laugh at Daniel’s expense. Rob disappeared to the bar again and Ben began talking to Will, another one of the old crew, leaving Spike and me on our own. He leaned towards me and lowered his voice.

  ‘You know we’re all on your side, right? He really is the scum of the earth and I don’t know anyone decent who’ll sail with him after this. I know you’re making light of it all now, but a betrayal on that scale must have just about killed you.’

  I smiled ruefully before answering.

  ‘You’re right, it did, but I can’t allow myself to give in to it, otherwise he will have won.’

  ‘Have you ever thought about really getting even and making him pay for what he’s done to you?’

  ‘All the time!’ I laughed. ‘Our divorce hearing is coming up soon and my solicitor seems pretty optimistic, so I guess he’ll get what’s coming to him and be made to pay then.’

  ‘Maybe, but that’s only money. That’s not really what I meant.’

  I looked at him quizzically, wondering what he was talking about and why the hell he was being so cryptic after a few drinks. Spike worked in finance in the city but was ex-Navy and a tough cookie underneath.

  ‘I’m just saying that, if you ever wanted him to be taught a serious lesson, I could put you in touch with people who would be happy to help you.’

  ‘What do you mean? Order a hit on him? Oh come on, do hitmen really exist outside of James Bond movies?’ I laughed again.

  ‘You’d be surprised. A couple of my old Navy mates do just that for a side-line these days. A bit of a kicking, a roughing up…or worse, depending on how strong your stomach is and how far you’re prepared to go.’

  ‘You’re actually serious, aren’t you?’ I said, instinctively lowering my voice.

  ‘Deadly. I know if I were in your shoes, I’d want him punishing the good old-fashioned way. I certainly wouldn’t be leaving it to the whim of the Courts.’

  ‘Bloody hell Spike, I wouldn’t dare do anything like that. What if they got caught? It’d all come back on me and I’d be the one that’d end up in prison, I bet.’

  ‘It doesn’t work like that. They’re professionals. They don’t get caught and, even if they did, they have a code of conduct. They’d never name you. Absolutely no chance.’

  This w
as not a conversation I had ever anticipated having, but I could not help feeling intrigued about the dark underworld that apparently existed behind the comforting scenes of everyday respectable life. God, I was naïve. No wonder Daniel had played me for a fool all these years. I needed to wise up. Spike continued.

  ‘The guys I’m talking about…they are pretty choosy about the jobs they take on. They like to think of themselves as ‘avengers’ if you like. It’s not all about the money. They only go after people who have done stuff to hurt others and got away with it. Their ethos is to put things straight by righting wrongs and restoring the correct order in the world if you see what I mean.’

  ‘That all sounds very admirable, but I’d still be nervous about involving anybody else like that. I’ve developed a fair few trust issues, to be honest, and, if I was going to do anything to Daniel, I’d probably feel I had to do it myself.’

  ‘You say that, but could you really do it yourself? Like I said before, these guys are professionals,’ he added, holding my gaze.

  I suddenly burst out laughing and shook my head.

  ‘God, I can’t believe we’re having this conversation. How much have we had to drink again?’

  ‘Not nearly enough. Here, take this.’ He pressed a black and gold business card into my hand.

  ‘You may feel differently after the court case, especially if things don’t go your way. If you do decide to call, make sure you mention my name.’

  I stuffed the card hastily into my purse as Rob returned from the bar with our drinks.

  Never say never, I told myself, deciding that it would be prudent to keep an open mind.

  The time capsule

  The truth has the power to set you free, but the little white lies will make sure you kick ass along the way.