by SD Saunders
Melody had entered the solicitor’s firm that particular morning months ago, feeling lost and nervous for an appointment to deal with her grandmother’s will. Lindsey had seemed to read her well and had put her at ease, lighting the mood with her quick wit and sense of humour and they had soon become fast friends.
Charlotte had been friends with Melody for years, catching up every time she visited her grandmother. Her short blonde hair worn in spikes, the ends were coloured pink today, her mischievous grey eyes never missing a thing.
“Well”, they said in unison, pulling Melody back to reality.
“We have”, Melody grinned as her two friends whooped and punched the air. Filling them in on the details, Melody felt again how lucky she was to have them in her life.
“On a different note, we have a new receptionist at the vets’, Karl”, Charlotte whispered dramatically, “and he’s dreamy”.
“He better watch out”, Lindsey laughed, rolling her eyes. “Didn’t you have a thing for the locum vet last month”, she gulped out between laughter.
“Oh yes, but he’s moved on now and this one’s much nicer”, she laughed back. Working at the vets’ as a veterinary nurse for the past year, Charlotte was always on the lookout for any single men that graced their door. Her motto was, if they had a pet, they surely had to be stable.
“God help us”, Lindsey laughed, winking at Melody, as they all fell into fits of giggles.
A discreet cough had them all glancing up at the waiter hovering by them. “Your table is ready, ladies”. Gesturing towards the dining area, the waiter led them across and after seating them, handed out the menus. “I’m Guy, your waiter for this evening. Can I get you more drinks”, he offered, standing with his pen poised to take their order.
“Oh yes, three white wines, please”, Melody asked, smiling up at him.
“And I’ll have the chicken salad”, Lindsey chimed in.
“Dieting again”, Charlotte teased, licking her lips and adding, “I’ll have the fish and chips”.
“Make that two fish and chips”, Melody spoke, throwing a guilty look at Lindsey as the waiter nodded and headed off to get their order.
As he made his way over to the ladies table carrying the tray of wine, Guy noticed in the far corner, a man sitting staring at the ladies, his limp hair and sallow cheeks giving him an uncared-for look, a sneer on his face. If there was going to be trouble tonight, Guy was sure this man was it. Placing the wine on the table and catching an appreciative stare from the one they called Charlotte, he smiled. She was pretty, her pink dipped spikes and mischievous eyes holding him captive. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he turned to leave, deciding it would be best to go and see if he could take the creepy man’s order and check the situation out. He didn’t want any trouble here tonight; looking again towards the corner where the man was sitting, he saw that the table was now empty, he had gone. “Well that sorts that”, he mumbled in relief, heading over to collect the menus to take to the next table of waiting guests.
“You’re incorrigible”, Lindsey admonished Charlotte, wiggling her finger at her flirtatious friend.
“Oh Lind’s, it’s only a bit of fun”, she grinned back. “We can’t all be serious like you, have you even made a move on Andy”? Blushing, Lindsey thought of Andy, a junior solicitor at her firm; she had had a crush on him since she had started there and had confided this to her two friends. He didn’t even seem to see her as a woman, always brisk and work orientated whenever she was around.
“Don’t start that again”, she warned, frowning at Charlotte.
Sensing the hurt in her friend’s voice, Melody quickly changed the subject. “I forgot to mention something girls”. Taking a furtive look around and lowering her voice, she continued. “I was burgled the other day”. They turned towards her, both shocked by her announcement.
“You what”! Lindsey gasped while Charlotte sat open mouthed.
“Well, I didn’t really have anything stolen, just a couple of journals”, she shrugged, “guess it could have been worse”. Filling them in on the events, stopping every now and then to double check that no-one was listening, she explained how she had discovered the necklace, and whom she thought it belonged to, the fact that Alex had now got the necklace safely tucked away, she sat back and took a large sip of her wine.
“Trafford’s”, Lindsey whispered frowning, “I’m sure our firm has a file on them, quite a well to do family, we handled their estate sale”.
Melody leaned forward eagerly. “Could you look to see if there is an address on the file, Lind’s? I’ve been thinking about trying to meet Christina, if she’s still alive”.
Looking into Melody’s worried eyes, Lindsey felt herself bristle. “I’ll try Mel, but if I do, you can’t let on it was me who provided the address, it’s probably breaking all the rules”.
“I promise, Lind’s”, Melody’s sincere face alleviating some of the worry.
Promising to call Melody the next day and saying their goodbyes, Lindsey headed to her car, noticing the man behind the wheel of the white van parked next to her. She shivered, his eyes seeming to follow her every move. “Pull yourself together, Lind’s”, she muttered, all this talk of break-ins and accessing confidential files really had gotten to her. If she wasn’t careful, she would start seeing monsters lurking in the shadows.
Driving home that evening, Melody could not wait to see Alex and fill him in on her news. It was a stroke of luck that Lindsey was willing to look at the file and maybe provide them with an address. If Christina was still alive, she would arrange to visit her first and get a feel of the situation before reuniting the necklace and journal with their rightful owner. Glancing in her rear-view mirror, Melody frowned. The same white van was still behind her; she had noticed it when pulling out of the restaurant car park. Shrugging off her suspicions, she sighed. She was letting the break-in get to her again and decided she was just reacting to having talked about it to her friends this evening. Turning into her cul-de-sac, she took a furtive glance once again into her mirror. The van had slowed but wasn’t indicating to follow her turn. Parking her car, she was relieved to see the cottage’s lights burning brightly; Alex was inside. Opening her front door, she threw a last glance over her shoulder; the van was stationary, parked just outside her turning, its lights off. A prickle of fear gripped her. “Alex”, she yelled in fear, turning back to the door. Toby and Alex appeared in lightning speed.
“Melody, is everything okay”? He asked, concern etched on his face.
“I think I was followed”, she gulped, pointing towards the road as Alex rushed past her looking at the road, his hands fisted at his sides. Following him, Melody frowned. “It’s gone, the van, it’s gone”, her voice barely a whisper.
Taking Melody into the house and sitting her at the kitchen table, he squatted down in front of her. “You’re as white as a sheet”. He took her hands in his; they were as cold as ice, her eyes wide with fright. “When did you think you were being followed”?
“I noticed the van when I pulled out of the r-restaurant”, she stuttered “I just got spooked, I think. I’m just over-reacting”, she muttered, her smile wavering and tears filling her eyes.
“No Mel, you were right to be suspicious; it’s better to be cautious. We still don’t know who we are dealing with”. Standing, he headed to the kitchen cupboard, returning with a tumbler of brandy. “Here, drink this”, his voice gruff, as he handed her the drink. The brandy burned as it went down her throat making Melody blink rapidly as her tears threatened to spill down her face. Plucking the glass from her fingers and placing it on the table, Alex pulled her to her feet and into his arms. Stroking her head, he gently soothed her. “You’re safe, Mel. It’s okay, I’ve got you baby”. Resting her head against his chest, she felt the tension ease as the brandy warmed her insides and leaning in closer to Alex, the heat of his body warming her cold shaking body.
Feeling Toby’s cold wet nose pressing against her calf, she
glanced down. “I’m okay, boy”, she sniffed, reaching down to ruffle his head.
“I’ll run you a bath, a long soak will warm you up, and then we’ll talk”. Alex spoke quietly, releasing her from his arms and heading to the stairs. “Finish that”, he indicated towards the brandy. “It will help”, his lopsided grin warmed Melody’s heart.
Pulling the towelling robe snugly around her body, Melody headed to her bedroom. The bath, with its generous amount of lavender bubble bath Alex had run for her, had helped warm and relax her. After slipping into her silk pyjamas, she unpinned her hair, letting it cascade down her back. Alex had said they would talk after and as she worried her bottom lip, she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her face flushed from the heat of the bath, a few tendrils of damp hair curling at her temples, wide eyes staring back at her with fear etched in them. Slipping her feet into her fluffy penguin slippers, she headed out of her room and down the stairs.
Alex looked up as Melody padded into the front room, his smile lighting his eyes. “Feeling better”, he asked looking at her silk clad body, her face makeup free and flushed from the bath making her look younger and fragile, her hair falling around her shoulders in sweet curls. He resisted the urge to pull her into his arms.
Nodding, she sank into the arm chair opposite him. “I met with the local newspaper reporter Joe today, to discuss running a story on the charity gala. Remember I mentioned it to you the other day”? He paused leaning forward. “Joel and I have a plan, to flush out the thief, but it would mean involving you, would you be okay with that”?
“Yes, w-what would I have to do”? Melody stuttered, shifting uneasily in her seat.
“Well for a start, I was already intending to ask you to be my plus-one at the charity gala, and we thought you could wear the emerald necklace. Joe was going to run the story next week, but I just got off the phone with him and we’ve decided to run the story in a couple of days; should buy us some time. The article will describe its mysterious re-surfacing and that it is secured until then, and will be worn for all to see by you at the gala”.
Melody sat motionless. “Buy us some time”? She queried looking up at Alex.
“Well, if that was the thief following you tonight, he might back off knowing what he is after is locked up elsewhere until the gala”.
“And I’ll be wearing it”, Melody gasped, her eyes widening in fright.
“And I’ll be right by your side, with all the security men keeping watch”, he reassured her. Walking over to her, he squatted down in front of her. “If you don’t want to do this, we will think of something else”, his voice reassuring, as he reached out to hold her hands.
“No, I think we should do this”, Melody stated, raising her chin in defiance. “I won’t let him make me live in fear. It’s a great plan, although I think we should try and meet Christina as soon as possible, let her know about it all, if she is still alive”.
Alex pulled her into his arms. “I have someone working on that”, he muttered.
“Me too”, she smiled, as Alex raised his eyebrow in question. “I can’t say how, but if I get the address tomorrow, maybe we could visit her together”.
“Okay, but from now on, we don’t take any chances. I’m assigning you a bodyguard from tomorrow, just till the paper runs the story”.
Looking into Alex’s worried eyes, Melody’s refusal died on her lips; a muttered, “okay” was all she could manage. She could not fault Alex’s reaction; wasn’t she just as worried and knowing someone was out there, willing to break-in and now possibly follow her and maybe worse, she shuddered, a bodyguard was the lesser of two evils.
Chapter 6
Melody sat at her shop counter, absentmindedly chewing the end of her pen, watching her newly appointed bodyguard Rick, as he prowled around the shop. He had appeared that morning at the cottage to accompany her to work; her half-hearted attempt to refuse had met with Alex’s firm but insistent confirmation that it was necessary for now. The moment Susie had seen him, she was all but fussing and clucking around Melody like a mother hen. The morning had flown by with Melody barely getting any work done, every time the bell above the door tinkled, she jumped like a nervous cat. Even Toby seemed to be keeping an eye on her, jumping up to follow her if she moved too far from the counter.
“It’s great to have a bit of muscle around”, Susie’s cheerful voice pulled Melody from her thoughts. “We got those boxes up on the high shelves down”, she grinned waving at Rick, as he placed one beside the counter. Opening it up, she pulled out the decorative hole punches and blank cards. “These seem to be selling well, I’ve had a rush on the butterfly hole punches lately”, she confirmed, gesturing to the quickly forming pile, as she added another.
Picking up the pricing gun, Melody started attacking the growing pile. “I guess it’s a growing trend, Suze. Everyone wants to make their own cards”. The bell above the door tinkled again and Melody almost dropped the gun.
“Oh hun, you’re so jumpy”, Susie tutted, reaching out her hand for the pricing gun. “I’ll take that. Why don’t you get some fresh air”? Glancing up from the hole punches, Melody started to refuse.
“Hi Mel”, Lindsey greeted from the doorway as she headed in. “Fancy a coffee”?
“She does”, Susie confirmed, nodding enthusiastically at her, “she needs to get out of here for a while. Go on Mel, I’ll take care of the shop”.
Walking across the road to the coffee house, she caught Lindsey’s questioning arched eyebrow at Rick as he followed. “Later”, she groaned, trying to impart some sense of normality into the situation. Settling down at a far booth, they ordered their coffee.
“So what gives”, Lindsey whispered, flicking a glance at Rick, who had positioned himself at a table in the front of the shop.
“It’s okay, Lind’s, just a precaution. Alex’s appointed me a bodyguard. He thinks I need to be extra careful since the break-in, and I think I was followed home last night”.
“No way, did you see who”? Lindsey murmured shaking her head.
“No, just a white van; he followed me from the restaurant. When I turned into my cul-de-sac, he parked outside the turning and doused his lights. I’m probably just over-reacting”, shrugging, Melody took a sip of her coffee.
“There was a white van parked next to me at the restaurant last night, Mel. The guy in it gave me the creeps; I felt like he was watching me. I thought I was being paranoid but what if..”.
Melody leaned forward urgently. “Could you describe him, Lind’s? Age, hair-colour, anything”? Her eyes pleading, sitting back.
Lindsey closed her eyes frowning, “Well, he looked to be in his late forties, early fifties. He had lank brown, jaw length hair, sallow skin, oh and his eyes”, she shivered, “they were deep green, mean looking eyes. I couldn’t tell his height as he was sitting in the van but he seemed slim built”. Sighing and opening her eyes, Lindsey took Melody’s hand. “That’s all I can remember, sorry. I’m glad you have Rick”, she glanced nervously at the bodyguard.
“Oh, that’s great, Lind’s. It will give us something to go on”, Melody smiled encouragingly, biting down her nerves as her mind worked overtime on this new piece of information. “So how did it go at work”, she whispered, watching as Lindsey drank her coffee.
Leaning in closer, Lindsey lowered her voice. “I got Christina Trafford’s address that you wanted”. Reaching into her bag, she retrieved a piece of paper and slipped it across the table to Melody. “But remember, you never got it from me”. Glancing at her watch, Lindsey started to rise. “I have to get back to work, they’ll be wondering where I’ve got to. Be safe, Mel”. Leaning in, she kissed her cheek. “Oh and don’t tell Charlotte about your new bodyguard”, she laughed, winking in conspiracy.
Melody sat in a daze; unfolding the piece of paper that Lindsey had given her, she looked at the address. So Christina is alive and she wasn’t too far away, maybe a ten-minute drive. With excitement bubbling inside, she pulled her bag towar
ds herself. Grabbing her phone out, she scrolled through her contacts. “Alex”, she sighed, as she found his number. Sliding further into the corner of the booth, she hit the call button.
Ordering another coffee, Melody pulled out the journal from her bag. Removing the letters from the cover, she opened the envelope. Spreading the letter, she looked at the writing penned across the page, its small cursive style handwriting in short sentences, so different from the swirling script of the journal’s entries and the other letter.
June 7th 1953
Dear Christina,
Happy birthday, my sweetheart. I have missed you so much. I am finally able to write to let you know my circumstances have changed. For the past few months, I have gained employment at my uncle’s business at the docks. He is pleased with my work saying often I have a flair for business and now is talking of making me his business partner. It is a modest business, and I can offer you a good life now. I await your response, my love.
Jack
Melody replaced the letter into the envelope. Turning the pages of the journal, she skimmed her eyes over the entries, not sure what she was looking for, a tear-stained page catching her eye, she stopped. Running her finger over the ink smudges, the words still legible, she began to read.
August 12th 1952
“My heart is broken, for today I discovered Jack’s true reason for disappearing. I shall try to write what happened today, although difficult, with my tears blurring my vision. I had been out in the garden enjoying a walk in the sunshine when I heard raised voices from within the library. I crept closer to the open French doors where I heard Uncle James and father arguing over some heirloom that has gone missing. Uncle James was insisting father involve the police, saying it was his birth right too and as such, he should have some say in the matter, that the stable boy should be hunted down and brought to justice for the theft!