She held him at arms’ length the better to examine his disguise.
‘You know, I like your hair short the way you’ve done it, luv, but I think you’ve overdone the tan a bit. You look like a bloody Indian.’
‘I’m not like this all over,’ he hastened to explain. ‘I concentrated on my face and hands. The rest of me, at least the bits I could reach, are a lot lighter in colour. In fact, you could say I’m a bit multicoloured underneath.’
‘I can’t wait. I’ve never made love to a multicoloured man before,’ she said, a glint in her eye.
A touch nervously, he said, ‘Would you like a drink or something first, Jeannie?’
‘Definitely the 'or something'’, she replied. She had a big, inviting smile on her face and startled Zachary by her frankness. Jen was so different. She always skated around the subject of sex and only ever seemed to do it out of a sense of duty, even though she clearly enjoyed it.
Knocked off balance and for something to say, he offered, ‘I don’t think we’re going to get much sleep tonight. The traffic’s very noisy and it’ll probably get worse in the morning.’
This time Jeannie actually laughed out loud. ‘You are a caution, Zak. Who said anything about sleeping? I haven’t come all this bloody way to sleep. I could have done that at home. And in case you’ve forgotten, I was very naughty earlier this evening.’
Zachary was quite dumbstruck, and when he didn’t reply, for the simple reason that he had absolutely no idea what to say, she said, ‘Just give me a minute and I’ll get myself ready.’ With that she disappeared into the bath room.
Zachary heaved a big sigh of relief. So far so good, he thought, but how on earth was he going to satisfy the demands of this incredible woman. He had no idea what was going to happen next but whatever it was he knew it would be something he had never experienced before. Would he be up to the occasion? Would Jeannie be disappointed?
As good as her word, after just a few short minutes the bath room door opened and Jeannie reappeared. Gone was the formal outer suit she had been wearing and she had loosened her hair, which now flowed over her bare shoulders. She still had on her high-heeled shoes, which seemed to make her stocking clad legs go on forever. Her stockings were held up with a tiny suspender belt and she wore the sexiest bra and knickers he had ever seen. Not saying a word, she stood there, letting him feast his eyes and senses. When she eventually walked towards him, it was like poetry in motion. His mouth was suddenly dry and he was conscious of not having breathed since she had emerged from the bathroom.
He gulped and said, ‘My god, Jeannie. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.’
She smiled, her teeth gleaming white behind her scarlet lips. ‘I should jolly well hope so, too, luv.’ She smiled wickedly at him.
‘But don’t think you can get around me that easily,’ he said, looking severe. ‘You were very naughty earlier this evening and you know what happens to naughty little girls?’
Once again he had no idea what had prompted him to say that but Jeannie giggled provocatively.
‘Oh, what the hell,’ he thought, finally giving in to the moment.
Despite Jeannie’s earlier intentions, they both eventually slept like logs and the next morning it was already light when Zachary awoke. After a night he would never forget, Jeannie had completely filled his dreams so it was appropriate that, when he awoke, her lovely face was the first thing he saw. As he looked at her young, untroubled face sleeping next to him, his thoughts turned to his other wife.
He and Jen had been married for about six years but things had not been going smoothly between them of late. The breakdown in their marriage, if that was what it was, had started innocently enough a year earlier when Jen announced that she needed someone to help her with the house. Zachary was more than willing to agree to the suggestion but was surprised when Jen selected Naomi out of a long list of applicants. He had expected Jen to choose a mature woman and definitely not someone as young and attractive as Naomi. His friends and work colleagues had teased him unmercifully for weeks when they found out.
Then, shortly after Naomi’s arrival, Jen asked him if he wouldn't mind sleeping in the spare bedroom. It would only be for a short while, she said. She’d been finding it difficult sleeping with him tossing and turning next to her. It was true, he was a restless sleeper but he'd always been that way. Naturally, the request disappointed him. He suggested they might try single beds in the same room if his moving about disturbed her but Jen insisted that would be a waste of money because the arrangement would only be temporary. But it hadn't been. A year later, he was still sleeping in the spare room. What is more, since the room change, he and Jen had rarely slept together.
He was a normal, fully functioning male, in good health and in excellent shape - leastways he had been until a few days earlier - and with the nubile and willing Naomi ever to hand, it was inevitable that he would eventually look to her for consolation; a consolation she had been more than willing to provide.
Since starting to work for the Stories, she had grown very fond of him. He imagined that, initially, she was attracted by his wealth and his importance but later, as she noticed his distress, which his wife consistently ignored even though it was inconceivable she was unaware of it, she seemed to be attracted by his vulnerability. Thrown together every Thursday evening, it was hardly surprising that they became attracted to each other. So far, Jen appeared not to have found out about his affair with Naomi, which surprised him, but she never gave the least indication that she suspected something might be going on between her au pair and her husband. Zachary often wondered if a similar blindness had occurred in earlier generations when live-in maids were the norm.
He was not proud of his illicit involvement with Naomi and when, a couple of months after Naomi’s arrival, Jen suggested that, with the children at boarding school and because she now had plenty of spare time on her hands, she would like to begin taking an interest in the business. He had readily agreed to her request, secretly hoping that her involvement might bring them back together. She even suggested he should consider extending his business empire, which was when Phil Williamson discovered Ibbottson’s, a similar Ford agency to his own but based in Carlisle. By coincidence, it was up for sale and it seemed like a heaven-sent opportunity but latterly, Zachary had been having second thoughts about it. He was even beginning to suspect he could no longer completely trust Phil as far as the take-over was concerned, which was why he had decided to go down to Carlisle to make a thorough examination of Ibbottson’s books. Unfortunately, he had never quite made it because suddenly and dramatically he had been thrust into this new dimension. Briefly, he wondered how his other self was coping with that particular business problem.
His other self might be a weak, foolish man, but he had found a wonderful woman to be his wife. As if aware of Zachary’s scrutiny, Jeannie opened her eyes and stretched luxuriantly. ‘My, you were hungry last night, weren’t you,’ she teased. ‘You were like a starving man. How are you feeling this morning?’
Zachary lifted his eyebrows suggestively and grinned at her. ‘Now you mention it, I still feel a bit peckish. I do believe I might just be ready to try another course before breakfast. What do you say?’
‘You do talk funny, Zak. Are you sure you’re all right?’ Her eyes clouded with concern.
‘I’m as right as rain, dear. You’ve just made a new man out of me, that’s all. It’s a real miracle, that’s what it is. Now, how about that extra course?’
‘You can’t possibly be hungry, not after what you had last night,’ she giggled. Then, noticing the intense look in his eyes she sighed and said, ‘Oh my gawd!, it looks like it’s back to the coal face, ain’t it?’
As Zachary put out his hand to draw Jeannie to him, the telephone rang. He hoped it would soon stop but when it didn’t, Jeannie blew him a kiss and slipped out of bed to answer the persistent ring. While Zachary lay under the covers admiring his newly acquired wife, Jeannie h
urried across to the table on which the telephone sat. Something in the way she suddenly stiffened and looked across at him brought him back to the dangerous here and now. Jeannie thanked whoever it was on the other end and slowly came back and sat down on the edge of the bed.
‘That was Annie, the night receptionist. She said someone came into the hotel shortly after I arrived last night asking questions about me.’
Zachary felt a tremor of terror slide down his spine.
Jeannie continued. ‘She was going to ring me about it last night but something came up and she forgot. Anyway, she’s just knocked off for the day and was on her way home when, just outside the hotel she saw the same bloke sitting watching her from a parked van. It gave her quite a turn, she said. And from the way she described him, I’d say it was one of them fellas what came around to see me just after you skipped it. She said there was two of them in the van and that the other cove looked even nastier. Annie pretended she’d forgotten something so she could come back to the hotel and that’s when she rang me.’
Zachary’s mouth went dry with fear and for the moment his brain refused to focus.
‘I’m sorry, luv, I think the fun’s over,’ Jeannie whispered. ‘Sinclair’s boys must have followed me here last night. And here was me thinking I’d been so bloody clever. Instead, all I’ve done is blown your cover.’ Her face crumpled and tears began to flow.
‘Are you sure it’s not the police?’ Zachary asked, instinctively knowing the police were far preferable to the alternative.
‘If it was, they’d have been in here by now,’ Jeannie sniffled. ‘No, from what Annie just said, it’s got to be Sinclair’s men.’
After being on such a high since Jeannie’s arrival, the return to earth was frighteningly hard and fast. Involuntarily, Zachary shivered. He had never met Connor or any of his men but he couldn’t help feeling very afraid.
‘Do you think there’s a back way out?’ he muttered, his brain at last beginning to get into gear.
Ten minutes later, dressed and ready, and with hearts beating noisily within their chests, Zachary and Jeannie crept out of their room. Because they had spent such a hectic night, it was already late when they woke up so, by the time they vacated their room most of the other guests had already left for the day. Spotting an open door into a room that faced onto the street in front of the hotel, Jeannie nipped in and peered cautiously out of the window. There were a number of cars and vans parked in front of the hotel but none of them seemed to be occupied. She was just about to turn away when she spotted a movement behind one of the vans. Momentarily, Leo had swayed into view.
‘That’s one of them, luv, behind that white van down there. I reckon the other one must be inside the van,’ she said, pointing the vehicle out to Zachary. ‘What do you think?’
Still unused to this new dimension, Zachary said, ‘We could brazen it out and walk passed him, I suppose? After all, it’s a public street, isn’t it? What can he do to us?’ He was unable to keep the trace of a whine from his voice. He was badly frightened.
‘Use your head, luv. Once they’ve got you inside their van they can take you anywhere they like and do whatever they want to you.’
‘What if I tell them I don’t want to go with them? They can’t just take me by force. That would be kidnapping and kidnapping is a very serious offence.’
Jeannie looked at him, incredulity written on her face. ‘You’re not serious are you? Tell me you’re just pulling my leg.’
Zachary looked embarrassed. He did not know what to say. This sort of thing would never happen where he came from but this was neither the time nor the place to go into that.
Jeannie’s eyes narrowed and hardened. ‘Gawd! You are serious ain’t you Have you gone soft in the head or something? You wouldn’t get ten yards before they frogmarched you into their van. You could yell and scream all you wanted, but that wouldn’t bother them except they’d probably give you a bloody good bash on the head to shut you up, that’s all. All we can do is get as far away from them as possible; understand?’
Suitably chastened, Zachary said, ‘If that’s what you think, then that’s fine by me. The back way out it is, then.’
He was trying to sound nonchalant but inside he was petrified. What had he done to deserve such a dreadful fright? Even meeting Jeannie could not completely compensate for all he had gone through since arriving. She does help, though, he was forced to admit.
Annie, the receptionist was quite clearly on their side and, anticipating that Jeannie might not wish to meet up with the man who was following her, she had already spoken to the day receptionist who was quite happy to let them out into the back alley. Then, not wishing to become mixed up in some nasty matrimonial dispute, she immediately closed the back door to the hotel behind them. They were now on their own and as they started out into the alley, they had to pass a couple of very large wheelie-bins. The first they knew that they were not alone was when Zachary felt someone strong grab his left arm and force it up his back. At the same time he felt a sharp knife stick into the underside of his jaw, drawing blood at it did so.
‘Right, Mr Bloody Nuisance Storie, don’t try anything unless you want me to split you from ear to ear.’
It was Bill Hancock and after an all night vigil waiting for the pair to emerge, he was feeling even meaner than usual.
Before Annie had spotted Leo and Bill sitting quietly in their car outside, Leo had already pointed her out to his mate as “the awkward bitch” he’d encountered the night before, which was why they were both staring intently at her when she looked their way. Moments later Bill became concerned when she suddenly stopped and went back into the hotel.
‘What’s the f---ing slag up to now?’ he wanted to know.
‘I dunno,’ Leo admitted.
Bill’s mind went into overdrive and he was still thinking about the possible implications of Annie’s return to the hotel when she reappeared again. Nor did he like the furtive look she cast in their direction as she passed.
‘She’s been up to something or my name ain’t Bill Hancock,’ he muttered, half to himself.
He waited until Annie disappeared from view and then he made his mind up. ‘Right, get out and keep watch here. I’ll take the van and go around the back. If that bitch has warned them we’re here, they might try to sneak out that way. If I need any help I’ll give a couple of loud blasts on the horn, OK?’
Leo didn’t like being left standing on the pavement while Bill sat in comfort in their van but he knew he was the muscle while Bill was the brains in their partnership. Grudgingly, he got out and it was shortly after Bill had driven away that Jeannie spotted him trying to look inconspicuous behind another nearby van.
Leo would have been surprised if he could have seen Bill when the latter arrived in the alley that ran between two rows of massive houses, one of which was now the Shelby Hotel. There was even a small notice on the back door of the hotel announcing it was the emergency exit from the hotel, so Bill knew exactly where he was. After parking his car nearby, he walked over to two large wheelie-bins outside the back door, each nearly as tall as he was. Standing behind them, he waited. The sun never penetrated into the alley so it was cold and the ground beneath his feet was wet and covered in litter. He realized he had claimed the short straw for himself.
A full ten minutes went by without any sign of Storie or his wife and Bill was beginning to think that perhaps they had decided to stay put in the hotel until they were sure the coast was clear, when, suddenly, he saw the back door begin to open. Making sure he was completely hidden, he listened with bated breath. It was the sound of two people whispering that finally convinced him that the people leaving by the back door, and who were anxious not to be seen or heard, must be the Stories. Sliding his hand into his pocket, he took out an evil-looking flick knife. Without a sound he released the blade and waited. As the figures of a man and a woman passed next to the bins he made his play.
With a movement he had practised many
times before, he grabbed Zachary’s left arm and with one powerful movement jerked it up behind the man’s back, almost breaking it in the process. Maintaining a firm and excruciatingly painful grip on Zak’s arm with one hand, he quickly brought his other, knife, hand around Zachary’s front and up under his chin.
‘Right, Mr Bloody Nuisance Storie, don’t try anything unless you want me to split you from ear to ear,’ his voice grated out.
Fear and pain momentarily froze Zachary in his tracks, which was precisely what Bill intended. Pain and fear were the two principle weapons he had working for him. Without pain and fear, he was just any other bloke. With them, he was invincible. Unfortunately, he failed to take Jeannie into consideration. As far as he was concerned she was just another decorative broad and it never occurred to him to regard her as any sort of threat.
Nor would she be in normal circumstances but on this occasion she acted instinctively. Her man was being attacked and without thinking she leapt to his defence. She carried a shoulder bag in which she kept a multitude of beauty and fashion items. The other Zak was always teasing her about her breaking someone’s leg with it one day and she now used it as a weapon. Swinging it around her head she let out a scream of anger and flung herself at Bill. Turning in her direction as he heard the scream, Bill took the full force of the bag in his face, which immediately broke his nose. Blood spurted out everywhere, including down Zachary’s back and, without thinking what he was doing, Bill dropped the knife and released his grip on his victim’s arm.
Finding he was free, Zachary broke loose and together, without a backwards glance, he and Jeannie ran for their lives down the alley. Holding his streaming nose with one hand Bill staggered back to his van, opened the door and gave two loud blasts on the horn. Zachary and Jeannie heard the sound behind them and, if anything, it spurred them to run even faster. Out in the street in front of the hotel, Leo heard it as well and he immediately raced to the corner in answer to the summons.
SWITCHED: The man who lost his body but kept his mind. Page 20