His last relationship had been with Nicola Knight, and he hadn’t seen anybody seriously since her. Duncan had no interest in relationships as he threw himself into work. He knew with what he had done to her, that he wasn’t ready for a relationship. It seemed he had taken over Rubin’s role somewhat there. Only now he understood why Rubin had his ‘commitment issues’. Rubin had often spoken during a drunken rant or two, of his regret of “letting Jessica marry that prick” as he called him. But Rubin would back it up quickly, with a drunken slur of “You put a gun to my head,” and he would place his fingers to his head, two fingers as the barrel, pointed at his temple. He would pull his trigger finger, as he said,” And I will pull the fucking trigger.”
Duncan just now, only busied himself with the kinkster’s parties he attended once or maybe twice a month depending on his schedule. Work was keeping him very busy, which was a great distraction for the likes of a mind like Duncan. Now he didn’t need to work at all, with the money he made from the sale. However, Duncan wasn’t a man to sit there and just do nothing. He knew that the merger meant that this company, their company had the potential to be the number one Blue Chip Company in the world.
It was funny, as only after a few months, he and Mr. Nichols had become friends, to the point where they would end up in either ones office for a night cap discussing cases or clients and so on. It had become a routine for them now their evening drinks. During this, he found, he and Mr. Nichols had quite a few things in common, especially their warped sense of humour. He was even brave enough to ask Duncan how he got his nickname, that he had heard not only on that wonderful night he was saved, but also, with a few of the military staff they had based at the office from Duncan’s company. He must have felt ridiculous, when he found out Duncan’s name was owed to the fact he flew helicopters in the RAF, he should have known it was because of some stupid military reference and military humour the way it was.
In spring of 2011, Mr. Nichols had asked him to profile a young lady called Rebecca Keane. She had caught Mr. Nichol’s attention for quite some time now, and with Duncan’s skills he wanted a full background check done on her. By the summer of that year, she was working for ‘Blackcard’. Duncan had set up her move, including her notice period with her bosses, which he handled himself. Duncan liked her; she was a very pleasant young lady indeed, rather charming, with bags of personality. She was well liked by colleagues and clients alike, and so it seemed by Mr. Nichols. She had been recruited, with a view to becoming a partner within four years. Something he wasn’t happy with at first, however having worked with her, he could understand why Mr. Nichols was so keen on employing her and her exceptional skill set which seemed to hold no bounds. She was a fast learner with everything she accomplished. And she was going to be the future of the company.
He wasn’t attracted to her at all even though she was a gorgeous looking girl. At the age of forty-seven, she was far too young for him or his tastes, but she did have ‘Je ne sais quoi’ about her that was for sure. Once he had done her full security check, he found they had quite a number of things in common. She had also been abandoned by her worthless excuse of a mother. He liked the phrase she used by calling her a ‘birthing unit’. He thought it was a terribly apt name for women who did that, having suffered this himself with his own mother.
It was only when they went to America for the three week assignment, that he really got to know the real her. He knew she had fight, and was pleasantly surprised at how she fought back, and with great zeal. He had put her through the mill; as he would have any military cadet presented to him, except she was no military recruit. He pushed her until he knew she could give no more. But still she gave, and more importantly, she never gave up. She had real stamina, and she was a bright young spark. She had earned his respect ten times over by the end of the course, especially when she had knocked at his door and bawled him out for his treatment of her in his role of ‘Sergeant major Arsehole,’ a role he thoroughly relished playing again. ‘Kill or be killed was his motto for situations like this.
By the time the two of them had returned to London, they had become firm friends. He had even offered to help her clear her fiancé’s name. She had met a nice chap in the shape of Jackson Harvey. He of course was fully security checked by Duncan and his team. Well, he had to be considering the nature of ‘Blackcard’s business and for the protection of their company and their interest in Rebecca. As soon as he became a regular feature in Rebecca’s life, he had to be checked out. It was the same for any of their staff members, all family and friends had to be vetted too. It was part of the package of working at ‘Blackcard’. It had been a good job too, as Jackson’s Company it seemed, was involved in some sort of money laundering scheme. Duncan of course had no problems in ascertaining who the real culprit was. He had gained access to Jacksons Company and had simply done his covert thing. Rizzo picked up on the rest of the trail with the Intel he provided, producing a lovely thick dossier on his partners shady trading; after all, it was their specialty.
One of the highlights of 2012 for Duncan, apart from another one of Alfie’s birthdays, was Rebecca’s wedding. Normally, he didn’t ‘do’ weddings, or anything that involved him in being over familiar with staff, with the exception of Rizzo, Beth and Mr. Nichols and now Rebecca. Why would he, seeing as he had two failed marriages of his own behind him. He didn’t see the point in going and putting on a show. He just simply said “NO”; however, he liked Rebecca, so he made an exception. Plus having done the background check personally, he knew Rebecca’s mother would come out of the woodwork, like woodlice do on rotten wood, once she had a sniff of the money her daughter was marrying into, never mind the money, Rebecca herself earned.
He was glad he did attend the engagement for many reasons, not only to intervene when the ‘birthing unit’ would inevitably turn up and cause some sort of scene or disturbance. Her kind always did. That night he also met a wonderful woman by the name of Kia Darcy. She had walked past him at Rebecca’s engagement party, and had shown her interest in him as she gave him her best ‘come to bed eye’s’. Unfortunately he hadn’t been able to take her up on her offer due to George De Vere and his antic’s. Thankfully he had the opportunity again, as she was a guest at Rebecca’s and Jacksons wedding itself.
When he walked in, he spied her straight away, in an amazing black evening gown. She had spotted him immediately with her amazing, and alluring, almond shaped hazel eyes, which just screamed ‘take me to bed’. She was a beautiful, exotic looking woman, her curves in all the right places, which she dressed to accentuate. She had unashamedly strutted up to him as she purred to him, curious as to where he had disappeared that night a month earlier. He thought back to that night and everything came flooding back, it was still so fresh in his memory. How infuriated he had been with George for spiking Lucy’s drink. It completely enraged him. Now it was a disgusting thing to do regardless, however, George wasn’t to know that Lucy had been pregnant at the time. He knew he had lost his temper the moment he had picked the guy up and had held him by his throat. It didn’t take too much roughing up to find out what he had spiked her drink with. However, I needn’t say, that him spilling his guts and telling him everything, wasn’t enough to stop Duncan.
Every blow that made contact with George’s body, the image of Isabella, and Simone flooded his mind. What he would have done if it had been Simone lying there when he had kicked the door down and he took retribution as though it was. Duncan knew how to strike without leaving a mark. It was just one of the many tricks he had learned during his time with the forces.
He knew, undeniably, both Christopher Harper, Lucy’s partner and father of the baby, and Jackson, would turn up at Georges place for retribution. The two men were surprised to find Duncan that evening hiding amongst the shadows, and were equally astounded by the circumstances of poor George’s death through an accidental overdose of a brown, powdery. ‘Class A’ controlled substance – a substance, it had turned out, that Geo
rge was very partial to. Duncan knew, with them turning up at George’s, and under the circumstances. It would have just been far too much, of messy a situation, and too many questions would be asked and would have to be answered.
Duncan appreciated Kia’s curves that night, and for quite a few weeks after that, until he was called away on yet another assignment. Assignments came thick and fast after that, and he found himself being unable to even arrange a soirée with the lovely Kia. And before long, Kia found herself in a long term relationship with some art gallery owner. Duncan was happy for her as they met one last time in one of the suites at the Ritz hotel, in Piccadilly, which was a huge favourite of hers.
2013 sailed by and merging into what seemed like one long one for him, and it was soon 2014 and summer approached in a flash. Duncan was going to be 50 this year, and he didn’t look it one single bit. He was still as fit as he was, when he and Rubin had left the army. “Just a little older and wiser” he would say. He would have described himself as a fine bottle of wine, a good full bodied red, which only got better with age. He still looked like a man in his early forties.
Rebecca had only one year to go now, before she was to be made a partner. And it was well deserved as well; she had been one of the best recruits he had trained over the years. It was during 2013, that Rebecca also fell pregnant, much to everyone’s delight. Duncan couldn’t help himself but look after her. Jackson, her husband called him, ‘Her office husband’, much to Jackson’s own personal amusement. Their baby was born the very night Rebecca had left the office for her maternity leave. It was Duncan’s fiftieth birthday and he had treated himself to an upgrade from his beloved, ice blue TVR Sagaris, to another new Sliver Cerbera straight hot off the showroom floor. He had offered her a lift home, as he didn’t like the idea of her taking a train, as she normally did, and with being so heavily pregnant. Her ankles looked a little swollen today, and she had looked somewhat tired, after a series of ‘never ending meetings’ they had attended that day. Plus he wanted to give the engine a good run in, and driving her home, to her and Jackson’s lovely farmhouse in the Surrey picturesque countryside was the perfect excuse he needed. Her waters broke on the commute as he drove her home much to their surprise.
He was more than shocked, and the first thing he had thought of was his Italian leather, hand upholstered, heated seats. That was, until Rebecca let out an unmerciful howl, as the onslaught of a contraction ripped through her. He called Jackson immediately leaving him a message, informing him to get his arse over to the maternity hospital once his plane had landed. He made another call to the hospital, to inform them of her imminent arrival as he weaved through the traffic.
Jackson was on his way home from a business trip, having been stuck with jumping flights with delays occurring due to air traffic controllers grounding flights due to smog conditions in China. He hadn’t wanted to go, and so far away. It wasn’t like he was going to Europe, where he would be home in a matter of hours if needed. And with the baby due so soon, he thought it too risky. But Rebecca, being Rebecca, had forced him to go. She had scolded him with her raging hormones, telling him, “She wasn’t the first woman to have a baby.” He listened intently, until it was his turn to reply “Of course she wasn’t, however, she was having his baby, and it was a first for him”. They had argued their points, until Rebecca had pointed out that he would be home in time when she finished up at work and she would need him then. Of course Jackson’s flight had been delayed, which of course was Murphy’s Law, ‘If anything can go wrong, it will’.
Duncan was with Rebecca when she gave birth to ‘Leopold Robert Harvey ‘III’, after Jackson’s and her fathers. He had no choice in the matter as Rebecca wouldn’t let go of his hand as she dug her nails in, much to his protests of “It being, a very private moment.” However Rebecca was having none of that, and didn’t want to be left alone, plus she had turned into the devil incarnate. She pleaded with him not to leave her, and he couldn’t. It was an overwhelming moment as Leopold was delivered. With seconds to go, he had been relieved to hear Jackson’s running footsteps pounding down the corridor and the door burst open just before baby Leo made his grand appearance after six hours of labour.
Duncan stepped out of the way, although Rebecca still had an almighty hold of his hand, to witness the joy in the room. For him it was bittersweet, as he remembered Simone and himself, the day Isabella was born. The feelings were overwhelming as they flooded through him; his chest ached and felt tight at the same time with emotion. Emotions that he didn’t want to have, but here it was, facing him head on, without any mercy.
Was the universe telling him something?
Normally he would suppress the feelings and emotions he had when he thought of them, them and Rubin. He had lost so much, and now he had to face the truth. He was empty. He had been since she had left him; something he couldn’t blame her for doing. It was all his own doing, there was no one else to blame but himself. He had been a total mess after losing Isabella; he hadn’t been there when she had needed him the most. It was also her hour of need, and he had been too blind to see it until it was too late. Maybe that was why he had let her go? He had let her down, so badly, he was ashamed. He had truly loved her, he had never stopped. He thought that she needed better than him, that she deserved better than him. He had let her slip through his fingers. And this was his punishment. Maybe he was unlovable? Damaged goods, beyond repair? After all, not even his own mother had loved him enough to have stayed or to even have bothered with him.
He watched the new family. They were proud, new parents, of a healthy, bouncing baby boy. He remembered back to when he too felt as happy as they looked. He looked at Jackson, who was shaking hands excitedly with the doctor and any of the nursing staff that came near him, thanking them. A huge grin etched onto his face, hell even his eyes were beaming. He remembered feeling like that. When Jackson looked at Rebecca, the love he had for her in his eyes as he tenderly held their son in his arms. He was caught, trance like, as he watched momentarily. And with that, he sneaked, quietly out of the labour room unnoticed, leaving the new family alone to coo over their bundle of joy. He reached into his pocket for his car keys and headed to the car.
He had something he needed to do, something he should have done years ago; he was going back to the office to put the wheels in motion before it was too late….
*****
Duncan walked through the office with purpose, as he headed to Rizzo’s lab. He got the shock of his life as he walked in finding Rizzo, in flagrante with one of her work colleagues, he on his knees, head buried deep in-between her thighs, as she sat perched on her work bench. She was smiling until she turned her head and looked at Duncan with a look of utter shock, as she tapped the kneeling man’s head to alert him to stop. She jumped up and pulled her pencil skirt down, which had worked its way up to her buttocks exposing a retro styled garter belt and silk stockings.
Rizzo had gone from being a funky urban metro looking, to a ‘Dita Von Tease’ ish stunner look, which suited her beautifully, and she worked it to her full potential, still with her streak of a funky red which was very much part of Rizzo now and very much expected.
Duncan laughed to himself, trying to keep a serious face. So much for the urban kid he and Rubin had met years ago. Now she was a thirty-four year old woman to be reckoned with. The money he had given her for her loyalty, and services to their company had paid off. Rizzo had completely turned her life around, although, she still gave Mr. Nichols her rebellious nature that only he seemed to bring out in her now, and anyone that had pissed her off. She dismissed the man, who Duncan discovered was a chap from their tech team. The chap ran out of the room doing up his zipper as he rushed past Duncan looking rather sheepish. Duncan stood there, and took a deep breath, as Rizzo straightened herself out and tried to act nonchalant.
“Rizzo” he cleared his throat, noticing her face starting to flush a slight shade of crimson.
“Don’t Dunc, don’t start,” she
couldn’t even look him in the eye. “I have needs too you know,” she looked down at the floor, at her patent plat formed officey sling-back court shoes. “I’m always working, what do you fucking expect?”
“Rizzo,” he looked at her, “Rizzo,” he said again as she looked at him, he having changed the tone of his voice to a softer one. “I need a big favour, I need your help,” she looked at him and smiled. He took a deep breath; he couldn’t believe he was going to do this. His heart thumped in his chest as he spoke. “I need you to find somebody for me…”
“Sure boss man, what can I do?” And she moved to her glass topped desk, which was a hive of activity. “So, we’re on a seek and find mission then?” she asked as she sat down at her desk and spread her fingers across the keys ready for action like nothing ever happened. “So boss man, who we looking for this time?”
24.
Somewhere Only we know..
No sooner had Rizzo’s fingers finished typing the name Duncan had given she hit enter. Duncan stood behind her, watching her fingers wildly scramble across the keyboard. His hand was over his mouth, fingers pinching his lips. He tried to remain calm as the search arrow spun on the screen, in its clockwise motion, as his heart pounded in his chest at every rotation it made. Rizzo looked up at him, she could see as Duncan’s eyes homed in on the screen, waiting for the information to magically appear, as it normally did, when they did this sort of thing. You could almost smell the anticipation in the room.
Dragonflies The Duncan Peters Files Page 26