“Have you ever been in love?” She blurted out. The wine had gone straight to her head.
“Once, but that was years ago. I was young and foolish and didn't appreciate what I had until it was too late. What about you?”
“I was in love once too. At least, I thought it was love, but it wasn't mutual. Maybe it was infatuation, not love. Who knows?”
“Who was the lucky man?”
“He was Rebecca's husband.” She took a quick gulp of wine, bracing herself for his reaction.
“What?” He made a very convincing pretence of being suitably shocked.
“You were bound to find out, in fact, I'm surprised you haven't already heard about it on the grapevine.”
“You and Rebecca seem quite close.”
“Now, we are, but it wasn't always that way.”
“She must be a very forgiving woman.”
“Rebecca is a lovely person, very decent. I regret what I did and having hurt her like that, but in my defence, her husband insisted that his marriage was over and he was biding his time to leave her for me.”
“He sounds like quite a catch. It seems to me that you had a narrow escape there.”
“In more ways than one,” she was really getting into her story. “He tried to have me killed, and Penelope and Rebecca too.” She paused for dramatic effect, giving her words time to sink in.
“If I didn't know you better, I'd say you were making it up,” he replied after a careful pause.
“Believe me, it's true, unfortunately. It made front page news in Ireland. He hired an assassin to kill us but she double-crossed him and came to us to buy out the contract.”
“Bloody hell, truth is definitely stranger than fiction sometimes. Where is he now?”
“Last I heard he was living somewhere in Dublin city. He's out of jail on early release for good behaviour, supposedly.”
“How do you feel about him being out? Aren't you scared he'll come after you again?”
“No,” she leaned in conspiratorially. “I don't think he was behind it. There's no doubt about it, Mark definitely has his flaws, and plenty of them, but he's not a murderer. He's always protested his innocence, saying he was set up, and I believe him.”
“What do Rebecca and Penelope think?”
“I wouldn't dare mention my thoughts to them. They can't stand him and have no doubt he's guilty. Rebecca almost ate me alive when I said he should be allowed to see his son, and Penelope hates his guts.”
“Have you spoken to him since his release?”
“God, no, it's well and truly over. I don't want to have anything more to do with him, but I still can't help wondering what really happened. I’d love to know who was really behind the plot.”
“Your love life hasn't been dull, that's for sure.”
“Drama is over-rated, trust me. I’d give anything for a quiet, stable relationship with someone who loves me as much as I love them.”
“As Tina Turner says, that was simply the best,” Shona grinned. “I'm well and truly stuffed. I only wish I'd worn my stretch pants.”
“Sexy,” Penelope said. “I hope you didn't say that to Adrian.”
“Of course not, what do you take me for?”
“I'm glad you enjoyed yourself.”
“To be honest with you I expected pomposity at Shanahan’s, but I was wrong. The staff couldn't have been nicer; they had no pretensions whatsoever and oozed competence. We didn't have to pour our own wine all night. They must have someone on standby, watching hawk-eyed to see when the glasses are almost empty.” She giggled.
“Do you think you'll see him again?”
“I'd like to see him again. He seemed interested and was wonderfully attentive.”
“Was there a goodnight kiss?”
“I was hoping there would be, that was the only disappointing part of the evening. He gave me a very chaste kiss on the cheek.”
“Maybe he wants to take it slowly. There's no harm in that, you know. Goodness knows you could do with taking your time to find a decent guy.”
“That's a bit rich coming from you. How many boyfriends have you had in the last year? I think I've lost count at this stage.”
“We're not talking about me,” Penelope said dismissively.
“Whatever, I'm going to bed.” She walked contentedly to her room and tumbled under the covers. Her friend's cynicism and sarcastic comments wouldn’t ruin her evening. She loved Penelope but she could do with a serious attitude change where men were concerned. It wasn't their fault if she'd made bad relationship choices, and she didn't want to sit around listening to her man-hating. It had been the best night she'd had in a long time and she fell asleep wishing that Adrian would ask her out soon.
Chapter 11
“How’s the new job going?” Maggie asked, carefully stirring the gravy. She was cooking roast chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner; her brother’s favourite.
“This is a treat, Mags, it’s been a while since I’ve had a home-cooked meal,” Adrian replied, cleverly side-stepping her question.
“Yeah, I thought you could do with some proper nourishment. You’ve lost a bit of weight recently. Your clothes are hanging off you.”
“The single life doesn’t suit me. I need a good woman to look after me. I think it’s about time I found myself a girlfriend.”
“Have you got your eye on anyone special?”
“There might be someone.”
She swung around from the oven to face her brother, hands on her hips. “I hope it’s not anyone from the office. That’s supposed to be strictly business.”
“Calm down. I’ve had one date with Shona, that’s it. I haven’t asked her to marry me; not yet, anyway,” he teased. He couldn’t resist winding his sister up sometimes. She was such an easy target.
She glared at him. “You should enjoy being single. You’ve been in and out of relationships for years. You could do with some time on your own, especially after the last control freak you were dating. Rushing from one relationship to another isn’t healthy. Tell me, honestly, how long have you been single in the last five years?”
“Six months, basically since I moved back here.”
“Exactly. Anyway, how’s the new job going?” she repeated.
“It’s going well. I'm enjoying it. It’s a relief to be working for someone else again without any of the headaches of being self-employed, even if the salary isn’t what I'm used to.”
“More to the point, have you discovered anything interesting about the women?”
“Shona’s lovely. She told me about Mark and their affair. He seems like such a bastard. Rebecca tends to keep herself to herself. She works a lot from home and whenever she is in the office all she ever does is talk about her children.”
“How’s Penelope?”
Adrian rolled his eyes. “She’s hard work, to put it politely. She’s a real man-hater and has such a chip on her shoulder. I’ve tried chatting to her a few times but I don’t like her sarcastic attitude. There’s something secretive about her too. She never answers her phone at her desk, always rushes off to the kitchen or the boardroom for privacy. Once I happened to interrupt a conversation she was having in the kitchen and she left as soon as I came in; weird. I get the feeling she’s hiding something but I don’t know what.”
“Have you tried talking to Shona about her?”
“Yeah, but Shona’s very loyal. She won’t hear a bad word said against her friend.”
“I’ll have to set up some surveillance on Penelope I think, try to find out what she’s up to. It may be nothing. Some people are naturally private.”
“Have you made much progress with the investigation?”
“It’s slow, that’s for sure. I'm trying to put everything together piece by piece but there are so many people involved. I’m going to start surveillance next week. I can’t stand that side of the job. It’s so tedious and boring; endless hours just sitting and watching and waiting. It’s not easy trying to
blend in. Currently, I'm building profiles on the people who were closest to Mark and I'm trawling through his computer records. Mark’s given me access to his emails and computer so I'm going through those at the moment. It’s painstaking, but hopefully I’ll have a breakthrough soon. The devil’s in the detail, as they say.”
“If anyone can crack it, I'm sure you will.”
“I know I will. It’s only a matter of time.”
Chapter 12
“Do you think we've changed?” Colm asked.
“I suppose so,” Jackie shrugged non-committally. She wondered where the conversation was heading or if they were going to have yet another dissection of their relationship.
“You're always so busy with the children. I hardly ever get to spend any quality time with you,” Colm accused.
“It's called raising a family. Besides, you're one to talk. You seem to be consumed with work, even though you promised you’d make more of an effort. It's difficult to spend quality time together when you’re away on business.” She finished the last of her coffee and slammed the dishes into the dishwasher. She wasn’t in the mood for another argument and there was no way she was going to let him blame her for everything.
“I'm sorry. It's been a hectic couple weeks at work but when this deal is finalised I promise I'll make more time.”
“I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have snapped at you. I know you're doing the best you can. I'm stressed out. I have a deadline looming and my editor is putting pressure on me. She emailed me this morning with yet another correction which means I'm going to have to rewrite half the bloody manuscript. The sooner this novel is finished, the better.”
“What's the book about?” Colm asked curiously.
“It's about a man who's been cheating on his wife and what happens when his wife finds out.”
“What happens?” He seemed genuinely interested.
“That's the problem. I haven't decided yet. Actually, my editor hasn't decided yet. I thought I'd finished it but she didn't like the ending.”
“What was your original ending?”
“I killed him.”
“Sorry?” he spluttered over the last of his blueberry muffin, sending crumbs flying everywhere.
“I killed him,” she repeated, steadily holding his gaze.
“That seems rather hardcore, don't you think? What does your editor want you to do?”
“She wants me to leave the ending open so I can write a sequel.”
“It might be a good idea.”
“Maybe, but I've had enough of the cheating husband. I really want to kill him off.”
“Hmm, I suppose that would be the easy way out,” he muttered, brushing crumbs off his newspaper.
He continued reading while she slammed around the kitchen, venting her temper on the dishes. There was nothing like a good cleaning session to clear the mind and at least it was a constructive channelling of her anger and frustration.
“I don't believe it!” he exclaimed.
“What now?” she swung around in exasperation. She liked having him home but he could really get under her feet sometimes.
“That bastard is out of prison on early release. I thought he got seven years inside but they've let him out after only serving five. Released early for good behaviour; yeah right! There's a full page article here on page ten of The Stand about him.”
“Yeah, Shona told me Mark was out.”
“Why didn't you say anything?”
“What's the point? Besides, I didn't want to stir everything up again.”
“Listen to this.”
She barely managed to restrain a sigh before pausing in her mopping of the floor to listen to her husband. She was in no mood to hear about Mark McNamara. He'd caused enough trouble for one lifetime.
“Devils-Revenge's Mark McNamara hasn't done anything wrong and has no reason to be regretful. That was the view expressed by his lawyer just hours after his release from prison, having served time for soliciting an English nightclub hostess to murder his wife and her two business partners.
McNamara's release from jail, having served four years and ten months in Mountjoy Prison, immediately led to conjecture as to his whereabouts and intentions. The endless intrigue surrounding this man was rekindled during the week as word trickled through that he was free. The father of two is expected to remain on temporary release until his sentence officially expires in late December.
The pulsating case heard how he trawled the internet searching for an assassin and paid a deposit of twenty-five thousand pounds sterling to have his wife, Rebecca McNamara, and her two business partners, Shona Morgan and Penelope Garrett, murdered. He always denied the allegations, but was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison.
A major American television channel is working on documentaries on the absorbing story, while efforts to secure the rights to make a Hollywood movie based on the story are ongoing. None of this is any surprise, given the interest that the case and its heady mix of intoxicating ingredients generated. Several documentaries have already been made about it, while hundreds of thousands of words have been written, yet McNamara has never had the opportunity to speak to the media, given his incarceration.
He did have his say during his two days of evidence at the trial in the Central Criminal Court. Also, prior to charges being brought against him, he scripted three strongly worded letters to the Director of Public Prosecutions, pleading that he not be prosecuted, claiming that he was entirely innocent.
“I am an ordinary man, living an ordinary life, with which I was happy until this happened. I want my life back, before it's too late,” he wrote.
His time to speak out and continue to protest his innocence is upon us. Those who know him say he is eagerly anticipating the limelight. He has, according to his legal team, expressed a desire to write at least one book. A deal for this is being worked on, according to sources close to him. He seems to be sharply focused on his future. He wants to move on and possibly become self-employed, leaving the past well and truly behind him. He wishes people didn't call him “Devils-Revenge.” People are trying to define him by it but it's a label belonging to his past. The issue that's upsetting him most is that he feels trapped in his apartment since the tabloid reporters arrived. He finds it intimidating and that at times it's worse than being in prison. It's difficult enough to adjust to life without the added pressure from the media. He can't even go shopping for groceries without being photographed. It's left him feeling very isolated.
His lawyer, Mr. Gerald Loftus, said: “My client hasn't done anything to regret and has at all times maintained his innocence.”
He went on to say that Mr. McNamara had been through the legal process and the only mechanism open to him was to tell his story through a book, a prospect that he will no doubt relish. Apparently, he is busy penning two books; the first is an autobiographical work which will cover his life, including the trial, the second is an account of his time behind bars. Mr. Loftus said that Mark has already been approached by numerous publishing companies offering lucrative deals. He then went on to say that his client was upset at the media intrusion, but he was determined to start going about the mundane tasks of his daily life again and hopefully the reporters will leave him alone.
Mr. Loftus said that Mr. McNamara could no longer live in his old neighbourhood, where he'd lived for twenty years, because of the intense media interest in him. Cois Farraige, the home he previously shared with his ex-wife, was targeted by the media during his visit when he was on temporary release during the summer to visit his family.
Mark has chosen to reside in Dublin's city centre, where he hopes the busy capital city will grant him some anonymity. His new location will give him the opportunity to visit Mountjoy Prison weekly, which is one of the conditions of his temporary release, while ensuring he remains close to his children.
McNamara is now divorced from his wife of more than twenty years. Initially, she refused to believe the allegations being made again
st her husband and offered him staunch support but the mountain of evidence stacked against him proved too much for her, and their relationship fell apart. The lavish lifestyle which McNamara had once enjoyed is in the past. His wife and her two business partners continue to run the business, M&R Photography.
Much has changed in many of the lives of those associated with the case, but one thing remains firm; McNamara continues to protest his innocence and the interest in his story remains alive.
He exuded confidence during most of the trial and told the jury that he was forced to endure a dreadful and frightening ordeal.
“It has destroyed my life and my children's lives. I certainly didn't do any of this,” he insisted.
His vivid imagination was evident in the detailed emails to “assassin_hire” where plans to kill the women were discussed.
“I know it must seem terrible of me, but my back is against the wall and I don't have much choice. I would prefer if it was just my wife, but because of the way she has arranged her business affairs, it would be much too complicated if the other two women were still around because I'd be in much the same situation as I am now,” he wrote in one of his many emails to the assassin, Savannah Kingston. “I've no conscience about my wife. She's turned into a real conniving bitch and makes my life hell, but I do feel bad about the others. However, I've thought about it long and hard and I realise that it is necessary or there is very little advantage to getting rid of my wife, other than not having to look at her miserable face again.”
There is no doubt that the hysteria surrounding “Devils-Revenge” will re-emerge when McNamara decides to speak out, as eager anticipation lives on. Despite the passage of time, the interest he has generated refuses to go away as his every move appears to create a stir. It seems for Mark McNamara that this is only the beginning.”
Unfaithful (The Complete Trilogy) Page 43