by Wood, C
I got up and descended down the steps as I turned to get in the car, Ben was slumped on the steps; I got in the car and drove away, arsehole! Remind me again Thomas why I didn’t just phone him, I’m certainly not informing the other arsehole brother; I heard laughter, the deep laugh Tom had, and now I’m going truly mad.
I pulled up to Tom’s place and pulled out my keys; opened the door and went in, the place smelt of him, his aftershave lingered in the air, mixing with the air fresher plugged in. I threw my keys on the table, and went for a glass of wine, pouring myself a glass I took it to bed, our bed, were days ago we had spent the whole day, making excuses as to why we shouldn’t call the trip off and just stay here in bed?
I cried as I hit the pillow, why didn’t we stop in bed, why, oh why, did I have to buy the bloody hotels. I slept in my clothes hugging his pillow on his side of the bed. I cried myself to sleep. The keys turning in the lock awaked me, it was Tom, it had all been a bad dream, and he was home. I ran down the stairs, to see him, he was in our home, Jack; I stopped and looked at him, and what was he doing here?
“Carrie? Ben said you were back, I heard the news, I’m so mad at myself, Carrie, why are you here in our house?”
“It is Tom’s house and I live here with him, have done for a while, how, why have you got keys?”
“I have keys, as does Ben, we all three own the house, it was left to us by Mum when she died, just that we couldn’t sell it, Tom was to live here indefinitely, we couldn’t turf him, out onto the streets with his problem.”
“Oh, his drug use and need to shoot up daily? Look around Jack does this look as if this is the house of a crazed drugged up junkie. Yes, he took drugs, as I told your dick of a brother, prescribed for extreme head pain, did you ever just fucking ask Jack? Did you ask Thomas what he was doing before you blackened your brother’s name round town? No, you didn’t you.”
“What’s all this got to do with you? Still friends after all this time, I thought you were up north somewhere running hotels?”
“I own hotels, I have a few, Thomas and I are engaged, we are, we were getting married, now, oh god, he’s actually dead, because you’re here and he said you’d get in this house over his dead body, oh hell.” I slumped on the couch, head in hands and crying, Jack sat at my side and put his arm around me, I cried like a baby into his chest, as he let me cry he told me to shush, the crying stopped as I felt him holding me tightly, I pulled from his grip.
“I will have to see our solicitor; I thought he owned this house? If that’s not the case, I’m sorry. I have a few things here I will take them to our other home, and be out of your way, sorry Jack, I should have come to tell you, but after Ben was so nasty, they last thing I wanted to hear was you slagging him off too.”
“I don’t know what he told you Carrie, but he did have a drug problem, I work with kids who have the same problems and I know the signs. I asked him, when I caught him in the toilet shooting up, to explain. He was so high he couldn’t do anything but slump down, I put him to bed, I made sure mum had all the information she needed to cope and went back home. I never heard from him again, mum would ring occasionally, when he needed bailing out, or he was in trouble. He never even informed Ben or me that our fucking mother had died!” I looked at him I was shocked.
I went to the fridge and took out the pens that were stored in the fridge, and threw them at him; he looked at them and sighed.
“This explains some of the symptoms he had that day, but not the track marks, there were quite a few. I’m sorry Carrie; I should have kept in touch, but both Ben and I were angry with him not telling us about mum. Moreover, he gets to stop in the house for as long as he wants, we couldn’t sell the house nor charge him rent for living here.
I don’t need the money, but Ben has a big family to support he could have used it. As it is he works all the hours god sends to keep the small flat they all seven share. I offer to help but he’s a proud man, he can now move back home, and be nearer to his wife Jenny’s family, she is ill and needs help with the smaller of the kids”.
“I hear your married, congratulations Jack.” He laughed.
“Wrong, never married, never found the one to measure up, I am a confirmed bachelor.”
“Oh, Thomas said you were, to a much younger woman?” He laughed at me again.
“Was this before or after he got you finally into his bed?” I swung out to hit him. “Um, I guess that was after? No Carrie; I have never married and never dated anyone after you, yes that is true, I’m a forty six year old virgin, never slept with anyone and never had sex. Hard to believe; yes but true, I have issues with just sleeping with people.” I looked at him and laughed.
“I beg to differ; I saw with my own eyes, a tryst with Sarah at a party, I believe you slept with her? Anyway what has whether you have or haven’t slept with anyone matter now, your brother, my Fiancé is dead.”
“I know and I am sorry, we have lots to discuss. I, we, need to see his solicitor, he will straighten the mess out, but all that can wait, you need to get some rest and calm down. You, sorry we, have a busy few days ahead of us and a funeral to arrange.”
“It’s all sorted, I have everything in hand, and Wilson’s are doing it all, including bringing him home and seeing he gets a proper send off.”
“I will pay for that, he is my brother after all, even if he was totally screwed in the head. I know you don’t want to hear this, but he was, he wasn’t and isn’t an architect, he is good at conning people, he happens to have the same name as a very good architect, a historical buildings architect and he cashes in on that name.
I thought though; all that was in the past, last time I heard from the police he was pretending to be a doctor, with the same name as well as a fire fighter, he has been a solicitor and a chemist. He was and is a con artist has been all his life. Carrie; he has done jail time for it too, but only in mental health facilities, he gets, got cured and comes out and does it all again.”
I stood, and headed for the door, I wasn’t sitting to hear the crap coming from his mouth, any longer, I believed him all those years ago, and he lied to me then. Why would now be any different?
“Oh, no you don’t I walked away from you once before, not again. I’m going to show you what I know, what you need to know, you will be shocked so hold it in for a bit, that need to hit me, whilst I show you what my brother dearest was capable of!”
He grabbed my arm and led me to my car, I couldn’t drive, so gave him my keys, I got in he was going to show me the proof, first his office. He only knew about this place because they sent him the bill to pay, once and has done for ages, his dad’s old workshop come lockup. We drove there and as I pulled up, I looked around, surly there was some mistake this was an industrial unit? I had never been to his offices and the address, was the same row as the posh offices at the top of the road.
“Have you his keys, his house keys, and such?” I Handed them over; and he looked at the keys and opened the door, it was a near empty storage place, a few packing cases, single beds and old furniture, I recognised from their house, it was all his mum’s old stuff.
I was shocked and confused; in the corner, a table was set up and on the wall, a whole wall of photos of me. My trips to the hospital, my dental records, the private detectives records, bank statements, photos of me my children, Dylan, the emails, everything that related to me, and him, the things and places I had been before coming back. He lied he knew where I was all along. I looked and flicked through the papers on his desk, he was Frank, of A1Frank, and honest Detective agency, my arse he had been less than bloody frank.
“How, what why would he do this to me, Jack why? He seemed so genuine; he said he had always loved me. He won the lottery, he told, me he was wealthy, Jack, what’s true and what’s a lie? Oh god, I feel sick.”
Jack rushed me to the toilet, as I threw my guts up, seems I am, just a gullible old fool still? Thank god, he had no control or connection to my money.
“R
ight let’s get to this solicitor, he may have some answers, did you go together?” I shrugged my shoulders.
“I waited outside until he finished, god if he wasn’t already dead I’d kill the fucker right now. Why did he do this Jack? Funny thing is I was coming to see you before we got together, for explanations, and oh god I told him things I haven’t told anyone else, shit how, where does it say gullible on my head, please show me, obviously the arse holes in my life can see the fucking thing?” He laughed, that laugh, he had that touch, shit no, no, no definitely, not going down that road.
“He saw a councillor for years; after we split up, the way he saw it, it was my entire fault, for not fighting for you, back then. He wasn’t mentally sound, in the head, always fighting, always getting in trouble. Dad’s heart attack was his fault, mum was a bag of nerves with him, he was crazy, never finished collage, certainly didn’t go to university, well he did the one called jail, he learnt a lot there, how to work the con, and was good at it until, he was found out, when the real Thomas Thompson’s came a looking. He was pally with Peter for a while, think they were partners for a while, that ended badly beat him to a pulp; something was said about not sharing the goods. I presumed, he was talking about the drugs he used and sold for Pete, and he did, I have the proof, if you need to see it, bailed him out enough times. He was way beyond saving; how long, were you back together?”
I ran back to the toilet and threw up followed by Jack, oh my god… I had another flash back and this time Thomas was there, he was there, I heard his voice, I thought I dreamed it, oh hell…
“He was on about sharing me; Jack, sharing me, he, he had sex with me, like they did, he didn’t ask me back then though. He raped me, like the others; he was the one I had to wear a thing over my head for, so I didn’t see his face, oh hell, he couldn’t have been that, oh hell how could he have did he do that?” I up chucked again, this time wrenching, nothing left to come back up. Jack had that bloody pity face, I hated with a reason,
“Help me Jack; help me understand, w-w-what I did to deserve all this? Was all this because of the love we once had, all about our past, his, mine and your sodding past? I need to get out of here, check my finances, see to it there aren’t any dodgy dealings, with the private detective, I hired all my fucking files are on that wall. Including; pictures of my children, why he said he had never seen them, just the other day.” Jack held me tightly, like an injured child.
“Did you ever see the detective? Carrie, think did you see him?” I didn’t have to think.
“Frank no; I gave him a debit card payment, a thousand pounds, which is all he took, all information he sent me is on those bloody boards, that and texts and phone calls, I told him, as much as I knew and he did the rest, why?.”
“This card here is the same landline as this number here and is for the detective, his architecture firm, is this number. He rang the numbers on the two phones, and they were, for the ones for the detective and the architecture office, oh hell how gullible was I?
“Can you drive me to my bank, I need to look at the account, and I will kill him. Shit too late for that, all this because I bloody well fell in love with you, it has to be more than that Jack, what else did I do?”
“I don’t know Carrie, he was a messed up young man and as he got older he was into all sorts of crap, I didn’t want to know after he conned Mum into signing that will, giving him the house, she knew Ben was struggling, we had nothing more to do with him. We will sort you out, then his solicitor, Carrie, his solicitor?” I told him, where we had driven to, and the building he went into.
CHAPTER 13
I spent two hours going through the account, and he hadn’t stung me. All he had was just the six thousand pounds, for the detective work, and the first bill for the plans at the Harbour Hotel. I was shocked; perhaps he was waiting until he was a full partner in the hotels? Thank god, the paperwork making him a partner wasn’t yet completed one narrow escape. Jack sat by my side, gobsmacked at the amount of money I had, and I shrugged my shoulders.
We drove in silence to the solicitors office; and I was very shocked to find it was an actual solicitors office too, a real one with degrees and stuff on his walls. He handed me an envelope; he asked did I want to have the will read, as I was the main beneficiary, with one other and one large outstanding bill. I nodded my head, as I listened to him going through the legal jargon. I listened as he told me he had left me everything; that was still in his account after bills and a bequest; he also left me his third of the house and his car.
“The funds would be in your account at the close of business, minus his expenses, and two outstanding payments yet made. One to the rehabilitation centre he spent six months in, last year a good one you went to I believe. In addition, there’s my account will need settling. In addition to the outstanding bills, there is the bequest to his eldest brother, Benjamin Thompson, for one million pound. Have you any other questions?” I looked shocked, as he told me all he knew about Thomas and his dealings with him. I opened the letter and read it through quickly, I shook the man’s hand and gave Jack the letter to read, my eyes filled with tears.
He opened it as we sat in the car; too shocked to take it all in, all the solicitor, had imparted. Jack had won the lottery; and he had been clean for ages, he also told the solicitor, he set himself up as a private investigators. He wanted to find me, and being a licenced detective gave him access to places, and credit reports etc. He used the information he gave me, on himself and his brothers, to plant himself in as the architect, Thomas Thompson. Therefore, I would use his services, correctly guessing I would. I’d happened to tell him, I was looking at old property in the area. Oh, the information I’d given him, he already knew about!
Explains too, why Jacks details were still sketchy, damn him. He was already looking, at ways of finding me, in his dad’s out of the way lockup storage thing. He did everything he could from there, to find me. He asked around Blackpool hotels, looking at the wall, he’d been to all, but the ones I did work in. Having spent a month there, he came back from Blackpool; and was shocked, when he did, to find me back at mums. He knew where I was all the time in getting back to Torquay and I wonder did he know about the lottery win. He had all the other fucking information.
When he got back after getting clean at his clinic in Surrey, he had gone straight to Blackpool, and I had gone to mum’s, mum hadn’t seen Tom in years, she had already told me that. Talk about ships passing in the night! He also sought treatment, at my clinic by choice, my therapist by accident. I phoned Catherine in a rage had she known all along? She assured me it was all a coincidence. Had I not seen him that day, the day of my last appointment, he was the prior, appointment to mine? She hadn’t realised we were both talking about the same Thomas and Carrie, as Thomas always referred to me as CC, his CC.
The man in the office that day; had in fact been Thomas, he too saw Catherine, and more regularly than I did, he, after his confession about hearing me being raped, had driven straight up to see her, and had a session with her. I hadn’t recognised the strange man coming out of her office that day the hoody cap and glasses, I just thought, he was a celebrity she treats them too after all.
He also flew up to Blackpool from Plymouth, just so as he could beat me there too, sneaky Thomas very sneaky. Catherine confirmed what the solicitor had said, and had she known both her cases were connected she would have been able to advise me against the union, we both needed to put the past behind us, and unfortunately for Thomas he couldn’t, he wouldn’t be able to, he would forever be trying to atone for his past mistakes. Jack read the letter aloud, as I sat and cried, his hand caressing my back, as I just bawled like a mad woman.
“CC, if you reading this I’m dead, no shit you probably guessed that already, well my best friend, where to start?
What’s betting superman Jack is by your side? Where he has always supposed to be CC; if, Peter and I hadn’t fucked you both over, where you would have always been.” Jack and I bot
h laughed, as he gripped my hand tightly.
“I did it out of jealousy, Peter did it because he wanted to do the things to you he did. Dragged into his world; when the drugs became a necessity to block you out of my life, stupid excuse for starting doing them, but they helped. I got deeper into them and into more trouble too. As the months became years, they never blocked out the rape. You did scream Carrie and loud; you begged him, I had my foot on the door, to stop wonder boy coming to save the day. Oh, god, I was so sick and stupid after that day. I owed him a lot of money; back then, paperboy money didn’t cover the stuff I was taking.
Mum and dad only had so much; so I said I would give you up to him and help him set Jack up that night; and I did, and Peter had you find them, Peter had already had Sarah, left her on the bed naked, and stoned. She to this day, doesn’t know the kid she had was Peter’s baby. Jack, dear CC went nowhere near her. I had your mum believe it was his kid too; he’d long since gone to university, only coming back when he had to, he presumed people hated him, because of me.
CC, I told him, Jack, Sarah was in big trouble, he went to help, just help. I wasn’t kidding he never went with any other girls. We both loved the same stupid goofy teenage girl; he loved you enough to let you go and be safe away from Peter or so he thought! I did it to pay them for drugs to get you out of my head, but after hearing him that day I needed, well, more and more the nightmares played in a loop repeatedly, the drugs helped me sleep, your screams stopping me sleeping.
Sorry, well is a pitiful word for what I did to you both. I did some other things I’m not proud of; and ones I’m glad you can’t remember CC, because if you did, you’d never have let me get close to you. As I write this, it’s making me sick knowing what I did to you; and what you didn’t know I had done to you, I had sex with you at Peters for payment in getting you away from Jack, eventually, he wasn’t for sharing you with me, just his brother.