The Truth Healer: A Riveting Spiritual Psychic Thriller

by J Gabriel-Smith

  ‘Yes…yes I will tell you everything.’ she whimpered. ‘He is not a bad man though, I promise. A very stupid man, yes, but not a bad man.

  ‘We just need to know everything.’ Josh pressed.

  Marianne proceeded to tell Josh, Jim and Tom, the whole story of how Gerard had met Jozsef and how he had eventually held him to ransom. How he was coerced into turning a blind eye to the abductions at the campsite in return for the cancellation of old debts. She also explained how Jozsef had threatened Gerard with her own life, if he didn’t comply with his demands.’

  ‘But I don’t understand…how could your husband go along with his demands if it involved young children…how could his conscious allow him to do it?’ Tom interjected, with disgust.

  ‘I know..I know…I demanded he tell me the very same thing, but Jozsef, by all accounts, is ruthless, and because he was so scared he was going to kill me, he just went along with it, and hoped each time would be the last.’ Marianne cried.

  Jim stood up and paced around the room. One of the Swedish policeman stepped in and asked Jim to question her about Anna Gerber. ‘Marianne…did your husband assist with the abduction of Anna Gerber?’

  There was a pause, before she replied meekly ‘Yes….he did.’

  The Swedish officers immediately called their Superiors to report their findings.

  ‘There is something else I need to tell you.’

  Jim looked at both Josh and Tom before answering. ‘Yes…what else?’

  ‘I found a file on Gerard’s computer, which looked like some payments from Jozsef Halasz. The dates all tallied with the dates of previous abductions….. except one.’

  ‘Which was what?’ Jim pushed angrily.

  ‘There was a new date written, with an amount pending.’

  ‘Ok..so what was the date?’

  ‘The 21st of August, this year.’

  Josh looked at his watch. ‘That’s in two days’ time!’

  ‘I know ..and that is what I am scared about. My husband has confirmed that there is another abduction planned for then. All my husband knows, is that he is to greet the driver at the campsite that evening, and then make sure they leave again the next day. He does not know if the abduction is due to take place at the campsite, or beforehand.’

  ‘Right, let me think.’ Jim instructed, pacing back and forth around the room. ‘Now, don’t do anything yet Marianne. We will speak to the police from our end, but be prepared for you and your husband to be taken in for questioning tonight.’

  ‘Ok…yes I understand. …and I am sorry Tom, I really hope Lucy and Rosie come back to you very soon.’

  Jim put the phone down.

  ‘This is crazy.’ Tom exclaimed, ‘Marianne had been so helpful to Lucy. Lucy will be devastated for her, as to be in the dark about your husband’s dealings to that extent must have crucified her. I guess it is lucky she has come clean and told us, as she could easily have tried to protect him.’

  Jim nodded. ‘At least we have more evidence against this Jozsef Halasz now as well.’

  Josh and Jim were overwhelmed by the rapid growth of the case. By midnight, all of the troops were summoned across Austria and Hungary, as well as the Isle of Wight, to surround the hubs involved. Either on rooftops, behind trees, in cars or watching from afar via cameras.

  They were only going to have one chance at this, otherwise word would filter through to each gang involved and key members may slip through their fingers, and seep deeper underground.

  They monitored each hubs comings and goings, and watched as young bedraggled children made their way back to their hovels.

  Laurenz Felbiger’s home was being staked out, as was Emil Jonas’s. Unbeknown to Laurenz, the police had broken into his lock up garage in Austria and found the campervan with the registration X720 T. Disturbingly, they found it to be stocked with supplies ready for a trip, a bottle of chloroform, some child’s colouring books and some children’s clothing. It was obviously ready for the fated abduction set for the next day, to which the Austrian police now intended to foil before it happened.

  At 2am, Jim radioed all stations. They were ready.

  The command was given.

  ‘Go, Go, Go!’ he shouted.

  The deathly silence was broken.

  Doors were bashed in and gun shots were fired.

  Screams penetrated the night’s sky, and the sound of glass getting smashed echoed as the troops rallied in.

  Men were found in uncompromising positions in Gigi’s, Laurenz was watching a late night movie, Emil Jonas was at home with another ‘long lost niece’ asleep in the next bedroom, and Sandor Halasz and Marton Kovac were sat smoking hash in their Isle of Wight flat.

  Jozsef Halasz’s house was empty, with the exception of the maids, who were taking the opportunity for some late night reverie while their boss was away.

  The run down block of flats in Vienna were filled with unsuspecting children sleeping, while their pimps looked on playing cards, and finally, the shanty town building, where Lucy was being held, contained a ring of Chief Masters plotting their next move, while an obedient audience of young teenage girls catered to their every need.

  They all froze to the spot, whilst police from all corners, hoarded gang masters, pimps, and children in to the many police vans aligning the streets outside.

  Josh and Jim had been staking out the shanty town house where Lucy and Rosie were being held, so on the command, they stampeded the building, following the troops as they kicked down each door.

  ‘What the fuck!’ Jim shouted, as Lucy and Rosie were nowhere to be seen.….‘Where the fuck are they?!’

  Josh pointed his gun at one of the tattooed scum now handcuffed to the wall.

  ‘Where are they?’ Josh demanded.

  He just smirked ….‘They have gone.’

  ‘Where?’Jim yelled, now grabbing him by the throat. ‘Tell me or I’ll swear I’ll kill you!’

  The tattooed thug was spluttering, unable to breathe.

  ‘Jim, Stop! Stop!’ Josh urged.

  ‘Not until he tells us!’

  The guy managed to blurt out …‘He go…. just now, in car…he take woman and girl. I don’t know where.’

  Jim released the thug from his grip. ‘Take this scum to the station.’ Jim blasted, to one of the officers.

  ‘Oh Christ Josh!…. What the hell are we going to do now?!’ he panicked, pacing around the room.

  ‘Josh…Jim… can you hear me?’ said a voice coming through on their radio.

  ‘We’ve got a black car leaving the site on camera….Quick get to your car and follow it!’

  ‘Quick let’s go!’ Josh instructed.

  They ran back to the car, jumped in and sped off, desperately trying to catch sight of it.

  ‘Jesus Christ!… if we lose them now, that will be it. Our careers will be over!’ Jim groaned, gripping the dashboard, willing Josh to drive faster.

  Josh looked over at Jim and knew he was right. If they blew this before they had rescued Lucy and Rosie, he didn’t think he would be able live with himself.

  *****

  Chloe sat observing the stake out from afar. She watched as the go ahead was given to raid the shanty house where Lucy and Rosie were being held. There were so many officers barging in the front door, that they had failed to see who was coming out of the back. But Chloe hadn’t.

  She recognized Lucy’s hair and the small fragile child that was being pushed into the back of Jozsef’s car at gunpoint. He sped off in his black Mercedes whilst the officers were still all inside.

  She had to follow him. It seemed she’d been the only one who had noticed them, so that meant she would be the only one who knew where they were being taken.

  Chloe killed her headlights and set off following him through empty streets, with only the faint glimmer of his tail lights to linger on to in the distance.

  As they approached a large metal hanger structure, Chloe realised that they had arrived at, what looked like, a d
isused airfield. She watched as he ordered Lucy and Rosie out of the car at gunpoint, and steered them towards a waiting plane.

  ‘Oh Jesus!…where is he taking them?!’ she muttered. She had to do something.

  She could feel her hands clenching tighter around the steering wheel as she fixated on her target. ‘You can do this Chlo, you can do this.’ she urged herself, before taking one last deep breath and screaming ‘Come on you evil bastard!’ She slammed her foot down on the accelerator and headed straight for Jozsef Halasz.

  Her deafening horn, and blinding headlights caught him off guard, causing him to stagger backwards from the plane. With his arm raised to shield the glare from his eyes, he was suddenly struck up into the air by the full force of Chloe’s rage.

  She had ploughed straight into him, leaving his pitiful body strewn across her bonnet. Her anger and desperation to get Lucy and Rosie back had driven her to kill. What had happened to her?! She looked across to see Lucy and Rosie cowering behind the nose of the plane.

  After a few deep breaths, she shakily put the car into reverse, leaving Jozsef Halasz’s body to roll off her front bonnet with a crackled groan.

  Chloe opened her window and shouted across to Lucy and Rosie. ‘Quick get in!…You will be safe with me.’

  Lucy and Rosie clung to each other, not knowing whether to stay or go.

  ‘Please, you have to come now…you can not stay with this man!’Chloe begged.

  With one last look at each other, they ran over to the car. They did not know who the hell this woman was, but they realised it was better than being with the monster laying on the ground in front of them.

  With them both on board, Chloe screeched out of the airbase, and headed full throttle towards the police patrol gathered outside the shanty house.

  ‘Who are you?’ Lucy asked, still in shock ‘…and how did you know we were here?’

  ‘I am one of the undercover police team. I was the only one who saw him take you both out the back of the house.’

  ‘Oh God, please let this be over now.’ Lucy pleaded, hugging Rosie.

  ‘It is now….I promise.’ Chloe replied, as she pulled up outside one of the police vans.

  ‘I’ve got them!’Chloe called out to one of the officers. ‘…I found them at the airbase.’

  ‘What?….found who?’ said a confused police officer, walking over to Chloe’s car.

  As he peered in the window, he suddenly started shouting hysterically. ‘They’re here, they’re here!…..everyone …Lucy and Rosie…we’ve got them!’ before helping them both out of the car.

  As the police officer turned back to thank Chloe, he was bewildered to find she was nowhere to be seen.

  ‘Who was that?’ the officer asked, looking back at Lucy.

  ‘She said she was working undercover with you.’

  ‘No, she’s not one of us….I don’t understand.’

  The officer grabbed his radio…‘Josh… Jim…. get yourself back here now, we have got Lucy and Rosie!’

  ‘Come again?’ Jim responded.

  ‘To repeat, Lucy and Rosie are here….so get yourself bloody well back here now!’

  ‘B..But how?’ Jim asked, puzzled.

  ‘Some sort of mystery woman dropped them off…anyway they are here now, that is all that matters.’

  As soon as Josh and Jim returned to the scene, Lucy explained what had happened at the airbase, and how they had left Jozsef Halasz bleeding on the ground. A police van was subsequently sent to pick him up, and he was admitted to the hospital under police supervision.

  Jim elatedly dialled Tom’s number. ‘Tom, it’s over…we’ve got Lucy and Rosie.’ he relayed, calling him from the site.

  Jim could just hear Tom crying down the phone. ‘Here… I will put you on to Lucy.’

  ‘Tom, Tom…it’s ok, we are safe. I love you so much.’

  ‘Oh Luce, thank God you are both ok. I don…’

  ‘It’s ok, I know, you don’t have to think about that now. We’re coming back now.’

  ‘Ok darling. Love you.’

  Jim and Josh drove them both back to the Budapest Regent. As the door opened to their room, they were met by an overcome Tom. A big smile came across Rosie’s face as she recognized a sobbing Sadie, and as she looked over at Tom, the slow registration of familiarity flickered in her eyes. They ran towards each other, desperate to finally reach that longed for embrace of love and safety.

  After hot baths, a hot meal, and a visit from the hotel doctor, Lucy curled up on the bed with Tom. They looked on adoringly at Rosie, who was sat on the end of the bed with Sadie.

  ‘I can’t believe we have got our little Rosie back. Sam and our parents were shell shocked!’ Tom said, shaking his head.

  ‘I know, it seems unreal doesn’t it. After everything we have been through, we finally have our baby back.’

  ‘I think she is still a bit unsure of me.’

  ‘I know…. she was with me at first, but she will come round. It has really helped Sadie being here too I think.’ Lucy remarked.

  ‘Yes, I think it has… the poor sweethearts have been through so much.’

  ‘Well, it is all going to change now….that is the last time we are ever going to be apart.’ Lucy declared, leaning forward to kiss both girls on top of their heads.

  ‘So this mystery woman saved you did she?’ Tom queried.

  ‘Yes, it was so strange, she seemed to come out of nowhere.’ Lucy pondered ‘It’s funny though, as I felt like I’d seen her somewhere before.’

  ‘Maybe she was your guardian angel.’ Tom smiled.

  Lucy leant her head on his shoulder. ‘Yes…. I think maybe she was.’

  One Year Later

  Chapter 31

  ‘Come on girls you are going to be late for school’ Lucy shouted. ‘ …and you Sam’.

  Tom was finishing his toast, whilst Lucy held out Rosie and Sadie’s coat for them.

  Sadie had settled in to the Parker’s household, and after being awarded her temporary guardian, their long awaited official adoption had finally gone through.

  Lucy was so impressed with how they had both coped after what they had been through. They had developed a deep bond, and Sam loved having, not just one sister back, but a second one too.

  Rosie and Sadie went through lengthy counselling sessions, as did the whole family. Lucy and Tom were instructed not to push the girls for details of their ordeal, but allow them to unfold in their own time. After art therapy sessions to convey what they had been through, it appeared that Rosie had mainly been made to pick pocket, but Sadie had come out worse. She had escaped the brothel, but not, unfortunately, the hands of her pimps.

  Lucy and Tom’s main focus was to shower them with love and affection and to create a secure and family environment for them. They made sure they knew that the men that took them were very ill people, and that the girls hadn’t done anything wrong.

  Slowly but surely, they started to recover from their trauma, and after getting back into the normality of school life, and an extra special Christmas to make up for those they had lost, both girls started to flourish. Their hearts were finally mending and they were catching up on their missed childhoods.

  Brenda had become a firm friend, and had come to visit the family a few times over the year. She was overwhelmed at Lucy and Tom finding the girls. Lucy would never forget the invaluable help and support Brenda had given her in her desperate hour of need.

  Lucy had left her job as a teacher, and had started working at the Missing Person’s Charity, after feeling the burning desire to help other families reunite with their missing loved ones. Tom, meanwhile, happily resumed work, counting the hours each day until he could be back home with this family.

  ‘So what do you fancy doing for our summer holiday this year kids?’ Lucy asked.

  They all looked at each other and said in unison.

  ‘Stay at home!’.

  Tom smiled. ‘We can’t let them beat us though.’

&
nbsp; ‘I know…. but just for this year.’ Lucy replied.

  *****

  Marianne sat in the visiting area of the prison waiting to be called through. She hadn’t properly forgiven Gerard for his involvement with Jozsef Halasz, but she could see he was threatened into doing what he did.

  She had at least found some ounce of respect for him, in his acceptance to inform the police. He received three years’ imprisonment for his admission.

  Marianne loyally visited him once a week as she still loved him, despite his betrayal, and the thought of walking away from him broke her heart.

  Gerard was ashamed of what he had done, and Marianne couldn’t forget how nurturing he had been towards her in their twenty-two years together.

  She wanted to try and piece their marriage back together. She had sold the Beaux Arbres campsite. It held too many painful memories for her now, and she wanted to put the past well and truly behind her.

  There was another very important reason for her staying with Gerard. Little Amélie. Yes, after the heartache of not falling pregnant for ten years, she had finally conceived on the night before they contacted the police.

  Marianne had a moment of weakness when she thought she was going to lose Gerard forever. She was dumbstruck that after all these years, it had finally happened. It was a moment that they had both been eternally waiting for, and one that they should have been joyfully celebrating together…..not with Gerard behind bars.

  He was granted a private visit to meet his newly born daughter, and he lived for the videos Marianne showed him during her visits.

  They finally made a pact that this would mark a new start for them both. No more secrets, no more lies.

  *****

  ‘Lola you are terrible! Where did you meet him?!’ Chloe laughed down the phone.

  ‘Oh you know me, met him in a denim shop!’ Lola giggled.