The Naked Truth: Shall Set You Free (NEW ALBION Book 2)

by Wallace Greensage

  Chapter 9

  SEVEN-YEAR-OLD Paige stood with her mother outside the Principal’s office on the first Wednesday morning of the new school year. This was her first day at Kettley Primary School in Wellingbury. It was all so strange; her huge round eyes took in everything. It wasn’t at all like her previous school in South Carolina; she didn’t know a soul. And, she thought, everyone here speaks real weird!

  ‘You can go in now, Mrs. Solomons,’ said Miss Ginns, the Principal’s school secretary-cum-administrator, as she opened the office door wide. Before Paige passed through with her mother, Miss Ginns crouched to the same level as Paige. ‘Hello, young lady. Welcome to your new school,’ she smiled. Paige stared back. What the heck, she wondered, did that woman just say? Marie-Louise dragged her into the Principal’s office.

  ‘Good morning, good morning,’ Principal Brogan bellowed cheerfully, coming round his desk to greet them. Startled, Paige shrank behind her mother’s legs, burying her face into the flowing skirt.

  ‘Good morning, Mr. Brogan. Marie-Louise Solomons,’ she introduced herself confidently, her hand outstretched to shake his. ‘And this is my daughter, Paige.’ She drew Paige from behind her and pulled her into view. Marie-Louise Solomons was head and shoulders taller than the portly, diminutive man. An attractive, intelligent, slim woman, her long straight blonde hair tied back in a clip, she cut an attractive figure.

  Principal Brogan crouched to Paige’s level as Miss Ginns had done. ‘Hello, young woman,’ yelled Mr. Brogan at Paige, his mottled face with its bulbous nose close to hers. After all his long years in primary education he was still unaware that his loud voice at best alarmed and at worst terrified small children. His hearing was poor and that caused him to over-compensate, but he was naturally a loud man. Despite constant nagging by long-suffering Mrs. Brogan, he firmly believed that loudness equalled presence. And he certainly wanted to be noticed; he was important after all, wasn’t he? At least, he thought so.

  ‘Say hello, Paige,’ Mrs. Solomons prompted. Paige simply stared at the huge man in silence, wondering if she was in one of the Roald Dahl bedtime stories her father read to her each evening. He must be a thousand years old, she thought. She could at least understand her mother’s Southern American drawl. ‘Paige,’ her mother prompted again.

  ‘Hello,’ Paige whispered. Brogan didn’t hear her. Her head was down, her lips had hardly moved and he was unaware that she’d spoken.

  ‘Cat got your tongue, eh?’ he roared.

  ‘Say it louder, Paige,’ her mother told her.

  ‘Hi,’ Paige tried again a little more loudly, lifting her head to look at the odd wee man.

  ‘Eh?’ Mr. Brogan said.

  ‘She said hello, Mr. Brogan,’ Mrs Solomons explained loudly, realising the problem. He was none the wiser.

  ‘You’re the image of your mother, young lady,’ Brogan continued at the top of his voice. ‘And what’s your name?’

  Paige shuffled her feet. Marie-Louise explained to Paige what he’d asked. Eventually, Paige began to speak. ‘My name is…’ she began barely audibly.

  ‘Louder, Paige,’ her mother told her.

  Paige started again more confidently. ‘My name is Paige Solomons,’ she told him.

  ‘Eh?’ Mr. Brogan repeated.

  ‘She said her name is Paige…’

  ‘Let the child speak,’ he interrupted. ’Tell me your name, young lady.’

  Mrs. Solomons stared at the man, then took over. This clearly wasn’t working. ’Thanks for seeing us, Mr. Brogan,’ she said, pulling Paige round by her hand. ‘We’ll let you get on with...’

  ‘Eh?’ he bellowed.

  ‘We’ll let you get on with your day,’ she hollered back. ‘Thank you for seeing us. We’ll see Miss Ginns now.’ She pointed emphatically towards the secretary’s office and they made their escape.

  All ready for them, with the hint of a knowing smile on her lips, Miss Ginns welcomed them again and the real administrative business began.

  *

  Miss Ginns completed Paige’s registration, said goodbye to Marie-Louise Solomons and escorted Paige to her classroom. As she entered, she nodded to the teacher, clapped her hands and gained everyone’s attention. ‘Class, this is Paige Solomons. She’s joined us from America this term. Please make her welcome.’

  Paige’s teacher, Mrs. Tiffy Coltrain, showed Paige where she was to sit. The other children stared at her. Paige felt uncomfortable.

  As it was the first day of the school year, Mrs. Coltrain explained to the class what she wanted them to do. Fortunately for Paige, Mrs. Coltrain, as a true professional, spoke clearly and slowly and Paige understood most of it.

  *

  The children spent fifteen minutes outside at morning break under Mrs. Coltrain’s watchful eye. Paige knew none of the other children of course and stood awkwardly until three girls approached her.

  ‘Is your name Paige?’ a fair-haired girl asked. Paige nodded. ‘My sister’s name’s Paige an’ ‘all.’

  ‘Mine’s just Paige?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Mine’s just Paige. Not Paigernorl.’ The girls regarded her puzzlement.

  ‘No, she’s Paige too!’ the girl stressed. At least she understood that. These girls spoke really oddly, Paige thought. She wanted to make friends though; she was an outgoing child.

  She smiled at the three girls, pleased that they’d joined her. ‘Wanna play, y’all?’ she asked.

  The three girls stared at her in bafflement. ‘How do you play that?’ a black-haired girl asked after a moment.

  ‘Play what?’ Paige asked.

  ‘What you just said.’

  ‘Yeah, you said yorl,’ the third girl chimed in. ‘How’d yer play yorl?’

  Paige lost the plot. ‘What’s yorl?’ she asked.

  The girls looked at her in astonishment. ‘You said it, not us.’

  ‘What? Said what?’ Paige asked.

  The three girls stared at Paige. She stared back. ‘You’re a nutter, in yer?’ the fair-haired girl told her at last.

  ‘What?’ Paige asked again frowning, not understanding a word the other girl had said.

  The three girls spun away as one. ‘Nutter, nutter, new girl’s a nutter’ they chorused, then ran away chanting and giggling. Paige felt completely lost.

  *

  After break, Mrs. Coltrain paired the children ready for the next activity. Paige was dismayed to see that she was put to sit next to a boy. The day was getting worse, she thought. He clearly wasn’t pleased to be sitting next to a girl either; he shuffled along to put some space between them. ‘OK, here’s what I want you to do,’ Mrs. Coltrain called out. She explained a task with shapes and boxes and Paige and “Little Stevie” Perks – a sturdy tousle-haired child, named after his father - had no option but to work together. It didn’t go well!

  ‘No, not like that,’ Paige bossed for the umpteenth time.

  ‘It is like that! You’re doing it all wrong!’ Stevie retorted loudly.

  As Mrs. Coltrain passed their table, she reached over to help the two children. ‘You’re both doing it wrong,’ she told them patiently. ‘Here, let me show you.’

  Paige and Stevie watched carefully. ‘OK, you first Paige. That’s it. Well done. Now you Stevie. OK, now you know how to do it. Get on with it quietly.’

  Paige and Stevie looked at one another. Paige gave a small smile. Stevie glanced down shyly. That’s all it took. Paige had found her friend and Stevie…well, Stevie had managed to stay civil to a…to a girl! They ate lunch together and even found a way to understand at least half of what each other said.

  Chapter 10

  ‘I made a couple of calls last night,’ Ella told Charlotte on Wednesday morning, ‘about the situation with your friend Dana. It just so happens that one of our club members is a psychoanalyst with a close colleague who works at Hardston Prison. She says that she’ll keep an ear to the ground for us.’

  ‘How will that help?’ Charlotte wonde
red. ‘How does that work?’

  ‘All new inmates get a psychological assessment on arrival and all outgoing releases get a final check over too.’

  ‘So, if Spiralli gets someone to do his dirty work for him, can your friend actually know this?’

  ‘Probably not, but it’s worth keeping tabs on. At least we can keep an eye on Spiralli this way.’

  Chapter 11

  ‘HOW was your first day, Paige?’ her mother asked as she opened the car door at the end of the first school day.

  ‘Fine,’ Paige told her.

  That’s good enough for me, Marie-Louise thought. I’ll leave it at that.

  Chapter 12

  ‘HEY Jimmy, it’s Todd. How are things in beautiful Pereval?’ Stationed at the pretty South Coast tourist destination of Pereval, Jimmy Davies was the detective sergeant - and Todd’s police college friend - who had processed the criminals and miscreants with whom Todd had become entangled during his recent holiday. Todd had planned to keep in touch with Jimmy as the cases moved forward and this phone call on that Thursday morning set this in motion.

  ‘Hi Todd. Just fine thanks, but quieter now after the fun and games of last week.’

  ‘I hear you’ll get your convictions against the gang of four in the Lincoln when the case eventually comes up. Next week, isn’t it?’ The driver of the Lincoln had attempted to push Todd off the road as Todd was driving Spiralli’s truck back to its owner. That hadn’t gone well for the occupants of the large car.

  ‘No, I doubt it. The defence lawyers are trying to string this out even though it’s open and shut. It could take a while.’

  ‘Are you still involved?’

  ‘I wish! As expected the drug squad from New Albion Yard took over but not until after I’d interviewed and charged them all. It was worth working all night. Of course, I’ll be giving evidence at the case when it comes to court in Wellingbury, and so will you, so I’ll see you then.’

  ‘This won’t do your career any harm at all, Jimmy. Well done.’

  ‘Thanks Todd, but it’s really mostly down to you. I owe you a massive thank you. And you’re right about my career. I’ve been told that if they all go down, which they will, I should apply for Detective Inspector.’

  ‘Jimmy, that’s great. I hope it all works out. I heard on the grapevine too that you’re in line for promotion. Hopefully it’ll be a shoo-in.’

  ‘Hopefully, yes. Todd, for your peace of mind and to stop any gossip, the charges failed to mention the significance of SimpliCity and Barcelona Beach. It’s not relevant to the case.’

  ‘Oh! Well, that’s good to know, Jimmy. I was waiting for the ribbing to start. Thanks for that. I appreciate it.’

  ‘It’s the least I could do. Part of my thanks to you. When I see you, I want to know more about those places though. You promised that over a drink. You’d better be ready for a long night of it too! We have some single malt to get through!’

  ‘Yes, and we’ll do it again when your promotion comes through!’

  Chapter 13

  TODD called Dana on her mobile phone on Thursday afternoon. ‘Hi Dana, I have good news for you,’ he announced. ‘Spiralli has a restraining order against contacting you, either directly or indirectly, now or at any time in the future. He can’t come within five hundred yards of you.’

  ‘Oh, Todd, that’s so good to hear! I’ve been so worried.’

  ‘Yes, so stop worrying now. And by the way, indirect contact means that he’s not allowed to try to get to you through third parties either.’

  ‘Yes, but you know that he doesn’t really think these things through properly and there’s still a chance that he’ll try something.’

  ‘Yes, there is that risk, I’m afraid,’ Todd replied truthfully. ‘But he’ll be in serious trouble if he does.’

  ‘As long as it’s not too late.’

  ‘Dana, we’ll continue to do all we can to protect you, I promise.’

  Chapter 14

  AS they headed towards the gate at the end of the second school day, Paige punched Little Stevie on the shoulder as her way of saying “bye”, then ran. Stevie chased after her, belatedly seeing his short, slightly overweight dark-haired mother standing waiting for him with the other mothers. As he peeled away towards Renata Perks, Paige ran straight into the legs of Marie-Louise Solomons, who was waiting a few feet from Renata.

  ‘Who’s that?’ Renata asked Stevie as they turned to walk home. ‘Why did she hit you?’

  ‘Who’s that?’ Marie-Louise asked as she opened her car door for Paige. ‘Why did you hit him?’

  Neither answered. Mothers know nothing of friendships, Paige and Stevie simultaneously and subconsciously thought to themselves.

  Chapter 15

  DURING their evening meal on Thursday, Charlotte and Todd discussed the latest news about the restraining order placed on Spiralli. They were interrupted by a call.

  ‘Let it go to voicemail,’ Charlotte told Todd. ‘We can call whoever it is after dinner.’

  The voicemail clicked on and they heard a panicked voice. ‘Todd, please call me urgently. This is Dana. Phil Stelt came to see me today.’

  Todd raced over to the phone and picked up before Dana disconnected. ‘Dana, it’s me! Tell me what happened? I’m putting you on speaker. Charlotte’s with me.’

  ‘You won’t believe it! This afternoon, at work, he came to the shop.’ Dana worked at The Travel Shop, a travel agency in central Wellingbury. ‘He was full of apologies and trying to be charming, but he just came over as smarmy. At first he simply asked me what I planned to do about Ben now that the restraining order was in place. When I said that nothing had changed, he asked me outright to drop the assault charges against Ben. I didn’t answer him – I just stared at him. I couldn’t work out straightaway if he was serious. He asked me again, very politely, because, he said, we’re all good friends together and everything can be patched up.’

  ‘What did you say?’ Charlotte asked, incredulous.

  ‘I stuttered a bit but then said I couldn’t do anything about it now. It was too late. I was shaken and didn’t know what else to say. He said that yes I could. I should go straight away to withdraw the charge. He said it was the best thing to do. I asked him what he meant and he said that if I didn’t there could be trouble. I was starting to get angry by then and asked him exactly what he meant by trouble. He backed off and said that it was in everyone’s best interests to have the assault charge dropped. I asked him how it was in my best interest and he said that now the restraining order was in place, nothing more would be gained by carrying on with the charge against Ben. He had a point I suppose.’

  ‘No, he doesn’t have a point, Dana,’ Todd commented forcefully. ‘You have to go ahead with the assault charge. If you withdraw the charge and Ben appeals the restraining order, he may succeed. You need to see this through.’

  ‘I guess so,’ she replied hesitantly.

  ‘Look, I realise that dropping the charge seems the easiest course of action, but without the charge, he’ll be out of prison sooner and may even overturn the restraining order. I can’t protect you if that happens.’

  ‘Yes, I see what you mean now. I’ll go ahead but I don’t really want to be in the courtroom next week.’

  ‘You’re not likely to be called but there is a chance. Try to stay strong, Dana.’

  ‘OK, I’ll see it through if you think that it really is for the best.’

  ‘It really is for the best,’ Todd affirmed emphatically. ‘And don’t worry about Stelt bothering you again. I know how to handle that.’

  Chapter 16

  AS her mobile phone rang late on Thursday evening, Molly Hollingfeld glanced at it but didn’t recognise the number. She’d been busy at the restaurant at which she worked as sous chef. Her long dark wavy tresses were hidden under her cap and the white chef’s uniform hid her curvaceous body. Fortunately she was taking a short break from her work and had time for this call.

  ‘Hi Molly,
this is Justin. Remember me? That persistent guy at Pereval Beach last week that wouldn’t leave you alone.’

  Molly smiled to herself. ‘Justin, Justin…yeees,’ she teased. ‘I think I remember someone of that name. Are you a tall, slim guy who doesn’t wear clothes?’

  Justin Slevering laughed, relieved that she seemed pleased to hear from him. ‘Yes, that’s the one. You know, since last weekend it’s become really dull and boring around here. The weather is perfect and I’m in desperate need of wonderful company.’

  ‘And what do you expect me to do about your problem?’ Molly asked quietly.

  ‘Well, I’ve been thinking, and this is of course, up to you, and well, I hope you don’t mind me suggesting…’

  ‘Get on with it, Justin!’ she instructed with false impatience.

  ‘Well, I wondered if, I mean, do you think…’ he hesitated. ‘Would you like to come for a weekend and stay at the hotel – as my guest, of course?’ he blurted out. ‘Your own room, no cost, and of course no obligations. I really would like your company, that’s all. I have time off the weekend after next and if you like the idea…’

  Molly said nothing for a moment, stretching out the tension. ‘Hmm, I might think about it,’ she replied softly.

  ‘Really? You mean it? You’ll actually think about?’ he said excitedly. ‘Will you let me know soon so I can make sure you get the best possible room? If you decide to come, that is?’

  ‘Don’t get too excited. I’ll phone you tomorrow with my answer either way. And if I do come, I’ll let you know my terms and conditions at the same time!’

  ‘Fantastic! Marvellous! I’ll wait for your call.’

  Molly put the phone down with a smile. She’d already decided.