by Conrad Jones
“Hello, you,” he said brightly.
“Oh, thank God you’re here,” Annie said. He kissed her on the cheek and it felt right. “I am climbing the walls in here.”
“I’ve brought you some magazines and another couple of books.”
“You’re a lifesaver.” Alec put the reading material on her locker and sat down next to the bed. “Tell me what is going on in the real world. What is new?”
“Well the CPS is happy to proceed against Markevica and his men. They’ll throw away the key.”
“How many of them?” Annie asked abruptly.
“Ivor and five others,” Alec said proudly.
“For fuck’s sake,” Annie sighed. “That is a joke!”
“It cuts the head off the snake and his key men will go down with him.” Alec felt a little bit miffed by her response. “It is a good result.”
“Meanwhile, he’ll run everything from behind bars and nothing has changed,” Annie sighed. She could tell that she had upset Alec with her comments but that was how she felt and that was that. She had a lot of time to think about things; to put things into perspective. “Change the subject. Is there any good news?”
“Kayla Yates was released from hospital yesterday,” he said smiling. Annie’s expression changed slightly. “She’ll need to use a wheelchair for a while but they think she’ll make a full recovery.” Annie didn’t respond. “That’s good news isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Annie forced a smile.
“What’s wrong?” Alec touched her hand with his fingers. Annie adjusted her hand and squeezed his tightly. Alec liked the feeling and reciprocated. They had been growing closer during her recovery period. The professional barriers seemed to be breaking down. “Are you okay, Annie?”
“No, Alec,” Annie said with a shake of her head. “I’m not okay. Every time I think of what happened, I feel sick.” She paused. “Of course I am glad Kayla is on the mend but talking about it makes me feel...scared.”
Alec held her hand tighter. “That is only natural. It will pass. You bounced back last time and you will again. You’ll see.”
Annie shook her head. “Not this time, Alec. I have made my mind up.”
“About what?”
“Coning back to work,” she said. Alec knew what was coming. “I can’t do it anymore. I’m sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. Do you never get weary of it, Alec?”
“What you’re going through is a natural reaction, Annie. You don’t need to make any decisions right now. Who knows how you will feel in six months time?” He smiled and leaned closer. “You love your job.”
“Not any more, Alec. I don’t love it any more,” she touched the faded scar on her face. It had started to ache recently. “In fact I hate it.”
“Annie...”
“No, Alec. Don’t patronise me, please. I know how I feel.”
“I wouldn’t patronise you, Annie. All I am saying is that you know how you feel right now. That could change.”
“It won’t change,” she said with a smile. Her lips were quivering a little as she spoke. “Do you know when I changed my mind about it?” Alec shook his head and listened. “They made me kneel down and look into my grave,” she said slowly. She stopped as if taken away by thought. Alec felt sick. He couldn’t bear to think of her there alone. Deep in the forest thinking that she was going to die. “When I looked into that hole in the ground, I thought, is this it? Is this what all the sixteen hour days were for? Have I sacrificed becoming a wife and a mother, a grandmother even, just for this? What the fuck have I achieved? In the grand scheme of things, absolutely nothing,” Annie said. She looked at Alec and he could see that she meant it. Her expression told him that she wasn’t for turning this time. “When I was kneeling there, I didn’t want to be a police officer anymore, Alec. I wanted to be a civilian. I wanted to be safe at home with my husband and my kids and my dog with nothing more to worry about than what to make for tea. Do you get that?”
“Of course, but...”
“But what?” she interrupted him curtly. “But fucking what?”
“I get it, Annie honestly I do. I guess I just don’t want to lose you,” he said touching her face with his fingertips. She placed her face against his hand. “When I thought that we had lost you, I didn’t think that I would cope without you. I don’t want to lose you from the job and I don’t want to lose you from my life.”
“That is the thing, Alec.”
“What is?”
“It is the same thing.”
“I don’t follow.”
“The job and your life are the same thing. Your job is your life. My job nearly cost me my life twice. I am not going to give it the opportunity to do it again.”
“What are you saying?”
“I am not going back to work. I am not going home, Alec. The insurance company will rebuild my house but I won’t go back there.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to sell it,” she nodded adamantly. “I’m going to retire, take my pension, sell my house and travel the world. I have given enough of life to the job. No more. Seeing my own grave made me realise how much I want to live my life.” She kissed his hand. “We don’t live in that job, Alec. We exist. We spend years chasing the dregs of society, weeks of sleepless nights to lock them up so the system can spit them straight back out again and for what? I could earn more in a mid management job in retail. I have given enough of my life to this impossible cause, Alec. We can’t win. We will never win and I don’t even care anymore. It is time to live a little before I die. Look what happened to Jim for God’s sake. Is that not enough to convince you that it is time to get out?”
Alec sighed. He felt defeated. It was a powerful argument. He couldn’t challenge a single point. “What the hell would I do at my age?” he said with a shrug.
“Travel the world, Alec.”
“Is that an invite?”
“I could do with the company. I’m fragile at the moment.”
“Never thought of myself as a bodyguard.”
“Neither have I,” Annie said. She pulled him towards her, their lips touched, gently at first but it soon became more urgent. Alec knew right then that wherever Annie Jones wanted to be, he would be right next to her.
*******************
Across the city, Julia Fox was holding court at the cocktail bar. Panoramic 34 was packed with diners and drinkers. Below them, the city lights twinkled into the infinity of the night. She was lording her success at selling another exclusive to the nationals and a number of follow up articles had already been sold. This story had attracted global interest for the best part of a month. Channel 4 had approached her with the idea of a drama documentary about the Latvian gang Three and she was only too happy to sign up for it if the price was right. European law enforcement agencies were queuing up to charge Ivor Markevica and his cohorts but they would be tried in the UK first. Media interest in the gang had gone off the scale and Julia had suddenly become the recognised source of information about them. What she didn’t know, she made up. Despite the tremendous amount of legwork done by her team, she was basking in the praise and using the word I far more than we. It had been an expensive project. They had bought and bribed more informants than on any other story. The interest from the nationals was unprecedented as were the amounts they had paid. She looked around. Her staff were as drunk as monkeys. The volume was increasing with every round of cocktails and at nearly two hundred pounds a round, it was going to be an expensive night.
She excused herself and made her way through the throng of employees to use the toilets. The crowd thinned as she reached the corridor that led up some stairs to the restrooms. The ladies were spacious and brightly lit. The porcelain gleamed and the woodwork was polished and waxed. The mirrors were spotless and offered users a view from floor to ceiling. Julia used the toilet and flushed the chain. She opened the cubicle door and looked at the magnificent view through the window. Thirty four floors up fro
m the city streets she was celebrating a month of success that would surely see her going to London to further her career. She believed that it was her destiny to be a well known name amongst the capital’s journalists. She washed her hands and reapplied her lipstick before heading back to the bar. As she walked down the corridor, a door opened behind her. She paid no attention until she was yanked violently by the hair. Her attacker lifted her off her feet and dragged her backwards. Her feet danced in thin air. The pain was excruciating and she could feel her hair being ripped from the scalp. She tried to scream but a hand clamped over her mouth and all she could manage was a muffled squeak. Her attacker dragged her through a utility room and slammed her against the wall. Julia was convinced that she was going to be raped.
The man produced a hammer and she closed her eyes. He raised it and brought it down in a wicked arc against the window. The glass shattered. A second blow punched a huge hole in it. Julia felt the wind blowing through it. It was icy cold. Her attacker lifted her up.
“Ivor Markevica doesn’t like what you have written about him. He wants you to think about that on your way down.”
Julia was hoisted up further and then launched from the window. The diners and drinkers on the floor below were horrified as Julia whizzed by the restaurant on her way down to the pavement below.
I hope you enjoyed Thr3e.........I enjoyed writing it and I am already on the next book. Could you do me a massive favour and take two minutes of your precious time to post a review via the link below. They really help an author much more than you think.........thanks again for reading my novels.
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Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
Chapter 2
CHAPTER3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 58
CHAPTER 59
CHAPTER 60
CHAPTER 61
CHAPTER 62
CHAPTER 63
CHAPTER 64
EPILOGUE