‘I know I’m in love with him and want to spend the rest of my life with him. I can’t understand why you aren’t happy for me.’
‘Oh Allie, you know I love you and your happiness means the world to me, but I can’t help thinking you’re making a terrible mistake.’
Alice shrugged. Deep down she agreed with Jenna, but it was too late now, she’d made her decision.
It all happened quickly after that. Charles wanted her to move in straight away, so he paid up two months advance rent on her flat, and also paid out the bar owner so they wouldn’t expect her to work out her notice. He then whisked her away from her current life and into a life of luxury.
Chapter 25
Present Time
Damion left Greengrass, Kentucky, and backtracked to the motel he’d seen earlier. He checked in, then immediately snapped the photo of Alice with his phone. He emailed it to Doofy, knowing he might be able to help find her, especially if she was active on social media. He booked a flight from Louisville to New York City for the next day then collapsed into bed, exhausted.
In the morning he drove to Louisville and dropped his car off at the rental depot, then made his way to the airport. Once he checked in, he sat down in a bar and checked his phone for messages. He could barely contain his excitement as he read an email from Doofy.
Hey Damion, my man, hope you’re having a fun road trip. I’ve got some excellent news for you. I’ve found some information on Alice. She now goes by the name of Allie Wilson and from what I can tell, she works in a bar in Soho.
She’s not on social media herself, but her friend, Jenna Boroughs, took a photo of her holding a flaming cocktail and tagged her name in it with the comment, ‘My mate Allie’s wonderful creation, ‘Hell in a glass.’’ She also marked the location as ‘Eclipse Bar’ in Soho. I browsed around Jenna’s Facebook profile, and from what I can gather, she works there with Alice, or Allie as she’s now known. There are some other photos of her on Jenna’s page as well, so check out the link I’ve attached. I’ll keep on searching, but for now, the Eclipse Bar is a place to start.
Take care mate, and let me know how you go.
Doofy aka Dave!
Damion was ecstatic with the news as he’d been wondering what to do when he arrived in New York. He landed at La Guardia and caught a cab directly to the Eclipse Bar. He recognised Jenna from her Facebook page as she served him.
‘Are you Jenna?’ he asked, after ordering a beer.
‘Depends who’s asking,’ she replied, smiling.
‘My name’s Damion Parker and I’m looking for Allie Wilson.’
‘Allie? Is she all right?’ Jenna asked, looking concerned.
‘I don’t know, I was under the impression she worked here.’
‘She did. Um... hang on a sec, let me get someone to cover for me.’ Another bartender came and took her place while she sat down with Damion at a table.
‘Who are you? What do you want with Allie?’ she asked.
‘As I said, my name’s Damion Parker and I need to talk with her. The last I heard, she worked here.’
‘She did, but she left about five weeks ago.’
‘Do you know where I can find her?’
Jenna narrowed her eyes, as if trying to figure whether she could trust him on not.
‘Why do you want to know?’
Damion took a deep breath.
‘I’m her father.’
‘Her father’s dead.’
‘Her adopted father is dead. I’m her biological father.’
Jenna narrowed her eyes again, not entirely convinced.
‘Allie never said she was adopted.’
Damion pulled out a photo of himself and Camilla, when they were together at high school.
‘Here’s a photo of me with her mother. She got pregnant when she was seventeen, and decided the best course of action was to have her adopted.’
Jenna stared at the photo, unable to believe how much the girl in it resembled Allie.
‘Is this for real, or is it photoshopped?’
Damion laughed. ‘It’s for real.’
‘And that’s her mother?’
‘Yep.’
‘Wow, Allie’s gonna freak!’
‘Do you know where I can find her?’
‘Sure do. She moved in with a guy, Charles Montgomery. I haven’t heard from her in about three weeks though and her phone keeps going to voicemail. To be honest, I’ve been a little worried about her.’
Jenna scribbled the address down and handed it to him. They also exchanged phone numbers and she promised to let him know if she saw her.
Damion checked into a hotel, planning to pay Alice a visit in the morning. He emailed Doofy with his latest information and asked if he could find any information on Charles Montgomery.
He then lay down on his bed, exhausted. He was dropping off to sleep when his phone rang.
Chapter 26
Leonora observed another homeless girl being brought into the Community, this being the third one in the last couple of months when normally they took in only two a year. She would save everyone if she could, but Camilla said that bringing too many people into the Community could upset the balance.
After giving the newcomer a medical, Camilla introduced the girl to Leonora.
‘Shelly, this is Leonora, one of the elders in the Community. She will show you around and help you settle in.’
Leonora stepped in and gave her a big hug. ‘Welcome to the Community Shelly.’
Camilla spoke again, interrupting them.
‘Shelly there’s one important rule that you cannot forget. You mustn’t talk about your previous life in London as the majority of people were born here and know nothing of the outside world. We want to protect their innocence so if you feel you want to talk about your past you must speak to either me or Leonora. Do you understand?’
Shelly nodded, appearing overwhelmed by it all.
‘Good, I’ll leave you with Leonora,’ she said, and swiftly left.
Leonora pulled the frightened girl into another hug. ‘Don’t worry about Camilla, it’s just her manner. She’s abrupt but she means well.’
‘Where are we?’
‘The Community.’
‘But where?’
‘It doesn’t matter where we are, just enjoy it. Come on, I’ll show you around.’
Leonora led Shelly to the creche, where the younger children spent their days while their parents performed the daily tasks.
As soon as Ben saw his mother, he ran over to her. He was a mini version of Damion, with his dark hair and eyes, and her heart wrenched at how much she missed his father.
‘Ben honey, this is Shelly. She’s new here so I want you to make her feel welcome.’
‘Hello Sally,’ he said, mistaking her name for that of his best friend. He walked up to her and gave her a hug.
A middle-aged lady ambled towards them.
‘Hi Fenella, this is Shelly,’ Leonora said, introducing them. ‘Fenella takes care of the young children, keeping them occupied with learning games and teaching them in the ways of the Community.’
‘Welcome Shelly, I hope you enjoy your time here,’ Fenella said.
‘Thanks, it’s all quite overwhelming. You’ve got a tough job here, looking after all these young ones.’
‘No, not at all, I love children.’
Leonora then ushered Shelly towards the kitchen, where people were busily preparing the evening meal.
‘This is the communal kitchen. We have teams, and everyone has a turn preparing the meals. Once you’ve settled in, we’ll assign you to a team as well.’
‘But I’ve never cooked anything in my life.’
‘Don’t worry, you’ll learn, everyone is so helpful. The first couple of weeks you’ll be settling in, getting oriented with the place.’
Leonora pointed to a series of banquet tables. ‘This is where we have breakfast and dinner.’
‘What do you eat?’
&n
bsp; ‘I’ll show you.’
They wandered over to visit the chickens. ‘The younger children collect the eggs as part of their daily tasks.’
‘What about the chickens, do you eat them too?’ Shelly asked, worried.
‘Not the hens, no. When we get too many roosters, they go on the chopping block, but you won’t have to kill them.’
Leonora pointed over to the hills which were scattered with cows and sheep. ‘There are some more protein sources roaming on the hill over there. We have a couple of butchers in the Community, you can learn the trade if you wish.’
Shelly screwed up her nose as if she had no interest in butchering a cow.
‘No, not for you?’ Leonora smiled, to show her she was kidding.
‘Definitely not.’
‘We use all of the animal, there’s no wastage. We eat the brains, liver, kidney, eyes, etc.’
Shelly screwed up her face again.
‘That’s another rule of the Community I’m afraid. It doesn’t cater to fussiness. You eat what you’re given and can’t waste any of it. But don’t worry, you’ll learn to love it. The cooking teams are good. In fact, they have a competition to try and outdo each other. We score their efforts and the top scoring team wins.’
‘What do they win?’
‘An extra week off. You see, each team works solidly for six weeks, then they have a week off. The winning team earns an extra week off, and the losing team works that week.’
What Leonora didn’t tell her was they rigged it, so everyone had their fair share of winning. Unless of course the food was terrible, then they were ‘punished’ in an effort to get them to try harder.
Leonora pointed to rows and rows of vegetables being tended to by one of the teams.
‘Vegetables are an important part of our diet and a lot of time is spent preparing the fields for the next crop. Come on, let’s go to the beach.’
She led Shelly down the path and over the dunes to the beach.
Leonora spread her arms, ‘And this is a massive food source. Fish in the sea, oysters on the rocks, scallops, sea eggs, crabs and sometimes crayfish.’
‘Yuck’
‘You don’t like seafood?’
‘No, the smell puts me off.’
‘Hey, you’ll get used to it. Once you get a taste for it, you’ll be addicted.’
Leonora plonked herself down on the sand and patted a spot next to her. ‘Take a seat.’
Shelly sat down beside her.
‘I know it’s all overwhelming, but I promise you’ll learn to love this place. I came here when I was your age, to escape the terrible life I had in London. It was scary, but exciting at the same time. My partner, Damion, is also from London. He moved here five years ago and was the most unlikely person to live here, but he has learned to love it. The place is addictive.’
‘I was told there’s no money here. How does that work?’
‘We live off the land as I’ve shown you. We work, we play, we sleep. Not much different to the outside world really.’
‘Doesn’t it get boring?’
‘No, there’s always something to do. And in the evening we have entertainment. If you have any talent you can join one of the bands. We have a dance most evenings, but sometimes the members act out a play. You can even write a book if you wish. I tell you, it’s great.’
She could tell Shelly wasn’t convinced, but that was normal. Leonora had been fifteen when she came to the Community some twenty-five years ago, and knew exactly how she was feeling.
‘If you have anything you want to talk to me about, come to me anytime. Even if it’s something about your past that’s nagging you. As Camilla said, you can talk to either me or her, but nobody else.’
Chapter 27
After Camilla left Shelly alone with Leonora, she headed off in search of Keith. She noticed him in deep conversation with Ethan, and wondered what they were talking about. It was unusual for him to talk with the younger ones.
Later on that day, she approached Keith.
‘I saw you talking to Ethan earlier. What were you talking to him about?’
‘He feels he’s outgrown the others in the Community and would like to become an Elder. He thinks he’d make a better contribution by guiding and mentoring the younger ones.’
‘He’s deluded!’
Ethan had grown too big for his boots and was upsetting the other members of the Community. Matilda had spoken to her about him and she in turn had tried to keep a closer eye on him. The problem was, he avoided her, never talking to her or coming near her.
Later in the day Camilla saw Ethan disappear towards the forbidden area so she followed him to find out what he was up to.
He followed the path over the hill and ended up outside the hidden cave containing the Jeep. She watched as he found the entrance and slipped inside. She crept over and hid in the nearby bushes.
Camilla could hear him talking to someone but could only make out a few words, Damion’s name being one of them. Her heart raced as she strained to hear more. Suddenly he stopped talking and she heard him leave. Too scared to move, she waited for ten minutes before peeking out from her hiding place.
The cave had been concealed again and Ethan had gone. Troubling questions raced through her mind. How did Ethan know about the cave, the phone, and more importantly, who was he calling?
She needed to call Damion, thankful she’d memorised his number. She entered the cave, retrieved the phone, and dialled it.
Please answer, please answer, she willed down the phone.
‘Hello, Damion speaking,’ his familiar voice boomed through the phone’s earpiece.
‘Damion, it’s Camilla.’
‘Oh, you finally decided to call me back. I tried to get in touch with you weeks ago.’
‘It’s the first I’ve heard of it.’
‘Did Keith not pass on my message? I talked to him four weeks ago. I found a strange file downloading on your computer from an application called ACLAS. I was bothered by the size of it, over 20 TB, so I cancelled the download and stopped the application. I took note of the file name in case it was important.’
Camilla held her breath on the other end of the line.
‘What was the file name, Damion?’
He told her, and she gasped, feeling dizzy and faint as she realised what this meant.
‘Damion, you need to get back here as soon as you can. Bring Josh and Terri with you. We might need them.’
‘But I’m so close to finding my daughter!’
‘Damion, that can wait. I believe you might be in terrible danger.’
‘What’s going on?’
‘I think he’s still alive, Damion. I know it, I feel it.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Oh my God, I feel silly saying it but I’m sure he’s still alive.’
‘Who? Who do you think is still alive?’
‘Martin,’ she said, before hanging up on him.
Chapter 28
Damion couldn’t believe the call he’d just had from Camilla. What was she talking about? Martin was dead. He’d been killed in a car accident five years ago; it had been all over the news and a new hospital wing dedicated to him. Had she lost the plot? The last time he thought she’d gone mad, he couldn’t have been more wrong. His stomach churned in turmoil. Should he go back to the Community, or continue the search for his daughter?
He decided to ring Josh, to let him know about the cryptic message he’d received, not wanting to worry Terri about it at this stage.
Josh answered the phone almost immediately.
‘Hey Damion, how’s the search going?’
‘Good, I’ve got an address, but I’ve just had the strangest call from Camilla.’
‘Oh no, what’s happened?’
‘She seems to think Martin is still alive.’
‘How can he be? We went to his funeral.’
‘I have no idea, but Camilla is usually right about such things.’
‘No, she said it, then hung up on me.’
‘Weird.’
‘She wants us to go back to the Community, you, me, and Terri, but I’m so close to finding my daughter. What do you think we should do?’
‘Well, Camilla acted on impulse once before and ended up saving my life. I say we go.’
Damion reluctantly agreed with him.
‘Okay, I’ll head back to London tomorrow. Can you please book the private plane for the day after?’
‘Will do, see you soon.’
Damion ended the call. He couldn’t believe his luck, being so close to finding his daughter. But business back home was a priority for him; he needed to be sure Leonora and his children were safe.
At least he’d found out that Alice was alive and well. Jenna seemed like a nice girl, and he was pleased she’d made a good friend.
Still, something niggled at him. If Alice had been so happy in her job as Jenna had suggested, why would she suddenly move in with a man she’d only just met? He could understand her craving security after the upbringing she’d had, but something wasn’t right.
Instinct told him he needed to dig deeper, but he couldn’t do that from the isolation of the Community. He called Doofy.
‘Damion my man, how’s it going in the big apple?’
‘Good thanks mate. Hey, just wondering if you’ve found out anything about Charles Montgomery?’
‘Not, sorry I don’t have enough to go on. Are you able to get a photo of him?’
‘No, I’ve got a few problems at home, so I have to head back to London tomorrow. Talk about bad timing!’
‘Yeah, you’re so close. Have you been to her apartment yet?’
‘No, I’m flying out tomorrow morning, I don’t want to meet her then run. Would seem a bit rude. I’m gutted though, my instinct tells me something suspicious is going on. Why would she suddenly move in with a guy she hardly knows?’
‘Yeah true. Hey, would you like me to come out to New York? Perhaps I could meet her for you?’
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