by S L Beaumont
“Hi, Gregory, thankfully the bruising has faded quickly,” I said, touching my face.
“Hope the police catch the guy.”
“Me too,” I said. “What can I do for you?”
“The opportunity to lead a technology project in the capital markets area out of the New York office has suddenly come up and your name was suggested,” he said. I must have looked surprised because he continued. “Look, I know it’s really short notice, but the project head has been in a car accident and is going to be in hospital for weeks and we can’t delay the implementation any longer. What do you think? Are you up for a challenge?”
“Ah, yeah,” I said. “How long is the placement?”
“Three months,” Gregory said, stroking his beard and studying me. “Starting next week.”
I gave a slow nod as my brain whirred. This was exactly what I needed to physically distance myself from both Colin, and Will, and to give me time to work out what, if anything, to do with the information I had on Colin. This was my opportunity to leave him, my opportunity to step out from his shadow and start again.
“We will need an answer fairly quickly,” he continued.
“I’ll take it,” I said.
***
Despite a late night out with the lads from Strathgarvan, Colin was up working when I woke the following morning.
“It’s the weekend, do you ever take a break?” I asked, standing in the doorway of the study. The desk lamp was on and Colin was engrossed in whatever was on the computer screen.
“When you’re growing your business, it’s twenty-four-seven, Jess, you know that,” he said continuing to type.
“I need to talk to you,” I said. He looked up from the computer. “I’m going to be working out of the New York office for the next couple of months.”
“What the hell for?” he snarled.
“Colin, it’s a great opportunity for me to further my career.”
“You won’t need a career once we start a family,” he said. “And that can’t happen if we’re in different countries.”
I looked at him as if he’d grown two heads. A family? Where the hell had that come from? That so wasn’t happening.
“Colin, things haven’t been great between us lately. A break will do us good. And besides it’s only for three months,” I replied.
A look of fury took residence on his face. He pushed back his chair, stalked towards the door and slammed it in my face.
Chapter 27
January 30
I was waiting on the platform when Will’s train pulled in. He called to me from a center carriage when the doors opened. I ran and jumped aboard.
“It’s a gorgeous day. I thought we should go somewhere different,” he said.
We travelled along the district line to Tower Bridge and walked to The Dickens Inn. The pub was in an old timber-framed warehouse. The balconies on each floor of the three-storied building were lined with window boxes and hanging baskets overflowing with colorful flowers. We were seated on the middle balcony at a small table overlooking the waterways. An outdoor heat lamp was attached to the wall to keep us warm.
“This is lovely, Will. I’ve never been here,” I said. “What’s the Dickens link?”
“Apparently, this is Charles Dickens’ old stomping ground. It was his grandson who opened the modern version of this pub. Anyway, what’s your news?”
“Firstly, I’m off to New York for three months,” I said. “I’m project managing a capital markets tech implementation.”
“Wow, that’s great, Jess.”
“Yeah it is for me. The person who was supposed to be leading it has had a car accident.”
“Not so good for them, but a good opportunity for you. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” I smiled at him.
“I will miss you though,” he added.
“I will miss you too.”
We gazed at each other for a long moment.
“Will, I want to run something past you,” I said after a waiter handed us menus and took our drinks order. “I might be jumping to conclusions, but something isn’t right and I don’t know what to do.”
Will reached across the old wooden table and gave my hand a squeeze. “Talk to me, Jess.”
Unexpected tears pooled in my eyes and I took a deep breath before continuing, my gaze focused on our still linked fingers.
“My father was investigating Colin at the time of his death, unbeknown to me, and left me a secret safety deposit box full of information pertaining to his investigation,” I said, raising my lashes to gauge his reaction.
Will’s eyes narrowed and he leaned closer. “What do you mean?”
“There are several things and I haven’t unraveled it all yet, but I suspect that Colin is using the freight business as a cover for arms dealing.”
“Do you have some evidence of this?” Will asked, his eyes wide.
I nodded. “Dad somehow got a hold of a contract for a company called Mendelson, who provide weapons under an exclusive agreement to the British Army. He also found out that L-FLI had the contract to deliver the weapons from Mendelson’s factory to an army base, however I’ve managed to download the shipping manifests from Colin’s office which appear to show that there is surplus being produced which is transported from the factory by L-FLI to its London depot. I’d have to show you to explain fully.” I took a deep breath. “You’ve no idea how good it is to tell someone about this.”
“Jess, this is serious.”
“I know, which is why I have been trying to gather as much information as I could before doing anything with it. If I get this wrong, I could end up like Dad.”
Will released my hand and sat back, his face stony. “You don’t think he was murdered over this?” he asked in a quiet voice.
“Possibly, I honestly don’t know. There are a few things that don’t add up.”
Will swore under his breath.
“He thought his life was in danger,” I said. “Dad’s assistant told me that he had two visitors right before his death. I think that they either injected him with something that caused the heart attack or suffocated him in some way, as there was evidence of petechial hemorrhaging in his eyes that couldn’t be explained. The cameras in their building were conveniently not working, but she managed to get some CCTV stills from a nearby office which showed the legs of these two visitors returning to a black vehicle and a partial license plate. The thing is, I saw a black SUV with the same three number plate digits at Colin’s warehouse yesterday.”
“What?!”
“I don’t know what to do with this. I should probably do nothing, but my instincts are telling me that something is about to happen,” I said. “Colin is really volatile, more so than usual.”
Will frowned. “I have a mate who’s a detective at the Met–let’s get him involved.”
“I don’t know. Will, I’m off to New York tomorrow for three months. I’ve been trying to leave Colin for a while, but I’ve been too scared. This is my opportunity to make a clean break. He knows who beat me up, Will, and he did nothing about it. And you were right, he has hit me and treated me poorly. I’ve been so stupid,” I said, putting my head in my hands. “I’m better than this and I’ve let him control me for too long.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Will said. “But there’s more going on here than Colin just being a crap husband. You need to tell the authorities, let them deal with things.”
“There is more.”
“Go on,” Will said, a wary tone in his voice.
“I also think he knew the guys that beat and probably killed a man near his office a few weeks ago. I was there, I saw them beating him. Colin dragged me away. He has surrounded himself with some really nasty people.” I sat back as the waiter delivered our drinks; beer for Will and red wine for me. I took a large gulp.
“Okay, why don’t you give me what you’ve got and I’ll send it on to my mate?” Will suggested.
I nodded. “Thank you.
I’ve scanned most of it and saved it to a flash drive.” I rummaged around in my bag before sliding the drive across the table to him.
“I’ll pass it on. He may want to talk to you,” he said. “Jess, I’m pleased you’re going to be away from him for a few months,” he added.
“Me too,” I said. “I’m actually a little scared of what he might do if he thought I was leaving for good.”
Will’s knuckles were white as he gripped the edge of the table, but otherwise, he showed no reaction. “You need to do what’s right for you, Jess. At best he’s a bully and you know I think you’d be better off without him.”
“I know. I feel like the scales have suddenly fallen from my eyes and I’m seeing him for who he really is. It’s like he’s a chameleon who adapts to the situation. At the start of our relationship he played the role of the caring, considerate boyfriend with ease, then the happily married newlywed. Now he’s playing the part of successful young businessman with the skill of a Juilliard trained actor. I’m not sure what comes next. I guess in the beginning I was so under his spell that I didn’t care if he seemed to be too good to be true. But now, it all feels off, wrong somehow.”
“There is nothing in this that is your fault,” Will said.
I nodded as it dawned on me that I was feeling hopeful for the first time in a long while. I hadn’t realized that leaving for the right reasons, for me, not just to be with Will, was so important. The project in New York would give me the time I needed to move on from them both. I knew that I no longer loved Colin. Whatever had been there was gone. I also wasn’t sure that I could allow myself to fall for Will again. My feelings for him were complicated and way stronger than I was willing to admit, even to myself. I knew deep down that what I really needed was time alone, to just be Jess again before I could commit to another relationship.
I didn’t think I’d be able to eat after that conversation, but I felt an enormous weight lift off me after confiding in Will, and I managed to share one of the Inn’s famous pizzas and a salad with him, before we wandered along the water ways admiring the boats and waiting for the pedestrian bridges to lower after boats passed through. The sun was shining and I felt as though I had a brighter future ahead of me.
We got the tube back to Earl’s Court and walked to Will’s apartment. I didn’t intend on going in, but he insisted.
“Will Colin be home?” he asked.
I shrugged. “He said he was golfing, but I’m beginning to think that’s a euphemism for something else.”
“Stay out a little longer. I won’t get to see you for a while after today,” he said.
I followed him up the stairs. I stood at the window looking down at a group of children playing hide and seek among the trees and shrubs in the square across the road, while Will made coffee.
He came up behind me and slipped his arms around my waist and leaned down resting his chin on the top of my head. “Mmm… I’m going to have to come and visit you in New York,” he said.
“I’d like that.” I closed my eyes and leaned back into him. I tensed as he flexed his hands up and over my ribs and spun me around to face him. I tipped my head back to look at him. Those deep blue eyes roamed my face, before settling on my lips. I read his intent very clearly and began shaking my head trying to step back out of his embrace. All I succeeded in doing was backing myself up against the window ledge. Will moved with me, a smile dancing around his lips.
“Where are you going, Jess?” he asked, bracing his hands on the sill either side of me.
“Home, I think,” I replied.
He looked at me for a long moment before stepping back and holding his hands up.
“As you wish,” he said.
I stepped around him and walked across the room, picking up my bag from the chair where I had dropped it. At the door, I turned. Will was standing with his back to me looking out of the window. What the hell was I doing? I knew better than to spend time alone with him like this. It always led to one thing. I realized then that was another reason that I had agreed to see him today. I needed to say goodbye on my own terms, not because he decided it was time to move on, but because I had.
I dropped my bag and strode back across the room at the same time as he turned and stepped towards me. We met halfway. We held each other’s eyes for several seconds before he lifted me up to kiss me. I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. Our kisses were gentle at first. I wound my hands through his hair and pulled his mouth harder onto mine. He made a small sound of surprise at my aggression and moving his hands beneath my butt to balance me, he began walking us towards his bedroom. He kicked the door open and we fell back on the bed, mouths still joined. I sat up straddling him and pulled my jumper off, followed by my t-shirt. Will propped himself up on his elbows and smirked, enjoying my performance. I turned my attention to the buttons on his shirt as his hands closed over my breasts gently squeezing and caressing. As I undid the last button on his shirt and ran my hands over his broad chest, I felt my bra give as he undid it, sliding the straps down my arms. I bent my head and kissed a very sensitive spot on his neck.
“Oh no you don’t,” he murmured and flipped me onto my back. I arched into his touch, tugging his hair, and pulled his mouth down to meet mine.
Chapter 28
January 31
I closed my suitcases and took a final turn about the flat. Everything that was really important to me, but not going to New York, had been packed in several boxes and collected by a storage company earlier in the day. The rest was just the debris of married life and could easily be replaced–kitchen stuff, IKEA furniture, books and linen.
My flight was at 5 pm, so I had a few hours to kill before the car was picking me up to take me to Heathrow.
I gathered my courage and decided it was time to go and see Colin, who had left the flat early muttering something about going to the warehouse.
I spent the morning going over what I was going to say to him. After all it’s not every day you leave your husband. Unfortunately, my conversation with Will the previous day had only served to have a number of my suspicions confirmed and I had decided when I woke this morning, that rather than just sneaking away, I needed to have a tough conversation with Colin, before leaving for New York tonight.
Walking to the tube, I typed a text to Will.
‘Thank you again for listening yesterday and for passing the info on to your mate at the Met.’
My fingers hovered over the send icon considering whether I should say anything about what happened back at his flat, but I guess that kind of spoke for itself. It was our goodbye in a way. I tapped send. He replied as I reached the underground station.
‘Anytime Jess. What time does your flight leave?’
‘5pm. I’m on my way to confront Colin with some of my questions now, and to tell him that I’m leaving him.’
As the DLR train emerged from underground a little while later, my mobile chimed with notification of no less than ten missed calls from Will. I frowned as he rang again.
“Jess, I don’t think it’s a good idea to talk to him yet. Think it over for a few days, wait to see what my mate has to say and call him from New York if you have to.” Will sounded out of breath.
“What? You’ve changed your tune.” I was baffled by the sudden turnaround.
“I just don’t think it’s wise. You need to be careful. He could turn nasty.”
“It’ll be fine. There’ll be other people around. Anyway, I’m almost there. I’ll let you know how it goes.”
I heard him swear as I disconnected the call and pocketed my phone. I needed to do this and not be dissuaded by him.
I alighted at Devon Road Station and hailed a passing cab to take me down from the station to Limehouse Cut.
The large roller doors on the L-FLI depot were all closed, which surprised me. There was no answer on the intercom, so I entered the building through the small side door using the passcode that I’d seen Kathleen entering a couple
of days earlier. The warehouse was silent and gloomy. I walked down the first row of stacked boxes towards the stairs to the offices on the mezzanine level.
“Hello?” I called. I had expected the warehouse to be a hive of activity during the day. The international freight business was 24/7 as Colin liked to keep reminding me, but perhaps all of the drivers had already picked up or dropped off their deliveries early since it was a Sunday. There was a solitary white van parked inside the warehouse.
The heels of my shoes were the only sound as I climbed the stairs. I peeked into the office not expecting to see Kathleen or Sarah, and sure enough, their desks were empty and computers switched off, but I heard a muffled noise coming from behind Colin’s door. I crossed the room and pushed the door open. Lying bound and gagged on the floor was a man in a security guard’s uniform. He was bleeding from his temple and struggling to sit up. I rushed over to him and helped him into a sitting position and undid the gag.
“Are you okay? What happened?” I asked the stranger as I moved behind him to untie his hands. “Where’s Colin?”
“Right here.” Colin’s voice came from behind me as I loosened the knot around the man’s wrists. I spun around to see my husband in the doorway, a gun dangling from his hand. I stared at it and then at Colin.
“What’s going on? Who’s this?”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Colin demanded as he entered the room pushing past me towards his desk.
I eyed the gun and started backing towards the door. “I thought I’d see if you had time for coffee before I go, but I can see you are busy,” I said, taking the final couple of steps and turning to run.
Colin crossed the room in three large strides and pushed the door shut before I could leave, trapping me in the office with him and the security guard. I stood trembling, facing the door. Something was very wrong. It wasn’t that my worst nightmares were coming true, it was beyond anything that I would have dreamed of. What could I do now?