Category: Fiction

What do these mean?

I’ve been reading the latest headlines and picked out a few:

The seems to be a currency war,

Oil prices are set to rise in line with a cut in production,

Some tankers will not be plying the Hormuz strait,

There was a massive power outage in the UK,

Gold prices are rising,

North Korea is shooting missiles into the sea

The USA needs more missiles,

There are Chinese survey vessels in the South China Sea,

In Russia there is an explosion on a secret base with nuclear implications, and,

There might be a global recession coming.

What do all these events mean?  Nothing really when taken individually, but when you start combining them, then the thriller writer in me starts to see all sorts of conspiracies and plotlines for stories.

For instance

Take that explosion in Russia, and the fact the word nuclear is attached to it, and then look at the massive power outage in the UK.  What if that site was a laboratory, working on small,  powerful bombs that can easily be carried, installed, in or around vital infrastructure, and in that quest for smaller and more powerful something goes wrong.

After all, isn’t that what testing is for?

And the fact there’s been one major event involving vital infrastructure, should we be looking for more?  Then there are a few problems with bombs being attached to tankers in the Hormuz Strait.  Does anyone see the potential for an apocalyptic event coming on?

Then the North Koreans are firing test missiles, and the US calling for more missiles to add to their arsenal.  Are they using North Korea as an excuse?  Or is there something more sinister going on with Chinese survey vessels in the South China Sea?  What if they’re not survey vessels?

Then there’s a small matter of rising oil prices.  Whilst the same report might say that the rise is due to OPEC cutting output, there could be other reasons, such as the currency war that’s about to erupt, and will this pre-emp a global recession.  A good indicator of impending disaster, wars, and other maladies is the rising price of gold.

The gold market goes into overdrive when currency starts to lose value, recessions are coming or have arrived, or there is about to be a war, or there is one.  The US and China are facing off, the US and half the middle east are a disaster waiting to happen, and, hang on, North Korea is being provocative, and in a late development, India and Pakistan are facing off over Kashmir.

Are we surprised people are turning to gold?

Maybe I should go back to doing the crossword, and ignoring the news.

The cinema of my dreams – I always wanted to write a war story – Episode 52

For a story that was conceived during those long boring hours flying in a steel cocoon, striving to keep away the thoughts that the plane and everyone in it could just simply disappear as planes have in the past, it has come a long way.

Whilst I have always had a fascination with what happened during the Second world war, not the battles or fighting, but in the more obscure events that took place, I decided to pen my own little sidebar to what was a long and bitter war.

And, so, it continues…

…

Carlo had returned, as promised, just over an hour later, and over the map, he showed where the explosives had been placed, under the tank, and where the men were camped.

They were set to go off in the early morning, giving them several hours before they had to assemble for the assault.  According to Carlo, the explosives would neutralise the tank and immobilise about 30 of the enemy.

That was only one problem.

The other was the men that the new commandant had sent out of the castle to presumably hunt down Atherton and whatever resistance was left.  They were noisy and failed to see Carlo following them, listening to their conversation.

It was obvious they were not trained for stealth.

The first mission was to take those men out of the equation.

Then there was a third problem, the last of the resistance in the castle, those left behind by Fernando, had taken all the prisoners out of the castle and executed them.

Carlo had then killed those men and left them with the bodies of the murdered defectors, and, unlike his German counterparts, he had undertaken it swiftly and silently.

Our force of eight moved quietly in the direction Carlo last saw the soldiers heading, he assumed towards the underground wine cellar where Martina had taken me after I had been captured.

We managed to hide Chiara in a spot where the enemy if they came to the church, would not find her.  The plan was to find them before they got to or left the cellar.

Of course, like any plan, it could always be guaranteed to go wrong.

The last time I went from the cellar to the church, it had been by an old truck, and by my estimation, it would take us about half an hour by foot.  It might, by the time we got there, and found them missing, make us late for the main event.

I looked at my watch about a dozen times on that trek, fretting about time which for some odd reason seemed to be passing faster than usual.

Then, Carlo was waving his hands, a signal I assumed was to tell us to stop.  We were not far from the cellar.  I recognised the landmark used to find it.  We formed up in a line just inside the thicket line, a bunch of overgrown bushes providing excellent cover.

Beyond that, we could see intermittent flashes of light from torches.  The soldiers were making no attempt to hide their presence.

Blinky was beside me.  “What the hell are they playing at?”

“Perhaps they thought if they made a bold attack we’d wilt under the surprise.”

“Or just shoot them.  Why are we waiting?”

“Carlo is ascertaining their position.”

“You trust this Carlo.  He could be leading us into a trap up at the castle.”

I was surprised he’d taken this long to express his reservations.  “Don’t be surprised if he kills everyone in the German squad himself.  His home was in that castle.  It was his life.  They killed his friends.  He is not forgiving.”

Jack chose that moment to return from wherever he’d gone soon after we reached the thicket.  He had come with me from the church, and I wondered if he knew just how dangerous it could be.  He flopped down beside me, waiting.

“What’s with the dog?”

“We found each other at an ambush.  Been with me ever since.  I have no idea if he’s German, or Italian, or if he understands English.  But there’s no questioning his loyalty, he helped me take down Jackerby.

“Well, just as long as I don’t trip over him in the fray of battle.”

We watched the German soldiers who remained on sentry duty when I thought the entrance to the cellar was, and I assumed the others were down in the cellar.

It was what Carlo said was the case when he returned.

Ten in the cellar, two on guard, though I would not call what they were doing sentry duty.  They were smoking and talking, guns leaning up against a tree.

Easy shots for our sniper who at this moment had both in his sights.

Carlo kneeled beside me and said, “Cover your ears, pass it on.”

I did, and thirty seconds later there was a huge explosion followed by a storm of soil particles falling on his.  The sniper, in the instance following the boom, shot the two sentries.

German forces were eliminated.

The only issue was the castle was now alerted to our presence, so our arrival at the castle was going to be a little more difficult.

…

© Charles Heath 2021-2023

A to Z Blog Challenge – April 2025 – Z

…

Z is for Zoo.  It seemed that who’s who in the zoo was about to be very much a statement.

…

There’s the easy way and the convoluted way to go to jail. 

The first, the easy way, commit a crime, hand yourself in, plead guilty, and the justice department will be falling over themselves to frogmarch you to the front gate

The hard way, trying to create a foolproof backstory with official evidentiary documents, to take you seemingly from one jail to another without raising suspicion.

Of course, it was never my intention to become a felon, but people are sometimes so stupid they don’t know when to back off.  And, of course, we are trained never to ‘lose it’ under any circumstances, but I did.

In front of about a hundred other prisoners who made very reliable witnesses.  He was kind of popular, so that made my continued presence in that prison untenable.

Hence the move.  No trial, an extra twenty years, I should see the world outside again when I was too old to enjoy it.

I would have time to contemplate the mistakes of the past for a long time.  Or not.  The prison I was going to was notorious for chewing up and spitting out newbies in their system.

I had a name, Louie.  It’s best not to call him that, I was told.  He was the one to look out for.  There were another hundred or so, all varying degrees of Louie-like danger, so my hands would be full for a while.

Along with six other new prisoners, we were taken inside.  There we were given the once over by the warden, whose expression when he looked at me was the very definition of hatred.  Then he had three of the guards drag me into a room up the passage. Special treatment, he said with a smile, that told me it was not a special I was going to like.

Once onside with door shit, two professionals, the guards beat me with their batons.  Bruises, abrasions, and barely able to walk, I rejoined the others, who all looked the other way lest they incur the same wrath.

An hour in the dispensary, then taken to meet my new best friend, it was the greeting I expected.

The guard stopped me outside the two-bunk cells that I would get to call my Hilton hotel room.  My roomie was lying on his bed, odd since he should be out on the exercise yard with his friends, but I was guessing he was going to lay down the ground rules.

“Your new roomie, Dyson.”

He glanced over at me, then at the guard.  “I’m paying the single rate.”

“Not any more.”  The guard nodded at me to go in and shake a plain to the empty bed.

This is going to be interesting.

I took a step towards the bunk, and he was out of his bunk and standing in my way.

I looked him straight in the eye.  “This can go two ways, Dyson.  You keep standing there, and I get to stake a few weeks on solitary.  Since I’m used to it, it’s no skin off my nose.  But you, you might not walk again, or maybe this time I’ll see if I can rip your arm off and beat you with it.  Lasy guy, I tried to prove it could be done, but he died.  You know where I’m from, and you know why I’m here.”

I made it menacing enough.  Most of the men in this jail didn’t frighten easily.

Tyson looked at the guard. 

“My money is on the fact he’ll do it.  Plenty of you idiots who don’t know when to leave well alone.  I’ll turn around so I can say I didn’t see who started it.”

Which is what he did.

Tyson backed down and sat on his bunk.  “Louie isn’t going to be pleased.”

“Not trying to please or displease anyone.  All I want is a quiet contract and to be left alone.”

And knowing that was never going to happen.

“Get along, Dyson.” The guard said, just before he left.

After I threw everything on the bed, not that it amounted to much, and certainly nothing worth stealing, it was time to get some air.

The cell was quite stuffy, and Dyson wasn’t the cleanest of men.  I might tell him later, when he is a little more friendly.

“Which way to the exercise yard?”

“Follow the passage to the end and turn left.  You’ll see it.”

“Don’t like exercise?”

“Don’t like the inmates.  You’ll see.”

I’m sure I would.  As far as I was aware, Louie had my resume, and when I read it, it was impressive.  Mostly enemy soldiers, but there were also a few who were not.

I came out into the sunshine, and when the others out there realised who it was, they stopped and glared at me.  Not in a friendly manner.

There were two waiting by the entrance, ready for what? Were they expecting trouble?.  I could see the man called Louie on the other side, sitting on the bleachers, his acolytes around him.

The two men were almost beside me when they stopped.  One of the left, short, obese, and sweating badly, said, “You have an appointment.”

The one on the right looked menacing.  He was in trouble because he had his hand in his pocket, so there was a ship, knife or another weapon there.

Np point in giving him an excuse to get beat up.

I shrugged. “I don’t remember making one, but if you say so.”

He nodded in the direction of the man I thought was Louie.  I shrugged again and walked.  Slowly.  If things went south, I needed a strategy.

Of course, there was never enough time.  We were standing in front of him.  No matter.  He was intent on ignoring me because he could.  He was the boss.  I’m not sure how or why.

A minute passed, then two. 

Never the patient, man, I said, “Listen shit for brains, you make an appointment you keep it.  I’ll count to three, and if your head’s still up your ass, then I’m going over the other side.”  I waited a few seconds, then said, “One.”

He glanced at me.  To do otherwise would lessen his prestige.

“Two.”

He smiled, then turned.  “Have you noticed people are always in a hurry?”  He said it to no one in particular.

“To fie,” I said.  “Yes, they are. I’m sure you don’t want to be one of those, do you?”

The smile turned to a frown.  “You should be more respectful.”

“Respect us earned, not given or expected.”

I saw the imperceptible nod to the enforcer and was ready.  Disarmed and arm twisted out of its socket, he was no longer a threat.  I threw the shiv over the fence, outside.

The enforcer hadn’t made a sound short of a grunt, but he stayed down.  No one else moved.

“Sorry.  I needed to verify who you are, Stanson.  The best of the best now is the best of the worst?”

“Whatever.  You’ve had your fifteen minutes.  I’m going over there,” I pointed to the bench on the other side of the compound.  “And rest in peace.  I won’t be so kind to the next fool you send.”

“As you wish.  But we still have to have words.”

“Then call my secretary and make an appointment.”

A final look at the red spots growing on his cheeks, and I walked away.  No one followed me.  It was not a victory, just a minor delay before he came back.

There had been a plan, and when I heard it, I sat back and laughed.

It was anything but a plan, except if I wanted to die before one day had passed.

Everyone knew who ran that prison. 

Louie.

And to get what they wanted, which I didn’t know about, simply because if I did and was captured and tortured, they would discover who was behind this charade, they needed to neutralise Louie

And the three attempts so far had failed spectacularly, and in the process had alerted him to what they were trying to do.

I told them it was a mistake.

They then made me an impossible promise, one I knew they would never keep because they knew I would not see it through.

I was surprised I got to see Louie, so perhaps one aspect of this mission might be true. Louie was scared, not of me, but of someone else.

The question was, who?

I pondered all of these questions in that dank gold called solitary confinement.  I was there firstly for my protection, no other prisoners were allowed near me, and secondly, I could not be seen to get away with harming another prisoner.

Then I heard the outer door being unlocked.

An unscheduled visit. 

Could it be that there was someone else in the prison who was facilitating a host, and not a friendly one?

There was no hiding spot in the cell, so all I could do was be ready if the guard was hostile.  A figure loomed out of the darkness into the dull glow of the low-wattage globe illumination and space in front of my cell door.  It had been the only light I’d had for days.

“Good.  You’re awake.”

My contact in the jail, the one whom I was to go to, if I got into trouble.  Why was he here? He was not supposed to approach me.

“You’re not supposed to be here.”

“There’s an opportunity.  Louie has been taken to the infirmary.  He will be alone.  You have 30 minutes to do what you have to.”  He dropped a bag on the other side of the door, then opened it.  “Change of clothes and tools.”

“Afterwards?”

“You disappear.  As promised.”

There were so many holes in this plan. I didn’t know where to begin.  “Who put this on motion?”

“The same person who put Louie in the hospital.  You’re wasting time.”

Three minutes to freshen up and change, then along the passage and up to ground level.  Out one door and in the next, along another passage, and we were outside the infirmary.  Another four minutes.

A nurse was sitting at a desk, with monitors on three beds with prisoners.  The middle one was Louie.  My guard pointed to the middle door on the other side of the passage we were standing in.

The monitors blinked, the screens went fuzzy, and then came back on.  Replay, so my presence in his room would go unnoticed.

He knocked and went into the room with the nurse.  I didn’t wait to see what he was going to do.  I crossed to the door and listened, then went in.

He watched me warily as I closed the door.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” he said.

“Why?” I crossed to his bed.  Handcuffed.  Precautions.

“You’ve come from Alexander, haven’t you?”

Alexander was the crazy man who made promises he couldn’t keep.

“He is crazy.  I told him that.  And yet here I am.  You know why I’m here?”

“He blames me for Forrester’s death.  I had nothing to do with it.”

“Then why are you on a video, clear as day, shooting him in the back of the head.  An execution.  You said he was a traitor, and traitors get their just deserts.  To you, maybe, but not his country.”

“And you’re going to execute me?”

He didn’t deny it, which he strenuously did in court before they found the video.  There had been a camera, but it was broken.  Someone else had installed another, one not so obvious, and when we reviewed the recordings, it was clear why it was there and had led to a dozen other arrests.  The footage of my brother’s death was collateral damage.

“It was my first thought, but you need to suffer.”

“He didn’t if it’s any consolation.  Just what does it have to do with you?”

“My brother.”

“You look nothing like him.”

“Well, that’s as much I’m going to tell you.”  I pulled the hypodermic syringe that was also in the bag of clothes and jabbed it into his leg.

Less than a second.  Justice.

“What did you just do?” 

“Give you a lifetime to reflect on what you did.”

I gave him a last look, the serum starting to work, relaxing all of his muscles, and in about ten minutes would completely paralyse him.

If he was lucky, they would recognise what had happened and give him the other syringe sitting on the bedside table.  It wouldn’t unparalyse him, but it would make it so he could live, only with full-time care. He could not move or speak, but behind that mask, his mind would be active, and he could play over and over the actions that got him there.

Justice for murdering my brother.

And this prison was now free of his influence and threats.

Did that mean I could take over?

No.  It simply meant I’d repaid a debt and was now free. 

My prison contact returned, took me out the back way through an unknown passageway, built secretly at the time of the prison itself, there in case the warden and his family needed to escape, when a car was waiting.

To go anywhere I told them.

…

©  Charles Heath  2025

Writing a book in 365 days – 104

Day 104

Great are the days when writing flows easily, and bad are the days when it doesn’t flow at all. What you’re striving for is somewhere in the middle.

If that is at all possible.

Conditions have to be conducive, which means it doesn’t necessarily follow that you can write just anywhere.

That means you need, if it is at all possible, to set up a little, or big, nook someone in your residence where you can write.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be free of distractions, except, of course, the electronic kind.  Of course, if you are writing on a computer of any sort,t it would be better if it were not connected to the internet, where every few seconds there’s an alert, an email, a phone call, or breaking news headlines.

Nor do you really want to be near a phone, except if you’re expecting a call from your agent telling you you just got a multi-million dollar three-film contract.

OK, I’m projecting my own desires here…

But…

A writing room or nook would to me be a room with a view, my preference overlooking the ocean high on a cliff so that I could see the roiling ocean and dhimips battling against the odds.

Distraction.

Not necessarily, but on summery days it can provide the background for a lengthy piece of prose, or even a poem, an ode to days of leisure.

And to dream…

Yes inspired.

In such a computable and familiar place, it is possible to write without hindrance.  I do not have a room with a view, but I am surrounded by a thousand books, lounge chairs, and the tools to inspire me.

Writing isn’t difficult. It’s more about getting out there because the daily routine often gets in the way

But, my best writing happens at night after everyone has retired for the day, and the words come.  Often, it is no trouble to write a whole short story or several chapters of a novel.

But, then, having participated in the yearly A to Z blog month and twice yearly NANOWRIMO novel writing month has conditioned me to getting the job done. 

NANOWRIMO – April 2025 – Day 30

…

The Fourth Son

…

The reporter

When the story is over, you realise you’ve forgotten a major chunk of it.

It’s one of those wakes in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, and screaming.

I was just looking at the first few chapters and realised, what about that horrid reporter that confronted them in the restaurant?

While Cherise dealt with the problem, it occurred to me later that she would be perfect for the new king to get an outsider, and a cynic at that, view.

Yes, he does get a little payback later on at the media conference at the Embassy when he arrives back from Ruth’s home.

So, now there’s a new chapter or section where the ambassador summons her editorial boss, and they put a proposal to both of them.

This will also then lead to an interview of sorts on the plane when they are coming home, where he has become King

I’m also including a new chapter where he meets with Archie, an old friend and the head of the principality’s only newspaper and TV station.

And there will be a revolving door of interaction with the media.

‘The Devil You Don’t’ – A beta reader’s view

It could be said that of all the women one could meet, whether contrived or by sheer luck, what are the odds it would turn out to be the woman who was being paid a very large sum to kill you.

John Pennington is a man who may be lucky in business, but not so lucky in love. He has just broken up with Phillipa Sternhaven, the woman he thought was the one, but relatives and circumstances, and perhaps because she was a ‘princess’, may also have contributed to the end result.

So, what do you do when you are heartbroken?

That is a story that slowly unfolds, from the first meeting with his nemesis on Lake Geneva, all the way to a hotel room in Sorrento, where he learns the shattering truth.

What should have been solace after disappointment, turns out to be something else entirely, and from that point, everything goes to hell in a handbasket.

He suddenly realizes his so-called friend Sebastian has not exactly told him the truth about a small job he asked him to do, the woman he is falling in love with is not quite who she says she is, and he is caught in the middle of a war between two men who consider people becoming collateral damage as part of their business.

The story paints the characters cleverly displaying all their flaws and weaknesses. The locations add to the story at times taking me back down memory lane, especially to Venice where, in those back streets I confess it’s not all that hard to get lost.

All in all a thoroughly entertaining story with, for once, a satisfying end.

…

Available on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2Xyh1ow

…

Writing a book in 365 days – 104

Day 104

Great are the days when writing flows easily, and bad are the days when it doesn’t flow at all. What you’re striving for is somewhere in the middle.

If that is at all possible.

Conditions have to be conducive, which means it doesn’t necessarily follow that you can write just anywhere.

That means you need, if it is at all possible, to set up a little, or big, nook someone in your residence where you can write.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be free of distractions, except, of course, the electronic kind.  Of course, if you are writing on a computer of any sort,t it would be better if it were not connected to the internet, where every few seconds there’s an alert, an email, a phone call, or breaking news headlines.

Nor do you really want to be near a phone, except if you’re expecting a call from your agent telling you you just got a multi-million dollar three-film contract.

OK, I’m projecting my own desires here…

But…

A writing room or nook would to me be a room with a view, my preference overlooking the ocean high on a cliff so that I could see the roiling ocean and dhimips battling against the odds.

Distraction.

Not necessarily, but on summery days it can provide the background for a lengthy piece of prose, or even a poem, an ode to days of leisure.

And to dream…

Yes inspired.

In such a computable and familiar place, it is possible to write without hindrance.  I do not have a room with a view, but I am surrounded by a thousand books, lounge chairs, and the tools to inspire me.

Writing isn’t difficult. It’s more about getting out there because the daily routine often gets in the way

But, my best writing happens at night after everyone has retired for the day, and the words come.  Often, it is no trouble to write a whole short story or several chapters of a novel.

But, then, having participated in the yearly A to Z blog month and twice yearly NANOWRIMO novel writing month has conditioned me to getting the job done. 

An excerpt from “Sunday in New York”

Now available on Amazon at:  https://amzn.to/2H7ALs8

…

Williams’ Restaurant, East 65th Street, New York, Saturday, 8:00 p.m.

We met the Blaine’s at Williams’, a rather upmarket restaurant that the Blaine’s frequently visited, and had recommended.

Of course, during the taxi ride there, Alison reminded me that with my new job, we would be able to go to many more places like Williams’.  It was, at worst, more emotional blackmail, because as far as Alison was concerned, we were well on our way to posh restaurants, the Trump Tower Apartments, and the trappings of the ‘executive set’.

It would be a miracle if I didn’t strangle Elaine before the night was over.  It was she who had filled Alison’s head with all this stuff and nonsense.

Aside from the half frown half-smile, Alison was looking stunning.  It was months since she had last dressed up, and she was especially wearing the dress I’d bought her for our 5th anniversary that cost a month’s salary.  On her, it was worth it, and I would have paid more if I had to.  She had adored it, and me, for a week or so after.

For tonight, I think I was close to getting back on that pedestal.

She had the looks and figure to draw attention, the sort movie stars got on the red carpet, and when we walked into the restaurant, I swear there were at least five seconds silence, and many more gasps.

Even I had a sudden loss of breath earlier in the evening when she came out of the dressing room.  Once more I was reminded of how lucky I was that she had agreed to marry me.  Amid all those self-doubts, I couldn’t believe she had loved me when there were so many others ‘out there’ who were more appealing.

Elaine was out of her seat and came over just as the Head Waiter hovered into sight.  She personally escorted Alison to the table, allowing me to follow like the Queen’s consort, while she and Alison basked in the admiring glances of the other patrons.

More than once I heard the muted question, “Who is she?”

Jimmy stood, we shook hands, and then we sat together.  It was not the usual boy, girl, boy, girl seating arrangement.  Jimmy and I on one side and Elaine and Alison on the other.

The battle lines were drawn.

Jimmy was looking fashionable, with the permanent blade one beard, unkempt hair, and designer dinner suit that looked like he’d slept in it.  Alison insisted I wear a tuxedo, and I looked like the proverbial penguin or just a thinner version of Alfred Hitchcock.

The bow tie had been slightly crooked, but just before we stepped out she had straightened it.  And took the moment to look deeply into my soul.  It was one of those moments when words were not necessary.

Then it was gone.

I relived it briefly as I sat and she looked at me.  A penetrating look that told me to ‘behave’.

When we were settled, Elaine said, in that breathless, enthusiastic manner of hers when she was excited, “So, Harry, you are finally moving up.”  It was not a question, but a statement.

I was not sure what she meant by ‘finally’ but I accepted it with good grace.  Sometimes Elaine was prone to using figures of speech I didn’t understand.  I guessed she was talking about the new job.  “It was supposed to be a secret.”

She smiled widely.  “There are no secrets between Al and I, are there Al?”

I looked at ‘Al’ and saw a brief look of consternation.

I was not sure Alison liked the idea of being called Al.  I tried it once and was admonished.  But it was interesting her ‘best friend forever’ was allowed that distinction when I was not.  It was, perhaps, another indicator of how far I’d slipped in her estimation.

Perhaps, I thought, it was a necessary evil.  As I understood it, the Blaine’s were our mentors at the Trump Tower, because they didn’t just let ‘anyone’ in.  I didn’t ask if the Blaine’s thought we were just ‘anyone’ before I got the job offer.

And then there was that look between Alison and Elaine, quickly stolen before Alison realized I was looking at both of them.  I was out of my depth, in a place I didn’t belong, with people I didn’t understand.  And yet, apparently, Alison did.  I must have missed the memo.

“No,” Alison said softly, stealing a glance in my direction, “No secrets between friends.”

No secrets.  Her look conveyed something else entirely.

The waiter brought champagne, Krug, and poured glasses for each of us.  It was not the cheap stuff, and I was glad I brought a couple of thousand dollars with me.  We were going to need it.

Then, a toast.

To a new job and a new life.

“When did you decide?”  Elaine was effusive at the best of times, but with the champagne, it was worse.

Alison had a strange expression on her face.  It was obvious she had told Elaine it was a done deal, even before I’d made up my mind.  Perhaps she’d assumed I might be ‘refreshingly honest’ in front of Elaine, but it could also mean she didn’t really care what I might say or do.

Instead of consternation, she looked happy, and I realized it would be churlish, even silly if I made a scene.  I knew what I wanted to say.  I also knew that it would serve little purpose provoking Elaine, or upsetting Alison.  This was not the time or the place.  Alison had been looking forward to coming here, and I was not going to spoil it.

Instead, I said, smiling, “When I woke up this morning and found Alison missing.  If she had been there, I would not have noticed the water stain on the roof above our bed, and decide there and then how much I hated the place.” I used my reassuring smile, the one I used with the customers when all hell was breaking loose, and the forest fire was out of control.  “It’s the little things.  They all add up until one day …”  I shrugged.  “I guess that one day was today.”

I saw an incredulous look pass between Elaine and Alison, a non-verbal question; perhaps, is he for real?  Or; I told you he’d come around.

I had no idea the two were so close.

“How quaint,” Elaine said, which just about summed up her feelings towards me.  I think, at that moment, I lost some brownie points.  It was all I could come up with at short notice.

“Yes,” I added, with a little more emphasis than I wanted.  “Alison was off to get some study in with one of her friends.”

“Weren’t the two of you off to the Hamptons, a weekend with some friends?” Jimmy piped up, and immediately got the ‘shut up you fool’ look, that cut that line of conversation dead.  Someone forgot to feed Jimmy his lines.

It was followed by the condescending smile from Elaine, and “I need to powder my nose.  Care to join me, Al?”

A frown, then a forced smile for her new best friend.  “Yes.”

I watched them leave the table and head in the direction of the restroom, looking like they were in earnest conversation.  I thought ‘Al’ looked annoyed, but I could be wrong.

I had to say Jimmy looked more surprised than I did.

There was that odd moment of silence between us, Jimmy still smarting from his death stare, and for me, the Alison and Elaine show.  I was quite literally gob-smacked.

I drained my champagne glass gathering some courage and turned to him.  “By the way, we were going to have a weekend away, but this legal tutorial thing came up.  You know Alison is doing her law degree.”

He looked startled when he realized I had spoken.  He was looking intently at a woman several tables over from us, one who’d obviously forgotten some basic garments when getting dressed.  Or perhaps it was deliberate.  She’d definitely had some enhancements done.

He dragged his eyes back to me.  “Yes.  Elaine said something or other about it.  But I thought she said the tutor was out of town and it had been postponed until next week.  Perhaps I got it wrong.  I usually do.”

“Perhaps I’ve got it wrong.”  I shrugged, as the dark thoughts started swirling in my head again.  “This week or next, what does it matter?”

Of course, it mattered to me, and I digested what he said with a sinking heart.  It showed there was another problem between Alison and me; it was possible she was now telling me lies.  If what he said was true and I had no reason to doubt him, where was she going tomorrow morning, and had she really been with a friend studying today?

We poured some more champagne, had a drink, then he asked, “This promotion thing, what’s it worth?”

“Trouble, I suspect.  Definitely more money, but less time at home.”

“Oh,” raised eyebrows.  Obviously, the women had not talked about the job in front of him, or, at least, not all the details.  “You sure you want to do that?”

At last the voice of reason.  “Me?  No.”

“Yet you accepted the job.”

I sucked in a breath or two while I considered whether I could trust him.  Even if I couldn’t, I could see my ship was sinking, so it wouldn’t matter what I told him, or what Elaine might find out from him.  “Jimmy, between you and me I haven’t as yet decided one way or another.  To be honest, I won’t know until I go up to Barclay’s office and he asks me the question.”

“Barclay?”

“My boss.”

“Elaine’s doing a job for a Barclay that recently moved in the tower a block down from us.  I thought I recognized the name.”

“How did Elaine get the job?”

“Oh, Alison put him onto her.”

“When?”

“A couple of months ago.  Why?”

I shrugged and tried to keep a straight face, while my insides were churning up like the wake of a supertanker.  I felt sick, faint, and wanting to die all at the same moment.  “Perhaps she said something about it, but it didn’t connect at the time.  Too busy with work I expect.  I think I seriously need to get away for a while.”

I could hardly breathe, my throat was constricted and I knew I had to keep it together.  I could see Elaine and Alison coming back, so I had to calm down.  I sucked in some deep breaths, and put my ‘manage a complete and utter disaster’ look on my face.

And I had to change the subject, quickly, so I said, “Jimmy, Elaine told Alison, who told me, you were something of a guru of the cause and effects of the global economic meltdown.  Now, I have a couple of friends who have been expounding this theory …”

Like flicking a switch, I launched into the well-worn practice of ‘running a distraction’, like at work when we needed to keep the customer from discovering the truth.  It was one of the things I was good at, taking over a conversation and pushing it in a different direction.  It was salvaging a good result from an utter disaster, and if ever there was a time that it was required, it was right here, right now.

When Alison sat down and looked at me, she knew something had happened between Jimmy and I.  I might have looked pale or red-faced, or angry or disappointed, it didn’t matter.  If that didn’t seal the deal for her, the fact I took over the dining engagement did.  She knew well enough the only time I did that was when everything was about to go to hell in a handbasket.  She’d seen me in action before and had been suitably astonished.

But I got into gear, kept the champagne flowing and steered the conversation, as much as one could from a seasoned professional like Elaine, and, I think, in Jimmy’s eyes, he saw the battle lines and knew who took the crown on points.  Neither Elaine nor Jimmy suspected anything, and if the truth be told, I had improved my stocks with Elaine.  She was at times both surprised and interested, even willing to take a back seat.

Alison, on the other hand, tried poking around the edges, and, once when Elaine and Jimmy had got up to have a cigarette outside, questioned me directly.  I chose to ignore her, and pretend nothing had happened, instead of telling her how much I was enjoying the evening.

She had her ‘secrets’.  I had mine.

At the end of the evening, when I got up to go to the bathroom, I was physically sick from the pent up tension and the implications of what Jimmy had told me.  It took a while for me to pull myself together; so long, in fact, Jimmy came looking for me.  I told him I’d drunk too much champagne, and he seemed satisfied with that excuse.  When I returned, both Alison and Elaine noticed how pale I was but neither made any comment.

It was a sad way to end what was supposed to be a delightful evening, which to a large degree it was for the other three.  But I had achieved what I set out to do, and that was to play them at their own game, watching the deception, once I knew there was a deception, as warily as a cat watches its prey.

I had also discovered Jimmy’s real calling; a professor of economics at the same University Alison was doing her law degree.  It was no surprise in the end, on a night where surprises abounded, that the world could really be that small.

We parted in the early hours of the morning, a taxi whisking us back to the Lower East Side, another taking the Blaine’s back to the Upper West Side.  But, in our case, as Alison reminded me, it would not be for much longer.  She showed concern for my health, asked me what was wrong.  It took all the courage I could muster to tell her it was most likely something I ate and the champagne, and that I would be fine in the morning.

She could see quite plainly it was anything other than what I told her, but she didn’t pursue it.  Perhaps she just didn’t care what I was playing at.

And yet, after everything that had happened, once inside our ‘palace’, the events of the evening were discarded, like her clothing, and she again reminded me of what we had together in the early years before the problems had set in.

It left me confused and lost.

I couldn’t sleep because my mind had now gone down that irreversible path that told me I was losing her, that she had found someone else, and that our marriage was in its last death throes.

And now I knew it had something to do with Barclay.

© Charles Heath 2015-2020

Sunday In New York

Skeletons in the closet, and doppelgangers

A story called “Mistaken Identity”

…

How many of us have skeletons in the closet that we know nothing about? The skeletons we know about generally stay there, but those we do not, well, they have a habit of coming out of left field when we least expect it.

In this case, when you see your photo on a TV screen with the accompanying text that says you are wanted by every law enforcement agency in Europe, you’re in a state of shock, only to be compounded by those same police, armed and menacing, kicking the door down.

I’d been thinking about this premise for a while after I discovered my mother had a boyfriend before she married my father, a boyfriend who was, by all accounts, the man who was the love of her life.

Then, in terms of coming up with an idea for a story, what if she had a child by him that we didn’t know about, which might mean I had a half brother or sister I knew nothing about. It’s not an uncommon occurrence from what I’ve been researching.

There are many ways of putting a spin on this story.

Then, in the back of my mind, I remembered a story an acquaintance at work was once telling us over morning tea, that a friend of a friend had a mother who had a twin sister and that each of the sisters had a son by the same father, without each knowing of the father’s actions, both growing up without the other having any knowledge of their half brother, only to meet by accident on the other side of the world.

It was an encounter that in the scheme of things might never have happened, and each would have remained oblivious of the other.

For one sister, the relationship was over before she discovered she was pregnant, and therefore had not told the man he was a father. It was no surprise the relationship foundered when she discovered he was also having a relationship with her sister, a discovery that caused her to cut all ties with both of them and never speak to either from that day.

It’s a story with more twists and turns than a country lane!

And a great idea for a story.

That story is called ‘Mistaken Identity’.

The cinema of my dreams – I always wanted to write a war story – Episode 51

For a story that was conceived during those long boring hours flying in a steel cocoon, striving to keep away the thoughts that the plane and everyone in it could just simply disappear as planes have in the past, it has come a long way.

Whilst I have always had a fascination in what happened during the second worlds war, not the battles or fighting, but in the more obscure events that took place, I decided to pen my own little sidebar to what was a long and bitter war.

And, so, it continues…

…

Wallace had not returned upstairs by the normal stairs, but the one by the radio room, far removed from the basement area where the prisoners were kept.

If he had, he might have realised that something was very, very wrong.

There were no more prisoners, except for Martina.  The other defectors that had been captured had, on Johannsen’s orders, taken away by the three remaining resistance fighters, to be executed in the woods not far from the castle.

They had gone an hour before Schmidt’s men had departed, but in a different path, and would avoid running into the others.  Johannesen had given Fernando’s second-in-command a silenced luger and told him to only use that gun for the execution.  And to make as little noise as possible.

When they had left an eerie silence fell over the cellar.

Johannsen passed by Martina’s cell and looked in.  She was lying on the ground, still badly injured from the beating Fernando had given her.  She let him look at her for a minute, then said, “When is this going to be over.  I’m not going to tell you anything.”

“I don’t doubt that for a moment?”

“Where did you send the rest of the prisoners?”

“Back to Germany.  Someone else can deal with them.”

She didn’t believe him for one moment, but let it pass. “Why betray your country?”

“England?  England wasn’t my country, it’s just where I ended up before the war.  Then it seemed a good idea to become a double agent.”

“Germany isn’t winning the war, you know, despite what the fools in Berlin keep telling you.”

“I could have you shot for saying that.”

“Then get on with it.  I’m over waiting for whatever you’re going to do to me.”

“All in good time.  The new people have brought some very good interrogators and they promise they’ll have you singing like a canary in no time.”

She shrugged, and it hurt.

“Fools.”

“Actually, I’m inclined to agree with you.  So much so, I believe, if I can get you out of here, you might put in a good word for me.  Atherton is out there, and he’s coming, isn’t he?”

“Atherton is just a boy pretending to be a soldier.”

He smiled.  “That’s what he wants everyone to think, but Thompson, the man you take orders from, he thinks Atherton is one of his best agents.  And he will have a plan, and being the archaeological major that he was, he’ll know how to breach this place.”

And the fact she didn’t argue or deny what he was suggesting told him she was waiting.

“You expect too much, there are no more resistance fighters except for a few young lads, and that dog of his.”  She laughed.  “Rescued by three children and a dog.  I wonder if Germany will record that piece of history if it comes to pass.  Go away, whoever you are, and leave me to die in peace.”

“When the time comes, I’ll be back.”

She ignored him, and rolled over to face the wall.

The two guards had been watching him, though they had not been following the conversation.  The officer in charge, Wallace, had told them to keep an eye on everyone who came and went, and though Johannesen was on that watch list because he treated them better than Jackerby or the commandant did, they simply ignored him.

At their peril.

Johannesen wandered up to them, bade them a good evening, and then shot them.  He dragged the bodies to a place where no one would look and then headed along to the radio room.  The guards and radio men would not be changed for another eight hours, so no one was going to miss them.  Unless someone came down top check, but Johannesen had done several nights observation, and no one had.

The two radio men disposed of, it was time to block off the entrances to the basement so no one could come down.  These exits or entrances were large iron gates bolted and locked with ancient locks.  There was only one key to each, and Johannsen had the key ring with them on it.  He’d taken that of one of the dead guards.

Once the entrances were locked, he went back to Martina’s cell and unlocked the door.

At the sound of the key, she turned back.

“Time to go,” he said.  “We have a very small wind to escape before they find out upstairs.”

“I cannot save you, if Atherton thinks you are a traitor.”

“Atherton is probably the only level headed person in this area.  He’ll appreciate what I;ve done and give me a second chance.”

She shook her head.

“Once a traitor, always a traitor.”

“Be that as it may, just hold that thought.  I’m giving you a gun, and I’m hoping you won’t use it on me.”

He went into the cell and assisted her to stand.  She was weak, but the thought of escaping death put a little life into her limbs.

“It will not be a quick getaway,” she said.

“Just as long as it is a getaway,” he said, as they headed for the exit.

At the same time, there was a very large explosion from above, the percussive sound almost deafening them.

“What the hell was that?” Johannesen muttered.

“Most likely the diversion we needed, that you forgot to arrange.”

…

© Charles Heath 2021-2023