A Chance Encounter by Rae Shaw (e manga reader TXT) 📗

in a pile of shit. Probably where he belongs.’

Julianna nodded. ‘Possibly. Let’s find out.’

  25

Julianna

It was Ted’s rather tactless sense of humour that resolved the tension at Nicky's flat. By calling her a chick, then jovially accusing Nicky of turning to the dark side and cheating on him with a girl, Ted inadvertently ended the standoff. Nicky's drawn face brightened. The wall posters took on a new meaning. Nicky wasn't a gangster, he loved men on bikes. Literally loved them. His hostile stance, the antagonism towards her arrival, was a defensive response to her own aggressive interrogation. She had played him wrong.

The handbag was lowered, the strident edge to her voice softened and she explained the reason she was there. Ellen was in danger. She was unequivocal in describing the situation. If they didn't find Ellen, she would be handed over to traffickers and vanish. Nicky thrust the piece of paper at her.

‘She never told me she was going or anything about this,’ he said. The letter was addressed to him and signed, Ellie. ‘I've not heard about this man. If I'd known, I would have put a stop to it. Mark, this ass of a brother, practically told her to go. Start a new life out there. Look at what she wrote!’

Ellen's account of her conversation with Mark was terse and angry. She accused Mark of colluding with her parents while ignoring her. He had missed the signs, she wrote.

The scrawl indicated haste and she had pushed the note under Nicky's door. Nicky was especially upset that she hadn't said goodbye to him in person. Ted rested his long arm on Nicky's shoulders and gave him a squeeze. The use of the motorcycle was Ted's suggestion.

The call to Chris was scrapped. By the time Moran made it across the river, Julianna, mounted on the back of Ted's bike, would be there in quarter of the time. Nicky was desperate to help. She took his mobile number and promised to keep him up to date.

‘Stay here. If she changes her mind, you’re the person she'll come back to.’

‘I'll kill him,’ Nicky said, bluntly.

She hadn't the time to find out who he meant.

The journey to Mark's flat was exhilarating, frightening and cold. Nicky had given her an old jacket; a smaller one he once wore before he had started weight training. The sleeves were too long, but it was better than her flimsy coat. Arriving at the block of flats, she gained access with the key Mark had given her and ran up the stairs to his floor with Ted panting on her heels.

She nearly collided with her boss.

‘Baptiste,’ Jackson growled. ‘Who is this?’

‘This is Ted. Ted meet Jackson and Mark.’ Julianna said. ‘Nicky might love bikers, but he can't ride bikes. Ted brought me here. Quicker than summoning Chris. Scarier too. Boy, Ted, that was some ride you gave me.’ She thumped Ted's arm; her knuckles cracked against solid muscle. In hindsight, it was fortunate she hadn't gone up against Ted.

Seeing Mark on his knees, bewildered, surrounded by the rubbish, she wondered if an irate Jackson had tipped the lot on him. But Jackson wasn't near Mark, nor was he paying him any attention. He was focused on Julianna, and not her boyfriend, if Mark was still that. Maybe what she felt toward him was disappointment; an unpleasantly familiar emotion that reminded her too much of Alex. However, although Mark had failed to bond with his sister, he wasn't entirely to blame for Ellen's predicament. Ellen had ignored common sense and inflicted danger upon herself; those things weren't strangers to Julianna. Mark had to get off the floor, out of the shit, as Ted so rightly put it, and show some backbone.

Julianna reached into a pocket and held up a sheet of paper. ‘She wrote Nicky a letter. She caught a flight this evening and she's supposed to go to a hostel in Bray to meet somebody called Garth. I've got the address and a flight number.’

The colour drained from Mark's face. ‘She told this to Nicky?’ He scrambled to his feet.

‘I nearly punched his lights out by mistake. There was some confusion. It turns out that it’s possible to have the surname Redder and not be connected to a criminal underworld.’

‘What?’

‘Nothing, just a red herring, they happen. Give him his dues, Nicky was being cautious and didn't want to give me the address until he was sure I could be trusted. The letter paints you in a poor light. What did you say to her?’

‘I was mad at her and said things, but I didn't cut her off, honestly, her things are still here.’

She wasn't convinced. ‘She thinks you’re a moron, her words, not mine.’

‘There's no time for family sagas.’ Jackson whipped out his phone and snatched the paper out of Julianna’s hand. Chris Moran was kicked into action.

‘It’s the so-called Deliverer again. He’s after Mark Clewer's sister. She is totally ignorant of the danger and boarding a flight to Dublin from Heathrow.’ Jackson paced as he briefed his security chief. ‘The company chopper? Log a flight plan from London to Dublin. Arrange transport and accommodation at the other end.’ He hung up and tossed Julianna his car keys. ‘The helipad. You drive, I've more calls to make.’

‘Me?’ She clutched the keys to her tight chest. Adrenaline was good. Strong heartbeats. Focused mind. Her father would tell her to channel the energy, not fight it.

‘You two will go to Dublin and find her. Bring her back. If you don’t find her, don’t come to work on Monday, Mark. Your family is what matters and you'll not come back until you've done everything you can to put this right.’

Mark nodded and blinked. No Ellen, no job. The threat, if it was truly that, worked. He darted about his