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

apartment collecting things. A coat, wallet and driving licence to validate his identity.

‘Passport. Do you have yours?’ Jackson asked her.

‘Yes, sir. On me as required.’

Mark raised his eyebrows. ‘You do?’

‘I'm obliged to carry identification at all times.’ But she checked inside the deepest compartment of her handbag and ran her fingers along the textured cover to be certain.

‘Move, we’ve got to get to the helipad.’ Jackson harried them with a swoop of his arms.

Their speedy preparations had an audience of one: a bemused Ted. Mark shook his hand and winced as Ted squeezed back in reply.

‘Ted, thank you,’ Mark said, extracting his throbbing fingers. ‘Please let Nicky know we'll do whatever we can to get Ellen home safely.’

Julianna started to shimmy out of the leather jacket.

‘Keep it,’ said Ted. ‘Won't fit Nicky again.’ He grinned. Julianna could appreciate why Nicky liked that smile.

During the journey to the helipad, Jackson rattled through a string of phone calls. To his wife to say she was not to worry. To contacts he had through Opportunitas to start looking up possible leads in Dublin. As for the number Ellen had left for the hostel, Jackson cursed profusely. ‘It went straight to an answer machine. Probably a dummy number or they only answer known callers.’

Julianna pressed her foot down on the accelerator.

Moran met them at the helipad departure area.

‘The helicopter?’ asked Jackson.

‘On standby,’ Moran said. ‘A flight plan has been submitted.’

‘Good, take these two over there. I want them in Dublin as soon as possible. Put this through my private account, not the company one.’

‘When you’ve found her, and I pray that you do,’ Jackson said to Julianna quietly, ‘bring her to Fasleigh House. Not Mark's.’

The implication was obvious; Mark couldn't be trusted to look after his sister. Not now, perhaps never. Jackson had read what Ellen had written in the letter to Nicky.

  26

Mark

FRIDAY EVENING

In the car, on the way to the helipad, Mark told Jackson that he would do anything to put things right. Jackson grunted an acknowledgement. With his boss in the front seat of the car, he had held back from saying anything personal to Julianna, words failed him. He had been selfish and inconsiderate, wrapped up in his own world of misery and anger, and she deserved better.

Jackson went home after dropping them off – he had his own commitments – and he delegated his powers to Julianna. Moran reminded them that they shouldn't involve the Garda unless they had to. ‘Keep it low key as possible. In, then out. Hopefully this is a simple extraction operation and doesn't require additional specialist support.’

Mark dug his nails into his palms and pretended he hadn’t heard the frank conversation between his girlfriend and Moran. Neither of them talked about plan-Bs, such as what happened if they didn't find his sister. From then on, as they boarded the helicopter, they were on their own.

Under other circumstances, a helicopter ride would thrill Mark. The helicopter took off with an unpleasant lurch and the seat harness gripped his waist, yanking him back into the leather seat. The nausea ebbed and flowed, and his empty belly yielded a bitter taste in his throat. There was nothing to enjoy about the journey.

Helicopters might be on Julianna’s bucket list for all he knew – she showed no signs of sickness. He couldn't bring himself to ruin her fascination by talking. Only as they approached the city lights of Dublin, did she tear herself away from the skyline. She grasped his hand and he looked at her. Her expression exemplified pity.

He pulled his hand away. She said something, but the whirr of rotating blades drowned her out. She activated a mic and her voice arrived in his headphones. ‘You’ve been irresponsible with Ellen, but it wasn't your intention to harm her.’ There was nothing subtle in Julianna’s sharp tongue.

‘Why didn't I just listen to her? I treated her like a child because I only knew her as a child. I took her to a nightclub, a dinner party, stuff you do with a girlfriend, things I should have done with you. She refused to talk about our parents; I really could have tried harder to find out why. I’m a piece of shit...’

‘It's not your fault. The chances of you going to work for Haydocks, the connection it had to your father—’

‘Oh, please, don't make this one of those profound karma things. It isn't like that.’ Ellen had her secrets and he had one too. He had been too ashamed to mention it to Jackson.

The helicopter lifted, rattled by invisible air currents. Mark drew himself up in his seat. ‘I didn't always ignore my father's advice.’ Before deciding to shred the correspondence, he had a read a few of the earlier ones. Bill had written every month or so, and when Mark was in his final year at Oxford and hunting for jobs, he had taken keen interest in his choice of degree, unlike Deidre.

‘Dad suggested Henderson.’ He watched Julianna’s face for a reaction. He hadn’t lied, rather because it happened a long time ago, he hadn’t appreciated the significance until that afternoon.

The helicopter tilted and Julianna lost her balance; she slid and collided against him. She steadied herself using her hand on his leg.

‘Your dad knew Henderson?’ Julianna righted herself, but left her palm resting on his thigh.

This time, he didn’t push it away. ‘Surprising, I know, given Dad kept most of his ill-gotten gains in secret stashes.’

‘Who gave the name to him?’

Mark shrugged. ‘I've been wondering about that ever since Jackson told me about Haydocks and Zustfaller, whatever his name is.’

‘Why didn't you tell Jackson about your dad and Haydocks?’

Mark smirked. ‘I think he already guessed, don't you? Why the interest in me and my