The Legacy: Trouble Comes Disguised As Family (Unspoken Book 2) by T. Belshaw (the best books to read .txt) 📗

Jess dropped her bag and sat down in the armchair opposite Martha. The old woman looked up from the TV and studied her.

‘What brings you here?’ she asked with a look of suspicion on her face.

‘Can’t a granddaughter just drop by to see her relatives?’ asked Jess, innocently.

Martha bridled. ‘We both know why you’re here, Jess. Now, stop beating about the bush and get to the point.’

‘All right, Grandma, let’s do it your way.’ Jess’s face hardened. ‘I have one simple question and it’s this. ‘What do you think gives you the right to continually stick that big nose of yours into the affairs of others?’

Martha snorted.

‘Affair is the right word for it. Don’t you know he’s a married man?’

‘Was, married, Grandma… was.’ Jess’s hard stare matched her grandmother’s. To her surprise, it was Martha who looked away first.

‘I was doing what any caring relative would do. I was looking after your interests.’

‘Looking after your own, more like.’

‘I can assure you, Jessica, I did what I did because I love you and don’t want to see you hurt.’

‘Oh, what a wonderfully, caring family I have,’ Jess replied with a steely look. ‘My father was saying something similar only last night.’

‘Your father wouldn’t know how to do the right thing if there was a sign in front of his face, saying, this is the right thing to do,’ Martha snarled.

‘I agree, Grandma, but you and he are made from the same mould. The only difference between the pair of you, is that you are more subtle with it.’

Martha got to her feet and looked at Jess with narrowed eyes.

‘Your, MARRIED, solicitor, hasn’t followed the guidelines laid down by his own legal association. I know, I’ve looked into the matter at the library.’ Martha began to pace the room. ‘He is breaking their rules by having a sexual relationship with a client.’ Martha stopped and leaned over Jessica. ‘It is frowned upon even more, if the solicitor is making decisions that affect the client’s financial situation. You would be classed as vulnerable under the rules of the professional organisation he belongs to. I couldn’t just leave him to take advantage of you like that. I had to act. It was in your best interests.’

Jess reached over the side of the chair and picked up her bag.

‘The only interests you have ever looked out for, are your own, Grandma. It’s never been any different. You were so confident that you would be made the main beneficiary in Nana’s will, even after treating her so abominably over all those years. You were her daughter but you behaved as though she was your arch enemy.’

‘Don’t you dare talk to me like this,’ Martha stood, open mouthed as Jess continued.

‘You never had a good word for her when I was growing up, you accused her of being a witch, of casting spells on you, of mistreating you as a child. You tried to extort money from her, you told lies about her to anyone that would listen. Is there any wonder she decided to cut you adrift?’ Jess looked around the large, well-furnished room. ‘You have enough to live comfortably, but you always want more. It’s not your concern for my welfare that made you do what you did. It was pure, selfish, greed.’

Jess wiped an angry tear from her eye, but then her voice softened. ‘I really liked Bradley, Grandma. He made me laugh, we got on really well together, he was everything that Calvin wasn’t, and you… you, went and ruined it.’

Without waiting for a reply, Jess stormed past her grandmother and headed for the door.

‘Jessica!’

‘Jessica turned to fire off another volley at the old woman, but her attention was drawn to the TV where the mid-morning, local news program had just begun. On the screen was a female reporter, standing in the car park of the Wilson-Beanney Solicitor’s office.

‘Jessica I really must—’

‘SHHH.’ Jess pointed at the screen where the reporter was describing what she referred to, as a ‘serious assault.’

‘The solicitor, Mr Bradley Wilson, was taken to St Margaret’s Hospital where he was treated for facial cuts and bruising. He was allowed to go home after treatment and a period of observation.’ The camera panned across to the office, then back to the reporter.

‘The attack took place at five minutes past six, yesterday evening. If anyone has any information regarding the attack, or might recognise the description of the two men who assaulted Mr Wilson, they are asked to contact Crimestoppers, or their local police. Now, back to the studio.’

Jess looked from the screen to Martha’s shocked face.

‘I had nothing to do with that,’ she said.

Jess gave her one last withering look, and turning on her heel, rushed out of the house.

Chapter 38

Jess rushed to her car and had started the engine and pulled away before she realised that she didn’t know exactly where she was going.

She wracked her brains to try to remember what Bradley had told her about his living arrangements the day they had lunched together at the Café Blanc, but because of her heightened stress levels she couldn’t remember where the flat was. Pulling up at the side of the road, Jess switched off the engine, grabbed her phone and did a quick LinkedIn search. He was listed but merely in his capacity as a solicitor, so only his office address was supplied.

Maybe I could access the electoral roll at the council offices? she thought, then quickly discounted the option. In this day of data protection, she would almost certainly need a better reason than she had for wanting to know his address. She then thought about accessing the census records through her Ancestry UK account, but again, there would only be limited information available.

There has to be a way… Jess suddenly had an idea, and pulling his business card from her bag she looked for his email address. Seeing that it ended with btinternet.com, she googled her phone for the BT online phone book,