- a free online novel Rob Hopcott

Chapter 19

"What makes you think that they will want to help," said Mike to the wizened old man on the screen in front of him.

"What else will they do? They've got nowhere to stay and no money unless they show their faces."

"They could go to the police," said Mike.

"The police don't really seem too interested. Anyway, why not accept my peace offering? I am in a position to put things right for them and they can help too with some jobs that are coming up."

"In other words, it's safer for them in the organisation an outside it," said Mike. "You've already got me involved in this, what makes you think that I would want my best friend and my wife involved too."

"Because you care about them and because youve been worrying about them."

This was true, thought Mike. He had tossed all sorts of ideas round his mind but had come up with a complete blank as to how he could help them. And Bill wouldn't be involved if Mike hadn't requested his help. Since his request, it had all been downhill for Bill.

"What happens if I find them and then they say they don't want to join? Also, by finding them, I could be showing you where they are and that could put them in more danger."

"I don't underestimate you," the little man in the computer said. "You already know that my main method of getting information is through strategically sited mobile telephones with listening devices inside. You wont be carrying one and will make very sure that you are not followed. It's really is a win win situation for everybody. I would much rather have people working with me than against me, you won't need to worry about Bill and Denise any more and they can be helpful in getting the project finished more quickly."

"You mean that the project is ending?"

"It's finished when it's finished," said the little man, casually, " but it shouldnt be long now."

"Ok, I will do it," said Mike, suddenly giving in.

"I would prefer if you've got started on it today," said the little old man and then did two back flips into the corner of the screen and vanished.

Mike wasn't coming completely cold to the problem of finding Denise and Bill. He had spent some time thinking about it already and has come up with a theory. He had decided not to make any telephone calls but to make the approach in person.

"Hi," he said brightly, falling into step alongside the tall woman with a black hair who had just emerged out of the red brick office building in Twickenham for her lunch break.

The woman ignored him.

"Don't you remember me? I'm Mike. My wife is called Denise and she was an old school friend. I'm trying to find out where she is."

"Well Mike, perhaps she doesn't want to be found." She increased her speed and Mike found it difficult to keep up the conversation whilst at the same time watching for equally fast approaching pedestrians coming in the other direction.

"She wants me to find her because I can help her, said Mike." The woman ignored him.

Mike started feeling irritated. He grasped hold of her arm and stopped her.

"I'm sure that she has talked to you about me. You know that I am not a wife basher so what threat could I present to her? There just isn't any downside to you telling me where she is. If she doesn't want to see me, she can tell me and Ill take a hike, if she wants to talk to me, you will have done her a good turn."

The tall lady thought for a moment then reached into her bag and pulled out a card. Rod saw it bore the address of a holiday cottage near to London.

"There's no telephone," she said, offhand.

That doesn't matter, "said Mike relieved. "I need to see her in person, anyway. "

For the next hour Mike drove rapidly out of London towards Basingstoke. The village was small and Mike found the cottage quite easily, parking his car round the back of the cottage as the woman had suggested. He saw that cottages had an access road at the back and walked down until he found a high wooden gate that would lead into the back garden of the house.

He pushed the gates open gently. It swung back on well-oiled hinges, and, with misgivings, he slipped through quietly.

"What are you doing, Mike," he said to himself.

He had meant to arrive unnoticed although he wasn't sure why. After all, Bill was his friend and that Denise had always been a hard-working and caring wife. Yet it had been some time they had been together at his cottage and Mike was feeling in need of reassurance.

The garden door led to a small passageway down the side of a shed at the end of the short garden and Mike cautiously edged his way up. He could now see a conservatory that had been built onto the back of the house and Denise was there, looking rested, with a blue top and red neck scarf, reading a newspaper in the afternoon sun. He felt a flood of warmth towards her.

"It feels good to see her," thought Mike, "How could I have doubted her."

He saw Bill at a table working on a laptop computer, nearby. He looked a lot better than when he was in hospital relaxing in the sun in his shorts and T-shirt. Mike felt a surge of affection towards him; he had always been a good friend.

Then Mike's world was turned on its head as Denise stood up. She was wearing a short blue top and a red neck scarf ... but nothing below her waist. Mike gazed in fascination at the curve of her legs as they stretched in a smooth unbroken flow all the way to her hips. She still had the sexiest legs Mike had ever seen. She looked beautiful and sleek with sleepiness in her eyes and the glow of recent lovemaking in her cheeks. Mike felt like throwing up.

She walked over to Bill and affectionately massaged his shoulders. Bill continued working but reached out a hand and casually caressed her exposed flesh. As she planted a kiss on his head, she saw Mike standing there, staring through the glass of the conservatory, with his mouth open. She turned white, said something to Bill and rushed into the house with a flash of rapidly moving legs.

Bill slowly opened the conservatory door, ready to close it if Mike turned nasty.

"Um, sorry," he said.

"How long have you been..." said Mike, waving his hand to avoid words he couldn't find.

"Not long ... but it's better if you talk to Denise about it."

Denise reappeared, wearing a straight blue skirt, trying to compose herself but still looking very embarrassed.

"How long has this been going on," repeated Mike.

"Only since the other day, Mike," she said, "it was the end of the evening and we had been watching television. Pretty boring, but we couldn't exactly go out. We had been sleeping in separate bedrooms and nothing special had happened during the course of the evening. We had a meal as usual and then washed up and chatted about nothing in particular, you know work and that sort of thing.

Then it was time for bed and without thinking; I turned into Bill's bedroom. When I realised what I had done and turned to go out, there was Bill watching me from the doorway. I'd occasionally wondered in the past whether he had a special feeling for me and also wondered about my feelings for him and whether they went beyond him as your friend. And there he was, just standing there, looking at me with a big question on his face.

It seemed so natural, I pulled back the duvet and we climbed in - sort of just like an old married couple. We seemed to spend the whole night talking. By the morning, we knew we were in love - I'm so sorry. "

"I'm too calm," Mike thought to himself. "In situations like this, people are supposed to shout and scream."

But he didn't feel like shouting and screaming, it hurt too much, so all he said was "what do you want to do now."

"We talked about it again the morning after and there didn't really seem many options," said Denise. "We just couldn't imagine a future without each other. We were just as surprised, probably, as you are!"

"Shocked, disillusioned, let down - there just are not word to describe how I feel, said Mike. But for the moment there is something more important I need to talk about."

"Youve got some news about this diabolical virus thing," said Bill.

"I could understand if you said no, but I hope you will say yes," said Mike. "Whatever this thing is, it doesn't seem to want to do us any harm if we dont get in its way. It seems to have bigger fish to fry. It also seems to be very well organised and very powerful. It uses unorthodox methods but pays for any work you do, and pays well."

"It sounds as if you are on a recruitment drive," said Bill.

"You must be out of your mind," snorted Denise, "after what it's done to us."

Bill put out a restraining hand to her. "Don't make your decisions too quickly," he said.

"These people want to call a truce," said Mike. "In return, you get full restitution for any damage and inconvenience that you have endured plus a bonus payments for bringing the project to a successful conclusion."

"You say that the project is near to completion," said Bill, curiously.

"Yes, I was surprised at that," said Mike. "Although I have done some work for them as instructed, I'm still as much in the dark about the overall objective as anybody. Perhaps it is better to stay that way. What I do know is that I have already been paid 10,000 for what has amounted to only a few hours' work, and have done nothing that is illegal."

"It would mean that we could escape from here, and be safe, said Bill, thoughtfully.

Denise looked doubtful. "I don't like it," she said. "It just feels illegal."

"I vote that we give the to try," said Bill. "There are many things wrong with the world and we may unwittingly be involved a lot of the time. As long as we don't do anything that is transparently against the law, what do we have to fear?"

"Nothing that I have been asked to do by them," Mike confirmed, "was ever against the law."

"There is the little matter of my house to be dealt with, though" said Bill. "Where do you suggest that we live?

Mike turned to Denise.

"I haven't been living in our house, recently. It was searched rather thoroughly by somebody who left it in rather a mess. I moved out to stay with somebody I am working with." He saw Denise raise an eyebrow.

"No, it's nothing like that. Her name is Carolyn and we are not having a relationship. But it does mean you could both go back and stay in our old house."

"Wouldn't you mind me moving into your house with your wife," said Bill, surprised.

"Mind, of course I mind. But you're still my best friend's and, although it's difficult, I still care for you both. Of course it's all pretty hard to take and I think I'm going to do a lot of crying, later. But there's something happening now that is much bigger than all of this and for you to stay there would be a simple and convenient solution. Frankly, the only thing that has been keeping me in London has been Denise's work. I can do my writing anywhere and I would be happy to be able to travel around more without feeling I was not being there for someone. Not having the house to worry about might be a release."

Half an hour later, Mike was following the motorway, back to London. He suddenly felt very alone. Denise and Bill were to return to London in the early evening. Mike knew now that he would avoid seeing them, wherever possible. Whatever the future held in store for him, he knew that he had lost not only wife but also a best friend. There were also financial considerations. Denise had always been the earner and although Mike was now receiving advances on his next book, it would not be enough to keep him.

The money that he had got from working with Carolyn would be very helpful and presumably he would also get half the value of the old marital home. But that left a future with many question marks.

He felt liberated, as if a great weight had been taken off his shoulders. Denise had always been so practical and there had always been an implicit criticism of Mike's interest in literature. He now realised that she had felt constrained for a long time. But it had been a cosy constraint. Now, if writing couldn't provide him with an income sufficient to meet his needs, he would have to find work that did. That was a big negative. Also, he would also have to start thinking about relationships again.

It was just too much for him at the moment and as he turned off the motorway he put it out of his mind to concentrate on the traffic.

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Unwelcome Paradise by Rob Hopcott is copyright   2001, All rights are reserved. All characters are fictitious in this story and no reference is intended to any person living or otherwise.

I hope you enjoy 'Unwelcome Paradise'.      Rob

- a free online novel Rob Hopcott