Deceit. [COMPLETED.]

Chapter 79

"The end in sight."

We took a hire car and headed south.

The sky, a mixture of sunshine and clouds, warmed my tired limbs and all I could think of was how lucky Richard was to be free from the dread of having to look over his shoulder.

We received another call a few hours later. It was Lillian. She had been scanning news broadcasts and had heard that they had found Adam's body.

'The Malaysian Police found him a few hours ago in a burnt out car. Apparently he was with another man not yet identified.'

We both knew who the second man was and it was such a horrible thing to have done to two innocent human beings.

They had both already suffered enough and to disfigure their bodies was uncalled for though I knew why it had been done. Mr Peng was not doing it for their benefit but for mine. It was a message and it was being heard loud and clear.

Lillian was also a bearer of bad news for Geoff.

She had just heard from one of their contacts in Singapore that the police had been unable to obtain a search warrant to Uri's flat and so no paintings could be recovered. 

Her call left us both in a sombre mood.

Geoff asked me again to pick up his phone. He wanted me to call Max. Although I was feeling better in the way I saw her I couldn't, not now, not after hearing the news about her brother.

'Just lie to her,' snapped Geoff, his eyes glued to the road ahead. 'Don't say anything about Adam. Just tell her you're fine. Tell her that everything's okay and you know where she is because Uri has told you.'

He wanted to gauge her reaction. But now wasn't the time and I sat back staring out at the open countryside reminding myself that the last time I had been on a similar journey was when I was on my way to one of the best experiences of my life, the German Grand Prix.

It made me think again of my friend John.

I doubt he would have gone. He would never have allowed another woman into his life. He had a strong marriage. He was passionate about his wife something I doubted I could ever say again in regard to how I felt about my own.

No. He would never have betrayed Elaine and it should have been me under the ground and not him.

We drove down through Germany and found ourselves in Austria just after seven.

I suppose another reason why I didn't want to call was because I wanted to confront her unannounced. I wanted to see Max's face when she opened the door, see her reaction without any rehearsals because I needed to know, I just needed to know how she really felt about me.

Our plan was simple.

We would turn up with a holdall bought from a petrol station stuffed full of newspapers and basically adlib.

'So if you are not going to phone her,' Geoff had told me over lunch. 'Then we really have no choice but to go straight for the jugular; take your daughter and get out without any turning back. With luck Jennifer will be on her own and all we have to do is say 'Hi' and 'Bye'. If she's not then we do not exchange the money until your daughter is out of the house and if I have to then I don't mind staying behind while you drive away. I know how to bluff and I can tell whoever's there that I have all sorts of juicy evidence which will be handed to the authorities should I go 'Missing'.'

We found the house with darkness settling around us like a shroud. It was a red bricked single storey affair with a large apex roof which held a couple of bay windows. A single street lamp illuminated the drive and there was light coming from what was possibly the living room.

We parked the car on the grass verge a few hundred yards away and made our way up a slight incline until we could overlook the premises.

We stood close to a tree line, an overcast sky cloaking our faces so that all we could see was the outline of our bodies. How long we remained in this position I had no idea. All I was concentrating on was keeping my nerves and heart beat under control but eventually it was time to break cover and make our move.

We had no weapons of any kind, we had no back up plan and we had no help.

Either we were very trusting or very foolish.

The next ten minutes would reveal which.

We moved down the slope and headed for the house.

+ + + + + + + + +

Trusting or foolish?

Time will tell as they say.

As always ... your comments make my day :)

Take care.
JU