Tim Wilson looked at his watch. It was nine thirty four in the evening. For two years, three months and twenty four days he had lived in this prison cell. Tonight was the last night of his sentence. Tomorrow would be a completely different day; the beginning of a new chapter in his life. The last few weeks since the date of his release had been confirmed were a blur of mixed emotions. Part of him wanted to be free to start living again but he was also terrified at the thought of what lay ahead. How would he cope? What would it be like on the outside with no family to turn to? No job to go to and nothing to look forward to when he woke each morning. No one to be loved by at night. Most of all he wanted revenge for the injustice he had endured. His life lay in ruins. The person responsible was going to pay.

The charge made against him was one of arson but he had not gone out into that dark, wet March evening with the intention of burning down his business premises. He had been betrayed, robbed of his business and the means to support himself and his darling wife Elaine. The person who did this to him was someone for whom hard work was graft to be done by others, fellow human beings whose work ethic, honesty and naivety were to be exploited for his own selfish gain. Tim had lost everything. The home he had worked so hard for had gone. His wife no longer stood by him and she had gone back home to Belfast. Only one person had stood by him during this ordeal. Cookie was his life long friend from the army. It was Cookie who had tried to sort out the problems that had led to his downfall and imprisonment. It was Cookie who visited him in prison when no one else came. It will be Cookie who collects him from York prison tomorrow and takes him back home to Tyneside to seek his revenge on the person who caused all this.


When Tim was released from prison tomorrow, he would be met at the gates by Alan Cook, his best friend and the only person who had visited him throughout his incarceration.
Cookie had always been the greatest friend that any man could have. They joined the army on the same day aged seventeen and during the next twenty years their friendship grew. During tours of duty in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Sierra Leone they were inseparable as mates and it was only natural that Cookie would do the ‘honours’ as best man at Tim’s wedding. After all, it was Cookie who been there with Tim when he met Elaine on that day in Freetown. Elaine had been working with an Irish charity in Sierra Leone for six months when Tim and Cookie asked for a nurse to help a young African boy who had cut his leg playing football on a rubbish strewn field. Tim and Elaine hit it off immediately. He quickly noticed her tall athletic figure and her long shiny red hair. She was absolutely gorgeous looking with a bright bubbly personality. She was very outgoing and had lots of friends among the nursing staff and with the European contingent who were working to make things more tolerable in this poverty stricken, war wounded country.

CHAPTER ONE – A NEW LIFE IN CIVVY STREET

Elaine was smitten by Tim’s Geordie accent and he by her Northern Irish brogue. Elaine was twenty eight years old, six years younger than Tim. She never expected to fall for a British soldier. Born in west Belfast into a catholic family with four brothers, this could never have happened at home, even though she could have had her pick of the British Army before leaving for Africa to work with the charity. Even though there were more soldiers in Belfast than in any other city she had ever been to, she would never have dared bring a ‘Brit’ home to meet her family.


Tim’s parents had both been killed in a car crash when he was eight years old. He had lived with his auntie Pauline who was his mother’s unmarried younger sister. When he was nearly seventeen Tim was successful in gaining a place as an apprentice motor mechanic. Eighteen months later, the garage closed down because of financial difficulties and Tim found himself out of work. He decided to join the army. It was during his first year serving Queen and country that his aunty Pauline died of a brain haemorrhage. He found himself all alone in the world with only his army pals in his life. Although there had been several girlfriends, Elaine was the first ‘special one.’ She was the only one he ever let get really close to him. They saw a lot of one another during their time in Sierra Leone including a wonderful Christmas. Elaine bought Tim a silver cigarette lighter and when they returned to England she had it engraved with his initials TW. That Christmas they decided to spend the rest of their lives together.

Within six months of meeting, Tim and Elaine were married, and the happy couple rented a flat in Tim’s home city of Newcastle upon Tyne. Tim left the army soon afterwards after nearly twenty years service. Elaine’s parents did not attend the wedding but they eventually came to accept the marriage that had made their only daughter so happy. Her four brothers however could never accept this state of affairs.

Cookie had left the army the previous year and found settling into civilian life difficult at first. He found a flat to live in but at first he struggled to find a job. Always the joker in the pack and with a gift for the gab, he applied for a job as a door to door salesman and was taken on by a household cleaning materials company. When Tim announced that he was leaving the army Cookie was concerned that his friend might find the transition to Civvy Street was not an easy one. He warned Tim that things would be hard without a secure income and a settled role in life.
‘It’s a bloody jungle out there you know,’ said Cookie. ‘You need to think carefully about what you are doing mate.’
Tim shrugged his shoulders. He and Elaine were going to make a real go of married life. He was going to make sure they would be all right.
‘Cookie we have been through a real jungle in Sierra Leone. The Jungle on Civvy Street will be a piece of cake compared to that.’ Cookie smiled. He knew how hard it would be for Tim. He just hoped that his friend knew what he was doing.

Tim visited the Job Centre every day and picked up bits of work here and there but minimum wage jobs were never going to make ends meet. He hardly went out anymore. He just couldn’t afford to go anywhere. He stopped smoking to save money but he kept his cigarette lighter that Elaine had engraved with his initials. Elaine started work as a nurse at Newcastle General Hospital and so became the main breadwinner. Tim grew more and more frustrated and began to hate his situation. He was supposed to be the one who did the providing for.

Tim remembered the garage that he worked at after he had left school. After all these years he still had the certificates for the little experience he had gained while training to be a motor mechanic and he wondered if there was anyway that he could complete his training. Looking through the ‘Yellow Pages’ he made a list of the local garages. Perhaps one of them might give him the chance that he so desperately needed. He telephoned them all. No one wanted to consider training up a thirty seven year old ex-squaddie. The rejection letters were really starting to depress him. Tim was feeling down when Cookie called around one Wednesday just after tea.


‘Cookie, I am getting so sick and tired of all this. A few weeks work, then weeks on end with no money then another short term job. How can you live like this?’ Cookie empathised with Tim. He too had found it difficult to get a job at first after leaving the army. He had no technical qualifications or indeed any real civilian experience to fall back on. What he did have was charm and what many people call ‘the gift of the gab.’ He had an abundance of self confidence. He was currently working as a salesman for a home improvement company, selling fitted kitchens, double glazing and conservatories. Things never seemed to get Cookie down. Whenever he had a setback he would just take a break for a few days and then look for a new opportunity. People were always impressed by his positive outlook and unshaken ability to see the brighter side of every situation. His colleagues called him “Mr Glass Half Full” because of his refusal to look at life pessimistically.

‘I know lots of the lads find the same crap situation when they get out of the army,’ he said to Tim as he tried to reassure him that things would improve. ‘You just need to keep looking try to update your skills and keep hoping for something to turn up that’s all. Didn’t I tell you that Civvy street is a jungle? This is what I meant.’

‘But Cookie it is so unfair. I got nearly to the end of my apprenticeship as a car mechanic and then when the company folded I couldn’t finish it. Then I joined up and you know the rest.’

‘Well why don’t you try to retrain as a motor mechanic then?’ Cookie asked.
‘I can’t really. Things have changed so much since then. I don’t know if I could get in anywhere. I have phoned up dozens of companies but nobody wants to know. I am just too old now.’

Cookie pulled a catalogue out of his inside jacket pocket and handed it to Tim.
‘This is what I came to show you, what do you think of this then?’ Tim flicked through the catalogue for a couple of minutes and gave it back to Cookie.

‘Well, it is full of Landrovers, trucks and vans and the like,’ said Tim stating the obvious.
‘Yes but have you seen the prices? £1,800 for a Landrover, £2,000 for a pickup truck.’

‘Well, what’s your point?’ asked Tim in a terse voice.
‘The point is Tim, the army are flogging all of this stuff off dirt cheap and we could be making a killing by selling Landrovers on to rich farmers.’

‘Rich farmers, where are they then? Haven’t you heard they are all skint after the foot and mouth crisis?’

‘Exactly. That is all the more reason for them to buy cheap trucks supplied by Cook and Wilson Motors.’

Tim laughed. ‘You are dreaming you are mate. Let’s go for a pint and get you back into the real world.’

Cookie shrugged his shoulders. He put the catalogue back into his pocket and they left the flat together. The upstairs flat Tim shared with Elaine was part of a typical Tyneside terrace, built in the early part of the twentieth century to house miners who worked at the local pit. This area had been part of a village then and was separated from the Tyneside conurbation by farms and woodland that had disappeared over the years to make way for private and council housing. The village was eventually absorbed into the city of Newcastle Upon Tyne.

The Oak Tree pub was just a five minute walk from Tim and Elaine’s flat. The pub had been build at the edge of a quiet private housing estate that had been developed during the mid nineteen sixties. It was very popular and had a good reputation for fine drinks and food. It was a spacious pub comprising a lounge bar and a small restaurant at the rear of the building. There was also a function room that could be hired out for wedding receptions and birthday parties. Quite often, companies based at the nearby business park would hire the room for seminars and training presentations. The large oak tree which gave the pub its name stood on a small lawn a few yards from the front door of the building. This tree had been the subject of a petition when the housing estate was being built. Local people insisted that it should remain as it was one of the oldest in the Tyneside area.

When Tim and Cookie arrived at the Oak Tree they noticed that the pub seemed much busier than usual for a weekday evening. There seemed to be some kind of function going on. Tim and Cookie went straight to the bar but had to wait nearly ten minutes before they were able to buy their drinks.

‘Hey Jack. Who are all these people? Cookie shouted to the barman.
‘Business types from the city centre. They are from one of the big banks I think.’
Tim and Cookie were eventually served with their pints of lager and walked away from the bar in search of a seat.

‘I bet these people earn an absolute fortune,’ Cookie remarked to Tim.

‘You can say that again. They look like they are all loaded and did you see the swanky motors out in the car park?’

Tim and Cookie chatted, drank their pints and decided that they would walk back to Tim’s flat. The Oak Tree was still very full and there were still no seats. There was a huge queue of people trying to get served at the bar. They were just about to leave when Cookie took the army surplus catalogue out of his pocket and turned to Tim.

‘I bet some of the people in this pub tonight could buy everything in this catalogue with the money they have in their back pockets.’

‘You might be right about that young man’ said a loud voice behind them. Tim and Cookie turned round quickly to see a tall, well built, smartly dressed man with immaculately cut hair.

‘What are you doing then lads, buying or selling?’
Tim and Cookie were startled by the directness of this stranger who beckoned them to join him at the corner of the lounge bar. The smartly dressed man took the catalogue from Cookie and flicked through the pages stopping now and again to make comments to Cookie about how cheap the trucks seemed to be. He took a sip from his wine glass and repeated his question.

‘Well, are you buying or selling?’
Tim and Cookie both looked at the floor feeling rather embarrassed. This man was a total stranger, someone they would not normally socialise with. He reminded Tim of a sergeant he had served with in the army. Someone to be obeyed but best avoided if at all possible. Cookie felt rather uneasy at the way this man had wormed his way into what had been a private conversation between two mates in their local pub.

‘Sorry gents,’ said the smartly dressed man. ‘I should have introduced myself. My name is Bradley Hall and I have just been to a seminar about regional regeneration. I run a business support company.’ He paused to take a packet of cigars from his inside jacket pocket. ‘Can I offer you one of these?’ Tim and Cookie both declined. Bradley Hall continued to explain about his business activities.

‘I identify people with good business ideas, try to help them get funding and develop their businesses for them. I also provide administrative and financial services to small companies. Let me buy you both another drink.’

After introducing himself and Tim, Cookie explained to Bradley that he had discovered a source of ex-army Landrovers and other assorted vehicles that could be bought cheaply and he wanted to sell them on to any likely customers that he could find. The vehicles would need checking over and a small amount of maintenance but he had hoped that Tim would be able to handle that side of the business. If Tim did not want to join him he would need to look elsewhere for a mechanic. Also, he could not afford garage or storage space for the trucks. Bradley Hall offered a possible solution.

‘I could probably put you in touch with people who could lend you the money or may even give you a grant to allow you to buy or rent a small building to use as a garage. There are also training grants available. Then your mate here could brush up on his grease monkey skills and come in to work with you in the business. You see, it is always half the battle if you already know the person you are going into business with.’

Cookie looked at Tim. ‘Well mate, what you think?’ Tim shrugged his shoulders.

‘If it were that easy then everybody would be giving it a go wouldn’t they,’
Bradley handed Tim and Cookie a business card each.

‘It is as easy as that, he said. Just you give me a ring on this number and if you like we can talk in greater detail. Don’t leave it too late though. Someone else may have the same idea as you Mr Cook. You may need to decide quickly if you want to turn this idea into something that you can grow into a sound business. Well, I have to be off now. You guys keep in touch. Nice to meet you.’ Tim looked at his watch and realised just how long they had been sitting in the pub. They had come out for a quick pint and they had been there ages.

‘Elaine will kill me,’ Tim said looking rather worried.

‘Just tell her you have been planning your future,’ Cookie said as they both headed for the door of the pub. Tim still wasn’t convinced.

‘Look, this is pie in the sky. This guy Hall, he is all talk. If setting up a business was so easy everyone would be a boss. We can’t all be bosses. Some people have to have someone telling them what to do, planning and organising things but most people are the workers, doing what ever they are told,’ Cookie looked at Tim angrily.

‘Someone with no ambition you mean. No get up and go, just waiting for the little woman at home to give you your orders for the day. Tim, this could be just the chance you need.’

As Tim walked through the car park he noticed other people were leaving the pub and getting into the flashy cars parked there. ‘They are doing alright for themselves. Why is it never my turn. ‘he thought.

CHAPTER TWO – MAKING IT WORK

Elaine was waiting for Tim when he got home from the pub. As soon as he walked through the door she wanted answers. Where had he been all this time? Who had he been with? Didn’t he know they had to economise. She was the only one bringing a wage into the house. How much had he spent?

‘I haven’t spent a penny; neither did Cookie after the first pint. A guy we met in the Oak Tree bought the rest of the drinks.’

‘Which guy?’ Elaine wanted to know. ‘Why would a total stranger want to sit with you two and buy you drinks?’ Tim explained that the man they had been talking to was called Bradley Hall and he organised support for businesses and grants and other help.

‘Most of this was above my head anyway. Cookie did most of the talking and asked all of the questions.’ Elaine was starting to get angry.

‘Well how did you get round to talking about all of this stuff if as you say it is way above your head? And why did you need to sit with him all night’? Tim tried to get Elaine to calm down.

‘It was Cookie’s stupid catalogue that we were talking about. It is full of cheap ex-army trucks that you can buy. Cookie has this mad idea that he is going to become a millionaire by buying and selling them to local, yokel farmers.’

‘And where would you fit into this grand scheme?’ Elaine asked.

‘I would be trained up to do the servicing that’s all. Look, its late, I am tired and I am going to bed.’ Tim got up out of his seat rather unsteadily and walked slowly out of the room. Elaine looked at Tim in disgust.

‘Yes you had better go to bed and sleep it off. You are pissed and are making no sense at all.’

Next morning Elaine got up early as usual and made breakfast for herself. She had a day off work today and planned to do some of the washing and ironing that had built up over the past week. It would be a waste of time expecting Tim to do it. He would have a hangover from last night. He would need to sleep that off first before he was good for anything. Anyway, she was still angry with him and would appreciate a little of her own space this morning to give her time to calm down. She would find him things to do later to stop him getting into any further mischief. She poured herself a cup of tea and was just about to take a sip when the telephone rang.

‘Bloody Hell. No peace, not even for a moment. Not even on a day off.’
She walked into the living room and picked up the telephone receiver and placed it to her ear. An excited sounding Cookie asked if he could speak to Tim.

‘Didn’t you two spend enough time talking last night in the pub? You should know that money is tight for us but you kept Tim drinking all night.’ Elaine’s voice cracked and Cookie could tell that she was angry and upset.

‘Look Elaine, we got talking to this posh bloke in the pub. He bought all of our drinks. Tim didn’t need to spend a penny. I told him that I had this catalogue from a company that sells ex-army vehicles, you know Landrovers, pickup trucks, that kind of thing. This bloke in the pub, he kept telling us how we could really make a go selling this stuff. He told us that people can get money for starting a business. He would support us and help to get the business started. Elaine this could be a good thing for me and Tim and you too.’

‘Well why don’t you come and talk to me about it. When Tim gets up, God knows when that will be though; the three of us can discuss it properly. We can look at your catalogue together. What do you think?’ Cookie agreed to come straight round.

When Cookie arrived at the flat Tim and Elaine were sitting in the kitchen. Tim was still nursing his hangover from the night before. Elaine had a pen and a notepad ready to jot down the details of their discussion.

‘Can I take a look at the catalogue Cookie,’ Elaine asked. Elaine looked through the catalogue making notes of the prices and some of the technical details of the vehicles.

‘Well I do not know much about this technical stuff but the prices here seem to be very reasonable to me, really rock bottom I would say. Maybe there is something in this idea of yours Cookie. What do you think Tim?’ Tim looked like death from the night before. He picked up the catalogue.

‘Well the prices look good but is there a market for these trucks? Who can we sell them to? Cookie explained that he thought there would be a significant market among farmers and business owners in the rural communities. Elaine asked to see the business card that Bradley Hall had given them.

‘Well I think we should talk to this man and get more information from him about how he can help you. Surely there is no harm in doing that. There is a mobile number on this card. He could be contactable now.’

Cookie asked Elaine if she could invite Bradley Hall to a meeting at the flat so that he could explain about the financial and business support that they could receive. Elaine agreed and she walked through to the telephone in the living room and dialled the mobile number on the business card. A few minutes later Elaine rejoined Tim and Cookie in the kitchen. She sat back down at the table.

‘Well I have invited Mr Hall to a meeting here on Monday night at eight o’clock. He is going to bring copies of all of the information that he has. He sounded really nice, a real charmer with quite a sexy voice. I am looking forward to meeting this Mr Hall so I am,’ she said with a huge smile on her face.


Monday evening arrived, and Elaine, Tim and Cookie played hosts to Bradley Hall who had lots of information to explain. He talked about how he could arrange grants to pay for the rental of garage space and a mechanics course for Tim. He would be trained up to maintain the vehicles. There could also be support to help market the business. Bradley Hall was particularly impressed by Cookie’s enthusiasm. He was certainly living up to his reputation as ‘Mr Glass Half Full.’ Bradley also suggested that his company could handle the financial affairs of the business including banking and ensuring that suppliers were paid promptly.

Cookie and Elaine were particularly impressed by the professionalism of Bradley Hall’s presentation to them. He looked every inch the successful businessman. He was very articulate and confident in his approach to selling the services of his company. Elaine was impressed by Bradley Hall, not only by his obviously well developed business acumen, but by his looks and charm. ‘He is bloody gorgeous’ she kept thinking to herself all evening. What difference did it make that he was probably twenty years older than her.’

Tim wasn’t so sure. He still had doubts as to whether they would ever be able to manage to get the business off the ground. It all sounded pie in the sky to him. Throughout his life he had to graft for everything. Nothing had come easy to him. His parents had died when he was young. He had a settled life with his aunty who he adored but he lost her just as he was starting to find his own way in the world. The garage where he was working towards completing his apprenticeship closed down before he managed to qualify. The only parts of his life that he had made a success of were his army life and his marriage to Elaine.

There was also something that Tim did not like about Bradley Hall. He certainly seemed to be successful but he appeared to Tim as being rather flash and arrogant. He boasted about the house that he had recently bought in North Yorkshire and about the apartment that he owned in Portugal and the marina that he was helping to set up there. Tim considered Bradley to be rather ‘smarmy.’ He also spent far too much of the evening talking to Elaine for Tim’s liking. Tim remembered Cookie telling him that Civvy Street was a jungle.

By the end of the evening, Elaine and Cookie had managed to persuade Tim that they should set up their business buying and selling ex-army vehicles. They would start slowly at first to build up confidence. They had to be careful to only take on enough orders that Tim would be sure of dealing with at any one time. Tim was finally persuaded that he should give it a go. At least he was a hard worker given the opportunity. If they were using grant money there would be less risk in the venture for them. Tim and Elaine certainly had no money to risk. It was as much as they could do to keep paying the bills.

During the evening, Tim, Cookie and Elaine got to know more about Bradley’s personal life. He was forty seven years old, divorced with no children. As well as his large detached house in North Yorkshire and his apartment in Portugal he also rented a flat in Newcastle that he used as a base when visiting his many clients in the Tyneside area. Bradley was a keen angler and spent as much time as he could in Northern Ireland where he was a member of a fishing club. He was considering buying a cottage there but so far had not got around to it. He enjoyed his work very much. He liked making money and he enjoyed the trappings that his hard work had brought him. He had been less fortunate in his personal life however. He married at twenty one but his wife walked out on him eight years later when she discovered his affair with a work colleague. After ten years he married a fashion model he had met on a business trip to Paris. That relationship also ended. Since then he had simply played the field. He now preferred short term relationships to anything more permanent. His wealth, confidence and charisma made him a magnet for attractive young women. Karen, his current girlfriend was twenty four years younger than him. She lived in London but often stayed with Bradley at his home in North Yorkshire. Bradley seemed to be smitten by Karen. He took a photograph from his wallet and handed it to Elaine.

‘This is Karen and me together at a promotional event I arranged for a client. We met about six months ago. She is a hotel receptionist and part time model. ‘I chatted her up while I was booking into the hotel for a business meeting. I asked her out straight away.’
Elaine giggled.

‘You are a fast worker aren’t you Bradley,’ Elaine said as her eyelashes flashed furiously.
‘Well there is no point in wasting time,’ Bradley replied. ‘If you see something you like, why not?’

‘Can I see the picture?’ Tim asked.
Elaine handed Tim the photograph. Tim stared at the picture of the beautiful blonde with the deep blue eyes.

‘Cor she is a stunner. You surely can pick them Bradley.’ Tim continued to stare at the photograph. Bradley’s girlfriend had long blonde hair and large blue eyes. She was strikingly beautiful. ‘She would turn heads wherever she went,’ Tim thought.

‘Yes, I have a good eye for talent,’ Bradley said with a cheeky grin as Tim handed the photograph back to him.

‘I am afraid I must go now,’ said Bradley as he stood up from his chair. ‘I will organise the grant applications, and see about training for Tim. Thank you for your hospitality. I have really enjoyed meeting you all again, especially the lady of the house.’ Bradley shook their hands in turn, picked up his briefcase and walked out into the passage and towards the front door. ‘I will be in touch soon’ he said as he opened the door. He waived goodbye and walked towards his car.

Bradley was true to his word. Within six weeks the business was up and running. Tim was on his training course, they had a grant and this allowed Tim to rent a small garage and tools were purchased. The garage was very basic with just enough space to accommodate one vehicle. There was a small yard at the back of the building that Tim could use to store three or four vehicles awaiting servicing or delivery to customers. If a particularly difficult servicing job was required that Tim could not do he would sub-contract the work out to another local garage.


CHAPTER THREE – BIG IDEAS
It is now eighteen months since Tim and Cookie started their business. Cookie spends most of his time on the road visiting farmers and agricultural fairs, making presentations and promoting the business that they decided to call ‘Wilson and Cook Heavy Vehicles.’ Tim has been kept very busy working in the garage servicing the vehicles and making them ready to be delivered to the customers. Their reputation as a reliable business is growing. They are now being asked to supply spare parts for the vehicles and are receiving enquires from all parts of the country for a wide range of trucks. On one occasion, they were asked to supply a snow plough for a farmer in north Northumberland. Even though it was still only June, the farmer wanted to be well prepared because he had heard that the following winter was going to be a harsh one. Tim drove the snow plough two hundred miles on motorways and through towns and villages, gaining some rather strange looks from people who speculated as to the location of snow in mid summer.

Bradley and his business support company made a good job of running the administration for them. At the very first meeting, Bradley explained that he could provide a service called ‘factoring.’ In practice this involves the garage handing over the sales invoices to Bradley for the vehicles they had sold. Bradley then takes on the responsibility of making sure that the customers who have bought the vehicles pay for them in accordance with the terms of the sale. The money is then paid straight into the business account at the bank.

It was agreed that Bradley would charge three percent of the value of the invoices for performing this service. This is part of the business activities that neither Tim nor Cookie has any understanding of. They were simply happy that these tasks are taken off their hands and are being done by people who as Tim describe them “know what they are doing.” Elaine deals with the post when it arrives, separating new orders for vehicles from other items of post including, supplier invoices and bills for overheads such as council business tax, electricity and the telephone. These bills and invoices are then sent to Bradley who ensures that they are all paid promptly. Tim and Cookie receive money from the company in the form of ‘drawings.’ In the early weeks this amounted to hardly anything at all but as Cookie found more customers and the business grew the amount of money they were able to pay themselves increased accordingly.

For the first time since leaving the army, Tim now feels that he is in control of his life. He is happy in his work and he has money in his pocket. He and Elaine have managed to save enough for a deposit on a semi-detached house not far from the Oak Tree pub. Elaine has learned to drive and has bought a small convertible car. Tim has told her that she looks like a film star when driving it with the roof down. Elaine carried on working as a nurse at the hospital, however as ‘Wilson and Cook Heavy Vehicles’ grew busier, she reduced her work at the hospital to three days per week.

One day recently, Cookie arrived at the garage full of enthusiasm. He had just returned from a farming exhibition in Carlisle and had several new orders for a variety of vehicles.

‘Tim, look at these,’ he said as he took his order book from his briefcase. ‘Six Landrovers, two pickups and five vans. Now that is what is known as a good days work.’ Tim looked at Cookie and shook his head.

‘Where are we going to put them while they wait to be checked over and serviced? I can not push through that many vehicles in one go. We will need more space to store the vehicles so that we can meet the delivery dates you have promised.’ Cookie suggested that as a short term measure they could park some of the vehicles out in the street. Tim looked at Cookie in amazement.

‘Are you serious man? You are asking for them to be vandalised or nicked.’
‘We need a bigger place then, simple as that,’ replied Cookie. Tim was not impressed by this.

‘That is just pointing out the obvious. I don’t know how we can afford to expand. All of the money is going straight through the business. We buy the vehicles; I need cash to buy parts. We are making a decent living the two of us but we are not making anything like enough to invest for growth on the scale that we need to be able to handle this amount of work.’

‘Have you seen anything of Bradley lately?’ asked Cookie ‘Maybe he could help us.’
‘He called in a couple of weeks ago but he did not stay long,’ replied Tim. ‘He seemed to have other things on his mind.’

Probably his marina project in Portugal,’ said Cookie. ‘I think we need to get together the three of us and try to find a solution. I am sure he can help us work something out. After all, it is in his interest to help us grow the business. He gets more paperwork from us to process so his business does all right too.’ Everyone will be a winner; you just leave it to me. I will give Bradley a call and get a meeting arranged.’ Tim smiled at Cookie. He had a tiring day. It was late on Friday afternoon and time to switch off for the weekend.

‘OK Mr Glass Half Full Man, You just let me know what he says will you?’


The following Monday afternoon Tim was hard at work in the garage when the telephone rang. He wiped the oil from his hands with an old rag and picked up the receiver.

‘Wilson and Cook Heavy Vehicles,’ how can I help you.’
‘Tim it’s me Cookie. Look I’ve spoken to Bradley. I’ve been trying all day but eventually I managed to track him down. He wants to come and talk about some plan that he has for dealing with your lack of garage space problem.’

‘Well let’s hope he has found a pot of gold at the bottom of his garden’ said Tim sarcastically. ‘We need a bigger place as soon as possible if we are going to be able to cope with all of this business you are bringing in. There are trucks out the back, some on the street and this place is full. You cannot swing a bloody cat in here now.’

‘Tim listen,’ said Cookie. ‘Bradley wants to know if he can come around to your place one night this week to go through his ideas with us.’

‘Well I suppose so, Cookie. I will check with Elaine but I suppose it will be alright. He hasn’t seen the new house since we moved in. Elaine will enjoy showing it off to him.’

Tim arrived home at 6 o’clock to find Elaine hard at work with the tumble dryer.
‘I really don’t know how two people can create so much washing,’ she said as she slammed the door of the washing machine shut after loading it for the second time. ‘I have been on my feet all day at the hospital and now I have to come back to this.’ Tim had just walked through the door into the kitchen and he was getting the verbal ear bashing from Elaine.

‘Never mind that,’ said Tim. ‘You take a breather and I will put the kettle on. I have something that I want to discuss with you.’ Elaine looked at Tim.

‘Oh yes, what is that? Is the housemaid coming in to do all of this washing?’

‘No, it’s about the business. You know that I have told you that the garage is too small now to cope with the amount of work. Well, Cookie and I have been talking about a bigger garage, with more space to work in and a secure compound to park the vehicles in.’

Yes, but how can you afford to expand. You needed to get a grant to get set up in the first place. They will not give you any more grant money I am sure about that.’

‘No love, we are going to have to raise the money another way. We need to organise a meeting to discuss things. We need to do something soon or we will not be able to cope with all of the new orders that Cookie is bringing in. He came in on Friday with an order for a load more vehicles. We simply can’t go on with the limited garage space that we have.’ Elaine sat down and took a sip from the cup of tea that Tim had just poured for her.

‘Well why don’t you get Cookie and Bradley to come around and maybe the four of us can look at what we can do.’

Tim, Elaine, Cookie and Bradley met a few evenings later at the flat. They listened while Tim explained his problem. Bradley agreed with Tim that they needed to expand and that they did not have the capital to invest in bigger premises.

‘What you need to do, he suggested is to form a limited company and then you will find it easier to borrow money to fund your expansion plans.’

‘But isn’t that complicated to set up,’ asked Elaine.

‘No not at all. We could set up the business as limited liability within a month say, and then arrange a loan with a bank. Then you could soon be operating from a much larger garage and have loads of room to store your vehicles. All it takes is for you to decide upon a name for the company, decide who are going to be the directors, what their roles are and fill in some forms and send them to Companies House.’ Bradley handed Tim and Cookie a fact sheet that he had brought that explained how this could be done. Everyone agreed to this plan and asked Bradley to set things in motion.



Within four weeks ‘Wilson and Cook Heavy Vehicles Limited’ had been registered as a limited company, and they had a board of directors. Cookie was to be Sales director, Tim naturally enough would be Operations Director, Elaine Company secretary and as a token of appreciation for all of the hard work he had done for them Bradley was asked to join the board as a part time, non-executive director. His company would continue to look after the financial aspects of the business as before. The four directors signed all of the paperwork. This was witnessed by Bradley’s solicitor to make sure that everything was legal and correct.

Tim, Elaine and Bradley then applied to the bank and obtained a loan of one hundred thousand pounds. The bank would not process the loan application without security. Elaine suggested that they offer their house as collateral. Tim as cautious as ever did not think that this was a very good idea.

‘Do you realise if we can’t pay the loan the bank can come and take our house from us,’ Tim said. Elaine laughed.

‘How can you say that we may not be able to pay the loan? The business is thriving. You keep saying that you are getting more work than you can cope with. If there was a shortage of work I might agree with you but we are rolling in money.’ Tim still voiced his reservations but Elaine talked him round.

‘The house is half mine don’t forget. I should have a say too about how we finance the business’ said Elaine defiantly.

Because of the agreement to use the house as security, the loan application was successful. Tim used this money to purchase new premises. He and Cookie had found a garage about two miles from their existing one. This was ideal for ‘Wilson and Cook Heavy Vehicles’ expansion plans. There were two maintenance pits and an area at the side of the garage that could be used as a storage space for spare parts and Tim’s tools. There was also a space for a table and a couple of chairs. The table contained a number of drawers. Tim kept the lighter that Elaine had given him in one of the drawers. Even though he no longer smoked himself, he liked to be able to light cigarettes for visitors who may not have their own matches or lighter. The garage was situated inside a large compound that Tim would use to store the Landrovers and trucks as they waited to be serviced or delivered to customers.


CHAPTER FOUR – TOO GOOD TO LAST
Almost a year had gone by since the formation of the business into a limited company. Things were going very well. Tim had taken on a young mechanic called Paul who did some of the more mundane work in the garage. For the first time Tim and Elaine were able to spend a fortnight abroad together. They went to Portugal and stayed at Bradley’s apartment and had the time of their lives. Elaine had given up working at the hospital completely. She enjoyed working for ‘Wilson and Cook Heavy Vehicles’ too much. Anyway, with the business booming as it was, there was so much for her to do.

Bradley had arranged for Elaine to spend one day a week in his office working with the girls who processed the paperwork for their business. By doing this work she felt that she was making much more of a contribution to the business. The rest of the week she spent at the garage. There was a very small office in the garage building that Elaine used as an office. She called her office ‘Elaine’s Parlour.’ No one was allowed in there except her, not even Tim. Not that he was bothered as he hated all of the paperwork and was very pleased that Elaine was so good at it. She made a copy of everything, then filed the copies away and sent the originals to Bradley’s office to be processed by computer. Elaine worked hard. She also built a thriving social life for herself.

Every Friday night she went nightclubbing in Newcastle with the nurses she had worked with at the hospital. Tim didn’t mind this as he was really never interested in clubbing even when he was younger. Now at the grand old age of thirty eight he felt that he was too old for that now. Elaine teased him about what she called his ‘advancing years’ reminding Tim that she was six years younger than him and that for him time was ‘marching on.’

Elaine had always been one for socialising in groups but during the first few years of their marriage she had gone out with her friends only on special occasions such as birthdays and engagements. There simply had not been spare money to be spent on nights out on the town. Elaine was now spending more money on herself. She liked clothes and liked to dress up in the latest fashions when she went out. She had a good figure and enjoyed wearing tight short dresses and figure hugging jeans. Men frequently tried to chat her up during her nights out but she always told them firmly that she was a happily married woman. Tim and Elaine had often talked about starting a family; however they had never really felt that the time was right. They had financial problems when Tim was out of work and then things were insecure when he was working hard setting up the business. Things were more conducive to starting a family now but Elaine was not sure. She still had time on her hands and she was really enjoying herself too much to be bothered with babies. In two or three years perhaps, but not now.

Cookie looked like settling down too at long last. Elaine had introduced him to Sarah, one of her friends from the hospital. They started going out occasionally, then more frequently and now she had moved into his flat on an almost permanent basis. Cookie still saw Tim as often as he always did, keeping Friday evenings free for a few drinks and a game of darts at the Oak Tree. Bradley was spending more and more time in Portugal running his marina, however when he was in England and in the Tyneside area he would often call into the garage to see Tim. They would have a cup of coffee together and Bradley would sit and smoke one of his cigars. Tim would offer a Bradley a light using the lighter Elaine bought him as Bradley often left his own outside in his car. All of the directors were very happy with the way things were working out. The business was doing very well and their personal lives could not have been more comfortable.

Tim and Elaine were sitting having their meal one evening just before Easter. Elaine was going to be particularly busy during the following few weeks. The yearly business accounts had to be sent to the accountant for auditing and there was much work to do.

‘I am going to have to spend all of my time getting things ready for the year end,’ she said to Tim. ‘It is hard to believe that we have been directors of our own business for almost a year now.’

‘I think you should have a word with Bradley,’ Tim told her. ‘Get him to make sure that everything is in order. I think that you may have to pay financial penalties if the accounts are not submitted to Companies House on time.’

‘Yes I know’ replied Elaine. ’I’m a little worried about that. I will talk to Bradley tomorrow and ask him to double check that I am doing everything right. I have a checklist of things that I need to do but a second opinion will be more than welcome.’

Elaine rang Bradley just as she promised and arranged to spend a full week working with him getting everything ready for the auditors. Elaine enjoyed working with Bradley. She found him funny, charismatic and charming. She still fancied him like mad but limited herself to flirting with him. On Friday afternoon Elaine and Bradley finally agreed that all of the paperwork was in order and they could be sent to the auditors on Monday. Bradley suggested that they organise a party or a special night out for the directors and their partners to celebrate the first anniversary of the founding of their limited company. Elaine thought that was an excellent idea.

‘Yes Bradley,’ she said ‘I could really do with letting my hair down after all of this hard work. A celebration would be fantastic. I really feel like a wild night out on the town.’ Bradley was pleased that his idea for a celebration had been accepted so wholeheartedly by Elaine.

‘A good idea might be for all of us to have a nice meal somewhere and then find a nightclub and dance the night away,’ Bradley suggested. Elaine giggled.

‘You read my mind. I really enjoy strutting my stuff on the dance floor at the weekends. I can boogie with the best of them after a few drinks. I will tell Tim this evening. I will tell him he has to come or else.’ Bradley laughed out loud.

‘If he won’t come I will have you all to myself.’ Elaine blushed slightly. She had an inkling for sometime that Bradley fancied her too. At first she thought it was just his naturally flirtatious nature. Now she was not so sure. He had a reputation for being a bit of a ladies man. He was very attractive and all of the girls in the office seemed to like him. However she was married to Tim. She loved him. If only he could be a bit more outgoing she thought. A bit more like Bradley perhaps.

That evening Tim and Elaine sat down for a small snack. As it was Friday Elaine was going out on the town with her friends. Tim would spend the evening with Cookie as usual in the Oak Tree.

‘Bradley came up with a good idea for a celebration today Tim.’ said Elaine as she poured herself a cup of tea.

‘What are we celebrating?’ Tim asked.

‘The first year of the four of us being directors of course’ Elaine said, reminding Tim that the first anniversary of ‘Wilson and Cook Heavy Vehicles’ being a limited company was drawing near.

‘Surely you haven’t forgotten?’

‘Of course not, Tim replied. What does Bradley have in mind?’

‘Oh just a meal and then going on to a nightclub. It will be a good way to wind down after all the hard work that we have all put in this year. Will you tell Cookie tonight? I bet he will come.’ Tim and Cookie went to the Oak Tree and Tim told Cookie about Bradley’s idea for their anniversary. Cookie was interested.

‘Well you can count me in,’ he said. Any excuse for a night out and I am up for it.’

‘Yes, Elaine was banking on you coming.’ I am not too sure about the clubbing bit though. I will come to the meal but give the nightclub a miss,’ said Tim. Cookie tried to persuade Tim to change his mind.

‘Why can’t you just let your bloody hair down for once? It will do you the world of good to lighten up.’ Tim was surprised by Cookies directness.

‘I just don’t like nightclubs now. I am not a teenager anymore. I would just rather go out for the meal then come home and spend the rest of the evening at home with my wife.’ Cookie laughed.

‘Elaine will be out until the wee small hours. She is still young and she is enjoying herself. I think that she will enjoy herself even more though if you are there with her.’

The celebration night out was scheduled for the last Saturday in March. Tim, Elaine, Cookie and Bradley had every reason to celebrate. They had seen the business expand dramatically. The company was making good profits and their reputation as a business was growing. The repayment of the £100,000 loan they had taken out to purchase the garage and the compound was manageable even though it would take another five years for it to be paid off in full. Life for the directors of the company was good. Tim remembered how hesitant he had been when they first thought about going into business. He was glad he had been persuaded. He had just needed a push in the right direction. They had survived the jungle on Civvy Street.

Elaine tried to persuade Tim to agree to go to the nightclub after their meal. Tim was adamant that he was only going to go out for the meal and then he would go home. If the others wanted to go clubbing afterwards then they could. He did not want to go. He told Elaine that he didn’t mind if she went. She went to a nightclub every week with her friends so there was no problem as far as he was concerned. After all she would be with people they both knew and trusted. Tim told Elaine that there would be no harm in her being out without him.

The evening of the celebration arrived. Elaine had bought herself a new dress for the occasion. It was a short, figure hugging black dress that really showed off her figure. She also treated herself at the hairdressers. Usually her hair was long and straight, almost down to her waist but she had it cut shorter, to just slightly below her shoulders. Her hair was curlier now, a more tousled look. Tim told her that she really suited this new image. He said that it made her look more assertive and powerful. When she tried on her new dress Tim thought that she looked simply amazing. Tim was still adamant that he was not going to the nightclub after the meal. He would get a taxi home and relax for a while. Elaine would let herself in as she usually did after a night on the town with her friends. This evening she would do the same.

The taxi arrived for them at seven thirty as arranged. The driver had collected Cookie and his girlfriend Sarah first and then called for Tim and Elaine. It was only a ten minute journey and soon they were at the restaurant. Tim paid the taxi driver and the two couples walked into the restaurant and headed for the bar to order drinks. Cookie asked Tim, Elaine and Sarah what they wanted to drink and was just about to order when a familiar voice sounded from behind them.

‘The drinks are on me folks.’ They turned round to see Bradley take his wallet from his inside jacket pocket.

‘That is very generous of you. I will have a dry white wine please,’ said Elaine.
Tim and Cookie settled for a pint of lager each while Sarah ordered an orange juice. She was on duty at the hospital the following morning so she decided that she would be drinking soft drinks all evening. Bradley ordered a scotch and soda for himself. After the drinks had been paid for they made their way to the table that Bradley had booked for them. Bradley turned to Elaine and whispered into her ear.

‘My word you are looking gorgeous tonight.’ Then he turned to Tim. ‘You are really going to have to keep a guard on this one. She is going to have all of the guys chasing after her.’ Elaine enjoyed the flattery. Tim wasn’t too keen on the comment though.

’They can look but as long as they don’t touch everything will be all right. I am the only one who can touch.’ Bradley laughed loudly.

‘Spoil sport,’ he said before taking a sip from his whisky glass.

‘Anyway,’ Tim asked ‘where is your partner for the evening?’

‘Oh I couldn’t decide who to bring. Karen wanted to stay down in London this weekend and my little black book is a bit out of date these days. Karen and I don’t live in each others pockets you know. We have separate lives most of the time.’ Sarah asked if Bradley was lonely living a life like that, with no special person. Before Bradley could answer, Elaine jumped in and explained that Bradley had too many admirers for him to settle down with just the one person.

‘I think he has to fight them off most of the time. His office is like a harem sometimes. All the ladies there fancy you Bradley, did you not know that?’

‘I don’t think so. I can’t say that I have noticed. I am away doing business most of the time anyway.’

‘Yes,’ said Elaine but there is a totally different atmosphere in the office when you are there.’ Cookie offered to go for more drinks.

‘I will come and help you carry them’ said Tim. ‘I need to stretch my legs anyway. As they walked to the bar Cookie turned to Tim.

‘I am starting to think that we may need to watch the girls when Bradley is around. I don’t know if I am imagining things but I think he could well be trying to especially impress either Sarah or Elaine’ said Cookie.

‘Cookie, you have taken the words right out of my mouth. He was all over Elaine as soon as we got here. He hasn’t taken his eyes off her all evening. I tell you what, I didn’t want to go to that bloody nightclub but I am going to go now. I am going to make sure nothing funny happens when my back is turned.’

‘I think you should watch them,’ replied Cookie. ‘Make sure you don’t Elaine spend too much time on her own with Bradley. I won’t let him alone with Sarah that’s for sure.’

Cookie was served with the drinks and he and Tim carried them back to their table. Bradley and Elaine seemed to be discussing something concerning the business. ‘Well at least it made a change from how many women were lusting after Bradley,’ Tim thought.

As Tim sat down Elaine turned to him and said. ‘Bradley thinks that I have a good head for business and that I should get some qualifications, maybe even a degree. Bradley is going to get me some information about courses that I could do. Cookie whispered into Tim’s ear.

‘Here we go. We were right. He is trying to impress Elaine with all his business flannel. They have been spending far too much time together lately. Next thing he will be whisking her off on high pressure business weekends. You just wait and see.’ Everyone enjoyed the meal and after a couple more rounds of drinks Elaine decided that it was time to go clubbing.

‘I think it is time for me to go and strut my stuff on the dance floor,’ she said. Tim had noticed that Elaine’s voice had been getting louder as the evening wore on, partly because the general noise level in the restaurant had increased but also because she had had a fair bit to drink in a short period of time and appeared to be slightly tipsy. Sarah stood up and agreed.

Tim, Cookie and Bradley stood up from the table too. Bradley headed towards the bar to pay for the meals and the others followed him. He paid the bill using a credit card and Elaine and Sarah headed towards the door. Tim and Cookie followed them into the street. ‘Rumours’ nightclub was a couple of hundred yards from the restaurant so they were there in a matter of minutes. It was a fairly large building at the end of a street that consisted of bars and restaurants. As soon as they got inside the nightclub Elaine announced loudly that she was going to order drinks for everyone. Being Saturday night ‘Rumours’ was very busy. Most of the clientele were smartly dressed young singles and couples. The club was on two levels. The dance floor and a bar were on the lower floor with a lounge on the upper level. Elaine headed straight for the bar on the lower floor.

‘We don’t want to spend all night sitting down. We have come here to boogie.’ By now Sarah, Tim and Cookie had joined Elaine at the bar. Tim whispered to Elaine.

‘I think you should go easy on the drinks for a while, perhaps a soft drink would be better.’ He was getting a little concerned. He had never seen Elaine really drunk. She was not drunk yet but she was getting louder and merrier, and the night was still very young.

‘Oh don’t be such a stick in the mud,’ Elaine shouted so that everyone in the bar area could hear. Let your hair down; enjoy yourself for once will you.’ Tim was taken aback by Elaine’s remark. After all he was simply feeling a bit concerned for her. He wanted her to enjoy the evening but he could not see how getting drunk this early in the evening would achieve that. By now Bradley had joined them in the club. He had paid the restaurant bill and had walked to ‘Rumours’ on his own.

‘Hey Bradley,’ Elaine shouted at the top of her voice. ‘Tim wants me to stop drinking. What do you think? Don’t you think he should lighten himself up a bit?’

‘Of course you should Tim,’ said Bradley as he took out his credit card once again to pay for this latest round of drinks. Cookie noticed that Tim had not taken kindly to the remarks from Elaine and Bradley.

‘Don’t worry mate. We will look after her. If she gets into any trouble we are all here to help.’ By now Elaine and Sarah were on the dance floor. The DJ was playing a party song from years ago that Elaine used to dance to when she was younger.

‘Come on you lot, get dancing’ she shouted. Tim and Cookie joined Elaine and Sarah on the dance floor and as one song followed another and the dancing got into full swing Tim realised that he was enjoying himself after all. Elaine looked absolutely stunning with her trendy haircut and her gorgeous figure hugging mini dress. He was really lucky to have Elaine as his wife. She was beautiful, clever and popular with lots of friends. After about an hour Tim started to feel tired. He shouted to Elaine and Sarah who were still dancing like crazy.

‘I am dead on my feet. I will have a breather and come back to dance again later.’ Cookie looked over to Tim.

‘Yes I feel like a break as well. Let us go and get a drink.’ Tim and Cookie went to the bar and as they were waiting to get served Tim told Cookie how he felt about what had happened when they arrived at the club.

‘You know Cookie, I think I take things too seriously sometimes. I had a real go at Elaine over nothing. I really think that I should do what she says and learn to relax and have fun, let my hair down and stop worrying about stupid things.’

‘Maybe you are right Tim,’ Cookie replied. ‘Elaine is a good un. Look at her. She is lovely and full of life. You two have it made as a couple. You have everything going for you.’

After they had been served with their drinks Tim and Cookie put their glasses down on the bar and turned round so that they were facing the dance floor. They could see that Bradley had joined Elaine and Sarah and the three of them were dancing together.

‘You know Cookie,’ said Tim turning around to face the bar so that he could take a drink from his almost full glass. ‘Maybe we misjudged Bradley tonight. He has given us a lot of help with the business and he is a friendly enough sort of bloke now we have got to know him. I know we didn’t like him much at the start but that could just have been because of his posh manner and the fact that he is a bit older than the two of us.’ Cookie was listening to Tim but didn’t reply. He was too busy watching what was happening with the dancers. Sarah had left the dance floor and was heading towards the ladies toilets at the far end of the club.
Bradley and Elaine were dancing together, perhaps too closely, Cookie thought. Bradley and Elaine kept whispering things into each others ear as they danced. Cookie didn’t want to cause Tim any alarm. Maybe there was nothing going on between them that anyone should be concerned about. Tim appeared not to have noticed. He turned around to pick up his glass from the bar and took another drink. A few minutes later Elaine, Sarah and Bradley joined Tim and Cookie at the bar. Cookie decided that what he had just seen on the dance floor was just harmless fun. They were friends having a good time, nothing more than that.

The next few hours flew by. The party songs gave way to slower numbers, Tim and Elaine had some slow dances together and then it was time for them all to go home. Tim had enjoyed the evening much more than he thought he would. He enjoyed dancing with Elaine who seemed to have had a fantastic time. When they decided it was time to leave the club Bradley ordered two taxis, one for him and another to take the rest of the party home. After a short journey Tim and Elaine arrived back at their house. They were both very tired now and decided to go straight to bed. Tomorrow was Sunday. They would be able to have a long lie in and recover.


CHAPTER FIVE – THE BETRAYAL
Tim began to wake from his deep sleep. He remembered that it was Sunday morning and he could lie in bed for as long as he wanted. No work today. Then he remembered what a great time he and Elaine and their friends had enjoyed the night before. As he lay there in bed he noticed the morning sun shining through the gap between the bedroom curtains. The time must be quite later than eight o’clock which was the time that he usually rose on Sunday.

Tim looked at the radio alarm clock on the cabinet at the side of his bed. It said ten fifty three. ‘Well who the hell cares. It is Sunday after all,’ thought Tim as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Yes, it had been a good night. He remembered the slow dances with Elaine. He remembered standing chatting with Cookie at the bar and the short walk from the restaurant to the nightclub. Then his thoughts turned to events in the nightclub. He remembered being rather tetchy with Bradley and the conversation he had with Cookie about Bradley flirting with Elaine. Could Bradley really be trying to take Elaine away from him? Was Cookie right to warn him to watch Elaine with Bradley? Was Bradley just being his usual flirtatious self? Surely Elaine would not let her head be turned by another man. She loved him. She had told him that she loved him a thousand times. Was he being paranoid? She did love him didn’t she? They were always going to be together. That was the promise they made to each other that night in Freetown, the night before they left Sierra Leone when Tim’s tour of duty was over. Yes Elaine loved him alright.

Tim remembered the other times when she told him she loved him. On the beach at Tynemouth when they walked for miles along the golden sands on that really hot day just after they moved into their flat. In Newcastle city centre when they chose wedding rings. Elaine told Tim she loved him when he was looking for work and was feeling low because he couldn’t find any. Tim tried to remember the last time she said those special words to him. He couldn’t remember any recent occasion when she had said she loved him. Why could he not remember the last time when he could remember those other more distant times? Was it because they were special occasions or because she had not said it to him recently at all. They had become busier. The business was taking a lot more of their time.

Tim worked hard in the garage all week. Elaine worked in ‘Elaine’s Parlour’ sorting out her paperwork, then either sending it by post to Bradley’s office or taking it herself in her lovely new sports car. When she wasn’t working she was with him in the evenings, apart from Tuesdays of course when she went to the gym and then on for a couple of drinks with Sarah and a few of their other friends. Sometimes she would visit one of her friends on Wednesdays. Friday was always girls’ night out on the town. On Saturday she usually went shopping; clothes shopping mainly and on Sunday they relaxed together. Then Tim realised that Elaine had changed. She had always been more outgoing than him but now it seemed that in some ways she was starting to live a separate life from him. Tim realised that he and Elaine didn’t spend all that much time together at all. At least not like they used to. They were growing apart. Perhaps he needed to make more of an effort. Maybe he should change like Elaine had. They should go out more. Do more things together. Find new ways of enjoying their lives together. He had enjoyed the nightclub last night. They should do that together much more. He turned over in the bed expecting to see Elaine lying next to him. The duvet was turned over. Elaine’s side of the bed was empty. Where was she? She must have just got up. It was time for him to get up too.

Tim went to the bathroom, got washed and shaved and headed back across the landing to the bedroom to get dressed. Just as he was about to go back into the bedroom he realised he could hear Elaine’s voice from downstairs. She was talking to someone on the telephone. She was talking in a hushed sort of way and then when the other person was speaking she giggled quietly. Who was she talking to, Tim wondered. He was intrigued. Tim moved closer to the top of the stairs to try and hear more clearly. What he was hearing was definitely a friendly conversation.

’Yes It was a lovely evening, I am really glad you were there. You livened up the whole night.’ Who on earth could Elaine be talking to? It must be Sarah surely. Then Tim remembered that Sarah had told them that she had to work this morning. Her shift started at nine o’clock. That is why she drank soft drinks all evening. It couldn’t be Sarah could it? Who had made the phone call? Was it Elaine or the other person? He would have heard the bedroom extension ring if it had been an incoming call. Tim wanted to know who his wife was talking too. Maybe it was Cookie. Tim decided to try to listen into the conversation.

There was a telephone extension in the bedroom. He went back into the bedroom. He stopped at his bedside cabinet, picked up the telephone receiver expecting to hear Elaine and Cookie joking about the night before. Tim put the receiver to his ear. All he heard was the dialling tone. Perhaps Elaine had finished her conversation and put the phone down in the living room.

Tim walked back onto the landing. He could still hear Elaine talking. She was using her mobile. Elaine never used her mobile in the house. Tim walked back to the bedroom. He quickly put his trousers and tee-shirt on and headed downstairs. The living room door was open. Elaine was still talking. Tim heard her tell the person on the phone that she would try to call back later and said goodbye. Tim entered the living room and saw Elaine sitting on the settee with her mobile in her hand. She looked flushed. Her face was bright red as if she realised that she had been caught out.

‘You didn’t feel like a lie in?’ Tim asked.

‘Eh, no I thought I would get up, it seems like a nice day. Would you like some coffee and cornflakes? I am just about to sort something out for myself.’ Tim nodded, yes he would. He also wanted to know who Elaine had been talking too but he didn’t want to seem to be too demanding.’

‘I didn’t hear your phone go.’

‘No, I made the call. I rang Debbie. She is one of the new girls at Bradley’s office. She wanted me to call her about some paperwork that needs to be signed off for the auditor.’
Tim looked puzzled.

‘Why did you phone her at eleven o’clock on a Sunday morning?

‘Oh I meant to do it yesterday but I forgot.’

‘Is she working in the office this morning?’ Tim wanted to know.

‘Yes’ replied Elaine, sounding even more flustered than before. ‘Look’ she said, ‘I will go and get that breakfast sorted out.’ She put her mobile down on the cabinet beside the landline phone and walked out of the room. Tim heard her open the refrigerator door followed by the clink of a milk bottle. He picked up Elaine’s mobile phone. He pressed the ‘on’ button and then pressed the ‘last number dialled’ button. The number on the screen looked familiar to him, but he was not sure whose it was. It was a mobile number. He had certainly seen it before, written down somewhere. He tore off a sheet of the notepad that was lying beside the landline telephone and quickly scribbled down the last number dialled from Elaine’s mobile. If he had seen this number before it certainly did not belong to Debbie’s phone. He had never even heard of a Debbie until a couple of minutes ago. Tim decided that he did not want to create a scene but he was concerned. Elaine always used the landline phone when she was at home. He could not think of a reason why she would use her mobile instead. ‘I am sure there will be some kind of valid explanation,’ he said to himself as he followed Elaine into the kitchen.



CHAPTER SIX - SUNK

It was just after ten o’clock on the following Monday morning and Tim was hard at work in the garage, He was busy servicing a Landrover when Paul the young mechanic joined him in the maintenance pit.

‘There is a phone call for you, it’s your lass.’ Elaine often phoned Tim during the day if she was planning to come into the garage to deal with some paperwork. She had a key for the main door to the garage as well as the office that she called ‘Elaine’s Parlour.’ However, if Tim and Paul were not there she did not like going into the garage on her own. There had been a couple of incidents on the industrial estate recently. People working their alone had been attacked and robbed. These were isolated cases but she did not want to take the risk of being attacked herself. Tim climbed out of the maintenance pit and walked across the garage to the telephone.

‘Hello’ said Tim.
‘Hi it’s me.’ Elaine explained that she needed to collect some invoices that she had filed a way in ‘Elaine’s Parlour.’ The invoices were from one of the companies Tim bought spare parts from. Elaine told him that the company had phoned her at home and had asked her to expedite payment. She would need to hurry with them to Bradley’s office where the cheques would be issued and posted. She would be at the garage in about twenty minutes.

‘That’s fine.’ said Tim. ‘We will be here all day today. There are no vehicles due to be sent out and we have a load of work here to keep me and Paul busy. See you when you get here.’ He finished the call and walked back over to the Landrover he had been working on. He jumped back down into the maintenance pit and picked up the wrench he had been using and got back to work. ‘Something about nothing’ he thought. ‘Why does she have to bother me all the time when I am trying to work? Women, they just don’t understand men’s work.’

Tim carried on working but his mind drifted back to what had happened the previous morning. He was still puzzled about the phone call that Elaine had made on her mobile. She said she had phoned a new girl called Debbie who had just started working at Bradley’s office. It did not make sense that Elaine had jumped out of bed early on Sunday morning after a late night and decided that she had to call Debbie to answer a query about an invoice or something. ‘Why couldn’t it wait until Monday for God’s sake?’ Tim wondered.

He was still mulling this over in his mind, trying to think of a logical reason for Elaine making the call when he heard the door to ‘Elaine’s Parlour’ open. That was strange. She usually came to the maintenance pit to say hello as soon as she arrived at the garage. She must be in a real hurry. Tim climbed out from under the Landrover and walked across the floor of the garage towards the door of ‘Elaine’s Parlour.’ Before he reached the door, Elaine came back out carrying her briefcase.

‘I have got the invoices I came for,’ she said. Tim stopped walking and looked at her without speaking. She had that look on her face again. The blushing flustered look that she had on her face yesterday when Tim challenged her about the phone call. Tim did not reply. Elaine usually wore a smart business suit when she went to Bradley’s office. She was always very keen to present a professional image of herself. Whenever Tim teased her about what he called her ‘high powered business woman look’ she told him that she was representing the company and that she should dress accordingly. This morning she was not dressed as usual. She was wearing a tight pair of black leather trousers that she had recently bought and a tight top that she often wore on social nights out. Instead of her flat soles she wore a pair of shoes with six inch heals that made her appear much taller than usual. Her hair was tousled rather than the straight style that she generally wore during the week. Tim also noticed that she was wearing more eye makeup. Tim thought that she looked as if she was going to a nightclub rather than on a business visit. Tim was the first to break the silence.

‘Going anywhere nice?’ he asked searchingly. Elaine blushed ever redder.

‘I told you on the phone. I have to get these invoices paid.’ Elaine turned and headed for the main door of the garage and carried on walking. She certainly looked as if she was in a hurry to leave. Tim wondered if she was hurrying away to avoid his questioning.
‘The parts company have been on the phone asking about payment,’ Elaine shouted back to Tim. ‘They say we are overdue and that they need to receive the money by the end of the week.’

‘Which company is it?’ asked Tim.

‘Brights of Wolverhampton,’ replied Elaine still with her back to Tim and still walking towards the exit. ‘They say that we owe them fifteen hundred from two months ago. I have to go now. See you later.’ Elaine disappeared from view. Tim stood there listening as Elaine started up the engine of her car and drove speedily and noisily away.
‘The kettles on.’ shouted Paul. Tim stood there as if turned to stone. A few seconds later Paul shouted again.

‘Tim. Cuppa time.’ Again, Tim did not answer. Something was not right. He walked back over to where Paul was pouring hot water into coffee cups.

‘I must be going mad. When did we start buying stuff from Brights?’ he asked Paul.
‘About three weeks ago I think. We just bought a few wing mirrors and bits of window trim. We have only ordered those few things as far as I know.’

‘Yes mate. That is what I thought. We are supposed to owe them fifteen hundred quid from ages ago that needs to be paid off right now.’

That can not be right,’ said Paul. ‘Someone is trying to pull the wool over your eyes.’ Tim looked at Paul.

‘I think you may be right but the big question is who?’

Tim and Paul carried on working through the rest of the morning and early afternoon and found that they finished what they had planned to do earlier than expected. It was nearly three thirty and as Paul had nothing left to do at the garage Tim asked him to collect some new overalls he had ordered from a company in Blaydon a few miles away.

‘That should keep you out of mischief.’ Tim joked. He was feeling a bit better now. He had convinced himself that there was a perfectly logical reason why Elaine had to deal with those invoices this morning. After all she was usually highly efficient. That is why he and Cookie trusted her to manage the administrative side of the business. It was only right for her to deal with the issue straight away. It was not in their interest for suppliers to be paid late. The company was not short of money. There was no reason at all for the bill not to be paid on time. Perhaps she had mentioned that the telephone call chasing payment had come from Bright’s of Wolverhampton when it was possibly another company. Elaine must just have got the names mixed up. She was certainly looking flustered when she was talking to Tim in the garage this morning. No doubt she would be able to explain things properly this evening when she had time to calm down.

Paul took one of the Landrovers and went to collect the new overalls. He had only been gone about ten minutes when Cookie turned up at the garage. Tim always knew Cookie had arrived as he was always whistling ‘Happy Days Are Here Again.’ He did this whenever he knew that Tim would be working in the maintenance pit and wanted to let him know he was there. The choice of tune was one that suited his sunny personality and his reputation as ‘Mr Glass Half Full.’

‘Hi Cookie’ shouted Tim. He was not in one of the maintenance pits but at the back of the garage putting his tools away for the day. He shouted across to Cookie and asked if he would like a cup of tea or coffee.

‘Tea for me please mate.’ shouted Cookie. ‘I have just driven back from Whitehaven and I am sorely in need of liquid refreshment.’ Tim walked over to the bench at the side of the garage. He picked up the kettle and turned and walked across to the sink. He filled the kettle with water, plugged it into the wall socket and left it to boil. He then dropped a teabag into each of the two mugs standing on the bench.

‘Well have you got us any nice juicy orders today then?’ he asked Cookie as he turned around to see his friend slump into one of the chairs next to the table where they usually sat to drink while having a break.

‘No new orders today,’ Cookie replied. ‘I am going to Dumfries in the morning to an agricultural show. I am going to see what I can pick up there. I hope to make some useful new contacts.’ South west Scotland was an area that ‘Wilson and Cook Heavy Vehicles’ were not yet really selling to. They wanted to develop their business in this area of the country.

‘How has your day been?’ Cookie asked Tim.

‘Not so busy on the servicing front,’ he explained. ‘We have already done a lot of the work that is due by the middle of the week. I have sent Paul off to pick up some new overalls. He is road testing a Landrover so he will be out for a while yet.’ Cookie turned the conversation around to Saturday night.

‘I enjoyed Saturday, it was a nice change all of us going out together. The meal was good and I enjoyed the dancing afterwards.’

‘Yes so did I,’ replied Tim. He then thought about Elaine’s telephone call on Sunday morning.

‘Something strange happened at our place on Sunday morning. I have been thinking about it ever since.’ The kettle boiled and switched itself off. Tim got up out of his seat and went to make the drinks. He poured the boiling water into the mugs, poured in some milk and gave Cookie his drink. Cookie took a sip of his tea.

‘Just what the doctor ordered. So what is this great mystery that has been puzzling you?’ Tim explained how he had woken up to find that Elaine had already gone downstairs and was talking to someone on her mobile phone.

‘She never uses her mobile in the house. She always uses the landline. That is a habit she got into when we were skint. It was much cheaper to use the house phone rather than a mobile.’ Tim went on to explain that when he asked Elaine who she had been talking to she seemed to be a bit vague and flustered and said that she had been talking to Debbie, one of the girls in Bradley’s office.

‘That sounds a bit strange I must say, for a Sunday morning,’ Cookie agreed.

‘That is exactly what I thought. At first I wondered if Bradley had some of the staff working overtime on the accounts for the end of the financial year. So I looked at the last number dialled when Elaine went out of the room.’

Cookie laughed. ‘You sneaky sod, what did you think you would find out?’

‘I don’t know really,’ replied Tim. ‘But I am no further forward. The number she rang was a mobile number so it was certainly not Bradley’s office she had called.’

‘Can you remember what the number was?’ Cookie asked.

‘I didn’t recognise who it belonged to it but I am sure that I have seen the number somewhere before. I just can’t remember where or when.’

‘Has anything else strange happened apart from the phone call?’ asked Cookie.

‘Another strange thing happened this morning,’ Tim explained. Elaine rang me here and said that a company we have just started dealing with had been on the phone chasing one and a half grand. We have not spent that much with them.’

‘Obviously some sort of clerical error. Elaine will have that sorted by now just you see.’

‘That’s not all Cookie. When Elaine came in here this morning to collect the paperwork to take over to Bradley’s she was all dressed up as if she was going out clubbing. She had a low cut top on, the tightest pair of leather jeans you are ever likely to see and had her hair all fluffed up, just like she had it on Saturday night. You would think that she was going on a hot date instead of sending cheques off to suppliers for Landrover parts.’ Just at that moment the telephone rang. Tim stood up from the table and went to answer the phone.

‘Wilson and Cook Heavy Vehicles’ said Tim. He was silent for a few seconds, just listening and then he spoke.

‘There must be some sort of problem Paul. You had better come straight back here and we will get it sorted out.’ Tim put the phone down and returned to the table were Cookie was still sitting.

‘There is another mystery. That was Paul. He was supposed to be collecting those new overalls from Pritchards. We buy all of our safety and protective gear from them. We get all of our degreasing chemicals from them as well. We spend a fair bit with them; we have done since the day we started and ….’

Cookie started to look concerned now. ‘Well, what the hell is happening?’
‘They have stopped our account for none payment. They say they have not been paid for two months.’

‘How can that be?’ asked Cookie.

‘I don’t know. The invoices come in. Elaine sends them off to Bradley to get paid and that is it as far as I know. We won’t be any the wiser until Elaine comes back.’ Cookie stood up.

‘Tim I think you need to check up on this situation now. Here are two instances in the same day when something funny has happened with suppliers and payments. Has this sort of thing ever happened before?’ Tim tried to think.

‘No not at all. Not even when we were starting out and did not have much money. We paid cash upfront for everything. If the stuff we wanted had to come from somewhere out of the area we sent a cheque and had to wait for the order until the cheque had cleared.’

‘This needs to be sorted out and quickly. Phone Elaine now. Right this minute at Bradley’s office and get her to check this out while she is still there,’ Cookie demanded.
Tim stood up and headed towards the telephone.

‘I will do just that’ he said and picked up the receiver and got ready to dial the number. A copy of Bradley’s business card was pinned to the wall just above the telephone. Elaine did all of the communicating with people at Bradley’s office. The card had been pinned on the wall for months but Tim had never bothered with it. He dialled the number and listened to the ringing tone for a few seconds. A female voice answered.

‘Bradley Hall Business Services, Sandra speaking. How may I help you?’

‘Hello, this is Tim Wilson speaking, can I speak to Elaine Wilson please.

‘I am sorry Mr Wilson; Elaine has not been here at all today.’ Tim was surprised at this response. He decided to go straight to the top and ask for Bradley.
‘Can I speak to Mr Hall please?’

Mr Hall is not here either. He is away on business. He will not be back into the office until Friday.’

‘Can I speak to Debbie please, Tim asked. At first there was a pause on the line then Sandra answered.

‘I am sorry there is no one working here called Debbie.’

‘OK, thank you very much. I am sorry to have bothered you. Goodbye.’ Tim put the phone down. He turned and looked at Cookie.

‘Something is going on. Elaine is not there. Bradley is not there. Neither of them has been at the office all day and things are going wrong. Where is my wife? What is happening to our business? Cookie tried to reassure Tim.

‘Perhaps these things are just coincidences,’ he said. ‘Elaine is really red hot about settling payments. Perhaps it is the fault of the supplier. Perhaps they are the ones who have made the mistake on the invoice.’ Tim was unconvinced.

‘That does not account for the furtive phone call on Sunday or for Elaine’s strange manner this morning. According to this Sandra woman I have just been speaking to neither Elaine nor Bradley have been there today and who this Debbie is God knows. Sandra says she has never even heard of her.’ Cookie took another drink of his coffee.
‘I suppose when you put it like that it does all sound rather odd. I think you need to talk to Elaine and tell her about the phone conversation with Sandra. See what she says. There must be some explanation, there must be.’

‘I am going home as soon as Paul gets back.’ said Tim getting more and more agitated and stressed. ‘He should be back here soon. Cookie I am going home to see if Elaine is there and then we can talk things through. We are going to have to sort these payments out tomorrow.’

Tim arrived home just after five. Elaine always parked her car in the street outside their house. The car was nowhere to be seen. As Tim turned his car into the drive way he was still uncertain of what to say to Elaine. All he knew was that this uncertainly could not go on much longer. He stopped the car, pulled on the handbrake and switched off the engine. At least with Elaine not being home yet he had some time to think about how he would handle, or at least start the conversation. He had always trusted Elaine but now things seemed to be happening behind his back. The phone call on Sunday and her disappearing act today had him both puzzled and worried. He got out of his car, walked to the front door of the house and turned the key and let himself in. He went straight to the living room and sat down in his favourite armchair. He was looking directly at the telephone. There was a large piece of paper next to the phone. It was a note from Elaine. Tim walked across the room to read it.

“Had to go to Leeds, will be there until Friday. Business course. Sorry about the brief note. Will phone you at eight. E.”

Tim usually had his main meal when he came in from work. Tonight he just didn’t feel like eating. He sank back into his armchair and looked at the clock. It read seven minutes past five.

At five past eight the telephone rang.
‘Hi it’s me’ said Elaine.’ She explained that Bradley had managed to get her booked onto a three day business course at short notice. She sounded very exited, almost as if she was out of breath.

‘There was a cancellation.’ Elaine explained. ‘Someone dropped out at the last minute so I was able to take their place. The course starts tomorrow. According to what it says in the joining instructions the learning is quite intensive so I will have lots of reading to do in the evenings at the hotel. The hotel is really quite plush. The room is lovely and the evening meal was excellent…..’

Tim interrupted Elaine in mid sentence. He did not want to listen to a description of a hotel room. He wanted to know what Elaine knew about the problems with payments to the suppliers. He told her what happened when Paul went to collect the new overalls from Pritchards.

‘They wouldn’t let him have the order. They say we owe them money. Do you know if they have been paid recently?’

‘Well off the top of my head I can’t remember exactly,’ said Elaine. I will need to check into things when I can get back into the office next Monday.’ Tim explained to Elaine that he had tried to speak to her on the phone during the afternoon but a woman called Sandra had informed him that she had not been at the office and neither for that matter had Bradley. There was a short silence on the line and then Elaine spoke.

‘I was only there for a few minutes’ she said. ‘I just got a note from Bradley about the business course, that and the hotel and I had to go straight back home to collect some clothes. I drove straight down here.’

‘Who is Debbie?’ Tim wanted to know.

‘She works part time for Bradley doing various bits and pieces. She sorted out the course details and the hotel for me. She is just young, fresh out of college but she seems to be really efficient.’ Tim felt the urge to ask a more direct question to get to the root of the issue that really bothered him more than anything else.

‘Is Bradley with you in Leeds?’ The line went silent for a few seconds and then Elaine answered quietly.

‘No he is not here with me. I think he may be in London. You know him. You can’t keep tabs on him. He just comes and goes. Elaine started to gabble nervously. Tim did not believe what Elaine was telling him.

Are you having an affair with him?’ asked Tim. Well he had done it now. He had asked the question he had been desperate to ask since the weekend. Whatever response he got to this question would be revealing to say the least. Elaine laughed loudly. Tim thought it was a forced laugh.

‘Whatever gives you that idea? He is way too old for me. He is nice though but just someone we do business with. He is a good laugh that is all. Why did you ask that? Are you feeling jealous or something? Elaine was speaking quickly. Tim thought that she sounded very defensive. He didn’t feel particularly reassured.

‘Well you always seem to be flirting with him. You were all over each other on Saturday night for one thing.’ Elaine laughed again.

‘That was just harmless fun. You wait until Friday night when I get home. I will smother you with tender loving care.’ Just at that moment the door bell rang. Tim could see Cookie’s car parked on the street outside.

‘I will have to go now, Cookie has just turned up.’

‘OK,’ said Elaine, if you would rather spend time with your mate rather than talk to your sexy wife then that is all right by me. I will phone tomorrow. Bye for now.’ Elaine rang off before Tim had chance to say anything else.

Tim went to the door and let Cookie in. He hadn’t been expecting him to call round.

‘Hi mate,’ he said as Cookie walked into the living room. Elaine has just been on the phone. She is in Leeds of all places.’ Cookie looked puzzled.

‘What is she doing down there. Don’t say Bradley has opened an office there and she has been headhunted to run it?’

‘Don’t even joke about something like that,’ Tim replied. ‘I have enough thoughts about what could be going on without you making things worse. She is on a business course. At least that is what she has just told me.’ Cookie was rather surprised to hear this.

‘I don’t think that business courses get organised that quickly. The first time anyone mentioned Elaine going on a course was on Saturday night at the restaurant. This all seems to be happening bloody quickly if you ask me.’

‘Someone dropped out apparently so there was a place free at the last minute.’ Tim explained to Cookie who by now was sitting down on the settee.

‘I came round to talk about these problems with the suppliers, he said. If things are starting to go wrong we need to nip them in the bud right now.’

‘I totally agree,’ replied Tim. Cookie continued.
‘We can’t do anything this week with Bradley and Elaine away. I think we should get in touch with Bradley as soon as we can and try to get a meeting set up for Monday or Tuesday next week at the very latest. I thought that me and you could get our heads together first and make a list of all the money that we think we owe to suppliers and then find out if the bills have been paid or not. The other thing that concerns me is we haven’t seen any accounts since we formed the limited company. Surely something should have been prepared by now. We are all working away merrily but we don’t really know if we are making a profit or not. We haven’t a clue if the company is floating or sinking.’ It was clear that Cookie felt the same way as Tim. He too was concerned that things seemed to be getting out of control as far as the business administration was concerned.

‘I agree with you,’ said Tim. ‘I haven’t a clue about any of this accounting lark. It is all figures to me. All I know is that we are getting plenty of orders for vehicles, thanks to your sterling efforts of course. I am working all the hours God sends to get them serviced and sent out but we don’t know how well the business is really doing. We keep getting our salary but we need to know if the bills are being paid for goodness sake.’ Tim continued explaining his concerns.

‘It is not only that, we need to know if the business is making money to invest for the future. The whole point of forming the limited company and taking on the bank loan was so that we could expand the business. If that is not going to be possible then we might just as well have stayed as we were. A small operation living from hand to mouth.’

‘How do we get hold of the information we need?’ Cookie asked.

‘Well that’s the problem,’ replied Tim. ‘Elaine keeps copies of every piece of paper that comes into the office. They are filed away in her little office, the one with the ‘Elaine’s Parlour’ sign on the door. Everything is in there but she has the key for that, I don’t have one.’

‘That’s bloody handy,’ replied Cookie. ‘How are we going to get the information now?
We are going to have to wait until the weekend when Elaine is home from Leeds.’ Cookie thought of a possible solution.

‘Perhaps we can get the original copies of the invoices from Bradley’s people. I could give them a ring in the morning, ask them to get the paperwork together and then arrange to collect it later in the day.’

‘Right that’s what we will do then,’ replied Tim. ‘If you get on to that first thing in the morning and then the two of us can go through what you have got and see if we can make sense of it. Now let’s order a takeaway shall we.’
CHAPTER SEVEN – DIRE STRAITS
Tim arrived at the garage early next morning. He decided that Paul was going to have to do the all of the servicing work today. He planned to devote the entire day to working on sorting out the invoices problem with Cookie.

‘Better you than me,’ said Paul as Tim explained why he was giving him all of the job cards for that days servicing.’ Like his boss, Paul wanted nothing to do with the administrative side of things. He much preferred to spend his working day in the maintenance pit than studying figures on invoices. Cookie arrived at the garage earlier than expected at eight thirty.

‘I thought I would cancel my visits for this morning,’ he said as he arrived in jeans, a casual jacket and tee shirt. ‘The quicker we get these problems sorted out the better. I am starting to feel very uneasy about this. Have you phoned Bradley’s office yet to get the paperwork?’

‘They don’t open until nine,’ replied Tim. ‘As soon as it is nine o’clock I am going to be on that phone you can be sure of that.’

While they were waiting for nine o’clock to arrive and Bradley’s office to open, Tim made tea for himself, Cookie and Paul. They had just sat down to drink their tea when the postman arrived with the mail. Tim thanked the postman, put the pile of post on the table and sat down. ‘We might as well have a look at what we have here while we are waiting,’ he said. Tim started to separate the advertising mail from the important looking letters.

‘I don’t know how many pieces of junk mail are here but I bet you could wallpaper the garage walls with them and still have some left over.’

‘I know, ‘replied Cookie. ‘I am sick of getting all of these brochures at home. The dustbin soon gets filled up with them. Is there anything interesting in that lot?’

‘Well we have a brochure about laptop computers. There is one about a new courier service that is setting up and there is one advertising electricity. Apparently you get ten percent off your electricity if you buy your gas from the same company. It is a pity these people did not do their research; they would have found out that we are all electric in here.’

‘Are there any important things like new orders for vehicles?’ Cookie asked. Tim carried on opening the post.

‘There is a letter here from Pritchards. I wonder what they want. Perhaps they are writing to say that there is a mistake with their accounts and that we can have those new overalls after all.’

’Lets hope so,’ replied Cookie. ‘We could do with some good news after yesterday.’ Tim opened the letter from Pritchard’s. There was no good news. There had not been a mistake. The credit limit had been exceeded. Pritchards were writing to say that they could not supply anymore goods on account until the outstanding money had been paid. Tim quickly looked at the remaining envelopes to check if there was anything really important that he should look at straight away. There was an electricity bill.

‘If only we had gas in here we might be able to get that ten percent discount,’ said Tim as he slammed the unopened electricity bill down onto the table. The next letter that caught Tim’s eye was the telephone bill.

‘Another bloody bill,’ he said as he tore open the envelope. Surely this bill couldn’t be for much. There was only the one phone line. Most of the calls were incoming ones. Tim only made outgoing calls to order parts or chase up deliveries. The bill was for sixty seven pounds ninety four pence.

‘Well that’s not bad is it?’ remarked Cookie. By then Tim was opening a letter from the bank. He took the letter from the envelope and Cookie watched as the colour drained from Tim’s face. Cookie could tell instantly that something was very wrong.

‘What is the matter Tim?’ Tim’s hand was shaking as he passed the letter to Cookie for him to read. Cookie took the letter and read from the top. The letter was addressed to Elaine.

‘Dear Mrs Wilson,
Further to our telephone conversation of 17 February I am writing to inform you that the account number 8/65467DA held by Wilson and Cook Heavy Vehicles Limited has been frozen. This is due to there being insufficient funds to allow your monthly repayment of loan L/6793765 to be made. I confirm that the last loan payment received by us was dated 27 December.

I would be grateful if you could contact me to arrange a meeting to discuss this matter at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely
Carl Sinclair (Business Loans Manager).’

‘Jesus Christ,’ shouted Cookie at top of his voice. ‘What the hell has been going on? There is a massive problem here and Elaine has known all about it.’ Tim looked ghostly white by now. He stood up and started to pace backwards and forwards across the garage floor shouting.

‘I don’t know what to say. How can we be in this mess? We are working hard. Business is coming in thick and fast. We are getting paid by the customers; well at least I presume we are. So where is the bloody money? Cookie interrupted angrily. ‘

How are we in the state where suppliers are ringing up asking for money? Now the bloody bank says we are three months behind on the loan repayments.’ Cookie got up from his seat.

‘I am going to speak to Bradley right now,’ he said as he marched across the garage towards the telephone. He reached into his inside jacket pocket and took out a business card. He put it on the bench beside the telephone. He picked up the telephone receiver. His hands were shaking now as he started to dial the number. He knocked the business card onto the floor.

‘Bastard card,’ he said as he stooped to pick up the card from where it had fallen. Tim beat him to it and picked the card up before Cookie was able to do so. Tim looked at the business card in his hand. It was Bradley’s card. He had given them one each in the Oak Tree pub the night they first met him. There were two telephone numbers on the card. One was Bradley’s office number, the other a mobile number. Tim paused and continued to hold onto the card. He fished inside the pocket of his trousers and pulled out a piece of paper he had been carrying around since Sunday. He had written a mobile phone number on this piece of paper. This was the number that he had copied from Elaine’s mobile phone on Sunday morning. This was supposed to be Debbie’s number. Debbie the new girl in Bradley’s office. The Debbie that no one knew. Tim continued to stare at the piece of paper in his hand. Then he looked again at Bradley’s business card. The number that Tim had copied from Elaine’s phone was the same as the number on the card.

‘I knew there was something going on. She was lying to me all the time. She is having an affair with Bradley. The rotten low-down bastard.’ Cookie put the receiver down halfway through dialling the number.

‘What on earth is wrong with you? Surely you don’t think….but Tim you can’t really believe that Elaine is cheating on you?’

‘What else am I supposed to bloody think? What other explanation can there be?’ Tim was getting angrier and angrier. He was fighting back tears now.

‘How can I believe anything else?’ I asked her on Sunday who she had been speaking to on the phone. She told be some cock and bull story about some lass called Debbie who had just started working for Bradley. I didn’t believe her then. It sounded so fishy. I looked at her phone when she went into the kitchen and this was the last number she had dialled. It is that bastard Bradley Hall’s number. Look it is on his bloody business card. I knew I had seen the number before.’ Cookie took the piece of paper from Tim and checked the number against the one printed on the business card.

‘It is definitely the same number,’ he confirmed. ‘Tim I think you need to sit down for a minute, calm down and think things through logically. There must be some reason why Elaine needed to speak to Bradley on Sunday morning. Perhaps it was to do with all this crap with the invoices and the bank.

‘Do you think that she was trying to sort things out?’ said Tim, almost in tears now.
‘I don’t know what to think mate. I suppose it is possible, anything is.’ Tim sat down at the table. He took another drink from his coffee cup.

‘I don’t know what to do about anything anymore.’ Cookie picked up the telephone receiver again.

‘I am going to try and get in touch with Bradley now and find out what is going on with the business. I am not going to mention anything about Elaine.’ Cookie dialled the number and waited a few seconds expecting to hear the number ringing at the other end. There was nothing. Just a clicking sound and a bit of crackle. He dialled the number again and got the same crackling sound. Cookie put down the receiver and walked back to where Tim was sitting.

‘Look I think there is something wrong with the phone. I will go through the rest of the post and see if there is anything important that needs to be seen to straight away. Why don’t you sort out with Paul what servicing jobs need to be done here and take yourself off home? Perhaps you could do with a rest. Do that and come back this afternoon if you are feeling better.’ Tim looked up at Cookie.

‘I have already given Paul his jobs for the day. I expected to be dealing with all of this shit all day. I will just leave the car here and walk home. See if I can clear my head.’ Cookie agreed that that was for the best.

‘Yes, you do that and hopefully I will have some good news for you when you get back.’

Tim put down his coffee cup and slowly and dejectedly walked out of the garage. Cookie walked back over to the telephone and dialled Bradley’s office number again. This time the number rang. Cookie listened as he heard the number ring ten times. ‘Why was no one answering?’ he wondered. Then a recorded message started to play. He listened to the message.

‘You are through to the office of Bradley Hall Business Services. There is no one here to take your call at the moment. Please leave a message after the tone and we will call you back as soon as possible.’ Cookie replaced the telephone receiver and sat down at the table.

‘What on earth can be going on? He wondered. ‘We are up to our necks in debt. Elaine is out of the area, and we can not get to speak to anyone about our business situation. There is only one thing I can do.’ Cookie walked over to the maintenance pit where Paul was working on one of the Landrovers.

‘Paul,’ he shouted. ’Listen, something has come up. Tim has gone out for a while; he is not feeling too well. I am going to have to go out for an hour or so as well. Can you hold the fort until I get back?’

‘Yes, no problem,’ Paul shouted from underneath the Landrover. ‘I have plenty of work to be getting on with here.’ Cookie walked out of the garage and got into his car. He was going to Bradley’s office in Newcastle to see if he could talk to someone. Surely there must be some way of getting to the bottom of all of this. Surely someone must know what was going on.

Bradley’s office was located just near the Quayside in Newcastle. At quiet periods the journey would usually take about fifteen minutes but this was the peak of the rush hour. Most of Tyneside were still trying to get to work. As Cookie approached the Tyne Bridge he was forced to come to a stop.

The traffic had come to a standstill. Cookie tried to see what was happening in the queue of traffic ahead of him. There was probably a minor accident or perhaps a set of traffic lights were out of action. That kind of thing sometimes caused traffic jams like this. Cookie felt annoyed. There was no short cut he could take to avoid the traffic. No quick way of getting to the Quayside. He simply had to just sit and inch his way through the traffic until he was at the other side of the river. At least the time he was forced to spend in the queue of traffic would give him chance to think through what he was going to say to Bradley when he finally got to the office. He had been upset by what Tim had told him regarding his theory about Elaine and Bradley.

Cookie decided that nothing would be gained from mixing emotions with fact. The reason for visiting Bradley’s office was purely to get access to documents that would show what state the business was in and how they could solve the problems that had arisen. There was also the letter they had just received from the bank to be dealt with. Was it really true that the loan repayments had not been made for three months?

The traffic started to move again and after a few more minutes Cookie had managed to cross the Tyne Bridge and was driving along the Quayside. Now he needed somewhere to park. He had only ever been to Bradley’s office a couple of times before and was not really sure about where he would find a parking space at this busy time of the morning. As he approached one of the public car parks he slowed down and looked carefully for any sign of a spare parking space. There were no free spaces there. Cookie remembered that there was a larger car park a bit further along the Quayside. He might have more luck there. He continued along the road and saw the car park sign just ahead. He slowed down and carefully turned his car into the entrance. This was a multi story car park with six tiers. He might have to go right to the top tier to find a space. Cookie joined the line of cars that were also looking for a place to park. Just as he thought, all of the spaces on the first and second tiers were full. He would have to continue climbing to the top if necessary. He must find a space somewhere.

Cookie followed the line of cars up the ramp. A few seconds later the line of cars in front of him came to a halt. One of the drivers had stalled his car and this had brought the whole queue to a standstill. He couldn’t reverse out of the queue because there were about ten cars behind him. He was stuck.

‘Hells bells,’ said Cookie to himself. ‘What a bloody morning to get stuck like this. Why can’t these people drive properly?’ He glanced at his rear view mirror hoping to see the cars reversing down the ramp to the tier below but everything seemed to have come to a halt behind him as well. From where he was sitting he could see people walking along the street alongside the multi-story car park. They were probably hurrying to meetings at offices along the Quayside. Only they had already parked their cars and would not be late for their meetings. Then Cookie recognised someone he knew only too well. It was Bradley Hall carrying a large box of what looked like lever arch files full of documents. Cookie watched as Bradley crossed the road and headed away from where Cookie was sitting. Cookie was unable to do anything. His car was stuck in the queue in the car park. He banged his hand onto the steering wheel in rage.

‘Why the hell did I have to get stuck in this bloody car park? Why did that idiot have to stall his car and cause everything to get all blocked up like this?’ Just at that moment the car in front moved forwards and Cookie was able to follow it up the ramp to the next tier. Luckily there were a few free spaces there and Cookie managed to park his car in one of them. He jumped out of the car, ran across to the lift to get back to ground level. There was no time to think about getting a ticket for the parking space he had just taken. He needed to catch up with Bradley. He had to find out what was going on. He would just have to risk a parking fine or getting his wheels clamped.

The lift was full so Cookie decided that it would be quicker just to run down the stairs instead. He took the stairs two at a time and quickly reached ground level. He ran onto the street. He looked up and down the street. There seemed to be hundreds of people swarming around, like ants all heading off in different directions. Cookie looked to see if he could see Bradley. There were men and women carrying all types of cases; briefcases and suitcases. There were women with handbags and shopping bags. There were men with holdalls and sports bags. Cookie could see no one with a box of lever arch files. It would have been much easier if he had been able to meet up with Bradley in the street. He would be able to ask him straight out if he knew what was happening. It could be that the files were unrelated to ‘Cook and Wilson Motors Limited’ but unless Cookie actually found Bradley carrying them he would never know for certain. Cookie realised that he had lost Bradley. He decided that he would have to go to Bradley’s office after all.

He crossed the road and headed for the corner of the street. The office was about a quarter of a mile away. Cookie would have to walk along the street, around the corner and up a rather steep hill known as Dean Street. He would be there in about ten minutes. There was no time to lose. The worrying thing was that the office seemed to have been closed when he tried to telephone earlier. There had only been an answer phone message. What would he find when he got to the office? Would there be any staff to deal with him when he got there?

Cookie turned the corner and headed up Dean Street. The city was busy. Hundreds of people were walking to work in offices and shops. He still hoped that he might find Bradley before he reached the office. He scanned all of the faces that he passed on his journey up the hill but there was still no sign of Bradley anywhere. Cookie was getting nearer to the office. He would soon find out if his concerns were real or not. He carried on up the hill. It had been over a year since he had last been to the office. Not since that day when he, Tim, Elaine and Bradley had met there just prior to going to the solicitors office to sign the documents that formed their limited company. He was nearly there. In a matter of thirty seconds or so he would be at the door of Bradley’s office. In a matter of moments he would hopefully be nearer to finding out what had been happening with the business that he and his friends had worked so hard to build up and which seemed to be falling apart.

Cookie stopped at the heavy wooden door. He pushed against it expecting it to open. The door did not move. It was locked. Cookie could also see that the lights were switched off. It was obvious at least from the street that there was no one in the office. He moved a couple of paces to his right so that he could look through the small window. There was no sign of anyone at all. There was no one sitting at the reception desk. When he had visited the office before there had been a receptionist taking telephone calls and transferring them through to the appropriate members of staff. The main office where the administration work is done is on the second floor. ‘Perhaps there was someone up there,’ Cookie thought. He stepped back away from the building and moved nearer to the kerb. He wanted to be able to see if there was a light on in the room above. No. The place was in complete darkness. Cookie decided to try the telephone one more time. He took his mobile phone out of his pocket and then took out Bradley’s business card. He dialled the office number and listened. He heard the phone ring and then the same message he had heard an hour earlier. ‘You are through to the office of Bradley Hall Business services. There is no one here to take your call at the moment. Please leave a message after the tone and we will call you back as soon as possible.’ Cookie pressed the button to end the call. It was obvious now that the office was closed. There was no one there. No Bradley. No staff. The place was in darkness and there was no one to answer the telephone. There was really only one thing he could do now. He would have to call Bradley direct.

Cookie dialled the mobile number on the business card and waited for the phone to start ringing. There was no ringing tone. Just a long tone that Cookie had heard before when he had dialled an incorrect number. He dialled the number again just in case he had misdialled the first time. He heard the same tone again. It seemed that he had been trying to call a number that no longer existed. Then Cookie remembered what Tim had told him about Elaine calling Bradley’s mobile on Sunday. Surely the number had been working then. Cookie tried to call Bradley’s mobile again. For the third time he got the unobtainable tone. He ended the call and put his mobile back into his pocket. He would have to go back to the garage and talk things through with Tim. Together they would have to decide what they were going to do to try and get out of the mess they were in.

Cookie drove back to the garage. When he arrived there he noticed that Tim’s car was in exactly the same place as when he left. He got out of his own car and went inside the garage. By now it was nearly ten thirty Paul was still there working on one of the Landrovers. Paul climbed out of the maintenance pit and walked across the garage floor to meet Cookie. Cookie asked Paul if Tim had been back.

‘No not been back while you were away.’ Paul had nearly finished the work that Tim had left him and asked what else he could do. Cookie looked around the garage.

‘As far as I am aware there is no more urgent work to be done. Why don’t you have the rest of the day off? Come in to the garage tomorrow morning and hopefully Tim will be feeling better by then.’ Paul washed and dried his hands, took off his overalls and put them in his locker. The pile of post that Cookie and Tim had been looking at earlier was still lying on the table. Cookie picked up the post. Knowing that Paul had a set of keys for the garage, Cookie asked him to lock the place up for the day. The two men left the garage together. Paul locked the garage door and got on his motorbike and drove away. Cookie got into his car with the pile of post and put it on the passenger seat. He decided he would go to Tim’s house and see how he was.

‘Any news?’ asked Tim asked Cookie as soon as he opened the front door. ‘Did you manage to talk to Bradley? He continued. What the hell is he going to do about this mess we are in?’ Tim was clearly still in an agitated state.

‘It is far from good news I am afraid,’ said Cookie. His “Mr Glass Half Full” persona had completely deserted him. Cookie told Tim that he had seen Bradley walking through Newcastle carrying a box of lever arch files but by the time he had found a place to park his car Bradley had vanished.

‘That is not all either,’ he continued.’ When I got to the office the bloody place was in darkness. There is nobody there. I tried to phone. I got that stupid answer phone message. Bradley’s mobile is disconnected too by the sounds of things.’ Tim was pacing backwards and forwards across the living room, unable to come to terms with what was happening.

‘He has done a fucking runner, the bastard.’ Tim was clearly beside himself with worry.
‘How are we going to cope with all this? How on earth could Bradley have done this to us? If things were going badly with the business why the hell couldn’t he have told us about it? It is our business after all. Mine, yours and Elaine’s. He is a director too don’t forget. He has responsibilities.’

‘He is liable if things are about go down the pan.’ Cookie reminded Tim. Cookie stood up and walked towards Tim’s landline telephone.

‘I think we need to contact the bank and try to get things sorted out,’ he said. ‘I have brought all of the post that came to the garage this morning. I have the letter from the bank here. They wrote to tell us to make an appointment with them to discuss the account. At least they will have some records that will tell us just how much shit we are in.’ Tim gestured towards the telephone.

‘Yes mate you make the call, I am too upset to do anything at the minute.’ Cookie took the letter from the pile of post that he had brought from the garage and picked out the envelope from the bank. He picked up the telephone receiver and dialled the number.

‘It’s ringing,’ he said and then held on for a few seconds waiting for someone to answer.

‘Good afternoon Tynedale Bank, Susan speaking, how may I help you?’
‘That’s a relief’ thought Cookie. ‘At least he was going to be able to speak to someone now.

‘Good afternoon, could I speak to Mr Carl Sinclair please.’ After explaining who he was and what he wanted to speak to Mr Sinclair about he was put on hold for about thirty seconds. Then he heard a male voice on the line.

‘Good afternoon Mr Cook, my name is Carl Sinclair.’ Cookie immediately began to feel slightly better about the situation just by being able to speak to someone about it. Mr Sinclair explained that the business account had been frozen but was unable to explain details over the telephone.

‘I really need to speak to all four directors of the business as soon as possible,’ he told Cookie. ‘I would like you all to meet me here at the branch tomorrow afternoon at two o’clock if that is possible.’ Cookie explained that Elaine was out of the area on a training course and would not be home until late on Friday evening. As for Bradley, unfortunately at present they had no means of getting in touch with him at such short notice. Mr Sinclair sighed.

‘Well I am afraid that it will have to be just yourself and Mr Wilson who attends. We really can’t allow this situation to continue any longer. Things are entering a critical phase. We really need to try to resolve the situation regarding the outstanding business loan repayments.’ Cookie now realised that he and Tim were in an extremely serious situation and had no option to agree to the time of the meeting.

‘We will both be there at two o’clock tomorrow Mr Sinclair. I agree we must get this sorted out as quickly as possible. Many thanks for your time. Cookie put down the receiver and turned to Tim.

‘I guess you got the gist of that. He wants us to go to the bank tomorrow afternoon. This is really serious stuff.’ Cookie sat down in the armchair facing the one Tim was sitting in. Tim sat there with his head in his hands. He looked up at Cookie who could see the tears rolling down his friend’s cheeks.

‘Cookie mate,’ he sobbed. ‘This whole thing is turning into a bastard nightmare. How on earth are we going to get ourselves out of this mess?’ Cookie looked at Tim and tried to think how he could reassure him.

‘Look, I am sure that things are not as bad as they seem. The guy on the phone from the bank sounded really helpful and sympathetic to our situation.’ Cookie was trying to help Tim cope. Mr Sinclair hadn’t sounded sympathetic at all. He sounded like a hardnosed bank manager who was determined to get back everything that the business owed his bank. Cookie couldn’t tell Tim that though. Tim was taking things really badly as it was. He had to try and make him feel better even though he could only sense that things were going to get a whole lot worse tomorrow.

After about an hour spent trying to convince Tim that things would soon be sorted out amicably, Cookie decided that he would have to go home himself. He would talk things through with Sarah and try to get an early night before facing the bank tomorrow. Luckily he had Paul’s mobile number. Because Tim was too upset, Cookie decided to take it upon himself to tell Paul not to go into the garage the following morning. After making the call to Paul, Cookie went home.

Tim made a quick meal for himself and decided that he would wait until about eight o’clock to see if Elaine phoned him. If there was no phone call by then he would go to bed. He had a splitting headache and he was tired. He was too upset to talk to anyone about anything. There was just so much grief he could take in any one day.

Tim rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock. It was seven thirty two in the morning. He had slept soundly all night He had drank a few glasses of whisky before he went to bed. The whisky must have helped him to sleep soundly. He was pleased because yesterday was such an appalling day and he had needed something to help him banish the thoughts of what had happened. Elaine had not called. At least he could not remember her calling. Tim remembered falling asleep at around seven o’clock last evening but couldn’t remember a thing after that. He must have managed to get himself upstairs somehow. The jeans that he had been wearing where lying on the bed beside him. He reached into his jeans pocket to find his mobile phone. He needed to see if there were any missed calls. There were two missed calls and a text. Both calls and the text were from Elaine. The text read ‘tried to call, course good, home on Friday xxx E.’ ‘Well at least she bothered to ring,’ Tim thought as he pulled on his jeans and reached into the wardrobe for a clean shirt. Then he remembered where he was going to be that afternoon. His heart sank. At two o’clock he and Cookie would be meeting with Mr Sinclair at the bank. Then they would find out just how bad things really were. He felt like taking to the whisky bottle again and going straight back to sleep. Instead he decided that he would need to be strong, positive and business like on today of all days.

Tim got washed and dressed and went downstairs into the kitchen. He couldn’t be bothered with any breakfast. He made a cup of coffee and went into the living room to drink it. A few minutes later the telephone rang. It was Cookie to say that he would be calling for Tim shortly after one o’clock and he would drive them both to the Tynedale Bank for their meeting with Mr Sinclair.

Tim spent the morning reading the few items of post that they had not had chance to look at the day before. Most of it was advertising junk mail. Tim threw them in the bin. Then he wondered how Paul was feeling this morning. Surely by now he would realise that the company was in trouble and that his job had gone from being secure to very insecure all in the space of twenty-four hours. Tim had a shower and changed into his best suit. He wanted to look his best for the meeting this afternoon at the bank.


Cookie called for Tim at one o’clock as promised and they drove to the bank. The branch of the bank where they were to meet Mr Sinclair was located on a rather plush business park that had only recently been built.

‘Look at this,’ said Tim to Cookie as they walked towards the entrance. ‘It is like a bloody hotel. All glass and glitz. No wonder banking charges are so bloody high.’ Tim was feeling the tension already. They went inside the building and walked up to the reception desk. There was a very attractive blonde sitting behind the desk. She looked no older than about twenty. She flashed a smile and asked if she could help.

‘We have a meeting with Mr Sinclair at two o’clock’ said Cookie.’

‘Please take a seat’ said the receptionist and Mr Sinclair will be with you in a few minutes.’ Tim and Cookie sat down on the sofa at the side of the reception area. ‘This sofa is even more comfortable than my mattress at home,’ thought Tim wishing he could curl up on it and go to sleep. He hoped that if he could do that this whole nightmare would be over once and for all when he woke up. No such luck.

Tim looked up at the posters on the wall of the reception. They were all trying to persuade people to borrow money. They showed pictures of attractive men and women who all looked as if they had just come from a model agency. The bubbles above the heads of the people told why each of these ‘customers’ of the bank had taken out large loans. They wanted holidays, cars and boats. All Tim had wanted to do was use the money that he and Cookie had borrowed to build up their business and make better lives for themselves through their own hard, honest work.

After what seemed like an eternity, Mr Sinclair appeared. He wore a dark suit and his hair was soaked in gel. He was not much older than the receptionist.

‘Please come this way,’ said Mr Sinclair as he led the way along a corridor to a glass panelled office.

‘Have a seat gentlemen. Would you like some tea or coffee?’ Tim and Cookie both declined this offer. They were both feeling extremely nervous and just wanted to get straight down to business. Mr Sinclair walked over to a filing cabinet and took out a large lever arch file full of documents.

Tim looked around the room. It was quite a large office for just one person to work in he thought. There were actually two desks. One for Mr Sinclair and another desk which Tim assumed would usually be used by a secretary or administrative assistant. On each desk stood a computer and on the wall of the office was a rack containing leaflets advertising loans for individuals and businesses. Mr Sinclair sat down at his desk. He took a pile of the documents out of the folder and spread them out on his desk. He coughed as if he was commanding the attention of Tim and Cookie.

‘Now gentlemen I think I have all of the information here now. I would like to formally start the meeting. I would like to start by explaining why I called this meeting today.’
Cookie jumped in. He thought that it was in their interests to show some kind of understanding of their situation.

‘We understand that the account has been frozen because the loan repayments seem not to have been made.’

‘Well that is the main concern at least as far as the bank is concerned’ said Mr Sinclair. ‘I have to tell you Mr Cook, the situation is an extremely serious one. We have reached a stage where we have had to suspend the account not just because of the default on the loan repayments to this bank but because other organisations have asked for this to happen also. It appears that several of your suppliers are owed a substantial amount of money too.’ Tim and Cookie looked at each other blankly and then turned to Mr Sinclair who had paused as if he was waiting for some kind of reaction. Tim tried to explain that they had recently had a telephone call from a new supplier asking for payment but as far as he was aware that had been resolved.

‘There was also a problem with the account we have with a firm that supplied overalls and such like,’ he explained. Mr Sinclair looked again at the pile of documents that he had taken from the lever arch file. He held one document in his hand. He began to explain it’s importance.

‘This is a report from my head office informing me that a cheque for £78,942.86 to a company called UK Military Vehicles Limited could not be honoured.’

‘But that is crazy,’ Tim cried out. ‘This is the company we buy all of our vehicles from. We had some delivered a couple of weeks ago.’ Cookie confirmed. ‘That is a very large sum of money, it must go back months.’

‘That’s right agreed Mr Sinclair. ‘The the last cheque issued to this company was nearly three months ago.’ Cookie wanted to know how their situation could have gone so badly so quickly. He tried to explain their understanding of the situation that had just arisen.

‘All of these issues have just suddenly surfaced during the last few days Mr Sinclair. I can only assume that there have been errors made by either our administrator or by the company we use to factor our invoices. This kind of thing has never happened before. Perhaps the factoring company that we use have taken on someone who doesn’t know what they are doing.’ Mr Sinclair shook his head.

‘Mr Cook, I wish it was as simple as that. I know for certain that this bank has been in almost constant telephone contact with a Mr Bradley Hall and a Mrs Elaine Wilson for several weeks now. We have been trying to discuss with your company how we can help you organise your finances and arrange a way to help you make the loan repayments to our mutual satisfaction. Telephone calls have not been returned and letters have remained unanswered. I have copies of the letters here.’ Mr Sinclair handed Cookie a pile of six letters. They were addressed to Elaine Wilson. Cookie looked at the letters and then handed them to Tim who stared at them shaking his head.

‘I just can’t believe this,’ he said. ‘How on earth could we not make our loan repayments and pay the suppliers the money we owe them. The business is getting busier and busier. The money is rolling in and should be going out again to the people we owe it to. I can’t understand how this has all arisen. There a big mistake here somewhere.’ Tim handed the pile of letters to Mr Sinclair. The room fell silent. Tim and Cookie looked at Mr Sinclair, then at each other. There was more bad news. Mr Sinclair took another pile of documents from his file.

‘I have copies of the last two statements applicable to your company’s business account with us.’ He handed Tim and Cookie copies of the bank statements. ‘As you can see there have been some very large sums of money paid to companies and individuals during the past two months. I would like to draw your attention to several in particular. I have consolidated the payments here on this spreadsheet.’ He handed Tim and Cookie each a printout of the spreadsheet showing a list of companies who had been paid money from the business account of ‘Wilson and Cook Heavy Vehicles Limited.’

‘Do either of you have any comments to make regarding these payments?’ There was silence once more. Eventually Cookie spoke.

‘I have never heard of these companies before. The names are completely new to me.’ Tim’s eyes were still fixed to the piece of paper he held in his hand.

‘The sums of money are enormous. Why on earth have we paid these people? Who are they? I have never heard of them?’ Mr Sinclair looked at Cookie and Tim. There was silence again. This time no one spoke for what seemed like an eternity but in reality the silence lasted only a few seconds. Mr Sinclair broke the silence. He started to read from the spreadsheet.

‘Anthony Giles £23,897.47, Simon Lewin, £57,845.98, Northside Corporation £8,435.47, Parkside Securities, £22,956.99. BH Business Developments £2,398.12. All of the transfers were made more than six weeks ago. Tim could take no more.
‘All right man, I can bloody read. I went to school too for God’s sake.’ Mr Sinclair’s face turned bright red. After a pause he spoke again.

‘Mr Wilson, I think your company may have been the victim of a fraud. Unfortunately due to the age of the cheque transactions there is nothing the bank can do to stop them.’

‘But someone has wiped us out,’ shouted Tim. ‘Surely there is something you can do to help us.’

‘Unfortunately not’ replied Mr Sinclair. Anyway the purpose of this meeting is to discuss the loan repayments to Tynedale Bank that remain outstanding. Let me make things clear to you. Unless you have an alternative source of funding available to you then I am afraid that your company is effectively insolvent.’ At this point both Tim and Cookie held their heads in their hands.

‘This is very serious Mr Sinclair’ said Tim.

‘Yes Mr Wilson it is very serious indeed. UK Military Vehicles and this bank are your largest creditors. The bank in particular is owed a substantial amount of money. If you do have alternative sources of funding we may be able to arrive at some kind of arrangement that will allow you to recommence your loan repayments to us. Is it possible that you do have such a source of finance?’ Cookie explained that all the business owned was the garage that they had purchased with the loan and tools that were essential for carrying out the servicing of the vehicles before delivery to customers. Mr Sinclair looked at Tim.

’Mr Wilson do you have any other source of income other than from the garage business?’ Tim explained that he had not. He explained that he had recently taken out a mortgage on the new house that he and Elaine had moved into.

‘In that case,’ said Mr Sinclair looking grim faced, ‘the next part of this process I am afraid is for Tynedale Bank to appoint an administrative receiver to take over the assets of the business. This will mean the garage and the compound as well as any unsold vehicles. Hopefully these assets will cover the outstanding creditors.’ Cookie’s face was now ghostly white. He asked a question.

‘Can I ask you Mr Sinclair, what happens when you appoint the receiver?’
Yes, the bank will take control of the business and will sell all of the assets to recover the money owed. I am afraid it is as straight forward as that. It is clear that you are unable to repay your creditors any other way. There is no further course of action the bank can take. You should get a visit from our appointed receiver nest Monday.’ At that point Mr Sinclair glanced at his watch. ‘I am really sorry but I have another meeting attend now. If you would please follow me and I will take you to the reception area. Goodbye Mr Wilson, Mr Cook.’

Tim and Cookie were both feeling numb as they sat in Cookie’s car after leaving the bank. ‘Surely there must be something that we can do to save the garage,’ said Tim. Cookie shrugged his shoulders.

‘We owe a bloody fortune mate. We owe the bank at least seventy five grand and then there are the other suppliers. The salaries are due to be paid next week as well.’ Cookie looked at the spreadsheet that Mr Sinclair had given them.

‘Who are these people? Why on earth have we paid them?’

‘I don’t know Tim. Look, we need to get Elaine to come home right now to sort this out. She is the only person with access to the paperwork. Then we must go to the police.’ Tim took his mobile phone from out of his pocket and dialled Elaine’s number. ‘Just as I imagined’, he said ‘she has got the bloody thing switched off.’

By now it was getting late in the afternoon. Cookie had arranged to collect Sarah from work. He offered to drive Tim home first.

‘Keep trying to get hold of Elaine and I will call round later this evening and we will decide what we are going to tell the police. We need to contact them urgently now.’ They agreed that they would meet at Tim’s house at seven thirty to plan what they should do. Hopefully by then Tim would have spoken to Elaine and would have some information.

Cookie dropped Tim off at his house and went home himself. Tim went into the kitchen and made a cup of tea. He just wanted a drink; nothing to eat. He couldn’t face a meal at a time like this. The experience at the bank had made him feel sick. He kept trying Elaine’s mobile but it was still switched off. He drank his tea and decided to go for a walk until it was time for Cookie to return. He thought about the events of the past few days. This time last week he was as happy as he could be. He had a thriving business and was making good money. Last Saturday was their evening out to celebrate the success of their business. He had really enjoyed himself at the restaurant and the nightclub afterwards. It seemed as if that point was the high point in their fortunes. It was the moment of calm before the storm.

Tim remembered the way that Elaine had behaved with Bradley in the restaurant. Elaine seemed to be flirting wildly and Bradley as usual was the ladies man. Then there was the mysterious telephone call on Sunday morning. Why had Elaine lied to him saying that she had been speaking to someone called Debbie? It seemed obvious to Tim that Elaine had spoken to Bradley. The last dialled number on her mobile was the one on Bradley’s business card. Then there was her visit to the garage on Monday morning. She was really dolled up. Tim clenched his fist in anger as he thought about how she looked then. ‘She looked as if she was about to meet her fucking boyfriend rather than a business associate.’ It was this thought that stopped Tim in his tracks. A thought went through his mind. ‘That was it. That was what she was going to do. She is having an affair.’ He hadn’t even seen her since then. He got home that night, found the quickly scribbled note from Elaine saying that she was going to Leeds on a course. He had no address in Leeds to trace her; no hotel; nothing. The only way he could contact his wife now was through her mobile phone. That had been switched off all day. He took his mobile out of his pocket for what seemed like the hundredth time and tried to call Elaine again. Her phone was still switched off. Tim carried on walking for another hour.

Tim’s mind was in turmoil. He was thinking of Elaine, how she had looked on Monday morning, how she had spent most of Saturday evening flirting with that bastard Bradley Hall and all of the times during the past few weeks that they were supposed to be working on the accounts of the business. Some bloody work. The business was sunk now.

As he walked through the estate Tim saw a familiar sight ahead of him. There was the Oak Tree pub. He would call in there for a pint and to rest his legs. He walked into the pub. It was fairly quiet. This was a Wednesday evening and the pub did not get busy until much later. Tim walked to the bar and ordered his pint and went to sit down. He was glad the pub was quiet. He wanted to sit on his own quietly to think. It did not take Tim long to drink his pint of lager. He walked across to the bar to order another. He was just going to ask the barman for another lager when he changed his mind.

‘I’ll have a double whisky please.’ Tim paid for the drink and took it back to where he had been sitting. He had only been in the pub thirty five minutes when he needed another drink. After ordering a second double whisky he turned away from the bar and prepared to make his way back to his table. A group of people had just entered the pub and were settling down at his table. Tim did not feel like being sociable. He drank his whisky down in one go, put the empty glass on the bar and walked towards the door. He decided to go home and wait for Cookie to arrive.

Tim started to walk down the road from the pub when a thought came into his head. He would try to contact Elaine one more time. If he still got no answer then he would go to the garage and try to get into ‘Elaine’s Parlour’ and see if he could find any information among her paperwork that they could take to the police. He did not have a key but he would be prepared get his tools out and take the door off its hinges if necessary and get in that way. It was his bloody garage after all. The whisky had given Tim courage.

During the ten minute walk from the Oak Tree to his house Tim pressed the redial button on his mobile phone ten more times. He desperately wanted to speak to Elaine so that he could talk to her about the problems with the business. He missed her so much anyway. Surely she was not about to leave him for an old lying scumbag like Bradley Hall. How could she even think of doing such a thing? They had a rock solid marriage based on love and hard work channelled towards creating a happy home for themselves and eventually some children. Bradley was all front. He was glitz, nothing substantial about him at all. If Elaine really was going to walk out on her marriage to go and live with someone like Hall then she was a completely different person to the one Tim thought that he was married to.

Tim turned the corner at the top of his street. He could see his car parked in the driveway of his house. He would not bother going into the house. He decided that he would get in to his car and drive straight to the garage. He would go there, open the door of the garage, use his tools to get into Elaine’s office and go through all of the paperwork to find out the truth about why his business was crumbling. Yes, he had had a bit to drink but he was certainly capable of driving the two miles from his home to the garage.

Tim reached his driveway. He put his hand in his pocket to find his car keys, took them out and pressed the button on the remote control to open the central locking system. He got into the car and drove down the street in the direction of the main road. It would take no more than five or six minutes to get to the garage. Very soon he would discover the secret. He would find out for sure who had caused the business to crash around him? He would find out where the money he had worked so hard to earn had gone. He would find out what Bradley Hall had done to his business and most importantly he would find out if Elaine was a party to this betrayal. What part had she played in this jungle? The jungle on Civvy street.

Tim turned into the industrial estate and drove along the road that led to the garage. He was getting nearer and nearer. Tim would usually feel nervous faced with a situation like this. He did not feel nervous at all. A combination of lager, whisky and the determination to solve his problems gave him the courage to continue driving straight ahead. In a few seconds he would have to stop to unlock the gate of the compound.

Tim turned that final corner and prepared to press his foot on the break pedal. He did not need to. The gate was already open. Someone else was already here. Tim drove though the open gate like he had done dozens of times before. Then he realised that Paul was not there. No one was there. But someone had opened the gate. Only he, Paul, Cookie and Elaine had keys to gain access to the garage compound. Tim drove into the compound and headed towards the parking spot that he always used. There were three others. Paul usually used one and the other one was used by Elaine, Cookie, customers or other visitors to the garage.

Through the dusk Tim could see that one of the car parking spaces was occupied by a dark blue BMW. He had seen that car many times before. It had been parked outside the garage on many occasions. The first time Tim had seen that BMW was when he first met Bradley Hall in the Oak Tree pub nearly three years ago. Bradley Hall was here at the garage. Only yesterday, Cookie had tried to see Bradley at his office. He had tried repeatedly to speak to him on the telephone. His office was deserted and his mobile phone cut off. Now here at the garage Tim could plainly see that Bradley Hall, the man he had trusted with the financial affairs of his business, the man who seemingly had authorised the payment of thousands of pounds belonging to his business was here. He had no right to be here.

Tim stopped his car, opened the door, got out and slammed the door shut. The whisky was still working. He felt no fear as he walked up to the door of the garage, turned the handle and let himself in. All of the lights in the garage had been turned on. The Landrover that Paul had been working on yesterday was still parked over the maintenance pit. Tim looked left and then right to see if he could see Bradley. There was no sign of him. Tim went inside and saw that the door of Elaine’s office was open. At least he would not need to get his tools out to try and force the door. This had already been done for him. The office light was on. As he walked towards the door of Elaine’s office he heard a mechanical grating sound. He stopped at the door and watched. Bradley was there. He was immaculately dressed as usual in his smart suit and overcoat. He was also wearing black leather gloves.

Bradley was standing there taking files full of documents from the cabinets and pushing them into a shredder. As the shredded documents came out of the machine he stuffed what remained of them into plastic bin bags which he pushed to one side. Tim watched as Bradley took more documents from the cabinets. It seemed as if he was determined to shred every piece of paper in the entire office. The shredder was plugged into an electric socket six inches from the door. Tim bent down and pulled the plug from the socket causing the shredder to stop. There was silence. Bradley turned round instantly.

‘You have not seen me here,’ he said as he threw down the file full of documents that he had been holding.

‘Oh yes I have seen you here you lying thieving scheming bastard.’ Tim grabbed hold of the file that Bradley had just thrown onto the floor and pulled from it a handful of papers.
‘What are you trying to do, cover up the fact that you have ripped me, Cookie and Elaine off to the tune of thousands?’ Bradley wrenched the documents from Tim’s hand and the whole lot scattered onto the floor. Tim looked at the plastic bags full of papers that Bradley had scattered about the room. He put his hand inside one of the bags and pulled out a handful of shredded paper then turned to face Bradley.

‘This was going to go to the police. We were going to find out where the money has gone out of the business and who was responsible for getting us in this shit. All the time it was you. You low down bastard. To think that we all trusted you.’ Bradley pulled the bag out of Tim’s hand and pushed him through the office door. Tim started to fall and he grabbed hold of Bradley. The two men fell on to the floor together with Bradley punching Tim in the face. Bradley’s thick black leather gloves caused Tim’s face to hurt all the more as the punches rained down on him. Tim fell to the ground, banging his head on the concrete. Bradley realised that Tim was not going to fight back. He stopped punching and began to shout at him instead.

‘You think you grew this business do you? Let me tell you something you spineless, useless little creep, you excuse for a man. If it had not been for your army mate, finding the vehicles to sell in the first place you wouldn’t have a fucking business. Tim was incensed by what Bradley had just said. Even though Bradley was still lying on top of him Tim started to fight back again. He punched Bradley in the face again and again, perhaps ten times. Bradley retaliated and when he decided that Tim had enough he stood up and looked at Tim lying on the floor of the garage. He continued to tell Tim some harsh facts.

‘If I hadn’t sorted out the money for you the business would never have been started and you would still be lying around on the dole without a pot to piss in. Tim lay groaning on the floor. Bradley continued his tirade. ‘As for your wife, I bet she hasn’t told you that I have been shagging her arse off for the past month. How do you think I got in here anyway? I have got her bloody keys. She wanted me to stop you going to the cops with all of this paperwork. Who do you think countersigned the bloody cheques? She is up to her pretty little neck in it too. The bank requires two signatures on all the cheques you know.’

‘I don’t believe you. Elaine would not have betrayed me like that. She loves me. She might have flirted with you when we were out but that is as far as it went.’
Bradley knelt down and thumped Tim in the face again.

‘If you believe that you are even dimmer than we all took you for. Do you know what we call you? Do you want to know what Elaine calls you behind your back? Well do you? She calls you Dim Tim. Do you really think that someone like you can keep a woman like Elaine satisfied? She begs you to liven yourself up. No wonder she will shag anyone with a bit of spark. I could have had her from day one; she was bloody gagging for it.’
Bradley stood up wiped as much of the dirt from his clothes as he could and went back into the office. Tim was still lying on the floor.

Bradley dragged five or six of the bin bags containing shredded documents out of the office and pushed them into the driver’s seat of the Landrover that was still standing over the maintenance pit where Paul had left it the previous day. He walked back to where Tim was still lying motionless. Tim’s face was bleeding and he was unconscious. Bradley realised what he had done. He dragged Tim still unconscious through the garage door and dumped him up against the outside wall.

Bradley went back inside the garage. He walked across to the table where Tim, Paul and Cookie often sat to drink their coffee and eat their sandwiches at lunchtimes. He pulled open the drawer and pushed his hand inside feeling around for the familiar shape of the silver cigarette lighter that he had used many times before. He took the lighter, walked calmly across to the Landrover; picking up a full petrol can on the way. He took the top off the petrol can, poured the full contents onto the shredded documents that he had covered the Landrover seats with and struck the cigarette lighter. He set light to the shredded paper.

The flames started to take hold. He found more cans of petrol and poured their contents over the remaining bin bags. He sprayed petrol all around the garage floor and used the silver cigarette lighter to set fire to it. Within seconds the floor of the garage was blazing. Bradley started to panic. The Landrover windows blew out as Bradley ran out of the garage in fear of his life. He noticed that Tim was still propped up against the outside wall of the garage. He dragged him away from the building and left him lying three feet from Tim’s car.
Bradley ran from where he had left Tim. He ran towards his own car. He had to get away from here. He still had the silver cigarette lighter in his hand. He looked at it for a moment. He saw the letters TW engraved in the silver. He knew the lighter was a present from Elaine to Tim. Bradley stopped. He looked at the blazing garage and ran back over to where Tim was lying. He gently laid the lighter next to Tim’s open hand and then turned and ran back towards his own BMW. He took off the black leather gloves that he had been wearing and stuffed them into the pocket of his dark overcoat. He got into his car; he turned the key in the ignition and drove away from the burning garage as fast as he could. He picked up speed as he drove through the industrial estate. Bradley did not look back. He had done what he needed to do. He had destroyed the evidence that he needed to destroy. No one would catch him now.


CHAPTER EIGHT- THE TRUTH DAWNS
Tim began to wake up. The first thing that he knew for certain was that his head was aching. This was no ordinary headache though. This was a throbbing headache. He was also experiencing another sensation. It was as if he was floating on a very soft cushion of air. Every few seconds the pain in his head would subside slightly and it would be replaced by the sensation of gliding on air. Then the ache in his head would take over again and whatever was making him float would let go of him and he would crash to the ground. Gradually the periods where he seemed to float were getting shorter and the excruciating pain was hurting him more and more.

After a while, Tim opened his eyes. He began to make out shapes of things that were near him. There was a cabinet. On top of the cabinet stood a jug of water and next to that a vase full of flowers. Tim could see what looked to him like a shower curtain that was completely closed so that he could not see beyond the border that the curtain created. The room seemed quite dark. He tried to think where he might be. Then the floating started again. Tim closed his eyes once more. He fell asleep.

A few more hours passed. Tim woke up again. It was much lighter now. Sunlight was shining through the window. Tim could make things out much more clearly now. He could see the cabinet and the jug of water. He was in a large room that he seemed to be sharing with several other men. Now he realised that he was lying in a hospital ward. How did he get here? He wasn’t ill. He could not remember anything. Ouch his head hurt. What had happened to him? Then he heard a voice.

‘Good morning Tim,’ the female voice said. He turned his head and he could see a woman smiling down at him.’ He tried to speak to ask where he was and what had happened to him but he couldn’t manage the words.

‘I see that you are coming back to join us Tim. You have been a sleep for nearly two days,’ said the nurse. ‘The doctor will be coming to see you in a little while. In the meantime you just try and get some rest. It seems as if you have been in the wars alright.’

Tim tried to think. ‘What could she mean ‘in the wars?’ He couldn’t remember anything. He had no idea why he was in hospital. He could barely remember who he was. All he knew was that his head was throbbing like crazy.

‘My head hurts like mad,’ he managed to say to the nurse.

‘Yes I imagine it does. It seems that you were in some kind of a fight. Then something exploded and you were hit on the head with some kind of metal sheeting.’ Tim could not remember any fight or any explosions. It had been years since he was in Bosnia. That was the last time he had experienced an explosion that could have been strong enough to have put him in hospital.

‘What explosion?’ he whispered, hardly able to speak.

‘I don’t really know much about that,’ said the nurse realising that perhaps she had said too much already. ‘The police will be here soon to talk to you about it. They asked to be told when you were well enough to speak to them. No doubt they will be able to tell you much more about what happened than I can. All I know is that the explosion nearly deafened half of the town.’ Tim looked away and then closed his eyes. ‘Holy hell, what on earth has happened,?’ he thought to himself. He still couldn’t remember anything, He realised that he must be drugged up and that had probably caused his memory loss. That would explain why he felt as if he was floating on a cloud half of the time. Then the pain in his head started to bite again and he couldn’t even try to think of anything at all.

Tim must have drifted off to sleep because when he woke up again he started to hear voices, male voices. It seemed to him just like the volume of a radio being turned up slowly so that the listener went gradually through the stages of not being able to hear anything, then not knowing what the people are talking about to eventually starting to understand the conversation.

‘Aye, that’s him, that lad in the bed in the sideward.’ They brought him in the other night. He hasn’t moved since then.’ Tim thought that he heard someone mention something about a story in the newspaper.

‘A right bloody mess it made of the place as well. No wonder you could hear the noise miles away. Someone says it will cost five million to put right.’ Tim started to wonder what had happened. ‘What the hell were they talking about? What was this about five million pounds worth of damage? Did this explosion in the paper have something to do with him? Then he heard the nurse’s voice again.

‘Yes sergeant, you can talk to him for a little while but he is still a bit woozy from the painkillers.’ Tim heard the nurse’s voice get louder as she came closer to his bed.
‘I will draw the curtains back so that you can have some privacy.’ Tim opened his eyes. He realised that he had been moved. He must have dozed off and they had moved his bed. He was now in a side ward but near enough to the main ward so that he could hear voices of other patients as they walked along the corridor. Tim heard a creaking sound as someone sat down in the chair beside his bed.

‘Now Tim, how are you feeling? My name is DC Striker of Tyneside Police and I need to ask you some questions. Can we start with where you were on Thursday evening between seven and nine o’clock.’ Tim could hardly remember anything. After a few minutes of asking questions and getting no sensible answers. it became obvious to DC Striker that he was not going to get any further with his investigations and left, telling Tim that he would be back ‘when he had had time to think things over.’ It was obvious to Tim even in his drugged and confused state that the policeman did not believe him. He was glad that the policeman had gone. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep again.

Later that day Tim was well enough to receive a visit from Cookie who was just as confused as Tim seemed to be.

‘All I know’ said Cookie ‘is that the garage, the compound and most of the vehicles are wrecked, burned out. There is absolutely nothing left of anything.’ Cookie sounded angry. ‘Someone saw smoke and flames rising from the roof of the garage and called the fire brigade. They arrived and found you slumped against your car. That has gone up in smoke as well. The firemen were just in time to pull you away from it before it went up. You are the luckiest man alive I can tell you.’ Tim asked Cookie if he knew anything else. He wanted to know how the fire started.

‘I was hoping you would be able to tell me that. You have really gone and bloody done it now.’ Tim started to get upset and was very close to tears.

‘Where is Elaine, I want to see Elaine,’ he shouted at Cookie.

‘Elaine has gone. She spent the weekend with me and Sarah and then asked me to drive her to the airport. She has gone to her mother’s in Belfast.’ Tim was sobbing now.

‘Why has she gone, I don’t know anything about what happened at the garage. Why am I getting the blame?’

‘You really don’t know do you’ said Cookie starting to get upset himself now. ‘I spent all this morning in the police station being asked questions about you and that silver cigarette lighter that you had in the garage.’

‘Why are they interested in my lighter? Tim wanted to know.
‘The police are certain that you torched the garage to claim insurance money. I had to explain to them that we had to go to the bank last week to be told that our business is buggered.’

‘What do you mean last week,’ shouted Tim who was getting even more distressed.

‘I mean last week because it is Monday now. You have been out for the count for days. The police think that you got yourself pissed up and then went to the garage and set fire to it. A quick and easy way to get us out of the shit that’s what they think.’ Tim had stopped crying by now, probably due to the shock of what Cookie had told him. Tim told Cookie about the visit he had from the police earlier in the day.

‘The police were here just before you came. They were asking me why I set fire to the garage and I told them I didn’t.’

‘Did they ask you anything else?’
‘Just if anyone else was there.’ Tim stopped in mid sentence. ‘There was someone there. I remember bits and pieces now.’

‘Go on then. What can you remember?’ asked Cookie.

‘I am trying to remember. I think Bradley was there. He was trashing all of the paperwork in Elaine’s office. He had one of them shredder machines. I tried to stop him and he thumped me.’ Cookie began to explain what he had heard from the medical staff at the hospital.

‘The doctor just told me that you had a nasty bump on the back of your head consistent with a heavy fall. There were also marks on your face as if you had been punched quite hard. When the police come back you need to tell them all this about Bradley being at the garage and shredding paperwork,’ Cookie insisted. Just then a nurse came into the side ward.
‘Tim you need some rest now. I am afraid your visitor is going to have to leave.’ Cookie left the hospital, mulling over what Tim had told him. If Bradley really had been defrauding the business it would certainly be logical for him to want to cover his tracks. He decided that he would visit Tim in the hospital again tomorrow.

DC Striker paid Tim another visit the following day. Tim told the policeman what he had told Cookie.

‘I have remembered something about the garage,’ he told DC Striker. ‘I went to the garage to try and get some paperwork. Me and my mate Alan Cook had a meeting with the bank manager and he told us a load of money had gone missing from the business.’

‘Carry on. I am listening’ said DC Striker in a rather sarcastic tone.
‘I went to the garage to try to get some paperwork from the office. When I got there it was being shredded by Bradley Hall.’

‘Who is this Bradley Hall?’ asked the policeman.

‘He is one of the directors; he does the accounting for us. When I got to the garage Bradley was destroying the paperwork with a shredder.’

‘That was rather unfortunate for you wasn’t it’ said DC Striker still using his sarcasm. ‘I suppose if we were to talk to this Bradley Hall, he will support what you have just told me.’

‘I don’t know,’ Tim replied. DC Striker continued with his questioning.

‘I suppose you are going to tell me that this Bradley Hall set fire to the garage as well are you?’ Tim started to get upset again.

‘I don’t know what you are going to believe. I can only tell you what I can remember.’ The nurse had been observing the conversation between Tim and DC Striker and she could tell that Tim was getting upset again.

‘I think you will have to save any further questions for another time,’ she said.

‘OK I will go but I will be back, I am going to pay another visit to your friend Mr Alan Cook. Let me see if he knows anything about Mr Hall and his shredder.’ PC Striker went straight from the hospital to Cookies house. Cookie explained about the meeting that he and Tim had with Mr Sinclair at the bank and explained that the company finances were in a sorry state.

‘It looks as if someone has been transferring money from the business fraudulently,’ Cookie explained. ‘Tim, eh that is Mr Wilson, wanted to get documents to take to the police. He wanted to prove that we were being defrauded. Cookie explained that Elaine was out of the area on a training course and they could not get copies of the paperwork to check things out ‘You see; only Elaine Wilson has a key to that office and she was in Leeds.’

DC Striker questioned Cookie about Bradley Hall. Cookie had to admit that he did not know a great deal about Bradley Hall.

‘We did not really know him. He was very helpful in setting up the business. He has a good business brain so we offered his company all of the financial work to do. We even made him a non-executive director of the business. We were so grateful to him. We could not have developed the business without his help.’

‘And now you think he has helped himself to your money, is that it?’ asked DC Striker.

‘We will not find that out until we can talk to Bradley,’ replied Cookie. DC Striker asked Cookie if he knew where Bradley Hall might be found.

‘He has homes all over the place. He has a house in North Yorkshire and rents a flat in Newcastle. I don’t know the address though.’

‘What kind of car does he drive?’ asked the policeman. Cookie remembered Bradley’s car.

‘That is easy. He drives a dark blue BMW with a registration number BH54 9XX.’ DC Striker flashed Cookie a grin.

‘That should help us to trace him. Thank you very much once again Mr Cook. You have been most helpful.’ DC Striker stood up and headed for the door.

‘Just one more question Mr Cook. Would you say that Mr Hall and Mr Wilson have a good working relationship?

‘They don’t really have that much contact. Bradley called in at the garage occasionally just for a chat sometimes. Mainly it is Mrs Wilson who works closely with Mr Hall. ‘DC Striker seemed interested in this answer.

‘Is the relationship between Mrs Wilson and Mr Hall purely a business relationship?’ Cookie felt rather uncomfortable at being asked this.

‘I don’t think that anything other than business has been going on.’

‘What about Mr Wilson? What does he think about his wife working so closely with Mr Hall?’ Cookie felt even more uneasy. He hesitated before answering this question. He remembered the conversation he had with Tim in the restaurant. He remembered Elaine and Bradley dancing closely together in the nightclub. Cookie also remembered Tim telling him about the Sunday morning telephone call. He had been suspicious for a while.

‘I think he thinks that they may be having some kind of affair or maybe about to start one.’ Cookie did not want to say anymore.

‘Thank you very much Mr Cook. I will be back if I need to ask you any further questions. Bye for now.’

Cookie was convinced that the police would soon find Bradley. They would be able to search for Bradley’s car registration using their computer system. They could then arrest him and make him tell them what he had done; that he had destroyed their business. Bradley had taken boxes full of documents from his own office. They must be stored away somewhere. Surely they will prove that Bradley had defrauded their company. The police will have to believe what Tim has been telling them and then they will begin their investigation into Bradley’s business affairs. Unfortunately, Cookie was wrong. DC Striker returned a few hours later.

‘Have you managed to locate Mr Hall already?’ Cookie asked optimistically as he opened the door to let DC Striker into his house.

‘No, I am afraid I need to ask you further questions Mr Cook.’ DC Striker sat down and so did Cookie.

‘Does the name Simon Lewin mean anything to you?’ DC Striker asked. Cookie looked puzzled, thought for a second or two and confirmed that the name meant nothing at all to him. DC Striker explained why he had asked that question.

‘The reason I ask is that the car you identified as belonging to Mr Bradley Hall is actually registered to a Mr Simon Lewin who lives at an address in London. Are you sure that you have not made a mistake with the number?’

‘Absolutely not’ replied Cookie. ‘Bradley Hall has driven that car for the past three years or so, as long as Tim Wilson and I have known him. There is no mistake on my part. I am certain of that.’

‘OK how about another name. Does the name Adam Pike ring any bells with you Mr Cook?’ Cookie told DC Striker that this name meant nothing to him either.

‘Well in that case I think you have been dealing with someone who makes a habit of stealing other people’s identities. The office in Newcastle that until the last few days has been used by your associate Mr Hall was leased to a gentleman by the name of Adam Pike. The only address the leasing company have for Mr Pike is one in London. It seems that the office was first leased by him four years ago under that name.’ Cookie looked ever more confused. DC Striker continued with more bad news.

‘So all of this means it will be almost impossible to trace Hall, Lewin, Pike or whoever he really is. He could disappear and no one will be able to trace him. DC Strike then turned his questioning to Tim’s cigarette lighter.

‘As you know we found the cigarette lighter with the letters TW engraved on it. I believe that this lighter belongs to Tim Wilson, is that correct?’ Cookie confirmed that it does.

‘Yes, Elaine gave it to him as a present during their very first Christmas together. Tim gave up smoking some time back. He kept the lighter in the garage so he can offer a light to any visitors that come in.’

I see said DC Striker. ‘If many people use that lighter how come there are only one set of finger prints on it, those of Mr Wilson.’

‘Tim never lets anyone use it.’ Cookie explained ‘He always uses it himself and lights the other person’s cigarette or cigar for them. Even though he doesn’t smoke himself he never lets anyone touch the lighter. It is his special present from Elaine.’

‘That is a pity’ said DC Striker. ‘If Bradley Hall’s prints had been found on the lighter it might just have pointed us in a different direction. As it stands there is no evidence at all to suggest that Mr Hall was anywhere near the garage on the night in question. Anyway my team are not investigating any fraud concerning Mr Hall. We are investigating the attempted insurance fraud and arson committed by Mr Wilson. We want to know why he set fire to his garage last Wednesday night.’

Cookie protested Tim’s innocence but it was no use. There seemed that there was no evidence at all to link Bradley Hall with the fire. As far as defrauding the business was concerned, he was obviously using different names when dealing with different groups of people. He seemed to be weaving a web of deceit everywhere he went. Bradley Hall had vanished with their money and had left poor Tim to face the prospect of going to jail for something he didn’t do.

Throughout his ordeal, Tim continued to proclaim his innocence. Little by little he remembered some of the events of that night and he was able to add to the information he could give to the police. They still did not believe him. There was no evidence to suggest that Bradley Hall had been at the garage that night. Tim told the police that Bradley Hall was wearing gloves during the time he was fighting him but the police did not seem interested in hearing this part of Tim’s account. Their investigation had included information from the bank who confirmed that the business was in a dire situation.

Mr Sinclair told the police that both Tim and Cookie, but particularly Tim had been in an agitated state during their meeting. After much further questioning the police eventually charged Tim with arson and he was remanded in custody.

Elaine came back to Newcastle for a couple of weeks to organise the sale of their house. This was the only way of raising the money to repay the bank. She then returned to Belfast and stayed at her parents for a while. Life was difficult for her as her brothers were still frequent visitors to the family home. They had never approved of their sister marrying a British soldier. Within a couple of weeks she found a flat of her own and started working as a nurse again at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. She couldn’t face the visits to see Tim in prison while he was on remand. She would never have been able to cope with the hurt and the tearful goodbyes. She wasn’t even sure that Tim was innocent. All she knew was what the police had told her. Tim had been found on his own at the burning garage with the cigarette lighter near his hand. As far as she was concerned Tim probably had torched the garage and was going to try to claim money from the insurance company. Only he had not managed to get his plan to work.

Elaine remembered how Tim had to be persuaded and motivated by others all the time. She thought that in the long term she would probably be better off without him. The bank could not help either. They could not do anything about reimbursing the money as the receiving bank accounts had been cleared and closed down. Bradley, the money and the boxes of documents had simply disappeared into thin air. Two months after the dramatic events at the garage, Tim appeared in court.

The trial took place during the first week in June. The first day of the trial was one of the very worst days of Tim’s life. He was bombarded with questions. He answered truthfully but knew all the time that no one believed him. He was not used to this kind of hostile questioning and most of the time he just stood frozen in the dock unable to think properly. On occasions he felt like bursting into tears but somehow managed to hold things together. At the end of the trial, the verdict was announced. He was guilty and he would be sent to prison for three years, less the two months that he had already served on remand awaiting the trial. He felt deserted. Elaine did not attend the trial. He did not know for sure if she had been unfaithful but he strongly suspected that she had. All the signs were there in the last few days before the fire at the garage.

Only Cookie had attended the court to give him moral support. Cookie shook his head in disbelief as he listened to the sentence being announced. He had known Tim for more than twenty years and was not doing to abandon him now. He knew that Tim would not have torched the garage. Tim just did not have that kind of thing in him. All Tim wanted to do was to get the paperwork from the garage to try to prove where all the money had gone from the business. Now he was going to prison for something he was not even capable of doing. Cookie watched Tim as he was led away in handcuffs by two security officers. He was taken downstairs to an entrance at the rear of the court and was put into a security van. He was driven to York Prison where he was to serve his sentence.


CHAPTER NINE – BANGED UP
York Prison is a miserable place. Tim decided that as soon as he saw it. He was led from the security van, still in handcuffs and was taken to a reception area inside the main prison building. One of the prison officers explained to Tim what was about to happen. Tim couldn’t take anything in. He was still in a complete haze since the trial. During the journey from the courtroom to the prison he had been unable to think of anything. His mind was completely numb. The prison officer asked Tim if he understood what he had just been told. Tim didn’t answer. He had not heard a word that had been said.
‘Wilson,’ said the prison officer.

‘Do you understand the procedure that I have just explained to you?’ Tim looked at the prison officer blankly. The officer began the explanation again from the beginning. He explained that there were forms to be filled in. Somehow Tim managed to complete the forms as required. They were receipts for Tim’s personal possessions that had been taken from his pockets. The keys for his house and car, mobile phone and some loose change. Nothing that really amounted to very much. All of the important things had already been lost. His wife, his business, his freedom and his reputation for being a decent, hardworking, law abiding person were gone.

Tim was then asked to sign forms to say that he had not consumed either drugs or alcohol during the previous forty eight hours. Funny that, he thought, as he had been on remand for weeks and had no means of obtaining either. Once the form filling was over Tim was led to the cell that was to be his home. He would be sharing the cell with another prisoner who he discovered was called Kenny O’Brien and came from Liverpool. Kenny O’Brien seemed a quiet sort of bloke. That is the impression Tim gained when he was introduced to him by the prison officer who took him to his cell. After the prison officer had gone Kenny spoke to Tim.
‘What brings you in here then lad?’ he said in a thick Merseyside accent. Tim explained about the fire and that he had been blamed for something that he had not done. He told Kenny about his time in the army and then starting the garage business afterwards. Then he explained about the money that had disappeared from the business. He told Kenny that Elaine had left him and gone back to Belfast. Wanting to change the subject, Tim asked Kenny about himself.

‘How did you end up in this hell hole,’ he asked.

‘Dealing in stolen stuff, you know the sort of gear, car radios, TVs, mobiles. Just small quantities of stuff you know. I held my hands up to it. A couple of mates got the gear from a warehouse in Widnes and we just flogged it around the Pool. Some bastard told the bizzies where it came from that’s all.’ Tim could tell straight away that living on the wrong side of the law did not really matter much to Kenny. He seemed to be resigned that this kind of life was acceptable. Kenny explained further.

‘This is my second stretch. I am due out in six months time and I am going to keep my nose clean from now on. I am sick of this lark. I am getting too bloody old for it.’ Tim started to warm to Kenny. At least he seemed to want to become a reformed character. He also seemed friendly enough, at least going on first impressions. He could have done a lot worse for a cell mate he thought. Tim asked Kenny what he would do when he was released.

‘I’ll probably just go on the dole. I am on my own now. I have a wife but she doesn’t want to know anymore. The kids have grown up and flown the nest. I used to work in the docks but got paid off about eight years ago. They just cut back and cut back until there was bugger all left. They say Liverpool is on the up now but only if you have youth and skills on your side. If you are a manual worker like me you are stuffed.’ It’s a fucking jungle. Tim empathised with Kenny.

‘It’s much the same up our way. All the pits closed years ago and the shipyards are all gone. Nothing much has taken their place.’ Kenny looked at Tim and smiled.

‘You and me are kindred spirits,’ he said. ‘We have both been shafted. We have been sucked dry and spat out when we were of no further use.’ Kenny pulled himself up onto his bunk.
I am going to have a bit of kip now lad, see you later.’ Tim lay down on the other bunk and closed his eyes. If only he was getting out of here in six months time like Kenny O’Brien. How on earth was he going to stick this out for two and a half years? An hour later Tim was woken by Kenny.

‘Aye lad, you have a visitor.’ he said. There was a prison officer in the cell. He explained that Tim had a meeting with a personal officer. This was quite a friendly meeting Tim thought. He was asked about his background and the skills that he had. Tim explained about his life in the army and that when discharged from the service he had built up a thriving business with an army mate. Then he explained about how it had all gone so wrong very quickly, how he and Cookie had been conned by Bradley Hall who had disappeared. The personal officer explained about courses that Tim could study while he was in prison.

‘There are computer classes, woodworking courses and art.’ Tim decided that he would try the computer course. He had no knowledge of IT. Computers were a complete mystery to him.

‘I’ll do the computer course.’ he told the officer. ‘It may take a while for me to get my head around it but time is what I have got plenty of after all.’ The officer also explained about the buddy system that operated in prison.

‘What happens here is that we link you up with one of the fellow prisoners, someone who is steady, dependable and is there as a person to confide in if necessary. I think you have already met Kenny O’Brien.’ Tim was quite relieved that Kenny was to be his official buddy. He was not in the mood to be introduced to a whole set of people. He didn’t want to mix with anyone particularly and at least from first impressions Kenny seemed to be someone Tim could get on with. The personal officer then went on to explain to Tim about prison visits.

‘You are allowed up to three visits per week.’ Tim shrugged his shoulders.

‘I have no family, my wife has left me. The only person who will come to visit me is my best mate. He will not be able to come down here three times a week though.’

‘Well if you can think of anyone else who might like to visit you it will be beneficial for you to see familiar faces.’ The meeting ended there and Tim was led back to his cell. Kenny was sitting on his bed. When the door was shut and he could hear the prison officer walk away down the corridor Kenny spoke.

‘I suppose they have told you about the Buddy system.’ Tim nodded.

‘It seems that you are to be my buddy, at least for the next few months until you get released.’ Kenny continued.

‘I was the buddy for a lad who got out last week. He was a bit of a sensitive kid, just twenty years old. He was in for nicking cars.’

How did it work out for him?’ Tim wanted to know.
‘I had to take him under my wing and practically hold his hand. Some of the older guys in here sensed that John was a bit afraid, a bit of a loner and they picked on him for that.’

‘Is that what happens to new prisoners?’ asked Tim.

‘It can be if you let them. You need to be careful what you say to people in here. Don’t tell anyone anything that they can use against you. ‘Tim looked puzzled.

‘What do you mean? What should I not tell people?’
‘Well for a start don’t broadcast the fact that your wife has pissed off. Some bastards will try to wind you up with that. Tell them that you were in the army. They will be less likely to jump on you if they know you are capable of fighting back. You might earn a bit of respect.’

‘Oh don’t worry about that. I am not going to let anyone get to me,’ said Tim. ’I’ll fight back alright.’ Kenny smiled.

‘I think you will be able to handle yourself physically, no problem about that. What I really mean is don’t let people get under your skin. If they find a weak spot they will work at it. They will wind you up for months until you lash out at them. The best advice I can give you is to go with the flow. Don’t let yourself stand out from the crowd. Don’t try to be different in anyway. You will soon find out who the ringleaders are around here. Identify them, learn from them and act and talk like them. Tim thought back to his time in the army. He told Kenny that he thought it would be a bit like that, all blokes together.

‘I suppose that it will be a bit like the army barracks.’ Kenny stopped Tim in mid sentence.

‘No, no lad. When you were in the army you were surrounded by mates, guys who would give their lives to save yours. Blokes who would be prepared to win a medal for gallantry to help save you. These guys in here are nothing like that. There are some decent guys for sure but even they have been hardened by life in here. Most of all they are either evil bastards when they came here or they become evil bastards by the time they get out.’ Tim held his head in his hands.

‘I am neither of those,’ he said.

‘There is a another category,’ said Kenny. ‘You can be one of the clever ones who act the part when you are in the communal area with all of the morons. You are acting a role out there. Then you come back to the cell and you behave like we are doing now. You will see what I mean when you meet the rest.’

The first month or so was the hardest period of time that Tim had ever endured. Meal times were the worst, then and the time they spent exercising in the yard every morning. Tim was asked every question anyone could think of about him. They wanted to know where he was from, why he was in prison, all about his family. Thinking about the advice Kenny O’Brien had given him on that first day, he talked mainly about his time in the army, about Bosnia and Sierra Leone.

Tim avoided talking about his experiences in Northern Ireland as there were a couple of Irish prisoners who Tim didn’t want to get involved in fighting the ‘troubles’ with. Most of the younger lads seemed impressed by stories of Tim’s army days and that he had kept himself fit and was good at sports. At least he had made a good start with them. One prisoner called Gary wondered if Tim’s more recent experiences had been reported on the television news.

‘We saw on the news a few months back about some stupid Geordie who torched his fucking garage to get the insurance money. Was that you by any chance?’

‘I didn’t do it; I was set up by someone who ripped my business off. He was the one who set the garage on fire, not me.’ Gary came back at Tim.

‘That’s what we all do. We deny everything and try to stick it on somebody else. It never fucking works though. At least I didn’t get caught the first time. Not like you thick Geordie bastard.’ Gary laughed and ran off. Kenny walked towards Tim.

‘I see you have met the village idiot then?’ Tim nodded.

‘He seems to be one of the worst in here.’

‘You are right about that lad,’ said Kenny. ‘You need to be careful though. He is a mouthy bugger and the other younger ones look up to him. He is a nasty little bully who tries it on with every new prisoner. It is best just to ignore him.’ Some of the prisoners were friendly to Tim, at least on the surface. Tim found that he could talk to most of the men of a similar age to himself. The younger ones, in their late teens and early twenties he had as little to do with as possible. The older prisoners seemed to be in prison for less serious crimes, certainly nothing to do with violence. They were in for petty theft mainly.

The younger prisoners were pretty nasty and Tim tried to avoid contact with them if at all possible. He certainly did not intend to try to make friends with any of them. The atmosphere when groups of prisoners were together was awful. There was always an undercurrent that threatened to break out into violence. Quite often scuffles would break out among the younger prisoners. The prison officers would have to break these up to prevent them from turning really nasty. All in all, this was a thoroughly horrible and violent place.

Tim hated this situation but followed Kenny’s advice and kept his head down and said as little as possible. Most of the conversations were about trying to find out something about a fellow inmate that could be used against them, to wind them up. Other topics of conversation were limited mainly to the ‘grasses’ who had got them ‘banged up’ and retribution they would administer upon their release from prison. Most of the rest of their talk was about sex. These were not the kind of people that Tim enjoyed being kept in close confinement with.

As weeks went by Tim found that he had to be a bit more like them to avoid the gang picking on him. He decided to take Kenny’s advice, fit in and be like the majority. Over time his attitude towards people was becoming much harsher and he found that he had to adopt the same foul language as the rest of them.

In the space of a few weeks Tim had settled into prison life as well as any of the others. Not because he wanted to but because he felt that he needed to if he was going to survive his prison sentence. A few months earlier he would have been appalled at people who spoke like he did now. He would have condemned people like that as thick, ignorant thugs. Now he felt that he had become one of them himself. Most of the time he didn’t care about how he was behaving. It was only when he was in the cell that he shared with Kenny O’Brien that he felt that he was able to be more like the old Tim. He felt that he could afford to relax and be less aggressive in his manner. Kenny wasn’t like most of the other prisoners. He was like Tim, just playing a game. The game he needed to play until he got out of prison.

Tim enrolled onto the computer course that he had chosen when talking with the personal officer. There were six other prisoners on the course. Tim was pleased to discover that none of the others had any experience of IT either. He found it tricky at first and often got frustrated when the computer did not seem to want to do what he wanted it to do. He persevered and slowly he managed to become more confident. The initial part of his course involved using the Internet and searching for images. Tim enjoyed this very much. He had never used the Internet before even though he had often heard people talking about this thing called the World Wide Web. He was amazed at the range of information that could be found there. The tutor showed the class how to insert the images that they had found into word processed documents. The students used their searching and image manipulation skills to produce small leaflets. Tim did one about recruitment into the armed services. He felt really pleased with himself when he managed to produce his leaflet unaided.

After a few more lessons Tim progressed to spreadsheets. Learning about formulas and functions was even more interesting than making the leaflets. Tim could see how his new found skills could be useful if he ever decided to set up in business again. Thoughts like that made him remember Bradley Hall and how he had been trusted to run the company accounts. If only Tim had understood accounts and finance he might have been able to stop things from turning out as they had. If he had done a course like this a few years ago he might not be in prison now.

Tim often wondered how Elaine was doing back in Belfast. At first he missed her terribly but as time went on he found that all feelings of love and affection for her turned to hate as he eventually realised that she had left him for good. Cookie had received a couple of letters from her asking how Tim was coping in prison but made it clear that she had to start the next chapter of her life without him. It was clear to Tim that Elaine did not believe that he did not start the fire at the garage. She also flatly refuted his allegations that she had been having an affair with Bradley Hall. As soon as their house had been sold and the loan repayment issues finalised with the bank, she walked out of Tim’s life.

Cookie was Tim’s only contact with the world outside the prison. It had fallen to Cookie to wind up the business. Once the house had been sold, the mortgage paid and the bank repaid there was only seven thousand pounds left. Tim insisted that Elaine took half of the money. Cookie held onto the remainder determined that Tim would receive every single penny when he came out of prison.

Cookie was determined that he would stand by his friend whatever happened. He tried to visit Tim at least once every couple of weeks. It was during one of these visits that he told Tim about a visit he had from the police who were investigating the fraud that Bradley Hall had carried out on them. It seems that ‘Wilson and Cook Motors Limited’ was not the only business that had suffered at the hands of Bradley Hall. In fact Bradley Hall was not even his real name.

Cookie had been told by the police that the Bradley Hall that they knew was really called Simon Lewin. He had been using several fake identities to set up businesses in various parts of the country. He had rented offices in Leeds and Hull as well as in Newcastle but he had used different names at each one. He had deliberately targeted people like Tim and Cookie, people who were trying to start a business with very little in the way of experience or finance behind them. He always took control of the accounting and banking and once he had gained the trust of the people concerned he would transfer considerable sums of money into false bank accounts that he had set up using even more false identities.

The police had identified several victims of these frauds but so far Mr Simon Lewin had managed to avoid all of their efforts to track him down. They had come to the conclusion that he may have moved abroad. Tim shook his head when Cookie told him this news. He told Cookie that he regretted the amount of trust that they had placed in Bradley.
‘Looking back he always seemed like a furtive and secretive character. He never seemed to give much away about himself,’ he told Cookie during one of his visits. Cookie agreed.

‘That’s true enough. He never invited us to his flat. We didn’t even know where it was apart from it was somewhere in Newcastle. The only thing we knew was the address of his office and he managed to do a runner from there with all of the evidence.’

‘Nearly all of the evidence,’ Tim reminded Cookie. ‘You seem to have forgotten that on the night the garage went up in flames, I caught him red handed shredding the bastard documents as fast as he could.’

‘How could I forget, said Cookie nodding in agreement. Not only did he shred the documents but he torched the bloody garage as well. All our work went up in smoke.’ Tim banged his fist down on the table in front of him. He stared Cookie in the face.

‘If I ever get to see that fucking bastard again he will be fucking dead.’ Cookie was taken aback by Tim’s violent outburst. He did not normally use this kind of language in this angry sort of way. Tim was changing. Prison was certainly making Tim a harder person.

This was the pattern of Tim’s life for the next two years. He spent most of the time working on his computer course. He worked hard and became quite an expert at spreadsheets and databases. He gained some qualifications and was enjoying the course. The rest of the time he spent listening to music on his radio using headphones to avoid annoying Kenny O’Brien. Tim got on well enough with Kenny but six months after Tim’s sentence began, Kenny was released. Tim then had to share his cell with a younger lad who had been convicted of assault on a barman in Sheffield. This new cellmate was Chris Mills.

Tim hated Mills from the very first day he had to share the cell with him. He was just as thuggish as most of the others in the prison wing. Tim had even more reason to keep himself to himself now. With Kenny O’Brien gone, Tim couldn’t be bothered to even try to have a conversation with anyone. He spent his days at his computer course, listened to his radio or trying to sleep. Every day was the same. Every week was the same. Every month was the same with only visits from Cookie to look forward to.


CHAPTER TEN - RELEASED
Today was Thursday the sixth of August. It was the morning of Tim’s thirty ninth birthday. This was the third birthday that he had spent in prison. The previous two had been hell for him. All his other birthdays had been spent with friends or with Elaine before that with his army mates and as a young child with his parents. Today would be just another dreary day, trying to survive, trying to stay sane. One more day listening to people being aggressive and swearing. This was no place to celebrate a birthday. But for Tim this day was to be a far brighter one than any of the previous days he had spent at York Prison.

A prison officer came to Tim’s cell to escort him to the personal officer’s office. Tim knew what the meeting was about before the officer had time to open his mouth. Today he would be told when he would be released from prison. The personal officer gestured to Tim to sit down on the seat at the opposite side of the desk.

‘Well Wilson we have some news that I suppose you have been expecting. I am about to confirm the date of your release from HMP York. Firstly, I will outline the help and support that will be available to you.’ The personal officer explained to Tim that he would be eligible to receive benefits for a short period of time until his claim for Job Seekers Allowance could be processed.

‘This is called a Discharge Grant,’ the personal officer explained. ‘We can also provide you with a grant to help pay for somewhere to live for a short period of time until you find somewhere more permanent.’ Tim was pleased about this. He had been told by other prisoners who had been about to be released that they would have to find accommodation for themselves. Evidently this was not so.

‘There will also be a couple of sessions with a representative from Revenue and Excise to help you with any tax issues that have arisen from your previous employment.
Tim thought about his previous employment. The successful business that he had been running which due to no fault of his own had all gone horribly wrong. The personal officer continued to explain the other forms of assistance that Tim would receive.

Tim was also to be given his old clothes back but in the event that they no longer fitted him he would be supplied with a new set of clothes to wear when leaving prison. All of this information was swirling about in Tim’s head. All he really wanted to know was the date when he would be released from this bloody awful place. At last the personal officer got round to telling Tim what he wanted to know.

‘And now we come to the most important part of what I have to tell you. Your release date has been confirmed as Friday the twenty eighth of August. That is three weeks from tomorrow.’ Tim was overjoyed. At last he had a date to focus on. At last he knew when he would be leaving prison. A place he knew that he should never have been sent to in the first place. He was going to be free. At last he could start to think about his future. Today he would telephone the only person who had stuck by him throughout his prison sentence. He would phone Cookie as soon as possible to tell him the good news. He was going to be a free man again.

‘Tim that is bloody marvellous news mate.’ Cookie was ecstatic when Tim phoned him later that day.

‘Will you come and meet me when I am released?’ Tim asked.

‘Of course I bloody well will. Of course I will.’ Tim was due another visit from Cookie on the Tuesday of the week before he was to be released from prison. He and Cookie would talk through the things that they would do then. Tim was not ready to go back to Newcastle. He had to get used to being a free man first. He felt that this would be a big enough step to take without being reminded of the horrible events that had caused him to be arrested and sentenced. He had no wife or family to go home to. There was no one in Newcastle that he even knew any more apart from Cookie and Sarah. He might as well find some short term living accommodation in York for a while until he got used to the idea of being free. He explained how he felt about this to Cookie when his friend made that final visit to him.

‘So you want to stay down here for a while then?’ Aren’t you a bit wary of being on your own?’

‘No not at all. I might even try to pick up a bit of work down here. May be there will be some fruit picking work or warehousing that I can do. I will go to the Job Centre the week after I am free to see if there is anything available.’

‘What do you want to do on the day you come out,’ asked Cookie.

‘I am going to chill for the weekend. How about you and me making a weekend of it down here. I really feel like going out and getting pissed on the Friday night I can tell you. I think a bit of the local nightlife might be just what the doctor ordered.’

‘Well I can stay down in York overnight on the Friday but I really need to get back for Saturday night. Sarah is planning some kind of party for her sister’s thirtieth. She has told me that I have got to be there.’

Tim laughed out loud for the first time in months. ‘I tell you what mate. You will never find me being put under the thumb by a woman again. I am going to be a free man in more ways than one.

Cookie was a little surprised by this comment from Tim. He had thought and hoped that when he came out of prison that Tim might try to seek reconciliation with Elaine.’

‘Do you not want to try to patch things up? She might feel different when you are out of prison.’

‘Not bloody likely. I have been abandoned by her. There is no such person as Elaine Wilson now as far as I am concerned. As far as my future goes I am going to play the field. I will love them, leave them and move on to the next.’

Cookie was disappointed. He had hoped that Tim would have changed his mind about Elaine during his time in prison. He had talked about her a lot during the first few months of his sentence but as time went on he mentioned her less and less. At first he was hurt and angry that she had not believed him when she heard about the fire. She had appeared to have sided with Bradley Hall and as far as Tim knew they could very well be together now. She had never tried to visit him in prison and had never telephoned him. She had stayed on the scene only as long as it took to sell the house and for her to get her share of what was left of the money from the sale. Then she had gone back to Belfast.

‘There is no going back to Elaine.’ Tim was adamant about that. ‘One of the first things I am going to do on that Friday is to get into some pub or nightclub and pull some lass for the night. I haven’t even seen decent looking women for two and a half years. I am going to put that right straight away.’

Visiting time ended and Cookie and all of the other visitors were led out through the maze of corridors to the visitors’ reception area. Cookie stepped out of the gate and walked towards the visitors’ car park. The sun was shining and the contrast between the dingy, dull visiting room he had just come from and the bright sunlight outside was stark. Very soon his friend would be out of there too. The next time he saw Tim he would be walking with him to freedom.

Cookie got into his car, turned on the engine and started the eighty mile journey back home to Newcastle. He was thinking about what Tim had told him. Tim was overjoyed at the thought of getting out of prison; that was natural enough but during the last two and a half years Tim had changed. Cookie thought back to the times they had spent in the army and then the period afterwards when he had found decent well paid work for himself. Tim had scrimped and scraped because he had not been as lucky. He remembered the time when he had first told Tim about his idea about setting up the business selling the ex-military vehicles. Tim had to be pushed all the way then. He had always been the cautious and hesitant of the two friends. He cared about people and was often hurt by those he had himself trusted. He had trusted Elaine and she had not stood by him. She had deserted him when he gave his testimony in court. She had just been like the others. She had not believed he was innocent. Then there was Bradley or Simon Lewin as they had discovered his real name to be. They had all been taken in by him. At least he and Tim had. Elaine seemed to have gone along with the scheme that Bradley had worked on them. Surely she must have known what had been going on. Elaine was back in Belfast but no one knew where Bradley Hall had gone. The police had failed to catch him. Perhaps they just didn’t try hard enough. No wonder Tim felt let down. His time in prison had certainly changed him. He no longer seemed to be the caring person that Cookie knew him to be deep down. He had to harden up to survive in prison. He was much more aggressive sounding when he spoke about people. He was a much angrier person and he used the kind of language that Cookie had never heard Tim use before. Prison had made Tim a much harder person. Much different from the person who was sentenced to prison two and a half years ago.

Tim looked at his watch. It was four thirty two in the morning. Today was Friday the twenty eight of August. He would be released at twelve noon exactly. Then he would walk out of prison as a free man. He felt drowsy and tired. He had been drifting in and out of sleep for hours. He could not remember what time it was when he had dozed off the first time. As soon as he had climbed into bed he had started to go back through the events of the past few years in his mind. He had thought about Cookie, how they had met up in the army at Catterick Garrison. He remembered the small boy in Freetown with the cut foot that he had rescued from the rubbish tip where he had been playing football. He remembered going with the boy to get treatment in hospital and seeing Elaine there for the first time. Tim remembered Cookie warning him that Civvy street was like a jungle. How right he was.

Tim’s memory jumped forward to the first Christmas they spent together when Elaine gave him the cigarette lighter. This was the same lighter that the police had used as evidence to lock him up in prison for two and a half years for something he did not do. The cigarette lighter made Tim think of Bradley Hall, the man who had planted the lighter beside him as he lay unconscious. He remembered Bradley shredding the documents in the garage. He remembered thinking of the telephone calls from suppliers saying they had not been paid. Then Tim remembered thinking about the meeting he and Cookie had with Mr Sinclair at the bank when they had been told that their business was gone and that they would have to sell the house and everything else to pay off the debts.

Tim remembered when Elaine came to the garage dressed as if she was going to meet a lover instead of going to the office to work. He remembered about Bradley flirting with Elaine when they celebrated their first year as directors of their business. He remembered banging his fist down onto the mattress twenty, thirty perhaps even more times than that. He remembered the tears filling his eyes and yelling ‘Fucking bastards.’

‘I thought you were going to kill some bastard last night’ said a voice coming from the bunk below. It was Chris Mills, the man Tim had shared the cell with since Kenny O’Brien had been released. ‘You were mumbling on about some guy called Hall or someone and then you started calling some bitch called Elaine a whore. You were banging that fucking bed like you were on your honeymoon with her.’

Tim shouted back. ‘I was thinking back through my bloody life. I was thinking of the bastards were put me here.’

‘You were going on for ages man. I couldn’t get a wink of sleep for all the noise. You were getting angrier and angrier all the time.’

Well at least you won’t have to listen to me tonight or any other night. I am gone from here today.’ Tim shouted back. He would not miss Chris Mills.

Two hours later a prison officer came for Tim and led him to a room to change into new clothes. He was given a plastic bag containing the few items that he had brought with him to prison two and a half years before. His mobile phone, a bunch of keys and eighty seven pence in loose change. He was led through a series of corridors and eventually he could see chinks of daylight. Just in front of him stood a large metal door. The door swung open and Tim could see a courtyard. He walked a few more steps and he found himself in bright sunshine. He stopped and looked up at the sky. There was not a cloud to be seen. This was a very hot day; one of the hottest of the summer. He heard a familiar voice shout at him.

‘Tim, over here.’ It was Cookie. Good old dependable Cookie. He was here to collect Tim to take him to freedom, away from the prison and to help his friend start a new life.

‘Where are we going now?’ asked Tim his eyes still squinting in the bright sunshine.
‘I have booked a couple of rooms in a Bed and Breakfast place not far from here. We will go and drop our things off and then go and find us something to eat.’

‘Sounds good to me.’ It will be the first decent meal that I have had since I have been down here.’ Cookie put Tim’s clothes and the bag with his belongings into the boot of the car. They both got into the car and Cookie started the engine.

‘Well how does it feel then?

‘Bloody brilliant. That’s what it feels like. Bloody brilliant.’ Already Tim sounded happier.

‘We will soon be at the Bed and Breakfast place. It is not far now.’ Cookie drove down a main road and turned off into a side street.

‘Here we are. We just need to sign in and dump our stuff in the rooms.’ Cookie led the way. They had already decided that they would not tell anyone about why they were in York or where Tim had been. If anyone asked they were going to say that he had just left the army that day. He had been discharged from Catterick Garrison and they were enjoying the bank holiday weekend in York. They went inside to the Bed and Breakfast and there they were greeted by a rather plump grey haired woman sitting behind the reception desk.

Tim looked at her and remembered what he had told Cookie about his plans for that evening. ‘Its all right missus,’ he thought to himself. ‘I will not be trying to pull you. You can go to bed with your cocoa at nine o’clock. All you will be doing is sleeping.’
Cookie introduced himself and Tim and they signed their names in the guest book. The grey haired woman gave them keys for their rooms.

‘You will find that they are next to each other. I hope you have an enjoyable stay.’ Tim and Cookie went upstairs to their rooms. They were rather basic but that did not matter. Cookie was only going to be spending one night there anyway. As for Tim, the room looked like that of a five star hotel in comparison to where he had spent the past two and a half years. Cookie put his bag on his bed and went into Tim’s room.

‘You said that you were in no hurry to go back to Newcastle so I brought a few extras for you.’ Cookie handed Tim a new mobile phone and five hundred pounds in cash.

‘Cookie you marvel. What would I ever do without you?’ The two men headed back downstairs and out into the blazing sunshine. It seemed to be getting hotter by the minute. York was very busy. There were many tourists about.

‘I think we need to go and find something to eat,’ said Tim. ‘It seems ages since I had my last army breakfast.’ Cookie roared with laughter.

Tim thoroughly enjoyed his first few hours of freedom. He and Cookie spent the afternoon walking around the city, mingling with the tourists and enjoying the baking hot sun. They had a few drinks in one of the bars. It seemed that every bar in the city was full of tourists. Tim and Cookie had to join the long queue to get served but they did not mind. Tim was out of prison and Cookie was glad to be able to spend some quality time with his best mate again. As the afternoon wore on their conversation eventually turned to the subject of Bradley Hall.

‘I could not believe it when that copper from the fraud squad came and told me what that bastard Bradley had been up to. All of those people he had ripped off. All of the false names he had been using.’

‘Did the police ever tell you where they thought the money had ended up?’ asked Tim.

‘They said that he had woven such a complicated web that it was almost impossible to trace what he had done. The money was drawn out of our bank account and transferred to several others. Then those accounts were emptied and closed.’ Tim looked puzzled.

‘Why did he keep closing the accounts?’
‘Oh, he was just using them as temporary storages. Somewhere for the money to be paid into. He would then draw out the cash. God knows where that all went to after that.’

‘Does that mean then if any of that money comes back into circulation it can be traced?’

‘I asked the police that and they told me that theoretically it could. However I rather got the impression that they couldn’t give a toss about it.’

‘I bet they bloody would it was their money,’ Tim said angrily

The two friends left the bar and set out to walk back to their rooms. They would have a wash and change of clothes and head back to the city centre for the evening. Cookie wondered if Tim still intended to stick to his plan for the evening.

‘Are you still going to be looking for some fair maiden?’ he asked.

‘You bet your life I am. Did you see all of the talent in the city this afternoon? I am going to have some of that all right’

It was just turned eight o’clock when Tim and Cookie left the Bed and Breakfast. The grey haired woman was still sitting behind the reception desk. She looked as if she had been sitting there all day.

‘Don’t forget, I lock the doors at eleven thirty,’ she shouted after them. ‘You must be joking,’ thought Tim. He had an idea that he wanted to tell Cookie about.

‘Do you remember when we were stationed at Catterick just before we got sent to Belfast? We came here a few times.’ Cookie nodded

‘Yes but that was about twenty years ago. What of it.’
‘I can’t remember the name of that nightclub. What the hell was it called again?’ Something to do with light or electric or something.’

‘You mean Neon?’ said Cookie remembering that they had spent a few noisy nights in York during their army days. ‘They probably pulled that place down years ago Tim. It certainly deserved to be pulled down. It was a den of iniquity.’

‘Well I want to go back there. There were some stunning lasses there in those days.’
Cookie laughed. Tim was really shy in those days. He would stand in the corner with his pint in his hand looking at the women but never having the nerve to talk to any of them. There had not been too many girlfriends before Tim met Elaine. Then he had to be persuaded by Cookie to talk to her at the hospital she was working at in Freetown. They carried on walking through the city in the direction of where they remembered the Neon nightclub to be. They found the street but could not see any sign that indicated that there was a Neon nightclub there.

‘Well this is the place’ said Tim as they got closer to the bottom of the street.

‘Here look. There is something here,’ said Cookie as he pointed to a brightly lit building.
The nightclub was still there but the large golden neon sign read ‘Millennium.’ As they got closer, Tim and Cookie could see that the front of the building was a brightly lit wine bar.

‘We might as well go in here and ask what happened to Neon,’ said Cookie.
Tim followed Cookie into the wine bar. It was very plush with gold trim around the bar counter and the walls of the room. There were several tables of varying sizes. The seats were all soft furnishings and looked extremely plush. Tim was not particularly interested in the furnishings or the décor. What caught his eye was that at least eighty percent of the customers were attractive twenty and thirty something females. Cookie walked up to the bar and ordered two pints of lager for himself and Tim.

CHAPTER ELEVEN – A CHANCE MEETING
‘Is this the place that used to be called Neon?’ he asked the young man who served him with the drinks.

‘That was before my time. I think it was called something like that. It’s Millennium now but all the locals call us Millie’s.’ Tim was oblivious to this conversation. His eyes were panning around the room. He could not remember seeing so many beautiful women in one place. Cookie tapped Tim on the shoulder and when he had his attention he pointed to the pint of lager on the bar counter. Tim picked up the glass and took a drink.

‘Have you seen these?’ said Tim still unable to believe his eyes. ‘Is it just with me being out of circulation for so long? I think I have forgotten what women look like.’

Tim and Cookie sat down at a table near the middle of the room. Cookie explained to Tim what he had just been told about the nightclub.

‘The barman told me that this was Neon, as far as he knew. The place changed hands a few years ago and the new people gave it a complete revamp and changed its name. There is still a nightclub upstairs. We can go up there later if you like.’ Tim was only half listening to what Cookie was telling him. He was still mesmerised by the gorgeous women who were pouring into the bar.

Tim quickly finished his drink and suggested that they had another. Tonight was not one of those nights to worry about waking up with a hangover. Tonight was for letting go; getting rid of all of the frustrations of being holed up in prison. Cookie who had only drunk half of his pint pushed a ten pound note into Tim’s hand and told him to go to the bar and get fresh drinks for both of them.

Tim got served and rejoined Cookie at their table. The bar was starting to get packed out and most of the tables were occupied. Some people had to stand because there were no seats left. There was a small table near to where Tim and Cookie were sitting. This table was just big enough for three or four people to sit at. Most of the groups of people were in sixes and sevens so this table was unsuitable for them. Then a group of three women arrived and immediately spotted the small table and decided that they would sit there. Tim noticed these women immediately. Two of the girls were tall and athletic looking. The third girl was shorter than the other two. She was rather plain Tim thought, at least compared to her two friends and most of the other females in the bar. He didn’t fancy her at all. The other two were different though. They were both absolutely stunning. Both of these attractive women had long curly hair down to their waists. One was blonde and the other had jet black hair. They were both tanned as if they had recently returned from an exotic holiday.

The evening was still very hot and most of the women were wearing skimpy tops and short skirts. The plain girl that Tim had already mentally rejected wore a top that would have been more suitable for a December night. She also wore a pair of trousers that did nothing at all to enhance her figure. ‘What does anyone see in her? Tim thought.
The other two interested Tim though. He would be happy to spend his first night of freedom with either of those two. The dark haired girl wore a low cut dress that showed off her cleavage admirably. Tim could not see more of her because the plain girl was obscuring his view.

After a few minutes the attractive dark girl stood up and Tim could see that the dress was a short one that revealed her long tanned legs. Perhaps she thought that her dress was a little too short as she immediately tugged at the hem to pull it down a couple of inches while she walked to the bar to buy drinks for herself and her two friends. Cookie was conscious that Tim had seen the three girls arrive in the bar.

‘Which one of those takes your fancy then?’ teased Cookie.

‘Well not the dumpy looking bint that’s for certain. The other two are nice though,’ he said as he continued to stare at the dark girl who was by now getting served at the bar.

Cookie realised now that Tim was going to make the most of his new found freedom. For as long as he had known him, Tim had never spoken like this about women. He had always been rather shy and never talked about people like that and certainly never referred to a girl as a ‘dumpy looking bint’ even though Cookie couldn’t help agreeing with Tim about this one.

The bar was getting busier and busier. The dark girl was still getting served at the bar. Tim turned his attention to her blonde friend. She sat talking to the dumpy girl and was continually flicking her long blonde hair. She had the most amazing blue eyes Tim had ever seen. Her looks were very Scandinavian Tim thought. She was definitely the best looking girl in the bar. She obviously felt the heat more than her friends Tim thought as he noticed that her tight white top plunged almost to her waist revealing her model girl figure. Tim’s eyes were out on stalks by this time.

‘Cookie, look at that blonde over there, the one with the long blonde hair and big tits.’

‘Is she the lucky girl for tonight then?’ asked Cookie realising that Tim was smitten already. Tim continued to stare at her.

‘I am sure I have seen her before somewhere,’ he said without taking his eyes off her for a single second. Cookie looked puzzled.

‘How could you have seen her before? You haven’t been down here for years.’
‘But I am sure I recognise her. How can you forget someone like her?’

‘But Tim, she is just into her twenties. Last time you were here she would have been in nappies.’ Tim continued to stare at the blonde girl. To his delight she flicked her hair back and smiled at him. He couldn’t stop himself.

‘Cookie I am going over to her. You can stay here if you like but I am on to something here. She is giving me the come on.’ By now the dark girl had managed to get served at the bar and had managed to wriggle her way to the table to rejoin her friends. Tim moved quickly across to the table where the girls were sitting and sat down next to the blonde, taking the seat that the dark girl had been sitting in.

‘Hi. I am Tim.’
The blonde looked directly into Tim’s eyes and smiled.

‘You took your time didn’t you’? She flicked her long blonde hair back and wriggled on her seat so that she was closer to Tim. Tim could see that she was wearing a tight black leather mini dress. She had the most amazing legs he had ever seen. The blonde introduced her friends. She pointed to the dark girl first and then the dumpy one.

‘This is Lisa and this is Donna.’ Tim couldn’t stop himself from laughing ‘Dumpy Donna’ he thought. The blonde continued with the introductions.

‘I suppose I had better tell you my name. I am Kaz. Karen really but I prefer Kaz.’

Tim was ready to tell the girls about him leaving the army that day. He did not want to ruin his chances with Kaz by telling her that he had just been released from prison. He did not need to worry about that because Kaz was much more interested in talking about herself and her friends.

‘We are here to mark the end of an era. This is Donna’s last night of freedom.’ Tim looked at Kaz in amazement.

‘My God, she is not going to jail is she?’ he said ironically. Kaz laughed and continued to explain.

‘She is moving in with her boyfriend tomorrow so this is a real girly night out. Tell her she is stupid. She is mad for getting shacked up at her age. She is only nineteen for Gods sake.’ Tim agreed.

‘Yes nineteen is way too early. You ought to wait a few years before settling down. You need to live a bit first.’

‘That’s what we have been saying to her for weeks, said Lisa who had joined in the conversation. Kaz flicked her hair back again and turned to Tim.

‘Have you two been out on the town all day then?’ By now Cookie had found an empty seat and had dragged it across to the table where Tim and the girls were sitting. Cookie explained that Tim was an old army mate and that he had been discharged that day. They were spending a quiet couple of days to get him adjusted to Civvy Street.

‘We have been out since this afternoon,’ said Kaz. ‘Me and Donna anyway. That is why we are starting to get a bit pissed. Lisa had to work all day though.’

‘Where do you work Lisa?’ asked Cookie.

‘I work in a bank just around the corner. We were really busy today with it being the Friday before the Bank Holiday weekend.’

Tim shouted over to Lisa. ‘I bet you had all the blokes queuing at your counter did you?’

‘What do you mean by that’ asked Lisa blushing slightly.

‘You know what I mean’ replied Tim.
Kaz wanted to regain Tim’s attention. Cookie realised from the way that Kaz was looking at Tim that she fancied him as much as he fancied her. She did not appear to like Tim talking to Lisa and decided to take control of things.

‘Do you want to know about me?’ she said almost pleading to be listened to. She edged ever closer to Tim. Tim realised now that Kaz intended to give him her undivided attention.

‘Yes I would like to know all there is to know about you,’ he said putting his left arm around her shoulders.

‘Well you will have to tell me about yourself first won’t you Tim. I mean you are not from around here are you. Not with that sexy Geordie accent.’

‘I am from Newcastle. That is where I was born and grew up but I have been all over the place with the army.’

‘So you are a soldier boy then?’ said Kaz.

‘I was until this morning. I was discharged from at twelve noon today after twenty years serving Queen and country. This is the first day back in civvy street.

‘You don’t look old enough to have been in the army for twenty years. You must have joined up when you were a babe in arms,’ said Kaz smiling and flicking her long blonde hair back yet again. Tim laughed. He was pleased that Kaz thought he looked younger than his real age.’

’No I am the grand old age of thirty nine and three weeks old.’

‘I thought that you were a lot younger than that. I would have put you at thirty two at the oldest. It must be something that they put in that Geordie water up there.’

‘No just clean living and plenty of good beer,’ said Tim realising that Kaz was now his for the taking. Kaz inched a little closer to Tim.

‘Can you guess how old I am?’ she said staring into Tim’s eyes and flicking back her long blonde hair once gain. Tim hesitated. He did not want to blow his chances by saying something stupid.

‘Well if there is one thing that I have learned it is never to try to guess the age of a woman,’ he said diplomatically.

‘Well I will tell you. I was twenty six last Saturday. You should have been down here last weekend. We had a party. The house was full of babes with not enough hunky men to go around. You should have been there.’ Kaz continued to talk about herself.

‘I am a model mainly, but I also work part time in the local pub in the village where I live. I earn most of my money from the modelling so the pub job is just as much as part of my social life really. You meet lots of nice people working in pubs.’

‘Have you always been a model?’ asked Tim.

‘I got into it by accident when I was twenty two. I was working as a hotel receptionist in London when this guy came into the hotel and started to chat me up. He told me that he could get me started as a model. I went out with him for a drink and he was true to his word. He had a friend who owned a model agency and I got signed up.’ Tim wanted to know more. He had visions of Kaz showing off her gorgeous figure in lads magazines. He wondered if that was where he had seen her before because he was sure that he had.

‘What kind of modelling work do you do?’ he asked.

‘Oh it is nearly all promotions stuff. Cars and motorbikes mainly. I have been all over Europe to some of the big races. I must have had my photo taken about a million times. I have got loads of them saved on to CDs at home but I can’t look at them at the moment because the laptop is bust. What I really need is someone who can fix computers.’
Tim’s eyes lit up like beacons.

‘I did a computer course a few months ago. I could have a look at the laptop for you.’ Kaz smiled.

I will have to think of someway of repaying you.’ She put her hand on Tim’s leg. ‘Would you like to go outside for some fresh air?’ she asked. Tim and Kaz went outside and sat down on some seats just outside the bar.

‘I really fancied you the minute I saw you,’ said Kaz as she kissed Tim passionately on the lips. Tim kissed her back and decided that he wanted to bed her now. He realised he couldn’t take Kaz back to the Bed and Breakfast Hotel. They would have to go back to her place.

‘Is your place far from here then,’ he asked hoping that she lived nearby. He did not want to go for a long drive. After two and a half years, tonight was the night. He was in no mood for waiting any longer.

‘I live about five miles from here out into the countryside. The house is at the bottom of a country lane. It is not my house it belongs to a friend.’

‘A male friend?’ asked Tim feeling that this might be where his anticipation turned to disappointment.’ Kaz put her arm around Tim and started to kiss him more passionately.

‘He is just a friend. We used to be a couple but drifted apart. I guess the age difference got in the way. He is nearly fifty now; not as young as you, soldier boy.’

Tim realised now that he was not going to be disappointed tonight after all. He had been stuck in prison all this time. Now he was free and he was going to spend the night with Kaz come hell or high water. So what if her bloke was more serious than Kaz was letting on. Tim was not intending to hang around here for long anyway. He wanted a woman for the night that was all. Then he would move on. He would go back into the bar and find Cookie and tell him he was not going back to the bed and breakfast. Cookie would have to go back there alone tonight. He didn’t intend to spend the night sleeping.

‘You are a fast worker aren’t you,’ said Cookie when Tim told him he was going back with Kaz.

‘You will have to get my stuff from the bed and breakfast and take them home with you. I am going off with Kaz.’ Cookie did not answer. He knew what Tim had intended to do on his first night of freedom. Kaz had also made it clear that she wanted Tim and he was more than willing to oblige. Lisa and Donna were upstairs on the dance floor now. Cookie had not wanted to join them; he had been thinking of Sarah back home and was not interested in being unfaithful. ‘I am going to the toilet, wait for me here,’ he said to Tim as he quickly pushed open the nearby door and disappeared inside the gents. He came back thirty seconds later and pushed something into Tim’s hand. ‘There you are mate; I suppose you did not give a thought to needing these.

‘Cookie you are a marvel.’ Tim put the packet of condoms into his pocket and raced outside to find Kaz calling a taxi on her mobile phone.



The journey to Kaz’s house took about fifteen minutes. Tim did not bother about looking at the scenery on the way. He and Kaz spent the entire time kissing passionately in the back of the taxi. Eventually the driver stopped the cab. Tim looked up to see that they had arrived at the bottom of a long winding country lane and had come to a stop just outside the gates of a very large detached house. It was starting to get dark but he could clearly see a house built of white stone. He could see that there were two garages attached to the house. The house was surrounded by lawns and flowerbeds containing a wide range of plants in a variety of colours.

‘Driver, will you open the gates to save me getting out, said Kaz as she stopped kissing Tim just long enough to give her order to the driver. She and Tim resumed kissing as the driver got out of the taxi and opened the black wrought iron gates. He got back into the car and drove as quickly as he could to the door of the house.

‘Not long to wait now,’ he said desperately as he pulled up beside the front door of the house.

‘That will be twelve pounds fifty please,’ said the driver. Kaz opened her bag and pulled out two twenty pound notes.

‘There you are,’ she said. ‘One for getting us here and one for opening the gates.’ She opened the taxi door and jumped out quickly followed by Tim. She opened the door of the house with her key and a light in the hall came on automatically. Tim followed her inside and started to head for a door that he presumed led to the living room. Kaz took his hand and gently pulled him away in the direction of a large spiral staircase.
‘Shall we forget about the coffee tonight?’

CHAPTER TWELVE – A FACE FROM THE PAST
Tim woke up and looked at the radio alarm clock. It said ten thirty seven. He was lying alone in a king sized bed and was covered in a thick duvet. He looked around the room. The walls were white and the sunshine glowing through the windows caused them to create a dazzling effect in his eyes. The curtains had been drawn open and were letting in strong rays of sunlight. Tim lay back and put his hands behind his head and relaxed. He remembered the night before and smiled broadly. He glanced down at a chair beside the window and saw his jeans and tee-shirt lying there where he had dumped them just after arriving at the house. Tim noticed the condom packet lying on the thick light blue carpet. The packet was empty. He thought ‘Bloody hell, we were busy last night.’ Just at that moment Kaz burst into the room.

‘Time to wake up, soldier boy.’ Kaz stood beside the window smiling at Tim. Tim stared at her. She was wearing a very short light blue denim skirt that revealed her long tanned legs. Tim’s eyes moved slowly upwards gazing at Kaz’s body. She was wearing a white tee shirt with large red letters stating ‘Stop Staring.’ ‘Well there is plenty there to stare at.’ Tim thought.

‘You were fit last night,’ said Kaz as she jumped onto the bed beside Tim. She pulled off her tee-shirt. She was wearing nothing underneath.

‘Too hot to wear a bra today’ she said casually and started to slowly drag her fingers down Tim’s chest. She pulled herself closer to him and started kissing Tim passionately. Tim responded, caressing her and moved to pull himself on top of her. He suddenly stopped. He pointed to the empty condom packet lying on the floor.
‘Fuck, there are no more left,’ he said. Kaz leaned over and put her hand under the pillow on her side of the bed.

‘I saved this one for later.’ She started kissing Tim again. One hour later Kaz jumped up.
‘I have to go to work. I need a shower. I am supposed to be in the pub at twelve.’ A feeling of disappointment engulfed Tim. He didn’t want her to go.

‘How long do you have to work.’ he asked.

‘My shift finishes at eight o’clock tonight. Then I will be back home and I will cook you the most wonderful meal you have ever tasted.’ Tim was a little worried about being left alone in the house that belonged to a man he had never met but whose girlfriend he had spent the whole of the previous night in bed with.

‘What happens if your bloke comes back?’ he asked.

‘Oh don’t worry about that. Simon is in Ireland somewhere on business. Then he is going to go fishing with some mates he has over there. I don’t expect to see him back here for another week at least.’

‘What should I do if the phone rings and it is him?’ asked Tim.

‘Just ignore the phone. Simon has my mobile. He always rings me on that. My mates use my mobile as well. If the landline rings it will just be some dickhead from a call centre trying to sell something.’ Tim thought about what he would do to while away the time until Kaz came back.

‘Do you want me to have a look at your busted laptop? You said that you needed to have it fixed.’

Kaz leant across the top of the armchair that Tim was sitting on and kissed his neck.

‘That is a brilliant idea. It will keep you out of mischief.’ She led Tim to the adjoining room where there was a small desk situated just below a window looking out into the large garden. On the desk was the laptop. There were also other computer related equipment lying on the desk. There were a couple of external hard drives, some USB memory sticks and a pack of fifty blank CDs. There was a rack containing CDs marked ‘Kaz Photos.’ Tim already knew that Kaz had no idea about the working of computers. Tim guessed that the laptop must be the property of Kaz’s boyfriend Simon: it was his house after all.

‘Does anyone else use this laptop apart from you?’ Tim did not get any answer because Kaz had run up stairs and left him on his own. After a few seconds Tim heard Kaz running down the stairs.

‘Sorry what was that you said’ she asked.

‘I was asking if anyone else used this computer.’
Kaz had changed into a different top. It was black with white lettering that read ‘Look But Don’t Touch.’ Tim wished that she didn’t have to go. He wanted to spend the rest of the day with Kaz. Kaz picked up her mobile phone and put it into the denim bag that she had brought downstairs with her.

‘The computer is Simon’s really. Everything in this house is his.’ Kaz pulled up a chair and sat down beside Tim.

‘Listen soldier boy. The situation here is complicated. More complicated than you could ever imagine. Simon is in a bit of money trouble. I can’t really explain but some people are looking for him to get money. He has got rich by using his brain. He has made his money by outwitting people who can’t think for themselves. I owe Simon for the modelling work, the lifestyle and for living here. What you and I have enjoyed this weekend is the icing on the cake but with Simon, he is the cake. I don’t love him. I never have really. I don’t even fancy him any more. I will never leave him as long as I can live a life of luxury like this. Do you understand?’

Tim looked at Kaz longingly. He had only just met her but he did not want the relationship to end this quickly. During his time in prison he had vowed that he would never fall in love again but Kaz was every red blooded man’s dream. He wanted to spend every minute of the day in bed with her. Kaz kissed Tim again.

‘You were Mr Wonderful last night. I wanted you, you wanted me. We shagged all night and half the morning. Simon is older than you. You are virile and fit. Simon provides security and money. If you want to keep in touch you can provide the fun. What ever you do soldier boy, don’t fall in love with me.’

Kaz picked up her bag and walked out of the living room and out into the hall. Tim heard the front door slam and then he heard the sound of a car starting up in the drive way at the front of the house. He wondered what kind of car Kaz had. He quickly moved to the front window just in time to see a brand new BMW convertible disappear down the drive. Tim went back to the computer desk. He sat down and banged his hand on the desk. ‘That lucky bastard Simon must be loaded to afford a place like this.’

Tim went into the kitchen and made himself some coffee and toast. He took his breakfast to where the computer was and sat down at the desk. He pressed the power switch on the laptop. He thought he might as well have a look at it and see if he could fix it. He waited for a couple of minutes to see if the computer would start. The computer looked fairly new, just like everything else in the house.

‘This Simon must be made of money,’ Tim thought as he stared at the blank computer screen waiting for some sign of life. The computer would not start. Tim waited a full five minutes and decided that the most likely cause of the problem was a corrupt operating system. Luckily Tim had studied operating systems as part of his computer course at the prison and knew how to fix this kind of problem. He looked around the desk at the various CDs and found the one marked Windows Vista. He inserted the disk into the drive and waited for the installation menu to load. When it did, Tim faithfully followed the instructions as they appeared on the screen. Soon the problem with the laptop was resolved. Once the operating system had finished installing, the computer started.

Now that the laptop was working Tim decided to have a look at some of the CDs marked Kaz photos. Tim placed the first CD into the disk drive and waited for the first picture to load. He was not disappointed. There was Kaz in all her glory. The picture was obviously part of a photo shoot that she had done for her modelling work. Tim thought she looked absolutely gorgeous.

Tim continued to look through the contents of the disk. All of the pictures were of Kaz. Some were fashion shoots but most were the kind more likely to be seen in glamour magazines. Many of the photographs looked as if they were taken at exotic foreign locations. Some of them showed Kaz topless and wearing only the skimpiest of bikini bottoms. Tim clicked the next button. He wanted to see more of these pictures. Some of the pictures showed Kaz modelling at exhibitions for motor shows and holiday centres. Tim decided he liked the glamour shots the best. He reached for one of the USB memory sticks and set about copying his favourite pictures. He wanted something to take as a souvenir of his weekend.

Tim plugged the memory stick into the laptop and started to copy the pictures. He had asked the computer to copy three hundred and seventy six pictures. The computer flashed up a message saying that the copying process would take eleven minutes and thirteen seconds. Tim did not want to wait while this took place. He decided that he would explore the parts of the house that he had not yet seen. There would be plenty of time while the pictures copied onto the memory stick. Tim walked back into the living room. This really was a luxurious house. The main focal point of the living room was a forty two inch high definition television.

Tim switched on the television and used one of the four remote control devices to switch on the satellite receiver. The receiver was already tuned into a music channel playing urban R&B music. This must be Kaz’s favourite music Tim thought. It was very modern and full of energy, just like Kaz. Tim turned up the volume and the music blasted through the house.

Next to the television was a stereo system and next to that a cabinet full of CDs. Tim had always enjoyed listening to music and he was interested to see what selection he would find. He walked over to the cabinet and was just about to take out a CD box set to look at when he noticed a photograph standing on top of the cabinet. Tim froze as if he had just seen a ghost from his past. Tim walked over to the television and pressed the off switch. There was silence.

‘Surely not, surely not,’ said Tim out loud as he turned back towards the CD cabinet. He looked at the photograph again. There were three people on the photograph. Kaz was dressed in a bikini and a sash across her front that read Miss York 2011. There was a young man, perhaps in his late twenties and standing between him and Kaz was someone Tim recognised instantly.

Tim walked back over to the computer desk. The laptop had finished copying the pictures of Kaz onto the memory stick. Tim clicked on one of the thumbnails and a picture opened. It was Kaz on a photo shoot for a car company. There she was draped over the bonnet of the car. She was wearing a skimpy blue bikini. Tim wondered if the motor company had received any interest in the car from prospective customers. He reckoned that most of the punters would be too busy staring at Kaz to take any notice of the cars on display.

Tim closed down the photograph. He looked again at the list of thumbnails on the computer screen. He saw one that was named ‘Simon’s favourite.’ Tim clicked on the thumbnail and a full size version of the picture opened to fill the screen. Tim had seen this picture before. Now he remembered where he had seen Kaz before this weekend. Last night when he was sitting with Cookie in Millie’s wine bar, knocking back pints to get up the Dutch courage to go and talk to Kaz he was sure that he had seen her before. Now he was in no doubt. He could remember exactly where he was when he first saw this photograph. He was in his own flat, the one that he and Elaine lived in after they married. The occasion was more than five years ago. He was sitting in his flat with Elaine, Cookie and Bradley Hall. They were discussing the idea that Cookie had for buying and selling ex-military vehicles. Bradley Hall was telling them how he could help them apply for grants to set up the business. They had met Bradley a few days before in the Oak Tree pub. He and Cookie had gone for a quiet drink and there they met Bradley. Only his name was not Bradley Hall. His name was Simon Lewin. This was the man who had been pretending to be their friend for years, helping them with the running of their business but in fact had transferred just about every last penny out of their company. Simon Lewin had not only stolen from them, he had totally destroyed their business and Tim and Elaine’s marriage. He had beaten Tim up, set fire to the garage and left Tim to take the blame. Tim had spent the last two and a half years in jail and this bastard was living the lifestyle of a playboy. He had a marina in Portugal and houses goodness knows where else. All of this was funded by stolen money. Money he had ripped off ordinary, honest people who had just been trying to build a comfortable life for themselves and their families. Tim walked back over to the CD cabinet and looked hard at the photograph of Simon Lewin a.k.a. Bradley Hall.

‘Yes you bastard. I know where you live now, at least part of the time. I am in one of your houses right now. You have destroyed me. Now I am going to destroy you if it takes me to the end of my life.’


Tim spent the next few minutes pacing about the house. He wanted to try to find any documents that he could take to the police, anything that might prove once and for all that Bradley Hall or Simon Lewin who whatever the bastard’s name really was had ripped him off.

Tim ran up the stairs. First he looked in the bedroom where he had spent the night with Kaz. He saw the unmade bed and thought to himself, ‘that was some night Bradley. Thank you for lending me Kaz for the night.’ All thoughts of affection for Kaz had evaporated now. She was just as bad as Bradley Hall. To Kaz, Bradley was a sugar daddy. To Bradley, Kaz was a trophy to hang on his arm. As far as Tim was concerned, Kaz was just someone he had picked up the night before and shagged. They were all inhabitants of the same jungle. He quickly looked through the draws of the dressing table.

He found nothing apart from clothes, deodorants’ and the usual things you would find in a couple’s bedroom. He turned to the wardrobe. There he found a collection of Kaz’s clothes. He also found a couple of men’s suits and some shirts. These were obviously Bradley’s. Tim looked through the suit pockets but found nothing at all. He left the bedroom and tried the next one. There were five bedrooms.

Tim quickly searched them all. Most of the bedrooms were sparsely furnished. Only one of the others looked as if it may have been used recently. There was a chest of draws and a small wardrobe. Both of these were empty. This room was probably used by guests. Realising that he was not going to find anything of interest upstairs, he went back downstairs to the living room.

Tim glanced at his watch. Half an hour had elapsed since Kaz left to go to work in the pub. Goodness knows where the pub was. He could not remember seeing any pub on the way from Millie’s wine bar. Hardly surprising really, he and Kaz had been too busy in the back of the taxi to care about anything other than satisfying their lust. Tim returned to the computer. He opened the icon for the portable hard drive he had just connected. There were dozens of folders. Several of the folders were marked ‘Simon1,’ ‘Simon2,’ etc. all the way up to ‘simon12.’ Tim decided to have a look at the contents of some of these folders. ‘Surely there will be something interesting in this lot,’ he thought as he clicked the mouse on the folder with the label ‘Simon1.’ The folder opened to reveal dozens of image files. He clicked on the first file to open it. The file opened in the image viewer. It looked like a bank statement that had been scanned into the computer and converted into an image. The bank statement was in the name of Simon Lewin and was dated nearly six years ago.

According to the closing balance Mr Lewin had the princely sum of three hundred and sixty seven pounds and fifteen pence in this account. Tim clicked on the next image file on the list. This image was of another scanned bank statement. This statement covered the six month period following the first bank statement that Tim had looked at. Lewins financial status had taken a turn for the better because he had thirty thousand and seventy pounds in his account now. Tim looked a little closer at this statement. He was interested in finding out where the money had come from. How had Simon Lewin become so wealthy in such a short space of time? Tim could see that although there had been no withdrawals of money made during this period there had been several large transfers of money into the account. The money seemed to come from three or four companies. The amounts were a few thousand pounds three or four times a month. All of the amounts were odd amounts. For example, one from a company called Dixon Brothers was for seven thousand, six hundred and eighty six pounds and seventeen pence.

Tim looked at another folder which was labelled ‘companies.’ Inside this folder Tim found bank statements for several businesses. These included Northside Corporation and Parkside Securities. The statements confirmed that large sums of money had been transferred into these accounts. Tim had never dealt with any of these companies before but the names of them seemed strangely familiar to him. He remembered the meeting that he and Cookie had attended at the Tynedale Bank when Mr Sinclair told them the awful truth that their business was in dire trouble. These were the companies that money had been paid to from the garage business account that caused them to become insolvent. This information above all else proved that Bradley Hall was involved in the theft of money from their garage business.

Tim clicked on an image file named ‘E signature.’ It was a scan of Elaine’s signature. It was obvious to Tim that Bradley had scanned Elaine’s signature to help him countersign documents fraudulently. ‘The bastard,’ said Tim as he closed the image of Elaine’s signature..

Tim continued to look at the folders on the laptop. He found one named ‘Yorkshire Hideaway.’ Tim clicked on this folder and found that it contained plans for a large house in the North Yorkshire countryside. There were letters to the local planning authority and to builders asking for them to quote a price to build a house. Tim clicked on a document that had been named ‘Plan.’ This showed the proposed layout of the house with the garden clearly mapped out.

Tim started to pace back and forth across the room shouting and swearing. He was feeling all tensed up and angry. He had not felt this way for weeks; not since receiving the date of his release from prison. He marched into the living room where he could clearly see the photograph of Bradley Hall standing on top of the CD cabinet.

‘I’ll fucking kill you bastard if I ever catch up with you. You just see if I don’t.’ Tim just stood there shaking with rage. What was he going to do? How would he find Simon Lewin or Bradley Hall or whatever his name was? Then the telephone in the living room rang loudly. ‘Shit,’ thought Tim who could that be? Should he answer the phone or should he just let it ring? He decided that he would just pick up the receiver and listen to hear if anyone spoke. He would not say anything unless it was Kaz who was calling. Tim walked over to the still ringing phone, picked up the receiver and held it to his ear.

‘Hi soldier boy. Is that the sexy Geordie who is staying with me in my love nest? Tim
felt an enormous sense of relief.

‘Yes it is me, how are you? He asked.

‘Listen, things are a bit quiet in the pub and I am going to be finishing work in about an hour. I just called to see if you could rustle up some food for when I get back. There are some steaks in the fridge; perhaps you could start them off for me to save time?’ Tim agreed.

’Yes I am feeling a bit peckish myself. You just leave things to me and I will have a meal ready for you.’

‘OK,’ said Kaz. ‘I will see you in about an hour and twenty minutes. Bye for now soldier boy.’
Tim put down the phone. He was not going to be there when the lovely Kaz got back. He walked quickly back to the laptop. The portable hard drive contained lots of evidence that he hoped would finish Bradley Hall off for good. He was going to take this back to Newcastle with him. He and Cookie would go through it and find out exactly what had been done to them. Bradley Hall was going to pay alright.

Tim switched off the laptop. He thought about taking that with him to but decided that the hard drive and the laptop would be too much for him to carry. He was going to have to travel across fields and through woodland to avoid being seen by Kaz as she drove back to the house. The portable hard drive would just about fit into his jacket pocket. There were also the two USB memory sticks full of pictures of Kaz that he had copied. He did not want to leave them.

Tim ran up the stairs to the bedroom where he had spent the night before. He picked up his jacket and headed back down the stairs. As he entered the living room he looked straight ahead at the photograph on top of the CD cabinet once again. He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and took out his mobile phone, the one that Cookie had given him minutes after he had been released from prison the day before. The phone was one that took pictures.

Tim pointed the phone at the photograph of Bradley Hall. He pressed the button and captured a copy of the photograph. This was the proof that Bradley lived in this house. Tim put his phone back inside his jacket pocket and went back to the laptop. He picked up the USB Memory sticks with the pictures of Kaz on and put them in the right hand pocket of his jacket. He put the hard drive in his left hand jacket pocket and walked out of the room. He walked into the hall, opened the front door and stepped outside. He turned to close the door and noticed the sign that had been screwed to the wall. It read ‘Yorkshire Hideaway.’

Tim turned and started to walk down the drive. He stopped, took out his phone and took a photograph of the front of the house making sure that the ‘Yorkshire Hideaway’ sign was clearly captured by the camera phone. He started a text message and attached the photo of Kaz and Bradley Hall. His text message read. ‘Cookie look who I found.’ Tim switched off his phone and walked briskly down the drive. He jumped over the fence into a field and ran as fast as he could until he came to a piece of woodland. He would have to go through the woods to avoid the road. He could not let Kaz see him. Tim walked for about an hour and then came to a bus shelter. He looked at the timetable fixed to the wall of the shelter and noticed that a bus was due in a few minutes. The bus would take him into York from where he would get a train to Newcastle. After two and a half years he was going home.


CHAPTER THIRTEEN – GOING HOME
The train journey from York to Newcastle takes just over one and a half hours. Obviously Tim had not booked a seat on the train therefore he found that he had to stand for much of the journey. This was the Saturday afternoon of a bank holiday weekend. The weather was still very hot and it seemed that the entire population of the north of England was out and about enjoying the late summer sunshine. There were people on the train who were coming back home from London to enjoy the weekend. Others seemed to be southerners who were heading north to enjoy a long weekend break in Northumberland.

The train was full of children. They were chattering about what they had seen, where they were going to go and what they would do when they arrived at their destination. The train was speeding through the North Yorkshire countryside. Tim looked out of the window and could see miles and miles of farmland stretching into the distance. The train carriage rocked as the train picked up speed. Very soon Tim would be back home in his beloved Newcastle. He hoped that he would get a seat soon. Before long the train would be stopping at Darlington station. Tim hoped that some people might get off the there so that he would be able to grab one of the vacated seats. Just in front of where Tim was standing sat a middle aged couple. As they spoke Tim noticed that they had Teesside accents. ‘Surely they will be getting off at Darlo,’ he thought as the train sped through the open countryside on its way north.

The train arrived at Darlington and sure enough the middle aged couple stood up. They collected their cases from the rack above them and made their way down the carriage towards the door. Tim took this opportunity and settled into the seat that had been occupied by the middle aged woman. He liked to look out of the window when he was travelling on a train. As he got nearer home he would try to spot some landmarks that he knew. The train started to move and once it had left the station at Darlington it began to pick up speed once more. One more stop at Durham and then the train would travel the fifteen minute leg to Newcastle. As Tim gazed out of the window his thoughts turned to Cookie. He would telephone him when he got to Newcastle to ask if he could collect him from the station.

It had been arranged that Tim could stay at Cookie’s house for a few days until he could find somewhere of his own to live. Tim remembered that Cookie would have his bag containing his change of clothes and other personal items that he had left at the bed and breakfast house in York. He was looking forward to a long hot shower. Most of all though he was looking forward to showing Cookie the evidence that he had collected from the laptop computer in Bradley Hall’s house. The two of them would go through it and bit by bit they would prove once and for all that Lewin, or Bradley Hall, or whoever he wanted to call himself was the person responsible for destroying their business.

The train stopped at Durham station. Some people got off and others got on. Then the train continued on its journey. Only a few miles to go and Tim would be back in Newcastle. He would then go and find somewhere to have a cup of coffee while he waited for Cookie to come and collect him. After about fifteen minutes the train pulled into Newcastle Central Station exactly on time. Tim waited a minute or two to allow the holiday makers who seemed to make up the majority of the passengers on the train collect their belongings and make their way down the carriage. Then he stood up and followed them down the aisle. He stepped down from the carriage and walked from the platform. He felt inside his jacket pocket and pulled out his mobile phone. He dialled Cookie’s number and placed the phone to his ear. He listened while it rang twice and then he heard Cookie answer. Tim was relieved to hear the sound of his friend’s voice.

‘Cookie it’s me, Tim. I am at the Central Station.’ Immediately Cookie interrupted Tim.

‘Thank God you have phoned. It is a wonder you managed to get through. This phone has been red hot all afternoon. I got the picture that you sent of Bradley. Talk about spooky, how you spent the night at his house.’ Tim interrupted Cookie this time.

‘Are you going to come and pick me up? I got more than a night with his lass. I have got loads of stuff that will prove that the bastard shafted us.’

‘Tim listen. There is something else that you need to know. Half an hour ago I had a phone call from Elaine. She was calling from the hospital in Belfast. They have admitted Bradley. He has had an accident over there. I am coming to the station now.’ The phone went dead. Tim switched his mobile off and put it back into his jacket pocket. Had he really heard Cookie correctly? Did he really say that he knew where Bradley was?

There are several hospitals in Belfast but the main one is the Royal Victoria Hospital. That is where Elaine qualified as a nurse all those years ago. She started working there again when she went back to Belfast to live. The fact that Bradley was in Belfast came as no surprise. He often went to Northern Ireland. He was a keen angler and the rivers there are among some of the best fishing rivers in the British Isles. Tim walked towards the small café near the entrance to the station. He ordered a cup of coffee and sat down at one of the tables. He would wait for Cookie to arrive and find out more about what Elaine had told him.

‘Cookie should be here in about fifteen minutes,’ thought Tim as he took a sip of his coffee. His mind drifted back a few hours. Earlier that day he had been lying in bed after spending one of the most passionate nights of his life with the sometimes girlfriend of the man he hated more than anyone else in the world. Just to think of that made Tim chuckle. ‘Bradley Hall was lying in a hospital bed while I was banging Kaz.’ Tim thought that justice was being done already. He looked at his watch. It was twenty five minutes since he had spoken to Cookie. Why was he late? Maybe the traffic in the city centre was busy.

Tim’s coffee cup was empty. It was one of the worst cups of coffee he had ever tasted; even worse than some he had drunk while in prison. He could not face drinking another one. Tim decided that he would go and find something stronger to drink while he waited for Cookie to arrive. He left the café and walked the short distance through the station to the hotel bar. He would phone Cookie was soon as he had been served to tell him where he was. Tim walked through to the bar and ordered a pint of lager. He took his drink and sat down beside the bar. Just at that moment his mobile phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and he could see Cookie’s mobile number flashing on the screen.

‘Hi mate where are you?’ Tim asked ‘I was just going to phone you to say I am in the
Station Hotel.’

‘Tim there has been some kind of accident. I can’t get there for another half an hour at least. The road into the city centre is completely blocked.’ Tim wanted to know more about Cookie’s telephone call with Elaine.

‘What did she say exactly? What happened to Bradley?’

‘Well from what she said I think he was in some kind of fishing accident. He had been fishing near Crawfordsburn. He fell into the water and it seems that he must have hit his head on rocks. He was brought into the Royal Victoria Hospital unconscious. She also said that he has been admitted under the name of Simon Lewin. There is no doubt that it is the person we knew as Bradley Hall. Elaine said that she recognised him straight away.’

‘It’s a pity the bastard is still alive.’ Tim shouted. ‘I hope they let him die. He doesn’t deserve to live.’

‘Tim you need to calm down,’ said Cookie We need to think through what we are going to do with this news. We might be able to nail him now with the evidence that you have got. We need to do it with the police though.’ Tim started to feel the anger coming back. He wanted to take more direct action than that.

‘I’ll tell you what I am going to do. I am going to get myself over there and confront the bastard.’

‘No, no Tim. You can’t do that you have to give the police all the information that you have. Let them deal with it. You only got out of prison yesterday for Gods sake. Do you want to go back inside?’

Tim wasn’t listening. He had had enough of doing things by the book. All this life he had tried to do the right thing. He had tried to treat people properly and stay within the law. Look where that had got him.

‘This time Cookie, I am going to deal with things my way. I am going to Belfast now and I am going to get that bastard. Then the police can have him when I am finished with him.’ Tim switched off his mobile phone and walked out of the Station Hotel. He walked back through the station and headed for the ticket booking desk. ‘One way ticket to Stranraer please,’ he asked.

This was a journey he had made many times before while serving with the army in Northern Ireland. He would take the train to Stranraer in South West Scotland and then book a passage on the ferry that sailed from there to Belfast. The ferry journey was less than two hours. With luck he would be in Belfast before it got dark. He would then decide what he was going to do with Bradley Hall.

The train to Stranraer was already standing at the platform. Tim got on and sat down. He was lucky. He had managed to get a seat by the window. It was now just after three o’clock. It seemed as if he had spent the whole day travelling. Here he was about to make another journey. He was tired and was glad that this train was much quieter than the one he had travelled on from York. Tim hoped that he might be able to get some sleep on the way. The train only made two scheduled stops at Carlisle and Dumfries so there would not be many people getting on the train further along the line. Just as he hoped, Tim dozed off to sleep.

Tim woke up somewhere between Dumfries and Stranraer. When he woke he looked at his watch. It said five forty five. Another half an hour or so and he would be in Stranraer. The ferry terminal to Belfast was just a short walk down the road from the station.

Tim closed his eyes again. He did not go to sleep quite so easily this time. His mind started drifting back to the last time that he had made this journey to Belfast. It was just a few weeks before his last tour of duty in Northern Ireland came to an end. That was nearly twenty years ago. Then most people making this journey were either army personnel returning from leave or were business people travelling to Belfast because they had to for their work. Since the ending of the ‘troubles’, many people made the journey for pleasure. More and more people were making the trip for long weekends and spending much more leisure time in Northern Ireland. Tim had noticed that quite a few people must have got on the train at Carlisle or Dumfries while he had been sleeping. There were more couples on the train than there had been when it had left Newcastle.

Tim had never been to Belfast since before he met Elaine. Her parents and her brothers particularly had wanted nothing to do with him. He was a British soldier and as far as they were concerned catholic girls from Belfast did not go around with ‘Brits’. Elaine had visited her parents a few times, after they had accepted their daughter’s relationship and eventual marriage to Tim. Her brothers Eamon and Padraig who were both younger than her refused to have anything to do with their sister because she had married a British soldier. Elaine had not seen them since her marriage to Tim nearly seven years ago. They had had both moved out of the family home some time ago. There were strong rumours that they were both involved with a dissident republican group.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN - REUNITED
The train finally arrived at Stranraer station. Tim managed to get a place on the ferry and made his way to the restaurant. It seemed ages since he had anything to eat. All he had to eat that day was a slice of toast in ’Yorkshire Hideaway.’ That had been just before he had discovered all of the scanned documents on Bradley’s laptop. Tim felt inside his jacket pocket. Thank goodness the portable hard drive was still there. He must not lose this valuable evidence.

Tim ordered a meal of pie, chips and peas and sat down at a table. He then started to think about what he would do when he got to Belfast. He had been in such a rage when he left Newcastle. Sitting in the Station Hotel in Newcastle, all he could think about was getting revenge. He had calmed down a bit since then. The journey to Stranraer had made him reconsider being violent. It would be nearly ten o’clock when the ferry docked in Belfast. Where on earth would he go? What would he do? He would have to try to find a Bed and Breakfast place or a hotel. That might not be easy at that time in the evening. Then what would he do about Bradley? He could hardly barge into the hospital and have it out with him there.

Tim decided to telephone the hospital first and find out if Bradley was well enough to see visitors. If he could get to see him he would tell Bradley that he had the evidence that proved that he was a crook and had defrauded not only his and Cookie’s business but that of several other people. He would try to get Bradley to tell him where the money was. Tim reached into his inside jacket pocket and took out his mobile phone. He wanted to call the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. He used a directory enquiries service to get the main switchboard number. When he got through to the hospital he discovered that Bradley was much better but could only have visits from family members. He would not be allowed to see Bradley for at least a couple of days. Tim would have to decide whether to wait in Belfast until then. He banged his mobile on the table in front of him in frustration. ‘This journey was a bloody waste of time,’ he thought.

The ferry arrived in Belfast. Tim was really very tired by this time. He had travelled miles today and was more than ready for a nice soft bed. He felt as if he could sleep for weeks. Tim joined the file of people as they walked from the ferry and made their way out of the terminal and into the dusk that had by now arrived in Belfast.

There were many families on the ferry. They had arrived here to enjoy a long weekend. They were happy, smiling people who had come here to enjoy themselves. Tim wasn’t feeling happy at all. He was tired and confused and really didn’t know why he had made the journey. He decided that he would have to try and find somewhere to spend the night. He took out his mobile and switched it on. He had turned the phone off as the ferry left Stranraer. His phone had been switched off since he left Newcastle, apart from when he used it to call the hospital. He needed to conserve the battery. He did not know when he would need to use it and there was no chance of charging it up tonight.

As he switched the phone on it bleeped and Tim saw that he had six missed calls. There were five from Cookie and another from a number he did not recognise. He wasn’t in the mood to speak to Cookie tonight. He needed to decide exactly what he was going to do in Belfast first. If he spoke to Cookie and he did not have a sound plan in his head he would just be laughed at. Tim walked out of the ferry terminal and into the street outside. He remembered from his previous visits to Belfast that there was a small hotel at the top of this road. He would go there first. ‘That would be the logical place to start looking for a bed for the night,’ Tim thought. He walked a few yards up the street and then he heard someone shouting his name.

‘Tim, Tim, wait.’
He recognised the voice immediately. Tim turned round. He saw Elaine running as fast as she could up the road behind him. He stopped walking and waited for Elaine to catch up.
Tim was so taken aback that he just stood there and stared at her. Elaine was the first to speak.

‘Cookie is desperate,’ said Elaine sounding very flustered. He has been trying to call you all evening. He tracked me down at the hospital. Luckily I was on duty. I jumped into a taxi and got straight down here. I have been waiting ages for you. Elaine wrapped her arms around Tim. ‘What the hell are you playing at?’ she said. Tim pulled away from Elaine’s hug.

‘You are the last person I want to speak to,’ he said as he continued to walk up the street in the direction of the hotel. Elaine continued to follow him.

‘Tim we must talk, ‘she shouted.

‘What do I want to talk to you for? You left me there back in Newcastle to face the music. You left me to go to prison for something that I didn’t do. Why would I want to speak to you?’

Elaine stood face to face with Tim. ‘Look whatever you have planned to do here will only lead to more grief so it will. Let us go for a wee drink and a bite to eat and we can try to make sense of all of this.’

Tim stopped and looked at Elaine. ‘She had changed a little since he last saw her more than two and a half years ago. Her hair was different for a start,’ he thought. Elaine’s red hair was cut quite short now, into a more manageable bob. Tim imagined that this would be much more practical for working in the hospital.

‘There is a wee pub just over there. Let’s go and have a sit down in there shall we.’ Elaine pointed to the brightly lit pub over the road. At least they did not have far to walk Tim was absolutely shattered by now. This had been one hell of a day.
Tim and Elaine went into the pub. It was about half full so they managed to find seats easily enough. Elaine went to the bar and ordered a pint of lager for Tim and an orange juice for herself. She got served quickly and rejoined Tim.

‘Cookie phoned me because he was frightened at what you were planning to do,’ said Elaine as she took a sip of her orange juice. Tim stared at the table in front of them, not wanting to look Elaine in the face.

‘I don’t really know what I was thinking of. I was just in a bloody rage. Cookie told me about Bradley’s accident and that he was in hospital. For the past two and a half years no one knew where he was. Now we do know and I wanted to go and get the bastard.’ Elaine touched Tim’s hand to try and calm him down.

‘You mustn’t talk like that. You need to stay out of trouble now. That kind of talk does not sound like the Tim that I knew.’ Tim looked at Elaine and snapped angrily.

‘You know bugger all about me now. I spent two and a half years living with lowlife scum. I had to harden up to survive.’ Tim then went on to tell Elaine how he had spent the past two days.

‘Cookie and I went to a club in York when I got out of prison and I went back with this lass to her place. Only it was not her place; it belongs to that bastard Bradley Hall. She was that lass in the photo that Hall showed us that night we all met in our old flat. Do you remember? That was the night we set up the business and he bragged about that stunning lass he had pulled at the hotel in London. Well last night I had her and she was fucking great. She was gagging for it from the minute she walked into the club. I didn’t need to try too hard to pull her I can tell you.’ Elaine looked at Tim in complete surprise.

‘You amaze me. When we first met you were ever so shy. You have never really been that confident about approaching women before have you. The old Tim would not have done what you did so easily.’

‘The old Tim was a long time ago. I have spent the past two and a half years knowing that my wife had gone off with the lying low down piece of scum that wrecked my business. When I was fighting with Hall in the garage just before he torched it that was one of the last things he said to me, that he was shagging you.’ Elaine blushed and took a drink from her orange juice.

‘It happened a couple of times. We slept together at his house in Yorkshire. That was when I told you that I was on that course in Leeds.’ Tim erupted in fury at this confirmation.

‘I bloody knew it. I knew it all the time. That day you came into the garage you were all dolled up as if you were going out on a date because you bloody well were you bitch.’ Elaine touched Tim’s hand in an attempt to calm him down.

‘It meant nothing to me,’ said Elaine. ‘I went with Bradley purely for the excitement. I didn’t know what I was doing. I behaved like a star struck young girl. I fancied him like mad from the first time I met him but I did not do anything about it until that week. I could not fight it anymore. I did not love him. It was just for the sex and the excitement.’ Tim was looking at Elaine. His eyes were filled with jealous hate.

‘How could you do that to me? You lied to me and then when I was at my wits end with worry you ran away, back over here to Belfast and let me stew.’ Elaine grasped Tim’s hand and held it in hers.

‘Tim, I am sorry I hurt you. I had to turn over a new leaf and start living again. I believed that you really did start that fire. I couldn’t stay and wait for you to be released from prison. I had to move on.’ Tim felt the warmth of Elaine’s hand. He thought about what Elaine had said about him being shy and her surprise that he had found it so easy to meet a woman for casual sex. At that moment Elaine stood up.

‘I need to go to the ladies. Wait here and we will talk some more.’ Tim watched as Elaine walked towards the entrance to the ladies toilets. He wondered if she really did care for him more that he thought she did. Did he still love him? The conversation that they were having had produced a small spark within Tim. The affection he had held for her was still there deep down. Would it really be too late to repair things with her and try to start again?

Tim decided that when Elaine came back he would tell her about the information that he had found on the laptop and promise to her that he would not attempt to harm Bradley but would go to the police. She would respect him more for that he thought. After a few minutes Elaine returned and rejoined Tim

‘I got a load of information off Bradley’s laptop hard drive that proves that he ripped us all off.’ He took the hard drive out of his pocket. ‘Look this is full of the proof that proves that Bradley Hall is a thief, a cheat and a louse. Bradley Hall isn’t even his real name. His real name is Simon Lewin.’

Elaine brushed slightly when Tim mentioned the name Simon Lewin. It was as if she knew that Bradley Hall was not his real name.

‘I found about that not long before the fire that he was a bit of a shady character,’ she said sheepishly. Tim wanted to know what Elaine knew.

‘Did you know he was transferring money out of our business into his dodgy bank accounts?’ he asked her.

‘I countersigned some of the cheques,’ Elaine admitted as she nervously took another sip from her glass. ‘I thought they were genuine though. I did not really know what he was doing.’

‘I found a scanned signature that looked like yours,’ Tim told Elaine. ‘I guess he must have used that to complete some of the bank transfers.’

‘What do you plan to do when you get settled in Newcastle?’ Elaine asked.

‘How should I know? I don’t even have a place to live yet. Cookie is lending me a spare bed until I get sorted.’

‘I am sure things will work out for you soon,’ said Elaine trying to reassure Tim that things could get better and desperately trying to avoid any further questioning about her cheque signing activities.

‘How are things with you anyway? Where are you living now? I bet you didn’t share the past two and a half years with a bunch of wacko low life.’

‘I am living not far from the Waterfront. We have a wee apartment there.’ Tim noticed the significance of what Elaine had just said.

‘You said we have an apartment.’

Elaine smiled.’ Yes I moved in with Alex six months ago. He is a solicitor.’ Tim’s heart sank. He was overwhelmed by hurt at this news.

‘So you are shacked up with a solicitor are you? I bet he is able to afford to keep you in the style that I could not afford to do. It is better than countersigning cheques for a thief I suppose.’

‘Yes Tim it is special what I have with Alex. You see I am going to have his baby in six months time.’ Elaine touched Tim’s hand again.

‘You will meet someone special too one day. Tim was stuck dumb. Elaine stood up.

‘I have to be on duty at ten o’clock. I need to get back to the hospital. I will walk with you to the hotel. It is just up the street so it is.’

Elaine made her way to the door of the pub. Tim followed her. He was still feeling shell shocked from her news.

‘I don’t believe it.’ He thought. ‘Some people are just born to be used, to be trampled on throughout their life. Why is it that I always feel like one of those people?’

Elaine opened the pub door and stepped out into the street. There seemed to be some kind of commotion going on. Elaine turned to face Tim.

‘You go home first thing in the morning. Take that hard drive to the police in Newcastle and let them deal with it. You know that is the right thing to do.’ Tim could hear the loud wailing of police car sirens and he could see that there was a fire engine a hundred yards or so down the street. Policemen were shouting at people who were walking up the road.

‘Get back. Get away from here,’ one of the policemen shouted. ‘Go up to the top of the street. You will be out of danger up there.’ Seconds later was a loud explosion and people started to scream.

Cookie woke up. It was Sunday morning. The first thing he did was check his mobile phone. He was desperate to learn if Elaine had managed to find Tim. There were no messages from Elaine, Tim or anyone else. He picked up the remote control for the television and turned on the early morning news. There was a report about a charity fun run in Glasgow. He and Tim had run a half marathon once to raise money for children in Sierra Leone. Tim particularly wanted to help the hospital that Elaine worked at in Freetown. Tim always did have a soft heart. The news report about the charity half marathon ended and the announcer explained they had some breaking news from Belfast.

‘We would like to update you on the story we brought to you earlier. Two more of the people killed by the car bomb in Belfast have been named by police as Tim and Elaine Wilson……..’