Leah's Story Finding Jake (18 page)

“I met your mother in 1988, I do love Alexandra but physically we are different, she is a thing of
purity and I have a touch of wild about me. I frequented many establishments like your flats over the
years, that was until Suzie introduced me to Selina. She was wild vivacious, beautiful and very sexy. I
saw her on a number of occasions; I couldn’t seem to stay away.” I didn’t want to think about him
with his hands on my mother, but I do remember the rich man she loved, he had made her happy for
a while. It was so sad my mother fell in love with this man. She would still be alive had she kept the
baby a secret, her naivety killed her.

“My wife and I both wanted a baby, so to be fair to her I stopped visiting your mum for a couple of
years. I devoted my time to my wife, IVF and taking care of her after her miscarriages. The pain
became too much so I needed my outlet again. Your mum was just as I remembered and we carried
on where we left off. Then she told me she was pregnant, I freaked out knowing she could use it
against me, I had no idea if the child was mine but I stayed away.”
“I missed her terribly, but then she started calling me, screaming down the phone. I planned then to
take the child from her so concocted a story about a surrogate to satisfy Alexandra. I had no clue
how to do it but one day she threatened to go to the paper so I arranged to meet her, promised her
money and protection. Boris and I went to the car park, she was alone but the baby was in the car,
while she was attending to my needs” I shuddered knowing exactly what that meant

“Boris fetched the baby, and then passed him to me. He finished off your mum and we drove away, I
swear to you Leah, I never knew about you. Boris told me you were in the car, I didn’t know she had
a kid; I would never have left you there had I known. When I read the papers and heard about you
lying on her body it almost broke me. But you also caused us a major problem” I found my voice

“I knew about Jake” he nodded

“Yes a witness that we could easily discredit, providing all other evidence was removed. I thought we
were home and dry. It had been so many years, and then a nosey policeman started asking
questions. I am guessing now he was something to do with you?” I nodded “When did you work out
who Dimitri was ?”

“I didn’t for sure, I recognised Boris he leant across and it was the way he smiled I had a flashback.
Actually I was over that and brushed it off. When Adam said that you went white after reading the
paper I put it all together, I guessed you worked out who I was” he stood up and started to walk
around

“I really don’t want to do this to you, I really do like you. You have your mother’s spirit. Dimitri
though must never know about you so I have no choice” Just then a voice boomed out in the dark

 

“Leah? dad is that you?” Victor whirled around

 

“Dimitri what are you doing here you should be in LA with your mother, get out of here now! This is
none of your business” Dimitri was not listening

 

“You can’t do this dad she is blood” Victor snarled he was coming apart at the seams

 

“Half-blood son, surely you wouldn’t choose a half sister against your own father?” Dimitri came
closer

“I had DNA done dad, you can’t kill her because she is your daughter too” I gasped dimitri spoke
directly to me then “It’s true the tests proved you are full blood which means we share both
parents” Victor was derailing in front of us. He had the gun in his hand and was waving it around.
Dimitri stepped closer but Boris blocked his way, Victor sat back on the chair in front of me, I was
staring into the eyes of my father. He was in agony the news I was his child was too much for him to
deal with.

“Leah my daughter” he slid the gun down my cheek but tenderly, no malice “I was desperate for a
little girl, if I had known I would have come back for you I promise you. Leah I am so sorry” he lifted
his hand with the gun in it, for one moment I thought he was still going to shoot me. I saw a look in
his eye he raised the gun and I knew what he was going to do. I screamed and closed my eyes as the
shot echoed all around the building.
I kept my eyes tightly shut as chaos hit the building, doors opened and I heard shouts

“Drop your weapons everybody on the floor” The helicopter disappeared people were running about
around me. I was about to scream again when two hands held my face

“Keep your eyes closed baby keep them shut” It was Adam, he freed me from the chair picked me up
like a doll and carried me out to the fresh air. I wrapped my arms round his neck and buried my face
in him breathing in his wonderful smell

“You can open them now it’s safe” I did it slowly looking in to the faces of Dimitri and Ray. Adam put
me on the floor in front of them but holding me tight as I was very weak. Dimitri smiled at me;

“Hey sis, you okay?” My eyes were engulfed in tears as he opened his arms to me; we stood there
clinging to each other whilst the chaos continued around us. I wept in his arms
my jake was home
jake was back

Epilogue
The following week was a blur of media madness. And probably, no most definately the best days of
my life so far.

Lucy had arrived from her holiday to the news I was missing, thanks to Ray and Dimitri though it
didn’t take long to work out where I was. Lucy was distraught when they brought me home, fussing
around me like a mother hen. Boy was I glad to see her there was so much I wanted to say that only
a female friend would understand. We spent the morning locked away while she put me back
together.

Rob went straight into work to be involved in the case, he added his hit and run into the mix. Boris
was now charged with my mum’s murder, attempted murder of Rob and my abduction. It would be
a long time before he saw daylight that was without any old cases they manage to pin on him. The
police were all over Victor’s dealings in the UK and abroad, there would be a lot of red faces when
the investigations were complete.

I got to write my story, complete with the ending of my dreams. My brother was back and my
mother’s killer behind bars. The story was front page and the biggest selling issue of our paper to
date. The editor was so impressed I was promoted to having my own human interest department
and Gordon became assistant editor. I was so pleased he was still my superior I respected him a lot;
we also worked very well together.

Writing my story had been very therapeutic. I was able to paint Alexandra in such a way that she
came out of it very favourably and without any slur on her name. She had returned from her father’s
deathbed, he had passed away after making his peace with her. She was now a very wealthy and
well respected woman, inheriting her father’s wealth as well as being Victor’s sole heir. Dimitri
refused any of the money; he was wealthy enough in his career.

As for my father well we buried him with minimal fuss, not many came to pay their respects, once
his story had been published. Alexandra came as the dutiful wife, reunited with her son she was
glowing with pride. It was a very emotional day and lots of tears shed, not for Victor but for
Alexandra, Dimitri and me. We gave him a headstone but just his name and date no inscription; it
didn’t feel right to honour him. Dimitri and I had talked long and hard about him, we saw the love
that he had for his son and possibly he would have loved me too. But love doesn’t conquer all not
when you are a ruthless killer.

Alexandra had met with me alone after the funeral. She had given me five million pounds outright to
setup my refuge for runaway teens and a crisis centre for victims of rape. After discovering Mrs
Franklin had moved out of her flat and had gone to live with her son, our old building was now
standing empty. It would be the perfect place to transform. A fitting tribute to all the young women
who used to live and work there.

Alexandra would be ambassador of the charity and we would run it together. Our bond was still rock
solid; she took me under her wing just like she had my brother. Alexandra had loved Victor for many
years. The constant disappointments, combined with the continual revelations had all chipped away
at her. By the time of his death she felt free. She was setting up her own company designing tailor
made computer programmes for small businesses. She had also changed her name back to Resnov.
Ray and Adam had sat with her while she set up the website. Running an online company meant she
could operate from anywhere in the world including on her yacht.

I was sad when she left for LA, but the press attention was too much for her to handle. We promised
to go over later in the year, all of us as a family. Ray included, he and Alexandra had drawn close
over the past few days, and she had retained him as her lawyer. It looked like they would be
spending a lot more time together as she still felt a bit lost in the world of big business. The
investment company was being sold on the stockmarket and run by a board of directors. Reducing
the number of dains on her time and energy was their number one priority now.

Dimitri and I had spent one afternoon alone going through my Grans box. He loved seeing the
photos of our mother, and he was horrified when he read the newspaper reports following her
murder. When I showed him his little woollen hat and the painting we were both in tears. But he
was most moved when he saw all my paintings

“You are super talented sis, you must start painting again, and it will be interesting to see what you
produce when you are happy” He was right, it would be intriguing all my works had come from a
dark place. I would try soon; maybe I could eventually replace all the ones hung around the flat.

It was still hard for me to believe
Jake
was here with me. I kept staring at him all the time; I know it
freaked him out a bit. Adam was thrilled, he had always cared about Dimitri and they were like
brothers anyway. I couldn’t be happier with how it had all worked out apart from his name, we
couldn’t change it obviously but to me he was always Jake.
Dimitri was sleeping on our sofa as his house was not only empty and up for sale. It was also being
pulled apart by forensics and fraud investigators. Dimtri was definitely now staying at Stretford
United; once the house was sold Dimitri was going to buy one of the flats in our block; we were
excited to be neighbours. After eighteen years apart neither of us could bear to be too far away from
each other. Dimitri was also newly dating Virginia the pretty receptionist from the training ground. I
had invited her round for dinner this afternoon.

This morning was a special occasion the plaque was ready for mum’s bench. Adam, Dimtri and I were
putting it on together then everyone else would be coming to ours for a celebratory dinner. Lucy
was cooking and Rob assisting he had now moved in full time with us.it worked well the four of us
sharing, despite disorder and mess. Once we developed a routine it would be fine and for now I
couldn’t see a reason to change it.

We drove in silence to the canal and parked up. I took the plaque out of its box and Adam had the
screws to fix it. We noticed instantly that steps had been built in to the embankment to make it
easier to get down. When I saw the bench I was so moved. Mrs Robinson and friends had cleared a
large area around it and made a rockery with bedding plants. There was a rose bush which was my
mum’s favourite and a small Azalea which would flower in March the month my mum was killed. I
was overwhelmed and planned on thanking her after. We stood back while Adam fixed the plaque
dead centre. When he was done we stood back to read it.

Selina Fellows mother to Leah and Jake murdered March 1994
Leah Fellows raised by a wonderful Grandmother. Dimitri Jake Fellows raised by a wonderful
mother Alexandra Resnov
Justice was finally served May 2013 may you now find peace in your slumber as your children are
now reunited and well loved.

 

We held hands together, united in grief. No press no fuss just us our little family. We walked up the
steps back to the car; I could see Mrs Robinson watching from her window. I had a wonderful idea.

 

“Just wait for me here, I will be back in a minute. There is someone I need to see” I marched over to
her door. She pulled it open before I even had the chance to knock.

“Leah so lovely to see you, I read the newspaper it was so terrible what that man did to you all. But
so exciting that you discovered your brother, is that him there. Oh I can see the likeness.” I hugged
her warmly

“Mrs Robinson, firstly thank you for the wonderful job you have done. Mum’s bench looks amazing,
please thank everyone who helped. In fact I intend to come back with crates of beer and wine, we
should hold a small street party” She looked delighted with that idea “Secondly I need your help. I
share a flat up the road with three other adults; we are messy people with hectic lives. How would
you fancy knocking us into shape by working for us being our housekeeper?” her mouth opened and
closed, and for a moment I thought I may have offended her.
“Work for you and Mr Richmond, tidying and a bit of cooking? I would be honoured really I would
thank you, I love to keep busy” I was thrilled. I promised to call the next day with her hour’s duties
and pay rate. I walked away from a very happy woman

“Leah why are you grinning?” Adam was obviously curious

 

“I have just hired us a housekeeper, we have our very own Margaret” He laughed

 

“Wow impulsive aren’t you?” he picked me up and span me around “wonderful idea, less time spent
cooking and cleaning. More time in my bed” Dimitri was grimacing

 

“Do you mind you two gross” We flicked him across the head and set off home.

Our flat was brimming with life, love and vibrancy. Lucy and Rob had set the table, Ray was pouring
the wine and Virginia had made herself at home stirring the gravy. As we arranged ourselves, I
stared up and down the table, from my lonely start in life I was now surrounded by love and family.
Lucy raised her glass in a toast