Leah's Story Finding Jake (7 page)

We still had no money the man hadn’t come back, a few other men came but horrible ones, one
gave her a black eye I remember that it was one of the few times I saw her cry.
It was a couple of months later I think as Jake could hold things and sit up almost, My mum was so
upset we had run out of food and Suzie had disappeared no one knew where she was. She called the
man again, this time she was shouting and screaming at him, she came in to our room and started
throwing things into bags. We are going to be fine she kept saying the man was going to give us
money, a new house, school for me and toys for both of us.

We didn’t have much just two bin bags I think, we borrowed Suzie’s car as she wasn’t using it. Jake
didn’t have a seat but I held him up in the seat belt. We drove to a car park; she could see his car so
it was fine. I was told not to move until she got back. She never came back” Adam grasped my hand
as I struggled to get past the tears that were fighting their way out

“After a while a man opened the car door he smiled at me, he undid the seat belt and took Jake; his
hat fell off so I put it in my pocket. Now I was alone I waited then decided to look for her, she was
lying on the floor cold so I climbed on her to warm her up. When I woke up my gran had me at her
house. I asked where Jake was but no one knew what I was talking about. The car was empty no
bags nothing, no trace of Jake at all. No one believed me they sent me to doctors thinking he was an
imaginary friend blaming it on my traumatic experience.

I stopped talking about him but I never forgot him, I didn’t know the hat had been found until it fell
out of that box, don’t you see that was the truth right there he was real but it’s too late to find him
now Adam it’s too late” The damn burst and eighteen years of hurt burst out of me like a tsunami.

I was aware of Adam stroking me and holding me until it subsided. I was limp in his arms, exhausted
and drained. Wrapping me in the duvet he climbed in behind me and held me until my heart slowed
Adam whispered in my ear;

“Hush now baby, we will find him we will find your brother sleep now Leah I will take care of
everything” My body relaxed and I allowed the darkness to take me

The smell of coffee woke me; I was disorientated for a moment then remembered the events of the
night before. The memory of the sex made my insides clench, however the confession that followed
soon put a dampener on it, I hope I didn’t kill the moment.

I wrapped myself in my robe and followed the smell to the kitchen; Adam was staring at my
paintings. The context of the paintings would now be blatantly obvious to him; he turned to me
opening his arms for me to step inside their warmth.

“Oh Leah my poor girl, the pain you have suffered I can see it so clearly in this room, I can’t believe
you have had to carry this alone for so long” he kissed me tenderly; I raised my face so he could kiss
me properly. We stood for some time caressing each other’s mouths, no lust this time. The kiss was
about opening up exposing our souls; I breathed a sigh as he released me

“You don’t know what it means to have someone take me seriously Adam; I got so used to being
closed off. It is such a rush letting go of it all, you do believe me don’t you?”

He pushed me away a little so he could speak clearly enunciating every word
“Of course I do, no one could argue with the evidence here” he waved his arms at my paintings, “We
now need to start finding out what happened. Firstly I want to look at your mums file, Rob could
release it for me what do you think?” I nodded then remembered Richard had tried

“That’s what Richard had been doing, sorry I forgot to tell you yesterday, he was threatening to
expose who I was, he had some crazy idea your family had engineered the file disappearing. He tried
to get hold of it but it was gone, he was meeting someone the morning he went missing, a friend he
said who could get it for him” Adam looked concerned

“When is Lucinda back with Rob do you know?” I shook my head I had no idea he wanted to call Rob
but I persuaded him to hang fire, Lucy would not thank me for interrupting a romantic encounter.

I had slept in so only had a couple of hours before the matinee, I showered and dressed .Adam took
me out for lunch then dropped me off at the Theatre promising to be outside when I was done. It
felt so natural being with him he kissed me goodbye. A kiss that had my temperature soaring and my
stomach churning again, he moaned as he reluctantly released me. His hand stroked my sore cheek
and I held it to my face savouring the feel of him, closing his eyes he made me a promise;

“Leah now I have you, you won’t be able to escape, there may come a point when the past is all
churned up where you feel like retreating. It is not going to happen where you go I go, this is it from
now on, are you ready for this?” I nodded tears burning my eyes he smiled then let me go

“Until later baby, I will wait here for you, oh and if you have to climb up your dancer friend again
make sure he knows who has you climbing over him naked won’t you” I giggled at his frankness then
ran inside out of the rain.

The show went smoothly, it was our last performance so I had a few weeks off now, a good thing as
work was busy and if Adam kept his word, we would be deep in police files in our spare time. As long
as we left some time over for sex I was happy. Wow the sex was good, only twice granted but I was
sure we could manage a couple of attempts tonight despite my aching body.

The Mercedes was parked outside Adam was leaning casually against the car waiting looking
decidedly delicious. Chris had walked out with me and I noticed Adam bristle, I hugged Chris
goodbye and threw myself very unashamedly at Adam taking him by surprise.

“Hi babe you missed me then?” I planted a kiss on his mouth then climbed in the car relaxing into
the leather. Adam climbed in and as we pulled away his hand took mine bringing it to his mouth for
a kiss

“I hope you don’t have many more matinees a Sunday is a boring day when you are counting down
minutes” I beamed at him thrilled he was feeling the separation as much as I was.

 

Lucy and Rob were already home when we got back. Detective Lucy looked at us and had us
cornered before we had removed our jackets

“You two what’s the deal? Adam this is my best friend she has had a rough time you best be serious
if you dare even go there with her” I coughed to remind Lucy I was standing right there “Sorry Leah
but I know what he can be like I never would have chosen him for you, although I have to admit you
have had a very positive effect on him for the past couple of weeks” she hugged us both then and
we changed the subject

“So where did you whisk her off to Rob? Blackpool” Lucy gave me a sharp glance as I bit my lip to
stifle a giggle

“Wales actually, Swansea to be precise to watch the rugby League” this time biting my lip didn’t help
the laugh just came out “Actually Leah I enjoyed it, men in shorts with big muscles! What could be a
better way to enjoy the rain” I had tears running down my face; Rob looked embarrassed as Lucy
joined in laughing. He tried to explain himself

“I was given tickets to the final what’s a man to do? She wanted me to surprise her so that’s what I
did” I went to take a shower wiping my eyes Oh Lord I bet she had wished she was in Blackpool.
Chapter 10
It was Monday usually the most depressing day of the week, but for me staring into the sleeping face
of my lover it was probably the best Monday I had ever had. Adam stirred a little opening one eye

“Are you staring baby. Didn’t you get enough of me last night” He pressed his naked body against me
as a reminder. I turned to face him pulling him closer to me my hand grasping his length already
hard for me

“We have fifteen minutes before the alarm how about you show me what else you can do with this”
I was dragged into his muscular body and we found a few new things, the problem was it took a little
longer than fifteen minutes, so we were both running late for work.

I was still smiling when I parked my car; Lucy had given me a grilling about her brother and I all the
way here but eventually she gave me her blessing

 

“I am so thrilled to see you both so happy, I have never seen Adam like this over a girl ever. I think he
loves you Leah” I gasped

 

“Don’t be silly Luce it is far too soon for the L word” I shuddered but secretly quite liked thinking it
might be true

“Hey Lucy before you go will you check out Dickheads car with me it has been here since last Friday, I
don’t understand why he would leave it here” we walked over to it peering in through the windows,
as I walked past the boot I could smell something horrid. Noticing it wasn’t shut properly I lifted the
catch. The stench had me reeling backwards what was inside made me vomit loudly and disgustingly
on the floor.

“Jesus Leah what is it what’s wrong?” I struggled to stand upright
“Don’t go near it, call Rob now Lucy, call the Police he is in there he is dead” I collapsed to the floor
holding myself together rocking gently, blood, bodies and the smell all my old memories flooded
back. Lucy called Rob and Adam then wrapped her coat around me while we waited for the police.

Adam was first to arrive he sat beside me holding me gently; Lucy was talking to Gordon who she
had called on my behalf. I barely heard what she was saying; I wanted to climb into a soft comfy bed
not sat here on the concrete floor of the car park. The police had arrived and were sealing off the car
park, forensics were working on the body. I wanted to get away as soon as possible Rob was on duty
so he drove the three of us to the station to answer some questions.

I told Rob everything I knew about where Richard had been and the cases we were working on, but
nothing about his search for my file in case it looked bad on him. A small part of me wondered if it
was my fault he had died, in which case maybe I should mention his threats. Knowing this could lead
to me being a possible suspect I kept quiet.

Adam was great, having a lawyer boyfriend came in handy; he had a private word with Rob before
we left. Gordon was waiting outside; he ordered Adam to take me home and gave me the rest of the
day off. We drove home in silence, I wasn’t sure if going home was the best thing, throwing myself
into my next case may have been more help in taking my mind off Richard.

Adam meanwhile had plans of his own; he made me a cup of tea then set up the lap top in the
kitchen,

“Get the scrapbook Leah, let’s start going through the articles and looking for places to start our
search for Jake” My heart soared this was exactly the right thing for me to be doing. I raced off to
fetch the book and we sat with our drinks pouring over all the scraps of paper Gran had collated.

We isolated a few interesting facts there was a partial image of the flats in Burnage, actually it was a
Victorian semi converted into bed sits, I recognised the front door immediately. We also knew which
car park my mum had been found; apparently the police had received an anonymous call about a
body. I was desperate to start asking questions so like a pair of amateur sleuths we drove to Burnage
hunting for the house in the photo.

When we got there I was disappointed to see that all the houses looked identical. We drove up and
down the streets; nothing looked familiar until I spotted a fish and chip shop.

“Stop Adam it is somewhere here I remember my mum complaining of the constant smell of fish
wafting in the flat from across the street. We parked up and walked over to the houses that faced
the chippy, standing on the path I looked at the only two possibilities for my old home. I had
absolutely no idea, feeling frustrated that nothing rang a bell Adam put an arm around me

“Don’t expect too much Leah, lets knock on a few doors and see if anyone remembers Suzie as she
was the land lady” I agreed so we started knocking, after five no answers a lady in her fifties
answered on the second floor

“Yes Suzie I remember her she disappeared just before that poor young girl was murdered, of course
I lived next door then. These flats were very run down before that summer.” This was fantastic we
had our lead I jumped in while she took a breath
“I am the little girl found with the dead girl Selina, did you ever see me with her” She peered at me
her eyes suddenly bright with tears

“Come in dearie come in Oh you poor child, I thought about you every day, oh I am so glad you are
well. A nice young man too I see, come in I will put the kettle on” Adam and I grasped hands excited
for the first time in our search.

“Did you ever see my mother at all? Mrs sorry what is your name?” she frowned but was thinking
back

“Mrs Franklin dear, I lived next door until the fire, and then we were all rehoused into this building. I
remember seeing your mum, so pretty I only saw you a couple of times, children were never seen in
this building, I think the hookers used to get the children removed by the social services poor wee
mites, too young to be doing that work runaways most of them that Suzie used to arrange it all
common piece she was” that was news to me, that explained her asking my mother if she wanted to
keep Jake

“So when did you see me?” she was pouring the hot water into the pot, I helped by dropping the
bags in for her

“I saw you once going to the chip shop and once when she dropped you off with Suzie when you
were tiny, she was all dressed up getting into a fancy motor, had a limo driver it did, she looked
stunning like a model” I stared at Adam, this must be the man she kept talking about

“What kind of car was it do you remember?” it was a long shot but you never know

 

“Big and Black dear, my hubby said it was a Bentley I think, very swanky for round here, poor girl
can’t believe she was murdered. You know Suzie was found not long after?” Suzie!

 

“What happened I knew she had gone missing we borrowed her car that night we left, “she looked
sad again

 

“Body floating in the Ship Canal I heard. Strangled then dumped in the water, such a shame” We
drank our tea intrigued, there was nothing else to get from Mrs Franklin but I tried anyway