I SHALL FIND YOU (9 page)

“You just can’t stay away from that type. I don’t have a degree, that’s why. Should have known you’d think you’re too smart for me. I’m the guy from the wrong side of the tracks.”

“Who talked education here? Dating means both parties like the other and have a connection. It’s got to take more than physical attraction. Those times I’ve met and talked to this guy have been just great. We get along, connect.”

“You thought the same of your ex. This new guy will cheat on you again, bring you down a notch. Then you’ll get sober, realize I was right.”

“He won’t. You’re wrong. We’re crazy about each other. There, I just said it. He’s the right guy this time. Don’t tell my dad. I’ll do that myself.”

Before James could reply Godfree took his arm. “Let it go, Jamie. She’s just told you she has a man in her life. Need to show you something on a machine.” He led him away. “She was about to scream at you because she must be telling the truth about this new guy.”

“She laughed, made a fool of me.” James’ tone was petulant. “I don’t want her. She isn’t my type at all. It’s because asked me to take her out.”

“She didn’t made fun of you. Besides you don’t even trust her. All she did was tell you the truth. Let’s talk later.”

James left his back stiff. Rose was waiting where he had left her.

She said, “Good you pulled him off because I was about to throw coffee in his face. Wasn’t expecting to be taken to task about my new boyfriend. Like he has a right to know. What did you tell him?”

“He thinks you laughed at him, said he doesn’t even want you but your dad asked him. Told him you were just saying the truth about the new boyfriend. I almost dragged him off a while ago.”

“Mm, doing my dad a favour since he wants me to have a boyfriend. If he doesn’t even like me, why act like can’t do without me? Isn’t that all muddled? Make sure he stays away from me from this moment. If he thinks he can insult my boyfriend, he’s wrong. That guy has a complex with rejection.”

“I agree. He needs to respect your decision and leave you alone. I’ll see to it he won’t bother you again. Need to talk to him again.”

“Don’t break his ribs, Free.”

“Sure you don’t want me to take him to the graveyard and have a serious talk?”

“Thought of it. I was getting angry with his bullying. He needs to understand you’re off the market. I’m going to tell him I’m the new man now.”

“Wait. If you do he will tell dad who’s looking for just that excuse to get nastier with you. I’d rather the whole world knows, but we got to delay it, keep it secret for now until we find the right time to let him know.”

“Ok, meanwhile we just have to pretend nothing’s going on.”

“Won’t be easy. I miss you when you aren’t around and want to buy you a drink. Meanwhile I’ve had enough of James. If he tries that again, I’ll knee his groin.”

“Leave him to me. I’ll find time to talk to him to lay off.”

“He seems to have a nasty and controlling nature he’s hidden before. What else don’t we know about him?”

James approached.

“Perhaps she was just joking about having a boyfriend.”

Godfree nodded. “It could be true. You told me you don’t trust her. Now you want to date her?”

“Frank asked me.”

“He hasn’t forced you. Why not tell him the truth she isn’t what you want? You have to really like a girl before you ask her out, or respect her if she isn’t interested.”

“For the first time she joked with you, and even gave you cash for coffee. Left me puzzled. Might be because she’s too happy with the new guy to be angry with you. Wonder who it is. That ex of hers, the PhD guy who cheated on her? You think they are back together?”

“She said there’s a new guy. I’m sure you’ll know him soon. You told Frank she’s got a boyfriend yet?”

“No, he needs me. I might not have liked or trusted her that much in the past, but the dad believes I am the right guy for his daughter. This boyfriend is another guy with a degree anyway. What else can he have I don’t? Cash, perhaps? A Ferrari or Lamborghini? He could be one of these premiership league footballer high earners.”

“Maybe he isn’t. I wouldn’t push her. You don’t want her feeling manipulated and controlled. And I wouldn’t tell Frank his daughter has a boyfriend as she told you. Let’s leave it to her. Jamie, it appears like she isn’t joking and likes this new guy. Couldn’t you see she looked excited when she talked about him?”

“He’ll hurt her like the last one.”

“She’s got a new man now. Walk away, Jamie. Besides you don’t like her and blondes that much. What do you have to lose?”

“If I didn’t know you well I’d suspect you’re doing the best to make sure I don’t get a chance with Rose. I want to help Frank. It’s not every day a man trusts you enough to take his daughter out. Given the chance me and her will get along better. When that new guy hurts her again she’ll get sober. That should teach her.”

“Jamie, I want to ask you something about Moto.”

“Moto?” His eyes darted to his left and right. He scratched his cheek. “What about him?”

“His wife came looking for him at my place on Saturday morning.”

“She did?”

Godfree explained. Thought his friend looked uneasy. James said he only saw Moto that evening at Godfree’s place. The Englishman had several questions. And then the smile came back. He patted the African’s shoulder.

“That beast had enemies, Godfree. My theory here is someone out for revenge got him. Followed him, bundled him in a car and slit his throat. Don’t worry. If that happened whoever did it might have been doing you a big favour. That scum deserved to die anyway. You let him go when you had a chance to revenge.”

“He has a pregnant wife.”

“What’s the matter with you? Maybe somebody did you a favour. Avenged what happened to you and instead of appreciating the gesture you worry about the wife? Who cares if that man’s lying at the bottom of a lake? Who cares if someone killed him? I don’t.”

James left.

Godfrey wondered. Was there something hard and cruel about James’ eyes? Like he wished Moto had been killed. Had there been an acute interest in him about Moto’s disappearance? He wondered whether the wife had heard from her husband yet.

Rose texted.
Miss you, too busy to meet at graveyard?

He texted back.
No, you there already?

Yes.

See you in a few minutes.

He walked to the shed. Rose was at the back. She held his hand.

“Feel better now?” he asked.

“Mm.”

“Rose.”

“Yeah.”

“Last thing I want is someone seeing us and telling your dad.”

“Tired of this hiding. Why not tell him now? I can see him now and let him know.”

He did not agree. As much as he agreed Frank needed to know he was too angry right now. They needed to make him cool before he knew.

“It’s not going to be easy to pretend,” she countered. “How can I pretend not to like you when we have to meet in the factory all the time. Plus, how long can we do that? You’re going to buy me coffee, and I’ll do the same. People will notice. I must smile at you because you like my dimples and wear skirts for you too. Do you expect me to ignore you now when I visit the workshop to see dad? Where were you all these years?”

“Looking for you.”

“Why couldn’t I see it when I met you the first time?”

“I didn’t have blue eyes.”

She pulled his nose.

“You got to go now.”

“You’re right.”

She didn’t leave.

“Someone’s coming.”

“I don’t hear anyone.”

“Want your dad to find us here alone?”

She left. Two minutes later a buzzing sound in his pocket made him start. Rose was calling.

“Still out there?”

“Yes. Back at office?”

“Yeah, hard to function as I’m still reeling from fact I have new boyfriend. Hadn’t planned it.”

“It’s not too late to change your mind.”

“I’m in this head over heels.”

“Me as well.”

“So Saturday’s all set again for the seaside unless it’s snowing.”

“Yes.”

“Will talk later.”

“Love you.”

“Nicest thing anyone said to me today. Love you too.”

He put away his phone and walked back to the factory. As he passed the workshop and walked for Mark’s office Frank glared. James stepped inside and closed the door.

“Want to ask something. Did you hear news last night concerning that missing girl? Something about a taxi driver seeing the girl on the road and seeing her get into a black car.”

“Has there been further development? At least someone saw her that night. Any arrests yet?”

“No. I’m worried, Godfree.”

“What’s wrong? You ok?”

“No, my car’s black. That taxi driver saw one with the same colour. Don’t want people thinking it’s me.”

 Godfree shook his head. “You aren’t the only person here with a black car. Did you take that road after you left my place the night that girl disappeared?”

“No, I took the direct route through town. Saw guys look at my car strange today, heard one say there’s our black car.”

“Who was that? That’s no way to joke about a missing girl, or even imagine you captured her.”

James relaxed. “Thought for a moment you suspected me too, called that police hotline and gave my name.”

“That’s crazy. How can I suspect you? All the same I’m wondering if the guy police are looking for isn’t local. My feeling’s he could be.”

“He is. I mean he must know the area well, stopped for this girl. Looked like he knew what he was doing and is a meticulous planner.”

“He might be a sex predator. Someone who enjoys hurting girls. Hope he didn’t hurt her.”

“He isn’t just kidnapping, but killing them.”

“Jamie, they’re alive.”

James’ tone was firm. “How can they be alive after this long? There’s no trace of them. Nothing. That means they’re dead, dumped at the bottom of some pool and zipped into bags. A lake out in the woods. They aren’t coming back. It’s over for them.”

“Now you’re giving me the creeps. So a monster’s killing girls and dumping the bodies in a lake? You keep talking about lakes.”

“A person had to hide the bodies somewhere. I’m just a bit worried people might suspect me.”

“Cut that out, will you?”

“My car’s large and black and that Tracy disappeared on Wednesday evening. That’s when she was last seen. I was at your house that evening. We played chess, had cobs and Nandos before I left. You remember the time? Around 11, was it?”

“Right, around there. No, I recall it was 11:45. Remember because we had just finished another game of chess. You checked your mobile, said you hadn’t realized it was after 11:30 already, you needed to be in bed and left. You drove home, went to bed. You sure you didn’t use the road the girl was last seen?”

“No, no. I just went home. Remember now. It was indeed 11:45. It’s these jokes about my car and me being a killer that winded me bad. You don’t know how upsetting it is.”

“I know. If people say that again let me know and I’ll face them. Take things easy, man. As I said you aren’t the only one with a black car. My Honda’s black too. Other people here have black cars. Even Mark, and the managing director whose is even larger. I might as well be a suspect too.”

“You’re no killer. Hey something else I wanted to talk over with you. About Moto. You mentioned him before. He really never came back after that time?”

“No, not since that day.”

“Maybe he left the area, ran off in fear.”

“Got no idea.”

“So you were just going to let him off the hook?”

“Jamie. You like scaring me. Now you’re going to tell me he was killed like you’re so sure about those girls.”

“What I’m trying to say here is if you’d broken the bastard's ribs and cut him he’d deserve that after what he did to you. I would. If someone kills him he’d do you a big turn. Look at it this way. Moto was trash that loved to torture people. A bully like that deserved to die anyway. Tortured slowly until he begged for his life. If I was in your shoes, I’d threaten to kill him if he didn't pay for the torture.” James’ eyes were excited and bright. “Mention a thousand pounds. That scared creature would get the cash. You wait for him in the trees and kill him.”

“Jamie! No talk about killing again. There are girls missing and now you talk of me killing a man. I got to check on a machine.”

James looked hurt. “I just wanted to help. That man hurt you bad. You were going to carry those scars all your life while he carried on with his life. You needed to settle the score. You didn’t. What about all those people he killed? The widows he caused and the orphans?”

“Violence isn’t always the answer.”

“You can’t let bullies trample you. Crime has to be punished. I had to help you. I’m your friend and did what you were supposed to. That man isn’t coming back ever. He paid for his sins. I talked to him.”

“You did? You met Moto?”

“I did. He won’t be bothering you ever again. You’ll never see him again.”

“You threatened him and chased him from town?”

James laughed. “I helped you, mate. If only you knew what measures I had to take for your sake you’d thank me. One day you’ll know.”

“I don’t understand. Where’s Moto?”

“He left, went far away to hide for a while. I told him to find another job really far and never come back. Lied there were men looking for him. Couldn’t have him living so close to you. I’m your mate.”

Smiling he patted Godfree’s shoulder and walked away.

Godfree was sure James was joking. He couldn’t have met Moto. But suppose he had? No, there was no away James could be serious. He was just pulling his leg. Just like he did about those girls. He liked shocking Godfree.