Masters And Lovers 1-4
Chapter 29
James
In the back seat of the 4x4, beside me, Klempner sits with his own phone balanced on one knee, mine on the other. In the front, Kirch sits by the driver who I assume is ‘Baxter’.
Is this where I disappear?
“Where are you taking me?”
“Nowhere for you to worry about. Just somewhere the police aren’t likely to turn up.” Klempner sounds frustrated. “James, I ask you to believe me. I intend you no harm. I intend them no harm. All I want is to talk to Mitch.”
“Oh, that’s all you want is it?”
“Yes. That’s all.”
“And to achieve that you broke out of prison, murdering two guards in the process. So far as I could hear on my way out, you damn near ram-raided the house front to get in the door. You’ve taken me prisoner and sent men looking for Charlotte and her mother. You spent twenty years hating Charlotte for something in which she was a complete innocent. You abused her and damn near raped her at one point. And I’m supposed to believe…”
“It was different then. I didn’t know.”
“What makes you think Mitch wants to talk to you? She’s hidden herself from you for over twenty years. She’s terrified of you. And I don’t blame her.”
“I don’t want to hurt her. I just want to talk.”
“So you keep saying. But you’ve lain in wait in prison at your convenience, using the girl who turned out to be your daughter as a cat’s-paw to track her down. Oh, and not forgetting, you’ve kidnapped me. You don’t think all this might worry Mitch at all?”
Klempner’s forehead knits, as though it were a new idea.
I’m having trouble believing what I’m seeing. “You hadn’t thought of that had you? You seriously hadn’t thought of it. Klempner, you’re such a mixed-up bag of crazy that no-one knows what the fuck to make of you, least of all me.”
He simply looks confused.
*****
Michael
Whatever they’re queuing for, it looks like the movie’s a hit. I make my way along the line of people, but it seems an unlikely place to find Charlotte. Teenage boys, some wearing geek costumes, chatter excitedly about the latest superhero. Plunging through the crowd, I ignore the shouts and insults of the offended.
In the foyer, crowds heave. It’s Friday night and, just like the previous two cinemas, it’s packed.
I push to the front, ignoring outraged catcalls and insults. “Have you seen a group of three women? Two red-heads, one brunette.”
A pair of thick-rimmed spectacles backed by a blue-rinse fixes on me and a long finger points behind me. “Get to the back of the queue, Bud,” she growls.
“I’m serious. It’s important. An emergency.”
My tone penetrates. The spectacles come off to reveal watery blue eyes and a frown. “No, I’m sorry, sir. I haven’t. One moment.” She leans to one side, “Hey, Sheila, Gale; you seen three women together? Two brunettes and a red-head.”
“No. Two red-heads and a brunette.”
counter. “No,
“Me neither.”
scan the movies, looking for something likely
for some blood-gore-axe-wielding horror flick. Not Charlotte’s cup of tea. There’s a French noir offering which she might watch if she were alone, but it’s not a likely choice for a girls’ outing. A Rom-Com looks promising, so I work through the short queue then squeeze past an incensed usherette with a brief “‘Scuse me,”
No joy.
me as I exit again. “Sorry, wrong screen,” I
Anything else?
my way through
End-of-the-world-apocalyptic-dystopia… Nope.
Spy-action movie… Nope.
Sci-fi thriller…
draw them in. I march out and, once more, set off
*****
fifth, and final, cinema. And there’s been no
Ben?
Not heard from him…
I check my mobile…
No call. No message.
Wait… Listen to the
No reply either.
I send him a
U found anything?
Still nothing…
What to do?
sides, wheezing, I make
*****
shop-front is bright with expensive signage in green and gold, the windows full of designer fashions where if you have to ask the
Fuck!
once more: still no reply. Nothing from James either, and under the circumstances,
for perhaps a
entrance to the parking lot, with only a
security camera and stepping carefully over patches of oil, I duck under the bar, heading down the ramp into the more or less
make my way past concrete columns towards the door,
I
have come down
She might…
If she scented trouble…
own, having written off the last one in a previous adventure. And neither James nor I was inclined to replace it for her. With two
dogs, camping out and trekking to the wilder places I know she
But it’s here…
What does that mean?
Kirstie. Girls’ day out. Shopping and high tea. So, they met
get
Richard? He’d keep trying…
What would she do?