The Way Back Ch. 05

Hot Cross Buns: Rich bread buns made with butter, sugar and egg, spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and mixed spice, and baked with a mix of dried fruit and candied peel.

EIGHTEEN

I left work early next day, Friday, telling Jenny to do the same. She didn't need telling twice. I collected the keys to the house. David offered to take me but I begged to go on my own. He gave me a sheet of paper with instructions on it.

"Be sure to remember the code to turn off the alarm, or you'll have the police there." David was emphatic.

Then I set out to drive to the house, full of trepidation and eagerness. I enjoyed every avenue and road, the gardens in spring bloom and the budding trees lining each road. Every metre was exciting and beautiful. It was a wonderful place to live. It helped that the sun was shining out of a cloudless blue sky.

Then there I was at the gate. The drive stretched before me, fifty metres to the front door. I drove up the drive slowly. The memories were flooding me again.

There I was in front of the door. I hesitated. There was fear. No reason. Need there be?

I put the key in the lock, and opened the door. Immediately there was a loud beeping sound. The Alarm! I scrabbled for my machine and found a four digit code number. The control box was by the front door, and I keyed in the number. The beep stopped. I did not understand the word 'Sweden' written underneath the box.

The phone rang. I picked it up. "Yes?"

"Code word please."

"Sorry, who are you?"

"The alarm company. Please give the code word."

"Sweden?"

"Thank you. Have you had any problems?"

"I've just bought the house. I'm moving in."

"Mr Allan Jonsson?"

"Er, yes. What you should know is that I have transient bouts of amnesia. I have to consult a memory aid if I forget things. It delays things."

"We can increase the time delay."

"Please do. I don't want a panic like that every time I come home!"

That little discussion over, I began to explore the house. Yes, it was familiar. The kitchen was easy. What amazed me was that all the utensils were in place. It was a complete old fashioned kitchen. I had nothing to buy. David or Viv must have cleaned and turned on the fridge and freezer.

The living room looked familiar, though I couldn't say I recognised it. The two other rooms seemed to be an office or study and a dining room. The office had a computer. The dining room had a table and chairs and a sideboard, though there was nothing in it. Under the stairs was a door and I discovered the cellars. One had a snooker table, the second table tennis. There was a dartboard on one of the doors. The other two rooms had boxes stacked on top of each other. Something to explore when I had more time.

Upstairs, the bathroom and toilet held no surprises. Their cupboards were empty save for toilet rolls. Then the bedrooms. There were five of these. As I entered the first room the memories hit me. This was 'our' bedroom. There was the en suite bathroom; there were the two wardrobes and a dressing table. I opened the drawers and stood back in surprise. There were men's socks and underwear. In the wardrobe were suits and sweaters, and shirts and ties. Other drawers were empty, but the second wardrobe had a few dresses and skirts hanging up. I saw a vision of Ann wearing one of them, running in the garden with the boys. Perhaps I had a visual memory after all.

I found the drawers with the bedding and extracted a set. I unfolded it and left it to air. That's what my mother always did. Another memory. Even more of my life was being pieced together by my much-abused brain. I had a vivid memory of Stefan being sick on the landing. Strange memory. Another of all the children in our bed with us on Christmas morning; it brought a tear to my eye. The house was working its magic. I even remembered we got milk from a milkman, and resolved to engage his services, if indeed there still was one.

Yes, I belonged in this house, and it belonged to me with all the memories it would unlock. I looked at the central heating boiler and saw a note on the notice board by its side from David.

Dear Allan

I stocked the fridge with basics. Here is a list of take-away shops that deliver. You can order more supplies from Asda, Sainsbury or Tesco on line. You have broadband here. Try firing up the computer in the study. Welcome back home!

David

What a good friend he was!

I made some tea and sat in the kitchen and enjoyed the atmosphere of the place. It did feel like home. I had little time that night, but on the morrow I'd have all day to saunter round the place, inspect the garden, unpack my bags and try that computer. I turned on the radio and let the music and banter wash over me. Then it was time to wash up and leave for the flat. I'd be moving in tomorrow!

I consulted the instructions and set the alarm, wondering if the loud insistent beeping had given it its name, as I shut the door and waited for it to stop. Then back to my other home, where I packed two suitcases and went to bed.

On Saturday I had an early breakfast and then loaded the car, travelled, dumped it and the suitcases and went walking round the district. Then I drove into Sale town centre. I needed supplies for the coming week and found Sainsbury's. I went back to the house weighed down with bags and was glad I had a car. I had left the alarm off, and was grateful for that.

My mobile rang and Jenny asked if it was a good time to come over. I gave her the address and she told me she was setting off.

Being back home and on familiar roads was helping my memory remarkably. I would test myself: could I remember the alarm code? What was the alarm password? Where was Sainsbury's? How would I get there by car? The feeling of being adrift in the world had gone long since but now in this new environment I feared that feeling would return. But I did feel at home, did I say that before?

Jenny arrived. We hugged and kissed.

I took her round the house, pointing out things that had triggered memories.

"This house is going to be very good for you," Jenny asserted, "It's a lovely old house; full of character," she said as we returned to the kitchen and I set myself to make a pot of tea. I sat happily opposite her at the oak kitchen table. I was home and one of my favourite women was with me for the weekend.

The day passed in a flash. We spent most of it on the road driving between my flat and the house, bringing my personal effects, unloading and finding places for everything. It turned out that all the men's clothing in the house was my size, and Jenny agreed that they were probably mine. Ann had never got rid of them. I left a change of clothes and spare toiletries at the flat. I decided to hold off terminating the lease; in any case it had six months to run.

In the afternoon we did all the things I threatened myself I'd do. We also cleaned. The house was dusty after being unused for so long. It was late evening when I ordered a Chinese meal for us. We were too exhausted to make love that night, but rectified the omission at length the next morning.

There is something about Sunday morning sex. Perhaps it's the invitation to be relaxed, to take my time, and to be able to play my hands over the pliant, firm, sleekness of a breathtakingly beautiful blonde, hearing her vocal reactions to my varying caresses over each different part of her totally accessible body; lightest grazing of her nipples watching them grow and lengthen, the tracing of fingers up and down the concave hollow of her spine, the gentle stroking of cheeks upper and lower, the light drag of a thumb over her lips until she has to open her mouth and suck on it, running her tongue over it, presaging another licking and sucking to come, further south.

The twisting and gentle pulling of her hair as her eyes close with the sensation, the raking of the fingernails up the back of her legs, tantalising the back of her knees, the delving and probing of her most secret parts denied to all other men, feeling the string of her tampon. Whoops! Watching her sink deeper and deeper into the sensuousness of her feelings, hearing her breathing deepen then catch and exhale as some part she had not expected was treated to my attention.

What better feeling is there when almost unconsciously her hand encircles my cock? When she absently traces fingers across my perineum and up the crack of my bottom, running over my buttocks and down the crease of my groin. Or when she idly plays with my earlobes, following the contours with a finger. When her finger demands access to my mouth and I suck on it. Or she bends on hands and knees, straddling my body, her bottom to my face, showing me everything while massaging my toes and feet and kissing them, sucking each into her mouth and laving them with her tongue.

How easy it is on such occasions to slide into a classic sixty-nine from there and to taste each other's deeply private parts, gradually allowing the intensity of desire to rise until she crests into her climax, and then seeks my cock for her aching pussy. Then comes the fierce pounding of body to body, as the bed rattles and thumps, humping with loud cries and shouts of surprise at the intensity of the throes of orgasm, and falling spent into each other, still joined and feeling the satiation in each other's arms.

Well, some of that anyway. The tampon was inhibiting! She realised she had to make some adjustments before I could enter her. A quick trip to the bathroom and an urgent rolling of the condom and then the age-old exercise.

It is essential that the Sunday papers are delivered when you live at Cherry Tree Lane: the folk round here do not approve of naked men running to the newsagent's, and I wasn't intending to get dressed just yet. So no papers to read. However, I was able to access four frozen croissants and bake them while I made coffee. Then we took breakfast in bed before she took me in her mouth and made me come. Considering ten years abstinence, she did it with some expertise.

We went out to lunch and walked round the area in the afternoon, followed by tea, crumpets and home made scones, with butter and jam. Then kissing, and a request.

"Allan, sweetheart."

"Yes, my love."

"There's something I'd like you to do for me. No one else has ever done it to me, only you."

"Oral?" I asked.

"How did you know?"

"You liked it the first time, and it's the only thing we haven't done this weekend, at least to orgasm." I pointed out. "Come here."

"In a minute." And she ran to the bathroom. I heard the water running and realised she was cleaning herself. I cleared the table. Then she returned to the kitchen.

After I had pulled off her pants and her knickers, I put her on the kitchen table, leaning back on her hands, feet on the edge. I sat on a chair and leant in to take dessert at my ease. I put the tampon string to the rear and I set to work.

I was slow, tantalising, until she was begging me incoherently to release her, which I then did, which was unfortunate. She came hard, her feet shot off the table and her pussy smacked me on the nose and banged my chin on the table, and when her eyes opened she noticed me rubbing my chin. She cried out, looking at me with a worried frown.

"What is it?" I grunted as I stood up.

"You're bleeding!" she cried.

I had a nosebleed.

"It's customary for the damsel to bleed, you know," she said, giggling. "In fact she is! How--?"

"You did it!" I tried to make my complaint realistic. I failed. She laughed.

"I never did!"

"You did! When you came. You're the only woman I know who can deliver a knock-out blow with her cunt!"

"Oh, Allan, I'm sorry!"

"Don't be. My fault for doing you on the table."

She pulled up her delicate wispy knickers and less delicate jeans, tenderly cleaned me up and then collected her things. "Work tomorrow." she said by way of explanation of her departure. She kissed me long and hard. "Thanks!" she said, "it's been a wonderful weekend."

"No, thank you," I retorted, and we kissed again, before she tore herself away and backed her car out of the drive.

I'm glad we can't see into the future. Otherwise I wouldn't have slept at all that night. But I couldn't, still can't foretell the future. Let's face it, I have enough problems with the past!

So I did sleep.

------

NINETEEN

Work was no problem, not with a PA like Jenny. She kept an impeccable distance between us; very proper, even when there was no one to see. That's one thing I liked about her. She was single minded and had her own moral code. If we couldn't hold hands and kiss in front of the other workers, we wouldn't do it at all. At work, that is.

We had one visit to make on Tuesday that was quite local. One of Northern Moor's failures. It was a question of whether we could patch up their botched work or simply provide an alternative. When we got back we tidied up and prepared for the Germany visit which would happen after the Easter break.

David rang late afternoon to tell me that he'd met Ann and her solicitor for an attempt to resolve the financial dispute. They still wanted funds from the company that would effectively put it out of business and they didn't seem to be bothered about the fallout on the people working for us. So the dispute would now go to court.

On Wednesday I remembered Trish said she was coming on Thursday, but failed to remember I was supposed to phone her to confirm it.

"Jenny?" I said, "Would you like to meet Trish tomorrow before you go off to see your parents?"

She looked uncertain.

"Jenny, you'll like her. Don't forget she's leaving for New Zealand after Easter. It may be your only chance. Without her I wouldn't be here. She encouraged me to get closer to you."

She looked somewhat relieved and said she'd be round next morning.

"I won't come over tonight," she said, "I can't have you hopping straight from one bed to another!"

She affected humour, but I could tell she didn't like the idea that I'd be in Trish's arms all weekend. There was nothing I could do, I had warned her that making love makes one possessive. Perhaps putting them together would be a good idea or the worst possible one.

As I was leaving the office the phone rang. It was Keith. "I need to meet you and the others tonight. Were you coming?"

Now Jenny was not coming over, I was free.

"Yes," I replied, "it's the Wednesday meeting of 'the four'; wouldn't want to miss it."

"Usual time, seven thirty?" he said.

"OK. Cross Keys?" My question was really redundant; it was our local.

"Where else?" he laughed, and disconnected.

I tidied the house, knowing that when I got back from the pub I wouldn't do it. Then got a taxi to the pub. The three were there and looked sombre.

"This doesn't look good." I said as I sat down; my pint was poured ready for me. I took a long drink and setting the glass down, looked round at them. "Well?"

"I happened to pass Northern," began Keith, "I haven't been along that road for a long time. I saw they had a new office extension and it triggered a memory of it going up. I stopped the car and thought about it, and it was about the time you disappeared. So I got out and walked back, and went into their reception area.

"Why I did that I don't know, except that we did mention the company last time we met. I told the girl there that I had been passing and saw their new wing. I wanted something for my own business and wondered who had done it.

"Get this. She said she thought she remembered it being O'Malley and his son. She said she remembered because he kept disappearing on other jobs. It was frustrating because it took far longer than promised; apparently it took nearly two years to finish the offices! So that puts O'Malley and Northern in the same frame.

"But there was more, one of the office people was passing and must have heard our conversation. He told her that he thought O'Malley was subcontracted by another company, because there was him and his son but from time to time there were three other brickies helping out. You see where this is going? I thought so too. He was very helpful, the lad. He used the receptionist's computer and accessed their archives. He found out the builder's name for me. Derek Fanshaw."

It came as a shock. I was trying to make sense of it; how far it got us in our quest.

"So there's a chance that either Northern or Fanshaw himself did this to me? But how do we find out if it's true? If so, which of them was behind it, if indeed they were?"

Colin took up the idea.

"Cui Bono -- who benefits?" he said adding the rather free translation, and continued without waiting for a reply.

"Northern have a motive that you've been taking their business. So they're definitely in the frame. But Derek Fanshaw? Is it likely that he'd put you out of commission just so he could move in on Ann? A bit extreme that."

"Fanshaw's been in financial du-du for some years," interrupted David, "and it's been getting worse. He needs an injection of cash to fund payouts to suing customers. He's quite desperate -- could be facing bankruptcy.

"Notice what he and Ann are asking for -- millions out of the firm. Why ask for so much? She's well off with a good job and gets your very generous monthly payout.

"There isn't a reason why, unless it's to fund Derek's shortfall. So there's a motive. Put you out of the way for good, Allan, sidle into your place in Ann's heart and marry her. Then he's in line for a good financial payout, even if they divorced he'd get a good deal out of it. Also, if she falls in love with him she'll do anything for him. He can't lose."

"Unless you survive, or your body is recognised," added Keith grimly.

"God!" I blasphemed, "That's frightening! I'm not sure I believe it, but if he was willing to kill me to get at Ann, how safe is Ann if they marry? He gets everything as her husband if she dies, unless she's cut him out of any will which I doubt if she loves him."

"Fucking Hell!" cursed Colin, "That's an aspect I hadn't considered. If he's behind this, and we don't know he is, remember, I think she would be in real danger. That changes things. The lads will need to move in on him. We need to get hold of his accounts and we need a thorough psychological profile of him. Certainly we need to interview his ex-wife.

"And then there's O'Malley. He knows. I think we're going to have to get him in. Try him with accessory to attempted murder, a few years in prison. His wife would love that. It may be enough to overcome his fear of reprisals."

Keith spoke quietly so he would not be overheard.

"Colin, I think an unofficial meeting with O'Malley might bring more results, the three of us, not you David. I think he needs to see what his little part in the plot did to you, Allan."

"I'm a bit uneasy about that," said Colin, "but there again I'm not on the case -- I just feed them information. O'Malley doesn't know me either. He might be willing to spill rather than do it officially to the police. That would involve publicity. You realise Allan that when the arrests hit the press, you'll be famous."

"Don't like that idea," I said, shivering.

"I think I know where O'Malley'll be on Monday night, Easter Bank Holiday," said Keith. "He'll be in the Golden Lion. We could 'interview' him when he comes out. If the two of you can keep the evening free, I'll ring you if he's there. He does 'early doors' normally, leaves about nine.

"We need this information," I said, realising something. "If it's true, we have to stop the marriage taking place. There are lives at stake here. If he tried to kill me, he won't scruple to kill Ann, and what about the kids?"

There was a thoughtful silence. Then David broke it.

"Allan, you were going to try to talk to Ann. I think that until we know the true facts you should hold off. We don't want to spook him if he's guilty."