Sam: A Novel Of Suspense (22 page)

Furthermore,
there was also a list of large payments made to several unnamed persons, leading
me to believe that Black Remedy has a personnel of freelance employees to perform
tasks that are ‘off the books’ so to speak.  It was upon learning this that
Joseph became most anxious.  He held the opinion that the company employed
hitmen and mercenaries to ‘take care’ of certain problems.  He believed this
even more when my investigations discovered the untimely deaths of several of
the company’s adversaries (such as the French politician, Frank Gerome, who
sought to shed light on Black Remedy’s exploitation of the current African AIDS
epidemic by purposely limiting the production of life- saving medication in
order to inflate prices.  He was found face down in his own swimming pool). 
Joseph feared that his meddling in the company’s affairs, and the eradication
of several immoral, yet profitable, operations, would lead to an attempt on his
life. 

Frank,
as I’m sure you already know, Joseph became overly cautious in the months
before his death and he started working mostly from home.  The fact that he has
now passed away even despite his caution, suggests to me that there was someone
within his own household working against him (one of these ‘off the books’
employees I uncovered).  From several previous conversations I held with
Joseph, it is clear that you were one of the few men he trusted, which is why I
have chosen to break protocol by divulging the nature of my work for your late
boss.

But
there is one other reason that I have opted to share information with you,
Frank, and that is because I believe that Joseph’s son, Samuel, is in danger. 
After Joseph’s mysterious death, I conducted a further investigation for my own
peace of mind.  It became very clear to me, once I hacked into the confidential
files of several key board members, that Black Remedy Corporation has an
unhealthy interest in the future heir of the company.  The Raymeady family own
51% of the company, but if Sammie (and Jessica) were to die then the company
would become 100% controlled by the Black family and its shareholders.  I
believe that Samuel’s death is the number one priority to certain members of
Black Remedy right now.  As a man that Joseph trusted, I hope that you can keep
them safe.  Don’t trust anybody.

My
prayers are with you.

Yours,

George
Farley.

Tim
lifted his head from the computer screen and stared at Angela.  “There’s an
email addressed to Frank.  He must have been looking for answers as much as we
are.”

“What
does the email say?” Mike asked, moving closer.

Tim
clicked delete and sent the email to the recycling bin.  With what was said
about there being someone in the household working against the Raymeady family,
he felt it better that Mike didn’t read the email for himself.  George Farley
seemed to be suggesting that Joseph was murdered by someone close to him.  It
could have been Mike.

“It’s
from an investigation service,” Tim explained. “It said that Black Remedy
Corporation was involved in a lot of bad stuff, and that Joseph’s attempts to
clean up the company were not being met well by the other board members. Seems
like they may have wanted him out of the way.”

Angela
nodded.  “From what I’ve heard about that company, I’m not surprised.  They’re
like Evil Inc.”

“Did
it say anything else?” Mike asked.  He seemed unduly curious.

“Not
really,” Tim lied.  “It was just a follow-up email really.  I think Frank was
dealing with it.”

Mike
came toward him.  “Let me take a look.”

“Sorry,
I think I deleted it.”

“What? 
You had no right to delete anything on this computer.”

“Was
an accident.  We should maybe try to use the computer to contact the police. 
What do you think?”

Mike
pushed Tim.  “Move aside.”   He began clicking the mouse and Tim knew it would
not take the man long to retrieve the email from the bin.

Tim
was standing behind Mike when he noticed a presence in the room and the sound
of clumsy footsteps. 

“Who’s
there?” Tim asked, straining to see across the dark office.

There
was no reply from the stranger, but after a few more clumsy steps, the person was
revealed to be Jessica.  She stood at the back of the room like a ghostly
apparition.

“Jessica,”
Angela said, once she noticed the woman standing there.  “Are you feeling
better?”

“Sssssoul.” 
Jessica spoke in a disembodied lisp – it was the voice of somebody else.  “The
sssssoul is broken.  It cannot be ssssaved.  The child isss ascending. Ssssamuel
mussst die.”

Jessica
fell to her knees and vomited.  The noise it made was like thick custard
hitting a fan.  When she was done, she looked up at them with tear-soaked eyes
and spoke from a crusty mouth.  “W-what is happening to me?”

Tim
stood in shock while Angela gathered the woman off the ground.  “Jessica, are
you okay?  Can you see again?”

Jessica
stumbled but Angela caught her before she fell back to the floor.  “I-I…Yes, I
can see fine, but I feel…I feel…”

“Let’s
get you somewhere comfortable,” Mike said.  He left the computer and walked
over to her.

“What’s
happened to the power?”

Tim
answered her.  “It went off several hours ago.  We’ve been waiting for it to
come back on.”

“W-who’s
looking after Sammie?”

“We
don’t know where he is,” Angela admitted.

Jessica
straightened up.  “What?  It’s the middle of the night.  Why isn’t he in bed? 
What have you people been doing?  Mike, take me to Sammie’s room.  I need to
find him.”

“Of
course,” said Mike.

“No!”
said Angela.  “We need to stay together.”

Jessica
seemed to strengthen.  “I give the orders around here, Miss Murs.  You do not
tell me what to do, especially when it concerns my son.  I suggest that you
both retire to your rooms.  We’ll continue this in the morning and then we can
discuss why my son was allowed to go missing.”

Angela
went to argue, but Tim put a hand on her shoulder.  He whispered to her, “Just
leave it.  I don’t think she even knows that she’s been unconscious all night. 
You won’t make her understand what’s been happening until she’s regained her
senses.”

“But
we’re in danger,” Angela whispered back.  “We can’t leave this house and
Jessica herself just said to us that Sammie needs to die – although she sounded
more like a snake when she said it.”

“I
think we should just do as she says.  You and me can stay in one of the
bedrooms and wait it out till morning.”

Angela
nodded.  “Okay.  In the meantime, perhaps we can try and put some of this
together – maybe come up with some answers.”

“Yeah,” said Tim.  “I suppose stranger things have
happened.”

Tim
had been invited by Angela to hole up in her bedroom for the rest of the night
and it seemed like as safe a place as any.  It was now 4AM and Tim felt
nauseous for lack of sleep, but he didn’t expect to get any shut-eye yet.  He picked
an antique wing chair in the corner and slumped himself down in it, trying to
get comfy.  No way was he going to close his eyes though.

The
room’s bed was unmade and Angela’s suitcase lay open on the floor beside it. 
Angela noticed him staring at it and seemed embarrassed.   “Housekeeping isn’t
my strong point,” she told him.

Tim
chuckled.  “Mine either.  I live in a van.”

Angela
lay down on the bed and propped herself up with pillows.  A candle on the
bedside table lit her face.  “We never had a chance to discuss what happened in
your van.  I mean, with the Ouija board and everything.”

“I
know,” said Tim.  “I’ve done séances before, so I wasn’t surprised it worked,
but I don’t have a clue about the answers we got.  Usually the spirits just
natter about their family or hidden heirlooms.”

“It
was all a little bit doom and gloom, wasn’t it?
Blood…Death…Hell will take
you.
”

“It
didn’t feel like a threat, though, you know?” said Tim.  “Seemed more like a
warning.”

Angela
nodded and rubbed at her eyes.  “And it said, “
We’re here
,” just as
Sammie turned up.  It was almost like the Ouija board was acting like a beacon
for him to find us.”

“For
who to find us?  Chamuel or Sammie?  Who’s in control of that kid?”

“I
spoke to Sammie just before Graham’s body was found.  He seemed scared, just
like a kid should be.  He said that Chamuel wanted to change him; to make him
do things he didn’t want to.”

Tim
rubbed at his chin.  He could feel bristles of ginger stubble coming through.  “Did
Sammie say what?”

Angela
sighed.  “No, he didn’t.  He asked for my help, though.  He asked me to get rid
of Chamuel.”

Tim
yawned and shrugged his shoulders.  “Well, that’s what we do then.”

“How? 
I get the impression that Jessica is going to kick us out of the house first
thing in the morning.”

Tim
had pretty much assumed the same thing.  Jessica had seemed irate at the
situation she had awoken too, but surely she’d remember what had actually
happened; would remember being blind, or would remember walking into the office
and giving them a warning in a voice that was a serpentine hiss?  “Maybe
tomorrow she’ll feel differently,” Tim suggested hopefully.  “She was just
confused earlier. Things might become clearer to her by dawn.”

“Are
you still going to leave?” Angela asked.

Tim
nodded.  “Sorry, but I’d be gone already if the place wasn’t sealed up.”

“Do
you know how it’s even possible that we’re trapped in here?  How did they
suddenly make the windows unbreakable?”

Tim
thought the answer was obvious.  “It’s security glass, isn’t it? A house like
this, with a family like the Raymeadys, is certain to have tempered glass to
stop people breaking in.  It might even have been a recent addition if the
email I read was anything to go by.”

“What
did it say?”

Tim
shrugged.  “It was all a bit weird, but it seemed that Joseph Raymeady was
worried about his life and had some guy investigating for him.  Turns out that
Black Remedy is about as ethical as the Mafia – except without all the codes of
honour.  The investigator thinks that Joseph’s death might not have been an
accident.”

“Really?
 He thinks it was murder?”

Tim
nodded.  “Somebody close to him, he suggested – but not Frank, I don’t think. 
It was Frank who the email was addressed to.  It seems like he’s been trying to
get to the bottom of all of this, too, for his own peace of mind.”

Angela’s
eyes widened.  “Then that just leaves Mike.”

“Yeah,
I guess so, but there used to be a lot more staff here when Joseph died, so it
could have been somebody else.  Can’t say I liked the way he shoved me away
from the computer to get a look at that email, though.  He seemed pretty
anxious to see what it said.”

“I
don’t trust him,” Angela said bluntly. “But I guess you already know that.  At
first I thought he was a pretty decent guy, but now I get the impression that
he knows more than he is letting on.  I think he might be dangerous.”

“Yeah,”
Tim agreed.  “Perhaps.”

“Which
is why I’m begging you to stay.”

Tim
shifted in the chair.  The last thing on Earth he wanted to do was stay at the
house a minute longer, but he also knew that he didn’t want to abandon Angela –
especially if she was at risk.  He had to remind himself that he’d only just
met the woman; he didn’t owe her anything.  “I’m sorry,” he said.  “But first
thing tomorrow, I’m out of here.”

It
looked as if Angela was going to argue with him, but then she just nodded.  “Okay,
well, it’s your choice.”

“You
should get some sleep,” he told her.  “I’ll watch over you for a few hours.”

Angela
smiled wearily.  “Would you mind?”

“Not
at all.  If you’re going to stay and get to the bottom of things, then you’ll
need your rest.”

“Thanks. 
I feel like I might drop into a coma if I don’t sleep soon.  Wake me if
anything happens though, yeah?”

“Sure
thing.”

Angela
closed her eyes and within two minutes she was snoring.  Tim watched her sleep
and wondered what her deal was.  The woman was slightly overweight and baggy
around the eyes – she was a drinker and an overeater which were sure signs of
an unhappy soul.  Was her misery because of leaving the church, or did she
leave the church because she was miserable?  Tim could tell that Angela was a
caring person, a good human being, but her weaknesses were unhidden and clear
for all to see.  After a certain length of time, depression could become part
of a person’s personality, and then the hope of ever shedding it became an
unattainable fantasy.  Tim hoped Angela found a way to face herself again one
day.  He knew that possibility was gone for himself – he would never be
anything but what he already was.