Ahead of his Time by Adrian Cousins (children's books read aloud .txt) 📕

I took a deep breath as one side of my brain screamed at the other not to do this. The internal cranial war carried on as Jess stared at me, waiting for me to continue.

“What?”

“Oh, God. Look, these other men aren’t going to harm you. I guarantee it.”

Jess shook her head, frowning at me and clearly confused at what I was saying. “You don’t know that. The Colney family operate in a different world from the rest of us. I begged Patrick so many times to leave that life behind. But they’re just, well … just … hmmm.” She dropped her head, staring down at the table. “Dad, they deal with people their way. That’s what got Patrick into trouble by protecting his pervert brother. And these other men will be just like them. I know you must wonder why the hell I’m with Patrick.” She looked up at me, her eyes watering again. “Patrick is different. He has a gentle and loving side to him that others don’t see. You can’t help who you fall in love with, can you?”

“No, Jess, you can’t. But I can promise you that you’re in no danger because the bloke who dropped David to his death was me.”

Jess shook her head and released her hand from mine.

“What?”

“Jess, keep your voice down. It was me. But hell, I need to be able to trust you. You can never tell anyone! Only one other person knows, and if this gets out, I could go to jail or worse,” I replied in a hushed voice as I leant over the table.

‘Brilliant Apsley, you and your big mouth!’

“It can’t be you. And why?” Jess blurted.

“Shush!” I scanned around the pub. It was early, and fortunately there were very few punters. Of the few that were at the bar, none of them looked around following Jess’s outburst.

“Look, Jess. I was up at the flats seeing a friend that day. David was defacing Carol Hall’s front door.”

“Now my front door?”

“Yes. I had dealings with David at school, and it was the final straw. You’re right when you said he was a pervert and he just needed stopping.”

Jess narrowed her eyes. I could see in her face she was now wondering what type of man her father was. “So, you just decided to kill him!”

“Oh, Jess, no. It was an accident. I chased him off, and he ran up to the roof. I was going to make him clean off the graffiti from Carol’s front door when he stumbled and fell. I tried to save him, but I just couldn’t hang on. It was an accident.”

‘No, it wasn’t! Don told you to let go, so you did. Stop kidding yourself, Apsley. You purposefully dropped him to his death!’

“Oh shit. Dad, we have a big problem, and it's all my fault.”

“What d’you mean, your fault?”

“I said I saw the man and, if that’s you, I have unwittingly told that monster who you are.”

“No you haven’t. Paul doesn’t know it’s me. Okay, he tracked down my old Cortina, but I sold it on to a second-hand car place. There’s no way he can find out it was me. Stop worrying.”

“Dad, I think he does know. Shirley said that Paul had squeezed the information out of a car dealer on the other side of town. He tracked the car down last week, but the bloke who owns it had only just bought it. Paul apparently applied pressure on the car dealer this bloke got it from, and you can imagine what that was like?”

‘Told you, Apsley. You’re fucked, mate!’

My mouth instantly dried. I gulped the last of my Coke as I tried to gather my thoughts. “Jess, he’s bluffing. The car dealer wouldn’t say who sold it to him. He can’t know, and I’m sure Paul wouldn’t risk getting caught by the police for assault.”

“Dad! Understand who Paul Colney is. He doesn’t give a shit about the police, and he’s out of control. He’ll do anything to find out who killed David. I don’t think he really gives a shit about who killed him. But if he can find out, it will put him back in the good books with Shirley and his dad.”

“His father is in jail … he can’t do anything.”

Jess shook her head. “Paul Colney Senior can do what he likes, even from a prison cell.”

Sitting back in my chair, I closed my eyes and scrubbed my hands over my face.

‘What you going to do now, you knob? You’re in the shit again!’

Jess attacked her second beer mat, tearing small pieces off and making a pile in a ring-stain on the wooden table, carefully nudging the card pieces to stay inside the ring.

“What else did Shirley say?”

“Something about it was all coming together. When she and Paul had decided what to do, she’d get her granddaughter back.”

“What?”

Jess shook her head. “I dunno … it didn’t make any sense. I didn’t ask as Shirley Colney is not someone you challenge or ask questions of.”

I thought of that last line Shirley had calmly thrown at me last night. I didn’t understand it at the time, but now it was clear. “We have unfinished business – you and me – you’ll see. Your time is nearly up, and when that happens, that little girl will be mine.”

She knew last night that I’d killed her son. Mr Thacker must have spilt the beans when under pressure from Paul. I didn’t feel angry that he’d blabbed. No, anyone would have when faced with that monster who was about to kill you.

“Dad, what we gonna do?”

“Oh, bollocks, I don’t know. I guess I’m going to have to scare him off.”

‘What, you ’aving a laugh boy. Scare Paul Colney, a powder puff like you!’

Jess shot me a confused look as she moved to rip apart her third beer mat. I imagined that was what Paul Colney was going to do to me – I shivered at the thought.

“Dad, you’re not going to scare Paul Colney – he’s