A Chance Encounter by Rae Shaw (best ereader for academics .TXT) 📕

If one of them had shafted his girlfriend, he hoped Jackson would throw them behind bars, preferably after he had used the bastard as a punchbag. Quietly, and out of sight, Jackson was on the warpath, hunting for his traitor, and Tess was his insider, working to find out who had exposed Julianna.

One call ended, then another began. Jackson spoke softly to Hettie, reassuring his fraught wife. Mark failed to hear the exact words, only the undulation of his pacifying voice. As for Ellen, she was safe, according to Derek's brother, whom Jackson had contacted around breakfast time.

Jackson joined Mark in the lobby, his low shoulders burdened by unproductive authority. ‘Diana asked me once why I don’t have a comfortable seating area in my office so that my meetings are in more relaxed environment.’

‘And why don’t you?’ Mark asked from under his arm; he appreciated Jackson's efforts in distracting him, but they weren't working. He hid his eyes because the light blinded him. He had been sick twice in the toilet while Jackson was downstairs giving his team words of encouragement as a good boss should. Mark despised his own weaknesses. While Julianna suffered with fear, he had succumbed to a migraine.

‘Snug seats?’ Jackson laughed. ‘Hard chairs keep my meetings short and on agenda. Nobody lingers with small talk when their arses are planted on rocks. Unfortunately,’ Jackson sighed, lying back on the other sofa, ‘it doesn’t make for a pleasant waiting room.’

The two men fell silent again until a phone rang. Jackson's office line.

Mark reached the phone first. Chris Moran’s mobile number was on caller display. Jackson let him pick it up.

Mark licked his dry lips and spoke into the microphone. ‘Chris—’

‘Mark!’

‘Julianna!’ Mark crumpled into a nearby seat while Jackson, his head bowed over the table, leaned on his white knuckles.

‘I’m okay.’ Julianna choked back a sob.

‘Are you hurt?’

‘No. Nothing serious.’ She laughed a nervous titter. ‘I almost got shot by the good guys, but Chris turned up like the cavalry and just in time to vouch for me. He wants me to go to hospital for a check-up.’

Mark wanted to hold her, see for himself that she was intact and untouched, but she was still miles away from him. ‘You should go.’

‘I want to be with you—’

Jackson interjected. ‘Julianna, Chris will take you to the hospital where Sophia is. She will want to see you too. Mark and I can meet you there.’

‘Sophia?’ Julianna's voice crackled on the line. ‘Is she okay?’

‘Broken arm and a bump on her head. She’s due to be released this morning.’

‘Honey, go. I’ll be there to meet you,’ Mark said. The relief felt palpable, almost as unbearable as fear. Adrenaline worked its magic in many ways. ‘I’m... I can’t...’

‘I know, Mark, me, too.’ She started to cry. He had never heard her cry before. It ripped into his chest and crushed his heart.

‘She’s fine,’ Chris's voice boomed in comparison to her weak one. ‘Shock. I’ll look after her.’

‘We’ll see you at the hospital. Thanks, Chris.’ Jackson punched the call end button.

The drive to the hospital in the south of London was eternal. Every street elongated to the horizon and beyond. The traffic lights magically turned red every time they approached a junction, and nobody seemed to want to yield to let them pass. It was the final torture knowing she was waiting for him. Jackson followed in another car, giving Mark the privacy he needed to re-assemble his battered emotions. His chauffeur was appropriately silent.

In the emergency room cubicle, he rained kisses down on Julianna’s pale face and she flopped against his chest until she had had enough of his affections and gently cuffed his arm.

‘I was so afraid to think of you in case I went mad.’ She plucked a loose thread off his t-shirt. Her fingernails were dirty, blackened with grime and a few were chipped or torn. She had fought or clawed at something. He smelt diesel, old tobacco and antiseptic wipes, things that were strangers to her. Tangled hair snaked around her face, but she couldn’t hide the injuries: a vivid bruise on her cheekbone, another discolouration on her chin and a scratch above her eyebrow. Given the depths of the hollow shadows beneath her eyes, she had to be exhausted.

‘I want to see Sophia,’ she said, impatiently.

He gently kissed her forehead. Mark bet that for a brief while, she thought she had killed her friend and dreaded coming back to face Luke and Jackson.

‘Soon,’ he said, without letting her go.

  43

Julianna

SATURDAY 8 a.m.

Julianna sipped on a glass of water and swallowed the painkillers the nurse had left.

Jackson appeared from behind the privacy curtain. ‘You’re one remarkable person, Julianna. I like to employ the best.’

Jackson was a different man that Saturday morning. Cautious in his mannerisms, his lips twitched as he shook her hand, then, changing his mind, he leaned over to kiss her unblemished cheek. She wasn't sure if she liked this version of him: tired, somewhat awkward, and possibly frustrated. He should be elated. She had probably killed Zustaller, Jackson's bitter foe, and the gang was in turmoil. Yet, he was anxious. Her kidnap had happened on a quiet London street and if she was in Jackson's shoes, she would want to know how that happened. She also owned him an explanation about Sophia.

‘I’m not going to ask forgiveness for what I did to Sophia. It was a calculation I took at the time based on what I knew these guys are capable of doing. After what they did in the cellar of that farmhouse, I definitely made the right decision.’

Mark stiffened next to her. ‘Jules, you said—’

‘I wasn't touched,’ she said, swiftly. ‘I was, how should I say, inspected. If Sophia had been taken with me...’ She