The Knapthorne Conspiracy by Malcolm Ballard (best english novels for beginners txt) 📕

“That bloody cat of yours,” he said at last, massaging the centre of his chest as his breathing eased. His pulse was still racing, the blood pounding in his ears, and it felt like he was on a cliff edge. One slight push and he’d be over. Kyle knew he had to get away. Meanwhile, Bella leapt to the defence of Ubix

“Well, I’m sorry! I haven’t trained it to defend my virtue. I was enjoying myself too, you know! Anyway, are you ok? When I saw the look on your face, I thought you were going kill Ubix, or me.”

“Look, I think I’d better go. You’ve got it all wrong.” He started to walk towards the side of the cottage where the path led round to the front and Bella moved to grab his arm.

“How have I got it wrong, then Kyle? Tell me. I know what I saw!” He was teetering on the brink, feeling like he wanted to explode and bit down hard on his his lip, the pain eclipsing everything else as he tasted blood. His face was turned away from her and she had a job to hear him when he spoke.

“I’ve got a respiratory problem, like asthma, but worse. I can control it with medication but sudden shock, or stress, causes a type of arrhythmia and I nearly stop breathing.” As he turned to look at her she could see the flush was still in his cheeks, the pain or whatever it might be, evident in his eyes. She put a hand to his cheek.

“Oh, Kyle! Why didn’t you tell me before? You scared me half to death back there.” Inwardly, he gave a sigh of relief but didn’t trust himself to remain in her company. Any further questioning right now might expose the lie.

“Look, I think it’s best if I just take off now. I’ll be fine in a while honest.” As he began walking towards his vehicle Bella attached herself to one arm with both hands and walked beside him, all sympathy.

“Well, we’ve both seen another side of one another, today, haven’t we? Are you game to give it another try?” Kyle stopped in his tracks and looked at her.

“How do you mean?”

“I’m inviting you back, if you’re interested.” Her eyes were bright now, showing no signs of her earlier distress, as she held his gaze. “And maybe you’d like to stay over.”

Chapter Nineteen

It was after midnight and Ben sat up in bed, propped against the plump, down-filled pillows, staring forlornly at the bright fingernail of moon that hung in the sky. Sleep would be a recalcitrant stranger tonight, he knew, even though he felt worn out and he’d left the curtains open in the way he had so often as a young child. Total darkness had scared him then, with its implications of evil spirits and dire deeds. Now he usually welcomed its narcotic embrace willingly each night as a palliative to the stresses and rigours of adulthood. This would, Ben thought, have to rank as one of the worst days of his life. He surveyed the unfamilar surroundings of the guest bedroom as the events of the evening hung over him like the gleaming, razor-sharp blade of the guillotine. Examples of Tina’s excesses were all around him, from the hand-made Italian wallpaper to the antique dressing table, yet it wasn’t her continuing profligacy that had brought matters to a head between them. Foresight had prompted Ben to bring a bottle of malt whisky up with him and he poured himself a second stiff drink knowing that he’d pay for it later on. As a boy, the moon had always had a calming, soporific effect on him. It was his nocturnal guardian, warding off the illusory demons of the night and coaxing him to sleep. Right now he was desperately hoping that it would still work but he’d brought the alcohol along just in case. As he contemplated the night sky, he couldn’t help but wonder how his world had begun to fall apart so dramatically in such a short space of time.

The day had started out holding some promise, with the prospect of meeting his lover, Barbara Richmond, later in the afternoon. The firm’s Financial Controller was on a week’s leave, staying with a girl friend at her flat in Tottenham, north of the city. As the friend would be staying at her partner’s that night, Barbara had rung to invite Ben over. Sex was like a drug to him especially the kind of sex that Barbara offered and the addiction distorted his ability to either think clearly or act logically. Common sense told him that he should end the relationship as soon as possible but her involvement in his fraudulent activities made that very difficult. Also he was very dependent on the additional income, which complicated things even further. When weighed against the powerful aphrodisiac of Barbara’s libido Ben decided to maintain the status quo. That being the case he had decided to bring the car in, as it was only a matter of driving across to Woodford from there, later, to get him back on his route home. When he had arrived at the Tottenham address after parking the car a couple of streets away, he had discovered the flat was in a large four-storey house which had been completely refurbished. An intercom system in the porch was part of the state of the art security system and he pressed the buzzer next to the name that Barbara had supplied him with. When he got up to the third-floor flat he was surprised to find the door open slightly. After hesitating he gave it a gentle push and called out her name.

“Barbara? You there?” Immediately her voice answered him.

“Hi, honey, I’m in the bedroom. Get yourself into the bathroom, down the hall. Take your clothes off and get in.”

“What?”

“You heard. I’ll be there in a minute.” Used to her games by now, he followed the