Thirty Four Minutes DEAD Read online

  THIRTY FOUR MINUTES DEAD

  * * * * * * * * *

  By Steve Hammond Kaye

  Copyright Notice ©

  This book is copyright © material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the author and / or publisher acting on behalf of the author as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright © law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  Version 1.0UK released October 2012

  Published in 2012 by Standard Cut Media

  www.standardcut.co.uk

  First Published in 2001 by nospine.com

  Thirty Four Minutes Dead © Copyright Steve Hammond Kaye 2012. All rights reserved.

  Front Cover art © Copyright Steve Mullins 2012.

  Front cover image Copyright PozitivStudija, 2012. Used under license from Shutterstock.com. All rights reserved. Standard License Information

  ISBN-13: 978-1480065703

  ISBN-10: 1480065706

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s and / or authors prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than in which it is published and without similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Ms. H. Cundall

  Ms. C. Lanzon

  Mr. M. Marcham

  Mr. H. Slidell

  Mrs. A. M. Kaye

  Mrs. A. C. Kaye

  Mr. S. Mullins

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Title

  © Copyright Notices

  Acknowledgements

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  PROLOGUE

  Julia Venison, one name, one number, but she felt immortal on this particular summer evening. A magenta shred refused to die in the fading sky and the retreating light cast a final glint amongst her careless golden hair. Life was being kind to Julia, giving her a new superior Account Planning job and a rural home she had only ever dreamed of before.

  Tonight her quest was The Burleigh, a clichéd country public house on the outskirts of Godalming, in Surrey that had not changed a great deal in the last three centuries. Here Julia found her own private niche, a place where she could savour the rural atmosphere and withdraw into the privacy of her own imagination. The Burleigh had a clientele who didn't ask why a woman should sit alone on a bar stool, a Landlord who didn't look for the male presence that all women are supposed to have in a pub and an ambience that carried the mind to far away days.

  Julia hadn't always been the solitary figure in the corner. At 33 she would laugh inwardly at the number of serious affairs that had catalogued her life since her early modeling days at the age of sixteen. She was totally content in her current isolation, more concerned with her new Advertising responsibilities and the safe haven of the inner peace she had found.

  Upon entering The Burleigh, Julia nodded to a few of the familiar faces and laughed at the Landlord's poor attempt to change her standard bar order. He failed.

  "Three glasses of red wine, no more no less? I can read your order like a book Julia, two to stand one to begin”.

  "That's right Harry, the fusty air in your old pub really brings out the body in your over priced red!"

  With a wry smile Harry poured the consignment of three and then began a jovial dialogue with Julia asking how she was progressing in her new promotion. Julia was inwardly glad when the customers rallied Harry into service. She liked the 60-year-old Landlord but in a similar fashion to her wine sips - small brief encounters.

  As The Burleigh began to fill Julia envisaged herself in her favourite holiday destination- the Harz Mountains in Germany. She was so absorbed with her own thoughts that she didn't notice the voice immediately.

  "Excuse me return dreamer, is this yours?”

  Standing next to her was a tall well-attired gentleman. He had shoulder length black hair, which was cut to Italian precision, a well-chiselled face and cultured features that signified breeding and natural good looks. His eyes were dark and they burned with an inquiring intensity as he made the request to Julia. After being initially taken aback by this Armani clad stranger, Julia blurted out a response.

  "My necklace, why yes, thank you. It must have a broken clasp yet again!”

  Reclaiming the necklace, the man fastened it around Julia's neck and carefully positioned the offending link back into position.

  "Thanks, it was rather precious to me, the last gift my sister gave me before she left for Canada”.

  After Julia had recovered from the disruption of her dream world the two strangers became less isolated, with Canada providing common ground for both of them. The gentleman expressed curiosity at Julia's bar order and for a quarter of an hour a conversation ensued, which extolled the virtues of The Burleigh as a location to find escapism.

  Upon his departure the well-spoken gentleman handed Julia his card and uttered a curious grandiose comment.

  "Well now you are a Godalming Lady and we have The Burleigh as our communal hideaway you must have one of these”.

  After thanking her for her company the gentleman took his leave. Julia studied the card meticulously. ‘Royston Sandford-Everett’- Merchant Seavillia Exports read the card in ornate gold embossed lettering. Her eyes widened, realising that the tall stranger was the junior partner of the famous MSE Global Shipping chain. She remained puzzled by the Godalming Lady reference because she had always resided in that locale and wasn't titled either.

  After second thoughts however, she felt sure that she hadn't actually stated where she resided during their brief dialogue. She just dismissed the comment as a curious turn of phrase.

  After the Everett departure, Julia enjoyed some cosy moments alone and was then pounced upon by a stream of ‘acquaintances’ that complemented her upon her vocational success whilst complimenting themselves at the same time in louder voices.

  Julia did not really wish to join in with the mutual admiration society that was forming around her, and so when The Burleigh clock chimed half past ten she made her departure with an excuse relating to the heavy additional workload that she had now accrued.

  The warm night air smelt sweet and Julia was filled with a sense of triumph after escaping what was becoming an increasingly boring conversation. A few spots of rain started to drift through the streetlight, and at first Julia welcomed the cool droplets upon her face. Julia's new house was situated about twenty-five minutes walking distance from The Burleigh and she only got a Taxi home when the weather really turned for the worst. She was a considerate individual who didn't like the environmentally damaging factors associated with short car journeys. Subsequently the 911 stayed at home and the casual flat shoes went out when she ventured into Godalming.

  As the droplets t
urned into a steady flow of rain Julia quickened her pace. She was approaching the outskirts of Godalming and the junction traffic lights a hundred yards ahead of her marked the halfway point of her journey. Julia suddenly became aware that a dark car was stationary at the green light that she was approaching. A minor rush of adrenaline started to course through Julia, and with this new heightened awareness she started to scrutinise her immediate surroundings intently. The car now thirty yards ahead was almost certainly black. It was a top of the range Jaguar and the streetlight just enabled her to discern the number plate - RSE 2. There were no other cars in the vicinity, no other people walking the pavements and no other pedestrian-friendly alternative routes.

  The sound of the front seat passenger door froze Julia. She had expected the sound but when it came she hadn't anticipated the muscle seizure that barred her movement.

  "I say, it is you Godalming Lady isn't it”, said Everett leaning out of the passenger side door.

  If Julia had felt uncomfortable by this title before, it now represented security, and to a level safety. The woman raced the remaining yards to Everett's car at a speed that broke a trot and beckoned a canter. Everett, recognising that Julia was quite distraught, added to his initial sentence.

  "Look, can I run you home? Rain and darkness don't make an attractive combination for a female pedestrian in this day and age”. Julia hesitated for a moment before accepting Everett's offer.

  "Right, direct the reins then, and this beast will take you to your door”.

  "Thanks, it's merely five minutes driving time - if that! Two lefts from here and then down Stirleone Drive - number seven please”. Everett helped Julia with her seat belt and then sped off following her directions.

  As the car approached Stirleone Drive, Everett gradually slowed before speeding up to a pace that they had not previously experienced on their journey. Stirleone Drive came and went.

  "It was that turning there, that left”, said Julia indignant that such an easy instruction could be misinterpreted.

  The electric doors locked and the face turned.

  "Don't feel special, you're nothing, you were just there. At times some women get above their station, hearing the word equal and making a false equation. Don't get me wrong, the meat's tender but promise me don't feel special. You…"

  Julia cut in.

  "Just drop me now. Just…"

  The fist cut her short a powerful fist that bloodied her mouth and left it's sting.

  "Look, let's get things straight, put our cards on the table. Your best outcome involves lungs that still expel air, eyes that still see and lips that can still feel the trickle of blood upon them. Your worst outcome - well you know that don't you? Now enjoy the journey but do, oh please do remember you're not special, you're nothing - a non-event”.

  The car journeyed on and Everett put a Tamala Motown Greatest Hits CD in the Car stereo. Occasionally the volume was lowered so that Everett's verbal rape could continue. Julia said nothing. Advertising, The Burleigh and three glasses of red were now worthless - she just had hope, the hope that brought tomorrows. The car had been cruising through well laid ‘Greenbelt’ roads and Julia suddenly felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise as Everett slowed to a halt at the bottom of a side track which had left the main highway.

  Everett got out of the car and roughly pulled Julia out with him.

  "This copse seems right, don't you think so Julia? It's funny you know, how quiet the bubbly Julia has become. I wonder why - it's beyond me. Can you smell the pine? It's one of my favourite aromas, so invigorating and natural, don't you think?”

  Julia was forced away from the crude dirt based car park. As the pair approached the fringes of the fir copse the woman was dealt a powerful downward blow to the back of her head. She hit the ground hard, cutting her temple on a protruding pine branch. She became aware that Royston Sandford-Everett was kneeling above her. She could just discern his powerful muscular shape in the moonlight, but the silence that had taken over her routemaster was the factor that forced the sweat to moisten on her brow. After a couple of minutes Everett broke the quiet.

  "Take this lighter. Light it and illuminate my noble face. The lesson is nearly read my Godalming Lady, but one needs a spotlight to celebrate the closure doesn't one? I congratulate you on your attentive nature, it means I could share the occasion to its fullest level".

  Julia did as she was told and the powerful lighter cast an eerie light upon Everett's wild-eyed visage.

  "You have a choice now bitch - shattered, tattered or battered?”

  Julia saw the face twinge, as if Everett was reconsidering. She saw hope face on for a fleeting second, but then her hope faded as she saw the glint of steel in the previously inactive right hand. She saw the fist descend once again, Everett's one act of mercy, before the knife pierced her heart and delivered the darkness.

  ONE

  "We've got one, Vain".

  "How long gone?” responded Gregory Vain, not fully believing that D-Day had actually arrived.

  "About two and a half hours. Caucasian, female with ID putting her at 33".

  "Cause of death?”

  "One direct stab wound through the heart. She would have died anyway. Looks like a haemorrhage was just starting".

  "Will it effect the demonstration?”

  "I doubt it, but the perfect corpse can't be direct mailed you know!”

  "Point taken. Any signs of rape, Mason?”

  "No, none. Evidence of blows to mouth region and the back of the cranium. The latter probably offset the haemorrhage".

  "Have you sent the Volks for the triad pick up?”

  "No. You're all going separate. M.O.D overruled by the C.I.A on this one. Your driver will give the usual signal. Look for a black battered Scirocco, registration CV3N 79S. They've been waiting nearly two weeks for the right corpse. Let's hope it doesn't disappoint them. Pick up is in about ten minutes. Good luck Vain".

  "Cheers, Mason. Let's hope she captured a full HV range. Passing out base off".

  Gregory Vain nullified his Comm-Lynx signal and hurriedly collected the small suitcase that he had in readiness in the hallway for this moment. Vain’s wife Tanya observed his movements.

  “Still can’t tell me Greg?”

  As the couple travelled upstairs Vain returned a familiar response.

  "No, sorry Tan. You know the score - want for nothing, know nothing!”

  "Well take care, love. I bet you must laugh at me if your job isn't dangerous but it must be. I mean the Comm-Lynx, night visits and swift departures all point to it darling, don't they?”

  "No comment Tan. You know that, don't apply the stranglehold".

  Tanya Vain proceeded to apply a mock stranglehold upon her husband’s neck and Vain sparred back with a playful tickle directed to her midriff. The couple ended up in a heap on their replica four-poster bed and whilst entwined enjoyed a deep kiss that added a spice to their play.

  The hiss of their electronic gate intercom interrupted their shenanigans. Greg quickly went to the receiver and encoded his part of the applicable signal.

  "Save it for tomorrow. Let's save it. Save it".

  The desired reply came back.

  "Tonight burns brightest. Let's make it. Make it".

  Vain opened the gates and waited alone in the porch for the car to proceed up the long gravel drive. Once he recognised that the type of car and plate number were correct, he called a farewell to Tanya.

  "See you Tan. Keep it warm, spend our money. I love ya".

  Tanya responded in a similar humorous fashion commenting that the milkman would be gentle with her! She finished by returning the "I love ya" and proceeded to watch the pick up car snake it's way down the drive. The battered Sirocco confused her even more. Greg's employers, whoever they were, paid all the bills and cash seemed to be present in large quantities. Tanya hadn't been a big fan of the private school education both their children were ‘advised’ into by Greg's employers but nine year old Rac
hel and seven year old Gary seemed to be progressing well none the less. The burly gentlemen who collected the kids each morning and returned them each evening were the most uncomfortable factor for Tanya to cope with. The kids loved the pair and they were very polite to all the family but without firmer explanation, they just added to the greyness surrounding Greg's employment.

  On occasions Tanya was sure she had been ‘shadowed’ when she shopped in Epping, in Essex. She even changed her shopping locale to neighbouring Theydon Bois but street corner gentlemen appeared there, too. She mentioned the shadow factor to Greg but instead of showing the concern she expected, he displayed a binary reaction seeming pleased by her revelation. She assumed that this was another work-related factor and so put up with the intrusion. Privacy didn't always come easy, but Tanya contented herself that for a slim youthful looking thirty-two year old she was experiencing life to its fullest. The kids were settled, Greg and her had the spice of lovers despite their traditional marriage relationship, and their standard of living achieved grade A proportions. Tanya had more questions concerning Greg's employment but they could wait.