Leah's Story Finding Jake Read online

  I wasn’t looking when I went in so when Adam stepped out of the shadows I dropped my key and yelped

  “Shit sorry Leah, I didn’t mean to scare you” my heart was thudding, what was he doing here anyway?

  “Lucy is away with Rob, why aren’t you with your girlfriend, you looked all cosy tonight, with your posh friends” eek I sounded like a jealous brat!

  “I know Lucy is away I just wanted to see how you were after the case this morning, you pulled a blinder by all accounts” I absorbed his praise gratefully, letting us in I switched all the lights on, suddenly realising I must look frightful

  “Pour us a drink and I will dispose of Kate Bush then return as Leah Fellows shortly, make yourself comfy” I walked away feeling his eyes burning into my back. For some reason I locked my bathroom door, Adam was like a hunter tonight he was making me nervous, I half expected him to follow me in here.

  I washed the gunk from my hair, it took two lots of conditioner before I could smooth it out, I defuzzed myself just in case! I threw on jeans and a vest top before heading back out. My heart stopped when I saw him he had removed his jacket and kicked off his shoes relaxing whilst watching the news he was certainly a sight to behold. Gathering my wits I picked up the glass of wine he had poured and sank into the armchair across from him.

  We drank in silence for a while smiling at each other every now and then. My eyes were drooping, which seemed to happen every time he visited but I couldn’t help it. I felt the brush of his lips on my head as I was lifted out of the chair and taken to my bed

  “Good night Leah we will talk when you are awake I will come back tomorrow” I grunted a reply and felt myself covered in my duvet, the room went dark and he was gone.

  I woke cross with myself not just for passing out on him again but for not asking him about Natalie. I couldn’t deny it anymore, I wanted Adam his strength and calm exterior drew me to him like a bee to honey. He was undeniably sexy; I badly wanted to see him in all his glory. Nothing would happen though until he was single, he needed to sort that out and fast, one thing I wasn’t was a cheat.

  After stuffing my face with pancakes I dragged out my paintings to have a look if any were worth hanging. Actually they were pretty good, as long as people didn’t pay much attention to the baby that appeared in some of them I could get away with putting them up.

  Two large canvas’s I hung in the lounge, they had the most colour on, they were abstract art my expression of the pain I had felt losing my family, to the untrained eye random splodges! Two smaller ones in the dining area were more life like a woman with child and a woman with a baby. You could feel the anguish of the mother in both; they were hard hitting but looked striking on the cream walls. The doorbell rang as I was choosing ones for the hall.

  I peeped through the spy hole expecting to see Adam when instead I was looking at the perfectly made up face of Natalie; bugger what does bitch face want I opened the door partially but it was suddenly pushed hard at me and she stormed in to face me. Before I could even open my mouth she had slapped me right across my right cheek

  “Shit ow what the hell?” she lunged at me claws out screaming profanities at me I tried to protect my face but her acrylic nails were gouging my arms. I felt her weight removed from me Adam was towering over her his face a mask of fury.

  “Natalie what the hell are you playing at, get out of here before she reports you for assault” she looked disdainfully at me

  “You whore you stole my boyfriend I knew what you were at the party a common whore and I stand by my words” I said nothing just stunned at the venom pouring from her mouth Adam shut her up

  “Firstly Leah did not steal me as I was not yours to steal, Natalie I took you out to get you noticed as a favour to your father, we have never slept together so don’t flatter yourself into thinking I would be interested in a slutty little gold digger like you” My mouth dropped open, as did Natalie’s she burst into tears and ran out of my flat, leaving me glued to the floor.

  We were both out of breath staring at each other, Adam span round and walked away, I thought he was running after her but instead he slammed the door turned back and marched over to me. Grabbing me by the shoulders he forced his mouth onto mine, before I could react he had his hands in my hair his lips sliding across mine looking for an opening, as I groaned he took the opportunity of slipping his tongue in to caress me.

  Oh My God this man could kiss my hands reached up to grab his luscious hair ignoring the stinging from the cuts on my arms. He tugged off my top in one swift move his hands freeing my breasts from their cups. My body was singing for him as his mouth moved from mine and headed down to my breasts. This was probably the most intense sexual encounter I had ever experienced, my body was a raging pulse and I knew I was dripping wet with readiness.

  I felt myself being lifted and carried to the sofa, he placed me down and peeled off my jog pants smoothly.

  “Jesus Leah you have an amazing body” I basked in his adoration, desperate to see his I reached for his T Shirt, he helped me remove it. My breath stuck in my throat as I took in his smooth sculpted chest the tattoos drawing me to kiss them one by one. Adam was wriggling out of his trousers his erection sprang free making my mouth water. We were suddenly frantic to be as one, clothes removed my legs went round his waist to drag him inside me. He paused just long enough to put on a condom then plunged into me groaning with pleasure.

  I whimpered as he withdrew slowly then thrust home deeply, I felt my sex ripple along his length, I wouldn’t last long and neither would he by the urgency of his desire. Pulling his mouth back to mine I trembled as he rubbed against my tender spot inside, shouting out, my orgasm erupted like a surge of heat through my body I barely noticed Adam finding his own.

  Both sated we clung to each other shocked by the sudden act of intimacy, Adam raised his head and kissed my swollen lips gently then frowned as he kissed the cheek Natalie had slapped. Withdrawing from me gently, my body felt bereft at his departure.I suddenly felt anxious wondering if this was Adam at his worst, use and abuse then walk away. As if sensing my insecurity he lifted me into his arms then walked with me to the bathroom sitting me on the side of the bath he examined my wounds.

  We were both naked but neither cared, he took care of my scratches then we both took a shower which inevitably ended up back in the bed. This time Adam spent longer discovering my body every touch was like a spark of electricity. He took me to places I had never been and we shattered into pleasure over and over. I don’t think I could have had a more perfect first time with him it was all and more than my imagination could have dreamt up.

  Sat in bed late that night we finally started talking to each other we had a deep and meaningful both admitting to fancying each other since the party, it seemed he was as keen as I was to make a go of it, I was not a one night stand as I had feared. I was so madly happy we began a tickling fight that turned into a full blown pillow fight, as he grabbed my pillow to retaliate I screamed as the little blue hat floated across the room.

  Forgetting all about our fight I dived to catch it managing to stop it from hitting the floor. Realising it was a slight over reaction I looked at Adams concerned face

  “Leah talk to me tell me about that hat, it’s the one that fell out of your box isn’t it” Suddenly I was four again staring into the face of a kind doctor, my old coping mechanism clicked in hugging myself and rocking. Gently Adam lifted me back onto the bed tucking me in; he made me focus on his face

  “Leah tell me why the hat means so much to you?” I blinked at him; he was the one person I had let in to my soul maybe he would be the one person to believe me. I stared down at the little blue hat and took a deep breath.

  “It is my brother’s hat”

  Chapter 9

  Adam stared at me realisation dawning, he urged me to carry on;

  “We lived in a block of flats somewhere in Burnage. Suzie was our landlady, although I think looking back she was running a brothel, the whole bl
ock was filled with girls like my mum. Suzie used to collect money, rent my mum called it but I’m not so sure. There was this one regular man who came every week, I never saw him children were not allowed at work mummy used to say. I was always in my room with the telly on really loud so I couldn’t hear I guess.

  This man was my mum’s big payer she thought he would marry her; she used to talk to me about her wedding dress and show me gifts he had given her. My mum got pregnant, not good for a hooker no money coming in. Suzie used to bring bits of food for us as mum got bigger, we couldn’t afford the fire on so we shared a bed.

  When she had the baby Suzie was there, she asked mum if she wanted to keep him, of course she did, I loved him he was so cute and wrinkly. We called him Jake, my choice as the Tweenies was my favourite show. He was born in winter, I remember the snow outside, and we huddled in bed to keep warm. Suzie dropped a bag of clothes off for the baby and the woolly hat was in it, he wore it all the time because the flat was so cold you could see your breath.

  We still had no money the man hadn’t come back, a few other men came but horrible ones, one gave her a black eye I remember that it was one of the few times I saw her cry. It was a couple of months later I think as Jake could hold things and sit up almost, My mum was so upset we had run out of food and Suzie had disappeared no one knew where she was. She called the man again, this time she was shouting and screaming at him, she came in to our room and started throwing things into bags. We are going to be fine she kept saying the man was going to give us money, a new house, school for me and toys for both of us.

  We didn’t have much just two bin bags I think, we borrowed Suzie’s car as she wasn’t using it. Jake didn’t have a seat but I held him up in the seat belt. We drove to a car park; she could see his car so it was fine. I was told not to move until she got back. She never came back” Adam grasped my hand as I struggled to get past the tears that were fighting their way out

  “After a while a man opened the car door he smiled at me, he undid the seat belt and took Jake; his hat fell off so I put it in my pocket. Now I was alone I waited then decided to look for her, she was lying on the floor cold so I climbed on her to warm her up. When I woke up my gran had me at her house. I asked where Jake was but no one knew what I was talking about. The car was empty no bags nothing, no trace of Jake at all. No one believed me they sent me to doctors thinking he was an imaginary friend blaming it on my traumatic experience.

  I stopped talking about him but I never forgot him, I didn’t know the hat had been found until it fell out of that box, don’t you see that was the truth right there he was real but it’s too late to find him now Adam it’s too late” The damn burst and eighteen years of hurt burst out of me like a tsunami.

  I was aware of Adam stroking me and holding me until it subsided. I was limp in his arms, exhausted and drained. Wrapping me in the duvet he climbed in behind me and held me until my heart slowed Adam whispered in my ear;

  “Hush now baby, we will find him we will find your brother sleep now Leah I will take care of everything” My body relaxed and I allowed the darkness to take me

  The smell of coffee woke me; I was disorientated for a moment then remembered the events of the night before. The memory of the sex made my insides clench, however the confession that followed soon put a dampener on it, I hope I didn’t kill the moment.

  I wrapped myself in my robe and followed the smell to the kitchen; Adam was staring at my paintings. The context of the paintings would now be blatantly obvious to him; he turned to me opening his arms for me to step inside their warmth.

  “Oh Leah my poor girl, the pain you have suffered I can see it so clearly in this room, I can’t believe you have had to carry this alone for so long” he kissed me tenderly; I raised my face so he could kiss me properly. We stood for some time caressing each other’s mouths, no lust this time. The kiss was about opening up exposing our souls; I breathed a sigh as he released me

  “You don’t know what it means to have someone take me seriously Adam; I got so used to being closed off. It is such a rush letting go of it all, you do believe me don’t you?”

  He pushed me away a little so he could speak clearly enunciating every word “Of course I do, no one could argue with the evidence here” he waved his arms at my paintings, “We now need to start finding out what happened. Firstly I want to look at your mums file, Rob could release it for me what do you think?” I nodded then remembered Richard had tried

  “That’s what Richard had been doing, sorry I forgot to tell you yesterday, he was threatening to expose who I was, he had some crazy idea your family had engineered the file disappearing. He tried to get hold of it but it was gone, he was meeting someone the morning he went missing, a friend he said who could get it for him” Adam looked concerned

  “When is Lucinda back with Rob do you know?” I shook my head I had no idea he wanted to call Rob but I persuaded him to hang fire, Lucy would not thank me for interrupting a romantic encounter.

  I had slept in so only had a couple of hours before the matinee, I showered and dressed .Adam took me out for lunch then dropped me off at the Theatre promising to be outside when I was done. It felt so natural being with him he kissed me goodbye. A kiss that had my temperature soaring and my stomach churning again, he moaned as he reluctantly released me. His hand stroked my sore cheek and I held it to my face savouring the feel of him, closing his eyes he made me a promise;

  “Leah now I have you, you won’t be able to escape, there may come a point when the past is all churned up where you feel like retreating. It is not going to happen where you go I go, this is it from now on, are you ready for this?” I nodded tears burning my eyes he smiled then let me go

  “Until later baby, I will wait here for you, oh and if you have to climb up your dancer friend again make sure he knows who has you climbing over him naked won’t you” I giggled at his frankness then ran inside out of the rain.

  The show went smoothly, it was our last performance so I had a few weeks off now, a good thing as work was busy and if Adam kept his word, we would be deep in police files in our spare time. As long as we left some time over for sex I was happy. Wow the sex was good, only twice granted but I was sure we could manage a couple of attempts tonight despite my aching body.

  The Mercedes was parked outside Adam was leaning casually against the car waiting looking decidedly delicious. Chris had walked out with me and I noticed Adam bristle, I hugged Chris goodbye and threw myself very unashamedly at Adam taking him by surprise.

  “Hi babe you missed me then?” I planted a kiss on his mouth then climbed in the car relaxing into the leather. Adam climbed in and as we pulled away his hand took mine bringing it to his mouth for a kiss

  “I hope you don’t have many more matinees a Sunday is a boring day when you are counting down minutes” I beamed at him thrilled he was feeling the separation as much as I was.

  Lucy and Rob were already home when we got back. Detective Lucy looked at us and had us cornered before we had removed our jackets

  “You two what’s the deal? Adam this is my best friend she has had a rough time you best be serious if you dare even go there with her” I coughed to remind Lucy I was standing right there “Sorry Leah but I know what he can be like I never would have chosen him for you, although I have to admit you have had a very positive effect on him for the past couple of weeks” she hugged us both then and we changed the subject

  “So where did you whisk her off to Rob? Blackpool” Lucy gave me a sharp glance as I bit my lip to stifle a giggle

  “Wales actually, Swansea to be precise to watch the rugby League” this time biting my lip didn’t help the laugh just came out “Actually Leah I enjoyed it, men in shorts with big muscles! What could be a better way to enjoy the rain” I had tears running down my face; Rob looked embarrassed as Lucy joined in laughing. He tried to explain himself

  “I was given tickets to the final what’s a man to do? She wanted me to surprise her so that’s
what I did” I went to take a shower wiping my eyes Oh Lord I bet she had wished she was in Blackpool.

  Chapter 10

  It was Monday usually the most depressing day of the week, but for me staring into the sleeping face of my lover it was probably the best Monday I had ever had. Adam stirred a little opening one eye

  “Are you staring baby. Didn’t you get enough of me last night” He pressed his naked body against me as a reminder. I turned to face him pulling him closer to me my hand grasping his length already hard for me

  “We have fifteen minutes before the alarm how about you show me what else you can do with this” I was dragged into his muscular body and we found a few new things, the problem was it took a little longer than fifteen minutes, so we were both running late for work.

  I was still smiling when I parked my car; Lucy had given me a grilling about her brother and I all the way here but eventually she gave me her blessing

  “I am so thrilled to see you both so happy, I have never seen Adam like this over a girl ever. I think he loves you Leah” I gasped

  “Don’t be silly Luce it is far too soon for the L word” I shuddered but secretly quite liked thinking it might be true

  “Hey Lucy before you go will you check out Dickheads car with me it has been here since last Friday, I don’t understand why he would leave it here” we walked over to it peering in through the windows, as I walked past the boot I could smell something horrid. Noticing it wasn’t shut properly I lifted the catch. The stench had me reeling backwards what was inside made me vomit loudly and disgustingly on the floor.

  “Jesus Leah what is it what’s wrong?” I struggled to stand upright “Don’t go near it, call Rob now Lucy, call the Police he is in there he is dead” I collapsed to the floor holding myself together rocking gently, blood, bodies and the smell all my old memories flooded back. Lucy called Rob and Adam then wrapped her coat around me while we waited for the police.