Finders Keepers Edie Baylis (phonics readers .TXT) 📖

17 SEP / SEPT 00

Gwen blinked several times, blood rushing from her head down into the soles of her feet. Jesus Christ... Lena Taylor was not Lena Taylor... Lena Taylor was Lena O’Hara. It said it there in black and white.

Suddenly everything fell into place. The name she’d heard Lena say on that telephone call. The same name she’d seen on that mystery text message: Noeleen. She’d been referring to Noeleen O’Hara. Lena had said Auntie Noeleen...

Gwen felt vomit rise and she clutched her hand over her mouth, swallowing repeatedly to quell the bile from coming any further and stared at the passport again. The name resounding like a clanging bell whacking against the inside of her temples.

Noeleen O’Hara was Ron O’Hara’s wife – she remembered her from years back when Ron had worked at the firm. Oh Christ... ‘UR’ – the contact on her phone. Ron O’Hara? UR – Uncle Ron?

It must have been Ron who had told Lena about her involvement with Jacky Powell. Gwen had no idea how he had known, but he’d been around at that time. It had to be him.

Perspiration beaded on Gwen’s forehead. So Lena was Ron O’Hara’s niece? But which of the O’Hara brothers was her father?

She frantically unfolded the other document: Lena’s birth certificate, and her eyes scanned over the handwritten entries:

Father:

Mother:

Shit, shit, SHIT.

The daughter of Sean O’Hara – the man who had been party to the Michael Pointer heist and the man who Saul had served seventeen years inside for? Lena was Sean’s daughter? And Ron was attending the wedding?

Gwen put her head in her hands. Oh Christ, this was bad. Really bad... She had to stop this. She had to stop this now.

Jonah having a child with an O’Hara? This would kill him.

Quickly shoving the paperwork back in the envelope, Gwen placed it back in the drawer as carefully as she could with her shaking hands.

She’d go to Jonah’s house. She’d go now. Jonah was here, so Lena would be on her own. She had to confront her and tell her that her plans were foiled. As much as she despised Lena and thought she should pay for what she’d done, she didn’t want her to be killed. And that’s what could well happen if word of this got out.

If the woman admitted to Jonah what she’d done before he found out from anyone else, there was a small chance, being pregnant with his child, that she might get away with her life. But if she refused, then Gwen had no choice but to tell Jonah herself.

Gwen knew her own secret would be exposed, but she couldn’t allow this. Lena was shafting the family and it couldn’t happen. She’d known there was something, but in her wildest dreams hadn’t expected it to be this...

Grabbing her bag, she rushed from the room.

Thirty Seven

‘IT’S SOMETHING TO DO with the toms he rents the flats to,’ Jonah said.

Nero frowned. ‘Keith said that?’

‘No, Saul did. He told me when I asked where he kept disappearing to. It looks like I’ve been worrying about nothing.’

Nero pursed his lips. He wasn’t so sure. Keith was acting strange. Something was off with the man. He'd worked with Keith on and off for the best part of two decades and although he would hardly class them as best buddies, he knew him well enough to know when something was far from alright. He was keeping schtum about something and whatever it was, he sensed it was worse than toms having an issue with an uninvited pimp.

‘I guess I’m expecting Saul to fuck up, but maybe I’m looking for problems when there aren’t any?’ Jonah continued. ‘I also had to have words with Lena for inviting people back to the office and now Gwen’s disappeared too. I could do without all this shite.’

Nero raised his eyebrows. ‘What? Lena brought someone back here?’ This was all they needed. ‘Who the fuck was it?’

‘No idea.’ Jonah shrugged. ‘Some jumped up record producer prick. I came into the office and there they were.’

Nero really hoped Jonah would cap these mishaps Lena kept having. He knew more than anyone that there were eyes everywhere. But that still didn’t solve the problem as to what was wrong with Keith and that was needling him a lot more than anything Lena had done.

‘I’m not sure if Lena grasped the extent of the possible lapse in security with what she did,’ Jonah muttered.

‘She’d catch on if you got banged up and left her a single mother!’ Nero griped.

Jonah nodded. ‘I’m trying not to be too hard on her. She’s fragile at the moment but doing really well with booking good events. She was quite upset when I balled her out about this earlier. That bloke is paying 75k for a function here on Saturday.’

Nero blew threw his teeth. ‘And he’s kosher, this guy?’

‘I was hoping Gwen had checked him out, but I don’t know where she’s got to.’ Jonah frowned, beginning to feel like he didn’t know much of what was going on at all anymore. This was his firm, yet he felt side-lined – something he was not used to.

‘Could you grab the form off Lena’s desk and her membership file?’ Jonah asked. ‘The process is automated but she’s got a printout of the details of all the new Platinum members.’

Nodding, Nero moved into the corridor, spotting Keith heading the other way. ‘Where you off to?’ he called.

Turning around, Keith scowled. ‘Do I need to check in and out with you now? Got someone to meet. You know, the stuff I’ve been doing for God knows how many years?’

Refraining from catching up with Keith and knocking some manners into his head, Nero continued down the corridor, shaking his head in frustration. Was everyone hell bent on taking the piss around here? Things were going to shit quicker than he could keep up with.

Everything had been