“MEGAN!” Carter interrupted, “Perhaps we should hear what Eric actually thinks.”
Megan petulantly folded her arms across her chest and glared at Stone.
“Well?” she snapped, “What do you think?”
Eric sat down and put his head in his hands.
“It’s all right Ed, Megan’s right… well almost.” He sighed. “The truth is… well, I don’t really know what to think.”
Megan began to speak, but Ed held up a calming hand. She huffed and sat down. Stone continued.
“There’s this funny, intelligent, and beautiful woman that I have fallen in love with — and I have just found out that she is some super assassin who has committed God knows how many murders. What’s more, we only met because she was there to kill me. I—”
“But she didn’t,” Megan cut in, “that must count for something!”
“Megan!” Carter chided, unsure if she was actually joking.
“She makes a good point,” Stone admitted. “According to her psychologist; this Chameleon had probably been weakening its hold over Linda for some time. That decision to spare my life was really the end of it. Perhaps I met the real Linda Smart. Perhaps that’s who I fell in love with.”
He stood up and looked out of the window.
“The problem is, I haven’t seen her for almost a month, and I just don’t know what to expect. What will I feel when I look into her eyes? What will I see? I’m not sure if I can ever stop seeing the Chameleon.”
Carter came over and stood by Eric’s side. He put a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“Let me ask you something my friend. What if Linda was a soldier? What if she was a sniper, or perhaps a pilot, coming back from Afghanistan? She could have shot people, or dropped bombs, and perhaps she would even have killed innocent civilians. If she did those things, would you love her any less?”
Stone shook his head.
“No… I don’t think I would.”
“And what about you, Eric? You’ve taken lives. You’ve killed people. How should Linda feel about that?”
“I know what you’re getting at, but those were all righteous kills. This is different.”
“Christ Eric,” Ed snapped, “how is this different? There are no ‘righteous’ killings — there are simply killings. Whatever the motive, people still end up dead. Linda didn’t volunteer for this; she wasn’t a willing accomplice. She was forced into this against her will, and she was brainwashed. Ever since she was a child, she was trained to do this — and yet she still fought it!”
Ed turned to face Eric.
“You have to understand… she was an unwilling participant who chose to walk a different path — that must count for something.”
Stone said nothing. Carter had one more try.
“When you said that you loved her, did you mean it? Because if you didn’t Eric; then those words were just like ashes in your mouth. Linda Smart deserves some latitude. She deserves a shot at a better life — and so do you.”
Linda was sitting on the bed. Eric was next to her holding her hand. Her suitcase was on the chair, packed and ready.
His heart had almost broken when he looked into her eyes. There were tears of sadness and shame, but he could also see a terrified little girl. She was afraid that she was going to be left alone, afraid that she was going to be punished, for something she didn’t do.
Linda had been rational and honest. She had explained how she would not blame him, should he never want to see her again. Linda said that she would understand. She talked about trying to start a new life on her own, and making a fresh start. In the end, he put his finger to her lips, to stop the torrent of well-meant lies. Then he replaced it with his lips.
Then Eric tried his best to explain how he felt. He said that he genuinely loved Linda, and he wanted to be with her. He acknowledged that there would be issues, and that they would have to work through them together. For over an hour, they talked back and forward, trying to rationalize what had happened, and how it could affect their life together. In the end it was one tacky but genuine sentence that sealed the deal.
“The past, and whatever happened, that’s yours Linda — but the future; that’s all ours.”
Linda and Eric were sitting in their kitchen eating breakfast, when the news broke on the radio.
“A week since the General Election resulted in a hung Parliament; it seems likely that we will have a new Government today. Reports are suggesting that Sally Field, the charismatic leader of the True Democracy party, has agreed to bring her twelve colleagues into a coalition government with the Conservative party. Miss Field is the bookies favourite to become deputy Prime Minister. As a part of the deal, a bill to add a ‘None of the above vote’ to all future ballot papers will be announced in the Queens speech.
And in other news… The disgraced former MP Harold Heathfield has been found dead at his London apartment. Last month Mr. Heathfield was arrested and bailed, after an anonymous tip had led police to discover substantial quantities of child pornography stored on computers at his home. He was due to appear in court tomorrow. Police sources are suggesting that he may have taken his own life.”
“What an ironic coincidence,” Linda said with a smile. “I think we should buy Megan some chocolates and a bouquet of flowers for her new apartment.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nick Albert was born in England and raised in a Royal Air Force family. After leaving college in 1979, he worked in retail management for several years, before moving to financial services as a training manager. In the mid-1980's he qualified as a martial arts instructor, and began a parallel career coaching sport. In search of a simpler life, and the opportunity to write full time, he and his wife, relocated to the rural west of Ireland in 2003.
You can read their story in the bestselling book, ‘An Irish Taiclass="underline" A hilarious tale of an English couple and their unruly dogs, searching for a better life in rural Ireland’. It is available at all good bookstores and online retailers.
Authors depend on reviews for their livelihood. It takes thousands of hours to research, write, and edit a book like ‘Wrecking Crew’, if you have enjoyed this book, please share your thoughts with others by posting a review.
Finally, I take a lot of pride in my work, but mistakes do happen — even after twelve edits. If you’ve spotted an error, or you have something to say, I would be happy to hear from you at nickalbert@outlook.com.