Chapter 12

Father Petrou’s voice woke me up. I checked the time. It was gone two in the afternoon. I lay there on the bed for a moment, just staring at the ceiling.

“Tony, have you woken up yet?” Father Petrou called.

“Give me a minute, Father.”

“I’ll be in my office,” he replied.

Fifteen minutes later I walked into Father Petrou’s office, under my arm the bag containing the money. My good friend, the priest, was reading from the bible which was spread open on his desk. If I hadn’t coughed, he wouldn’t have noticed me standing there.

“Merry Christmas, Father Petrou,” I said.

“A Merry Christmas to you Tony.” He smiled. “I didn’t see you all day yesterday. Did you spend the day with Julie?” he asked.

“I was in Brighton. I had some unfinished business down there.”

I put the bag on the desk, in front of Father Petrou. He looked at it, then at me, finally gazed back at the bag. He closed the bible he was reading, putting it to the side. He pulled the bag nearer. He slowly unzipped it, spreading the opening wider to look inside. He took a deep breath then exhaled. He retrieved the bloody baton from inside the bag, putting it on his desk. His eyes fixed on the contents inside the bag.

“I found them, Father Petrou; I made them pay for what they did to Julie and me.” I pulled the two photographers out of my pocket, putting them beside the baton. “It’s all over now, no more,” I said.

Father Petrou put his hands together, locking his fingers together. He looked down and closed his eyes. I watched his lips move. He was praying. When he finished, he lifted his head and opened his eyes. He took another deep breath before he said.

“Is that where they are from?”

“Yes.”

He glanced at the baton. “Is that their blood?” He gestured his hand towards the weapon.

I nodded my head. “I did what I had to do Father,” I said without the sound of regret in my voice.

His stare moved to the bag. “How much is in the bag?” Father Petrou asked.

“Give or take £70,000.”

“Jesus Christ!” he screamed. He looked behind me, worried someone heard him. He waited a moment before he continued, “You have to go away for a while. I will get rid of all this.” He looked at the weapon and photos. Then turned to the bag, he put his hand over it. He smiled. “The blood money, it will feed a lot of hungry people. I will call Father Demetriou to expect you.” He wrote the address on a piece of paper, putting it in my hand.

“You have been like an older brother to me,” I said. I embraced him, not wanting to let go.

“We will see each other again my friend. Get out of here. I need to clean up around here before I go.” He gathered the items from his desk, dumping them in a cupboard on the bookcase. “I’ll deal with that tomorrow. I have to be somewhere today, and I’m already late because of you.” We embraced each other again before I left his office.

I packed everything I owned which wasn’t much, in a Lifeventure Expedition Duffel bag.

I was ready to go.

The last coach to Liverpool was at eight in the evening. I still had four hours until then. I had plenty of time to go and see Julie, and I did promise my mother-in-law to meet her at the hospital today. The taxi driver put his foot down on the accelerator, getting us to Chase Farm Hospital in record time.

I was all smiles, walking towards Julie’s bed. The curl on my lips dropped from what I saw. Sitting beside Julie’s bed was my father-in-law. My mother-in-law on the other side of the bed, she was stroking Julie’s hair. She had her back to me.

“Merry Christmas,” I said.

Mary quickly turned smiling at me. “Merry Christmas,” she replied. She rushed over, embraced me and kissing me on both cheeks.

I stood there frozen.

My father-in-law wasn’t too happy to see me.

“Is everything ok, Tony?” Mary said.

I grabbed the curtain end, sliding it along the rail, giving us privacy from the people around us. My eyes were like daggers on my father-in-law. He wouldn’t even look at me.

“Could someone tell what is going on?” Mary said a little too loud.

“Why don’t you ask Harry?” I yelled. My eyes glued on my father-in-law.

He sat there, still looking at the ground.

I retrieved an envelope of cash from the inside of my jacket, threw it across the bed. The envelope landed on my father-in-law’s chest, some of the notes spilling out, dropping onto the ground.

“Harry paid £10,000 to make me disappear,” I turned to my mother-in-law, tears in my eyes. “Who paid the price? Julie did!” I yelled