film me as you.”

  “So the fox cams were set up?”

  “Yes, I was dressed as you. Then we would

  use a dog to film ‘you’. We didn’t use foxes to

  run around filming you, even though it is

  believable. Dad got your scent and made it a

  treat for the local foxes so that when you were

  out and about, they would sometimes pick up

  your scent and follow you. That’s why you

  saw foxes around here and running around in

  Dad’s shack. But there you go; I’m sure he

  would love to explain it properly but he’s not

  here.”

  “Where is he now then?”

  “He’s in Spain now with my mum.” Andrew

  laughs.

  295

  “Okay, so in the book you made up some

  kind of gangster scene where four men were

  chasing me because they thought I had killed

  Tanya and the kids, correct?”

  “Yes.” Andrew says, out of breath.

  “So the four men are you, Simon, Don and

  Shola?”

  “Yes, they’re the made up gang. Mr S acted as

  leader.”

  “Mr S being Simon?”

  “Yes. Some retard who worked for Simon

  called him Mr. S so it stuck. I didn’t want to

  use the initial of his surname either so I made

  it S.”

  “Why did you burn Shola’s house down?”

  “To get rid of the evidence and body so it

  couldn’t be identified…”

  “The two men who burnt the house down,

  was that you and Simon?”

  “Yes it was.”

  I stare at the top of Andrew’s dangling head,

  he seems unresponsive but is still able to

  speak and tell me everything. I look to Tanya

  who seems to have calmed down now.

  I sigh and shake my head in disbelief.

  “Well I don’t know what to say. What you’ve

  done has ruined my life, your lives and the

  kids’ lives and everyone else involved but you

  don’t seem to care.”

  I stand up from my chair; pick it up and

  throw it against the wall; pieces of wood fling

  across the room.

  296

  “I’m going to go and see my kids. The police

  will be here any second I expect. Have a good

  life.” I turn away and walk towards the stairs.

  “Do you think anyone will actually believe

  you? You’re mentally unstable Ryan,

  remember?”

  “I do remember yes but do you remember

  I’m actually not?”

  “They don’t know that though do they?”

  Andrew sniggers.

  “No they won’t but they’ll believe you.”

  “What makes you think I’m going to tell

  them everything I told you?”

  “You don’t need to, they know.” I say as I

  walk back towards Tanya. “The confession

  from you both is on here.” I say as I press the

  button to stop the recording. “By the way

  Tan, thanks for being my wife and giving me

  those two beautiful children, I’ll tell them you

  love them.”

  “You leave my kids alone.” Tanya bellows at

  me, she begins to scream and trying to head-

  butt me.

  Andrew continues to hang his head, Tanya

  continues to scream whilst I send the

  recording to Sandra’s mobile number as a

  backup file.

  “See you in court.” I say as I walk up the

  basement stairs.

  I open the basement door and leave it open. I

  turn left and walk up the stairs and onto the

  landing. I can see flashing blue lights as a car

  pulls onto the drive. The police van and

  Range Rovers pull up in front of the Cann’s

  297

  and my house. I quickly walk across the

  landing and see a door with ‘Sammy’s room’

  on it and next to it: ‘Alex’s room’. I go into

  Sammy’s room. The street lights give enough

  light to see her smooth skin and chubby

  cheeks. Her hair scattered on her pillow and

  mouth gaping open. Her duvet hangs down

  onto the floor, only covering her legs. I pick

  the duvet up and cover her body up. I kiss her

  forehead and then go into Alex’s. He faces

  away from the door, with his right leg over

  the duvet hugging it. I stand over him and

  lean over and kiss him on his head.

  I stealthily walk out of his room and close his

  door.

  As I look out of the front windows, I see the

  men outside; I spot Sam and Hughes charging

  up the slope.

  I go downstairs and stand in the hallway. I

  walk over to the door and swing it open. As I

  do that, I take a step back and lay face-down

  on the floor with my arms outstretched.

  I hear the group of men charge into the

  house. I look up to see one run into the sitting

  room, one in the kitchen, two upstairs and

  another two down into the basement. Sam

  runs in, stares at me and shakes his head.

  He tells me: “Stay down.”

  He kneels and places the cuffs on my wrists.

  “Where’s this blood from?” He asks me.

  “It’s from Andrew Myers, the man who set

  me up. I have all the evidence to prove my

  innocence on Tanya Milligan’s phone and I

  also have someone else who can back up my

  298

  word. Just ask Sandra Cann, your mother.

  And question your father on his involvement,

  Sandra will back up everything.”

  Sam doesn’t respond; instead he shouts to

  Hughes to take me out of the house. Sam

  runs down to the basement and Hughes

  comes over to me and pulls me up off the

  ground.

  “Sandra has told me everything Ryan, you’re

  safe now. I’ll do everything I can to help you.”

  “Thank you detective Hughes.” I say with a

  sigh of relief.

  “Call me Miles.” He says as he walks

  alongside me out onto the porch, down the

  path and into the Range Rover.

  As I stare around Mulberry Lane, I see Paul

  Brooke and his wife standing outside; his

  children stare out of their upstairs windows. I

  look to the Brekken’s old house. There’s an

  elderly lady standing at her window, the

  curtain taut. I look to the Cann’s. The Audi

  reverses out of the drive, its wheels spinning,

  flicking the snow around it. It crashes into the

  Range Rover I’m in and then it speeds off out

  of the road. As he reaches the end of the

  road, it crashes into a police van. Simon gets

  out of the car and is grabbed by a policeman

  and thrown onto the snowy ground.

  I look back to my house and see Tanya being

  escorted down the path and into another

  police car.

  I see a small, hunched up middle-aged

  woman walk out of the house holding Sammy

  and Alex.

  299

  Sammy and Alex both look around and walk

  over to a red VW Polo on the other side of

  the road.

  “Miles can I talk to them quickly?”

  “Yes wait a second,” he says, getting out of

  the car.

  Hughes runs to the woman. They speak to

  each other. The kids look to the car, as does

  the woman and they walk over to me.

  I begin to cry, I can’t believe I will finally be

  reunited with my kids, I need them back, I

  need to see them again and be a dad to them.

  Hughes opens the door and lets the kids

  climb into the back of the Range Rover with

  me.

  “Hello darlings.” I say as they both shout:

  “Daddy” at me. Their high-pitched voices

  make me burst into tears. I lay back onto the

  door behind me and hug them both at the

  same time, as best I can with the handcuffs

  on. I kiss the tops of their heads.

  “Did you miss me?” I sob to the both of

  them.

  They both simultaneously reply: “Yeah!”

  Sammy looks up to me, I look into her sleepy

  brown eyes as she asks: “Where were you

  daddy? I missed you so much.”

  I can’t control myself; my tears continue to

  pour out from my eyes. I press Sammy’s head

  against my mouth and I kiss her head.

  “I have been looking for you both for six

  years.”

  “Mummy didn’t know where you were.” Alex

  says.

  300

  I don’t know what Tanya told them but

  hopefully it isn’t anything too bad.

  “Well I didn’t know where you two went. All

  three of you disappeared one night. Mummy

  didn’t tell me where you had gone”

  “Is that why mum is with the police?” Alex

  asks me.

  “Yes. Mum’s going away for a while, but I

  will do everything I can to look after you and

  get you back. Hopefully you’ll be living with

  me soon. Would you like that?” I ask them.

  “Yeah!” They both scream; clutching their

  arms around my neck, I feel their small hands

  rubbing my head and feel their soft cheeks

  pressing against my bristles.

  “For now though, you two, you’re going to

  be staying with this lady here, you have to be

  good for her and then I will come and get you

  from her and you’ll come and live with me.”

  “Okay Daddy.” Alex says whilst Sammy

  continues to clutch my head.

  “Off you go. I love you both.” I say.

  They both jump down onto the ground, turn

  and say “I love you too.”

  Hughes winks to me and shuts the door. The

  woman holds both of her hands down and

  Sammy and Alex hold onto one each. They

  walk alongside her to the car, constantly

  looking back at me.

  I rest my head back and close my eyes.

  301

  A New Life

  It’s been four months since the truth came

  out. If Sandra hadn’t told Hughes what

  happened then I would be up for felony

  charges of torture.

  Hughes covered up what I did and he put

  across what happened realistically in court.

  The court bought it and didn’t question him.

  It backed up with my story that me, Hughes

  and my lawyer, Gillian put together.

  I was charged with trespassing, but because it

  was my first official offence, I was let off with

  a warning, which I was surprised about.

  Sandra also backed me up and submitted the

  recorded file to the court which they listened

  to. They heard the screams and the shouting

  and questioned me. I said that I was

  threatening and aggressive but I did not harm

  them. When they heard Andrew’s cries they

  questioned why he screamed and as Gillian

  told me to say, I said: ‘no comment’.

  The outcome was, with a lack of evidence,

  they could not charge me with torture. But

  the recording of Tanya and Andrew’s

  confession and the confession of Simon Cann

  and Sandra’s version of events was more than

  enough to send Tanya, Andrew, Simon and

  Shola all down for a long time.

  If it wasn’t for Sandra coming to see me in

  the institution I would not be here now. I’d be

  in there or worse. I wish I could thank her

  properly, but I haven’t seen her since.

  302

  If Hughes hadn’t helped me before the police

  came, I’d be in prison. I did however send

  him some money to say thanks.

  Of course Gillian was a great lawyer who also

  got a fat pay check for her good work.

  Everything is good and more importantly, I

  got custody of the kids but with the eye of

  social services watching me - which I can deal

  with.

  As we walk along the river in Surrey, the kids

  see a park.

  “Ah Dad can we go to the park?” Alex

  shouts, jumping up and down in front of me.

  “Well I don’t know; have you been good

  enough for me?” I say.

  “Yes we’ve been so good.”

  “Our school reports were really, really, really,

  really good!” Sammy shouts.

  “Were they?” I ask.

  “Yes!” They both shout.

  “I don’t know, I can’t remember any school

  reports.”

  “Daddy, yeah you do!” Alex shouts running

  up to me. He grips my hand and looks up to

  me; his brown eyes glisten. “Please.” He

  smiles, showing his new grown adult teeth.

  “I suppose so, go on then.”

  They both scream and run to the park ahead

  of us.

  I jog to keep up with them as they climb over

  the fence. I walk in through the gate.

  “There’s a gate here.” I shout to them.

  303

  They giggle and run straight to the climbing

  frame.

  As I walk over to the bench to sit down, I see

  a blonde woman walking her little dog. But

  it’s not just any woman, it’s Sandra.

  “Kids, stay in the park for a second, do not

  leave okay?”

  “Yes daddy.” They both shout.

  I hop over the fence to hear them both

  shout: “There’s a gate,” with the deepest tone

  they can manage.

  I walk over to her. “Sandy?”

  As I say it, she looks up.

  “Oh my god, Ryan!” She runs up to me, arms

  akimbo. I pull her in and hug her tightly.

  She pulls her head away from my chest but

  still keeps a hold of my waist.

  “How are you?” She asks.

  “I’m great thank you, everything is really

  good actually. I got the kids back.” I say,

  pointing to the park. “But it’s all thanks to

  you Sandy. I don’t know how I can ever thank

  you.”

  “Ryan don’t worry about it. You don’t need

  to thank me,” she says.

  I nod my head and gaze into her tired eyes.

  “How are you Sandra?” I ask her.

  “I’m okay. My divorce went through. Sam’s

  absolutely gutted about what his dad did, but

  apart from that it’s all good. I’m so glad to

  have bumped into you. I’ve been thinking

  about you so much recently and I’ve needed a

  friend,” she says.

  304

  “Well I’m here for you Sandy and I don’t

  want to lose contact this time.” I smile and

  stare into her eyes. “Why don’t you come over

  and meet the kids? They’ll love you.”

  “Oh no I’m sure you won’t want me ruining

  your day.”

  “Oh no you’ve made my day so much better.

  Please come over, you can come round mine

  and we’ll have a proper catch up together.”

  Sandra looks away and then back at me and

  then past my shoulder to the kids and then

  back at me. “Okay why not,” she says smiling.

  “Great, come on then, I’ll introduce you to

  them.” We walk back to the park. Side by

  side, we wander, letting our hands knock

  against each other and our shoulders rub, but

  neither of us pull away, if anything, we edge

  closer together.

  305

  The End

  306

  Acknowledgments

  I would firstly like to thank you, the reader, for

  buying a copy of The Author. I hope you enjoyed

  it.

  I would also like to thank the support I have

  had from all of my family and friends. I would

  like to thank my parents Helen and Mark and

  my girlfriend April for their constant

  encouragement and support throughout.

  I would also like to thank Michelle Gent for her

  editing services and Sam Cannon for her

  illustration.

  Thank you also to the services of CreateSpace

  and Amazon.

  - T. J. Blake

  307

  Endurance

  Available now for paperback and eBook on

  Amazon.

  What is being said about Endurance:

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  reading, and has a very interesting theme.”

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  something new happens and you're like "wait,

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