Josephine Cox 3-Book Collection 1: Midnight, Blood Brothers, Songbird. Josephine Cox

approval of Jack, whose reputation went before him, as an accomplished and trusted employee, having been awarded ‘Employee of the Year’ status, two years running.

      Jack was not surprised to be told of the big chief’s arrival. He had worked with the man some years back, and knew how thorough he was. He told Branagan, ‘I’ll have my queries ready for the morning – if there are any.’

      ‘There are bound to be niggles,’ the other man said. ‘But I’m sure you won’t let a few lines on a page stop you from grabbing the best opportunity you’re ever likely to get.’

      Annoyed by the other man’s arrogance, Jack replied coldly, ‘I don’t accept that this is “the best opportunity I’m ever likely to get”, but you can rest assured I’ll read every word and make notes as warranted. I won’t deny, I would like this position. But when all is said and done, I mustn’t be too hasty. I mean, I’d be a fool to jump out of the frying-pan into the fire, don’t you think?’

      His mind was already made up, but he didn’t want to give the other man the idea that it was all a done deal. He wanted him to sweat on it until the morning. He wanted him to believe that he could take the job or leave it – that he wasn’t all that bothered either way.

      A few moments later Jack left the building, the contract secure in his grasp, while Branagan remained, pacing his office in a fret, saying, ‘Arrogant bastard! One way or another, I’ll be rid of you, Jack Redmond! You see if I don’t!’

      He had no way of knowing that Jack was as determined to sign the contract as he was determined to be rid of him.

      That evening, when Jack dropped the bombshell of his plans to move north, Molly was quick to show her disapproval. ‘If you do this, you do it on your own!’ she raged. ‘I want no part in it.’

      Devastated that he had not thought to discuss such an important matter with her before making his decision, she told him, ‘If you want my opinion – which you obviously don’t – I believe you’re making a big mistake. But it doesn’t matter to you what I think, does it? I thought we were a couple, that we talked things over together. And what about the session at the clinic? I don’t suppose you even went, did you?’ Her voice shook with anger.

      ‘Yes, I did go to the clinic. In fact, it was because of what happened there that I know now I have to go back – back to the beginning, where I grew up.’

      ‘That’s nonsense!’ she burst out. ‘What will you be going back to? You’re not thinking straight, Jack. You’ve been gone from your hometown for too many years. What makes you think there’s anything there that can possibly explain what’s happening to you now? Oh, I get it! That’s why you’ve accepted the manager’s post up there. You tied the two together and came up with an answer to all your troubles. You’ve made what could be the biggest decision of your life, without even bothering to consult me. That tells me I’m not important enough in your life. That’s right, isn’t it, Jack?’

      ‘No!’ Going across the room to her, he pleaded with her to calm down and listen to what he had to say. ‘Please, Molly. Come and sit down. I’ll tell you what happened at the clinic.’ Taking her by the hand, he led her to the sofa, where he sat her down beside him. ‘Like I said, I did go to the clinic.’

      ‘And?’

      ‘And it was a long session. Mr Howard asked me a lot of questions. I told him about the images – how they made me feel . . . everything.’

      Molly softened a little. ‘That was good. So, what did he say? Did he have any advice? When is your next appointment? You are going back to see him again, aren’t you?’

      Avoiding her questions, Jack went on, ‘After a while, he asked me to close my eyes, and suddenly I was back there . . . in that place – only this time it was more vivid than before. Everything was so powerful, Molly.’ Reliving the ordeal in his mind, he inwardly shivered. ‘I could hardly breathe.’

      Before she could start on her questions again, he went on quickly, ‘Afterwards, he said the descriptions I gave were very strong. He said I had done something which he claimed was very significant. When he told me about it, I was shocked.’

      ‘What do you mean?’

      ‘He said . . . I cried out.’

      ‘But we already know that.’ Molly had lost count of the times she had been shocked awake by his cries.

      ‘Molly, I’m going to ask you something, and I want you to think very hard before you answer.’

      Her curiosity was heightened. ‘Go on, then.’

      ‘You’ve been with me for over a year now. You know more about my dreams than anyone else. So, was there ever a time when you heard me call out for my mother?’

      Molly shook her head. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever heard you cry out for anyone – certainly not your mother. So, is that what you did? How strange. What did he make of that?’

      ‘He said it was significant, that we’d made some kind of breakthrough,’ Jack explained. ‘Now, it’s changed everything. I’m finding it even harder to cope with. It was the way I called out for her, like a small child.’ He mimicked the cry that Mr Howard had portrayed. ‘He said it was the voice of a child, not much older than two or three years of age.’

      ‘But, what were his conclusions about the nightmares?’ Molly digressed. ‘Did he know why they were happening – and does he think he can help you?’

      Jack remembered the psychiatrist’s cautious approach. ‘He said he couldn’t be certain what the cause was at this stage, but that we needed more sessions before we could root out the truth. He said we would have to be patient.’ Something made him hesitate from divulging too much of what Mr Howard had said. ‘He warned that different possibilities will come up – some right, some wrong – and that we have to deal with them as they occur. He said it would take time.’

      ‘And that’s it?!’ Molly was not satisfied. ‘So far, then, he has no real answers?’

      ‘Like I said, it’s bound to take time.’

      From the tone of his voice and the way he was hesitating, Molly knew there was more. ‘You’re not telling me everything, are you?’ she accused.

      Jack paused. He was reluctant to reveal how his dreams could be rooted in reality.

      ‘So, are you still planning on moving up north?’

      ‘With you, yes, I hope so.’

      ‘I’ve already said – if you go, you go on your own. Why should I leave everything behind – my job at Banbury’s, my family and my house – which in case you’ve forgotten, my brother is renting at the moment? I expect you want me to sell that too, don’t you?’

      ‘That would be entirely up to you.’ He had never interfered in Molly’s private arrangements. ‘I’ll probably sell this house and buy a home for us up in Lancashire. It makes sense.’

      Molly didn’t agree. ‘Look at it from my point of view, Jack! It all seems a bit rushed, don’t you think? This morning there was no mention of any of this, and now suddenly you’re in a tearing hurry to up sticks and turn our lives upside down. What’s happened, Jack? Why is it so urgent that you move away?’ She grew increasingly impatient, ‘You are holding something back, I know it!’

      Jack held his silence, unsure whether to confide in her. He didn’t know if it would change her mind about moving away, or if it would make her dig her heels in even more.

      Reluctantly, Jack told her how the psychiatrist had suggested that his dreams might not be the product of a fertile imagination, but could be based on a traumatic event that took place in his early childhood. Even