Legacy. Jeff Edwards

      

      About the Author

      Jeff Edwards joined the Citizen’s Military Forces – now the Military Reserve – at the age of eighteen and two years later was selected for National Service, serving as a keyboard operator in the Signal Corps in Melbourne and Canberra.

      He spent his early civilian working life as a public servant, honing his people skills in the accounts department of the Sydney County Council.

      Jeff became a commercial agent/private investigator in 1991, supplying legal practitioner clients with the day to day ‘footwork’ they require. His first company, based in the Penrith area of Sydney, is now run by his wife, Lyn, while Jeff operates a second company with a more diverse base of clients.

      Much of the work is routine but Jeff says it can become ‘interesting’ without warning and the couple’s people skills are often put to the test.

      A lifelong resident of western Sydney, Jeff and Lyn moved to Penrith with their first child nearly thirty years ago and the entire family has since developed strong ties with the local community.

      As an escape from the demands of work Jeff pursues his other interests, which include photography and gardening.

      As an avid reader of all forms of fiction, as well as history, he has an extensive collection of books on Australian and ancient history.

      Legacy, Jeff’s second novel, continues the saga of Jade Green that began in Watching.

      The characters in that novel simply refused to live happily ever after and I was glad to accede to their wishes.

      Published in Australia by Sid Harta Publishers Pty Ltd,

       ABN: 46 119 415 842 23

       Stirling Crescent, Glen Waverley, Victoria 3150 Australia

       Telephone: [phone], Facsimile: 61 9545 1742

       E-mail: [email protected]

      First published in Australia 2010

       Paperback edition published May 2010

       Copyright © Jeff Edwards 2010

       Cover design: Chameleon Print Design

      The right of Jeff Edwards to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

      This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to that of people living or dead are purely coincidental.

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

      Edwards, Jeff

       Legacy

       ISBN: 978-1-921642-64-7 (pbk)

      Digital distribution by Ebook Alchemy

      ISBN: 9781877006425 (ePub)

      DEDICATION

      Like a pebble dropped into a pond I tend to develop my story lines from the most insignificant of events. I allow the ripples of that original moment in time to spread out in all directions, creating an overall landscape of a time and a place for my characters to exist within.

      For that small detail I’d like to thank my old friends, Mark and Jacquie, who told me the story of the red knickers and unleashed a novel. I wish I could have used the entire story.

      Once again, thanks to my wife Lyn for her support. Nothing would have been achieved without it.

      Thanks to my editor Tony Berry for smashing my words into shape and trying to cure me of my comma addiction.

      Finally, I must thank all those people who read Watching and who went out of their way to contact me and say how much they loved it. This book is for you.

      Prelude

      It began quietly enough, as most things do. The other reporters on court duty may have been too young to remember her, but Mick Sloane was an old trouper, and he was certainly old enough. He recognised her immediately. After all, he had sat in the court while her trial took place and excitedly reported all the lurid details. He and his fellow reporters had tried to guess who she was protecting. It had frustrated them that the whole story was not coming out.

      Now, like an echo from the past, here she was, Jade Green. She came walking through the doors of the courthouse with a group of lawyers on their way to argue the merits of a property dispute. It was hardly the thing to make the front page of his newspaper, but still exciting to an old timer like him.

      So he recorded the event, knowing full well that he would probably have to explain to his young editor just who the infamous Jade Green was before any mention of her would appear in print.

      He was, of course, not the only one present that recognised her.

      Grinning at their discomfort, Mick watched as she waved to some elderly members of the legal profession, noting their stunned expressions and the way others tried to scurry out of sight. There were a lot of guilty expressions in court today and they weren’t on the faces of the criminals.

      When the public interest item did appear, it was relegated to four lines in the ‘In Court’ column of the paper, below the speeding fine of a local business identity and above the guilty plea of a bicycle thief.

      There was a day or two of uneasy murmuring among the clients of certain conservative businessmen’s clubs in the city, but that soon died down. They hoped, and prayed, that Jade Green would return to wherever she had just sprung from and that she would remain there forever.

      The President of the USA heard about her sudden appearance as an offhand comment made by his ambassador in their regular phone conversation. It was said lightheartedly by the ambassador, knowing that the President had been working in the city when Jade Green had been brought to trial. He had been a junior member of the embassy at the time and soon after returned home, where he was eventually elected to the Senate for his home state and later rose to his present esteemed office.

      The President laughed along with the ambassador, hiding his sudden alarm, and broke off the conversation as quickly as he could.

      He sat for a time and pondered the possibilities before ringing his security advisor. Instructions were issued and a low grade alert was initiated. Orders went out to keep a watch on the activities of one Jade Green and to report immediately if anything unusual were to occur.

      It hadn’t been deemed a matter of any importance to the secretary who was employed to keep the Prime Minister informed on noteworthy news stories. Prime Minister David Foster heard about the matter in a conversation with an old school friend. He knew he had nothing to fear personally but was aware of the ramifications if the past should rear its ugly head.

      He issued instructions for the woman to be monitored.

      So, too, in several other countries, the word was passed quietly around that, after years of oblivion, Jade Green had been seen in public. They held their collective breaths and waited.

      Time passed