view. Comfortable with the sight, Daniel opened the door.
‘Sign here please,’ the courier said as he presented a small handheld computer for Daniel to sign.
Daniel checked the details and saw that the package was for him. He signed the screen, thanked him, and closed the door. The sender’s address was the orphanage he’d grown up in. Intrigued, he took the package into the kitchen and laid it on the counter. He wondered what his past could possibly have sent him.
With apprehension, he took a knife from the cutlery drawer and slipped it under the tape that secured the FedEx envelope; then he turned the pack upside down and shook out the contents. A white A5 envelope fell to the counter. Daniel watched it land and then stuck his hand inside the pack to see if there was anything else inside. Satisfied that the pack was empty, he put it down and returned his attention to the envelope.
‘To Daniel’ was written in blue ink.
‘Strange,’ he muttered to himself, and then reached for the knife to open the envelope.
Sitting snugly inside the crisp white envelope was a yellowed, aged, unaddressed envelope. Daniel immediately thought it was becoming a stupid game of pass the parcel or a modern version of a Russian doll. His curiosity had turned to mirth as he slipped his thumb under the envelope flap and pulled out a letter and a photograph.
His smile turned sour as he read the letter from Sister Elizabeth and stared at the picture.
Chapter 9
E lwood stared across the dining room table at Dr. Turnbold. The house oozed money, with lavish white carpets and furniture laced with black and gold Versace finishing. Huge family portraits hung from the walls, and photos of the doctor were scattered all around the house; all of which came as no surprise to Elwood.
Turnbold was tied to a chair, and Elwood was quizzing him about the visit from Cain.
‘Well, Doctor, I have to say I don’t believe a word you’re saying. I’m going to ask you what Cain said to you one more time — and believe me, if you lie this time, things will not go very well for you — or for your family.’ Elwood’s voice was soft but his words were anything but.
‘You people don’t scare me anymore, your threats, court injunctions, lies they’re all tired and old. Cain told me everything; so go ahead and do your worst. And you can tell your boss that your antics today are going to make me an even richer man — I’m going to sue you and your company for kidnapping and distress. Now untie me, and get the hell out of here!’
Arrogance and disrespect flashed through Elwood’s mind. He smiled, got up, and walked slowly behind Turnbold.
‘Now, what we seem to have here, Dr. Turnbold, is a lack of understanding. We don’t seem to be seeing eye-to-eye — time to change that!’
With one hand, Elwood grabbed Turnbold by the hair and pulled his head back to face him, while his other hand hooked under the man’s chin. With Turnbold’s face pointing skyward, Elwood tightened his grip on the scalp pulling the skin taut across his face and making his eyes bulge. With Turnbold violently shaking in his chair, Elwood casually moved his hand from his chin to the side of the terrified man’s left eye, and with a swift stab of his thumb popped Turnbold’s eye completely out of its socket.
Turnbold screamed in pain as the ball of his eye bobbed around on his cheek, tenuously connected to his head by the ocular nerves and muscles. Elwood’s hand quickly covered his mouth and he leaned in to talk.
‘In medical terms, it’s known as globe luxation, the more you move, the more strain you’ll put on the blood vessels that are connecting your eye to your head. Break them or leave the eye outside of the head for too long and I won’t be able to save it, so I suggest you stop struggling immediately.’
Turnbold froze still.
‘Now, it’s time to tell me everything I want to know and remember — clock’s ticking.’
‘I just
‘Sign here please,’ the courier said as he presented a small handheld computer for Daniel to sign.
Daniel checked the details and saw that the package was for him. He signed the screen, thanked him, and closed the door. The sender’s address was the orphanage he’d grown up in. Intrigued, he took the package into the kitchen and laid it on the counter. He wondered what his past could possibly have sent him.
With apprehension, he took a knife from the cutlery drawer and slipped it under the tape that secured the FedEx envelope; then he turned the pack upside down and shook out the contents. A white A5 envelope fell to the counter. Daniel watched it land and then stuck his hand inside the pack to see if there was anything else inside. Satisfied that the pack was empty, he put it down and returned his attention to the envelope.
‘To Daniel’ was written in blue ink.
‘Strange,’ he muttered to himself, and then reached for the knife to open the envelope.
Sitting snugly inside the crisp white envelope was a yellowed, aged, unaddressed envelope. Daniel immediately thought it was becoming a stupid game of pass the parcel or a modern version of a Russian doll. His curiosity had turned to mirth as he slipped his thumb under the envelope flap and pulled out a letter and a photograph.
His smile turned sour as he read the letter from Sister Elizabeth and stared at the picture.
Chapter 9
E lwood stared across the dining room table at Dr. Turnbold. The house oozed money, with lavish white carpets and furniture laced with black and gold Versace finishing. Huge family portraits hung from the walls, and photos of the doctor were scattered all around the house; all of which came as no surprise to Elwood.
Turnbold was tied to a chair, and Elwood was quizzing him about the visit from Cain.
‘Well, Doctor, I have to say I don’t believe a word you’re saying. I’m going to ask you what Cain said to you one more time — and believe me, if you lie this time, things will not go very well for you — or for your family.’ Elwood’s voice was soft but his words were anything but.
‘You people don’t scare me anymore, your threats, court injunctions, lies they’re all tired and old. Cain told me everything; so go ahead and do your worst. And you can tell your boss that your antics today are going to make me an even richer man — I’m going to sue you and your company for kidnapping and distress. Now untie me, and get the hell out of here!’
Arrogance and disrespect flashed through Elwood’s mind. He smiled, got up, and walked slowly behind Turnbold.
‘Now, what we seem to have here, Dr. Turnbold, is a lack of understanding. We don’t seem to be seeing eye-to-eye — time to change that!’
With one hand, Elwood grabbed Turnbold by the hair and pulled his head back to face him, while his other hand hooked under the man’s chin. With Turnbold’s face pointing skyward, Elwood tightened his grip on the scalp pulling the skin taut across his face and making his eyes bulge. With Turnbold violently shaking in his chair, Elwood casually moved his hand from his chin to the side of the terrified man’s left eye, and with a swift stab of his thumb popped Turnbold’s eye completely out of its socket.
Turnbold screamed in pain as the ball of his eye bobbed around on his cheek, tenuously connected to his head by the ocular nerves and muscles. Elwood’s hand quickly covered his mouth and he leaned in to talk.
‘In medical terms, it’s known as globe luxation, the more you move, the more strain you’ll put on the blood vessels that are connecting your eye to your head. Break them or leave the eye outside of the head for too long and I won’t be able to save it, so I suggest you stop struggling immediately.’
Turnbold froze still.
‘Now, it’s time to tell me everything I want to know and remember — clock’s ticking.’
‘I just
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