Duality by Heather Atkinson Page B

gone. “What do you want?”
    “Relax my dear,” the man smiled smoothly. “My name is Valentine Halliday.”
    He said it as though it should mean something. “And?”
    “You don’t know who I am?”
    She shrugged. “Should I?”
    “I’m a businessman, powerful, rich and I’m a local councillor.”
    He said it as though she should be impressed but after meeting Ryan Law very few men could impress her now. “So?”
    “I’m looking for someone to work for me.”
    “I already have a job.”
    “And this doesn’t require you to quit. You can do both and I pay very well.”
    “Doing what?” she said, afraid the dirty old perv was going to have her on stage dancing around a pole.
    “I need you to gather information for me.”
    “What information?”
    “About your employers.”
    “Ryan and Rachel?” she said with surprise.
    “Yes, them,” he replied with distaste.
    “Why, do you want to hurt them?”
    “Not them exactly, more Rachel.”
    “Rachel?”
    He was getting a little fed up of her repeating everything he said but this girl was perfect for his purposes. She didn’t know it but her crush on Ryan Law was famous. In fact only the Laws themselves didn’t know about it because they were so wrapped up in each other, a weakness he was going to expose to his advantage. He wanted to hurt both Ryan and Rachel and he was going to use this silly girl’s feelings to do it. “You don’t need to know why. In fact it’s better if you don’t.”
    “You’re not going to hurt Ryan, are you?”
    “No, I like Ryan,” he said jovially. “It’s just Rachel.”
    Emily’s lips curled into a cruel smile. “What do you want me to do?”
    “I want you to keep an eye out, let me know if you learn anything interesting.”
    “That’s it?” she said, both disappointed and relieved.
    “That’s it.” He delved into his suit jacket and pulled out a wad of notes, which he dumped on one of the tables. “A gift, to say thank you for your assistance.”
    Emily snatched it up, wide-eyed. “Thanks.”
    “You’re welcome my dear.” He handed her his card. “You can contact me on this number.” He let his eyes roam up and down her again. “Anytime.”
    She didn’t even notice, she was so astounded by the amount of money she was holding. “Yeah, no worries,”
    “Thank you Emily. I’ll see myself out,” he said, leaving her standing there, still gaping at all the cash. It didn’t even occur to her to ask how he knew her name.
     
    Jules anxiously picked at her fingernails as she waited to go in for her very first scan. Jackson, sitting beside her, patted her hands.
    “Calm down,” he said. “You’ll make yourself sick again.”
    She grimaced. “Urgh, I can’t take any more of that.”
    “Why are you so jittery?”
    “It’s the stupid doctor, he’s got me all worried. What if something’s wrong with it? I was smoking and drinking before I found out I was pregnant.”
    “Everything will be fine, you’re healthy,” he said, taking her hand. “Think positive.”
    For once Jules was relieved to have someone to lean on and she gripped onto his hand.
    “Jules Maguire?” said a gentle voice.
    A nurse with a kind face peeked her head into the waiting room.
    “Yes?” she replied, for once sounding timid.
    “Would you like to come through?”
    Jules swallowed hard and looked to Jackson, who took her hand and gently urged her to her feet. She clutched onto him as they walked into the small scan room.
    “Don’t look so scared,” smiled the nurse. “I don’t bite. Would you like to lie down?”
    Her calm manner went a long way to putting Jules at her ease, the efficient way she worked reassuring her that she had done this many times before.
    “Is everything okay?” Jules anxiously asked as she ran the scanner over her belly, which was shiny with gel.
    “Yep, everything looks fine,” replied the nurse, her eyes on the screen. She pointed to the centre of it. “There’s your baby.”
    “That