Show No Mercy Read online

  She phoned Adam to tell him to meet her by her apartment before she left. He agreed.

  When he arrived, Sophie tucked the notes into the palm of his hand.

  “Here’s some money, to help cure your mum,” she said.

  Adam looked at her with a shocked expression.

  “But …” he began.

  He felt very guilty.

  “No buts. You can take it. I hope your mum gets better.”

  “How exactly did you get this money?” Adam asked. He couldn’t help feeling a bit angry.

  “Erm …” Sophie tried.

  “How?” Adam repeated, more demanding now.

  “I sold the embassy car,” Sophie murmured.

  “WHAT?!” Adam cried.

  “I sold the embassy car,” Sophie said, louder than before, though she knew very well that Adam had heard her the first time she’d said it.

  “But we were going to get married, weren’t we?” Adam looked truly distressed.

  “We’ll still get married, but maybe not now. You really need the money,” Sophie reassured.

  “Erm …” Adam was rendered speechless.

  “Now go,” Sophie said firmly. “You don’t want to be late.”

  Adam began to walk to his car.

  “Oh, wait,” Sophie said. “I just wanted to ask you … come back quickly, OK? Please?”

  “Sure thing,” Adam agreed.

  “Can I kiss you?” she whispered.

  Adam tried nodding, but ended up shaking his head. He cupped her face in his hands. This was the one last thing he was going to say to her before he left. “Sophie, I'm not kissing you tonight but believe me when I tell you, I've never wanted to kiss a girl more. So stop thinking I'm not attracted to you because you have no idea just how much I am. You can hold my hand, you can run your fingers through my hair, you can straddle me while I feed you spaghetti, but you are not getting kissed tonight. And probably not when I come back, either. I need this. I need to know for sure that you're feeling every single thing that I'm feeling the moment my lips touch yours. Because I want your first kiss to be the best first kiss in the history of first kisses.”

  Chapter Twenty Six

  Boarding on the aeroplane

  Mike and the others were waiting for Adam at the office.

  “Don’t spend too much time with your girlfriend next time,” Cameron cursed furiously.

  “I couldn’t just leave without saying goodbye,” Adam confided.

  “Oh, had a snog? You look so happy,” Sam added sarcastically, and everybody laughed, mocking him.

  “Shut up, Sam. Another word from any of you and I’ll fire you all!” Adam shouted.

  Sam sure shut up.

  “Well, let’s go to the airport, then. Our plane’s leaving soon,” said Mike, quickly changing the subject.

  So that’s what they did. Then they arrived. They had a private aeroplane to take them to America. They had to go through the security process first, but they got on the plane as soon as possible. As soon as they got on, Adam rummaged through his luggage bag and took out his diary. Then he began to write about:

  ● Sophie

  ● Business

  ● Sophie

  ● London

  ● Sophie

  ● Family

  ● Sophie

  ● Feelings

  ● Sophie

  ● Friends

  ● And about Sophie again.

  Adam made a promise to himself that after this business trip, he was going to tell Sophie that he wasn’t Mitchell, he was Adam Attenborough.

  Part Three – Present

  So much time ago, we loved

  We love still

  We will love forever

  My heart was broken

  Now it is mended

  Each new day begins

  And my heart sings

  To the feel of your love

  And the beat of your heart

  At night I sleep

  With you in my heart

  It beats only for you my love

  Each beat matched by yours

  I long for the time

  That we spend together

  Each snatched moment

  I will treasure

  You eyes they shine

  With your love for me

  So tender and caring

  So full of love

  If I cannot have you to myself

  I will treasure each moment that we have

  Forever my darling

  You are my soul

  Our hearts are linked

  By the bond we share

  Each thought we have

  We also care

  To you my love

  I give my All

  My heart

  And my soul

  You are the stars in the sky

  The wind on my face

  The rain in my eyes

  The tears on my cheeks

  You are the biggest part of me

  That I cannot deny

  As I sit here with a tear in my eye

  A tear of joy shed only for you

  For all you are

  For all you can be

  This I am grateful for

  Till the day I die

  You are my world

  You are my life

  You are my soul.

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  Spinning back into reality

  Callum Hodgkinson, the policeman, tried to look for Adam’s 2006 diary, but didn’t succeed. He was making a lot of racket. Callum looked everywhere but he still couldn’t find Adam’s diary.

  So he walked over to Adam Attenborough himself. He slapped Adam’s face, hard, on both sides, to bring him back to reality after he’d fallen into unconsciousness.

  “OI, ADAM! WHAT HAPPENED NEXT IN YOUR LIFE? WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR GIRL, SOPHIE? JUST TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED!” Callum Hodgkinson screamed in Adam’s ear. He was very desperate to find out what happened next, as part of his investigation to file at the police office..

  Adam’s eyes began to open. He immediately saw his diary in the policeman’s hand as he grew more and more conscious. He freed himself from the rope, and got face to face with the policeman.

  “What happened to the girl?” Callum repeated firmly.

  Adam didn’t know what this policeman was talking about because of his fifteen-minute short term memory loss. In fact, he couldn’t even recognize the policeman. Obviously, he’d lost his memory about Sophie.

  “TELL ME ABOUT SOPHIE!” the policeman grew more and more impatient, his voice solid and angry.

  Then Adam remembered now that Sophie’s name was mentioned. He looked at his body and the memories started to come back to him.

  “YOU READ MY DIARY!” Adam roared, furious.

  “Yes, I did,” the policeman admitted, “for legal reasons. I had to find out more about you so I knew what kind of case you were suffering from, you fucking little bastard. Or should I say, big bastard. You are committing a lot of crimes.” Callum Hodkinson couldn’t help smirking.

  Adam punched the policeman. And he wouldn’t stop punching him. At last, when the policeman decided it wasn’t a good idea to fight back, Adam tied a rope around the policeman and taped his mouth. Callum didn’t have enough strength in himself to get himself out of the mess, because he couldn’t use his arms, or talk. Adam threw him in a closet and then went to hide in the bathroom in case anyone came looking for him.

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  When Jazz walked inside ...

  Jazz, the medical student, came over to Adam Attenborough’s house a few minutes later. John Smith the lecturer had given her details about how to track Adam Attenborough down. The door was left open, so she walked inside.

  “Sir? Adam Attenborough? I’m Jazz, the medical student. Your friend, remember?” Jazz started calling out as she wandered around the apartment.

  Then she came into the room where Adam’s notice board of photos was displayed. She saw the 2005 diary of Ad
am’s. She immediately placed it in her bag, to aid her in her case study. Then she managed to find the 2006 one as well.

  Suddenly, she heard screaming coming from the closet. She opened the closet, and the policeman fell out. She un-taped his mouth and released him from the rope.

  “What happened here? What kind of a place is this?” Jazz burst full of questions, as if she was a journalist.

  “We’ve got to leave from here. That man’s dangerous – we have to …” Callum began.

  The policeman immediately broke off his sentence as Adam Attenborough entered the room. He began to run. Adam started running after him, leaving Jazz alone in the apartment. After looking at the unbelievable and horrifying notice board of photos, and studying them more closely for when she came to write up her report, Jazz ran after them to see what was going to happen.

  As Jazz ran out of the apartment, she caught the policeman running down a pavement, Adam still chasing after him.

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  The chase

  Adam continued to chase the policeman down the pavement. Callum had no choice but to start running on the road, in the hope that Adam wouldn’t risk following him because of so many cars. Dodging the traffic, Callum ran.

  However, his prediction was wrong. Adam immediately started after him. Sweating, and his mind filled full of frightful thoughts, Callum started to lose track of what was happening; he was so scared. Within a split second he wasn’t screaming anymore. The road erupted with beeping and shouting and cries from the crowd. Tires squealed. There was a horrible sound of glass shattering. A heavy thump as a body hit the truck and flew up into the air.

  Adam felt at his head. He’d lost his memory again.

  Chapter Thirty

  Being followed

  Jazz was just one of the people in the crowd looking at the accident. Adam caught her glance. Jazz started slowly backing away, turning her head to start walking. Adam followed her.

  Jazz broke into a run, scared about what was going to happen to her. She glanced left and right, to check if he was still following her. He was. She picked up her speed even more, panting because her energy was running out. She could almost hear her heart hammering violently against her chest. Her forehead was filled with sweat. Jazz didn’t dare look back.

  She entered the shopping centre as soon as she’d reached it. Adam managed to see her going in, and ran after her once more.

  Jazz was lost in the crowd of hundreds of people, and entered a perfume shop to keep herself distracted. She was sure that Adam had lost her now. She looked around, scanning her eyes over the different perfumes; Justin Bieber’s Believe; Hannah Montanna’s True To Yourself; Sex In The City’s Townie; Calvin Klein’s One; Marc Jacob’s Daisy … there were rows and rows of sweet smelling scents. Jazz spoke to the shop keeper, and tried some perfume samples, laughing as she purchased a couple.

  Adam had lost his memory once more. He looked confused as Jazz, who appeared to be a complete stranger to him now, started walking out, and over to him.

  “Come on, then,” she said casually, as if they were hanging out with each other and he’d been waiting for her outside the shop. However, she was still sweating, and couldn’t help thinking that he was going to have a murderous break out. “Oh, remember me? I’m Jazz, your friend.”

  Jazz showed Adam the photo of her.

  “Was I chasing after you?” Adam asked, intrigued. “Look, you’re sweating and I’m sweating. I was chasing after you!”

  “No, you weren’t,” Jazz denied. “I’m only sweating ‘cause I had to walk all the way here from downtown, and it’s boiling. Have you seen that sun out there today?”

  “Right. I’ll take your word for it.” Adam still seemed confused.

  “Of course you should,” Jazz began. “I don’t lie.”

  “Of course you don’t,” Adam muttered sarcastically.

  “Come on, let’s head out,” Jazz grabbed his arm. “Let’s stop here, to admire the water fountain.”

  “How sad can you get?” Adam laughed. “Admire the water fountain? Admire it?” he mocked.

  He cracked up.

  “I am truly insulted,” Jazz shot back.

  Then she saw three or four men by the reservoir, smoking when it wasn’t allowed.

  Chapter Thirty One

  The fight with those who were breaking the rules

  “You’re better off giving them a good slap around the ear hole,” Jazz looked at the men, disgusted. “They’re smoking in here when there’s a sign: NO SMOKING. Go on, give them a good telling off.”

  The men glanced up, strolling up to Adam because they’d heard what Jazz had said. They looked truly bedraggled: their clothes were dirty and torn; their hair was greasy and limped from their heads and they all looked around the forty to fifty mark. They reeked of weed and smoke, and they were no match for Adam Attenborough.

  “Look at this little fellow over here!” one of the men jeered. “He’s going to give us a good telling to! Well, come here, you fucking little bastard, and I’ll give you a good telling to!” He held up his arm, fist clenched, to give Adam a punch. But it was too late. Adam took out his own arm, took hold of the man’s arm, and returned the punch by making the man punch himself.

  “BLOODY HELL, MAN!” cried the smoker, and toppled backwards. Adam gave him a hard kick on the shoulder, so he landed on the floor with a smack, face down and unconscious.

  That was it: the other men charged at him, dropping their cigarettes on the floor without burning them out. Adam laughed and bounced them off with one touch of his hand.

  Jazz looked scared. But they were well and truly defeated. They weren’t hurt or dead, but they knew that they shouldn’t fight back.

  Adam followed Jazz out of the shopping centre.

  “Nice going there,” Jazz grinned.

  “I couldn’t do any better,” Adam replied, but had lost his memory after he said that sentence. Jazz had to once again show him her photo.

  “Well, I’ll see you later, sir,” Jazz said, and left.

  And that’s when the shopping centre burst into flames ...

  Chapter Thirty Two

  A shopping centre on fire … and Jazz’s musical

  Adam gasped. Jazz came running back.

  The first thing that crossed his mind was that there were people inside. He thought of going inside the shopping centre and looking for some people in an aid to rescue them, but the extreme heat that was coming out the shopping centre thwarted him instantly. He could not go further than being a good hundred feet away from the shopping centre. It was excruciatingly hot and he almost felt his eyebrows burn. He was still very worried.

  Not knowing what to do, Jazz ran around, screaming. Adam watched through the window as a crash brought down the ceiling of the shopping centre, bringing the whole roof down with a loud crash. Jazz picked up the phone as Adan saw a bellow of ash and smoke rise out of the building. It was mildly relieving to Jazz to find out that her friends Amber and Gina had decided to go out for dinner and none of them were inside the shopping centre.

  Soon, the firefighters arrived and looked at the full-blown inferno in front of them. The fire had gotten quite out of control now as the whole shopping centre was on fire, but many people had managed to escape. The firefighters evacuated the street and told everyone to go inside their houses. Jazz had no choice but to retreat to his room where he could see, feel, and hear the shopping centre burn down. In a few minutes, after the firefighters managed to rescue as many people as they could that were still left in there, the shopping centre had been reduced to a pile of rubble, ashes, and smoldering wood and items. There was a very putrid smell that took over the whole neighborhood, like a bad barbeque party gone horribly wrong.

  “Well …” was all Jazz could manage. She stared at the panicking Adam. “Come here.” She took his arm as they walked away.

  Adam had lost his memory once more.

  ***

  Jazz was going to be performing he
r dance routine in front of a full audience of people. There was a café at by the studio as well. Adam was of course invited to see her.

  Adam was sipping at some sugar-free tea before the performance. Jazz went over to talk to him.

  “Hi sir,” Jazz said. “I hope you’ll like my dancing. I’ve had loads of practise, but I think I might get stage fright.” Jazz tried her best to be modest.

  “You’ll be fine,” Adam reassured.

  “Well, before I get going, please can you tell me more about your fifteen minute short term memory loss, or would you rather not? Because my project’s due in a couple of weeks.” Jazz decided to try and push her luck.

  “I really am not in the mood,” Adam apologized gruffly. “Maybe some other time.”

  “Of course, sir,” Jazz smiled, but then Gina and Amber had come to ushered her to the stage.