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The Reckoning

The Notes

By Ahed AttarPublished 4 years ago 3 min read
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The yellow flames swirled around the blackening embers. They intertwined as they engulfed the coal completely. Fred’s eyes were fixed on the dancing flames as he mused, sipping his tea in his armchair. After Salim’s death that night, he had known the story was not over. He had anticipated consequences. He had warned the others. Then the first note came some days later. It was followed by another. Then another. In the month after Salim’s death five notes altogether had been posted to them. Fred had waited for the impending knock on the door from the police.

However, days passed. The days turned to weeks. The weeks became months. Months into years. Fred completed university. He proceeded to realise his ambitions of becoming a lawyer and started a family. There was no knock on the door. The events of that night receded into a vague memory, a half-remembered dream.

But Robert’s death had sharpened the obscure memories of that night. They had all entrusted Robert with the notes. Only he had known where they were hidden. Now with him dead, the notes had to be found.

Fred stood and placed the empty cup on the wooden table before him. He buttoned up his suit, straightened his tie and strode to the living room where the others were waiting.

He pushed the door open and entered. All four of them, Greg, Ashraf, Saira and Jerome, sat on the sofas. Their furrowed faces reflected their inner turmoil.

‘Sorry to keep you all waiting. I just wanted to gather my thoughts,’ Fred began, ‘Robert’s tragic passing has taken us all by surprise. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for his family.’

Fred paused to examine their faces, before continuing, ‘but you know why we’re all here. Robert knew where the evidence was, and we must find it before anyone else. We have to consider all the possible locations that he may have hidden it.’

Greg stared up at Fred, his eyes wide in incredulity.

‘I don’t believe you. Robert’s gone. He’s dead and your first thought is to protect yourself. It’s just like 15 years ago. You’ve not changed,’ Greg opined.

Before Fred could respond, Jerome interjected, holding both his hands out in front of him, palms facing Greg, ‘Robert’s died. There’s nothing any of us can do about it, however much pain we feel. Fred is right. We need to think about the notes, we all have our families to consider.’

Greg shuffled forward in his seat; his eyebrows knitted together as he glared at Jerome. ‘What about Robert’s family? What about Salim’s? I had wanted to go the Police to tell them what happened.’

Greg glared up at Fred, raising an accusatory finger, before continuing, ‘but he said no. He told us to hide it, to move on. I’ve had to live with that the past 15 years.’

Fred’s eyes were steely as he returned Greg’s glare. ‘So, what would you have done? Gone to the police? Gone to jail? Your life gone?’ he questioned. ‘Be my guest, go tell them now.’

Greg scrunched his eyes shut, shaking his head vehemently.

Fred’s lips curled into a smirk. ‘That’s what I thought,’ he said.

Saira sat forward. She turned her gaze to the rest of them. ‘Robert’s death has impacted us all. He was our friend. We have all tried our best to rebuild our lives after Salim’s death and we do have to find the notes. But we should wait till after Robert’s funeral, so that we can come to terms with it and grieve.’

Throughout the exchange between the former friends, Ashraf’s weary eyes had been strictly fixed on a specific point on the wooden floor. Upon Saira having spoken, he looked up at the others, his face blank and devoid of emotion.

‘Saira’s right. We should wait. This is not the right time,’ he said.

Jerome looked up from his phone, dismay wrought over his features. ‘The Police found a note at Robert’s office. His death is being investigated as murder.’

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About the Creator

Ahed Attar

I’m a Qualified Solicitor who enjoys writing in my spare time, dabbling in my different areas of interest.

I’m currently writing a criminal thriller story. I hope you have a read and let me know what you think.

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