The Truth Healer: A Riveting Spiritual Psychic Thriller Read online

  Tom paced around the room, cursing Lucy. It was all too much information to absorb. He was worried about Lucy’s mental state…she obviously wasn’t coping as well as he thought. He assumed Cornwall was a slight setback but it was obviously more than that. That must have been why she gave up her job, he thought, so she could go on this wild goose chase. And then there was the lying, he couldn’t stand the lying.

  He poured himself a large whiskey, and sunk back onto the sofa. He glanced down and saw Lucy’s notes from the ‘research’ she had carried out. He screwed them up in his hand and threw them on the floor. He took another swig of whiskey, and reached out for a stray piece of paper that had got wedged down the side of the sofa. As he pulled it out, he caught a glimpse of a line that read:

  ‘Lost property…..new book found in carrier bag from store in The Isle of Wight…receipt dated same day Rosie went missing’

  Tom stared at the words ‘same day Rosie went missing’. He paused before leaning forward and slowly unscrewed the bits of paper on the floor, laying them out flat in front of him. He scanned over the arrows leading to certain names and times. Who was this ‘Anna Gerber’? he thought. He hadn’t heard of this case. Why had the police never mentioned this to them? Didn’t they find this out? And what about the campervan number plates tallying up from when both Anna was at the campsite and Rosie went missing?

  He suddenly felt sad at lashing out at Lucy. Oh God where was she?…. he had to find her. As he picked up his phone to call her, he heard the key in the front door. He rushed out to the hallway and saw Lucy standing there with tear stained cheeks and mascara running down her face.

  ‘I’m sorry Tom.’ she wept, feeling dejected.

  ‘Come here.’ He brushed the hair away from her sticky face and kissed the top of her forehead.

  ‘No, I’m sorry, I should never have gone off at you like that, come and sit down.’

  Lucy followed him into the lounge and saw her bits of paper laid out over the floor.

  ‘What’s this?…….you found my notes?’ she asked, looking at them laid out in order.

  ‘Yes….I screwed them up at first, but then something caught my eye so I thought I’d better look at them once I’d calmed down. I started to see all the hard work you had put in, and you are right there really are some crucial bits of information here.’ he agreed, gently encouraging her to sit down beside him.

  ‘So you’re not mad at me anymore?’

  ‘No sweetheart, I am not.’

  ‘So I don’t know what the best thing to do with this information is now, as I am worried that either the police will just ignore it, or try and cover it up if they think they have missed it in the first place.’

  ‘Well…I have been thinking, maybe we could pay a private detective to at least look into this Jozsef Halasz and Laurenz Felbiger…they seem quite key according to your research.’

  ‘Really?… do you think we could afford it?….I have tried looking up both names on the internet, but there are dozens of them, and even if I input their addresses, it doesn’t show a picture of the person that lives at that address.’

  ‘We can at least look into the cost of hiring one.’

  ‘Oh Tom it feels so great that you know everything now, as it has been worrying me for weeks.’

  ‘I am glad you have finally told me, and now I am over the shock, you might just have something here. I’ll get onto my friend Dan…..he once hired someone to do some digging when he thought his wife was having an affair, they may be able to help us.’

  ‘Ok fantastic.’ Lucy cried thankfully, throwing her arms around Tom. ‘Anyway, I thought you’d also been looking into the case yourself, as you ordered that National Geographic issue on child trafficking in Europe.’

  Tom looked quizzical. ‘What magazine?…I never ordered any magazine.’

  ‘Oh…that’s strange, I thought it was yours.’ Lucy replied. She was certain it was Tom’s. If it wasn’t his, then whose was it? She hadn’t ordered it. Maybe she was fated to read it, she thought. She did feel recently like someone out there, or up there, was willing her on to find Rosie. She just hoped it eventually bore fruit.

  Chapter 20

  Chloe snuck into bed next to Josh, glad to be back in the comfort of her own bed. She tried not to wake Josh, but he stirred and turned over.

  ‘You’re back late.’ he mumbled, straining to open his eyes.

  ‘I know sorry, the traffic was bad driving back from the airport.’

  ‘How did it go?’

  ‘Yes it was good…a lot to take in, but I am learning a lot. I missed you though.’

  ‘Missed you too.’ he replied, leaning in for kiss and within a few seconds he was gently snoring again.

  Chloe smiled at him lovingly before turning over herself and pulling up the duvet around her so she was safely cocooned back into her own little world. As she tried to doze off she kept going over the events of the last forty-eight hours.

  The trip had gone well, in as far as Lucy had successfully been enticed to Arrineux and the Beaux Arbres campsite. Chloe and Diana had watched Lucy and Brenda enter the campsite reception, only to then see Lucy leaving the building very upset shortly afterwards. Just as Chloe was thinking she would have to re-strategise, the lady from reception approached Lucy and Brenda’s car, and seemed to be giving them some good news judging by Lucy’s facial expression.

  After following Lucy and Brenda for the rest of the afternoon, they came full circle and arrived back at the campsite, where they spent over an hour back in reception. Developments had obviously taken place, so Chloe had been eager to get back to the UK, to view the footage from when Lucy returned from France. She knew she was bound to discuss it either with Brenda on the phone or Tom.

  Chloe could feel herself growing more confident in her new role as a Truth Healer, but she was still very apprehensive as to where the next stage of her mission was going, and how it would conclude, especially as she would be going it alone on the next one. It has been great having Diana with her, but Diana had her own missions to solve, so Chloe now needed to step up to the mark.

  She felt safer now she had been on a three trips away, and even more so, knowing that The Truth Circle had her back…. and she had Harry of course. He had been quiet of late, but she knew it was because she hadn’t needed him. She knew she could now rely on him though, which was fuelling her determination to solve the mystery surrounding Rosie’s disappearance. She just hoped and prayed it would be a happy ending, or at least bring Lucy, Tom and Sam some closure, allowing them to grieve properly.

  ****

  The Monday after her return from France, Chloe left for work with Josh. It still seemed odd calling it work, mainly because she was excited and passionate about doing it. She was so use to her job being a chore, that she almost felt guilty that what she now did for a living wasn’t soul destroying. In fact, it was now soul replenishing, not only for her but for everyone involved.

  ‘So have you got many clients today?’ Josh asked, as they walked along to the bus stop.

  ‘Yes, I’ve got three, and then I’m helping Tatiana out in the shop.’ she replied, reaching into her bag to avoid eye contact. She couldn’t bring herself to look Josh in the face when she was lying.

  ‘I’ll have to come along one day for a Reiki session.’ he said smiling.

  ‘Oh look there’s my bus, I’d better run.’ Chloe quickly called out, happy to see the sight of the number 188 coming to her rescue. ‘…yes sure, we’ll arrange it soon.’ she casually replied, before blowing Josh a kiss and jumping on the bus. ‘See you tonight.’

  ‘Yes, see you tonight, have a good day.’ he shouted, waving her off.

  Chloe was finding it really hard with Josh now. She hated deceiving him, and she could already feel her new secret life was starting to form a divide between them. A divide that was getting wider and wider every day. She just hoped it could be repaired along the line, and that Tatiana may let her tell Josh someday. Although she very muc
h doubted that Josh would ever believe any of it, even if she did tell him, as unlike Chloe he wasn’t a believer in a wider Universe, unless it had to do with life on Mars.

  ‘Morning Chloe, I’m happy to see you’re safely back.’ Tatiana announced, walking towards Chloe at Headquarters’ reception.

  ‘Morning, I know I’m glad to be back too.’ Chloe replied, still feeling enamoured by the beauty of the crystal walls every time she entered. There was a serenity about them that brought about a deep sense of inner calm.

  ‘You have done very well Chloe. Both Truth Master Benedict and myself are very impressed in what you have achieved so far.’

  ‘Really?…oh good. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to handle it.’ Chloe said, putting her bag and tablet down onto the amethyst table.

  ‘I had every faith in you Chloe. You will slowly come into your own, as this is what you are meant to be doing.’

  ‘I must admit, I have never felt more fulfilled in a job in my life…even though it has had it’s scary moments.’

  Tatiana smiled. ‘Come along, let’s sit down and you can tell me everything you have found out so far.’

  Chloe relayed the events of her trip to France while Tatiana nodded encouragingly.

  ‘I’ve now got to go through the footage from Lucy’s house camera, to find out what she discovered in France and what her plans are now.’ Chloe concluded, switching on her tablet.

  ‘Ok, I will leave you to it then. Let me know when you are finished and we will discuss what you need to do next.’

  ‘I feel Lucy is doing a lot of the research herself…am I doing enough?’ Chloe questioned.

  ‘Yes of course…your role is as a guide and your interventions, no matter how small, are vital to her finding out the truth. This is how you are helping the families to heal.’

  ‘Oh good …. thank you Tatiana. I will let you know when I have finished.’

  Chloe skipped the camera footage to Saturday, when Lucy had returned from France. She could see Lucy hugging Tom in the hallway from the doorway to the lounge, before going through and hugging Sam who was sitting on the sofa.

  It was strange to think that Lucy was also leading a secret life from Tom, as she was herself from Josh. She could recognise all of the nervous mannerisms she displayed and the little white lies she was weaving. It was as if they were leading parallel lives.

  Chloe continued to watch as Lucy made a telephone call on the Sunday to somebody called Marianne, and by the sounds of it, she worked at the campsite in Arrineux. Lucy was thanking her for staying up all night to look at the cctv footage and they were discussing different areas of the campsite.

  It was quite frustrating as Chloe could only hear Lucy interjecting with ‘Really!’, ‘That is major!’ and ‘How about when Rosie might have been there?’ so she had no idea what they were talking about. Chloe did manage to hear that Marianne had found an address of somebody called Laurenz Felbiger though, so he was obviously an important point of contact. She was going to e-mail the address to Lucy, so Chloe could pick that up. Lucy then thanked Marianne and said she would stay in touch, so Chloe concluded that Marianne had definitely been a crucial link in the chain of events.

  She then went on to watch Lucy prepare a meal for Tom later that evening and whilst they were having dessert, she dropped the bombshell. She told him what she had been doing over the last couple of weeks. Although Chloe knew it would be a shock to him, it was still very uncomfortable to watch and for the first time she could see the pain Rosie’s disappearance had caused Tom. She had been so focussed on Lucy, she hadn’t really been taking Tom into consideration as much.

  A distressing scene followed where Lucy had walked out of the house in tears. Tom had been left seething with anger, but Chloe then watched as Tom started to unravel the pieces of paper that Lucy had put together, illustrating the key facts she had found during her trips. He still look baffled, but she could hear him mumbling to himself…‘How could the police miss this?’ and suddenly he was sitting forward laying it all out on the floor, becoming more accepting of the information.

  A short while afterwards, Lucy returned and they seemed to make up, and to Chloe’s delight they were both talking about the possibility of carrying on with the investigation together.

  They started to talk, however, about hiring a private detective, which Chloe wasn’t sure was a good idea. Not only because this would affect her clues, but she also didn’t want the Parkers to be spending out a fortune if it wasn’t going to lead them anywhere.

  Chloe did have one cheeky smile to herself though, when Lucy was deliberating as to where The National Magazine had come from. Fortunately, she didn’t dwell on it for too long.

  She finally forwarded to earlier this Monday morning, and she heard Lucy phoning a detective agency called Cunningham’s Investigations. She was making enquires as to the cost and they were going to call Lucy back with a quote.

  After finishing up her notes, Chloe caught Tatiana’s attention. ‘I’m ready to go through everything now.’

  ‘Ok, give me five minutes.’ Tatiana replied, in the middle of talking to another member.

  Chloe had written out all of the key links to the story so far. She hoped that Tatiana was now going to give her something new to go on, that would lead them further in the right direction.

  ‘So Chloe, tell me what you have discovered?’ Tatiana asked, pulling up a chair next to her.

  ‘Well…firstly two Hungarian men named Sandor Halasz and Marton Kovac are a potential link from The Isle of Wight as they worked at Bernie’s campsite when Rosie went missing, and their characters definitely appear suspect after talking to fellow workers. There was also a third Hungarian man, by the name of Andras Fejes, who was temping as the fairground clown. We think he may have been the clown involved in luring Rosie over to the abductors. He also left working at Bernie’s around the same day Rosie went missing.’

  ‘Secondly, Lucy has found out through their landlady that they had friends in France, and that they had mentioned the specific town of Arrineux to her, which as we now know, was where Rosie was taken. Their landlady also opened a suspicious note addressed to them, asking them to meet at a certain time and place at the fairground and it was signed by the initial J. This note was left approximately two years ago, although she cannot remember the exact date. Also, significantly, the meet time on the note was 8pm which is around the time Rosie went missing from the campsite.’

  ‘Thirdly, Lucy found the magazine I left her, and read the article about the young girl Anna Gerber, who went missing from Beaux Arbres campsite in Arrineux. She made the link between this and the town mentioned by Sandor Halasz and Marton Kovac.’

  ‘Fourthly, after Lucy visited the campsite, the receptionist Marianne, has been very forthcoming with information, and not only did she find a newly purchased book in the lost property, but it was from a shop in the Isle of Wight, with a receipt dated on the same day Rosie went missing. When they checked the credit card details of the person who bought it, it was registered to a Jozsef Halasz. The surname Halasz is the same as Sandor’s, so there is a strong chance they are related. Also the initial J was signed at the bottom of the note left for Sandor and Marton, so it could have been from Jozsef Halasz.’

  ‘And finally, Marianne also found a wallet in the lost property with a number plate written down on a piece of paper in it. On checking the number plate, it was the same as an Austrian’s guest’s campervan number plate that was staying at the campsite the week that Anna Gerber went missing. This same campervan was also registered to a guest at the campsite the week Rosie went missing, and although the guest’s names are different, they both lived at the same address. Marianne has found out the Austrian guest Laurenz Felbiger’s address, so I am sure Lucy is going to go to Austria. So, I am now at a stage where I will need more information from you to proceed further and to know where I am directing Lucy to go next.’

  ‘Well, it certainly looks like Lucy has done very well w
ith the clues you have left her.’ Tatiana praised.

  ‘She certainly has…I just hope it continues. There is one dilemma I have though…..Lucy and Tom have been talking about hiring a private detective…..this isn’t wise is it?’

  ‘No, you need to put them off that route. They do not want to be wasting their valuable time and money on this when they have you to find out the truth about Rosie.’

  ‘Yes, that is what I thought…I’ll put them off then…somehow.’

  ‘Ok, if you wait here Chloe, I will discuss your findings with Truth Master Benedict, and determine the next stage of your mission.’

  Chloe waiting patiently for Tatiana to go over her findings. It seemed absurd that the police didn’t find out all of this information …. or did they?… and it didn’t amount to anything. She hadn’t heard Lucy or Tom discussing that the police had mentioned any of this, but maybe they had, and it led to a dead end.

  At least Chloe knew Tatiana would point her in the right direction. She started to wonder if she could get any information through Josh. She was sure with some subtle hints she could find out more about the police investigation. He had been working on Rosie’s case at the beginning, but had been taken off of it, to work on a big murder case.

  Chloe had already started to plan on how she was going to get away to Austria. There were only so many work courses she could attend, so she was going to make out she was going on a hen do. It was a bit unusual going to Austria, as it seemed more of a romantic weekend destination to her…especially Vienna, but she was sure she could just about get away with it. She would pretend it was an old university friend. Josh didn’t really know them that well, so he wouldn’t know who to ring to check where she was.