Brutal Reunion - three Souls, one heart by Sadie Stern

Two women meet at school. One is Phoebe a girl with amazing red hair – like spun gold. Daisy meanwhile felt dull. Boys flocked around Phoebe but never her. Mind you, there was a good reason for that. Daisy wasn’t into boys. She preferred what girls offered but she kept it quiet. Daisy always yearned for Phoebe to be her friend and far more. Especially in the showers when Phoebe proved her red hair didn’t come out of a bottle. She had freckles too!

Then they meet again in extraordinary circumstances and revelation after revelation pound Daisy’s senses. The biggest is when Daisy learns Phoebe yearned to show an interest in HER!

There is a snag. Isn’t there always! Phoebe is married. He’s a brute who farms her out to men – for payment of course. An unwilling prostitute. When Phoebe moves in with Daisy it is only a matter of time before mortal danger arrives on her doorstep and when Ethan Nowak arrives to claim her back, he ends up dead with a large kitchen knife sticking out of his back.

Then faced with the problems of disposing of a body, they meet a female police officer Who is one of their own and a hot steamy romance is on the cards. There are no punches pulled in this sordid tale. Filled with hot and dirty sex – what you expect from Sadie Stern who tells it as it is! No fade to black, no doors closing on the action.

Brutal Reunion - three Souls, one heart by Sadie Stern

Chapter One

Daisy packed her shopping into bags at the checkout. She hated the rush as item after item slid at her relentlessly as alone and unaided, she packed her shopping away ignoring impatience from the check out girl awaiting payment. Further pressure came from what Daisy sensed were angry glares from those waiting in a queue behind. Then finally, she was done packing so grabbing her purse she offered her card to an awaiting reader. Relieved the ordeal was over, Daisy pushed her loaded trolley down past a long line of checkouts and through the exit doors and into the carpark, breathing in fresh air at last. Daisy hated shopping. She lived alone, not having a family to cater for. Not even a partner. Daisy had never found anyone she wanted to share her life with, or nobody wanted to share their lives with her. The car park was full, cars were still entering and driving round looking for an empty parking space. Some cars were reversing out and drivers had stopped ready to battle with others for the newly vacated spot. Her car was further back so she headed in that direction.

She was halfway there when she spotted a woman leaning against a blue coloured saloon, she was visibly upset. Daisy stopped a few yards away. ‘Are you okay?’ Daisy called out. The woman turned and looked back at Daisy, then instant recognition. ‘Phoebe? Phoebe Roberts?’ The woman stopped crying, and Daisy could see the woman was thinking. There was recognition too, but within the mix was still uncertainty. Daisy added more to progress. After all, hadn’t she stopped because the woman she knew was distressed. Nobody would cry in a large busy carpark unless something was terribly wrong. ‘It’s Daisy. Daisy Collins, we knew each other at school.’  The woman’s expression changed. Tears changed to a weak smile.

‘Oh my god yes! That must be more than ten years ago. We left school and went our separate ways. Fancy meeting up like this.’ The final words threw Daisy but then she assumed Phoebe was referring to whatever dilemma was causing the tears.

‘You’re upset, can I help?’ Daisy asked – finally.

‘I’ve locked my keys in the car.’ Her previous distressed mood returned, and she became tearful.

‘Have you called anyone? Daisy suggested.

‘I can’t afford to call anyone out.’ Daisy looked at her former friend from school. Much appeared to have changed. Daisy was always overwhelmed by her amazing red hair, which was natural too. They had been in a shower together and Daisy had looked for a match and she found one. Phoebe had freckles too, they had seemed everywhere.

‘Have you got a spare key?’ Phoebe nodded.

‘Yes, but it’s at home. It is too far to walk and my bag with what money I do have is locked inside too.’

I could take you.’ Daisy quickly suggested. Phoebe’s eyes widened in relief.

‘Seriously, would you, I’d be so grateful.’ Daisy showed surprise.

‘Well of course, you could invite me in for coffee and we could catch up.’ Phoebe looked away.

‘I don’t think you’ll be very impressed. I live in a right dump.’ Now, that was a shock.

‘I can’t leave you here. We could be there and back in no time, if that’s what you prefer.’ Phoebe brightened.

‘Okay, you’re a lifesaver.’ Phoebe looked at her former friend and concluded she might be a lifesaver in more ways than one. Something wasn’t right.

The drive to Phoebe’s home took 30 minutes. There were similar supermarkets nearer and as it turned out, one was within a short walk of where she now lived. Why travel all this distance to go to the supermarket Daisy herself used? She would ask later, when Phoebe’s mood had improved. Now was clearly not the time. The next shock came when Phoebe directed Daisy to a run-down block of flats on five floors. Each had a walkway leading to communal stairs. There were lifts but these had long gone out of use. Daisy parked. Her car stood out amongst the wrecks on wheels parked nearby. One clearly burned out. She had second thoughts about leaving it, fearing her car would be jacked up on bricks and wheels missing on her return. “I don’t think you’ll be very impressed. I live in a right dump.” Phoebe’s own words. Daisy now realised she wasn’t kidding.

‘Shall I wait here, you only have to grab your spare set of keys, I’m sure you’ll want to get back to your car quickly.’ Daisy felt awful voicing a clear message.

‘You can see why I wasn’t anxious to invite you up.’ Daisy had other questions to ask but watched as Phoebe got out of the car and headed off to what Daisy imagined was a stairwell reeking of piss! A group of feral youths watched Daisy as she sat waiting, having locked the door for her own security. Daisy had no doubt her vehicle would have come under attack had she left it. This raised a question of where Phoebe left hers parked when she was home. Then Phoebe re-appeared. She looked tiny and vulnerable, but otherwise utterly gorgeous. Daisy remembered her from schooldays, the popular girl everyone wanted to be around – unlike herself. A shout from one member of the crowd was aimed at Phoebe, clearly an unwanted sexual comment. Daisy noticed Phoebe glance across and quicken her pace as she arrived ready to jump in and be away.

‘How on earth have you ended up here?’ Daisy realised there was no point in holding back. It had to be said, and far more could still wait.

‘It’s a long story.’ Phoebe replied. Daisy had expected no less.

‘I didn’t expect it to be simple. You were amazing at school. Everything about you screamed success. It certainly didn’t place you in a crime ridden shit hole like this where I didn’t even dare turn my back on my car.’  Daisy drove on and silence prevailed.

‘I park mine in a local supermarket. It has monitored cameras so when I have four wheels on my car as I leave, I’m pretty damned sure there will be that same number when I return.’ Phoebe’s reply gave Daisy a perfect opportunity to bring up something that had bothered her almost from the beginning.

‘Yet you drive all this way to my local supermarket, when a branch of the same chain is just walking distance from your flat.’ The silence that followed became a source of concern. ‘What’s going on Phoebe? What aren’t you telling me?’ Daisy asked.

‘It’s very complicated, if I tell you I fear you’ll stop the car and kick me out.’ Phoebe replied. This left Daisy no nearer to the truth.

‘I might stop the fucking car if you don’t.’

‘Then I’ll walk the rest. I’m really grateful to you for helping me get my keys.’ The rest of the journey was undertaken in silence until Daisy entered the supermarket carpark where Phoebe’s car was parked. The earlier rush had settled and there was even a parking space next to her car. Daisy pulled in and turned off the engine.

‘Is this it. You’re just going to get out and drive off. Meeting after all this time just by chance and you just drive away. No catch up, no explanation of why you are living way below your capabilities.’ Daisy tried one final time. Phoebe gathered herself together and opening the car door started to get out.

‘It wasn’t just by chance. Thanks Daisy, it was nice to see you again.’ Phoebe closed the door and moved to her car. Its remote then gained her entry. Daisy, now energised by her final remark got out of the car, determined to understand what she meant that their meeting had not been by chance. Phoebe was already reversing so Daisy stopped and then watched as her car moved off and disappeared.

Back home Daisy unloaded the shopping and put it away. She was angry that what appeared to be a chance meeting was in fact contrived. After making tea Daisy settled at the kitchen table to calm down. She considered the words Phoebe had used again and again. If their meeting was not by chance, then it had to be deliberate. What else could it be? One factor to support this assumption had been the supermarket chain where they met was the same as the one only a short distance from her home. Didn’t Phoebe say she parked her car there? If so, why was she shopping ten miles away from her home? Perhaps she was visiting someone and had decided to shop? Possibly, making a spur of the moment decision. Daisy didn’t buy that. If she couldn’t be convinced, did this mean Phoebe knew she would be there? If so, this now took a more sinister turn. So much didn’t add up. Daisy sat and finished her tea, then rising to her feet she rinsed the mug and headed to the door. At least she knew where Phoebe lived, and it was time to pay her a visit and clear up the confusion.

Available now - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FC3LSHW5

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