Free Ultimate Justice by M A Comley

face, Angela said, “Isn’t it beautiful? I spend most of my day just taking in the view. I’ve always loved this house—more for the location than anything else. A house can be altered to your specifications, but you can’t change a view—that’s what my father always told me.”
    “He’s right. If ever I win the lottery, I might come and make an offer on this place; it has to be my dream home. You’d probably send me off with a flea in my ear for being so cheeky.”
    Angela smiled proudly. “They’re going to have to carry me out in a box, I think. Anyway, enough of my luxuries I know you’re a very busy lady—let’s get down to this awful tragedy.” Sadness swept her smile away and tears moistened her eyes.
    “Jade told me your au pair had a relative in the disaster—is she here?”
    “Do you mind if I introduce you later? She’s very timid. I thought I could fill in the details for you first, if you don’t mind.”
    Lorne nodded reassuringly. “Of course I don’t mind. It must be hard for Jai San to be in a strange country having to deal with something so tragic.”
    “It is. She’s such a sweet girl. My heart really goes out to her.”
    “Has she worked for you long, Angela?”
    “About six months, I suppose. She was so excited when she learned her sister would be joining her here. When I say ‘here,’ I mean in the UK, not here in this house. My little Anthony absolutely idolises her. Before she came into our lives, he used to drive me and his previous au pairs to distraction. Throwing temper tantrums every minute of the day—I don’t mind telling you I was at my wit’s end. She has a calmness that surrounds her. Does that sound strange?”
    “An aura, you mean?”
    “Not exactly. She’s a Buddhist. I know I’d be lost without her. My days at the charity can be stressful enough, you see I’m a bit of a soft touch where Anthony’s concerned and he tends to play on that when I get home. His tantrums were getting more and more out of hand and were having a detrimental effect on my sanity until she came along.”
    Lorne understood completely where Angela was coming from—her own daughter Charlie hadn’t been the easiest child to bring up. Not that Lorne had brought Charlie up, per se; that onerous task had been down to Tom, her ex, most of the time. During her teens, Charlie had been a devil child, and even before she had reached her teens, she had demanded Tom’s attention throughout most of the day. Rather than get into the whys and wherefores of parenting with a stranger, knowing the subject could be as volatile as politics or religion to some people, therefore avoided at all cost, Lorne steered the conversation back to Jai San. “Can I ask how you found your au pair? Did she come recommended?”
    Angela thought for a second or two before she responded. “Well, like I said, I had worked my way through numerous au pairs—or Anthony had. Let me think. Do you know, I can’t for the life of me remember. How bloody silly of me.”
    “It really doesn’t matter.” Lorne stopped talking as the sound of a rattling tray filled the room and the butler approached them.
    “Thank you, Harry.” Angela smiled at the bent old man and patted his hand affectionately when he placed the tray down on the table beside her. “Why can’t I remember? How bizarre. Maybe Jai San can fill in the blanks later.”
    “How is she?” Lorne accepted the bone china cup and saucer from Angela after she had filled it with coffee served from a silver coffee pot. The aroma of the beans filled Lorne’s nostrils, reminding her how foolish she had been as a child walking down the high street and detesting the smell wafting out of the Cawardines coffee shop.
    “Jai San has gone into her shell. She gives the impression of being fine during the day—grateful to Anthony for the distraction, I suppose—but come the evening it’s a different story. I see her out there wandering around the garden in a daze. My