Jayne’s Secret Temptation: What happens when your core values are challenged?

By Paul A Draper

We all have a “moral compass”, learned either from parents, religious leaders, school teachers or peers. It is basically a set of rules we live our life by. Some of us are unwavering in our direction, others are more liberal in the interpretation of their core values.

This book attempts to explore what happens when these core values are challenged. It begs the question: “What would you do when confronted with huge risk or reward?” No matter what you say, it’s what you do that counts.

Jayne’s Secret Temptation introduces you to colourful characters with a novel and new approach with a degree of humour and realism.

It comes with a guaranteed surprise but is nonetheless a believable tale. You never know, it could actually happen!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Mar 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781398433724

Paul A Draper

Born to publicans in 1950 in rural England, Paul A Draper had an idyllic life along with other children of the village who were allowed to roam free without the constraints or concerns of modern-day life. After leaving school at 18 years and being employed by an international mining company; the wider world beckoned. Australia was the chosen destination where he travelled the length and breadth of that enormous land with the burgeoning oil and gas industry. He got married in 1971 to Janis, they have two daughters. He now lives in semi-retirement in the beautiful Hamlet of Campbells Creek, Australia.

Book preview

About the Author

Born to publicans in 1950 in rural England, Paul A Draper had an idyllic life along with other children of the village who were allowed to roam free without the constraints or concerns of modern-day life.

After leaving school at 18 years and being employed by an international mining company; the wider world beckoned.

Australia was the chosen destination where he travelled the length and breadth of that enormous land with the burgeoning oil and gas industry.

He got married in 1971 to Janis, they have two daughters.

He now lives in semi-retirement in the beautiful Hamlet of Campbells Creek, Australia.

Dedication

For Agnes

Copyright Information ©

Paul A Draper 2022

The right of Paul A Draper to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with Sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398433717 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781398433724 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2022

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Beginning

‘Joe, Joe! Joeey! Jeez, that bloody dog. Where are you, Joe?’

Joe, the wiry-haired Jack Russel, would often run into the bushes after rabbits or some other animal that he had sensed, but this time, he had not emerged and had been out of sight for longer than usual.

It was a frosty morning of mid-March 2016 when Jayne Connaught, Joe’s owner, a pretty brown-eyed athletically built twenty-five-year-old was getting impatient with her dog because she needed to catch the tube by 7:30, and it was getting late.

The morning routine of walking her dog was usually pleasurable and needed for both Joe and Jayne.

It was relaxing generally but Jayne had exceeded her normal two glasses of red wine last night and had slept in.

She would have gladly missed the morning routine but Joe hadn’t overindulged and his enthusiasm spinning around, jumping and barking could not be refused so Jayne reluctantly acquiesced to his demands.

‘JOE, JOE! For fuck’s sake, where are you?’ she shouted.

Jayne knew she would have to fight her way through the blackberry brambles to find him.

She ducked her head and parted the prickly barbs; which grabbed and pulled at her woolly overcoat but once past the initial tough defences found herself in a strangely quiet and unspoilt environment.

‘Joe, Joe,’ Jayne found herself whispering for no apparent reason except that this was a quiet place.

‘Joey, where are you?’ she whispered.

Jayne could now stand easily as the brambles had thinned out, then she saw the unmistakable waggle of the brown tipped stubby tail of Joe.

Joe was so engrossed with his find that he didn’t hear Jayne or was just ignoring her.

‘Joe! What is it?’

Jayne grabbed him by his taut muscular torso, his nose blackened and his front paws still frantically digging the air, then she saw it!

She jumped back as if shot! It was a hand, a human hand attached to an arm!

She dropped Joe who immediately continued his manic excavation.

Jayne sat back on her haunches, looking incredulously at what she was confronted with.

Her first thought was to ring the police so she reached inside her coat pocket for her mobile, she started dialling but then something else caught her attention.

A handle, a bag handle she put the phone back started pulling and a huge holdall bag appeared.

Jayne thought she might find out the identity of this poor unfortunate who lay alongside.

She began to unzip the bag, the contents were hard to distinguish at first although she could make out they were some kind of thick polythene or plastic.

A closer inspection revealed the answer.

Money, cash, loads of it, stacks of it neatly and precisely vacuum packed.

‘Joe, c’mon stop that,’ Joe was still enthusiastically unearthing the body.

Jayne, by now, was starting to panic.

What should she do?

She sat down, holding the squirming Joe and finally settled him down.

She decided that she would try and carry the holdall back to the car; giving her time to digest and think about this crazy situation.

She attached Joe’s leash and started towards the entrance she had made, dragging a reluctant Joe in one hand and the heavy holdall in the other.

As she emerged from the brambles Jayne found herself looking around nervously to see if anybody was looking.

She put her foot on Joe’s leash to stop him from returning to the body and struggled with the holdall, placing an arm through each handle like a rucksack; then picked up Joe’s leash and returned to her car.

Jayne finally reached her car about one hundred metres away; she was exhausted.

The holdall was very heavy but Jayne’s athletic calves and thighs honed through years of hockey, netball and more recently weight lifting at her local gym had paid dividends.

Once inside her car, Jayne stared through the windscreen as she cupped the steering wheel.

She couldn’t believe what had just happened.

She turned her head to one side, looked at Joe, his nose and paws were blackened by his manic digging but his eyes were bright and expectant of more fun she could not help but snort and laugh.

‘Oh, Joey, what is going on here?’ she asked rhetorically.

Joe cocked his head, one ear up, the other turned down as if he could understand but Jayne knew he had no answers.

Jayne couldn’t understand why she was so unsure and conflicted by her thoughts and actions; she knew she needed money but what she was doing went against all her natural instincts.

Honesty and integrity were the cornerstones of her life and had served her well.

Her Mother and father were her guiding lights and impressed upon her from an early age that she only needed honesty and integrity. The rest would take care of itself.

Conflict and Justification

Jayne didn’t like her job very much as a booking executive for Universal Rental Car at St Pancras railway station, although she was very good at it and received many awards for service excellence.

Her boss, Stephanie Hollis, was an absolute fucking bitch a term Jayne often thought of but never uttered.

Stephanie a statuesque blonde with unusual pale blue (almost white) eyes, they reminded Jayne of an Alaskan malamute.

A university graduate from St John’s Wood whose wealthy Mother and father put her through the London School of Economics to stop their rebellious daughter running off; at age sixteen, with the bass player from the Green Machine, a London grunge band of the late 1990s.

Stephanie resented this but realised that she would be cut off from the family purse if she did not comply.

As a result, she duly graduated but hated her job and was frustrated.

She took out this frustration on anyone she considered worthy of her rage.

Jayne was this person.

She needed Jayne however because, whilst she had the qualifications Jayne had the experience, connections and the know-how.

What was to be done? Jayne mused.

She must tell someone, but whom?

Dad? No! Mum? No!

Maybe she’ll sleep on it, yes, that’s it, things will be clearer in the morning.

However, it was the morning and Jayne was due at work in ten minutes.

Universal Rent A Car Office St Pancras

‘Hello, hello, Steph, it’s Jayne. I’m sorry I won’t be in today. I’m feeling pretty rough.’

‘Jesus! Jayne, you know it’s the Monday before the school holidays. We’re going to be flat out, and Marcus is arriving from Zurich. You know he’ll only deal with you!’

‘I know, I know. I’m sorry. I have his private number. I’ll ring him; it’ll be okay, Steph. Leave it to me.’

‘What’s wrong with you anyway? You were fine on Friday.’

‘Same thing that was wrong with you last Tuesday and Wednesday.’

‘Fuck off, Jayne! Will you be in tomorrow?’

‘Maybe, I dunno.’

Stephanie hung up.

Jayne looked at Joe and said, ‘Well, Joey, I think that hit a nerve with the lanky pretender’—stuff her! Jayne thought.

She felt empowered for no other reason really than the mountains of cash she had spread over her bed from opening only three of the vacuum packs.

‘One, two, three,’ Jayne counted out loud until she reached forty packs of one-thousand-one-hundred-euro notes, Four-million euros at her reckoning, the rest made up of forty packs each of one-thousand-fifty-euros and forty packs of one-thousand-fifty-pound notes.

‘Shit, Joe. We’re fucking rich,’ Jayne screamed with joy, then realised what she had done, thought back about the corpse and her decision, or lack of it and felt scared.

Re-Enforcement

‘Hello, Marcus, Marcus, can you hear me?’

‘Yes, Jayne. Jayne, you’re breaking up, Jayne, can you hear me?’

‘Yes, Marcus, where are you?’

‘I’m on Eurostar, about to come out of the tunnel. What are you doing for breakfast? My appointment is not until 10:30. I’d like to catch up before I do battle.’

‘Oh, Marcus, you’ll be fine; grab yourself a bite at Georgiou’s. David will be at the front entrance by 10:00 am; if he is being held up he will call; he has your number.’

‘I’m sorry. I’m not feeling too well today and will not be in the office.’

‘Oh, sorry to hear that, Jayne. Nothing serious I hope?’

‘No, Marcus, just a bit off. I’ll be okay.’

Marcus Wurth, a Swiss entrepreneur, banker, raconteur, intense, serious and very astute; not tall probably about five feet eight inches, dark hair and eyes; somewhat Neanderthal looking, prominent dimpled chin with a heavy and shaven beard that looked like a constant 5 o’clock shadow.

Marcus pondered what Jayne had said and thought this is not like her.

However, he had delicate negotiations with the department of trade and he must focus on the issue at hand, namely the balance of trade between Britain and Switzerland.

Back at her flat in Hampstead Jayne was still in a state of utter confusion about what to do and indeed what she had already done.

Should she contact the police about the body? Was she being watched? Was she in danger?

She nervously went to her net curtained window to see if anyone was watching.

Everybody she saw looked suspicious.

‘My god,’ Jayne thought. ‘I’m going crazy.’

She was jumping at shadows on the wall and feeling extremely nervous.

‘That’s it!’ Jayne exclaimed out loud.

‘I’ll go back to the scene with Joe and re-discover the body and then ring the Police claiming to have just discovered it,’ she said to herself.

She feverishly bundled up all of the banknotes, stuffed them back in the holdall then locked them in the wardrobe, grabbed Joe and drove north towards the fields where she had discovered the body and money.

Jayne arrived at the field dressed in baseball cap and sunglasses, thinking this might be an appropriate disguise, she put the leash on Joe and spun around 360 degrees to see if she had been followed.

There was no one in sight but wait!

Was that a reflective flash from the woods beyond, maybe it was binoculars or even a telescopic sight from a rifle.

She took a deep breath, Joe was up on his hind legs, hopping and subduing his bark.

Jayne decided she was becoming paranoid so she set off immediately in the direction of the brambles.

Once there, she did another 360.

There was a man chasing his Rottweiler who had escaped and quickly ran out of sight.

Jayne ducked her head, being pulled along by Joe towards the scene.

Once there, Joe frantically weaved from side to side, nose on the ground like a minesweeper but quickly lost interest.

They arrived at the scene; there was a hole but the body was missing!

Jayne slumped backwards onto her haunches open-mouthed she released the grip on Joe’s leash, and he ran off.

Jayne was so astounded she began to hyperventilate, hunting for breath and rolling back and forth on her knees like a Muslim praying.

Eventually, Jayne regained composure and started to wonder what on earth was going on.

Had she imagined it?

She pinched herself, hard so it hurt, she wasn’t dreaming, she thought.

What could have possibly taken place in such a short time?

A rustle in the bushes interrupted Jayne’s thoughts; she cowered into the foetal position only peering under her arm to see what fate had in store.

There was Joe, bright-eyed, tongue hanging to one side, wagging his erect stubby tail and stinking of cow shit.

Jayne sat there looking at him and thought, he has no idea what is going on but he’s loving it.

Back at her car Jayne ushered Joe into the rear of her hatchback and made a makeshift barrier out of some flattened cardboard cartons she had used shifting into her new flat, to stop him jumping over onto the recently cleaned seats.

It was all to no avail though, because no sooner had Jayne closed the tail gate of her hatchback and opened the driver’s side door there was Joe sitting on her seat, waiting to be driven home on her lap as usual.

Three Months Later

Jayne had vowed not to spend any of the money or do anything that would draw attention to her over the past three months and good to her word she accomplished this.

At the same time, Jayne scoured the newspapers, watched the news on TV listened to radio bulletins and generally searched any form of media, social or otherwise that might report anything pertaining to this mystery but there was nothing.

Her work routine was normal, she did her usual competent job, in fact, she noticed a much more relaxed attitude, an even more friendly feeling from Stephanie.

Jayne was somewhat confused by this but thought; this is better than being at loggerheads.

Stephanie had been doing some soul searching recently, about why she was so angry most of the time and came to the conclusion that it was nobody’s problem except hers.

Stephanie knew Jayne was a huge asset to the company and to her personally.

She would be the reason for her progress up the ladder, anyway, she really did like her, she had a beautiful smile and always maintained eye contact, which the clients loved.

‘Doing anything tonight?’ Stephanie asked, not looking up from the papers she was pretending to read.

Jayne looked around and realised that there was no one else in the office.

‘Sorry, were you speaking to me?’

Jayne looked confused.

‘Yeah,’ said Stephanie looking over her black half round glasses.

‘Thought you might like to go out to the Paddo I hear the new chef is great. If you don’t want to eat we could just have a couple of drinks.’

‘Well, that sounds great,’ Jayne replied nervously.

‘C’mon then,’ Stephanie said, throwing her oversize leather bag over her shoulder.

Jayne looked at her watch, it was 8:00 pm.

‘Jesus!’ she said.

She hadn’t realised how late it was.

‘Joe will be frantic.’

‘Joe?’

Stephanie looked enquiringly and said, ‘I hadn’t. I mean I didn’t.’

‘No, no, no, nothing like that.’ Jayne laughed.

‘Joe’s my dog—a Jack Russell—he’s the only man in my life.’

Stephanie smiled and said, ‘Do you have to go home?’

‘I should,’ Jayne said.

‘But I can meet you there about 9:30 if you want?’

‘Well, I guess that’ll be okay.’

‘Okay, I’ll get going then, see you soon,’ Jayne said.

‘Okay, don’t rush.’ Smiled Stephanie.

Primrose Hill

‘Sorry, sorry, mate, I know Mummy is late, your walk will have to wait,’ said Jayne apologetically as she opened the door to her flat.

Joe was yelping with enthusiasm, he would not be denied.

‘Alright, c’mon then, quickly.’

Jayne grabbed Joe’s leash, picked him up and raced down from the second floor flat to the nearby Hampstead Heath.

Joe must have cocked his leg at every tree and lamp post within a fifty-metre radius.

‘C’mon Joe, c’mon for Christ’s sake.’

Jayne pulled Joe off the last tree trunk, and they started back towards the flat but Joe had one last stop in mind hunching his back whilst Jayne was dragging him along.

Jayne looked behind her and said, ‘Oh, sorry, sorry, Joe.’

Jayne stopped while Joe did his business.

Jayne picked up Joe’s droppings in a plastic bag deposited the bag in the council provided bin and headed home.

Finally, back at the flat Jayne grabbed a small can of dog food, mixed it with some dried food, locked the door and ran downstairs to catch the tube.

Sitting on the tube Jayne thought, why was she so frantic?

Probably because it was the first time Stephanie had shown any genuine friendliness towards her?

Paddington Hotel

‘Hi,’ said Stephanie.

‘Hi,’ Jayne replied.

‘You weren’t too long. How’s Joe?’

‘He’s fine, perhaps a little confused.’

‘That’s so sweet.’

‘He’s the only male I’ve met so far in my life that is completely committed to me.’

Stephanie smiled and said, ‘What are you drinking?’

‘Oh, beer please, a large one, a very cold lager I don’t care what type, as long as it is cold.’

Stephanie raised her eyebrows and caught the eye of Pablo.

‘Senorita, what is your pleasure,’ said Pablo the handsome Spanish waiter.

‘Duos Grande cerveza pour favour Pablo.’

Pablo nodded and smiled at Stephanie’s attempt at Spanish and scurried off towards the bar.

‘So Jayne, it’s so nice to speak to you out of the work environment and I have been remiss in not doing so before.’

‘Well, I must say, Steph. I was surprised that you asked.’

‘I know, I know. I’ve been a thorough bitch towards you.’

‘No.’

‘Yes, yes, I have, and I’m very sorry,’ said Stephanie interrupting.

‘I know you are much more knowledgeable than I about the business and I appreciate your expertise; we can be a great team, and I’m determined to help you help me,’ Stephanie said.

Jayne looked Stephanie in the eye and could tell instinctively she was sincere, although probably a little pissed; after all, she had been there a couple of hours or so before her.

Stephanie got up, leant towards Jayne and said, ‘Going to powder my nose.’

Stephanie stood up her tall and svelte frame was there for all to see, most of the crowd in the bar paused and watched as she confidently sashayed towards the ladies.

Jayne thought how incredibly attractive and alluring she was.

‘We should eat,’ said Jayne as Stephanie returned.

‘Yes, we should,’ Stephanie replied.

‘Pablo, Pablo, where’s the menu?’ Stephanie shouted at Pablo from across the room and once again the patrons in the bar stopped and looked at her.

‘Sorry, senorita. The food is off,’ replied Pablo as he approached.

‘What the food is off, or you are not serving any more food?’

Stephanie laughed loudly as she slurred her words.

It seemed that Stephanie was drunk.

‘I think we’d better go home,’ said Jayne.

‘Good idea, Jayney baby. I’m pissed,’ said Stephanie stating the obvious.

‘C’mon then, let’s get you home.’

Outside the Pub Jayne hailed a cab, there were plenty near the stations along Euston Road.

‘Where to, luv?’ asked the cabbie.

It was then that Jayne realised that she had no idea where Stephanie lived.

‘Steph, Steph, where do you live?’ asked Jayne.

Stephanie was falling asleep but managed to tell Jayne that she lived at 104 Lancaster Grove, Maida Vale.

‘Did you hear that cabbie?’ asked Jayne.

‘Yes, luv, 104 Lancaster Grove, right?’

‘Yes, thanks.’

The cab pulled up outside 104 Lancaster Grove Jayne leaned forward and the cabbie said, ‘That’ll be fifteen quid thanks, luv.’

Jayne rummaged through her handbag for her purse and pulled out a fifty-pound note suddenly realising it was one of the fifties from the holdall.

She panicked a little but knew she would have to test the water so to speak sooner or later.

‘Just take twenty please, driver,’ Jayne said.

‘Or right fanks darlin,’ said the cabbie in the unmistakeable East End Cockney accent.

‘Do you need an ’and wiv yore, mate?’

‘Well, I wouldn’t mind,’ said Jayne.

‘No worries.’

The cabbie jumped out, both he and Jayne took an arm and helped Stephanie out of the cab.

Jayne looked at the place, thinking Stephanie could not possibly rent or even own the whole building, even though she knew her parents were very well off.

‘What floor do you live on Steph?’ asked Jayne.

‘Ground, ground,’ said Stephanie.

Jayne was so relieved to hear that Stephanie lived on the ground floor