Sam: A Novel Of Suspense Read Online Free

the
gravel.
    About
a hundred metres up, the driver parked up beside a vast Georgian-style
mansion.  The building was a gargantuan square, with four floors of six windows
across (twenty-four all together).  The building wasn’t far off being a palace.
    “I’ve
stayed in worse, I suppose,” said Angela.
    The
man in the passenger seat chuckled.  “It’s quite a place, isn’t it?”
    “If
you mean a shrine to affluence and greed, then yes, it certainly is.  How many
people live here?”
    “Just
my employer and her son.  There were various staff that boarded here also, but
at the moment the place is pretty empty until some rehiring is done.”
    “How
the other half live, eh?”
    “Indeed. 
Shall we?”
    Angela
rubbed at her face to wake up more and then nodded.  “Ready when you are.” 
    The
car door was opened for her and Angela stepped out.  It was still chilly but
the air was now fresh and crisp, cleaner than the air she was used to breathing
in the industry-filled surroundings of Staffordshire.  Angela found it interesting
that the super-rich even got to enjoy a cleaner atmosphere than everyone else
did.
    “We
can go in through the main entrance,” said the man chaperoning her.
    “How
about you tell me your name,” said Angela.  “I’ve just driven fifty miles with
you, after all.”
    The
man smiled and offered his hand.  “My name is Mike, but to be honest you
probably won’t have much to do with me if you choose to stay here.  Graham and
I – Graham’s the guy who drove us here – are just glorified dogsbodies.”
    “Well,
I’m pleased to meet you, Mike.  Can’t say the same about Graham; guy seems like
a bit of an arsehole.”
    “Yeah,
he is,” Mike replied with a smile. “But he’s not that bad once you get to know
him.  I don’t think he likes priests to be honest, but that’s no reason for him
to be so short with you.”
    “Well
I don’t like priests either.  Maybe somebody ought to tell him that I’m not one
of them.”
    Mike
nodded and then swept an arm towards the house.  “Shall we?”
    They
walked across the driveway and up a small set of stone steps.  They led to the
large set of thick wooden doors marking the house’s entrance.  Angela didn’t
know what type of wood they were made from, but they were dark and intricately
carved.  The two doors probably weighed a tonne each.
    Mike
pressed a button on an intercom beside the door. There was a brief burst of
static and then a voice floated out of the speaker.
    “ Who
is it? ”
    “Frank,
it’s Mike.  I have Rev…Miss Murs with me.”
    There
was no reply, but a positive-sounding buzz came from the speaker.  Mike turned
the handle on one of the gigantic doors and pushed it open with ease.  Angela
followed him through and found herself inside a cavernous, marble-floored foyer
that looked more like a five-star hotel then a person’s home.
    A
large and wiry, silver-haired man appeared at the top of a wide staircase in
the centre of the room.  He descended down the steps slowly as if he had all
the time in the world.  The man seemed a humourless, no-nonsense type of
character and Angela took an instant dislike to him on principle.
    “Thank
you, Mike,” the man said.  “That will be all.”
    Mike
nodded and departed back outside.  The other man – whom Angela assumed was
Frank – took the final few steps and approached her.  He offered out a
thick-knuckled hand covered by scars.  It was a fighter’s hand.
    “Pleased
to meet you, Miss Murs,” he commented.
    Well,
at least he didn’t call me Reverend .
    “ Frank ,
I assume?  Are you the person who wanted to see me, because I was told it was a
woman and you don’t seem to fit the bill.”
    The
man did not laugh, but didn’t seem offended either – more that he simply lacked
any kind of sense-of-humour.  “The lady of the house will be down shortly,” he
said.  “She has asked that I make you comfortable.  I am Chief of House and I
will