Loki's Path, Page 2

  After crossing the bridge, he started rummaging through the nearest bin, looking for the previous night’s newspapers.

  “Ah” he said as he retrieved what he is looking for “good, good, I can read this later.”

  People ignored Jim, he was an invisible person, someone that made respectable people feel uncomfortable, to them he was nothing more than an ugly blight on their great city. But he didn’t care. He was on a mission and he needed to gather evidence.

  Loki had accompanied Jim, much to Jim’s annoyance “why do you want to come to the house with me?” he asked accusingly “what do you know?”

  Loki had told him that he just wanted to help and had followed behind him as he set about his task.

  “Here is another paper Jim” Loki handed it to him; it was on a bench by some railings “It’s the Telegraph; we may be able to get some good information from here.”

  They both sat down and began to scan the papers “do you know what I am looking for boy?”

  Loki knew, but it was against the rules to affect free will. Somewhere in Jim’s mind were the files to his past and Loki was to help him find the key that would unlock those files.

  “I think so Jim” he said as he slowly turned each page, scanning the news therein “you better remind me, I’m knew to all of this.”

  “Political stories Loki look for political stories and pictures. Members of the secret society are usually in the background at important events, I believe they have to be seen by their peers to have complete control over the situation.”

  “And what is the situation?” Loki pondered “you are a little vague here Jim.”

  Jim stopped on a page, and gazed at a picture of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, this time at a charity dinner event, “here” he said pointing at the picture “look, look” Loki stared at the picture and the figure standing in the background behind the Chancellor.

  “Who is that?”

  “I don’t know” Jim said dejected “but I know he is one of them, one of the secret society people.” His tone lifted becoming more animated “He is the key Loki. This man knows the truth, he knows who is really running our country and it isn’t the Prime Minister and his cronies, they are just puppets, front men ensuring policies are in place that will advance the missions of the society.”

  Loki nodded.

  “So you believe me?” Jim’s voice was slightly shocked at Loki’s genuine acceptance of his works “you don’t think I’m mad?”

  “I know you are not mad Jim, and if you tell me it’s true then I know you have no reason to lie to me.”

  “Exactly!” Jim stood up and tucked the papers under his arm “follow me”

  **

  Tom Richardson stood looking out of his office window on Brick Lane, it was small and inconspicuous but that was the way he liked it. He hated politicians; they were vain and full of self-importance, especially this particular government who has been in power for three years now.

  He walked to his office door and popped his head around to address his personal assistant,

  “Dawn, what time am I meeting the Chancellor today?”

  “3 O’clock Mr. Richardson”

  Checking his watch he went back into his office knowing that he had to spend another few hours with the abhorrent little man who was the Chancellor of the Exchequer. His mobile phone rang

  “Hello. Yes, it’s all sorted; I am meeting with him again today to find out if we can move on the story.”

  Tom removed his coat from the coat stand in his office and put it on. Marching out he turned to Dawn,

  “I’m just going out for some fresh air and some decent coffee”

  ****

  Jim and Loki had been walking for a few hours, collecting newspapers along the way and any other useful findings. Loki had found a mars bar on the floor by a local newsagents and Jim had picked up a half carton of milkshake, the best find of all being two sandwiches uneaten and just discarded in a public bin.

  “I can’t believe people throw away good food!” Jim growled even though he was delighted with the find “let’s share the shake and chocolate now but keep the sandwich until later, so we can share it with Annie.”

  “We’ve been walking for hours now Jim” Loki offered in the hope Jim would be able to tell him what or who he believed he was looking for “can you tell me where we are going”

  “Brick Lane”

  Loki smiled, Brick Lane was an important part of Jims recovery “Why Brick Lane?”

  Jim stopped and turned to his new disciple to the cause, he rubbed his disgruntled beard and pulled his woolen hat off to run his permanently dirty hands through his long salt and pepper hair, his manner a little manic and frustrated, “I don’t bloody know why! 08071965 0807”

  Loki reached out and touched Jims shoulder to cease the ranting “It’s ok Jim, it’s ok. It will all come back to you when the time is right. If you say we need to go to Brick Lane, then let’s go it’s only five minutes away.”

  Tom left the coffee shop walking out into the brisk London air; he lifted the white plastic lid to the coffee cup and took a sip of his regular latte. As a top political correspondent he and his reporters were in demand from all major publications, he was passionate about his job and knew the government hated him deeply. It brought him some satisfaction to know that they were scared of his power. All of his stories and those of his staff were sensational based on research, facts and undercover work, the reputation of his company left him in the position of selling to the highest bidders for exclusive rights to their stories.

  He began to make his way back to the office, he needed to go through his research before meeting the Chancellor for an exclusive interview where he intended on grilling the man who holds the purse strings for the nation about party contributors obtaining large government contracts. He had plenty of evidence to throw at him and was quite looking forward to watching him squirm.

  Turning swiftly right, he never noticed the two homeless men walking directly towards him, the bearded man knocked into him accidently causing his coffee to jump out of the cup and land all over his coat.

  “Watch where you are going you bloody idiot!” Tom scowled as he began to wipe his coat of the unwanted coffee trying to prevent any stains “for Christ’s sake!”

  Jim looked very nervous, real people never talked to him he was invisible to them, “Sorry sir, sorry sir” he said over and over.

  Loki looked at the well-dressed man, knowing exactly who he was “It’s all right Jim, it was an accident” he tried to calm Jim down, his nervous disposition obvious as he rapidly began wringing his hands together at the abrupt encounter. Loki looked at Tom

  “We are sorry sir, it really was an accident” he indicated toward Jim “my friend here felt a need to come to Brick Lane today, we are not sure why but he just did.”

  Tom was not a malicious man and he did not want to appear unsympathetic towards these unfortunate people, “it’s ok” he said curtly “no harm done.”

  “See Jim, no harm done” Loki said reassuring him and gently patting his shoulder “the nice man understands this was an accident.”

  “Ok, ok” Jim repeated nervously “no harm done, no harm done.” He looked at Tom “no harm done”

  Loki smiled slightly, it never ceased to amaze him how God knew the path of every one of his children and here on Brick Lane, through a spilling of a simple substance he was about to witness Jims path changing forever.

  Tom stood silent looking at the homeless scruffy man before him, hair hanging like greying rat’s tails from under his dirty hat, beard grubby, with a small piece of chocolate stuck to it, dangling like a sticky clinging goo ball. His eyes fixed for a few seconds on the man’s ice blue eyes, then he saw it, the prominent hazel coloured fleck in the right eye, unmistakable a feature that caused him to take a step backwards, shaking his head.

  “It can’t be? It can’t be?”

  Loki remained silent, he was unable to a
ffect free will, he knew that Tom had to come to his own realisation and that he had to decide for himself what he would do. He also knew that Jim would have to decide if he wanted to go down this path, everything rested on the next few minutes. Loki closed his eyes and prayed in silence as the events unfolded.

  “Frank?” he moved a step closer towards Jim “Frank?”

  Jim backed up nervously and turned to Loki handing him his newspapers “you take these, we can’t lose these” he said backing up again. He nervously shuffled backwards as Tom slowly moved towards him and gently took him by the arm.

  “Frank? It’s me, it’s Tom”

  “No, no I’m not Frank, I’m Jim” he began wringing his hands frantically again “0807196508071965”

  “It’s ok Jim” Loki reassured “this is a good man he is not going to harm you.”

  Tom turned to Loki “This is Frank McFadden, oh my God, this if Frank McFadden!”

  “I know him as Jim”

  “This is Frank, he disappeared three years ago, it was a goddam mystery.”

  Jim continued to repeat his numerical rant and began rocking

  “Would you come to my office?” Tom asked Loki

  “Yes, I think that would be a good idea, Jim looks pretty stressed. Tell him you are going to give him food and that you have some political news for him, he’s obsessed with politics and would definitely go with you if you were to feed his obsession.”

  Tom nodded and gently touched Jim’s arm again “Jim, Jim” he said quietly in a friendly reassuring manner “I have some interesting news on the government in my office that I want to share with you, and I have tea and biscuits that you are welcome to. Follow me” he gently guided Jim down Brick Lane towards his office.

  “Yes, good” Jim said, his anxious disposition subsiding, the passion for his conspiracy theory overriding his anxious behaviour.

  Loki and Jim walked slowly with Tom towards the office, Jim slightly bent over, shuffling in his battered black boots

  “Did you say you had biscuits?” Jim enquired, he was permanently hungry and here was a man who was going to give him biscuits, real fresh biscuits and tea, as well as give him some information on the government.

  “Yes Jim” Tom said, if this was Frank McFadden, and he was pretty darned sure it was, he knew exactly what biscuits he liked, in fact he knew almost everything about him. Frank was his closest friend and business partner, “I have Cadbury chocolate fingers Jim”

  Jim stopped and for the first time Loki saw him smile, he felt what he could only describe as a well of love for this man. The smile was radiant, a fleeting bit of evidence of the real man behind the tragedy.

  “They are my favourite biscuits in the whole world!”

  “Yes I know” whispered Tom “now come on gentlemen, let’s go to my office, it is just here” he pointed to a blue door with the words ‘McFadden & Richardson” etched onto the glass panels.

  He guided them in gently through and slowly past Dawn, whose face was fixed in total shock as the site before her eyes. Tom opened his office door for Jim and Loki to enter

  “Dawn, please bring me a pot of earl grey tea, three cups and the biggest plate of Cadbury chocolate fingers you can find.”

  “But Mr. Richardson…..”

  “Now Dawn! And hold all of my calls; I do not want to be disturbed oh and cancel my meeting with the Chancellor will you, I’m sure he will be delighted, just rearrange it to suit his diary.”

  He closed the door behind him and left Dawn, scrambling around to complete the task given to her.

  “What the hell is going on?” she scowled to herself but knew better than to question Tom, his methods were sometimes odd, but he always got results. She took in a deep breath to regain her composure “they must be informants.”

  With this explanation that placated her confusion Dawn regained her professional standing and loaded a silver tray with tea, cups and Cadbury chocolate fingers as instructed and entered Tom’s office to deliver the goods.

  Chapter 3

  Tom gazed at Jim and Loki as they both ate the chocolate biscuits ravenously, and drank their hot earl grey tea.

  “We should take some of these for Annie” Jim said, putting a huge handful of chocolate biscuits into his torn pocket.

  Tom looked at Loki quizzically

  “She’s Jim’s friend on the street, they take care of each other.” Loki responded “these biscuits are good!” Loki felt total gratification as the chocolate on the biscuits coated the inside of his mouth. It was at these simple times, that he realised how blessed these humans were. Such a simple thing bringing so much pleasure, it was truly miraculous.

  Tom interlaced his fingers as he deliberated on how to deal with this. It was obvious that Jim had no idea who he was and if the street scene was anything to go by, he needed to keep him calm in order to get to the bottom of this.

  “Jim?” he questioned gently and touched his arm. Jim looked at him, his face in the midst of chocolate biscuit heaven, “Jim, how long have you been living on the streets?”

  Loki had a biscuit in mid-air ready to demolish when the question was asked. He stopped stuffing his face and slowly put the biscuit down on the plate looking at Jim’s face, this was a critical time.

  “All of my life” Jim responded

  “Right, right” Tom nodded his head, maybe this wasn’t Frank, but if it wasn’t then he was his doppelganger underneath all that hair and grime.

  Loki new the rules so was only able to say what was already in the open, “Annie told me that Jim’s earliest memory is three years ago, he woke in an alley with a bump to the head and no memory.”

  “Yep, three years ago now” Jim repeated, nodding in agreement with Loki.

  Tom looked at Loki, with a determined look on his face,

  “Frank McFadden went missing three years ago. He was working on an undercover political story, just before the general elections. He was a brilliant political correspondent.”

  Jim’s ears pricked at the mention of politics and he pulled off his hat to listen more intently, his hair falling over his face; he unceremoniously tucked it behind both ears looking like an aging hippy.

  “What political story was he covering?” Jim asked

  “Something big” Tom wasn’t sure how much he should say, he looked at Loki “what were those numbers he kept repeating out in the street?”

  Loki knew exactly what these numbers meant, but remained silent to the true meaning behind them

  “Oh, that is just something he does when he is anxious or nervous”

  “08071965, am I right? Are these the numbers he chants?”

  “08071965” repeated Jim.

  “I know what these numbers are, they are Frank’s birthday. The 8th of July 1965.”

  “Wow” said Loki, he knew he could not influence, “that’s a bit freaky!”

  Tom poured three more cups of tea contemplating the wonderful amazing situation that this day had brought.

  Three years ago, his dear friend and partner Frank was working on an undercover story about the present government, who at that time were in opposition. He had told Tom back then, that he had uncovered something massive, something dirty and corrupt. It was something to do with payment for policies should the opposition get into power, and Frank had unearthed some evidence that the opposition, if they got into power would guarantee large multi-million pound government contracts to their party sponsors; he had even told him at the time that they were actually going to bidding wars to get the highest deal. He had guaranteed Tom that he had evidence safely hidden away that would verify this claim. The last time he talked to Frank was on the phone; Frank had called him the night he went missing, saying that he now had the final bits of the jigsaw that would rock the political world in the United Kingdom, with the promise that he would lay all the evidence out to him the next day in readiness to go live with the story.

  “Jim, when you woke up in that alley three years ago, d
idn’t you think to go to the hospital?”

  “I didn’t know what a hospital was at the time” he replied, his voice raspy and gruff “my memory was gone, completely just like that” he clicked his fingers together emphasising the speed of his memory loss. “I remember finding a soup kitchen, it was raining heavily and I was scared.”

  “Go on” Tom encouraged,

  “They were very kind to me and gave me a warm coat, a hat a blanket and some food.”

  “Did anyone there ask who you were? Did they ask any questions at all?”

  “Yes, but I couldn’t answer them, so I just stayed quiet. It seemed like the best thing to do as I was warm and dry and I had food.”

  “It made headline news”

  “What did?” Jim looked puzzled

  Tom smiled sadly “Franks disappearance; it made headline news. I mean he was a highly respected reporter.” He shook his head, his eyes welling at the memory of that time “how come nobody recognised you? Your picture was over every newspaper in the land.”

  “I suppose” Loki offered “that may be because nobody really sees the homeless Tom. They are an embarrassment, a carbuncle on decent society. Why would anyone associate a homeless guy in a soup kitchen wearing an old coat and wooly hat with a high profile case?”

  Tom slowly stood up and walked over to his book case. He extracted a scrap book and placed it on the desk in front of Jim.

  “Here take a look; these were the headlines of the time.”

  Loki held his breath as Jim opened the scrap book; his eyes taking in the headlines

  ’Top Political Reporter missing, feared dead’

  ‘Reward for the whereabouts of Frank McFadden’

  ‘Have you seen this man?’

  There in the picture was Frank McFadden, a handsome short haired clean shaven face, with a beaming smile wearing a suit and tie. Loki looked for a response from Jim

  “Is this connected to the government information you are going to give me?” Jim asked Tom eagerly, “Does this man know about the secret society?”

  “Yes” answered Tom “yes I believe he does.”

  ****

  Dawn was livid. Tom’s request was below her professional standing as a personal assistant. She had worked for Tom for 5 years, and had nothing but respect for his work, his integrity and his standing as a political reporter. However, this was going beyond the call of duty!