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  Diana’s Leap

  –By D. Glenn Millar–

  Copyright © 2018 D. Glenn Millar

  Sunshine Press, Sechelt, B.C.

  All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication, reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system without the prior written consent of the publisher is strictly prohibited.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Some of the events depicted in this novel are unlikely or highly unlikely to have occurred for legal or technological reasons but have been included as written for dramatic effect.

  Cover art reproduced by permission of the artist Carole Millar. For information about Carole Millar’s art, visit: carolemillar.com

  For Diana, wherever she may be.

  With special thanks to:

  Carole Millar, Paddy Blenkinsop, Jim Bowie, Pamela Roberts and Sheenah Main.

  Table of Contents

  Cast of Characters in Order of Appearance

  Part One: The Reunion

  Chapter 1: The hat

  Chapter 2: A good Friday?

  Chapter 3: Mr. Bunny Rabbit

  Chapter 4: The letter

  Chapter 5: The reunion

  Chapter 6: Meanwhile…

  Chapter 7: The next four months

  Part Two: The Chase

  Chapter 8: Ever been to Monaco?

  Chapter 9: Wendell gets lucky

  Chapter 10: Ka-blamm!

  Chapter 11: Mr. Service

  Chapter 12: The assistant supervisor

  Chapter 13: Boys night out

  Chapter 14: Diana goes shopping

  Part Three: The Rescue

  Chapter 15: House guests for Jimmy

  Chapter 16: A bigger coffin

  Chapter 17: Bagged lunch for Pamela

  Chapter 18: Bad day for Sergeant Edwards

  Chapter 19: Airport pick-up

  Chapter 20: Asleep on the job

  Chapter 21: Frank gets a text

  Chapter 22: Teddy is disappointed

  Chapter 23: 22 Black

  Chapter 24: Did you include the jewelry?

  Chapter 25: Prison visit

  About the Author

  Cast of Characters in Order of Appearance

  Diana Miller: the heroine and Danny Alexander’s lover

  Cathy Stewart: Diana’s best friend, supposedly

  Gordon Doll: Diana’s ex-husband

  Danny Alexander: alias Geoff Andrew, the hero and Diana’s lover

  Jimmy: a drug dealer from California now living in Paris who is associated with Tommy Hill

  Gustavo: a male prostitute hired by Danny to pose as a hit man

  Tommy Hill: a notorious British crime boss and former member of the Richardson Gang in South London who uses a small upholstery hammer in devilish ways to torture and kill his enemies

  Peter Roach: criminal from Boston who recruits Danny as a money launderer

  George Abramson: banker with Bartletts Bank in London

  Abagail Ponder: alias Susan Brown, a sassy embezzler with a weakness for high-stakes gambling

  Jason: one of Tommy’s men; the taller, younger, blond one

  Harry: another of Tommy’s men; the shorter, older, balding one

  Wendell Oliver: junior inspector at Scotland Yard specializing in forensic accounting

  Kirk Hornby: chief inspector at Scotland Yard and Wendell’s boss

  Gaspar Petit: the assistant security supervisor at the Café de Paris in Monte Carlo

  Pamela Wilmott: Hornby’s secretary

  Frank Ponder: Abagail’s father and former associate of the Kray Twins in South London

  Eugene Edwards: sergeant with Scotland Yard assigned to airport pick-up

  Lewis Finnie: constable with Scotland Yard assigned to watch Frank Ponder’s flat in Whitechapel.

  Part One: The Reunion

  Chapter 1: The hat

  Thursday, February 9th, 1978

  Lindsay Place High School, Pointe Claire, Quebec, Canada.

  —1—

  It was the day after, and Diana was still walking on air as she and her friend Cathy disembarked from the bus and started walking toward the school.

  “So, tell me!” Cathy implored.

  She knew something was up with Diana. Her friend had dropped enough hints on the bus ride to school, and there was something about her this morning. Usually, it was all she could do to stay awake for the whole bus trip. This morning she was practically giddy with whatever it was.

  Diana glanced sideways at her friend and flashed her one of her coy little smiles. Then she looked toward the school as she conjured up the events of the day before.

  “Well… It was after school and I was at my locker gathering up my stuff. I wanted to be sure I remembered my history book because you know we have that quiz today in second period…”

  “Diana. Whatever it is, I’m sure it has nothing to do with school. Will you please get on with it?”

  Diana giggled at her friend. Nothing could suppress the effervescence of her mood. She felt drunk with delight at this unexpected turn of events.

  “Okay. Okay. Like I said, I was at my locker getting my stuff. I had my bag packed and my coat on, and I had just pulled on my hat when I felt someone grab it from behind and snatch it off my head. I figured it was one of the juveniles from Grade 10 and I whipped around to try and grab it back. That`s when I saw who it was.”

  “Who was it?”

  “It was Danny Alexander.”

  “No.”

  “Yes. It was Danny Alexander.”

  “The guy on the football team… the cute one?”

  “Yes. Danny Alexander.”

  “That’s unbelievable.”

  “It’s true.”

  “Well, I know it’s true, but it’s unbelievable. He’s so cute, and so… I don’t know… sad. You never see him smile. He’s kind of scary, but in a, you know, sexy kind of way.”

  “Yes. I know what you mean, and I think he’s older. He’s 17, I think.”

  “He is 17.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Garry MacAdam told me. He said they had to change leagues for football this year because two of the boys were over age. Danny was one of them. You’re only 15 Diana.”

  “I’m almost 16.”

  “You’re not 16 until June. That’s not almost.”

  “… it’s more than half,” Diana countered.

  “Well… anyway, Danny Alexander is just about the last person in the world I would expect to steal your hat.”

  “Me too.”

  They reached the front steps of the school and went in the main doors. Diana’s locker was on the second floor and Cathy’s was on the main, so they stopped at the foot of the stairs in the foyer to finish their conversation.

  “So, then what happened?”

  “Well, he was with his friend Rob Addie.”

  “The redheaded, pimply-faced guy that plays on the basketball team?”

  “Yes. That’s him. Well, I figured they were going to throw my hat back and forth and make me jump for it and stuff. But that’s not what happened.”

  “What happened?”

  “Well, he just stood there holding my hat like he was waiting for me to make a grab for it, so then, you know, he could snatch it away and stuff.”

  “So, what did you do?”

  “I made a grab for it. Only he didn’t snatch it away. He let me grab it. So then, we were both standing there holding on to the hat like we were connected or something. You know, throug
h the hat.”

  “Uh-huh. Then what?”

  “This is the most amazing part. I keep playing it over and over again in my head. It makes me feel like I’m floating or something.”

  “So, spill it, Diana. What was it?”

  “Well, that was when our eyes met. You know how they say the eyes are the windows to the soul. I totally believe it now, because it was like we were cosmically connected. It was just for a second, maybe not even, but it was like time stopped or something. Suddenly, Rob Addie was gone, the school was gone, the whole world was gone. It was just him and me Cathy, our souls inextricably entwined. And then he gave me this little smile, and I gave him a smile, and then I knew, Cathy. I knew he was the one. I love him.”

  “God, Diana. Could you be any more dramatic?”

  “No. It is dramatic. It’s the most dramatic, wonderful, incredible thing that has ever happened to me in my whole life. I love Danny Alexander, and I think he loves me too.”

  “Are you sure about that, Diana? I mean, maybe he was just horsing around. It’s not like a lot of guys have shown much interest before this.”

  “What are you saying?”

  Cathy regarded her young friend critically. It was true she had a pretty face, and she had beautiful, long brown hair that fell all the way down to the small of her back. But her body had been slow to develop, especially in the bust area, and if there was one thing Cathy knew for sure, despite her own limited experience, it was that high school boys had a keen appreciation for a well-developed bust. If anyone had a shot at Danny Alexander, it would be her, Cathy, not Diana.

  “I’m just saying maybe you’re reading a bit too much into this. Did you even know him before this?”

  “I sat beside him for a whole six months in Career Development. You know, it’s one of those grade eleven-twelve split electives. I never thought he even noticed me, but I guess he did because now he loves me.”

  “Geez, Diana. You don’t know that for sure. I’m just saying, you might need to slow down a bit.”

  “I don’t want to slow down. Danny Alexander is my soul mate and my life’s true love. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my whole life.”

  “Okay, okay, Danny Alexander is the one. Congratulations. I’ll be maid of honor at your wedding.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not.”

  Cathy made a face. Diana stuck out her tongue.

  “Okay. So, what happened after the big moment?”

  “Well, he let go of my hat. I put it back on my head and then I went to catch the bus.”

  “That’s it? You didn’t say anything? You just walked away?”

  “No... you think I should have said something?”

  “Well, yeah.”

  “I couldn’t. You know what I’m like around guys. I didn’t want to spoil it… I had to get out of there.”

  “Well, it’s not how I would have handled it, but who knows? Maybe it’ll work out for you, Diana.”

  “There’s one more thing I didn’t tell you. It’s the second-best part.”

  “What?”

  “As I was walking away, I overheard Danny say: ‘that chick is cute’ to Rob Addie.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes! Danny Alexander thinks I’m a cute chick. I’m a cute chick now.” She did a little dance with a pirouette flourish to illustrate the point.

  “Okay, Isadora. So, what happens now?”

  “Now?”

  “Yes. What’s the next step?”

  “Well, you know. He’ll get in touch.”

  “Really? You think so?”

  “Yes. What I think is he’ll go to my locker after school today and wait for me to come, and then he’ll strike up a conversation. Maybe he’ll walk me home and carry my books.”

  “Really? That’s what you think?”

  “Yes. That’s what I think.”

  The bell sounded, and they had to head for their homeroom classes: Diana up the stairs to the second floor and Cathy down the hall on the main.

  “See you at free period,” Cathy said as she walked away. “Good luck with your soul mate.”

  “Ciao for now, ma ‘amigo,” Diana replied.

  —2—

  Danny did not show up at Diana’s locker that afternoon. Diana arrived fashionably late, 15 minutes after the four o’clock bell. As she rounded the last corner, she fully expected to see Danny waiting for her in front of her locker, but he wasn’t there. She waited around for another 15 minutes, fussing with her books and various odds and ends in her locker, all the while watching over her shoulder for Danny, but he never showed. Diana figured he had probably come early and left before she got there.

  The next afternoon, the Friday afternoon, she arrived at her locker five minutes after the bell. Diana had been thinking about it all day, and she had concluded that Friday would be a much better day for her to begin her romance with Danny Alexander. After all, it was the last day of school before the weekend, and maybe if the Rendezvous with Danny went well—that’s what she had begun calling it in her head—they could meet up somewhere on Saturday, the mall maybe or the arena.

  But Danny didn’t show that Friday afternoon, nor did he show on any of the afternoons of the following week. In fact, he was absent from the immediate vicinity of Diana’s locker for the entire month of February, in that frigid winter of 1978. She was especially hopeful on the 14th because it was Valentine’s Day, and the romance of something happening with Danny on Valentine’s Day would have made such a good story. But nothing happened. It was just a day like any other.

  Not only did Danny fail to appear at Diana’s locker on any day after school through the rest of that term, but she didn’t see him anywhere else either. She began to frequent spots where she thought she might run into him. She sat with friends on the bleachers by the lower field where the football team played its games in the fall. She started hanging out at the commons in the mall where kids from school used to go on weekends or after school. She went with Cathy to the only two school dances that winter and to every lunchtime sock hop hoping to see him, but she was disappointed. It was as though a hole had opened in the earth and swallowed Danny Alexander whole.

  Diana saw him only once more that year. It was at the spring assembly. She was on the girls’ intramural volleyball team, and she was there with her teammates to mount the stage and collect a certificate of participation from Mr. MaConahie, the vice-principal. They all wore their uniforms, if you could call them that: white blouses that buttoned up the front and navy-blue bloomers. It was not very becoming on Diana. The starched whiteness of the blouse seemed to accentuate the smallness of her bosom, and her legs stuck out from the bloomers like pencils.

  It was right after the assembly that she saw Danny. He was standing in the hallway just outside the gym doors when Diana and the rest of intramurals came out. He seemed bored or tired or something; his expression was vacant and distant. When their eyes met, Diana tried to strike a pose to display her ridiculous volleyball get-up in the best possible light. She leaned back slightly from the waist and stood with her legs apart just a little, and then she tossed her hair and smiled.

  Danny did not react. He just stood there staring at her with the same dumb expression on his face. It was as though he didn’t see her at all; it was as though she was invisible, and he was looking right through her. Diana was devastated. His reaction, or lack of it, hit her like a physical force, like she’d been punched hard in the pit of her stomach and all the wind knocked out of her.

  A couple of floor hockey players from the intramural league passed in front of her blocking her line-of-sight with Danny. She turned and started walking back toward the gym, tears welling up in her eyes. She struggled to keep herself from breaking down and crying like a baby. It was an effort just to walk. Her legs felt like they were made of Jell-O. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t get rid of the horrible feeling she was feeling, and she just wanted it to stop.

  She charged back through the gym doors and slammed s
traight into Mr. MaConahie, the vice-principal. She staggered backward from the impact, and Mr. MaConahie had to grab her by the shoulders to keep her from falling down.

  “The assembly’s over, Diana,” the vice-principal said. “It’s time to go.” He gestured at the gym doors that Diana had just come through.

  “Umm... I have to go to the girls,” she said, and she continued across the gym floor and out the doors on the other side. She went to the girls’ washroom on the main floor and into the last stall furthest from the door. She slammed the door behind her and locked it, and then she started to cry. She cried with a vengeance. She cried great, heaving, noisy sobs of tears and snot, and it made no sense because she hadn’t really lost anything—least of all Danny Alexander, who she’d never really had in the first place.

  But it wasn’t just Danny’s sudden indifference that upset her; it was the hole it had kicked in her confidence of that special moment when she and Danny had looked into each other’s eyes, and their spirits had somehow forged an unassailable bond. In that moment, Diana had been so sure that Danny was her one true love that she would have bet her life on it. It sounded so stupid now when you put it into words, but at the time, it felt like the absolute truth. That it might not have been what she at first believed it to be, shook Diana to her depths.

  She was never really completely sure of anything after that.

  —3—

  Diana graduated from Lindsay Place High School two years later in 1980 and went to the senior prom with Wayne Bussey, a friend of Garry MacAdam’s, whom Cathy had started dating. After high school, she went on to Dawson College and enrolled in Business Studies. She discovered she had an aptitude for numbers and finance.

  After college, she got a job at the Bank of Montreal and eventually worked her way up to a credit analyst position in a commercial lending unit downtown. It was her job to crunch the numbers for new loan applications and reviews. She was good at her job. She knew the bank’s credit rules backwards and forwards, and she was good at structuring credit applications. Maybe she lacked the confidence to close a multi-million dollar deal, but Diana could quickly spot the strengths and weaknesses in any balance sheet, and she could write up a credit that showed the warts as well as the pearls.