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What Happened to Rhodri Copyright © 2011 by Craig Jones All rights reserved. No part of this story (eBook) may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or book reviews. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidences are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to any actual person, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Published by TWB Press Cover Art by Terry Wright Edited by Terry Wright 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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EXCERPT:

Rhodri sighed and looked around the drab apartment with its ratty carpet and peeling

paint walls. If he had to spend one more month in this dump he would go insane. “I can’t believe

you’re not more excited about this!”

He slid the realtor’s flyer across the kitchen table to his girlfriend. “After all this time, it’s

finally on the market.”

“I-I don’t know, Rhodri—”

“It’s our dream house, babe.” He took Kelly’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “How

many times have we driven past it and said it’s going to be our forever house, a wonderful place

we come home to each other every day?”

Kelly turned the flyer so it faced her. The photograph of the house and the words

describing it must have been a blur through her tear-moist eyes.

“The place where our kids are going to take their first steps,” he implored. “We can get

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married, do all the things we’ve planned.”

“I know.” Kelly squirmed like a nervous child in her chair, her voice a whisper. “But—”

“Then why aren’t you jumping for joy?”

“It’s just that—”

“We can afford the monthlies. I’ve checked. Okay, the down payment will take most our

savings but—”

Her sob stopped him. He dropped to his knees next to her and wrapped both her hands in

his. “We can do this.”

“We can’t.”

“We can, honestly, we have enough savings.”

“There are no savings, Rhodri,” she blurted out. “Well, not as much as we need.”

Rhodri shot to his feet. Confusion swam like hungry eels in his brain, making his head

hurt. “What are you talking about? Every month we’ve made the deposits.”

“Ross got in trouble, he owed—”

“Your brother? You’ve given our money to your brother?”

“He needed it, life or death, he said.”

Rhodri turned and crossed the kitchen to the window while fumbling in his pockets for

his Dad’s old Zippo lighter. He flipped it open, flicked it to flame, and then closed the lid. “How

could you?”

“I’m so sorry,” Kelly said hoarsely. Tears streamed down her face.

Rhodri flipped the lighter lid open again.

Kelly. Kelly. Kelly. What are we going to do now?

Open, closed. Open, closed.

Ross, you piece of shit! How could you rip off your own little sister?

Open, closed. Open, closed.

Somewhat calmed by the repetitive motion of flicking the lighter, he took a deep breath

and slid the antique back into the safety of his pocket. Ross had duped Kelly. Now it would be

up to Rhodri to get the money back. It would be her boyfriend against her brother. No wonder

Kelly was crying. He turned round and reached his arms out to her. “It’ll be okay.”

Kelly pushed the chair back and climbed to her feet. Unable to meet his gaze, she walked

to him, head down, and let him take her in his arms. “We’ll save up some more.”

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“I’m going to talk to him,” he said, kissing her forehead.

She stiffened in his embrace. “No! Please don’t!”

“I’ll get the money back.”

“You don’t know what he’s like.”

“He’s family.”

“He’s dangerous!” She pushed out of his arms, staring up at him with a look that begged

him not to go in harm’s way.

“Then what? We write off ten grand and just go on living in this hovel?”

“This apartment is not a hovel, this is our home.”

Now it was her turn to walk away.

“Just let me talk to him. See if he’ll give back the money. What’s the worst he can do?

Say no?”

“Please, Rhodri. You don’t know what he’s like when he’s angry.”

“He’s got our money, that’s what I know.”

The doorbell buzzed.

“Oh, and here he is now, probably just needs a few hundred bucks this time! You know,

to feed his habit.”

“Rhodri, don’t say that!”

He pulled the lighter out again.

Open, closed. Open, closed.

She always defends Ross. Even now...when she’s his victim.

The doorbell buzzed again: once, twice.

Kelly wiped her eyes and rushed to the door.

Rhodri flicked the lighter and shook his head. If it’s Ross at the door, I’ll confront him

here and now.

“Hi, come on in,” he heard Kelly say.

“You’ve been crying. Have I come at a bad time?”

Rhodri recognized the voice. Not Ross. “Yes you have, Craig,” Rhodri called, stowing

the lighter once more. “But now that you’re here, maybe you can talk some sense into her.”

Kelly came back into the kitchen followed by Rhodri’s best friend.

“Bud, what’s up?”

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“Ask her?”

Craig gave her a look, his brows tweaked with concern. “Kell?”

She shrugged.

Rhodri said, “She’s given our savings to her brother.”

“Loaned!” Kelly insisted.

“Sorry, she’s loaned ten grand to Ross. And now our dream house has come on the

market. We’re screwed.”

“That house?” Craig picked up the realtor’s flyer from the table. “The one by the lake?”

“And we’ve got no down payment,” Rhodri said. “I’m going to see Ross, get the money

back.”

“Whoa, bud! We’ve been best friends for a long time, right, so trust me when I say don’t

mess with him. He’s a fucking nasty piece of work.” He stopped, drooped like he’d misspoken.

“Sorry, Kell.”

“I can reason with him,” Rhodri said.

“You’ve got to listen to Kell and me. Leave him alone.”

“I’m not going to throw punches, I’m going to talk.” He snatched the flyer from Craig.

“That’s all.”

“There’s no talkin’ to Ross, man.”

“He’s holding our dreams hostage, our future. What do you expect me to do?”

“Let it go.”

“Yes,” Kelly said. “It’s only money. We’ll save more.”

“It was just a loan, huh?” Rhodri stated matter-of-factly.

“I don’t want any trouble.”

“Neither do I,” he whispered, kissing Kelly on the forehead. “I love you, babe, and this is

our dream. No one should take that away from us.”

She took the flyer from him and looked at the picture of the house. “I love you too.”

“I won’t be long.” Rhodri picked up his keys and headed for the door. “Craig, you’ll wait

here with Kelly, right?”

“Don’t do anything stupid, man.”

“It was stupid to give him the money in the first place.” He stepped outside and slammed

the door shut. Walking to the car, he dug out his faithful lighter.

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Open, closed. Open, closed.

For more information and links to purchase this story go to:

www.twbpress.com/whathappenedtorhodri.html

About the Author

Originally from South Wales, I have held a wide range of jobs from tennis player to gym

manager to health service worker. I turned 40 in October, am married to Claire, and we have an

insane ginger cat called Wookie. I went to school with Catherine Zeta-Jones, have played tennis

with Jamie Redknapp, and coached Great Britain’s first ever World Number One tennis player.

I have always loved horror stories, having grown up with Jason Voorhees and his slasher

friends, and I love writing them even more. The thought of taking normal people and putting

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them in terrifying situations gives me a fantastic buzz. I hope to convey that buzz to my readers

in every story I write.

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