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Ace
The central London conference room was packed, just about standing room only for the assembled journalists and television cameras who were waiting for the live press conference to begin. To calm his nerves, Ace busied himself with taking photographs that would be part of a pictorial account of another chapter in the life of the Jarrett family.
On the front row sat Edie, who kept giving him evils every time she caught him training his camera on her. She was flanked on either side by Bobbie and Lance. They’d all arrived together by cab, darting inside to get out of the December rain and avoid the flashbulbs and questions that had become the norm. His dad was with Chaz and Steve in an anteroom, checking Oliver’s statement before they braved the audience.
It had been a hectic couple of months after saying goodbye to a very tearful Nanou, and stoical Silvestre who’d made promises to come over for a visit and in return were given assurances that everyone would be back for the summer. Ace remembered it as being a sad day but for the best and as much as it was a pain upping sticks, they’d settled quickly into a temporary life in Notting Hill. There, once the news broke about Denny and the reopening of the Wendy Parker enquiry, they’d endured another media frenzy that mercifully only lasted a couple of days and then afterwards, they got on with setting Joe’s plans in motion.
Trying not to be obvious, Ace zoomed in on Lance who was chatting to Bobbie. To be fair he seemed to be embracing London life and was a marginally nicer person than before. He’d even been friendlier towards Edie which meant a happier atmosphere at the apartment. Then again, his current good mood was probably linked to the upcoming announcement and his name being mentioned – anything for a second in the spotlight.
Next, he trained the camera on Bobbie. She exuded calm and was the most beautiful grandma he’d ever seen. Her once blonde hair now faded to ash was still long and very straight, cascading down her back and over her shoulders. She was the type who didn’t suit or need make-up because her skin had an iridescent glow that Ace imagined came from the inside out. He could see where Venus had got her beauty from. It certainly wasn’t his grisly old dad!
Bobbie had been a soothing influence ever since her reunion with Joe which had been private, away from overeager Edie who still hankered after a fairy tale ending no matter how much Ace told her to leave them be and let them work it out at their own pace. But it would be nice, having everyone together for Christmas in a week’s time, minus Jenny who hated the cold and would be getting a tan in Cancún. Then, on the 4th of January he and Edie would be jetting off to Singapore on the start of their adventure.
Moving the focus of his lens from his family to the faces seated in the room, Ace scanned them all, zooming in and looking for someone he recognised or who looked suspicious, or had a sign on their forehead saying ‘STALKER’. One thing that hadn’t changed was the need for the apartment to be guarded day and night because their friendly neighbourhood letter writer still hadn’t eased off. It was no surprise, thanks to the press more or less sticking a big red pin in a map and saying ‘he’s here’ that the letter writer was now homing in on London. The postmarks on the envelope said Chicago and what was inside remained as threatening and ominous as before. ‘Marnie’, if that was even her real name, was still bitter and scorned, bore a grudge for some undisclosed misdeed, and promised revenge.
The general consensus of opinion was that Marnie was harmless, thousands of miles away and therefore a distant threat and hadn’t made any physical contact and was probably just one of those people who got off on sending hate mail. The police had turned up zero leads, but Joe preferred to remain vigilant, his fear more for his family than himself, quoting what happened outside the Dakota in New York when one of his heroes was shot dead.
A flurry of activity behind him caused Ace to turn and then watch as his dad, Oliver, Chaz, and Steve filtered into the room and immediately his camera was flashing away like all the others. Each took their seats on the raised platform and positioned themselves in front of the microphones. The three remaining members of NorthStar, his dad in the centre, looked into the crowd and for once the big guy had removed his shades, allowing everyone a glimpse of those piercing blue eyes. Only Ace and the rest of the family knew what was going on behind them – but that was all about to change.
Lowering his camera Ace turned towards Edie, who gave him one of her it’ll be okay smiles. Then she took Bobbie’s hand and, in a rare moment of solidarity, Lance reached out and took her other hand. Soothed by the scene on the front row, Ace then sought his dad’s eye. As if sensing this, Joe looked across and gave his son a wink, and received the thumbs up in return just as Oliver raised his hand, signalling to the room that he wanted silence.
Ace took a deep breath and suspected that a few metres away Edie and the others did the same, and his mum, thousands of miles away.
Oliver began. ‘I’d like to start by thanking you all for coming here today and braving the terrible weather. Before I begin, please take note that I will be reading a prepared statement and then afterwards I will invite the members of the press to ask questions. We will not, however, respond to any with regards to the ongoing police investigation into the tragic death of Wendy Parker. We do not wish to prejudice the procedure in any way. I hope that you will respect this decision.’
He looked up at the press then down at his statement and continued. ‘This statement is made on behalf of NorthStar and its management. A full copy will be made available to you after the conference.
‘In light of the aforementioned investigation, Mr Charles Delaney, Mr Stephen Anderton and Mr Joseph Jarrett are in complete agreement that they should distance themselves from their former bandmate, Mr Dennis Sullivan, and henceforth sever all ties. NorthStar will, with immediate effect be reforming without Mr Sullivan and as a consequence, when I refer to NorthStar I am referring to Delaney, Anderton and Jarrett.’
Oliver paused, the clicking and whirring of shutters followed the gasps from the audience. ‘NorthStar and their management have been devastated by the revelations in the statement left by the late Gus Chapman, and in the fullness of time we hope that his desire for justice is brought to bear.
‘In the meantime, at the express wish of Joe Jarrett and with complete agreement of Messrs Delaney and Anderton, NorthStar will be setting up an educational charity that will focus on young people and seek to raise awareness with regards to the dangers of sexual predators and child traffickers within society. It will also provide a free twenty-four-hour helpline for victims and those who find themselves in need of advice or support. Mr Jarrett is keen that the charity will have close ties with his own family and therefore his eldest son, Lance Jarrett, will be appointed as its official spokesperson.
‘The charity will be known as The Venus Foundation and funded by a percentage of royalties from all members of NorthStar and a generous start-up donation from their record company. Hopefully, going forward, it will also benefit from contributions from the wider industry and private sector alike.
‘In order to facilitate this, after Christmas, NorthStar will be heading into the studio to record a brand-new album and once it is released, they will commence a reunion tour. They hope they will be supported by their fans who, I am reliably informed, the band have missed greatly. Details of dates and venues will be made available in due course.
‘That concludes the official statement, and we will now take questions from the press, within the limitations I set out at the beginning of the conference. Thank you.’
Ace hadn’t taken his eyes off his dad the whole time, immensely proud of the man seated in front of a press that weeks before had been baying for blood, desperate to castigate him, Steve, and Chaz regardless of facts or evidence and eager to spread malicious rumours if it meant they sold more copies.
He thought back to that day around the kitchen table at La Babinais when his dad laid out his ideas, determined to make amends and prevent young people ending up like Wendy and Felipa, Harlem, and Pammie, even Jenny and Venus. Lost souls who for a time lost sight of themselves thanks to circumstances beyond their control. Bad parents, the lure of the bright lights, sex, drugs and rock and roll. Somewhere amongst all that, maybe all they needed was love, kindness, understanding and someone to talk to.
If The Venus Foundation could help, then Ace knew that his beautiful stepsister would be looking down right there and then and be pleased, and proud of her old dad who sometimes messed up but was, and always would be, a good guy.
The questions had come thick and fast, Chaz and Steve taking it in turns to answer while Joe held back, listening as he rested his arms on the table, hands clasped.
Ace experienced a moment of relief that his dad was sticking to the script, no swearing, no losing his temper. It was all going really well and would be over soon.
And then Joe took a direct question from a television reporter.
‘Have you written any songs for the album, and how long will fans have to wait until it’s released?’
Joe looked him in the eye. ‘I’d been writing in France, before you knobheads turned up and ruined the ambience.’ The audience had the good grace to laugh while Oliver shuffled in his seat and Chaz and Steve bit their lips. ‘So yeah, I’ve got a few songs up my sleeve and there will be one in particular, not written by me but by a very special lady that I want the world to hear. Listen to her words and her voice through me.’
This wasn’t in the script, and it had Oliver staring daggers into the side of Joe’s head and the arms of the press waving like mad, wanting to be the first to ask the question. The man from the BBC got the nod from Joe. ‘You, in the snazzy tie, fire away, mate.’
‘Whose words are you referring to? Is it a guest artist or someone closer to home?’
