The Tesla Legacy by Robert G. Barrett Read Free Book Online

‘You still there?’
    ‘Yes,’ Jesse finally replied, quietly. ‘I’m still here.’
    ‘Okay,’ said Mick.
    ‘And you said the initials on the briefcase with the diary in it were N.T.?’ she asked.
    Mick checked the briefcase. ‘Yeah. That’s right,’ he said.
    ‘I don’t believe it,’ said Jesse.
    ‘Yeah,’ smiled Mick. ‘Pretty cool, eh.’
    There was another moment or two of silence before Jesse spoke. ‘Mick,’ she said shortly. ‘Do you love me?’
    ‘What?’ answered Mick.
    ‘I said, do you love me?’
    ‘Yes, Ossie. Of course I love you.’
    ‘How much?’ asked Jesse.
    ‘How much?’ Mick screwed his face up. ‘With all my soul,’ he said. ‘With every beat of my heart. Every breath I take, I’ll be…Shit! I don’t know.’
    ‘Then if you truly love me, Mick,’ demanded Jesse, ‘you’ll bring those two briefcases and the leather bag straight over to the bookshop. Now.’
    ‘Okay,’ shrugged Mick.
    ‘Well?’ said Jesse.
    ‘Well what?’
    ‘Well, what are you still doing there?’
    The line suddenly went dead and Mick replaced the receiver. Why do I love that woman? he smiled to himself. He turned his gaze to the view from his sundeck. The answer must be out there somewhere. Five minutes later Mick had freshened himself up and was pulling out of the driveway with the two briefcases sitting next to him.
    Traffic through the city was a little heavier than normal. But deep in thought, Mick was soon belting the Transporter up Stockton Bridge andbefore he knew it he’d pulled up on the driveway leading into Jesse’s backyard. Jesse’s battered old maroon Commodore was parked on the grass and a kookaburra that had been sitting on the roof flew off into a nearby tree at Mick’s sudden arrival, leaving a calling card on Jesse’s windscreen. That’s got to be a sign of luck, smiled Mick as he locked the van and walked round the front with the two briefcases.
    Jesse’s shop wasn’t all that big, but it was stacked from floor to ceiling with books and there were several tables full as well, spread around the old red carpet covering the floor. A door in the far corner led to the bottom half of the house, and in front of the door was a counter and a small open office where Jesse spent most of her time sitting behind the cash register working at her laptop. A white ceiling fan above the counter moved the air around, and to brighten the place up, Jesse had pinned posters for books around the walls and placed some indoor plants in the corners. Mick liked walking in the front door of Jesse’s shop, because instead of a bell she had a stupid, big plastic frog sitting above the flyscreen that croaked when the door opened. Mick pushed the door and ribet! ribet! sounded through the shop.
    ‘Hey, Oz,’ Mick called out as he stepped inside. ‘How are you?’
    Jesse was seated in the corner. As soon as she saw who it was, she jumped up from behind the counter and ran over in a blur of brown hair, faded jeans and a black FREE TIBET T-shirt.
    ‘Are these them?’ she said. ‘Give them to me at once.’ Jesse snatched the two briefcases from Mick, placed them next to the cash register and got back behind the counter.
    ‘Yeah. It’s good to see you too,’ said Mick, following her over.
    Jesse smiled at Mick then reached over the counter and gave him a quick kiss. ‘Hello, dear,’ she said, and quickly went back to the two briefcases. ‘And you found these in the old car?’
    ‘Yeah,’ nodded Mick. ‘The diary’s in the black one. It’s not locked.’
    Jesse flicked the briefcase open and stared wide-eyed at the leather bag and the old diary. ‘My God!’
    ‘The letter’s in the other one,’ said Mick.
    Jesse flicked open the brown briefcase and stared at the contents. She took the envelope out and quickly read the letter then turned to the newspaper article Mick had told her about and read that too.
    ‘This is amazing,’ gasped Jesse, waving the pages around.