WILLIAM B. TAYLOR
Bloodlines: Of Noble Blood
The following two excerpts are from Bloodlines: Of Noble Blood
Rich or poor, DNA never lies!
Maggie looked out over the back lawn of Cove Point Manor, looking at the first frost sparkle as the morning sun rose. She could see the steam rise in short puffs as the two phantom horses played on the lawn.
Maggie had been spending a lot of time with Liz, the psychic who had helped them the previous year, and had been learning to retrain her mind, allowing her to be more intouch with her own psychic abilities. It was shortly after Maggie had started working with Liz that she could start seeing the two ghost horses that occupied the estate.
Alex walked into the room and smiled as he saw his beautiful wife in silhouette against the morning sun.
“Are the horses out this morning?” he asked as he approached her from behind, giving her a good-morning hug.
“Yes.” She answered.
Alex was impressed with how quickly Maggie could get back in touch with her psychic abilities. He had also tried working with Liz, but he still could not see the horses.
“I have a bit of a surprise for you.” He said as he sat down to have his morning coffee.
“Oh?”
“Remember I mentioned that we had a client who submitted his DNA, and we traced it to a noble family in England?”
Maggie remembered the story quite well. Since Alex had founded TCF DNA & Paranormal Research Laboratory she had taken more than a passing interest in his work. Although she continued to operate her own property management company, she found the work that Alex and his team were doing far more interesting.
“Well we finally heard back from the family.” Alex said as Maggie sat down. “I received an email this morning from Earl Glendon saying that he wishes to meet with me in England to discuss the matter in more detail.”
“So we’re going to England?” Maggie said excitedly. She had never been to Europe before, but had always dreamed of going.
“If you’re up for it we leave the day after tomorrow.” Alex answered. “We can combine business with pleasure and make this our honeymoon we never had.”
“I’ll be packed and ready to go tonight.” Maggie said, smiling.
******
Roger was sitting as his desk outside of the Earl’s office when his phone range.
“Yes, sir?” he said as he answered the phone. “Yes, sir, I will contact him immediately.”
Roger hung up the phone and then began to dial the number of Colin Hall, the Earl’s estate lawyer.
“Hello, I would like to speak to Mr. Hall please.” Roger said to the receptionist at the law firm. “I am calling on behalf of Lord Glendon.”
Roger waited while the receptionist put the call through to Mr. Hall’s office.
“This is Colin Hall. How may I help you?”
Roger explained the reason for his call and made the request that Colin come over to Glendon Hall as soon as possible.
Unknown to Roger, the Earl’s grandson, James, was listening outside of his office.
James had made a habit of eavesdropping before entering a room. He found this practice often paid off, giving him an advantage in certain situations.
“I wonder why he has his lawyer coming over?” James whispered to himself.
James strained to hear more, but only heard Roger confirm that Colin would come over soon. When Roger finished the call, James entered the room.
“Hello Roger.” James said, flashing his biggest false smile.
“Hello sir.” Roger replied. “Your grandfather is in a private meeting now. Is there something I may assist you with?”
“Granddad always has time for me.” James said in a haughty voice.
“I will let him know you are…” Roger didn’t finish his sentence.
James simply walked into his grandfather’s study, unannounced.
“Arrogant ass.” Roger said, then returned to his work.
The doors to the office opened quickly and with a bang, causing Frederick, Maggie and Alex all to turn quickly to see who had entered.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” James said, flashing the group a phoney smile. “I didn’t know you were busy.”
Frederick frowned as his grandson barged into the room.
“I must apologize, Mr. and Mrs. Tinsdill.” Frederick said, glaring at his grandson. “This is my grandson, James, who has obviously forgotten his manners.”
Alex and Maggie stood, Alex stepping towards James to shake his hand. James walked past Alex, ignoring his gesture.
Frederick was visibly annoyed at his grandson’s rudeness.
“I am busy in a meeting, James.” Frederick said in a low, forceful voice. “What is it you want?”
James looked at his grandfather, and then at Maggie. James’ eyes looked Maggie up and down, making her feel uncomfortable. Alex saw how James looked at his wife, and he immediately disliked this man.
“Nothing that cannot wait for now, granddad.” James said in a snarky voice. “I will come back at a better time.”
With that, James gave Maggie one more approving look, winked at her, and then strutted out of the room leaving the doors open.
Roger quickly went to the room, apologized to Frederick and closed the doors.
Frederick, his face flushed with anger, tried to compose himself.
“Please accept my apologies” he said; “My grandson is a bit of a handful.”
“There’s no need to apologize.” Maggie said.
Alex sat back down, trying his best to control his emotions. He didn’t like disrespectful people, and he certainly didn’t like someone looking at his wife like a potential conquest in a bar.
James left Glendon Hall and walked to his car, which he had parked beside the Rolls Royce. He took the time to take a photograph of the licence plate of the Rolls Royce, and then he got into his car.
James started his car and quickly drove away, the tires of the BMW giving a quick squawk on the cobblestone drive. As he neared the driveway’s exit, he stopped the car and picked up his cell phone. He sent a quick text to his mother:
He is up 2 something - has Hall coming over 4 meeting 2morrow.
A few seconds later, his mother texted him back.
Meet me at the club.
James smiled as he put the car into gear and roared out of his grandfather’s estate and onto the main road, cutting off an on-coming vehicle as he went. He raced down the road, reaching Derby and the main highway a few minutes later, heading towards the M1 and then to London.
As he roared down the motorway, James typed the licence plate of the Rolls into one of the Glendon family business websites, one which had access to otherwise restricted information.
James tried to read the company description on the small screen of the phone, his car starting to drift into the on-coming traffic. A car horn blared as the BMW forced the other car onto the hard shoulder. James didn’t care; he kept on reading.
“What the hell is this?” he said out loud to himself.
James saw that the Rolls had been rented from Royal Luxury Automobiles in the name of a corporation, TCF DNA, LLC, an American company. James typed TCF DNA into a search engine. When the results came up, he then quickly read about TCF’s mission to analyze DNA samples and help people trace their lineage. He scrolled down to read the many services of the DNA team.
As James was busy reading his cell phone, he heard the unmistakable sound of a police siren. Looking up, he noticed the flashing blue lights of the police car behind him.
“Shit!” he exclaimed as he threw his phone on the passenger seat. James looked down and saw that he was doing well over 100 mph.
The police car pulled alongside the BMW and the officer motioned for James to pull over, which he did with a heavy sigh.
Buy on Amazon: