Chris Parker [Parker - Belief

BELIEF

BELIEF

The second book in
the Marcus Kline trilogy

CHRIS PARKER

urbanepublications.com

First published in Great Britain in 2017 by Urbane Publications Ltd
Suite 3, Brown Europe House, 33/34 Gleaming Wood Drive, Chatham, Kent
ME5 8RZ
Copyright Chris Parker, 2017

The moral right of Chris Parker to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
All characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-1-909273-23-8
MOBI 978-1-909273-25-2
EPUB 978-1-909273-24-5

Design and Typeset by Julie Martin
Cover by Chandler Design Co.

Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY

urbanepublications.com

The publisher supports the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the leading international forest-certification organisation. This book is made from acid-free paper from an FSC-certified provider. FSC is the only forest-certification scheme supported by the leading environmental organisations, including Greenpeace.

This ones for Vic.

Belief: noun
An acceptance that something exists or is true, especially one without proof.

Alice laughed. Theres no use trying, she said.
One cant believe impossible things.
I daresay you havent had much practice, said the Queen. When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes Ive believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.

Lewis Carroll

The solidity of the edge is next to the
emptiness of the fall.

Epiah Khan

Contents

PART 1

DOUBT

There are two kinds of dream.

We experience both kinds.

The first is the kind that reflects something that has already happened. It occurs whenever the subconscious takes a memory and re-presents it in its own peculiar fashion, adding twists and turns and changes.

This kind of dream prompts the question, What do you think that means? There are libraries and shops filled with books promising to explain the symbolism these dreams are supposed to contain.

The second kind of dream provides the seed for future growth. It occurs when we are seeking an answer to a question or a solution. It throws up the Eureka moment, the flash of insight that provides the unexpected and unbelievably brilliant resolution.

This is the kind of dream that prompts the question, Where the hell did that come from? Only it didnt come from any kind of hell at all. Oh, no. It came from the very opposite place. From the almighty subconscious, daring us to believe that we have more power than we can possibly imagine.

Both kinds of dream have one thing in common. They are both influenced by our beliefs. They are influenced by our beliefs about our own personal strengths and weaknesses, about our relationships, our society, and our planet. They are influenced by our beliefs about the power of the past, the possibilities in the present and the nature of the future.

Ultimately they are influenced by our beliefs about the meaning of it all.

Our dreams, then, are no different from our waking lives. Both are shaped, delivered and evaluated by our beliefs. We create and then view our world through the prism of our beliefs. We all do this. Everyone of us. Every moment of every day.

Thats how powerful beliefs are. More powerful than anything else human beings create. More powerful even than the most powerful nuclear weapon. Actually, beliefs are the invisible trigger we use to justify firing such weapons. More than that, they are the trigger we fire every time we set out to cause any form of deliberate harm.

Beliefs. The biggest, the best and, sometimes, the baddest of everything there is.

Of course, as you read that you are forced to come to one of three conclusions.

One, that you dont believe me.

Two, that you do believe me.

Three, that you are undecided.

I should warn you that if you chose the third option you will, as you read what follows, be forced to get off the fence and settle for one of the other two.

Actually, to be honest with you, you will be forced to choose option number two. You will have to agree with me. You will come to realise that beliefs rule. You will find yourself smiling, somewhat ironically perhaps, at the delicious paradox that states:

The beliefs we create, create the world we believe in. And thats a fact.

And it is.

Pure and simple.

For better or for worse.

Marcus Kline stared at his computer screen as he sat in the almost complete darkness of his study and read the words again.

For better or for worse.

One hour ago he had begun writing his new book, Belief. Now the first few hundred words were written.

Marcus stared at the computer screen and wondered if the opening page or so was too abrupt. Too challenging. Too personal, perhaps?

For better or for worse.

When he and Anne-Marie had married ten years ago today it was now twenty minutes passed midnight they had designed their own, unique ceremony. It had been non-religious in nature obviously; a very personal sharing of emotions and commitment, with readings and music and promises from a range of sources, some created by Marcus himself.

They had divided the ceremony into two distinct parts. The one they shared with others and the one they shared only with each other. It was during this secret, intimate act, performed late at night on a private beach on the East Coast of Malaysia, with a full moon casting its light onto the South China Sea they shared the only vow that could be found in the Christian marriage service.

For better or for worse.

Marcus eased back in his chair, the computer screen temporarily forgotten, his eyes closing as he relived the experience. It took only a moment for the memory to spark the question Just who am I writing this book for?

Marcuss eyes opened automatically. His heartbeat quickened.

When Anne-Marie had told him, twenty-four hours after the killer Ethan Hall had been shot and captured, that she had life-threatening ovarian cancer, that she needed him to use his skills to help her combat the illness, Marcus had been almost overcome with fear.

It was a fear laced with guilt and self-recrimination, combining fear of loss with fear of failure, fear that he wasnt the person he believed himself to be with the fear that he was.

I know who I am, he thought. Im a supremely talented, selfish bastard who has built a global reputation as the worlds greatest Communicator and Influencer whilst forgetting that I promised for better or for worse.

The fear Marcus had felt when Anne-Marie first told him of her illness, the fear he still felt, was the nearest thing to a perfect fear he could dare to imagine. Made perfect by the fact that, when Anne-Marie broke the news and made her plea, he had been on the brink of telling her that he wanted a divorce.