Forty 2 Days (The Billionaire Banker) (22 page)

‘
I’m just going into that church.’

Tom looks at me worriedly.  ‘I can’t park here.’

‘
I won’t be long,’ I say, and quickly slip out of the car.  I go through the Gothic wooden doors, and it is as if I have stepped into another dimension.  It is cool and hushed, the sound of the street outside strained out.  The stonework is beautiful. I see the holy water, but I do not cross myself with it as my mother used to.  I follow the gleam of candles into the belly of the church.  There is no one else there.  My footsteps echo in the soaring space.  I go to the front of the church and sit on a wooden pew.  

I close my eyes.  I don’t know why I came here.  I don’t believe in God.  God has done nothing for me.  All he has ever done is take and take and take every fucking thing I’ve ever had.  I feel so incredibly sad and defeated I wish I did not have to leave this quiet sanctuary.  Hot tears are pricking the backs of my eyes.  Life is so unfair.  

Suddenly there is a gust of cold air.  I open my eyes and look around.  There is no one there.  A draft?  And then I have the strange sensation that my mother is there with me.  I stand.  

‘
Mum?’ I call out.

My voice sounds strange and loud in that empty space.

‘
Mum,’ I call out again, this time more desperately.

Nothing.  I sit down again and close my eyes and presently the sensation returns that my mother is with me.  The sensation soothes me.  ‘I love you, Mum,’ I whisper.  ‘You left me too quickly.  I never even had a chance to say goodbye.’

A feeling of peace settles on me.  There are no words to describe the sensation.  A timeless moment and I don’t know how long I sit there.  It is only the sound of footsteps that rouses me.  I look behind me.  Tom is standing by one of the pillars at the entrance.  I stand up and go to him.

We walk silently to the car.  There is a yellow parking ticket stuck to the windshield.

‘
Sorry,’ I say.

‘
Laura will take care of it.  My instructions are clear.’

We get into the car and Tom drives me to Billie’s.  

‘
Can we take a small walk down by the canal?’ I say to her.

‘
What’s wrong?’

I put a finger on my lips.  ‘I just fancy a walk.’

‘
All right,’ she says, frowning.  

‘
It’s cold outside.  Wear your coat.’

She takes her coat and follows me.  When we are in the bracing air I tell her everything.  Sometimes she will come to a sudden stop and stare at me mouth agape, and then I will take her arm into the crook of mine and we will continue on our path.  I have never seen Billie look so white or totally robbed of her trademark wisecracks.  It serves to highlight just how shocked I must be to be able to act so normally.  

After the walk I kiss Billie’s stunned face goodbye, and she pulls me hard against her body as if she could pass me some of her strength.  Both of us know exactly how to contact each other.  She is blinking back the tears.  

‘
Be safe,’ she calls as I push Sorab away from her.  

Then I go home to await my next instructions.

When the call comes I leave my cellphone on the dining table and push the pram out to the front.  I wave to Mr. Nair and he looks at me with confusion.  I know that only a few minutes ago he must have seen my look-alike push an identical pram out of the door, perhaps to the coffee shop where she will have cake and coffee.  Just outside the front door a car is waiting for me.  A man jumps out of the front seat.  I take Sorab out of his pram.  

He holds open the back door while I slip into it.  When I am settled in, he closes it with a gentle click.  He folds the pram quickly, stores it in the boot, and gets into the front seat.  Not a word has been exchanged by any of us.  The car pulls away.  

I think of my lookalike.  She must have reached the patisserie by now.  She has probably finished with her slice of cake.  I imagine she must be an actress.  Paid to play a part and then disappear.  She will probably push her pram back into the building.  Perhaps Blake’s father has another flat where she can drop off the pram and effect a change of clothing.  A hat, a scarf, a wig, before she exits the building forever.  

And Blake, my poor darling love, will come home to his empty nest.

W
e travel for many hours, stopping only at rest stops.  Finally we arrive at a farmhouse in the moors.  Here the countryside is wild and deserted.  A strong wind is blowing as I get out of the car.

‘
Where are we?’ I ask.

But the men simply smile politely.  ‘They will tell you when the time comes.’

Inside it is warm.  A fire is already roaring in the fireplace.  From the kitchen come delicious smells of roasting meat.  I am shown to my room upstairs.  It is pleasant enough, with blue patterned wallpaper and a double bed with a thick mattress.  There is a crib in it too.  As instructed I brought no clothes for Sorab or me.  The man tells me everything I need is in the drawers and cupboards.  I can already see the exact same brand of formula that I use for Sorab on the dresser.

He leaves and I go to stand by the window.  The moors seem to stretch into the horizon.  Not a single dwelling in sight.  Fear gnaws at me.  Why am I here?  I know Blake’s father said this is to be my temporary home until everything is arranged, but something feels very wrong.  

Another voice in my head frets
, you didn’t keep your promise to Blake
.  But I had no choice.  I protected Blake with my own body.  I walk away from the window and lie down on the bed, curling my body around Sorab’s sleeping one.  I close my eyes and pretend I am in my bed in St. John’s Wood until there is a knock on the door.

‘
Dinner is ready,’ someone informs.

I wash my hands and freshen up before going downstairs.  I put Sorab in the playpen and one of the men puts a plate of food on the table and withdraws from the room.  I hear him open the front door and go outside.  I eat alone.  The food is wholesome and steaming hot, and I finish it all.  Something tells me I am going to need all my strength.

I fall asleep while I watch TV in my room.

I am awakened by a hand over my mouth.  My eyes jerk open.  A man’s voice urgently whispers, ‘Please don’t make any noise.’  A small torch is switched on.  ‘Blake sent us,’ and he dangles over my eyes, in the light of the torch, the ruby and black diamond necklace that Blake put around my neck in Venice.  I gaze at it as if hypnotized, but in fact I do not need the necklace.  I recognize the man.  Brian, the one who felled Rupert.  

‘
Can I take my hand off now?’  

I nod.  

‘
Take nothing.  Just pick up your baby and keep him as quiet as you can,’ he instructs.

Carefully I lift Sorab out of his crib and lay him across my chest.  He makes a small sound, but does not wake up.  We go down the stairs.  The house is dark and silent.  As we round the corner of the dining room, I see an inert shoe and quickly look away.  I knew I had made a mistake from the moment I got into the car with those men.  Now I know I am on the right path.  Come what may.  We get into the car and the car pulls away.  I don’t look back.  I look down on Sorab’s sleeping face and will him not to wake up, buy the noise of the helicopter blades wake him up.  He screams his head off and does not stop until we touch down on a helipad in a totally different part of England.

‘P
ut your hand out for her to smell you,’ says Brian.
The German shepherd looks at me warily.  There is not an ounce of friendliness in her.  This is the dog version of Mr. Barrington Senior.

I put my hand out.

‘
Guard,’ Brian orders.  The dog sniffs my hand and goes back into his sit position.

‘
Now, hold out your son’s hand.’

I hesitate.  Sorab’s hands are so small and there is something about the dog that I don’t quite trust.  It has been trained to kill on command.

Brian turns to one of the other men and says, ‘Give me your shoe.’

The man takes his shoe off and holds it out to Brian.  He lets all four dogs sniff it.  ‘Guard,’ he says, and throws the shoe into the air.  It falls about thirty feet away.  All four dogs run towards the shoe and form a circle around it, their backs to it.

‘
Go get your shoe back,’ he tells the man.

The man begins walking towards his shoe.  Five feet away from his shoe, the dogs growl viciously and bare their teeth.  Their bodies are crouched, ready to pounce in attack.  The man stops in his tracks.

‘
At ease,’ Brian says, and in unison the dogs leave the shoe that they had been guarding so ferociously and trot back to him.  He praises them then gives them treats.

‘
Let them smell the boy.’

I bend down and hold Sorab’s hand out in front of their black faces.  One by one they sniff his hand and go and sit by their master.

‘
Guard,’ their master says.  Immediately their ears stand to attention.  Brian disappears and the dogs stay with Sorab and me as we catch the last of the day’s sun.  As soon as we go through the front door, the dogs stop following us and begin patrolling the grounds.

It has been two days that we are living in this house.  It is surrounded by high walls, a massive manned gate, and teams of dogs that patrol the grounds incessantly.  There are CCTV cameras every few yards and security staff watching their screens twenty-four hours a day.

I wonder where Blake is and why he has not come for me, but I feel no fear.  I know Sorab and I are safe here.  I think about Billie.  There is no way to contact her either.  There is no Internet or a phone line.  That evening I dine alone and go to bed early.  I feel lonely but I am not bored.  I know that somewhere out there Blake is executing the plans that I have seen so many times in his eyes.

It is 2:00 am when I feel the mattress depress next to me.  

‘
Blake?’

‘
Who else did you expect?’

I
lunge into his arms with a yelp of pure joy and rain kisses on him; his lips, his cheeks, his eyelids, his hands.  ‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry I ran away.  I thought I was doing the right thing.’

‘
It’s all right.  I knew you would.  Once you sold yourself for your mother.  I knew you would do the same for me.’

I cannot hold back the tears.  He did understand.  I had no choice.  I had to break my promise to him.  

‘
I love you, Lana Bloom, I love you more than life itself.’

‘
Oh, darling.  I’ve waited so long to hear you say that.’

‘
I’ve loved you for a very long time.  I thought you’d know.  My every action screamed it.  Even when I thought you left, I couldn’t forget you.  We have this unbreakable connection.  No matter what you do, I still long for you.  I always have and I always will.  Could you not tell?’

‘
Maybe, but I couldn’t be sure.  Why couldn’t you tell me?’  

‘
Because I wanted my father to think the relationship was temporary.  It gave me time to lay down my plans.’  

‘
If you had told me I wouldn’t have told anyone, anyway.’

‘
And take the risk that you would blurt it out accidentally in a conversation with Billie or Jack?  No, the stakes were too high.  It involved you.’

‘
Will you tell me everything now?’

For a moment he hesitates.

‘
Please.’

He nods and switches on the bedside lamp, and suddenly I see how worn he looks.  There is also a look in his eyes that I wish wasn’t there.  It is the look of a man who has had to tell the vet to end his beloved dog’s suffering.  I lay my palm on his cheek.  ‘Are you OK?’

‘
Yes.  I was always safe.  You were the one in danger.’

‘
As you can see, I am just fine.’

He takes a deep breath, his chest collapsing.  ‘Oh, God, the thought that you might not have been.’

‘
How did you know where to send Brian?’

‘
Our apartment was bugged, not only by my father, but by me too.  I knew he had been around and what he had told you.’

‘
So you knew when we were at The Ritz that I was leaving you the next day.’

He nods.

‘
Why didn’t you try to stop me?’

‘
The only thing I had on my side was the element of surprise.’

‘
Where is your father now?’

His eyes harden.  ‘As of fifteen minutes ago, the victim of a plane crash.’

‘
You killed him,’ I gasp, utterly horrified.

‘
Yes,’ he admits flatly.  

‘
Why?’ My voice is no more than a whisper.

‘
Because he wanted to terminate the thing I love most in the world.  And what my father wants, my father gets.’

‘
You killed your father for me?’  My voice is incredulous, disbelieving.  The words I waited so long to hear, tainted.

‘
The real test of love is not being willing to kill for someone, but being able to give up your own life for them.  I think I proved my love for you more than a year ago.’

‘
Oh no, what have you done?’ I close my eyes in horror.  ‘He wasn’t going to kill me.  He just wanted me out of your life.  He was only going to set me up with a new identity.’

‘
My little innocent.  How little you know us.  It is cheaper and far less troublesome to kill someone of little value than to give them a new identity and support them for life.’

I shake my head.  I am in a state of shock.  Blake killed his own father.  I can’t take it in.  Everything is screwed up.  ‘Will you have to go to prison?’

He smiles sadly.  ‘How many billionaires do you know languishing in prison cells?’