Friday's Child (13 page)

“I will. Thank you.”

“Welcome.” He held up a white paper bag. “He’s also given me some pills for you and said he’d ring when your mum comes out of surgery.”

****

Patrick sat in the car beside his partner with the mirror angled so he could watch Elle and Abbie as Shay drove them back to Elle’s place. Abbie would need her stuff if she was going to move in as well. Nahum was sending a team in to dust for prints and do a fingertip search of the entire house, once they had picked up a few things for Abbie. He wanted to get in and out first as it would be best if Elle and Abbie didn’t see that.

Shay parked and turned to look at the others. “I’ll sit out here. You’ve got five minutes to pack what you need.”

Abbie continued to complain. “Why can’t we stay here, Ellie?”

“It’s not safe. Let’s go pack your things.”

Patrick escorted them up the path, moving them as fast as he could. He kept an eye on the street while Elle unlocked the door, and then chivvied them inside. “I’ll wait here. Don’t take too long.”

“We won’t.”

He watched as they headed up the stairs, their voices and footsteps echoing. A sudden thought occurring to him, he crossed over to the phone and checked the answerphone. No messages. Wrapping a hanky around the receiver, he pulled his sleeve over his hand and dialed one-four-seven-one to get the number of the last person to have rung the house.

It listed a mobile number calling at eight fifteen. He wrote it down and hung up.

Heavy footsteps sounded above him, followed by Abbie’s hissed complaint. “I don’t want to stay with him. He’s bossy.”

“He’s paid to be bossy. And we don’t have a choice,” came Elle’s reply. “It isn’t
his
house anyway.”

“I want to stay here.”

“Well, you can’t.”

“Well, you’re not my mother. You can’t tell me what to do.”

There was a pause before Elle replied. Her voice wobbled more than it usually did when she was upset. “I’m your sister and until mum comes home, I’m in charge. Patrick did you a favor by getting you out of the hospital. Don’t be mean.” She paused. “Abbie, it’s been a bad day for all of us. You got in a car crash, Mum’s hurt, you’re hurt. Someone tried to kill you. Patrick just wants to make sure they don’t try again.”

He glanced up the stairs. They’d get nowhere fast by arguing. “Ladies? Time’s up,” he called. “We need to go.”

“Coming.”

“Why aren’t we staying in your house?” Abbie asked.

Patrick smiled at them as they came down the stairs. “It’s only got the one bedroom. The place we’re staying in is much bigger. It has a garden and a swing. And my partner, Shay is staying there, too.”

“Is Shay your girlfriend?” Abbie put her pack down on the floor by her feet and rubbed her arm above the cast.

“Abbie.” Elle scowled at her. “Partner doesn’t just mean girlfriend.”

He smiled. “No, it’s all right. Shay isn’t my girlfriend. She’s a colleague from work. I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Why not? Did you get dumped because you’re too bossy?”

“Not exactly. She vanished without saying goodbye.” He glanced over at Elle and she ignored him. Just as well. This was one conversation they needed to have alone and not in front of her sister.

Abbie frowned, hugging her good arm to her stomach. “That wasn’t very nice of her.”

“No it wasn’t.”

“Bad enough she dumped you without at least saying bye or yelling at you first.”

Elle blushed and Patrick hoped that Abbie wouldn’t ask any more questions.

“Can I take your bag for you, Abbie?”

“Thank you.” She picked up the pack and gave it to him.

Elle hefted the huge firebox in her hands. “Think we have everything.”

He nodded. “That’s good. Let me take that.”

“It’s fine, Patrick. I’ve got it.”

“I’m taking it.” Before she could argue, he took the box from her and eased Abbie’s bag in his other hand. “OK, let me put this in the car first, then I’ll come back for you.”

“We’ll come with you.”

“No you won’t,” he said firmly. “Abbie come now, and I’ll come back for Elle.”

Abbie nodded, walking with him. “Why do you call her Elle? No one else does.”

“I knew her a long time ago. When we were at university.”

“Really? Maybe you could tell me about it some time. She never talks about when she was younger.”

“Sure I will. Get in the car.” He nodded to Shay, who eased up off the side of the car and opened the door.

“Thank you.” Abbie slid slowly into the back seat, wincing as she did.

“Does it hurt very much?” Shay asked.

Abbie nodded.

Patrick looked at her. “I’ll give you some of the meds the doc gave me when we get to the house.” He put the box and bag in the boot of the car and went back towards the house. As he got there his phone rang. He ignored it as he caught sight of Elle standing in the hallway. She looked completely bereft. He crossed over to her. “Hey.”

She moved into his arms, almost an automatic reflex. He hugged her tightly. Memories rushed over him, holding her, kissing her, just spending time with the only person, other than God, to complete him. His body stirred, feelings he’d long since forgotten springing to life. “Elle,” he whispered.

She looked up, her lips inches away from his.

He leaned in, his forehead touching hers, her breath warm on his cheek. “I missed you. So very much.”

“I missed you, too.”

His lips brushed against hers. He hesitated, then pulled her close to him, kissing her. She parted her lips allowing him to deepen the kiss, her hands moving over his back.

Time stood still for a moment, transporting him back fourteen years to a time when all that mattered was Elle and her love for him. The phone vibrated again, it’s ringing interrupting the moment.

Disappointment flooded him as she pulled back, her cheeks coloring and her fingers rising to her lips. “I…You better answer that.”

He pulled out the phone. “Page.”

“It’s Nahum. Where are you?”

“Collecting clothes and things for Abbie from the Harrison’s house. Why?”

“You didn’t answer your phone.”

“I had my hands full. What’s up?”

“Jeanette Harrison died fifteen minutes ago.”

“No.” Shock speared him, numbing him. He turned to face Elle, not sure how he was going to tell her.

“You can take the daughters in tomorrow if they want to see her. For now just take them to the safe house.”

“Will do. Thanks for the call.” He hung up. “Elle…”

“What is it?”

“It’s your mum. I’m sorry. She died a few minutes ago.” He wrapped his arms around her as she whimpered. Then held her as she cried.

11

Eleanor sat in the lounge at the safe house. The firebox stood open in front of her, papers strewn across the lacquered and stained surface of the table. Behind her, Patrick and Shay talked quietly. Abbie sat watching TV and sniffling. Frustration and helplessness filled her. She’d wanted to go straight to the hospital, but Patrick had refused. He promised to take her in tomorrow, but that was too late. Now was too late, but she wanted to see her mum, even if she wasn’t there anymore.

The constant sniffing got on her already frayed nerves and she snapped. “Please don’t sniff. Use a tissue.”

“I’ll sniff if I want to,” Abbie muttered. “It’s your fault she’s dead.”

Eleanor turned to look at her. “Mine?”

“Those men were looking for you. If you’d been at home instead of here…”

Patrick rose and crossed the room, sitting beside Abbie. “Speaking of those men, if I showed you some pictures, could you tell me if you’ve seen any of them before?”

Abbie nodded. “Ellie suggested I describe them. I’ve got an eye for detail. I could give you the make and model of the car, too.”

“That would be really good. But first let’s look at the pictures on my phone.”

Abbie nodded, leaning down over his phone.

Eleanor tuned them out, concentrating on the papers. She was looking for this letter her mother mentioned, or a copy of a will or solicitor’s letters. Anything that looked like it could shed some light on things or looked important. She pulled out an envelope with her name written in her mother’s neat handwriting.

Her hands trembled as she opened the seal. Could this be the letter Mum mentioned? The one about her dad? She drew out two folded pieces of lined paper and what looked like two certificates. Carefully she opened the letter.

Dear Eleanor,

There is no easy way to say this, but I want you to know the truth. Your father was a criminal. He was not the man you thought he was. Although I was strict, and you resented me for it, you were my daughter and I love you. I just didn’t want you to turn out like your birth mother, and like him. You have been a good daughter and although I didn’t say it, you made my life happy when you brought Abbie into it.

Your birth mother’s name was Rachel. I adopted you after her death…

Eleanor dropped the letter. Her insides knotted and a huge lump formed in her throat. She was
adopted
? The last conversation with her mother suddenly made sense. She unfolded the two official documents.

The first was her birth certificate. It named her father and a Rachel Foster as her mother.
Foster…
wasn’t that the name Patrick kept mentioning?

The second was her adoption certificate.

A stifled wail ripped from her throat, her hand clamping over her mouth in an effort to control it. Blood pounded in her head. She began to shake.

No wonder she hated me. I wasn’t hers. Just a constant reminder of something Dad did.

Patrick looked at her. “What’s wrong, Elle? Are you all right?”

Not wanting a fuss at all, never mind in front of Abbie, she inclined her head a little. “Yeah, I’m fine. Abbie, it’s late. High time you were in bed.”

“I don’t want to go to bed.”

“That’s just too bad. You need to rest remember, and it really is late.”

“I’m fine here, thank you very much. Watching the TV with Patrick.”

“Please, Abbie, it’s been a really long day.”

Abbie folded her good arm over her chest and didn’t move.

Elle looked back down at the letter, needing to learn more about this deep, dark secret. Learn more about this bomb that had just been dropped in her lap and exploded in her face. The words ran into each other as she read. Her stomach twisted and spun as her world, turned upside down since she got up that morning, disintegrated into a million tiny pieces.

Finally finishing the letter, she looked up. “Are you still here?”

“I have nowhere else to go,” Abbie retorted.

“Bed.”

“What if the men come back or something else happens? I want Mum.”

Patrick got to his feet. “Abbie, I promise nothing is gonna happen tonight. How about I take you upstairs, and we find your room. I’ll check it out, look in the wardrobe, under the bed. We can also leave your door open so the light from the landing comes in if you like. That way if you need someone you can just shout. Shay and I are both here all night along with another agent. You’ll be perfectly safe while you sleep, I promise.”

“All right.”

“Come on, then. Say good night to your sister. We’ll find your pain meds and get you settled. Your room is right across the hall from Elle’s.”

Abbie tucked her rag doll into her sling and got up slowly. She crossed the room and hugged her one handed. “Good night, Ellie. I love you.”

“Good night, squirt. I love you, too.”

Watching the two of them leave, her heart grieved for the life that never was.
How different things could have been if I hadn’t left him
. She looked over at Shay. You and Patrick seem pretty close.”

“We are, but we’re just colleagues, nothing more. Patrick doesn’t have time for anything other than work. Between you and me, it’s like he’s hiding from real life.”

“He used to go out a lot. At least when…” She broke off. “It’s just you two get on so well.”

“Patrick’s an easy bloke to get along with. He’s charming, sweet, a real gentleman. It’s not often you find someone in our line of work who’s not tainted by what we have to do. His faith carries him through a lot. But even if he wasn’t married to his job, I’m in love with my husband, and wouldn’t break my marriage vows under any circumstances.”

“Your husband doesn’t mind you hanging with him or staying here?”

Shay smiled. “This is what I do. Kevin understands. Besides he’s in the army, so he can be away for months at a time. Right now he’s in Cyprus.”

“That must be hard.” She looked down at the letter in her hand.

“It is sometimes. But, Kevin was in the army when I met him. I knew what I was getting into. Just like he knew what I did. Neither of us would change it for the world. What about you and Patrick? I understand you’ve known each other a long time.”

Her fingers traced the crease on the paper. “Yeah. We go way back. I knew him, rather went out with him, for a year at university. Then I left and never saw him again. Until now.”

“Why not?”

“We didn’t part on very good terms.”

“What happened?”

She shifted, the letter creasing in her hand. “The kind of ‘ruins your life’ stuff I don’t want to talk about.”

“OK.” Shay inclined her head and her eyes narrowed.

Had she said too much? She kept forgetting these people were spies. Besides what happened between her and Patrick was no one’s business but their own.

“I’m going to go make some tea.” Eleanor shoved the papers back into the firebox and locked it. She headed into the kitchen, Shay behind her. This was going to get tiring very quickly. At least Patrick didn’t follow her everywhere.

If I could change things, I would. But I can’t. It’s too late.

As she sat sipping her tea, Patrick came into the kitchen. She smiled at him. “Is she all right?”

Patrick poured himself a mug of coffee and sat opposite her. “Yeah, she is. I told her you’d be up in a while.”

Eleanor sat quietly. She looked at the custard cream biscuit and slowly pulled it apart. She scraped her nail through the cream filling. “Thank you.” This was how it should be, Patrick tucking in his daughter at night, the two of them having time...