The Hornbeam Tree (40 page)

Without any hesitation Kember said, ‘It doesn’t exist.’

Elliot allowed his scepticism to show. ‘That’s the official line?’ he said.

‘It’s a fact.’

Elliot continued to regard him.

In the end, Kember said, ‘Elliot, you know as well as I do that the Yanks don’t mess about with this stuff. So take my advice and back off now, or you’ll find yourself going the same way as your friend.’

Elliot blinked. ‘What exactly does that mean?’

‘The documents Chambers has are going to hang him,’ Kember said darkly. ‘Don’t let them hang you too.’

‘Are we talking literally, or professionally?’

Kember didn’t answer, and Elliot felt a chill run through him. So here was the confirmation that if Tom pursued the story they would destroy his reputation and brand him a terrorist with all that that entailed – and a carefully managed campaign, with the full power of the American right behind it, stood a greater chance of success than anything Tom could put forward while they still lacked proof of the plot’s origins.

‘They’ll never pull it off,’ Elliot said. ‘Too many of us are involved in this now, and you can’t silence us all.’

Kember was staring at him hard, his face set like stone. ‘I thought you were smarter than that,’ he responded.

Elliot wondered if that was a reminder of just how powerful the forces behind all this were. If so, he hardly needed one, for he’d never been in any doubt. However, this might be a good time to underline what they must already know, that there was no way an aborted terrorist attack could be used in an election strategy now. So going right for it, he said, ‘If you think I’m just going to stand back and watch this country pay with its peace of mind
for
a neo-conservative victory at the polls, then you are mistaken.’

Kember’s expression barely changed, making it impossible to know if he’d just learned something new. In the end he merely held out his hand, palm up, and said, ‘Your passport.’

Elliot immediately baulked. ‘On what grounds?’ he demanded.

‘On the grounds that you are considered a national security risk.’

Elliot was incredulous, though he should have seen this coming.

Kember said, ‘We can do it the hard way, if you prefer.’

‘You mean arrest me? On what charge?’

‘Obstruction of justice would be a beginning.’

Knowing full well he could do it, and possibly even already had the officers outside to back him up, Elliot was almost tempted to force him to carry it through, for the sheer malicious pleasure of making them deal with the ensuing publicity. However, he wasn’t going to be of much use to Tom if he did, nor would his plans for the evening with Laurie be helped by the divisive presence of a prison-cell door. So with no further protest he opened his briefcase and took out the passport.

After tucking it into an inside pocket Kember straightened his cuffs, then his tie, and said, ‘You know our capabilities, Elliot, so don’t be a fool. It’s already too late for Chambers, but not for you. Let it go, man, and get on with your life.’

After he’d gone Elliot’s first instinct was to drive down to Wiltshire to apprise Tom of the visit, and even arrange for him to slip back out of the country.
The
problem was, the minute he left the flat there was every chance he’d be followed, and since they didn’t appear to know where Tom was right now, he wasn’t about to lead them straight to him. However, Tom needed to be alerted, and provided Elliot could pull it off, there should be a way of doing it that would also give Tom at least one night with Michelle.

In the hope that someone was monitoring his line, he picked up the phone and dialled Katie’s number. ‘Michelle,’ he said, when she answered. ‘It’s Elliot. Still no news of Tom, I’m afraid. We parted company in Italy, and he hasn’t been in touch again yet, but I’ve just been informed there’s a chance he’ll be joining Josh and Farukh on the other side of freedom in the not too distant future.’

There was a beat of silence before Michelle said, ‘Do you know when exactly?’

‘I got the impression not immediately, but if you hear from him before I do, please tell him what I’ve just told you.’

‘Of course,’ she promised. ‘How did you hear this?’

‘From a source that’s pretty reliable – and who is now the guardian of my passport.’

Taking a moment to digest that, Michelle said, ‘But how will you get to him now? They’re making it impossible.’

Impressed by how smoothly she was handling this, and how expertly she’d just planted the suggestion that Tom was still abroad, Elliot said, ‘I won’t go into any more on the phone, but we’ll find a way,’ and after assuring her he’d be in touch again as soon as there was more news, he returned
to
his study to send a coded email to Chris Gallagher.

With all that done, he closed down the computer and went to pour himself a drink. Laurie should arrive any minute, and by the time she got there he wanted his thoughts focused entirely on her.

‘Well, I guess as no-one’s come calling yet,’ Tom was saying, as he lay on Michelle’s narrow bed looking up at her, ‘then they really don’t know where I am.’

Michelle’s eyebrows went up. ‘That, coming from the man who taught me information takes time to process, is cavalier in the extreme,’ she responded, tightening the belt of her robe before going to peer out of the window. Apart from a couple of locals with pushchairs and toddlers, there was no-one around, nor had she really expected there to be. Katie and Molly had left half an hour ago, and to think she might spot a BT van parked where it shouldn’t be, or a couple of birds in an uproar at finding some alien device in their tree, was just plain absurd. Dropping the curtain back into place, she untied the robe and let it slide to the floor.

‘Mmm,’ he moaned appreciatively as his eyes wandered lingeringly over her.

She sauntered towards him and sitting down on the edge of the bed, lifted one of his hands and held it to her. They’d just finished making love when Elliot called. Though she imagined they would again before Katie and Molly returned, for the moment Elliot’s warning that an arrest warrant could be imminent was pushing all other thoughts
aside
. The warning, she thought, seemed to be bothering her a lot more than Tom, even though she’d half expected it.

Lifting his hand to her face, he gently stroked it. ‘Look at me,’ he said.

Moving her lovely green eyes to his, she nestled her cheek into his hand and smiled.

‘I love you,’ he told her softly.

Her heart tightened with emotion, and turning to kiss his palm, she said, ‘I love you too.’

Sitting up, he drew her to him and covered her mouth with his own, letting the power of the words deepen the kiss, just as the feel of their bodies heightened the need to be close. ‘It’ll be all right,’ he told her, pulling her down with him and gazing into her eyes.

‘I want to believe you,’ she whispered.

‘Have I ever lied to you?’

She shook her head.

‘Did I ever let you down?’

Again she shook her head.

His eyes turned playful as he said, ‘Then that’s more than I can say for you.’

She frowned.

‘You forgot the necklace,’ he reminded her.

With arched brows she said, ‘Maybe because someone was in so much of a hurry to get up here, I didn’t have a chance to put it on,’ and responding warmly to the memory of their eagerness to be together as soon as Katie and Molly had left, she kissed him again.

‘But you’ll wear it tonight,’ he told her. ‘Where will we go? Any ideas?’

‘There’s a lovely manor house in the next village,
with
an excellent restaurant, I’m told.
And
it’s an exclusive hotel.’

‘Sounds perfect,’ and propping himself up on one elbow he continued to gaze into her eyes. ‘Did you get more beautiful?’ he asked, feeling certain she had.

‘I’m sure only you would think so,’ she replied, making them both smile.

He brushed the hair back from her forehead, and kissed her gently on the nose. ‘So how’s it working out here?’ he asked. ‘Any headway with Molly yet?’

Her eyes slanted away, as her heart sank with dismay. ‘No,’ she answered.

‘But it’s good with Katie? Better than you expected?’

‘Yes.’ She looked at him again, and feeling a quiet surge of relief that she had him here to confide in, she began pouring out everything she felt about coming back to England, trying to cope with the dread of losing Katie, Molly’s recalcitrance, her own feelings of displacement, and how concerned she’d been lately that she just wasn’t pulling it together. ‘And then there’s all that’s happening to you,’ she said. ‘Can you imagine how frustrating it is not being able to get fully involved? We always used to go into battle together, and now I hate the fact that you’re out there alone, without me …’ Her frown softened as she saw the humour come into his eyes. ‘I guess you’re coping just fine, and I’ve been too used to being on the front line,’ she said, reading his thoughts, ‘so this is a bit of a lesson on how to keep the ego in check, and,’ she smiled impishly, ‘sitting here alone in this room staring at
all
that sky out there gives me plenty of time to think about our last day together, and dream about it happening again – and again, like it did just now.’

Putting his mouth to hers, he kissed her for a long, leisurely time, stirring the deepest of their desires and seeming to seal the bond that held them together.

‘I miss you so much,’ she said when he pulled back to look at her.

‘I miss you too,’ he murmured. ‘I don’t know what took us so long to get here, but I do know I don’t want to waste any more time. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to marry you, if you’ll have me.’

A lump immediately formed in her throat, as the joy of his words filled her. How many times over these last weeks had she allowed herself to imagine this moment and what she would say. How readily she’d seen herself melting into his arms and feeling happier and more loved than she ever had in her life. And she could do it. She could just blot out everything else and tell herself it would be all right, that somehow they would make it work …

‘You’re not about to turn me down, are you?’ he prompted.

Smiling past the turmoil in her heart, she said, ‘You have to know how much I love you, how much I’ve wanted to hear you say that, but … No listen,’ she said, as he started to interrupt. ‘I know how hard I’m finding it to be here, in this country, so how much harder is it going to be for you …’

Cutting her off more firmly this time, he said, ‘I know where you’re going with this, and I’m telling
you
, it’s possible to base myself here, or in London. OK, I might be away a lot …’

‘But it’s not only about where we live,’ she said, ‘it’s about Molly and Robbie, and the fact …’ she took a breath, ‘the fact that I think I might be pregnant.’ She looked at him, feeling almost as shaken by the admission as he clearly was, for this was the first time she’d actually allowed herself to speak the suspicion aloud.

‘Can you see how complicated that would make everything?’ she said. ‘Not for us, but for Molly and Robbie …’

‘Hang on, hang on,’ he interrupted. ‘You’ve just told me you could be carrying my child. Can I have a moment to deal with that first?’

Smiling, she lifted a hand to his face, and watched him as he absorbed the full impact of her news.

‘You’ve got to know how happy this makes me,’ he told her, finding himself very close to the edge, for he’d always wanted children, it had just never been the right time, or, until now, the right woman.

‘Me too,’ she assured him, ‘but I’m so worried what it’ll do to Molly, having to share me with a baby so soon after her mother … And to Robbie, who’s already wondering why I’m here and not with him. How’s he going to react to having two siblings in one go? And what if I make him and Molly feel left out, by focusing too much on the baby at the very time we’re all trying to get used to each other?’

‘Don’t you know yourself at all?’ he cut in. ‘Haven’t you learned anything this past ten years about how capable you are of making every child
feel
special, no matter who they are? Do you honestly think you’d be any different with Molly and two of your own? She’s your niece. Your own flesh and blood. You won’t let her down.’

‘I wish I had your faith, but if these past weeks have taught me anything, it’s that I seem to cope much better with strangers than I do my own family.’

‘That’s nonsense,’ he told her, ‘you’ve hardly given yourself a chance.’

‘But what about you?’ she protested. ‘Why should I expect you to take on two children who aren’t your own?’

‘Robbie’s my godson,’ he reminded her. ‘And if you marry me, Molly will be my niece too. Don’t you think I haven’t thought about this? I want you, Michelle, and everything that comes with you … No, keep listening,’ he said as she tried to butt in. ‘We love each other, we know neither of us is ever going to meet anyone more right for the other, and just what the hell else did you think you were going to do, except marry me? You love me, you want us to be together as much as I do, so are you seriously saying you’re considering not letting it happen because you’re
pregnant
?’

‘Might be,’ she corrected. ‘I haven’t taken a test yet.’

‘Then can I suggest we go to a pharmacy right now to get one, because I, for one, would really like to know.’

Loving him so much she almost felt she could melt with it, she put her arms around him and said, ‘If I am, don’t let’s tell anyone yet. I’ll need some time to work out the best way to break the news.’

‘Anything you say,’ he responded, holding her tight, ‘but before we go anywhere, I’d kind of like to hear a yes.’

She pulled back to look at him.

‘I believe I asked you to marry me,’ he reminded her.

Bubbling with laughter, she said, ‘Yes. I will. I do. Forever. I love you, Tom Chambers. I love you. And to think, at our age, neither of us has ever been married before. How on earth will we manage?’

‘I guess we’re going to find out,’ he responded, and giving her a gentle shove off the bed, he clicked his fingers for his clothes to be brought to him, and promptly had them tossed on his head.