‘Excuse me one moment.’ He left the room before Tom could pull any words together.
Where had he gone? To phone the police? Should he try and leave before the police arrived? He couldn’t help Andi and the girls if they arrested him.
Unable to sit any longer, he got up and looked at the computer monitor. The screen showed account details. Tom gasped as he saw his signature, exactly as if he’d opened the account and completed the form. Obviously forging their father’s signature on a cheque wasn’t a one-off action. Why then had Monsieur Dupree left the room so quickly? Tom paced around until the banker returned.
‘Monsieur Trethowan, I am sorry you have had to wait, but there is a problem.’
‘The money is there, isn’t it?’
The man frowned. ‘I do not understand. The money is safe in your account. When you first asked to withdraw some cash I did not realise you would want such an amount. With larger sums of money, people usually give us a little notice. I have that amount in Euros, but not immediately available in English pounds. I assume that is what you require?’
Yes, he did. Dave’s boss was unlikely to accept Euros, or any other currency. ‘When will you have the money?’
‘I can arrange for it to be here first thing tomorrow morning.’
He itched to be on his way back to England, but Dave said he had a week. There were four days left from tomorrow. Andi and the twins were safe at Steven’s cousin’s house. It would have to be all right. It was the only way he could get that amount of money. He didn’t know how to contact Dave when he got back to England, but Dave would no doubt find him.
‘What denomination notes do you want?’
‘As large as possible. Fifties, I guess.’ Goodness knows what £800,000 actually looked like. Or weighed?
Monsieur Dupree explained how to get to the secure parking area for his visit the next morning. They shook hands again, and Tom felt dazed as he walked away from the bank. He wasn’t sure how he’d managed to talk normally to Monsieur Dupree.
Back on the narrow street, he realised his hands were trembling. So much had happened since the morning Jack knocked on his door.
Liam had always seemed too vibrant and alive to imagine him dead. Too right. Liam had put him through so much grief and pain, as he worried that he hadn’t been there for his younger brother. Liam had never considered suicide, other than a way of fooling everyone.
The questions he’d asked, over and over. What more should he have done to help Liam? There was no hour of need. Liam had only thought of himself.
Tom started the car. His jaw hurt where he clenched it so tightly, and his hands gripped the steering wheel, knuckles white.
Had Liam planted the driving licences for him to follow as part of the trail? Or had he just wanted to be clever. Prove he was smarter than everyone else.
Tom didn’t care. It was a startling realisation. He didn’t care. Tomorrow he would have the money. It would sort out the trouble Liam had caused, and that was the only thing that mattered.
The whole trip was bizarre.
He drove around the central city, and pulled into the first hotel. All he needed was one night. He left his laptop in the room, and went out. A few streets away he found a department store. Good, that should have what he needed. He bought a rucksack and two slightly smaller zip-up bags, and also a change of clothes. His own credit card had taken a beating.
He tried Andi’s mobile, but it went straight to her voicemail. He didn’t leave a message. This was one piece of news he wanted to tell her himself.
The streets around the hotel were now quiet, and he found a restaurant and ate dinner before he went back. Just as he drifted off to sleep, he remembered he hadn’t spoken to Andi. It could wait until the morning.
Chapter 24
Andi
After her scare at the library, Andi didn’t want Sophie and Kristen out of her sight. The following day was difficult, and if they hadn’t been able to use the boys’ computers she didn’t know what she’d have done. The twins would disappear for a while to watch videos or listen to music, and then come and bug her to take them into town, or just go out.
‘Anywhere,’ pleaded Kristen, with a dramatic gesture.
Andi was also worried they might have outstayed their welcome with Barbara and Martin. She still jumped every time she heard a car go past the end of the driveway, but she felt the twins, and perhaps even Steven, were beginning to doubt the threats. Maybe they thought she was overwrought and had got it out of proportion. She rang Tom, but couldn’t get hold of him. She looked up maps and driving times, and worked out he should have got to Geneva late the previous night. He would have found the address by now, surely?
She offered to cook dinner to keep occupied. Steven helped, but it wasn’t exactly help. He kissed the back of her neck as she chopped vegetables, and caught hold of her to pull her close as she went to the fridge. Under different circumstances she would have gone to bed with him, and stayed there.
She put the serving dishes on the table. Steven went to get Sophie and Kristen, while she looked for Barbara and Martin. She wandered down the path to Martin’s workshop, but stopped as she heard Barbara’s voice.
‘Has Steven mentioned how long they’ll be here?’
‘No, but it’s only been a few days. We can’t throw them out.’
‘I didn’t mean that. I just wanted to know how long they’re staying. The boys will be back on Monday. We haven’t got the space we had at the farm.’
Their voices became an indistinct mutter as they moved to the back of the workshop. Andi went to open the door, when she heard Barbara again.
‘Do you think there are people after them?’
There was silence for a moment, and Andi strained to hear Martin’s answer. He must have considered the question, as his voice was clear when he spoke.
‘Andi obviously believes there’s a threat. She’s very stressed. I’ve never seen her this worked up.’
Andi stuffed her hand over her mouth to stop from sobbing out loud. They didn’t believe her. Martin thought it was all in her head. She walked back to the house, and stood by the kitchen door for a few minutes. When she felt she could talk without the risk of tears, she went back to the workshop. This time she called out as she approached. ‘Dinner’s ready.’
That night in bed, she asked Steven if he believed her.
‘Yes. You’re not the type of person to imagine things like this, and Tom is pragmatic and rational. He wouldn’t rush around Europe if this wasn’t real.’
Andi told him she’d overheard Barbara and Martin.
‘They don’t know Tom, and they’ve never met Liam. I don’t think they doubt that something’s wrong. Barbara misses Russell and Blake, and she’s concerned about where we’ll all stay when they’re back. Don’t worry about it. We’ll leave before then.’
‘Where will we go?’
He kissed her. ‘I’ll sort something out.’
*
Everyone was quiet, deep in their own thoughts, at breakfast the next morning. Andi wasn’t sure how she would get through another day, especially if they doubted her. Perhaps Barbara and Martin thought she was mad, or in the middle of a breakdown.
She cleared the dishes. Martin was in his workshop using a noisy piece of equipment, and Barbara went out to see if he had her tape measure. Steven wasn’t around, so when Andi had stacked the dishwasher, she went upstairs to find Sophie and Kristen.
They were in Sophie’s room.
‘Mum, can we please go into town and get some more clothes. We didn’t have much with us at Dad’s, and we’ve worn most of it.’
‘There’s a washing machine downstairs,’ said Andi.
‘Oh come on,’ said Kristen. ‘Even if this is real, and there is someone after us, we’re miles from Bristol. This is the middle of nowhere. They’ll never find us here.’
She gasped, and the colour drained from her face. Sophie looked beyond Andi and her mouth dropped open, a panicked
expression on her face.
‘I wouldn’t be so sure of that.’
It wasn’t Martin or Steven. Andi’s stomach lurched. A tall, broad-shouldered man filled the doorway, and in front of him stood a younger man. From Tom’s description, she guessed the one who’d spoken was Dave, and the other, with the brutal look about him, was Mickey.
Mickey spared her a glance, and then his look settled on Sophie and Kristen.
‘You’re wanted downstairs.’ Dave nodded at Andi.
She moved in front of the twins, and shook her head.
He glanced at Mickey, as if he understood her reluctance to leave the girls with him.
‘Mickey, escort the lady downstairs, and be polite.’
‘Why do you want me to go downstairs?’ Even if Mickey wasn’t there, she didn’t want to leave the girls.
‘The boss wants to talk to you.’
‘He can do that up here, or Sophie and Kristen can come with me.’
Dave shook his head. ‘You don’t want that, believe me. It won’t take long, and then you’ll be back up here.’
She stared at him for a moment. He had made a concession about Mickey. She would have to trust him.
Dave came into the room, and Andi walked past him with Mickey behind her. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, and Mickey pointed towards the lounge. He didn’t follow her in.
A man stood at the window, staring out at two figures on the gravel driveway. Andi didn’t recognise the two men outside, but even with his back to her, she knew the man by the window.
‘Vincent.’
He turned and smiled at her. ‘You didn’t ring, but here we are again anyway. I thought you might prefer this conversation away from the family.’
‘Is this about us?’
He laughed. ‘I enjoyed our evenings together, but it was mostly about business. Don’t feel too bad. I had the information I wanted on our first date. If you weren’t so attractive, I wouldn’t have asked you out again.’
‘What you said about your move and the gym. It was all a story? Did Jeff know anything?’
‘Your friend’s husband is entirely innocent, if a little naïve. He believed everything I told him. I needed to find out more about you, and especially Liam. His suicide was unexpected, and not entirely in character.’
‘You’re part of this thing about Liam?’
‘I’m not part of it. I am it. I have a variety of business investments. Some legitimate and others, not so. Liam and I were introduced a year or so ago. He enjoyed a gamble. When he got in too heavily, he borrowed a lot of money from me. Then he disappeared. I wasn’t sure if he’d actually killed himself, or decided he couldn’t face the consequences. Either way, the debt belongs to you and Tom.’
‘Why does the debt belong to us? We had nothing to do with it.’
‘People would assume I’m weak if I don’t follow through on unpaid debts. I can’t let that happen, I’ve got too much to lose. Your brother’s suicide was way too convenient, especially with no body to confirm it. He knew the conditions when he took my money, even if he never mentioned them to you. You’re his family, and you will pay.’
His eyes were cold. How could she not have noticed that? She forced herself not to give in to a shiver.
‘So our dates… it was all about this?’
‘All business is based on deception. I like to know my business associates – and opponents. As I said, if you weren’t so attractive it wouldn’t have been as much fun.’ The smile never reached his eyes.
‘Dave told Tom we had a week.’ She trembled, but curled her hands into fists, not wanting him to see she was scared.
‘True, but that was before Tom disappeared, and you did a runner here. It seems to be a family trait.’
‘No, it’s not. Tom and I aren’t like Liam.’ She was surprised at how angry she sounded. Vincent raised his eyebrows at her tone.
‘No love lost there, I see. That was the impression you gave from the start, but I wasn’t sure whether your do-the-right-thing morality would win over your dislike of Liam. Dave has a high opinion of Tom, and I listened to him. It seems as though Dave was mistaken.’
‘Tom isn’t Liam. He wouldn’t do something like that.’
‘I applaud your faith in him. I hope it’s not misplaced, because you’re here and he’s not. By the way, you don’t need to tell me there are other people in the house.’ He nodded to the window, and the two men on the driveway. ‘The couple who own this place, and your husband, are safely locked away. It’s you I’m more interested in, but they may be useful.’
This was like some bad dream. She’d gone out with this man, had dinner with him. She’d even briefly flirted with the thought of what sex would be like with him.
‘It’s business,’ he said. ‘I don’t have anyone hurt, unless it’s absolutely necessary.’
Andi swallowed. Her mouth felt as if she hadn’t drunk anything in days. ‘What Dave said about the twins?’
‘I’m sure Dave said I don’t deal in things like that. I want to clear this up in a tidy way, without you hounding me. But if you don’t pay me, then I will get the money another way. I have lots of contacts, and even though you might try, you would never find me.’
Andi tried to wet her lips so she could speak.
‘We’re doing all…’
‘I know Tom has his house up for sale, but it isn’t enough, and it won’t make my deadline. I might not have been so hard, but he’s disappeared and you tried to get away. What am I to think?’
‘That we’re trying to get your money.’
Her phone rang. She yanked it out of her pocket, and jabbed at the screen.
‘Andi, it’s me.’
Vincent grabbed the phone. ‘Hello, Tom. We haven’t met, but I know Dave has told you about me. I hope you’ve got my money, and you won’t attempt what your brother did. I don’t like people who run out on me, especially when there’s a family history of it.’
He was quiet for a moment. All Andi could make out was the tone of Tom’s voice, not individual words.
‘For now, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt,’ said Vincent. ‘Dave reckoned you could be trusted, so don’t make me doubt him. You don’t have much time. Make sure any penalties are just cash.’
He ended the call, and put Andi’s phone on the bookcase, out of her reach.
‘Tom says he’s got the cash and is on his way here. I prefer to be civilised, but Mickey, and his brother Al, want to play their games. If you try anything, I will let them do what they want. Do you understand me?’ There was no warmth in his expression.
She nodded.
Mickey came into the room, a pair of handcuffs dangling from one hand. Andi shuddered, and tried to back away as he grabbed her wrists. He took his time, licking his lips and baring his teeth in an unpleasant grin.
‘Okay, Mickey, wait outside.’ Vincent looked at the handcuffs. ‘If you’d given us a little longer, we could have got to this point for other reasons.’
She clamped her mouth shut. He was a far better actor than she’d realised, even now she couldn’t sense how far he’d go. He laughed at her expression.
The two men were still outside on the driveway. Vincent knocked on the window and signalled to them. One of them disappeared, and a few minutes later Andi heard footsteps in the hall. The man was so like Mickey, she guessed they were brothers. He had Janine with him.
‘You,’ said Andi. ‘You’re in on this as well!’
‘You’re far too quick to jump to assumptions, and you trust the wrong people,’ said Vincent.
‘I’ve got nothing to do with them,’ said Janine, and held up her wrists to show Andi the handcuffs. ‘They were in my apartment when I got home. They grabbed me, and held something over my face. When I came round, I was here. Wherever here is.’
‘She’s told you the truth, at least about us. Although I know Tom met up with her.’
Janine’s skin had a pasty sheen. Her clothes were grubby and dishevelle
d, as though she’d spent the night on a dusty floor.
‘It will be some time before Tom arrives,’ said Vincent. ‘My apologies for any discomfort, but we need to take some precautions while we wait.’
Mickey appeared, and grabbed roughly at her arm. She instinctively pulled away, but he hauled her closer, so they touched. The feel of him made her flesh crawl. He would enjoy doing whatever he was allowed.
Al pushed Janine upstairs and Mickey followed them, his fingers gripped her arm. ‘You can try to get away,’ he said, under his breath. ‘I’d like that.’
They went to her bedroom.
Sophie sat on the bed, handcuffed to the top of the wooden frame, while Kristen was on the floor, secured to the base of the bed.
Mickey dragged her over to the radiator, undid the cuffs and locked her to the metal radiator, forcing her to sit on the floor. When he moved away, she saw Janine in a similar position on the other side of the room.
She and Steven had tried to move the bed away from the wall, and she knew it was a solid, heavy construction – Martin had made it. No way would the girls be able to move it. She tugged on the radiator, but it didn’t budge.
The two men went downstairs, but left the door wide open. Andi didn’t speak until their footsteps disappeared. ‘Are you both okay?’
For once Sophie and Kristen were silent, but nodded.
After a moment Sophie voiced her own worry. ‘Mum, do you think Dad is okay? They said they’d just tied him up.’
‘I’m sure that’s all they’ve done, and Barbara and Martin. The man said he was a businessman. He just wants what Liam owed him. There’s no reason for him to do more.’
She wished she could feel as certain as her words. Where was Steven?
‘Mum, what about the money? I know it’s a lot and we don’t have it,’ said Kristen.
‘Tom rang when I was downstairs.’
Janine looked up at the mention of Tom. She’d been silent except for her few words downstairs with Vincent. She still looked ill, but not quite as bad. ‘Where is he?’
Lies of the Dead Page 17