by Maddie Wade
“Who the hell is doing this?” Drew asked nobody in particular.
Nate shook his head.
“I have no idea, but we will find out,” he said as Lucy returned with latex gloves. Taking the gloves, Nate picked up the box and followed Lucy and Drew into the conference room.
Going to the coffee Lucy handed one to Drew, “I wasn’t sure how you liked it so I just got everyone cappuccino,” she said.
“That’s perfect Lucy, thank you,” he said formally.
“There are pastries over on the side if you’re hungry,” she said, indicating the box of fresh pastries. In a move typical of a man his age Drew went over to the food and had soon wolfed down two of the decadent pastries.
~~~
Lucy smiled as she watched him; she had always wondered what it would be like having a little brother or sister. Lucy always felt a pang of pain in her chest when she thought of the baby sister she had lost, and often wondered how different her life would be if she hadn’t been taken.
She knew she was lucky to have had such a wonderful father who had been both mother and father to her, but she’d missed her mother every day. She still couldn’t smell Chanel No. 5 without thinking about her. She’d never talked to Dane about it, but she knew Lizzie felt the same. Maybe if things went as she hoped with her brother and Lauren, she would get another baby niece or nephew to spoil. The thought cheered her up.
Dane and Lauren came into the room ten minutes later, holding hands and whispering to each other. Lucy raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. Well, she liked this development. This was what she’d hoped would happen, when she saw them holding hands yesterday and if the flushed look on her face was anything to go by then things were going great. Catching his eye, she winked, and he smiled.
Sitting at the table Dane handed Lauren a coffee and a pastry and got one for himself.
“Okay, what’ve we got?” he said, addressing the team. He looked much more relaxed and happier than Lucy could remember ever seeing him Lucy just hoped it would last after this latest development.
Lucy told him what she’d found when she arrived, and Nate then explained what had happened when he and Drew had arrived. Lauren remained very quiet throughout only perking up when Lucy started to play the security footage.
“He could be the man from the photo.” Lauren said, excitedly. Maybe this would help them. Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Nate can you contact Sly, and see if he can get any prints off this or the photos. Lucy, can you see if you can get footage from any cameras in town and see if we can figure out who took this picture of us from last night. They must have been across the road so check all the CCTV in Broad Street and Kings Street.” Dane was all business now-this was where he excelled.
“Is Sly back then?” Lucy said, trying her best to sound nonchalant even though her heart had sped up.
“Yeah, he’s home at the moment, but he’s due to start his last tour later this year, although I’m not sure when.” he replied.
Sly was an old friend of her brothers from the SAS and was still on active duty. Lucy had known him since they’d gone through selection together and Dane had brought him home for the weekend.
At the time, Lucy had been just a teenager and far too young for a man like Jace (Sly) to notice, but she had noticed him anyway and her young heart had fallen hard. Even then, she had known that she needed to wait until the time was right before she told him how she felt. Maybe her time was coming. She couldn’t help the little bit of excitement that coursed through her at the thought of seeing him again.
Shaking off her thoughts, she realised Dane was waiting for an answer.
“Yes of course, is this Andreo’s place?”
“Yes, we stopped for food before going home last night around 8:30.”
“Okay, I’ll see what I can find.”
“What are we going to do?” Lauren asked, turning to him.
“We are going to the Gloucester Royal Hospital.”
“What about me, I really want to help,” said Drew determinedly.
Dane looked at him thoughtfully. “See if you can find out where your father is, I want to know where at least one of the suspects is.”
Standing they all started off on their separate ways.
“Stay alert people.” Dane shouted, as they all left the conference room.
“Yes dad.” Nate and Lucy chorused, making Lauren laugh and Dane chuckle and shake his head at their antics.
~~~
“Are you okay?” he said to Lauren, who had been very quiet until then.
“Yes, I guess I’m just spooked that someone has been watching me.”
“I will keep you safe, I promise you that.” She looked up at him then with so much trust that he knew he’d done the right thing not telling her about the bug. He couldn’t bear the thought of anything else scaring her. He was humbled to see the belief she had in him, but was seriously starting to wonder if it was warranted. How had he not seen a tail? He had never suffered from self-doubt before, but he was getting a giant helping about now.
“I know you will,” she said with so much faith in those few words, that he vowed to himself then and there that he wouldn’t let her down, not matter what it took. Taking a step back was going to be hard, though, especially with her looking at him like that. He focused on the here and now and concentrated on the job.
“I just want to stop by Daniel’s on our way, he knows nothing about any of this, and it’s only fair to keep him appraised of things.” Lauren agreed. Daniel had been through enough already and she wondered how he would react to the latest developments.
~~~
It made her slightly nervous about how he might react, and she hated that she felt that way. She didn’t fear Daniel, but she did feel a bit unsure of herself since yesterday. She made sure to school her features so that Dane wouldn’t pick up on her feelings. The last thing she wanted was to cause angst between the two friends.
Chapter Seventeen
When they arrived at Daniel’s place, he was in the garage getting the mower out. He stopped and watched as they climbed from the truck and came to a stop in front of him.
“I thought I’d get the garden tidied up for Paige” he said. He looked contrite and self-conscious. Lauren looked at him closely, his eyes looked clearer and he had showered and shaved, he still had dark circles under his eyes but he looked better.
Lauren decided she had to make the first move and get this awkwardness dealt with. She stepped forward only slightly hesitant, and hugged Daniel. He accepted her embrace and held her tightly and she felt him relax. She stepped away and assessed him.
“You look better, have you eaten?”
“I had some coffee earlier.”
“Come on, I’ll make you something, you’re no good to Paige if you waste away.” Tugging his arm, she pulled him into the house. She felt instantly more at ease now that things had gone back to normal. Dane followed behind.
She sat Daniel down at the counter and set about pulling out all the things she would need, bacon, sausage, eggs, mushrooms and hash browns.
“I need to talk to you.” Dane declared, sitting down across from Daniel. He then set about telling him everything that had happened in the last two days. When he finished he sat, back to let his friend process it all.
“So Claire was sick, did you know?” He said looking at Lauren as she placed a full English breakfast in front of him. She tensed slightly.
“No, I had no idea, and it kills me that she didn’t tell me.” Daniel nodded slowly, “Sometimes I think this is all a horrible nightmare and I’m going to wake up and she’s gonna laugh at me. It’s like I didn’t know her and the thing that makes me the angriest is I can’t confront her about it all, and then I feel like a bastard for feeling that way.”
“I know what you mean, ” said Lauren thoughtfully, “but we just have to believe that the important stuff was all real and her love for you and Paige was real, of that I have no doubt, you were
her life!”
Daniel just nodded; he looked like a lost little boy. He changed the subject then as if he wasn’t ready to confront what she was saying or perhaps he didn’t believe it. She knew he would need time, to come to terms with all the secrets Claire had kept and the brutal way she had been taken away from them. She just hated to see him hurting so much.
“Are you okay?” Daniel asked her, looking her over as if looking for a physical injury. She knew he was referring to what had happened with them yesterday and she could see the guilt in his eyes.
“Yes, I’m fine Daniel, Dane’s been wonderful, and he knows everything that happened with Jeff.” Daniel looked at them both then.
“So you two are together?” She looked at Dane waiting with a nervous stomach to see what he said.
“It’s early days,” he said, “but we’re seeing where this goes.” He looked at Lauren who smiled tentatively.
~~~
Dane could see the slight confusion on her beautiful face, but he knew he was doing the right thing holding back from her a bit. As much as he wanted to shout for all to hear that she was his, his first job was to keep her safe and the only way to do that was to pull back a bit so that he could think clearly. The thought of losing her kept tugging at him like a pain and he rubbed his chest to ease the feeling.
“Look after her man, don’t let anyone hurt her. I’m happy for you guys and Claire would have been dancing round the kitchen,” he mused. “Make it count though; don’t think bad things won’t happen to you because you never know when you can have it snatched away.” Lauren leaned forward in her chair and wrapped her arms around Daniel and Dane reached over and squeezed his shoulder.
Dane was well aware that life could take unexpected turns and horrible things could happen. He had lived through that and still watched his father live through it.
“We will, man,” he stated solemnly.
Daniel seemed to shake off his melancholy and then tucked into the breakfast Lauren had made. While, the friends caught up, she busied herself making up a quick salad, which she left for Daniel and Paige in the fridge.
“I have to pick up Paige at 11am from her grandparents. They’ve been wonderful,” Daniel said, “I honestly, don’t know what I would have done without them, but it’s time I got on with being a dad.”
“Okay, we’ll leave you to it then, but we’ll keep you in the loop.” he said to his friend. Daniel walked them to the door and kissed Lauren’s cheek.
“Thanks for breakfast.”
“You’re welcome; give Paige a kiss from me.”
Driving away from Daniel, Dane was satisfied that his friend would come out of this the other side, definitely not the same but he would survive this somehow.
Chapter Eighteen
Walking towards the Gloucester Royal Hospital always made Lauren feel slightly sick, she’d spent the worst days of her life in here when she’d lost her mum and the smell of strong cleaning products always brought back all the feelings of helplessness and despair.
The building was airy and modern, but it didn’t seem to matter how good the architecture was or how clever the art was, it still felt cold and sterile to her. It was strange she didn’t feel like this when she visited the Paediatric ward at Hereford County Hospital, maybe it was because this was the hospital where her mum was treated or maybe it was that she could actually offer some help when she went there, and didn’t feel useless.
Putting his arm around her like he’d been doing this for years instead of two days, Dane hugged her to him, offering comfort as if he knew that she was feeling upset.
“Okay?” he inquired.
She nodded “Yes, I just hate this place-too many bad memories.” She shuddered as if the feeling of being here made her skin crawl. He squeezed her tight and dropped a kiss on her head. They stopped outside the front doors of the Hospital so that he could retrieve his ringing phone from his pocket.
“Hey, what’s up?” He listened intently, his anger darkening his expression as he nodded. “Okay listen you should take Paige and go to your parents for a while, until this is over.” He nodded, “Ok, call me when you get there and make sure you’re not followed. Yeah, yeah, I know, okay bye.”
Swiping his phone to end the call he looked up at Lauren. “Someone left a gift on Sylvie and Malcolm’s front doorstep for Paige! It was signed from Claire. Daniel’s going to take her to stay with his parents in Scotland until things are sorted here.”
“God when will this stop?!” she exclaimed.
“Come on, let’s go see if we can find out, and see if anyone recognises the man in the photo.”
~~~
Approaching the reception desk of the Oncology department, he flashed his private security badge at the woman and asked to speak to the head of Oncology. The matronly-looking receptionist sniffed and looked over her glasses at them.
“Mr Hale is a very busy man. Do you have an appointment?”
“No, but can you please tell him Dane Bennett and Lauren Cassidy are here to see him about Claire Thompson please?” he used his polite; don’t fuck with me voice that he normally reserved for the tax office.
Paling slightly, Miss Congeniality picked up her phone.
“Mr. Hale there is a Dane Bennet and Lauren Cassidy here to see you about Claire Thompson. He insisted it’s important. Yes, okay I will tell him.” She practically purred the last sentence causing Lauren to giggle. Turning back to them all signs of the simpering sex kitten were gone.
“Mr. Hale will be with you shortly, please take a seat.” she indicated the chairs by the elevator.
“Thank you, Miss Tate.”
“Wow that was some transformation, from Miss Trenchbold to Miss Simpering Sex Kitten and back in 20 seconds.” Lauren whispered, causing him to laugh aloud. They went to sit down, but before they had settled in their seats, the elevator pinged open.
A tall, thin man with salt and pepper hair smoothly styled with gel and a designer suit under his white coat came out. Miss Tate indicated Dane and Lauren all the while smiling and preening. He swivelled to meet them and put out his hand to shake Dane’s hand; he then turned to Lauren and shook hers too.
“I’m Edward Hale, head of Oncology, what can I do for you?” He said getting straight to the point. He looked at him, and disliked him on sight. He had clammy hands, and a weak handshake. His Father had always told him never to trust someone who gave a weak handshake. He seemed nervous too. His eyes kept moving round the room as if scared of something. Lauren didn’t seem to recognise him so he’d obviously not been here when her mum was ill, thank goodness.
“Could we maybe go somewhere more private, do you have an office?” Dane asked.
“Yes of course, but we can’t use my office. It’s being set up for a meeting. Follow me, we can use this empty exam room. Please have a seat,” he said, sitting behind the desk and leaving them to sit on the lower plastic chairs. It was an age-old power play, to put him in a position of authority. If he thought Dane would be intimidated he was wrong, you didn’t pass SAS selection to then be intimidated by a squirt in a suit. He knew every trick in the book about intimidating people, Shit, he’d practically written the book.
Straightening and fixing Hale with his interrogator’s face, he proceeded to ask about Claire. Mr Hale confirmed that she had been a patient, but that he could not say anymore and hid behind the patient confidentiality excuse.
“This is a murder investigation, Mr Hale and anything you say could help us.” Hale squirmed slightly in his seat, and sweat broke out on his upper lip but he was either too stupid or too scared to say anything else.
“I’m sorry, I really can’t help you, if you would like to come back with a subpoena, then I can release her records to the courts.” Dane went silent for a minute and then pulled a copy of the picture sent to Daniel from his wallet.
“Do you know this man?” he asked, pushing the picture across the table towards Hale, he looked at it quickly and then shook his head.
“Are you sure?” Lauren stated, “It’s very important and this was taken at the hospital.”
He looked again, “no, no I don’t. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have patients to see.”
She felt like screaming at him “Liar, liar, pants on fire,” but of course, didn’t. Hale stood up, then to indicate the meeting was over and they followed suit.
“Thank you for your time.” Dane said, not bothering to offer his hand. The man was lying and he had no interest in playing games with him. He watched as Hale quickly disappeared back into the lift.
~~~
Hale quickly punched in the number for his employer. He was agitated and nervous. He couldn’t afford for anyone to find out what he had been doing or his reputation would be finished. Then his ditzy wife would find out and leave him. He didn’t love her, but she was the perfect trophy wife and her family had the money and backing he needed to keep him in the life he had become accustomed to.
“Yes,” the terse voice answered, it made Hale grind his teeth dealing with Marcus Preedy.
“I just had a visit from a Dane Bennett and a Lauren Cassidy asking about Terry Griffiths and Claire Thompson. They were flashing pictures around of them together.” The line went quiet.
“Did you find out who they worked for?”
“No, but I don’t think it’s the government.”
“Okay, I’ll have Griffiths dealt with. Meet Michaels at the usual place to give him the flash drive. How did she look?”
“Who?” Hale asked, confused.
“Lauren Cassidy, how did she look?”
“Um, fine, normal I guess. Why?”
“Don’t question me, just answer the fucking question.”
Hale hated this man so much and cursed inwardly at his own stupidity for getting involved with him. “She looked, well, healthy.”
“Good.”
The line went dead, and Hale raced to his car to make the drop.
~~~