“Of course.” She didn’t say anything else until she heard the sound of his car on the gravel driveway as it pulled away from the house.
“Oh, Kat, what on earth has he done?” Jamie looked just as scared and worried as she was.
“I don’t know, I really don’t.” She’d known something wasn’t right on her last visit to him in prison, but she’d had no idea he was contemplating anything like this.
“So, what do we do now?”
“There’s nothing we can do.” And she didn’t want to discuss it in front of Daniel, anyway. The poor kid had been fast asleep when the police had turned up and she’d had to wake him and bring him down here while they searched his room. That was enough for anyone to deal with in one night. “Look, why don’t you take Daniel back up to bed and get some sleep yourself. We can talk about it in the morning.”
Jamie seemed to understand the long look she gave her and nodded. “Okay, little guy, off to bed.”
“I’m not little and I’m not stupid, you know,” he said, making a face “I know what’s going on.”
Kat sighed. He was right. Well, fifty percent right, anyway. He was definitely not stupid, but he was still a kid, even if he’d been through far more than any kid should. “That may be young man, but you still need your sleep, so back to bed.” She gave him a stern look, softened with a small smile.
“Okaaaay.” He huffed, finishing the last of his hot chocolate and jumping off the stool.
“You too, Jamie.”
“I’m not going to argue. I’m exhausted.” She gave Kat a hug. “We’ll talk in the morning. Night, Kat.”
Kat waited for them both to leave before slumping against the wall. What have you done?
Three
He’d barely slept. He hadn’t been able to get hold of Kat last night. He’d planned on hanging around near the gas station to keep trying, but just as he’d been about to come out of the treeline at the back of the building and try again, a patrol car had pulled up. He’d watched as a single officer had stepped out and gone to the front door, banging to wake up the owner. He could only assume it was something to do with him so he’d quietly turned and crept further into the woods. Deciding that it was too risky to try again, he opted to wait until morning. Once he was sure he was out of earshot, he’d picked up the pace, trying to put as much distance between him and the gas station as he could.
He’d traveled about two miles before he felt safe enough to stop and rest. He was deep in the woods, invisible from the road and protected from being spotted from the air by a thick canopy of leaves. Gathering leaves from the forest floor, he’d made himself a bed to protect himself from the cold of the ground and had laid down and immediately fallen asleep, exhausted.
It was the loud cry of a nearby bird that had woken him with a start, and he’d been momentarily disorientated as he looked around until he remembered the events of the day before. He needed to get a hold of Kat. He wouldn’t last very long without her help. He was already feeling the effects of not having had any water since the day before; his mouth felt as dry as tissue paper, and the rumbling coming from his stomach reminded him of how hungry he was.
Although he’d walked during the night, he had a very good sense of direction and was able to find his way back to the gas station easily. Checking that the patrol car was no longer there and happy that there were no other signs of police activity, he stepped out of the tree line and made his way over to the pay phone.
Please answer this time! he prayed as he lifted the handset and dialed Kat’s number.
Four
After Daniel and Jamie had gone back to bed, she’d considered trying to get more sleep herself before dismissing the idea. Her mind was racing and she knew full well that it would be a waste of time, so instead, she’d grabbed a book and a blanket and had spent the rest of the night trying to read on the couch in the living room. She’d kept her phone close just in case there was any news, but it had remained stubbornly silent.
She’d tried to concentrate on her book but her mind had kept wandering. Why Jake? The question kept swirling through her mind. It had taken him a while to settle after being convicted of the manslaughter of Jamie’s fiancé, understandably, but in recent months he seemed to have gained an acceptance of his situation. If not upbeat, then he’d certainly seemed a lot less depressed on her visits with him. It had changed very recently, though. On her last visit he’d been injured but wouldn’t tell her why and had seemed worried about something, worried enough to tell her that if anything happened to him that it wouldn’t be an accident.
The rays of the sun through the French doors told her morning had arrived. With a yawn, she stretched her arms above her head, feeling her body protest at having been curled up on the couch all night. I need coffee, she thought, standing up. The buzzing of her phone made it skip across the coffee table, making her jump. Picking it up, she looked at the screen but no number was displayed.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Kat, it’s me. I need your help.”
“Jake? Oh, my God, where are you? The police have been here looking for you.”
“I’m so sorry, Kat. I had no choice.”
“Never mind that now. Where are you? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine for now, but I need you to come and get me.” He told her where he was.
“Of course I’ll come.” He was her nephew; she didn’t even need to think about it. “Stay out of sight and I’ll get there as soon as I can.” She disconnected the call.
“Was that Jake?” Kat spun around at the question. Jamie stood in the doorway to the living room in her pyjamas, a concerned look on her face.
“Yes. He’s okay, thank God, I’m going to get him.”
“Are you going to tell Finn?”
The question made her pause. Damn. She’d promised him that she would let him know if she heard from Jake, but how could she? He was a police officer first and foremost and he would have to arrest him. They were just starting to get past the fact that she’d hidden that he had a son from him for years and she really didn’t want to keep anything from him right now but she couldn’t tell him. “We can’t, Jamie. We can’t tell anyone.”
“I know, and you’re right. Are you going to bring him here?”
“Yes, the police have already searched the house so I doubt they’ll be back for a little while at least. We’ll plan what to do if they do come back when I’m home. For now, I need to get moving. The longer he’s out there, the more chance there is that he’ll get caught.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“No. I need you to stay here and look after Daniel. Don’t worry, I’ll be as quick as I can and I promise I’ll be careful.”
All thoughts of coffee pushed aside, she raced up the stairs to her room to change out of her own nightclothes and threw on some jeans and a t-shirt. She knew it would still be chilly so early in the morning, so she grabbed a sweater, too, just in case. She was just about to go back downstairs when she paused before going to one of the guest rooms. All Jake’s clothes had been packed up when Daniel had arrived and put in boxes, which were now stored there. Opening one, she grabbed the first pair of pants and shirt she found. Jamie was waiting in the hall when she got back downstairs, her arms crossed around her middle, hugging herself.
“It’ll be okay Jamie, we’ll figure this out.” She pulled her into her arms and hugged her. “He’ll have a good reason for this. He wouldn’t have done it otherwise.”
“I know, but what if you get caught? Are you sure we shouldn’t call Finn and tell him what’s going on? He might be able to help.”
“No.” Kat shook her head. “We can’t put him in that position. It wouldn’t be fair.” She gave Jamie a long look. “Promise me you won’t call him when I’m gone?”
“I promise.”
Satisfied, Kat grabbed her car keys and opened the front door. “I’ll be back soon,” she said before closing the door behind her and quickly crossing the d
riveway to where her car was parked. Not wanting them out in plain view, she opened the trunk and threw in the spare clothes she’d brought for Jake before climbing into the driver’s seat.
Five
It had been nearly two hours since he had called Kat. A couple of times, he’d spotted cruisers driving past. Each time, his heart had been in his throat as he waited to see if they were going to turn into the gas station, but each time they had just driven past. Finally, he spotted Kat’s car on the road. At last! Not wanting to leave the cover of the trees, he waited until she parked, backing her car into a space so that the trunk was only feet away from where he was concealed.
He waited until she stepped out of the car before calling out to her in a loud whisper. “Kat, over here.” He was pleased to see that she didn’t visibly react and instead casually leaned back against her car. “The trunk is open. There’s a change of clothes in there for you. Swap it for what you’re wearing.”
Staying in the trees until he was directly behind her car, he crouched and approached the trunk. Reaching up, he opened it just enough to reach inside and feel around until his hand touched fabric. Pulling out the pants and top, he quickly retreated into the trees to get changed, gratefully removing the bright orange prison issue jumpsuit he’d been wearing.
Happy that he now looked just like anyone else, he stepped out of the trees and, not crouching this time, put the jumpsuit in the trunk and closed it firmly before walking around to where Kat was still leaning against the car.
“You have no idea how good it is to see you. I don’t know how to thank you.”
“We’re not out of the woods yet. We need to get you back to the house and out of sight.”
Jake nodded. “Of course, let’s go.” He walked around the car and got into the passenger seat, sliding down slightly to try and make himself less visible.
“I guess you want an explanation,” he said as they pulled out of the gas station lot and onto the main road.
“Of course I do, but not now. The main thing is that you’re okay. We’ll talk when we get home. Jamie is there, too. We’re all in this together now.”
Six
It had been an incredibly tense drive back to the house. Every car that she’d passed she’d held her breath, expecting something to go wrong, so she’d felt almost shaky with relief by the time they turned into the driveway that led to the house. Although she’d been desperate to quiz him, she’d held back, wanting to do it when they were finally safe from prying eyes. Instead she’d told him about Daniel and everything that had happened since she’d seen him last.
“Now remember what I said. He’s very nervous around men he’s never met so you have to go easy.”
“I will, don’t worry. God, it feels good to be home.”
Switching off the engine, Kat watched him as he looked at the house. She hadn’t considered how strange it must be for him to be back there after all the time he had been away. She could understand the way he was feeling, though. She’d been away for twenty years before coming back and seeing the house again. After all that time, it had been an almost surreal experience.
“You okay?”
He seemed to suddenly remember she was there. “Yes, sorry. It just feels strange to be back.”
“Come on.” She smiled at him. “Let’s get you inside.”
Jamie had obviously been watching for them and the front door was flung open before they’d even gotten to it. She came rushing out and flung her arms round her brother.
“Jake!”
It brought a tear to her eye to see how happy they were to be reunited, but they needed to get inside. “You can say your hellos once you’re indoors.” She ushered them in, closing and locking the door behind her and letting out a sigh of relief. We made it!
Seven
The prison was as quiet as any prison could be by the time they got back. Lights out had been a while ago. Most were asleep and those that weren’t, weren’t making a lot of noise. The guard who had been with him in the car walked with him to the warden’s office, the light spilling from under the door, telling him that he’d waited up. As he always did. The guard knocked before opening the door and waited for him to enter the room before he closed it behind him, the guard remaining on the outside.
The room was lit by a single lamp on the desk facing the door, its light giving out a gentle glow that didn’t quite reach into the corners of the room. Behind the desk sat the warden.
The warden had arrived at the prison three years ago, his predecessor having retired. They’d all waited to catch a glimpse of the new guy, to see what they’d been stuck with. When he’d finally appeared, there had been ripples of laughter around the dining hall as he introduced himself to the inmates. He was barely five feet tall, skinny as a rake and with features that drew unfavorable comparisons to those of a rat.
They’d tested him, pushing the boundaries to see what he was made of, but none of them had counted on his meanness. They’d soon learned, though.
“All done?”
He remained standing as the warden addressed him. He knew better than to sit down. “Yes.”
“Good. She gets to stay unharmed another day.”
He didn’t let the warden see a reaction, even though his gut tensed at his words. He was watching him closely and he wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing his words hit their mark.
“How many is that now? Three, four? And you haven’t missed once. You really are very good at this,” he said.
He wished he wasn’t. He wished he didn’t know one end of a rifle from the other; then he wouldn’t be in this mess. “It’s five.” He wasn’t about to forget any of them.
“Ah, yes, of course it is. No matter, a job well done.” He pressed the buzzer under his desk and the door opened. “Take Alex back to his cell,” he instructed the guard.
***
The warden watched as Alex was escorted from his office waiting until the door was closed before picking up the phone and dialing.
“It’s done,” he said as the phone was picked up at the other end. “I’ll expect the usual fee to be in my account by morning.” Satisfied with the response, he put the phone down, smiling to himself. He was building quite a nest egg. It had been a chance meeting that had led to the arrangement he had now, an arrangement that suited both parties.
Eight
It had started raining, and the skies had grown so dark that they’d had to put the light on in the living room even though it was only mid-afternoon. Jake had taken a shower, cleaned up and was now sitting in one of the chairs in the living room across from where Kat sat on the couch with Jamie.
“I’ve asked Daniel to play in his room for a bit so that he doesn’t overhear us, but he’s not stupid. He knows something is going on.” Kat sighed. “I’ll have to explain it to him, but right now I just need to know myself, Jake. What the hell is going on?”
“I wish I knew, Kat.” Leaning his elbows on his knees, he dropped his head to his hands.
“Well, did you just wake up one morning and decide you were going to throw your whole future away? You know that this is going to increase your sentence, don’t you?”
He looked up and Kat could tell he was angry. “Of course, I damn well know that. Do you think I did this lightly?”
“I don’t know, do I, Jake? You’re not telling me anything. Why don’t you just start from the beginning?” She tried to soften her tone.
Jake sighed. “Okay, well it all started about six weeks ago. I got moved to another wing and put in a cell next to a guy called Alex Jackson. Nothing happened at first, but then about three weeks ago I was woken up in the middle of the night. Must have been about two a.m., and I could hear a guard opening his cell door.”
“At two a.m.? Is that normal?”
“Exactly. It’s not normal at all.” Jake stood and walked over to the fireplace, staring down into the empty grate. “Anyway, I tried to stay awake but I must have fallen asleep. By the time I got up
the next morning, he was back in his cell again.”
“Okay, so it’s not normal, but surely that’s not why you escaped?”
“Let me finish, will you?” he said impatiently.
“Sorry, go on.”
“The next day, I saw him in the yard and I asked him about it. He denied it had ever happened. But I know what I saw. So, I decided to keep an eye on him and it happened again. During the day, this time. We were in the rec room and I saw the guards come for him and take him away. He didn’t come back to his cell until after lights out.” He shook his head. “That’s when I did something really stupid. I asked one of the guards about it. He said the same thing, that it never happened, but that night the warden came to my cell.”
Kat knew what he was going to say next but she still flinched when he told them.
“He stood and watched while two of the guards roughed me up before telling me that I needed to mind my own business and stay out of things that had nothing to do with me.”
“Jake, that’s awful! But surely there would have been a better way to deal with it? You could have told me that something was wrong and I would have helped!”
“I wanted to, Kat, but each time I had a visitor it was the same guard and I know they were waiting to see if I told you. I’d already decided to just mind my own business anyway and do as I was told, but then it got worse.”
“How?”
Jake hung his head. “I started keeping a diary of Alex’s movements. Stupid, I know. Then a couple of days ago, they carried out cell searches and they found it. The guard told me that I’d been warned and that that it was about time I was dealt with.” He looked up and met Kat’s eyes. “I know what they meant, Kat. They were going to kill me.”
The McKays Box Set - To Kill For, Blood Sport, Hard Time & Gang Land Page 27