The Family Lie

by Jake Cross

  ‘Yes, I did that. It was me. Do you hate me? I killed them, I killed those two people, and I didn’t tell the police. I couldn’t. The families have had no answers because of me. But I hid that secret for us. We were going to get married. We wanted children. I hid it for us.’ She averted her eyes. ‘And for him, God knows why,’ she added with clear distaste.

  ‘Him? Who? Eastman?’

  So he really did know it all.

  ‘Was this about revenge? What’s here in this bank that the kidnappers want, Anna?’

  She gripped his hands tighter. So, he didn’t know it all, and now she had the added problem of having to dump another crushing weight on him. But his hands were warm and comforting and she wanted to unload, needed to after all these years, and there was no person on the planet, not even Jane, she would rather confide in.

  ‘It’s not about revenge. But it is about that night.’

  ‘Anna, right now I don’t care that you hid it away. I understand why, and I’ll help you come to terms with it—’

  ‘But the police know, Nick. That detective, Bennet, he told me they knew about Watson-Bruce Salvage. I knew then that the police would eventually find out about the… accident. That’s how you know, isn’t it? You went there with the police, didn’t you? They know everything, don’t they? They’re going to take me away from Josie.’

  ‘Yes, they know, but we’ll get through it. Why is that hit-and-run connected to Josie’s kidnap, Anna? What’s here in this bank that they want? Is it money?’

  ‘I wish this was about money. But it’s not.’

  Sixteen

  ‘Marc called me on his way to Hammersmith Medicines Research, east of there, where he was due to give a dinner speech. He was still reeling from comments he’d made to a local TV news station about Bovine TB, so he wanted to remain inconspicuous. At least, that was what he told me. I mean, I know his wife never goes to functions with him, but he’s got a man who drives for him. Sometimes I’d drive him to places, but usually when it was personal and he didn’t want to be seen out and about. But this didn’t make much sense, since people knew he was giving that speech. But I went along with it when he called me to drive him to the function. And we used my car because people knew his, which I also found strange. I picked him up at a petrol station car park on Western Avenue, about a mile or so from where the hikers got hurt. Western would have taken us just about all the way to the research centre. But about halfway…’

  Eastman’s face lights up white as he pulls out his phone and puts it to his ear.

  ‘Twenty minutes, babe.’

  He hangs up, straightens his tie and his hair in the sun visor’s mirror – and then spots Anna’s shocked face.

  ‘You’re meeting a woman? Is that why you’re cancelling the speech?’

  ‘Sure, unless you want to take her place,’ he says, and strokes her leg.

  The shock of it makes her clip the kerb with a front wheel. She grips the steering wheel and watches the road.

  ‘Mr Eastman, I don’t think that’s a good idea.’

  ‘Meeting her or this,’ he slurs, and touches her again.

  ‘Stop that,’ she says. He’s never shown sexual interest in her before and it throws her brain. But then she’s never seen him this out of it, or ever been alone with him when he’s drunk.

  ‘What about the speech? You can’t just not turn up,’ she says, and while in part she means that, she’s mostly trying to get his thoughts off her legs. Next time, trousers instead of a dress.

  ‘Already called them. Stomach bug. It’s up near All Hallows Church, so take the next north on Greenford Road.’

  He returns to the mirror. Hair, tie, and teeth. He glances at her legs again. She only wore the dress in case he decided to take her to the function, and now regrets it. She tells him he shouldn’t drink any more at the function, and silently considers telling him the function might be a bad idea if reporters will be present.

  So worried is she by his scrutiny, she misses the turn north on to Greenford Road. In the midst of sending a text message somewhere, he tells her to take the next left. She enjoys the next part of the ride in silence.

  Horsenden Lane North. They ride over the train tracks, through an estate, and then north still over the canal. The road cuts through trees that loom tall and heighten the darkness. In the gloom, she feels his eyes fall upon her again.

  ‘You know, Anna, I must say, I never before noticed this, but you’re a very attractive woman.’

  She is considering her response when his hand slaps on to her bare thigh. She jumps, and looks down, and slaps his hand away. But the impact upon her leg is loud, too loud, and is accompanied by a mighty shudder throughout the whole car.

  ‘Jesus Christ!’ Eastman yells.

  Suddenly she finds the car swerving, the wheel fighting her like something alive and angry. Her eyes are back on the black road and gloomy trees. Everything seems just A-Okay out there, but she knows something mammoth just happened.

  ‘Oh, God, what was that?’ she moans.

  ‘An animal. You hit something.’

  They take a curve and there, ahead, is a small lay-by. She pulls in with shaking hands. The car stalls, silence filling the world, but her fingers grip the steering wheel as if it’s keeping her from floating away. Eastman roughly tosses aside his seatbelt and clambers from the car. The interior light stings her eyes.

  Staring back the way they came, he slurs, ‘Can’t see anything. Maybe it was a dog.’

  ‘God.’

  ‘Maybe it limped off. Might have been a stray.’

  ‘Should we go back and check?’ she says, not certain she actually wants to. Not if the dog is alive but hurt.

  He checks his watch. ‘I’m not going back. No point. The next driver will shift it into the side of the road. Let’s just get moving on.’

  Now the thought of abandoning a hurt dog in the road appals her. But she knows he’s more interested in meeting his date. She tries something that might appeal more: ‘We could get in trouble, though, if we just drive off.’

  He thumps into his seat and looks at her. ‘We? I wasn’t driving.’

  ‘But… you touched me.’

  He gives her a long look that she doesn’t like. ‘Just get out of the car. I’ll go back and check.’

  She gets out on weak legs and stumbles into the lay-by, and at no point casts her eyes back down the road, just in case. The cold wind chills a coating of sweat on her face. She finds a tree stump and half-sits, half-collapses on to it. As Eastman reverses and turns the car, she sees the damage to the front, including a dent in the bonnet. Breathing becomes hard as she realises the dent is high.

  Too high to have been caused by a dog…

  And breathing became hard as the memories bombarded her like a rain of giant hail. Nick squeezed her hands tightly.

  ‘And then he told me,’ she said between gasps of breath. ‘When he was back. Two young people. I’d hit two people. Walking across the road. He was shaking and traumatised, so I knew it was bad. That’s when he told me. I’d killed them.’

  ‘I’m sorry you had to go through that, Anna. And to relive it. But what has it got to do with kidnapping Josie?’

  ‘He drove us back to his car. I couldn’t face driving. He was careful with what roads he took, making sure as few people as possible saw us. He knew what he was doing. And then he called the research centre to say he’d be attending the function after all, but would be late. And he called for a taxi. But he even made us walk into the garage to tell the cashier that he would be leaving his car overnight. And then I would drive home, back the way I’d come. That’s what he said to do. If ever we had to answer questions about our movements, we would say he broke down at the petrol station and I came to help, and we were both there until his taxi came and then he went to the function and I went home. And the cashier would back us up.

  ‘I couldn’t face going back in the car, but he left me. I was just left there, alone. So I had to. And I did
. I was terrified, but I managed to do it. I drove. I was a wreck, but I did it. I went along with his plan and I just drove home.’

  ‘There was blood in the engine bay. So you got home and you cleaned the outside of the car?’

  The hard breathing increased tempo, coming in short bursts. ‘He told me to.’

  ‘And then you told me a lie about a carjacking attempt, to cover your depression. And you virtually hid away from the world for a couple of days.’

  ‘I’m so sorry about that. I couldn’t face anyone. My family was way up north, so I would have time to adjust. But you were staying in my house by then and I knew I couldn’t just pretend nothing was wrong. I had to have a reason why I was so messed up. Marc also made me come up with a story to explain my distress, because I couldn’t hide it from you. Not you. I’m sorry.’

  He touched her shoulder to calm her. ‘And you needed a reason why you suddenly couldn’t face being in a car. And still can’t drive at night, even years later. You need silence, too, to concentrate.’

  She nodded. ‘It was also Marc’s idea to scrap the car.’

  Nick felt the old fear bubbling up. ‘So the police wouldn’t find it? To protect you? Because you were lovers.’

  The final sentence wasn’t a question, but a statement. It widened Anna’s eyes. ‘No, I… it wasn’t like that. We never slept together. He always seemed dedicated to his wife. I read about those three affairs, those women the papers called the Witches of Eastman, but I never got an inkling that that sort of thing was going on. God, apart from that time in the car, I never saw him interested in other women. And that night was the only time he ever showed that he was attracted to me.’

  ‘Then why did he help you cover the crime?’

  ‘He did it all to protect himself, Nick. He said he had a lot to lose if people knew he was in the car when it hit those poor people. No worry for me, just himself. Just his image. He said he was going to change this country, do great things, and if I didn’t help him to hide what had happened, I would be getting in the way of that. I would be ruining this country. He said he couldn’t allow me to do that, ruin things.’

  She dabbed her eyes. ‘But he also mentioned you. You wouldn’t wait for me to get out of prison, he said. I’d never have the family I wanted. I would have to wait ten years or more to have a baby. That was what he said. I mean, I know that was just him trying to trick me, but he was right about going to prison. I would. I would have lost you. We wouldn’t have had Josie. I hid it for us. It’s why I ran yesterday. To sort this out and hope no one ever knew about… about that night.’

  He understood, but still hadn’t had the answer he wanted. Now he grabbed her face in his hands, but softly, just to force her to concentrate on him. ‘But why kidnap Josie, Anna? What’s in the safety box?’

  Anna and Marc stand before the car, washed in its headlights like actors lit up on a stage. Her head is bowed, face in her hands. The head shakes. Marc steps out of frame. The sound of the rain materialises as the door is opened, and then the picture jerks slightly as Marc enters the vehicle.

  The frame moves backwards, turns, the headlights illuminating Anna sitting upon a tree stump. Then it moves forward, still turning, and Anna slips out of frame. The car heads back the way it came.

  Nothing to see but black road and hard rain striking the windscreen and white lines passing beneath the vehicle, like laser fire from a craft in deep space. Nothing to hear but the engine and low murmurs of grief from Marc…

  And then, in the road, they appear. Not one but two shapes. Unmoving, lying together in the centre of the road, smashed by rain. Smashed in other ways.

  Oh Jesus no – Marc hisses.

  … but that was all she could bear to watch.

  ‘Dashcam? It was recorded?’

  ‘I never watched the whole video. I couldn’t. And you know I never went back to work. I went out, to try, but I couldn’t. Couldn’t face it. I told Marc I was leaving. Leaving work and leaving London. He was okay with that, which I didn’t expect. He said it would be a good new start for me, but I think he was glad that I wouldn’t be around the people he knew, wouldn’t let our secret out.

  ‘But he had one final thing I had to do. A few days later, he contacted me. By then he’d heard that the police were looking for a blue 05 Punto. They knew the type of car from paint flecks. The police were tracing it. They wanted to analyse all cars of that type in London. Marc’s wife, Iliana, he said she’d arranged for the car to be scrapped. Her family runs scrapyards. He said they would give me another car. Just the same. I didn’t really understand until he explained. It was to fool the police. I was shocked that he’d told her, but he had, and she hadn’t just stuck by his side, she’d actually thought up a plan to fool everyone.

  ‘And I had to go through with it. Even if I’d sold the car, which I wanted to, the police would have found it. He said they’d know it was my car that… hit those poor hikers. I know it was covering up a crime, but I had no choice. Marc would ruin me. I would lose you, and we wouldn’t have Josie. And I just couldn’t go to prison, not for an accident.

  ‘But Marc said he couldn’t be tarnished by me, not driving drunk. But I hadn’t been drinking, so I knew then, when he said that, that he wasn’t going to take any blame. He was going to lie, if it came out. But he was the cause of it, Nick, because he tried to touch me. It distracted me. I knew if he told the police he knew nothing about it, but that I was drinking, I would go to prison for a long time. So I told him, if the police ever found out, I would tell them the truth.

  ‘But he said there was no proof he was in the car. He went to a function and there were witnesses. And, he said, even if the police worked out that the accident happened before he attended the function, he could claim he was with his car in the petrol station. He was parked in a blind corner behind the car wash so no one would recognise him, and there was no camera there. My alibi was I was with him, helping him to try to fix the car, but he would say that I left early. It was my word against his, and his would carry more weight. He was the great Marc Eastman, MP. And if the police checked the cameras watching the entrance, they would see his car didn’t leave the garage and mine did. And he would tell the police that when I came back, I was very upset and crying.

  ‘So I told him. I told him about the dashcam. I’d thrown that thing in a drawer and tried to forget about it. I told him I had the video transferred to disk, and if ever he tried to lie, I would expose him. He’d got me the safety box and I was the only one who could access it. I said the disk would stay in there and no one would ever know about it as long as he didn’t lie if the police found out. It was my protection. My Forcefield against him.

  ‘And nothing came of it. The police checked the fake car and then forgot about me. There must have been no CCTV in that area that captured my registration or gave them anything. I was amazed. So I made the most of it. I moved on. I know I told you I wanted to change my name to get out of my father’s shadow, because he was angry that I’d quit my job. But the truth is it was Eastman I didn’t want to be associated with. I wanted to forget that period of my life. At first I kept watching him in the news and by searching the Internet, but before long whole days would go past without doing this. Soon I barely thought about him. I locked that whole terrible time away in my mind. And as the years passed, I forgot about the disk that still sat in the old safety box. And Eastman seemed to forget about me, because he never tried to make contact. Despite my name change and moving cities, a powerful man like him could have found me if he wanted. He probably locked it all away too and concentrated on climbing the greasy Westminster pole. It was a horrible thing to do, cover that crime and leave those families without answers, and I’m so sorry. But I got what I wanted, Nick. I got you. I got Josie.’

  ‘Did he ask for the disk? Did you refuse?’

  ‘I wouldn’t give it up back then and now I have Josie in my life. So no way would I have handed it over. That disk is my proof that I wasn’t drinking, that
Marc was partly responsible because he distracted me. And he knew it. So, no, he didn’t ask me for it. He must have decided to force me to give it up. I don’t know how he recruited all these Ogres, but he did.

  ‘I wish they’d taken me instead, but they couldn’t. Nobody could accompany me into this bank, Nick, because a security guard has to take me up to the strongroom. But they couldn’t just let me walk in alone, in case I raised the alarm. And I wouldn’t be able to enter the bank if I was reported missing. I had to walk into this bank as if everything was normal. So they kidnapped Josie to force me.

  ‘One of them told me their plan, Nick. It could have gone so much easier. They were supposed to leave us a note in Josie’s bed. We were supposed to pretend to everyone that Josie was fine and wait for a call. It was to test us. They couldn’t risk telling me what they wanted until they knew I wouldn’t cave in and tell the police everything. Then we were supposed to drive to London, get the disk, get Josie back, and pretend nothing bad ever happened. No one would ever know she’d been taken.’

  ‘But I ruined that plan by being awake.’

  ‘You fought with them and they panicked that the police were going to come because of the noise. So they kidnapped you to confuse things. They wanted the police looking at you, not me, so they made out that you owed them something. And after you escaped from that lock-up garage and would have told your story, they called me at the hospital and demanded money, so the police would concentrate on that instead. Not on me. All of it was a smokescreen to stop the police looking for a connection to me and finding out about that hit-and-run. To make sure Marc’s name never came up.’

  ‘So, with police everywhere, they needed a new plan. They needed to get a secret message to you. One nobody else would understand, that you could easily lie about just in case something went wrong. Eastman knew you could read Braille.’

  ‘He knows everything about me. We spent a lot of time together. So when I discovered a Braille message left in the phone box, that was when I knew Eastman was behind this. When they used the word “Forcefield”. That was what I called the disk. My protection from him. I knew then that this was about the dashcam. About that long-ago night. When they wanted to meet in secret, I ran from the police. My plan was to hand the disk over and get Josie back. But I couldn’t have the police involved, Nick. I didn’t care about the disk any more. I just wanted to get it out of my life and get Josie back.’