Boys of King Academy

by Rose, Louise

  “I’m with Amber right now.”

  I could have collapsed with shock. “What do you mean, you’re with Amber?”

  “Look, get rid of the police. Tell them Amber’s been found and it was all a misunderstanding. Tell them you forgot you’d sent your driver to collect her. I don’t care. But if you don’t get here by yourself within the next twenty minutes, she’s going to hurt Amber.”

  “She? Who’s going to hurt her.”

  “I don’t know who she is,” Milly wailed. “But she’s standing right in front of me with Amber and she’s going to hurt our little girl if you don’t stop wasting time and get over here.”

  I let out a frustrated sigh, running a hand through my hair. “The Dauphin Trading Estate you say?”

  “Yes. The last warehouse on the right. Hurry – she said you had twenty minutes, but with all the talking we’ve been doing, she might not wait that long.”

  “I’ll be right over,” I promised, as I hung up the phone.

  What the hell was I going to tell the police? They were about to go on a full-blown manhunt for Amber.

  There was no other way. I was going to have to pull rank and use my name to try and talk my way out of here.

  I left the toilet and almost walked straight into a police officer.

  “Mr Donatello,” he said. “Would you come with me? We’ve got a few questions for you.”

  “Detective. Just the man I wanted to see.” I plastered a fake smile across my face. “It would appear there’s been a mix up. Amber is perfectly safe and well. She’s with her mother. Apparently, she didn’t realise that Amber was coming back on the bus and went to the aquarium to get her. I’m so sorry for the inconvenience.”

  “Is that right?” The officer raised an eyebrow. “If that is the case, then we’ll need to talk to Ms Knight to confirm. I’m sure you can appreciate that in a high-profile case like this, we can’t just let things slide.”

  I pulled myself up to my full height and channelled my inner Penelope Donatello. “And I’m sure that you can appreciate that as a Donatello, I am completely within my rights to expect you to take my word for it. If I tell you that Amber is safe, Amber is safe, and given that her mother is Milly Knight, I’m sure the Knights would take exception to your implications that I’m telling you anything other than the truth. Pull your head in, call off the search and tell everyone it’s been a misunderstanding. Otherwise, I’ll be having words with your superior. I’m sure you’ll love being busted down to traffic police.”

  “You can’t speak to me like that,” the officer blustered.

  “Fine. If you won’t sort this out, you leave me no choice.”

  I walked into the main room where the police were still questioning staff and parents. I clapped my hands. “Can I have everyone’s attention please?” One of the benefits of being head was that I knew how to make people stop and take notice and the room immediately fell quiet, ready to hear the most difficult speech I was ever going to make.

  “I must offer my most sincere apologies to everyone, but Amber is not missing.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kym gasp and practically collapse and I felt awful knowing how guilty she was feeling for losing Amber. “She is with her mother and is perfectly safe. I’m afraid I can’t go into details right now, but I am very sorry for any stress this has caused you all. I’m going to give all nursery staff the day off tomorrow so they can recover from their ordeal and will be available all day to answer any questions any of you may have, including the police. Now, I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to leave. Something has come up which demands my urgent attention.”

  The moment I finished speaking, uproar broke out. People crowded round me, wanting to know what the hell was going on – and I didn’t blame them. I was wondering exactly the same thing, but Milly had made it perfectly clear that I couldn’t tell anyone what she’d told me and I trusted her to know what she was talking about.

  “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to insist you let me go. As I said, I’ll answer your questions tomorrow. Feel free to email me or call my secretary to set up an appointment.”

  I pushed my way through the crowd and went out to my car. I fired up the engine and floored the gas, screeching out of the car park. Milly had told me I had twenty minutes to get to the industrial estate, but as I drove away, I could see in my rear-view mirror that the police were hot on my heels. I had to lose them. I didn’t want to think of what might happen if I rocked on up to the warehouse with a police escort.

  Gritting my teeth, I yanked the steering wheel to the left and took a sudden turn. Luckily, I knew the streets around the Academy like the back of my hand and I knew exactly where I was going to lose the cops.

  I hit the button to make a hands-free call to my driver. “Theo. Bring the Suzuki to the underground carpark off Maine Street. Be there in five.” I hung up before he could answer. He’d be there. All I had to do was keep ahead of the police for long enough to meet him.

  And that was going to be tricky. The cop driving the car behind me knew what he was doing and he was determined not to let me get away. I couldn’t blame him. I knew full well that I was behaving suspiciously. Any police officer worth their salt would know that there was something strange going on and wasn’t going to take my story at face value. Amber was a prime target for kidnapping given who her parents were. If I was the investigating officer, I’d assume my strange behaviour was an attempt to cover something up and want to know where I had to get to in such a hurry. I couldn’t blame them for doing their job – but it was potentially putting my daughter’s life at risk and I couldn’t allow that.

  I did another sharp turn, doing my best to shake my tail, but the police driver was determined. I just had to hope that my plan would work. If not, Amber was potentially in serious danger.

  The car park loomed ahead and I did my best to fake overshooting the entrance before turning off. For once, luck was on my side and the police driver fell for my ruse, forcing him to waste precious time as, tyres screeching, I raced down to the basement level of the car park where Theo was waiting for me with my Suzuki bike.

  I pulled up next to him. “Quick!” I barked. “Get behind the wheel. I need you to take the police on a wild goose chase to the west side of town. Get them as far away from the Navarre district as possible.”

  “Got it.”

  Theo was one of my most loyal servants and he got behind the wheel of my car and immediately drove off. I put on the helmet he’d left on the bike seat and gave him a couple of minutes’ head start so the police wouldn’t guess that I was on the bike. The tinted windows of my car would conceal Theo’s identity so by the time the police realised they were chasing the wrong man, I’d be at the warehouse.

  Whoever had taken my daughter was going to regret it.

  I pulled up alongside Milly’s car. As I switched off the engine and pulled off my helmet, my phone beeped with a text from Milly.

  She says well done for making it inside the deadline – just. Now come inside. Go through reception and down the corridor. Turn left at the bottom and then go through the third door on the right.

  I did as I was told, running down the hallways and counting the doors until I got to where I’d been told to go. I pushed through a door, which slammed shut behind me. I turned round to open it, but there was no handle. I was trapped!

  “Lucas. You are even better looking in person than I expected.”

  A woman’s voice came across an intercom. I frowned. “Who are you? Show yourself!”

  “All in good time, son. All in good time.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “Enough game playing. I want to see Milly and Amber. I need to know they’re safe.”

  “Suit yourself. Go through the red door.”

  There was a red door in the wall opposite the door where I’d come in. There was a buzzing sound and I hurried over to open it in case it locked again. I pulled it open and I found myself in a narrow room which was nothing but toughened glass on
one side. On the other side of the glass I saw Amber tied to a chair and on the opposite side of the room, there was a large window through which I could see Milly. She was as much of a prisoner as the rest of us and whoever was behind this had the three of us at their mercy.

  “Who’s behind this? Show yourself!” I banged on the glass with my fist.

  “I’m disappointed. I would have thought you’d have guessed by now.” A woman stepped forward to stand next to Amber. I couldn’t tell how old she was. She had the kind of wrinkled skin that resulted from years of smoking and goodness knew what other abuse, which meant she could be a lot younger than she looked. She had long, dark hair tied back in a low ponytail.

  “I’ve never seen you before,” I said.

  “Now, Lucas, my boy. That’s not true. I’m disappointed that you don’t remember your own I mother – but then I suppose Penelope would have done her best to wipe me from your memory.”

  She came further into the light and I saw that her eyes were an unusual grey colour. My eyes widened as I realised she was exactly who she claimed to be. This was my birth mother!

  “M-mum?” I shook my head, confused. “I don’t understand. Why are you doing this?”

  “I’ll cut straight to the chase. I need money.”

  “Okay.” I rolled my eyes. “So I’ll give you money. You didn’t need to put us through all of this. How much do you want? Ten thousand? Twenty? I’ll transfer it now and we can forget all about this.”

  “You don’t understand, Lucas.” My mother tutted. “I want all your money. Every last penny that bitch Penelope left to you.”

  “This is all over some money?” Milly yelled at her from the other side of the glass. “That’s your granddaughter. You’ve traumatised her for life when all you had to do was ask.”

  “It’s so easy for the pair of you to sit there and talk about money like it’s nothing,” my mother said. “You’ve had it all your lives. You have no idea what it’s like to struggle. You don’t know what it’s like to be a single mother, never knowing if you’ll be able to feed your baby.”

  “You can’t pretend you’re a caring mother,” Milly snapped. “You’ve hurt your granddaughter and you sold your son. You are not the victim here.”

  “Shut up!” My mother snarled and grabbed Amber. I could see her fingers digging into my daughter’s delicate skin and tears ran down her face. I had to save my daughter.

  “You have no idea what it was like for me,” my mother went on. “You sit there in your fancy houses looking down at people like me. You play chess with people’s lives with no care for the kind of devastation you leave behind. No more! It’s my turn to shine. I want you to transfer the entire Donatello fortune to me, Lucas. Your girlfriend has more than enough money to support you both. You won’t miss the billions you give me.”

  “And what happens if I don’t?”

  “It’s pretty simple.” My mother pulled out a wickedly sharp hunting knife. Its cruel blade twinkled in the light, the serrated edge capable of cutting through Amber’s soft flesh like it was butter. “If you don’t transfer over the money, I’ll start taking pieces off your daughter. I think I’ll start with a little finger. One quick movement and it’ll be gone. So, Lucas, it’s entirely up to you. One way or another, you’ll get your daughter back. It’s entirely up to you whether she’s in one piece or not. Now, I’ve had enough of talking. You have ten seconds to make up your mind. Are you giving me my money or am I taking my pound of flesh? Ten… nine… eight…”

  “Stop!” I held out my hand, hating how helpless I felt. “I’ll transfer the money.” I took out my mobile and opened up my mobile banking app. “Where do I send it to?”

  “This is my Swiss bank account.” My mother took out a piece of paper and held it up against the glass so I could see the account details. “But if you think you’re going to recover the money from it after I’m gone, think again. I’ll be transferring it out again immediately. Say goodbye to your money, Lucas. It’s mine now.”

  I tapped in the account details, but I was so nervous, I kept mistyping.

  “Tick tock, Lucas. Waste any more time and it’s bye bye fingers.”

  “There!” I snapped, holding up my phone so she could see. “I’ve transferred everything to you.”

  My mother took out her phone and opened up her banking app. She nodded her approval. “Good boy. I knew you’d see sense. I wish we could have met under different circumstances, but I couldn’t risk it. You’ve been brought up by Penelope Donatello. She’ll have turned you against me.”

  “No, she didn’t.” I laughed bitterly. “Penelope never even mentioned you. You weren’t important enough.”

  “You’re a liar!” My mother hit the glass with the knife handle. “Penelope told you all about me, which is why you never tried to find me. She made you think I was a bad person for giving you up, when I didn’t have any choice. You have no idea the mess I was in. I gave you to her to keep you safe. I loved you, and you forgot all about me.”

  “You’re wrong.” Milly surprised us both by speaking up. “Lucas always wanted to come and find you, but Penelope would have killed him if he’d tried. If you knew Penelope as well as you say, you’d know that she wouldn’t want to share Lucas with anyone, especially not the woman who gave birth to him. Lucas has been looking for his family, but he thought you were dead. If he’d known you were still alive, he’d have wanted to see you, build a relationship.”

  “Is that right?” My mother arched an eyebrow, turning to look at me.

  “Yes.” I nodded. “I always wanted a proper family. I had no idea you were still alive or I’d have reached out to you. Heck, I’d have taken you in, given you a house, money, whatever you wanted.”

  “Stop lying.” My mother shook her head, slowly at first, but then fast. “You’re a Donatello now. I can’t trust a word you say. No, this was the only way to get what Penelope should have given me. I’m sorry if you really did have a bad childhood like you say, but it couldn’t have been that bad. Not when you had Penelope’s fortune to enjoy.”

  “There’s more to life than money,” I said.

  “The only people who truly believe that are the ones who’ve never had to worry about it.” My mother smiled sadly. “All I wanted was for you to have a better life than I did. If Penelope had given me more money all those years ago maybe we wouldn’t be here now.”

  “It wouldn’t have mattered how much money she gave you.” Milly spat. “Stop making excuses and let my daughter go. You’ve got what you wanted. Stop making excuses and set us free.”

  “I’d never expect someone like you to understand,” my mother said. “But you’re right. I’ve got what I came for and I’ll always keep my promises, unlike Penelope. Your door locks are on a timer. When I leave, those doors will stay locked for another thirty minutes before they open. I’ll be long gone and you’ll be free to go. Goodbye, Lucas. Goodbye, Amber. Granny loves you.”

  I couldn’t believe my eyes when my mother kissed Amber tenderly on the head before she left, as if she hadn’t just been holding her prisoner at knifepoint.

  “That woman is so lucky Amber is here,” Milly said after my mother had gone. “You have no idea what I’d say otherwise.”

  “I can imagine,” I said. “Amber, are you okay sweet pea?”

  Amber nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  “It won’t be long before mummy and daddy will come and get you out of there,” I said. “Just hold on. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

  “You’re such a good girl,” Milly added. “I’m so proud of you. You’ve been so brave.”

  It felt like an eternity before the door to my prison finally clicked open. As soon as it unlocked, I ran through, looking for the entrance to the room Amber was being held in. When I got there, Milly had already untied her and was holding her daughter tightly to her chest. The pair of them were sobbing heavily, the stress of their ordeal proving to be all too much.

  “It’s
okay. I’m here now. I’m never going to let anything like that happen again. I promise.”

  I put my arms around the two most important girls in my life. I heard distant police sirens drawing closer, the cavalry coming just a little too late. My mother was long gone and I never wanted to see her again.

  Chapter Eighty-Six

  Lucas

  One week later

  “Are you ready?”

  Milly reached out and squeezed my hand in reassurance.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  I reached up and rang the doorbell of the address Gabriel Knight had given me. Apparently, my sister lived here and this was the first time I was going to meet her properly. I’d taken a leave of absence from work following all the drama of Amber’s kidnapping. Since I’d had to give all my money to my mother, I couldn’t afford to pay my lawyers and the police weren’t happy with how I’d handled the situation, but Milly’s family had stepped in and everything was about as okay as it could be. Amber was still having nightmares and probably would for a while to come, but Milly had found an excellent child therapist and we were working together as a family to help her recover from the fact that her grandmother had threatened to chop her into tiny little pieces.

  I’d never forgive my mother for that. If I ever got my hands on her, I’d do to her what she’d threatened to do to Amber, but, thanks to the massive fortune she now had, she’d disappeared like a puff of smoke. There was no trace of her anywhere and without the funds to hire competent investigators, I didn’t stand a chance of tracking her down. She could be anywhere in the world by now.

  Still, my mother wasn’t important right now. I was here to make contact with my sister.

  A young girl opened the door. She had dark hair and dark brown eyes, but there was definitely something about her face shape that reminded me of our mother.

  “Sir? Miss?” She looked panicked to see us standing on her doorstep. “Have I done something wrong? Am I being expelled?”