by Mel Comley
‘Hi, Dad, it’s me.’
‘Lorne, how are you, sweetheart? More to the point, where are you?’
It was a relief to hear how happy he seemed to hear her voice, while in the background, she heard Henry whimpering. ‘I’m fine, and I’m home. Is that my boy I can hear?’
‘That’s the pest, yes. And you, my girl sound tired. Have you just got back?’
‘Yep, I thought I’d ring you first. All right if I pick "pest" up in the morning, Dad?’
She chortled when she heard him let out an exaggerated sigh.
‘I suppose so. What time?’
‘I’ll be there nice and early, so don’t bother taking him out first thing. See you about nine.’
‘That’s half the morning gone by then, girl. Old Henry has been waking me up at seven expecting his daily walk. You have a lie in, love, I’ll take him tomorrow, it’ll be a farewell gift from me. Come round about twelve and we’ll go and have a nice pub lunch at the Harvester down the road, my treat.’
‘Thanks, Dad, you’re a real gem. See you tomorrow. Give Henry a cuddle and kiss from me.’
‘I’ll do no such thing. If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a dozen times, it ain’t right to kiss a dog, not when they lick their own … well, you know what I mean.’
She laughed. ‘Till tomorrow, Dad.’ A quick sip of coffee gave her enough courage to tackle the next person or persons on her "to ring" list.
‘Hello … who’s speaking? And what do you want?’
She rolled her eyes when she heard the voice of her forthright fourteen-year-old daughter. ‘Well, at least you had the courtesy to say hello before you started your interrogation.’
‘Mum … Where are you? Can I come and stay? Did you bring me a gift?’
‘It’s good to hear your voice too, sweetheart. I’m back home, sorry, I didn’t have time to pick up a gift and sorry again no you can’t come and stay, it’s a school night and your father and I agreed that you could only visit at the weekend.’
She expected the teenager to groan and throw a tantrum but she didn’t, maybe the doctor was doing a better job than anyone gave her credit for. ‘Worth a try, huh, Mum? You know what they say, "God loves a trier." Can I see you at the weekend then, Mum … please?’
‘I don’t see why not, hon. Is your father there?’
Instead of handing the phone over to her father, Charlie prattled on for several minutes, talking about the latest celebrity gossip she’d read in her girly magazine, before swiftly moving on to tell her mum about what had happened in the soaps that week. Lorne found it impossible to get a word in edgeways. Finally, an out-of-breath Charlie passed the phone to her father.
When she heard his voice, Lorne’s stomach tangled in knots and she didn’t have a clue why, she knew any love she’d had for him had long since disappeared. Maybe she was still feeling tense after the argument with Tony.
‘Lorne?’
‘Hi, Tom, how’s things?’
‘Like you care. What do you want, Lorne? I’m busy.’
Same old Tom, snappy, impatient and to the point. ‘I’m sorry for interrupting you, is it all right if Charlie stays the weekend?’
‘Oh, you mean like last weekend? Oh no, that’s right, you cancelled at the last minute.’
She closed her eyes, placed her hand over the mouthpiece and expelled a long sigh. Here we go again. Christ, if ever there was a doubt why I divorced you, you’ve just put paid to that, mate. ‘Circumstances out of my control, Tom. I had to deal with something that simply couldn’t wait.’
‘Such as?’
‘Sorry, Tom, that’s personal and as we’re no longer married— ’
‘Not that you ever told me what you were up to when we were married. That frog comes to mind.’
Jesus, not that old chestnut. She bit her tongue and refused to be goaded. ‘A simple yes or no will suffice, Tom.’
‘Yes.’
The phone went dead. She went into the kitchen to knock up an omelette and found herself shaking her head in frustration all through the preparation, cooking and consumption of it. Men, why the hell did she bother with them!
Chapter Twenty-Four
The following morning at eleven-thirty, Lorne arrived at her father’s house. Hoping no-one would notice her she dived down the side alley to peer over the fence. She had a feeling if she turned up early she would find her father playing with "the pest".
Bursting through the gate, she shouted, ‘Hah! Caught you!’
Sam Collins collapsed into a nearby deckchair, his hand flew up to his chest and he gasped for breath, ‘Jeez, Lorne … you nearly gave me a heart attack … Why didn’t you come in the front way?’
‘Oh, Dad, are you all right? I thought I’d catch you two out.’ Henry recovered from the fright quicker than her father and bounded towards her, almost knocking her to the ground in the process. ‘Hello, munchkin, did you miss your mummy?’
The dog answered by running in the opposite direction only to return a few moments later with the soggy, bone-shaped toy that had driven her father round the twist the last few days. He dropped the toy at her feet and barked expectantly.
‘Cut it out, what have I told you about not barking, pest.’ Sam chastised the dog, but Lorne could see by the laughter in his eyes, he didn’t mean his harsh words.
‘He loves his mum, don’t you, bud?’
‘Come on, enough of this, I need a drink. Let’s go to the pub before it gets too busy. You can stay here, mutt.’ He added, as Henry trotted after them.
When they walked into the pub, Lorne was delighted to see her sister Jade sitting at a table, holding her baby son. After hugging and kissing each other, Lorne took little Gino from Jade, while their father went to the bar to buy the drinks. ‘How’s the little guy doing?’ Lorne asked, as she kissed and nuzzled the baby’s neck, loving the comforting smell she found.
‘He’s getting there. The hospital is pleased with his progress, they’re monitoring his heart, sometimes he gets out of breath easy, but they say that’s normal.’
‘You look shattered, sweetie.’
Jade shrugged, her brown shoulder-length hair had a kink in it, meaning it had been left to dry naturally that morning. Lorne also noted that her sister was wearing barely any make-up, which was almost unheard of and it did little to disguise the dark circles under her eyes.
‘The joys of motherhood, eh?’
‘Are you sure that’s all it is, Jade?’ Lorne looked deep in her sister’s eyes and saw a spark lying within. ‘Come on, what’s up?’
‘Christ, once a cop always a cop, hey, sis? There are two things actually, one is …’ She looked over at the bar to make sure her father was still busy. ‘I’m pregnant, you’re the first to know, and I’d like to keep it that way for the time being. Luigi and I aren’t sure if we’re going to keep the baby. You know, after what we’ve been through with little Gino, we’re wondering if it would be fair to put another child through all that. The doctors say it’s too early to tell if the baby has the same heart defect.’
Bouncing Gino on her knee, Lorne stretched a hand across the table to cover her sister’s. ‘How awful. I mean, of course, I’m pleased for you, but what a dilemma for you both. All I can say is take your time, don’t make any rash decisions you might regret later, any choice you make, you know you’ll have my full backing, hon.’
‘Thanks, Lorne, and, the second thing is, Judith rang me a couple of days ago.’
Lorne’s attention turned to Gino again and she bounced him harder on her knee, while she struggled to search for an answer to the question she knew her sister was going to ask next.
‘Lorne? What’s going on? You never lie. Come on, tell me where you’ve been, and why you involved Judith, her name at least, knowing that she rings me regularly?’
It was Lorne’s turn to cast her eyes over at the bar to see how far her father had progressed in the queue. She could’ve kicked herself for using their friend Judith as an excuse. In h
er haste, she had forgotten how close Jade and Judith were, especially since they’d both had babies within a few weeks of each other. Now, she had a dilemma of her own to solve. Did she confide in Jade about where she had disappeared to, knowing the amount of stress her sister was already under, or, did she tell another lie, and risk being caught out again by her astute sister?
‘I don’t want to worry you, hon.You’ve got enough on your plate at the moment.’
Jade took the baby from Lorne, and settled him into the high-chair next to her. ‘Lorne, when mum died we made a promise that we’d never keep secrets from each other. I’ve just lived up to my side of the bargain by telling you about the baby, now spill.’
Lorne’s eyes dropped to the table, she picked up the salt and pepper pots in front of her and started twirling them on the table. ‘He’s back.’ she whispered.
‘Sorry?’
Lorne looked her sister in the eye and in a much louder voice, she said, ‘He’s back, Jade.’ She watched the expressions change on her sister’s face, ranging from puzzlement to comprehension in quick succession as she repeated, ‘He’s back.’
‘Who’s back?’ her father asked, setting the three glasses down on the table.
Shit, shit, shit! Damn her big mouth!
Lorne’s silence, coupled with his experience as a former Chief Inspector in the Met, meant it didn’t take him long to work out who she was talking about. He sat down heavily in the seat opposite as the colour drained from his face. ‘You’re kidding. Where? When? More to the point, why?’
Lorne recounted the drama she and Tony had been through the past few days, or at least ninety percent of it. ‘So you never went to Judith’s, then.’
‘No, Dad. Please forgive me for lying, Tony turned up and— ’
He banged his fist on the table. ‘Tony had no right to involve you in this, Lorne. You’re out of the game, now.’
‘I know, Dad, but he remembered what I said to him last year when we got Charlie back, you know, about me wanting revenge. Well, he kind of took me at my word.’
‘So what happens now?’
‘I don’t know, the last I heard Tony was going to go digging for dirt. It depends what he digs up, I suppose.’
Sam reached a bony hand across the table and gripped hers. ‘Please, Lorne, promise me … promise me you won’t get involved.’
Lorne’s eyes rose to his. He looked tired and old and she regretted how much pain her following words would cause him, but it didn’t stop her from shaking her head and saying. ‘I can’t do that, Dad.’
Chapter Twenty-Five
Lunch turned out to be one of the quietest they’d ever spent together as a family. At times each of them had become lost in their own deep scary thoughts, reliving the horrors of the previous year. They parted soon after eating their meal, which was a rarity.
On the way home, Lorne stopped off at the park to give Henry an extra run, to make up for deserting him the way she had, it also gave her some much needed time to clear her head.
She watched the eight-year-old run around with the boundless energy of a two-year-old, but she didn’t succeed in clearing the turmoil going on in her mind.
Lorne arrived home and spent the next four hours cleaning the house from top to bottom, which she only tended to do when her mind wouldn’t shut down, so she knew then, that she was in big trouble. After a quick sandwich, she settled down to an evening in front of the telly, making sure she avoided the soaps, aware that Charlie would fill her in on those at the weekend during her visit.
At around nine, her mind was churning so much that she decided to get her thoughts down on paper.
1. The Unicorn/Baldwin, why has he resurfaced in France?
2. Why is he out in the open and not living under an assumed name? Knowing that there is an active arrest warrant awaiting him, albeit in England.
3. Why were the murdered Finance Ministers in Normandy?
4. Why had they held a meeting with Baldwin?
5. Why Normandy? Why not the South of France?
6. Why had she slept with Michel?
7. Was there more to Michel than met the eye? Had he really grown up around Normandy?
8. Why? Why? Why? Had she told Jade about Baldwin, only for her father to overhear?
9. And finally, why the heck was she making notes about a case she didn’t want to get involved in?
Deep in thought, she almost hit the ceiling when the phone rang. ‘Hello?’ She ruffled the top of Henry’s head as she answered.
‘Ah, Lorne. You’ve arrived back home safe and well I see.’ A haunting laugh travelled down the line.
Her eyes closed and she broke out in a cold sweat, but forced herself to remain calm and in control. It had been a whole year since she’d last heard the goading voice. She placed a hand over the mouthpiece and blew out a breath, then responded nonchalantly, ‘Baldwin, what do you want?’
‘You disappoint me, Insp … oops, can’t call you that anymore, can I? You disappoint me, Lorne.’
She shuddered as her name was drawn out by his poisonous tongue. ‘In what way?’
‘You and your agent boyfriend gave up so easily, not what I expected at all. Especially after the way you threatened me, well, some might call it a threat. I, on the other hand, would say it was more like an anguished cry of revenge by a very desperate woman.’
‘For a start, Tony is not my boyfriend, and I assure you I will carry out my threat, one day. After all, I’ve allocated a special place on my desk for your gonads, I’m in need of a new paperweight.’ She amazed herself by pushing away the fear and replacing it with the feistiness she’d always shown the criminal.
His laughter filled her ear. ‘I see your fighting spirit is still intact despite the losses you’ve incurred, dear lady.’
Don’t give into him, Lorne. Stay strong and calm. ‘That’s one thing you haven’t been able to take from me, Baldwin, and I doubt you ever will.’
‘Hmm … that sounds like a challenge to me.’
She heard him smack his lips, and shuddered again. She was used to him playing mind games with her, but she didn’t feel nervous, because she knew he was in France. Or was he? She wondered if he’d followed her back to England. No, she doubted that, doubted he had the balls to enter the country knowing that he would be arrested, if he came anywhere near the UK.
‘Like I said, what do you want, Baldwin?’
‘I see your patience hasn’t improved any since your retirement. This time, nothing, except to give you one final warning, Lorne. BACK OFF. And get your agent boyfriend to back off, too. Otherwise …’
He left the words hanging, all she heard next was the dial tone.
As her anger deepened she threw the phone across the room just managing to miss the TV in the corner, thinking it was one of his toys, Henry trotted over to pick it up, he returned holding it in his mouth and placed it gently in her lap. Despite feeling like shit, she smiled down at him.
‘Where would I be without my faithful companion to brighten my day?’
Picking up her pen, she added a couple more questions to the list.
10. Why did Baldwin still want to make her life hell?
11. What was it going to take to get rid of the bastard once and for all?
Chapter Twenty-Six
Lorne woke at eight on Friday morning, feeling the brightest she’d felt in a year. Did Baldwin’s phone call have something to do with that? Or had her trip to France, especially the trip to the cemetery, forced her to push on with her life, and to put the past behind her?
After walking Henry, she popped down to Waitrose; her kitchen cupboards were bare and she needed to stock up on food for the weekend. Charlie was a typical teenager, a regular human dustbin. From the minute she stepped foot in Lorne’s house on a Friday evening, the contents of her fridge were under attack. God knows where she put it, at a very slim size eight there wasn’t an ounce of excess weight on her bones.
As Lorne finished adding a layer of gra
ted cheese to the cottage pie she’d rustled up for dinner, the phone rang. She hesitated before answering it, not recognising the number on the display she took a deep breath. ‘Hello?’
‘I need you to pack a bag.’
‘Tony?’
‘Unless you have a secret lover, correction another secret lover, you’re not telling me about, who else would be ringing you up to tell you to pack a bag?’
‘Full of wise arse statements aren’t you, agent boy?’
‘And you’re intent on making me your enemy, Lorne, if you keep calling me that.’
She smiled and imagined him pulling all sorts of faces at his end. ‘Anyway, hon, that’s a negative.’
‘What’s a negative?’
‘Me packing a bag. I have Charlie coming for the weekend, and after letting her down last week I can’t, no, I won’t do it again.’
‘You’re kidding, right? Winding me up?’
‘Nope.’
Lorne heard him blow out a frustrated sigh, and waited for the backlash. ‘Hey, Lorne, the kid will understand. You can make it up to her in the future. You have a lifetime to make it up to her.’
‘You know what, Tony? You can tell you haven’t got any kids. My life wouldn’t be worth living if I let her down two weeks in a row. And furthermore, I’m in a lifetime of debt to the girl already after what Baldwin did to her.’
‘Point taken with regard to last year, but …’
‘No buts, Tony, not this time.’
‘Guess you’re not interested in what I found out then?’
‘I didn’t say that. Oh and just to let you know, Baldwin knows we’re on his tail.’
‘How the heck do you know that? Oh wait a minute, been talking to froggie, have we?’
She held the portable phone between her head and shoulder, as she sliced up the tomatoes to go on top of the dinner she’d slaved over for the past hour-and-a-half. Tutting loudly, she said, ‘You’re such an arshole at times. No, it wasn’t Michel who told me, I actually heard it from the horse’s mouth.’