Marrying the Runaway Bride

by Jennifer Taylor

  Archie felt his heart give an almighty lurch when he heard the panic in her voice. ‘What’s happened? Are you all right?’

  ‘Yes. I’m fine. It’s Emily. She’s missing.’

  ‘Missing?’ he repeated. ‘How can she be missing?’

  ‘I…We…The police think someone has taken her.’

  Her voice was quavering with fear and he knew that he had to calm her down. ‘Tell me what happened right from the beginning,’ he said gently.

  ‘I checked the children as usual at ten o’clock and they were all fast asleep. It had been a really quiet night so Abby and Noreen had gone for their breaks together and I was on my own. Abby had asked me to check the laundry so I went into the office to fetch the list and while I was in there I heard the ward door open.’

  ‘But you didn’t see anyone?’

  ‘No. I didn’t look. I know I should have done, but I assumed it was Abby and Noreen coming back.’

  ‘That’s understandable,’ he said soothingly.

  ‘I should have checked, though.’ Her voice rose. ‘I should have gone straight back into the ward and checked who it was!’

  ‘Heather, this isn’t your fault. You weren’t to know something like this would happen so stop blaming yourself. I’ll phone the hospital’s manager and let him know what’s happened then I’ll come straight there. We’ll sort this out. I promise. Don’t worry.’

  ‘If anything happens to Emily…’

  ‘It won’t.’

  He hung up then because there wasn’t time to reassure her that she wasn’t to blame. The most important thing was to find Emily before any harm came to her. He phoned the hospital’s manager and explained what had happened then grabbed his car keys and left the flat. He assumed the police would go to the Jacksons’ home and check if Emily had been taken there. If she wasn’t there, they would organise a search, starting with the hospital and its grounds. If he could come up with a place where Emily’s father might be hiding her, it would help.

  The thought occupied him on the drive to the hospital. As soon as he turned in through the gates, he could see that a search was already under way. He parked his car and showed one of the policemen his identity badge when he was stopped outside the main doors. It was absolute bedlam when he got to the paediatric unit. Most of the children were awake and there were people milling about all over the place.

  Archie gathered together the staff and told them to take the children into the playroom and let them watch a DVD. The ones who were too ill to leave their beds would remain in the ward and he would draft in extra staff from other departments to help look after them. It took some time to get everything organised and he had no chance to speak to Heather. The police had a lot of questions they needed to ask him about Emily’s physical condition.

  Archie explained that although she had recovered well from the operation, she was extremely vulnerable to infection at the present time. Taking her out on such a bitterly cold night could have serious consequences for her long-term health and the sooner they found her the better. Apparently, the family’s car was still parked outside their house so unless the father had hired another vehicle, he must have been on foot and that would have limited the distance he could have gone. The thought that Emily might be somewhere in the vicinity was frustrating.

  It was after four when they got their first break. The CCTV tapes showed that Emily’s father had entered the building shortly before seven that evening. He’d taken the lift up to the paediatric unit and gone into the visitors’ lavatories. He had hidden in there until he’d entered the ward several hours later. There was nothing on the CCTV tapes covering the area around the base of the fire escape to indicate that he had taken Emily into the grounds. It meant that the pair might be still inside the building.

  The police immediately organised a full-scale search of the hospital. Archie joined in but by the time the day staff came on duty, Emily was still missing. And every hour that passed increased the danger to the little girl. He was desperately worried about her and worried about Heather, too. He couldn’t bear to think that she was going to blame herself if anything bad happened to the child.

  Heather’s nerves were at breaking point by the time she was relieved from duty. She couldn’t help blaming herself even though everyone insisted it wasn’t her fault. There was no point going home because she wouldn’t be able to sleep so she bought herself a cup of coffee from the vending machine in the foyer and took it outside. There were benches dotted about the grounds so she sat down. The police appeared to think that Emily was still inside the building and she prayed they were right. There was a better chance of finding her here than anywhere else.

  She finished her coffee and was about to throw the empty cup into the bin when a movement on the roof caught her attention. She frowned as she stared upwards. There was definitely someone up there, although it didn’t look like either a police officer or a member of the security staff. Could it be Emily’s father? And was it possible that Emily was with him?

  Heather ran back inside. The lifts were all in use so she took the stairs, panting as she raced up six flights to the top floor. There was another set of stairs that led to the roof from there, although the door leading to them was usually locked. It wasn’t locked when she tried it now, though. It opened immediately.

  Heather hurried up the stairs and stepped out onto the roof. There was a flat expanse, like a wide ledge, that ran all around the building, with a steeply pitched area in the middle. There were chimneys too, towering stacks left over from the hospital’s Victorian heyday when coal fires had been used to heat the place. And in the shelter of one of the chimney stacks were Emily and her father.

  Heather stopped dead. She knew she should fetch the police but she didn’t want to scare the man into doing something stupid when he saw them. The wind was bitterly cold as it tore across the roof and all Emily had on were her pyjamas with a blanket wrapped around her. She knew that she needed to get the child indoors as quickly as possible and was trying to work out how to do it when Emily’s father looked round and saw her.

  ‘Hi. I’m Heather,’ she said quickly when she saw the panic on his face. She took a step towards him then stopped when he backed away. ‘I’m a nurse on Paediatrics and I just want to help you and Emily.’

  ‘We don’t need your help,’ he snarled, clutching the little girl to him. ‘It’s people like you who stopped me seeing Emily.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Heather said quietly. She smiled at the little girl. ‘Are you all right, poppet?’

  Emily nodded. Her little face was pinched with cold and she was shivering violently. ‘Daddy’s going to take me some place where Mummy can’t hurt me any more,’ she whispered.

  ‘Nobody should be allowed to hurt you, Emily,’ Heather replied, feeling stricken by guilt. It appeared they had completely misread the situation. It hadn’t been Emily’s father who had been harming her but her mother.

  ‘That’s right,’ the father said roughly. ‘Nobody is going to hurt my Emily ever again. I’ll make sure of that, I swear.’

  Heather’s breath caught as he backed towards the edge of the roof. All of a sudden she knew what he intended to do. He was going to jump off the roof and take Emily with him. She ran forward and grabbed hold of the child’s arm. They were just an inch away from the edge and she didn’t dare look down.

  ‘Please, don’t do this,’ she begged him. ‘I know it must feel as though you have no choice but this isn’t the way. Whatever has happened, it can be fixed.’

  The man laughed bitterly. ‘Like the way you fixed it by stopping me seeing Emily?’

  ‘We made a mistake,’ Heather pleaded. ‘But that doesn’t mean we can’t make things right now that we know the truth. You love Emily and I know that all you want is for her to be safe and happy.’

  ‘Yes, and look what a mess I’ve made of it.’ Tears streamed down his face as he looked at the little girl. ‘I didn’t keep her safe because I was a coward. I couldn’t b
ear to admit that my wife was making both our lives a living hell.’

  Heather felt fear engulf her when she heard the desperation in his voice. It was obvious that he had reached the end of his tether and she had no idea what to say to him. She took a quick breath, praying that she wouldn’t make the situation worse.

  ‘It must have been terrible for you both, but you can still make things right. Emily loves you. She needs you to be strong for her now more than ever.’

  She held her breath, hoping that she had got through to him. She heard a shout from below and realised that they’d been seen but she didn’t dare take her eyes off him. All it would take was one small step and that would be the end for all of them. An image of Archie’s face suddenly filled her mind and she was consumed by sadness at the thought that she might never get the chance to tell him how much she loved him.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  ARCHIE thought his heart was going to explode with terror as he looked up at the roof. Although the three figures clustered on the edge appeared no bigger than matchsticks from where he was standing, he recognised Heather immediately. He turned and raced back inside the building, taking the stairs two at a time as he made for the top floor. The police were already there and he shook his head when the senior officer ordered him to stay back.

  ‘Emily knows me. She will be far less frightened if she sees me rather than one of your officers. If she gets upset, it will only precipitate matters, and that’s the last thing we want. Let me try and talk to her father first.’

  The officer obviously saw the sense of that and let him through. Archie stepped out onto the roof, taking care not to startle the other occupants. He could see that Heather had hold of Emily’s arm and knew what a precarious position she was in if the father jumped. The thought that she might be dragged to her death was more than he could bear but he had to put it out of his mind if he was to help her.

  ‘Stay back!’

  Archie held up his hands when Emily’s father ordered him to stay away. ‘I’m not going to come any closer until you say I can. I just want to help you, that’s all.’

  ‘Like the way you helped me by stopping me seeing Emily,’ the man said harshly. ‘It’s her mother who’s been hurting her, not me. You got it wrong, didn’t you?’

  Archie didn’t know what to think. Was it true? Was Mrs Jackson responsible for Emily’s injuries?

  ‘He’s telling you the truth.’ Heather’s voice was low but that didn’t disguise the strain it held. Archie’s hands clenched when he saw how pale she looked. ‘Emily told me that it was her mummy who had hurt her, not her daddy. Isn’t that right, darling?’

  Emily nodded, although she didn’t speak. She seemed unaware of the danger she was in and Archie was grateful for that at least. He took a quick breath as he rapidly reassessed the situation in light of what he had learned.

  ‘Then all I can do is apologise from the bottom of my heart for getting it wrong.’

  ‘And you really think an apology will make up for what you’ve put me and Emily through these past few weeks?’ the man said scornfully.

  ‘No, I don’t. It isn’t nearly enough but it’s a start and we can build on it from here. If you’ll bring Emily back inside I promise you that I will do everything in my power to make this situation right.’

  ‘And you think the police will let you do that? I’ll probably go to prison for this and there is no way that I’m leaving Emily on her own. I know what her mother’s like. She’ll convince the police that I’m the guilty party!’

  ‘No. I won’t let that happen. I’ll make sure the police know the truth. I swear.’

  ‘That’s what you say now but it’s always the father who gets blamed in cases like this, never the mother.’

  The man took a step back and Archie’s heart almost seized up with fright. All it needed was another couple of inches and that would be it. He didn’t dare look at Heather in case fear overwhelmed him to such an extent that he was unable to function.

  ‘It isn’t going to happen in this case. I’ll make sure that Emily tells everyone what has really been going on.’

  He took a step towards them, stopping immediately when he saw Mr Jackson tense. There were just a couple of feet separating them now but even so he couldn’t be sure that he would be able to prevent the man from jumping if it came to it.

  ‘I know you think this is the only way out, but it isn’t,’ he said urgently. ‘Maybe you feel guilty because you didn’t stop what was happening, but don’t let it affect your judgement. We all do things we regret, but it’s how we deal with them afterwards that makes all the difference. You can make things right by telling the police the truth. Emily needs you to be strong for her now more than ever.’

  The man didn’t say a word as he stared down at his daughter. Archie held his breath, hoping that he had got through to him. When Mr Jackson suddenly crumpled into a heap and started sobbing, Archie could have wept as well, only he needed to make sure that Emily and Heather were safe first.

  He swept the little girl into his arms then took hold of Heather by the arm and hurried her inside the building. The police had rushed out onto the roof to get Emily’s father but he didn’t stop to watch what was happening. He shook his head when an officer tried to take the child from him.

  ‘No. She’s been through quite enough. I need to get her back to the ward and check her over.’

  Nobody tried to stop him again as they made their way to the lift. It arrived almost immediately and they stepped inside. Archie turned to Heather as the doors closed. ‘I was so scared when I saw you up there,’ he said brokenly, wishing he could hug her to him.

  ‘So was I,’ she whispered.

  Archie bent forward and kissed her softly on the lips then had to step back when the lift arrived at their floor. Marion Yates was on duty and she soon had everything organised. While she got Emily settled in bed, Archie had a word with the senior police officer and told him everything that Mr Jackson had said. Heather backed him up, explaining what Emily had told her about her mother being the one who had hurt her.

  Once he was sure the police had the facts straight, Archie went back to the ward and examined Emily. She was cold and very upset but it didn’t appear that she had suffered any real harm, although they would need to keep a close watch on her for the next few days. He wrote her up for a mild sedative and left instructions that Mrs Jackson was to be kept away from her. He then had to liaise with the duty social worker. Emily would be taken into care while the police investigated the allegations against her mother, but, hopefully, her father would be given sole custody of his daughter eventually.

  By the time everything was arranged it was after nine and he was reeling from tiredness and guessed that Heather must be feeling exactly the same. She was in the staffroom when he tracked her down and she smiled as he went in.

  ‘Everything sorted out now?’

  ‘Just about.’ He groaned. ‘I’m shattered. I’m so tired, in fact, I could prop myself against this door and go to sleep standing up!’

  ‘Me, too. We make a fine pair, don’t we?’

  Archie hauled her to her feet and kissed the tip of her nose. ‘We do indeed. What we need is a nice soft bed and eight hours of uninterrupted sleep.’

  ‘Sounds blissful to me,’ she said as she nestled against him.

  ‘Then what are we waiting for?’ Archie shooed her out of the door and along the corridor. There was a taxi dropping off a fare outside the hospital and he flagged it down.

  ‘I don’t think I’m in a fit state to drive after all the excitement,’ he explained, helping her into the back of the cab. ‘I’ll leave my car here.’

  ‘Another good idea,’ she murmured, resting her head on his shoulder.

  ‘Oh, I’m full of good ideas. Especially for after we’ve had that lovely long sleep.’

  ‘Something to look forward to,’ Heather mumbled, closing her eyes.

  Archie put his arm around her and listened to the steady sound
of her breathing as they drove through the busy London streets. The terror he’d felt that morning was receding but he would never forget what had happened. He’d come so close to losing her and it had made him see how much he loved her. If only he’d been sure that he was doing the right thing, he would have declared his feelings right there and then, but there were so many other factors to take account of. He couldn’t bear it if his love became a burden for her.

  Heather slept like a log. It was late afternoon when she woke and for a moment she couldn’t think where she was before it all came rushing back—she was in Archie’s flat, and in Archie’s bed, even if Archie himself happened to be absent at that moment.

  She smiled as she rolled over onto her side. She could hear water running and guessed that he was taking a shower. It was funny how normal it felt to wake up in Archie’s home. She had never felt this comfortable when she’d spent the night at Ross’s. She’d always felt on edge the following morning, a little self-conscious, but it was different with Archie. She felt perfectly at home as she lay there in his bed and waited for him to return.

  ‘Aha! Sleeping Beauty is awake, I see. That’s a shame. I was hoping I’d get the chance to try the traditional approach of waking you up.’

  Heather felt her breath catch when Archie suddenly appeared. He had wrapped a towel around his hips as a concession to modesty but that was all he had on. The rest of him was naked. Her heart began to race as he walked towards the bed. His torso was beaded with moisture, the tiny droplets catching the light from the window so that his skin seemed to glimmer with a golden sheen. More droplets glistened in the heavy down that covered his well-shaped legs. With his dark hair clinging damply to his skull and his jaw darkened by a night’s growth of beard, he looked more like a pirate of old than a sophisticated modern-day man, and she couldn’t help responding to the sight of him.

  ‘The traditional approach,’ she repeated, struggling to contain the desire that was coursing through her veins.

  ‘Mmm.’ He sat down on the edge of the mattress and smiled at her. ‘You must have read the story of Sleeping Beauty when you were a little girl?’