by Lynda Stacey
But the measured look that Bandit gave her was one that made no promises. She knew he’d seen this before, knew he’d battled to save lives on more than one occasion when he’d been in the marines and knew that he wouldn’t stop until all hope was lost.
‘They’re here.’ She heard a shout from the crowd. ‘The ambulance, it’s here.’
Jess could see blue flashing lights in the distance. They sped through the grounds and screeched to a halt. She got back on her knees and her hand went to Jack’s ice-cold forehead, and she kissed his mud-covered cheek. ‘Jack, please, listen to me, I’m begging you, you have to try, you have to stay with me, you have to live, they’re coming to help you, Jack. They’re … they’re coming …’
Chapter Thirty-Three
‘Get in there,’ Griff bellowed, his voice so loud that Annie was sure half the motel with its paper-thin walls would have heard him. ‘I’ve never known anyone as stupid as you.’
Annie felt Griff throw her against the bed. ‘You can’t blame me, Griff. When I left you in the car park I saw Lily, she was sitting in that big hall with Bastion and that other little ’un, listening to a load of brats murdering Christmas carols and then I went to have a look around, tried to find another way in. I looked through the kitchen window but a woman, she spotted me and I had to run. I went in the hotel I did, right into the entrance and I waited in the corridor next to the reception, I was waiting for my chance, honest.’
‘Spare me the details,’ Griff growled, pacing the floor. ‘Why the fuck didn’t you just grab her?’
‘Bastion was with her and I couldn’t get near. Then the kids stopped singing and people started leaving and then all hell broke loose. People were shouting and I thought they were coming for me so I bolted and ran into the ladies’ loos. When it quietened down, I went out again and there was Lily standing alone by the front door. I called to her and she turned and saw me … but then the woman from the kitchen grabbed her hand and ran outside with her and I couldn’t have predicted what happened next, could I?’ She tugged at the over-sized skirt suit. ‘I even got changed into this, your idea of looking respectable, and now look, I’m covered in mud. I had no choice but to get out of there, the whole place was surrounded by fucking blues and twos, wasn’t it?’ She pulled a packet of cigarettes from her bag. ‘Give us a light, Griff.’
‘Fuck off, Annie, get your own.’ His hand lifted in the air and for a moment Annie thought that he would strike her. He grabbed her collar, lifted her to her feet and then threw her backwards, where she landed on the floor beside the bed.
Annie shook with fear. She knew Griff could get mad, knew he was capable of anything and right now while she lay on the floor, she wasn’t sure what was on his mind.
She watched as he paced up and down the threadbare carpet. All the while growling, grumbling and cursing. ‘Right, here’s what we’ll do.’ He stopped to think. ‘I heard some parents talking as they got into their car and they said there was going to be a big celebration on Christmas Eve, with fucking Santa arriving and all the kids singing round the bloody Christmas tree out the front. That’s when we’ll grab the little bitch. I’ve got business in London but I’ll be back in a couple of days. Then we go to that hotel and you … you will get the girl, you got that?’ He leaned in so close that Annie held her breath, waiting for the blow to land. ‘Till then, you stay here and lie low. Here.’ He threw a rolled up piece of cling film towards her. ‘That’ll tide you over and you can earn the money you need for food.’ He pulled the curtain back and looked out at the car park. ‘I’ll finalise the sale of the bitch for Christmas Eve. She’ll make a nice little Christmas present for someone.’
Annie watched as Griff stormed through the door. She then waited until the van disappeared round the corner. She needed help, needed someone to come and get her and she closed her eyes for a moment wondering who she could ask, but shook her head. There was no one. She used to be someone, she used to have friends, important, rich friends. She’d been a high-class escort who they’d all requested for their dates. She’d been at the top of her game and she’d had respect. She sobbed. No one respected her now, no one would be there to help her if she called and there was no one she would class as a true friend, not now, not any more. She stood up and looked in the mirror. ‘What happened to you, Annie? How did you turn out this way?’ She looked down at her arms and sighed. ‘Yeah, that’d be what did it,’ she whispered to herself as she walked back to where the cling film wrapped stash of drugs lay.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Jess drifted in and out of sleep but eventually her eyes flicked open and all her senses kicked in at once. The sound of the constant bleep, bleep, bleep of the monitor, the smell of antiseptic, the bright lights that filled the room and the feel of crisp, white cotton sheets beneath her face made her remember where she was.
She wanted nothing more than to sleep. Sleep was good; at least when she slept the fear went away. But then she felt guilty for relaxing, especially while Jack was hanging onto life by a thread. Right through the night she’d kept snapping her eyes open and, each time she did, she realised where she was and the memory of the night before flooded back: Bandit and the paramedics hovering over Jack’s body, Jack fading away and her begging him to live. It all came back, along with the palpitations that relentlessly took over her body.
She looked at where Jack still slept, looked at the green line that jumped up and down on the monitor screen, then back to where his right leg was raised and covered in plaster. She still had no idea how he’d managed to drag himself so far, not with the injuries he’d sustained. The surgeon had said he’d never worked on someone who’d not only snapped his Achilles, but had also broken both his leg and his ankle so badly and in so many places. He’d lost far too much blood, he’d gone into shock and with the added exertion of dragging himself through the woods, his whole body had shut down in the most dramatic way. If Bandit hadn’t been there, if he hadn’t given him the first aid he’d needed, if he hadn’t kept going when others might have stopped, then Jack would have died and the night may well have ended in a very different way.
She took in a deep breath, and then wished she hadn’t, as the smell of the hospital antiseptic once again filled her nostrils. Her stomach turned, just as it had most mornings since her pregnancy and she jumped up quickly, ran to the sink and retched. She stared into the mirror and noticed the dark circles around her eyes, and grabbed a glass, ran the water and poured herself a drink.
Gulping down the water, she turned. Jack was looking at her. ‘I’m so … so … sorry,’ he whispered, making Jess run back to the side of the bed.
‘Oh, Jack. You’re awake.’ The tears that she’d held onto since the night before began flooding down her face. ‘I’ve … I’ve been so scared.’
His hand reached out to touch her face. ‘I’m so sorry, I wasn’t … I wasn’t there for you … for the scan.’
‘Don’t … don’t you dare be sorry. Oh my God, do you know what you did?’ She grabbed his hand and kissed his fingers. ‘Shall I get a nurse? Are you okay, do you hurt anywhere?’
Jack shook his head. ‘No, don’t. I … I just want to … Lily, is she safe?’
Jess smiled. ‘Lily is safe, don’t worry.’ Her eyes searched his face. ‘Jack, I love you so much.’
‘I tried, I tried to get … Oh, Jess, I didn’t get to the Hall, did I?’ He tried to lift his head from the pillow, but immediately dropped it back down. ‘Ouch!’ he yelled. ‘Damn, that hurts.’
Jess shook her head. ‘Don’t, don’t move. And, no, you didn’t get to the Hall. But I promise you, Nomsa and Bastion haven’t let Lily out of their sight, not for a minute since last night.’
‘But …’ Jack began to cough.
‘Wait, I’ll get you some water.’ Jess returned to the sink, picked up the water and came back to hold it to Jack’s lips. ‘Not too much,’ she said as the water wet his lips.
‘I was at the farmhouse, in the cellar, and they were
there, Lily’s mother Annie and some thug named Griff. I heard what they were going to do, they said … said something about taking her, about selling her …’ He coughed and took another sip of water. ‘When they left I rushed up the steps … they collapsed … I couldn’t move, my leg was trapped and … What if …’ It was obvious that Jack was struggling to speak, and Jess picked up the alarm, wondering if she should press it and alert the nurse. ‘Jess, what if they’d got Lily?’
Jess didn’t know what to say. ‘The police, they’re looking for them …’ She lied with the need to calm Jack down, wanting him to relax, but it occurred to her that no one had known what Jack had meant when he’d said that Lily had been in danger. Jess quickly searched for her phone; she needed to get hold of Bastion, tell him that Jack was awake, and what he’d said and made an excuse to leave the room momentarily. ‘I’ll be two minutes,’ she explained as she lifted the phone to her ear, ‘I just need to speak to Maddie.’
Jack looked satisfied with the explanation and closed his eyes. The medication was almost certainly making him tired. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t make it to the scan.’ He sighed. ‘I really, really wanted to go to the scan.’
Jess allowed another tear to fall down her face as she completed the call and the quickly made her way back to Jack, where she leaned forward to rummage in her bag. ‘Here, it’s here, Jack. The scan, it’s here.’ She held up the picture. ‘Meet our baby.’ She watched as he opened his eyes and welled up as he fixed on the picture. ‘Isn’t it just the most beautiful thing?’
Jack once again tried to sit up, but couldn’t.
Jess nodded. ‘It’s so beautiful, Jack. Can you imagine, a tiny little baby, our baby?’ She paused and looked thoughtful. ‘You’ll be the best and most protective daddy, ever,’ Jess said as she flicked her hair back from her face and locked eyes with the man she loved. There was no doubt in her mind that she and Jack would be happy, and that they’d have their happy ever after, but what she didn’t understand was … ‘Jack, what were you doing at the farmhouse?’
Jack shook his head from side to side. ‘Oh Jess, it’s a long, long story. But in short, it’s ours. The farmhouse is ours. Emily left it to us.’
Jess sat back in her chair. ‘What? Why … I mean … oh my God, we have a house.’ The words were more of a question than a statement. She blinked and stared into Jack’s face. ‘Are you sure?’
Jack tried to look around the room. ‘My trousers, where are they?’ He slumped back against the pillows.
‘The paramedics, they cut them off.’ Jess took hold of his hand. ‘Why?’
‘The letter, the letter that Emily wrote, it explains it all. You have to read it.’ Jack closed his eyes and Jess heard his breathing change as he fell back into a deep sleep.
Letting go of his hand Jess walked across and picked up the clear plastic bag that the paramedics had given her. It contained Jack’s other clothes along with the contents of what had been in his pockets. She immediately spotted the letter that Emily had written and pulled it out of the bag and began to read.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Bastion turned the key in the door, then stood in the doorway of Jess’s room. ‘It feels wrong to come in here without her,’ he said as he stood nervously holding the door open while Nomsa moved swiftly around the room, filling a bag.
‘We have to be in here. Jess asked us to get things for Jack. Now, go in the bathroom and make yourself useful. Jack needs his shaving things, toothbrush and deodorant. You can see to bathroom stuff, I’ll see to his clothes and underwear.’
The room was bright and tidy and his eyes were immediately drawn to the Moses basket that stood in the corner. ‘Mmmm, the boy did good, didn’t he?’ He walked to the basket and stroked the material. ‘He told me he was going to do this and I’m sure glad he did. Our Jess will be happy with it, that’s for sure.’
Nomsa turned and put her arms around his waist. ‘Oh, Bastion, I think she’d be even happier if all else was in place. She’s had one hell of a time of it lately and I think she’d like to be certain of the people around her.’ She stared into his eyes, reached up and kissed him firmly on the lips. ‘You know what I’m saying. She really wants to believe you’re her daddy.’
‘I am her daddy, Nomsa. I’m one hundred per cent sure of that.’ He kissed her back, stepped away and went into the bathroom. ‘Shaving things, right. Got them, toothbrush, I’m guessing on the blue one and not the pink.’ He glanced over his shoulder, opened the bathroom cabinet and saw the DNA test that stood on a shelf within. He’d known that Jess had been planning on sending for it, she’d asked if he minded doing it, but he hadn’t realised it had arrived. ‘Now, now, what do we have here?’ He held it out to Nomsa. ‘Looks like she already did her part of it,’ he said as he looked in the box and lifted out the sterile tube that had been sealed in a bag. ‘So …’
Nomsa smiled. ‘So … Are you going to do your part?’ She squeezed his hand.
‘Do you think I should?’ He began turning the box over and over in his hands. ‘Why do you think she didn’t ask me to do it? I said I would, I’d told her I didn’t mind.’
‘Well, you two haven’t really got to know each other too well yet, so maybe she didn’t know how to.’ Nomsa stood, folding clothes. ‘Now, I’ve got pyjamas, they look quite new so I don’t think our Jack normally wears them, no sir. And I’ve got him some boxer shorts and I’ve got socks. He sure won’t want cold feet, will he?’ She paused. ‘Well, maybe I’ll only pack one pair as he can only use a sock on his good foot at the moment, right?’
Bastion watched as she pushed the garments into the bag. ‘Do you think it would be right to do this, without her knowing? I mean, I’m happy to do it, if you think I should,’ he said as he continued to turn the box over and over in his hands.
Nomsa nodded. ‘Of course it’d be fine, honey. She only bought it with one thing in mind and, if I’m honest, she wouldn’t be the only happy lady around here if it turned out that you really were our Jess’s daddy.’ She blushed, and moved away.
‘And what do you mean by that?’
Nomsa laughed. ‘Well, being her daddy would kind of give you a reason to stay, now wouldn’t it?’
Bastion sighed. Nomsa was such a good woman, he’d never met anyone like her and he wished he’d met her years before. Maybe if he had, they’d have had their own family; maybe Lily would have had a mother figure in her life from the beginning. He had so wished for that for his daughter. Lily had so many questions, so many needs, and he tried his best to meet them but he knew that he struggled each and every day. He also knew that it would only get more difficult as she grew and turned from child to woman.
He watched Nomsa as she stood by the window, her hand nervously shaking as she waited for his response. ‘Nomsa.’ He walked up behind her, turned her around and placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘You know I want to stay here, right? You’ve made me the happiest I’ve been for years and I don’t want to throw this away.’ He pulled her towards him, and breathed in deep. He could smell the musky depths of her perfume. ‘Oh, wow, woman, you don’t half smell good,’ he said with a laugh. ‘Do you know that? You smell far too good. And that alone is enough to make a man want to stay forever.’
Nomsa pushed him away. ‘Go on with you, all that mushy talk, you’ll have me thinking you’re liking me and we don’t want that now, do we?’ Again she turned away and for a few seconds he stayed quiet.
‘You, my good lady, have no idea how much I like you. I more than like you, I’m crazy for you and you know what? I really want to stick around; I really do. I just wish I had more to offer you, but you wait, I will. I’ll prove to you that I’m a good man and that I can work and support you.’ He walked up behind her and put his arms around her waist, nuzzled in behind her neck and placed a kiss there. ‘I know I’m Jess’s daddy, but I’ll prove that to you too. I’ll take the test. I’ll even walk down to the post office and post it myself.’
He pulled the tube from the b
ox and began reading the instructions while Nomsa watched with interest. ‘Seems like I have to rub this around my mouth, against the cheek for thirty seconds.’ He smiled. ‘Do you have a stop watch?’
Nomsa nodded. ‘I sure do, I have one on my phone.’ She pulled the mobile out of her apron pocket and began flicking the buttons.
‘Well then, you’d better set it going … now,’ he said as he pushed the swab into his mouth and began rubbing it against his cheeks.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Jess stood in the middle of the grand hall and looked out of the window towards the huge outdoor Christmas tree, which sparkled with thousands of lights. Saying that she was happy was an understatement. It was Christmas Eve, five days since Jack had had the accident and already he’d been released from hospital. For the first time in her life, Jess was about to spend Christmas with not only the man she loved, but also the man she truly believed to be her father, as well as her younger sister.
‘The villagers will be here soon, are we ready?’ she asked as she glanced over her shoulder to where Jack sat in his wheelchair, leg outstretched, clipboard in hand. He’d insisted that he didn’t want to go to bed. ‘I’ve done nothing but sleep for days,’ he’d said and had immediately gone back into his management role, taking charge of bossing everyone around as he went up and down his tick list.
‘Yes, I think we’re ready for the villagers,’ he said as he ticked the last item. ‘Food, tick. Tree, tick. Dance floor, tick. Balloons, champagne and fluted glasses, tick, tickety tick.’ He smiled as Jess went to swipe him with her hand. ‘Okay, did we organise the DJ?’
Jess realised she’d forgotten to ring the DJ as Madeleine had asked her to do a few days before and quickly ran to the phone.