by Clare Revell
He perched on the edge of the bed. “OK. The church spire collapsed, trapping you inside the crypt. I called the underwater search and rescue blokes and they got you out. I brought your leg and clothes with me in the car.” He paused. “Your leg is by your locker, and I guess your clothes are inside. So when you need to get up, you can. Let me know when they let you out, and I’ll either come and get you or I’ll send the car.” He stood to leave.
“Thanks.” She caught his hand, stopping him. “What’s wrong? Why have you suddenly gone all formal on me? Don’t I get a good-bye kiss?”
“Your stepfather’s here.”
“Really?”
“He’s right outside the curtain. They’d only let one of us in at a time.”
Lou looked past him, saw Jack through the gap in the curtain, and waved. Then she glanced back at Evan. “So you’re ashamed to be seen with me now.”
He shook his head. “Far from it. It’s just…I said I was your friend, and if I kiss you now, then the cat is out of the proverbial bag.”
Her face fell. “’K.”
“Is that a ’K or a ‘K dot?” he asked. He had enough people in the office who texted each other to know the difference between the two. K meant fine. K dot meant whatever.
She shrugged and pushed back into the pillows.
Evan’s throat burned. He’d upset her. He grasped her hand and gently kissed it. “I’ll be back later.”
30
Loss sliced through Lou like a knife through butter as each step took Evan further away from her.
Jack came in, tugged the curtain around the bed and enveloped her in one of his bear hugs. She felt safe and loved. His chest rumbled as he spoke over her head. “Not the kind of welcome I was anticipating, kiddo.”
“I’m fine, honestly.” She leaned back on the pillows and held his gaze. How old would she have to be before he stopped calling her kiddo? “’Tis a bit familiar, however. Me in a hospital bed, you visiting with that concerned look in your eyes. I half expect Jim or Staci to jump around the curtain in a minute or Mum to appear in tears.”
Jack sat on the bed beside her. “I thought you said you were fine. And this certainly wasn’t what I was expecting to find when I got off the plane earlier today and powered up my phone.”
“Does Mum know?”
“She does. And I promised her proof of how you were. She’ll be driving to ballet or something now, so I’ll send a video message.” He pulled out his phone. “Can I use this in here?”
Lou leaned back on the pillows. “Other people have been. I think it’s only in ITU and resus where they have all the monitors that they don’t like it.”
Jack activated the camera. “Hi, Nicky. I’m with Lou now.” He swivelled the phone to face her. “Tell your mom how you are. She won’t take it from me.”
Lou waved at the screen. “I’m fine, Mum, honestly. They won’t let me out until they’re convinced my head is all right, so I’ll be home in ten years or so.”
Jack groaned and turned the phone back towards him. “See, hon, nothing changes. Call you later. Love you.” He sent the message and slid the phone back into his pocket. He sat on the chair beside the bed. “So, tell me about Evan Close.”
“He’s a friend.”
“And I’m an orang-utan’s uncle.”
Lou poked her tongue out. “I’m not an orang-utan, Uncle Jack.” She repressed a grin as she got the reaction she loved.
Jack raised his eyes heavenwards. “I’ve told you I don’t know how many times, kiddo. Enough—”
“—of the uncle,” she chorused.
He laughed. “I don’t think there’s much wrong with your head. So, do I need to track down Mr. Close and ask him what his intentions are towards my daughter?”
“Not yet.” She sighed. “Things got intense for a while, but he’s backed right off. We’re friends, but it didn’t start out that way.”
Jack leaned back in the chair. “Really? Do tell.”
“Yes, but I can’t talk about it here. Everything got all mixed up with the case I’m working or was working, and it’s complicated. More than complicated.” She rubbed her temples and bit her lip. “I was meant to be on that boat yesterday, not AJ. Add that to the fact that someone tried to kill me on my first night here.”
Jack’s face changed, flames smouldering in his eyes. “Back up, young lady. You’ve been here less than a week, and you’ve almost been killed three times? What kind of a town is this?”
“Really, Dark Lake is a village.” Lou sighed, knowing what he would say. “And yeah, three times. I know who it was, well, the first time anyway, and the cops are handling it.”
A voice drifted from the other side of the curtains. “I’m sorry, sir, you can’t go in there. Dr. Fitzgerald is only allowed one visitor at a time.”
“I’m her boss.” Varian spoke over her. “I just want to make sure she’s all right.”
“Is that him?” Jack asked. “The jerk of a boss who has been undermining you all these years?”
Lou nodded. “Yes. Only he’s not my boss anymore. I quit last night, about eight hours before he fired me, and he knows it.”
She reached for him as Jack leapt to his feet. “Dad, please don’t make a scene.”
He pivoted and held up a hand. “I’ll not make anything, kiddo. I’m assuming you don’t want to see him.”
Lou shook her head.
“Then let me deal with him.” He stepped to the curtain, tugging it aside a little. “You must be Varian Sparrow.”
“I am.” Another hand reached around and the curtain was yanked back completely. Varian snarled, running a dismissive gaze over Jack. “Who are you?”
“Lou’s father. She doesn’t want to see you.”
“I’m her boss. I have every right to see her.”
Lou shook her head. “No, you’re not my boss. I quit last night, or have you forgotten that?”
“There you go, then,” Jack defended. “You have no reason to be here.”
“She was hurt on my dive,” Varian said.
Lou sighed. “How many times? I was working for Evan today. He told you that himself.”
Varian shoved Jack out of the way and strode two steps towards the bed.
Jack moved fast, grabbing Varian’s arm, twisting it behind him and shoving him against the wall. “The lady asked you to leave,” he hissed. “I suggest you do so, or I’ll call the cops myself.”
Varian glared at Lou. “This isn’t over. You’ll pay for this.”
“Is that a threat?” she asked.
“Too right it is.”
Running footsteps crossed the ward and two cops in uniform appeared by the curtain. “Is there a problem here?”
“This man threatened my daughter,” Jack said. “I want him arrested.”
“Again, Mr. Sparrow?” one of them asked, tugging Varian’s hands behind his back. “Varian Sparrow, I’m arresting you for…”
Lou tuned them out and looked at Jack. “Thanks.”
He ruffled her hair. “Any time, kiddo.”
She twisted her head away, smiling. “I’m not sixteen anymore.”
“Just as well. I know what you did when you were sixteen. Let me go have a word with the cops, and I’ll be back.” He headed across the ward after them.
Lou grabbed her phone from beside the bed and dialled quickly.
The call answered on the fourth ring. “Evan Close.”
“Hi, it’s me.”
“Hey, Lou. How you doing?”
“Varian was here. He made a scene, threatened me. The cops took him away.” She paused. “I’m discharging myself. I’m not safe here.”
“No, you’re not.” Banging and thudding echoed down the line. “You have a head injury. You stay in hospital for twenty-four hours observation. No debate.”
“Are you saying this as my friend or as my boss?” She wouldn’t add boyfriend to the list. That hope seemed to have dissipated with Jack’s arrival. Or maybe it was the stres
s of the situation that had thrown them together and made a mountain out of the proverbial molehill and something out of nothing.
“Both. I care too much to let anything happen to you. Leave it with me. Tell your stepfather he can stay at the manor while he’s here.”
Jack came back in and sat beside the bed.
“Evan says you can stay at his place rather than a hotel, Dad.”
“Thank him for me. My flight back is Tuesday. I need to rent a car from somewhere.”
“I heard that.” Evan’s voice echoed in her ear. “Tell him that Ira will collect him when he wants. Send me a text me from your phone. I have to go. Be good, and I’ll see you later.”
Lou hung up. “He said to text him from my phone when you want to leave. His bodyguard, Mr. Miles, will come and pick you up.”
“He has a bodyguard?”
“Well, more like a jack-of-all-trades, you know. Mr. Miles is a mixture of bodyguard, manservant, secretary, personal assistant, whatever. He’s also an excellent shot. Not to mention a good bloke to have around in a crisis. You’d like him.”
The nurse came over. “We’re moving you up to a ward now.”
“OK.”
Jack raised an eyebrow. “Really? You’re not arguing?”
“Evan said I had to stay in for twenty-four hours. So I’m staying.”
Obviously flabbergasted, Jack shook his head. “I’m sorry. Say that again?”
Lou didn’t remember the last time he’d been at a loss for words and tried not to smirk. “I said, Evan told me to stay so I’m staying.”
Jack let out a long, low whistle as the porters began to move the bed. “Now I know I need to have a long conversation with this Evan of yours.”
31
It was almost eight in the evening before Evan got back home. He’d left his team from Xenon at the dam. They’d be working around the clock in shifts to oversee the run off and start repair work. His phone would stay on all night, and he could drive to the dam whenever they needed him.
Ira met him in the hallway. “General Fitzgerald is in the lounge. I’ve put his bags in the room next to his daughter. I’ve also arranged for an armed guard outside her ward at the hospital.”
“Thank you.” Evan paused. “Ward? I thought I asked for a private room.”
“Four beds, only two of which are occupied, including hers. The west wing here is secure. Did you want a guard posted there as well?”
Evan shook his head. “There’s no need. The staff knows to keep away from there.”
Ira nodded. “And Dr. Carter said he’ll be back this evening to check on Lilly.”
Evan hung up his coat, really hoping the vet would bring good news this time. The dog had been struggling to stand since being caught in a trap a few days ago. “OK. Let me know when he arrives.”
“Of course, sir. Mrs. Jefferson kept a plate of dinner for you and General Fitzgerald in the kitchen. She said to ring for her when you’re ready to eat.”
“Thank you. I’ll get it in a few, no need to bother her further. Likewise with you. We’ll be fine. If I’m needed over at the dam tonight, I’ll drive myself.” He headed to the lounge and glanced over to where Jack sat behind the paper. “Evening.”
Jack stood. “Evening.”
Evan smiled, unsure why he was so nervous all of a sudden. This was awkward, although it shouldn’t have been. A kind of meet-the-parents, but without a proper dating history and without his significant other by his side to help him out. “Have you eaten?”
Jack shook his head. “I ate on the plane, but that was several hours ago.”
“Then we should do that. My housekeeper left dinner for both of us in the kitchen.”
“Do you have many servants?” Jack followed him into the hallway.
Evan shook his head. “No. Mrs Jefferson is the housekeeper and cook. Ira oversees security. I have a gardener who comes over once a week or so. Living in London as I do, I don’t have time to tend to the grounds here as much as I’d like. Even if I didn’t, there’s no need for a huge staff. I’m not adverse to a little dusting or hoovering.”
“What do you do?”
“Civil engineering. Dams mostly, including the Thames Barrier and the one here at Dark Lake. What about yourself?”
“Paper pushing normally, but I was a pilot.”
“I’ve always wanted to do that. I have my own jet but never found the time for lessons.” He named the model and a few of the specs, grinning as Jack’s eyes lit up. “I’ll take you up in it before you leave.”
“I’d like that. Thank you.”
Evan pushed open the kitchen door and signalled his housekeeper. Somehow, he knew she wouldn’t have listened to Ira and left. “Mrs Jefferson, go home. I can manage tonight. It’s about time you had the evening off.”
“It’s no bother, sir—”
He cut her off. “I happen to know your daughter is leaving for university in the morning. Go home and be with her.” He paused. He needed her safe and that meant nowhere near here. Same went for the rest of the staff. “Why don’t you take the next few days off and spend time with her properly. Drive her down to Winchester and settle her in.”
Mrs Jefferson’s face was a picture of delight. “Thank you. I wanted to ask but didn’t like to presume.”
“It isn’t presuming at all. Have a lovely few days and see you in a week.” He winked. “So get outta my kitchen…”
Mrs Jefferson laughed. “Yes, sir. How’s Dr. Fitzgerald doing?”
“As far as I know, she’s OK. Jack?”
“She was almost asleep when I left her. But she’s fine. She should be out of the hospital tomorrow.”
“That’s good. She’s a nice girl.” Mrs Jefferson undid her apron. “I’ll be off then. The plates are in the warming oven. Good night.”
“’Night.” Evan grabbed the oven gloves and tugged open the door to the warming oven. “You don’t mind eating down here?” He set the plates onto the thick oak table. “Just saves carrying the stuff upstairs, only to bring it down again.”
“Not at all.”
He found cutlery and a couple of cans of soda from the fridge. He held them up. “Or I have beer. I picked up the US habit of drinking it cold on a trip a few years ago. Something Lou and I discovered we have in common early on.”
“Beer’s fine.”
Evan put the soda back and took out two bottles of beer. “Can you grab the bottle opener from the third drawer, please?” He took the bottles to the table and straddled the bench. “I used to love eating here when I was a kid. Much less informal than the stuffy dining room upstairs.”
Jack nodded, sitting opposite him. “Do you mind if I say grace?”
Evan shook his head. He was surprised, but he wouldn’t argue. “Sure.”
Once Jack finished praying, he picked up his knife and fork. “Lou speaks very highly of you.”
“Does she?” Evan swallowed. “Is this a ‘what are your intentions towards my daughter’ conversation?”
Jack held his gaze. “Does it need to be? I mean, Lou normally argues every single doctor’s decision. She hates hospitals, yet here she is, staying in overnight because, and I quote, ‘Evan told me to.’ You obviously have some hold over my daughter that no one else has. Including her mother and I.”
Evan cut his meat and chewed slowly, formulating the answer in his mind before voicing it. “I like her—a lot. More than like her. We’ve only known each other a few days, but, yeah.”
“She’s staying in your house rather than a hotel?”
“Under my protection. I’m not sure how much she’s told you, but her hotel room got broken into her first night in the village. Someone tried to—” Evan broke off. “Let’s just say I got there in time to save her from the demise he had planned for her.”
“Say that again.”
“The bloke had her pinned down with a knife to her throat. He was a convicted rapist. The cops have him now; I can assure you of that.”
J
ack glowered at him, his knife and fork hitting the sides of his plate with a clunk. “And you just happened to be passing her hotel room, although you have a perfectly good house here? And then invited her to stay at your place rather than finding her another room?”
Evan swallowed and backtracked fast. “She was going out alone in the fog to find somewhere to eat. I stopped her. We spoke for a while, then she went up to her room. I was standing outside, with Ira, my bodyguard, and saw Lou in the window. She waved, I waved back. There was a man wearing a balaclava behind her. We ran upstairs and stopped the attack. She’s safer here. I have CCTV everywhere.”
His phone rang. “Excuse me. Evan Close.”
“Evan, it’s me.” Ralph spoke quickly. “I’ve finished the checks on the dive gear you used earlier. I’m assuming it wasn’t ours.”
“The helmets were. The rest were what Dr. Fitzgerald said Varian Sparrow provided. The wetsuits were our own. Why?”
“The tanks had been tampered with. That’s why she ran out of air. You both would have if you’d been trapped down there. And that’s another thing…”
Evan interrupted him. “Wait a sec, let me put you on speaker.” He eyed Jack. “You need to hear this.” He hit the speaker button and put the phone on the table. “Say that again, Ralph.”
“Both of the tanks had been tampered with. Had you been trapped when the spire fell into the church you’d have run out of air, right along with Dr. Fitzgerald.”
“Are we talking a faulty valve here or what?”
“The regulator had been damaged yes, but the tanks didn’t contain only air. They contained the mixture of gases used for longer and deeper dives. I’m assuming she checked them?”
“I watched her do it. She wouldn’t have dived if she’d known.” Evan closed his eyes. “So they were deliberately mislabelled?”
“That’s my bet, yes. Aside from the fact there’s no way those regulators were certified for use.”
Evan looked at Jack and took a deep breath. “OK. I want you to take photos of the gear. Send a copy of those, plus the report, to the police. Make sure it goes to Sergeant Drake and no one else. From now on, no one dives unless they are wearing our gear and you or I have checked it. How’s the dam faring?”