Unexpected Blessings

by Barbara Taylor Bradford

  ‘Very, very serious, Mrs Longden.’

  ‘B-b-b-but I don’t understand,’ she began, stuttering, obviously more unhinged than before. ‘Why would Mark take Adele without telling Tessa? I’m not following this.’

  Intuitively, Jack knew the woman was telling him the truth, and he modulated his voice slightly, made it softer, as he explained. ‘Because of the divorce. It’s becoming extremely bitter, he’s trying to use Adele as a weapon against Tessa.’

  ‘Divorce! They’re getting a divorce! But I don’t know anything about that. Oh, this is so absurd, Mark would have told me. My son tells me everything. It just can’t be,’ she asserted.

  ‘Oh it’s true right enough,’ Jack answered. ‘Would you like to speak to your daughter-in-law now?’

  ‘Y-y-y-yes please.’ The stuttering had started again.

  ‘Just a moment.’ Jack beckoned to Tessa, who was by his side in a flash. Covering the mouthpiece, he said softly, ‘Be careful what you say. We need her.’

  Taking the receiver from him, Tessa murmured, ‘Hello, Mrs Longden.’ She was trying hard to keep a rein on her emotions, willing herself to be controlled, even though she was shaking inside. ‘Jack is correct. Mark has taken Adele. There is no other explanation for her disappearance. She must be so upset and confused, not understanding what’s going on, poor little thing.’

  ‘Yes, yes, I know, you’re right. But is it true about the divorce?’

  ‘Yes, it is. I’ve tried hard with Mark, tried to keep the marriage together, but it’s not been working between us. We’ve been separated since June.’

  ‘Mark never told me!’ Hilary Longden cried, tears in her voice. ‘How could Mark do that to me?’

  ‘I don’t know, but he did. And we do need to find Mark,’ Tessa repeated tensely. ‘And Adele.’

  ‘I don’t know where he is, and I am telling you the truth!’

  ‘Would Mr Longden know?’ Tessa probed.

  ‘No, no, of course not. Mark’s not a little boy, he doesn’t check in with us, you know that, Tessa.’

  Tessa looked at Jack, made a facial grimace and handed the phone to him without a word.

  ‘Jack Figg again, Mrs Longden. Since you have no knowledge of Mark’s whereabouts I shall call in the North Yorkshire police. I do know Mark was in Yorkshire over the last few days, including last night, and I’m quite certain they’ll find him fast enough. It’s a pity, really, that I have to resort to this. And then there’s going to be all the nasty publicity. That can’t possibly do his reputation much good. Well, thanks for your courtesy, for hearing me out, Mrs Longden. Good night.’

  ‘Mr Figg, please, don’t hang up! I promise you I have no idea where Mark is, nor do I know anything about Adele’s disappearance. However, I do have a mobile phone number which Mark gave me last week. I think it might be a new one.’

  ‘Please give it to me.’

  ‘Just a minute. I have to find it. Hold on, it’s somewhere on this desk.’ A split second later she was reciting the number to him and extracting a promise from him to keep her abreast of the situation.

  Jack hung up and said to Tessa, ‘Do you know this mobile number?’ As he spoke he showed her the pad he had written it on.

  She shook her head. ‘His mother’s right. I think it’s a new one.’

  Jack lifted the phone and dialled.

  It was answered within a split second. ‘Hello?’

  ‘Mark?’

  ‘Yes.’ There was a hesitancy in the voice, wariness.

  ‘If you cut me off I will immediately ask the North Yorkshire police to go into action. And I’ll tell the media about your abduction of Adele.’

  ‘What?’ Mark exploded.

  ‘Don’t start with me, Mark. We know you have Adele. You’ve been spotted.’

  ‘Who the hell is this?’ he demanded, anger in the tone.

  ‘Jack Figg here. I work for Paula O’Neill. Pm with Tessa at Pennistone Royal. We want Adele returned. At once.’

  ‘I don’t have her. It’s the first I’ve heard about an abduction.’

  ‘You don’t sound too upset about your daughter’s sudden disappearance today. Which means that you know exactly where she is. She’s with you. How do charges of kidnapping sound, Mark? Should help your career and your reputation no end, eh?’

  ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he cried.

  Tessa came to Jack, gave him a hard stare and motioned to the phone. He handed it over at once.

  ‘Mark, this is Tessa. Please bring Adele back.’

  ‘Why am I being accused in this way?’ he demanded, anger echoing again.

  ‘Because you took her this morning. We know you did. Wiggs saw you. Please, please bring her back to me. For the child’s sake.’

  ‘I told you, I don’t have her!’

  ‘Yes, you do. Don’t play games with me, Mark.’

  There was a silence and she wondered if she had lost him, been cut off, when he suddenly spoke again.

  He said, ‘You won’t get her back until you meet my terms.’

  ‘Anything you want,’ she said swiftly, relief flooding through her. Obviously, he did have Adele.

  ‘Joint custody, for starters,’ Mark intoned.

  ‘The solicitors will work all that out. But you can have the house in Hampstead, the cars, a financial settlement, as you wanted.’

  ‘Joint custody,’ he repeated, icy cold.

  Jack’s cell phone began to ring and he switched it on, walked closer to the window, speaking into it as he did.

  Tessa’s eyes followed Jack; she said into the phone, ‘The solicitors will have to get together to work things out.’ She took a deep breath and against her better judgement added, ‘If not joint custody then certainly a lot of access.’

  Suddenly Jack was hurrying towards her across the library, a grim smile on his face. He took the receiver from her unceremoniously, and said, ‘Jack Figg here. I’ve just been speaking to the North Yorkshire police on the other line. They are on their way to pick you up. We know you are at the Spa Hotel in Ripon with Adele. Registered under the name of William Stone.’

  Jack paused when he heard the surprised intake of breath at the other end of the phone. ‘If you leave now you can be here at Pennistone Royal in half an hour, and deal with me. Or you can wait for the police to pick you up within the next fifteen minutes. Your choice, mate.’

  ‘I’m leaving now,’ Mark said abruptly, the bluster gone from his voice all of a sudden.

  ‘With Adele?’

  ‘Yes, I’m bringing her,’ Mark mumbled and clicked off.

  Jack replaced the receiver and looked at Tessa, a triumphant gleam in his light-grey eyes. ‘That was one of my operatives on my mobile a moment ago. When he discovered that a man with a little girl was staying at the Spa in Ripon he double-checked with a contact he has there. The name William Stone didn’t ring a bell with Pete, but he thought he’d better tell me, and of course I knew it was Mark at once.’

  ‘Thank God!’ Tessa reached out, touched Jack’s arm. ‘I feel as though I’m going to faint with relief that she’s coming home. Thanks, Jack, thank you so much.’

  In a sudden spontaneous gesture, Jack stepped closer, pulled her into his arms and hugged her to him. ‘Before you can say Jack Robinson you’ll have Adele back with you. Now, come on, we’ve quite a lot to do before he arrives.’

  Tessa nodded and then promptly burst into tears, sobbing as if her heart would break. ‘It’s relief,’ he said to her gently, and led her over to the sofa. Looking at India he went on, ‘It’s a normal reaction, she’s been pent up with tension all day. Sit with her, look after her, she’ll be fine soon.’

  Beckoning to Desmond and Emsie, Jack continued, ‘I need you two to do a couple of things for me.’

  ‘Yes, Jack!’ Desmond exclaimed, instantly jumping off the fender, rushing over to Jack, with Emsie following in his wake.

  ‘What do you need us to do?’ Emsie asked when they came to a stop near the
Georgian desk. Her face was eager, her dark eyes bright with earnestness.

  ‘Desmond, please go and find Wiggs and tell him that Adele should be back within half an hour. But don’t say anything else, and don’t mention Mark. Okay?’

  Desmond nodded, and then volunteered, ‘And Jack, when you talk to Mums, tell her we need to do something about security here. Anybody can come and go as they please.’

  ‘I’ve made a note to do that, Desmond. I’ve a plan for a proper security system in the works,’ Jack replied, and then looked at Emsie, smiled at her. ‘Go and tell Margaret and Joe that Adele is coming back soon, and please ask Margaret to bring in some ice and a tray of drinks. I certainly need a vodka and I’m sure everyone else wants something, too.’

  The two youngsters hurried out, and Linnet walked across to Jack and hugged him. ‘Thanks Jack, thanks for everything you’ve done.’ Her face was ringed in smiles.

  ‘Thanks not necessary, Beauty.’ He stared at her intently, said in a low voice, ‘I pushed it a bit, but I felt I was doing the right thing. Thank God it worked out all right. Mark became scared when I said the police were on the way. It sobered him up.’

  ‘Why? Was he drunk?’ Linnet asked swiftly, raising a brow.

  ‘Just a manner of speaking.’

  ‘Had you called the North Yorkshire police, Jack, or were you bluffing?’

  ‘Bluffing, Beauty. But when Pete, my operative checking the local hotels, mentioned the name William Stone I remembered what you’d told me about Mark using that name as a pseudonym for his client Jonathan Ainsley.’

  ‘I’m glad I told you.’

  He smiled, went to the desk, sat down, looked at the pad where he had made voluminous notes.

  A moment later Evan was standing in front of the desk, and he glanced up, his eyes questioning.

  ‘Thanks for being such a calming influence, Jack. Would it be all right if I told Robin that Jonathan is in Hong Kong? He was wondering where his son was when I had lunch with him today. It will ease his mind knowing Jonathan’s not in the country.’

  ‘By all means. Be my guest, Evan.’

  A moment later Linnet and Evan went to sit with Tessa and India, gently talking to Tessa, reassuring her that everything was going to be all right. She accepted their words, their kindness, their reassurances, and tried to smile, tried to bring herself back to a normal state. But the tension was deeply imbedded in her, and she was also aware that her life had been changed forever by the events of the day. She also knew that no easing of her pain would come until her child was safely by her side.

  Gideon Harte sat at his desk in the offices of the Yorkshire Consolidated Newspaper Company, in South East London, not far from the famed Fleet Street of yesteryear. Although the renowned street of ink was still there, many of the great national daily newspapers had moved to quarters elsewhere as the Hartes’ newspaper company had.

  Overlooking a portion of the Thames, Gideon’s office was spacious, light-filled and airy, with lots of plate-glass windows, shaded by silver metal-mesh panels. It was discreetly decorated in shades of white and grey, and there were lots of books banked in low-slung black-lacquered shelves that rode across a long back wall. His black-lacquered desk was empty, the way he liked it, with a few memos in simple black trays, a dictionary, a thesaurus, and antique crystal inkpots on a silver tray.

  Pushing his chair back, Gideon lifted his feet to the desk and leaned back in the chair, watching the large modern clock on the wall straight ahead. Once the hands hit six forty-five he lowered his legs, sat up straight and picked up the phone. He dialled the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills and waited.

  When the operator answered he said, ‘Toby Harte, please.’

  A moment later his brother was saying, ‘Hello? Toby Harte here.’

  ‘It’s me, Toby. Gid. And it’s good news. Jack’s found Mark. He’s admitted he has Adele, and he’s on his way to Pennistone Royal now bringing her back to Tessa.’

  ‘Thank God! What a bastard he is, Gid, taking his own child in that way, and all to get back at poor Tessa. He should be–well, I can’t think of anything quite bad enough to do to that shit!’

  Gid laughed. ‘How about horsewhipped, to use an old-fashioned phrase? Or even better, what about hung, drawn and quartered?’

  Toby also laughed and said, ‘I’ll punch him in the face a few times myself and I’ll be relieved when I know Adele is actually with Tessa at the house. Only then will I relax, I don’t trust that bugger.’

  ‘I agree with you. But I promised to let you know as soon as I had some news, and I just hung up on Jack. Evan had called me a few minutes before, to pass the word for him. But then Jack called himself, wanted to talk to me about security. Not only at Pennistone Royal, which is very vulnerable, as we now know, but all of our homes, and I think he’s right. They should have more protection.’

  ‘Agreed. And Jack’s the right chap to set everything up. By the way, do Paula and Shane know anything yet, Gid?’

  ‘God, no! And don’t get involved. Don’t tell our parents, because you know our mother will pass it on to Paula. They’re as thick as thieves.’

  ‘Well, all of them are. Mother and Dad. Shane and Paula, Sally and Anthony Standish, Amanda. And Sarah, now she’s back in the fold. They grew up together, for God’s sake,’ Toby reminded his brother. ‘We all know about Heron’s Nest, the summers they spent there, now don’t we!’

  ‘Listen to this. Jack told me that one of his operatives found out that a man with a small child was registered at the Spa Hotel in Ripon–your old hunting ground, if you recall. Anyway, the man had registered under the name of William Stone. It meant nothing to Jack’s chap, but the minute Jack heard it he knew it had to be Mark. William Stone equals Jonathan Ainsley. That’s his pseudonym.’

  ‘Oh Christ, you’re right! Was Jonathan involved, do you think?’ Toby wondered out loud.

  ‘I’ve no idea,’ Gideon answered, ‘but it’s crossed Tessa’s mind and Linnet’s, not to mention Jack’s as well, so Evan told me.’

  ‘I see. Paula will have to be told eventually, you know, something like this can’t be shoved under the rug.’

  ‘It couldn’t be anyway, because Tessa’s promised Mark Longden the earth to bring Adele back to her, and she’s going to have to discuss all that with her mother and Shane. It could involve millions, according to Linnet. I guess right now Longden is harping on about joint custody, so Tessa is trying to buy him off. Everybody has a price, according to our great-grandmother. Emma’s rule.’

  ‘Emma was right. And that joint custody bit won’t sit well with Tessa. Thank God Adrianna and I don’t have any kids, it certainly makes things easier.’

  ‘Are you and Adrianna definitely getting the divorce, then, Toby?’ Gideon asked.

  ‘We are, but at least it’s amicable. We both want it, Gid. She’s decided she prefers to live and work in Hollywood, and I want to be in London. Have to be, as a matter of fact, when you consider my responsibilities. The marriage was a big mistake, in all truthfulness. But she’s being decent, believe it or not…she’s not a gold-digger, far from it. Adrianna doesn’t want alimony. She’d like me to buy her a small flat in London, so she can have a base: you know, one foot each side of the Atlantic, and I agreed. Actually, though, I’m thinking of letting her have our flat. I’ve never really liked it, and she has always loved it.’

  ‘I felt you wanted a divorce, so am glad for you, Toby. And Dad will be, too. He’s looking for grandchildren from you, Toby, and he never thought Adrianna was the motherly type.’

  Toby began to chuckle. ‘Never a truer word spoken by our dear dad. The old man’s right on the ball.’ There was a moment’s hesitation before Toby went on. ‘Do you think I can call Tessa? I’ve been so terribly worried about her, and I do want her to know I’m here for her, whatever she needs.’

  ‘Why shouldn’t you phone her, Toby? You and she have been joined at the hip all of your lives. And she knows you’re there for her. Of course, gi
ve her a ring, for God’s sake.’

  ‘I wouldn’t want to call her just when she was getting Adele back, I wouldn’t want to interrupt that. Knowing Tessa the way I do, she’s suffered horribly today, not knowing where Adele was.’

  ‘You’ve got a few minutes before Mark arrives at the house. So call her now and give her my love.’

  ‘I will. Everything’s all right between you and Evan, isn’t it, Gid?’

  ‘Absolutely. Never been better. Talk to you later.’

  ‘Sure thing, Gideon.’

  Gideon leaned back in his chair, after hanging up on his brother, propped his feet on the desk again and closed his eyes. He began to think about Evan Hughes.

  Things were better between them, even though she was constantly worrying about her father and his impending trip to England. But she’s really worrying about what he’ll think of me, and of Robin Ainsley, Gideon suddenly decided, and wished then that she wouldn’t wrestle with those sort of things, inventing problems when they didn’t exist. The problem was Evan herself, Gideon decided. She needed everybody to like the people she liked, and that wasn’t the way the world was.

  He knew he wanted to make a life with Evan, wanted her on a permanent basis. And ever since the beginning of their relationship he had felt she wanted to make a life with him. But he had come to the conclusion she couldn’t make that commitment to him because of her father and his peculiar attitude towards the Hartes.

  Gideon sighed. He would be delighted when her father finally did arrive from New York. Then everything would be out in the open.

  In the meantime, he had a national daily to get out. With his father away, The Daily Gazette was under his aegis. Opening his eyes and swinging his feet to the carpet, he stood up, retrieved his mobile from the desk and left his office, heading for the newsroom, one of the places he always loved to be.

  Tessa could hardly sit still and finally, in her agitation, she stood up and exclaimed to Jack, ‘I just can’t stand it! I’ve got to go to the front door, wait for Adele there.’

  ‘I know, I know. Go ahead, Tessa. Mark should be arriving at any moment now. Come to think of it, I’d better accompany you.’ Jack joined her, took hold of her arm and led her to the Stone Hall.