Ninja School Mum

by Lizzie Chantree

  ‘You asked her to move in!’ exclaimed Thea.

  ‘What’s wrong with that?’ he asked, stomping around. ‘It’s what normal people do when they love each other.’ Thea jolted in surprise at his candour, but she wasn’t even sure he knew what he had just said, as he was so agitated.

  ‘Skye’s not like normal people,’ explained Thea. ‘She’s had only herself to rely on for years and it scares her to need people.’ She patted Zack on the arm for reassurance and looked around to see where Skye was.

  ‘She said she was going home,’ he explained, looking tired and old suddenly. Thea felt sorry for him as this day hadn’t turned out quite how he had expected it to.

  ‘Home to your house?’ Seeing him flinch, Thea continued, feeling her stomach turn over suddenly. ‘To the cottage? She wouldn’t go there in the dark on her own, though, would she?’ Thea tried not to look as worried as she suddenly felt. She remembered Skye talking about seeing men following her and she was sure she’d glimpsed someone at the estate entrance the other day. Her stomach clenched in panic and she grabbed Zack’s arm. ‘Are all of the children asleep?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said impatiently. ‘Mike and Marlo have just gone in to see them.’

  ‘We need to check she’s not gone to the cottage alone. She’s mentioned someone loitering in the fields a few times and I’m sure I saw a man standing looking at your house the other day. It was fleeting, but he was there.’

  ‘I told Skye it was probably someone walking their dog. She didn’t say it had happened more than once!’ Zack cried, turning and racing in the direction of the cottage so that Thea had to struggle to keep up. She was glad she’d changed into flat shoes an hour ago, as her feet were hurting from dancing so much. She grabbed Zack’s arm again to slow him down, but rushed as fast as she could as she had a really bad feeling about this and hoped that she was wrong.

  Thea was out of breath when they got to the cottage, but the door was wide open and the lights were still off. They raced up the path, but stopped in shock as two figures battled in front of them. Zack appeared momentarily stunned and rooted to the spot, observing someone attacking Skye, who was still in her beautiful dress. Thea guessed that what stopped him was the way she was defending herself. The scene looked like something out of a martial arts film, as they flew around the room.

  Thea pushed past Zack as he snapped himself out of it and jumped forward to protect Skye. The moon moved up in the sky and shone a light into the room as Zack reached out and swung a punch at Skye’s attacker, just as he managed to pin her arms to her sides in front of him.

  ‘Reece!’ cried Thea. Zack’s fist connected with the attacker’s face and he was knocked out cold, as his arms had been holding Skye and he hadn’t seen the strike coming. Skye turned and saw who was behind her as he fell. Her face took on a sickening pallor and she looked at the man behind her in shock, then swivelled back to Thea, before she began to fall in a cold faint. Zack reached out and caught her, wrapping his arms around her and gently easing her onto the couch as Thea turned the switch and the room was filled with light.

  Zack stood up and went to grab the phone from his pocket to call the police before Thea stopped him. ‘What the hell is going on?’ he demanded to know, shooting a worried look at Skye and the man slumped on the floor. ‘You called him Reece. Skye’s Reece? He’s dead.’

  ‘He’s not dead,’ said Thea mournfully. ‘That’s him.’

  Zack stared at Thea as if she had two heads and started pacing the room in confusion. He bent down to Skye who was murmuring, but still not conscious, and wrapped a blanket around her to keep her warm. He eyed the man with suspicion and kicked his foot more gently than he clearly would have liked, to see if he was still out cold. Thea looked at Reece sadly, but drank in his features and bent to touch his hand. Zack looked at her in horror. ‘What the hell is going on here, Thea? How do you know him?’

  ‘He’s Flo’s dad,’ she said sadly.

  Chapter Forty

  Zack’s face was as white as Skye’s now, but he hadn’t called the police. He sat down next to Skye in shock and placed her head gently in his lap while he smoothed his hand over her hair. He didn’t know what the hell to do now, but knew he couldn’t make any decisions before he knew the whole damn story.

  Thea looked like she’d seen a ghost and Zack’s stomach dropped at the thought of Skye being hurt. He shouldn’t have argued with her or let her walk home alone. This was his fault. He stared at the slumped form on the floor and took in his chiselled features and blonde hair. This was Leo’s dad? Flo’s dad too, apparently. ‘Does Skye know about Flo?’ he ground out menacingly.

  ‘No,’ said Thea bitterly, shutting the front door, then kneeling down and putting Reece’s head in her lap.

  ‘He wasn’t fighting her,’ she sobbed. ‘I’m guessing he broke in and was trying to find out what she was doing here. Skye must have disturbed him and tried to beat the crap out of him,’ she said angrily. ‘She always has to come out on top.’ Zack couldn’t believe what he was hearing and was horrified at Thea’s tone and censure of Skye.

  ‘What has she ever done to you, Thea?’ he asked, genuinely wanting to understand.

  ‘If only you knew,’ she cried, wiping her wet face with the back of her hands and smudging her mascara across her cheeks.

  ‘So tell me,’ he demanded, gently laying Skye’s head down on the couch as he had seen she had woken now, but was staying deadly still, and he knew she would want to hear this too.

  ‘Skye worked for a government agency called LUCAN,’ Thea said, as if she was daydreaming and not really all there. Zack started in surprise at finding this out about Skye, but didn’t want to stop Thea now. ‘She was part of an elite team who kept the country safe. I’d heard of the team as I worked there too, but we’d never met. There was an accident one night and her field team were killed. Skye wasn’t there, but Reece was. Everyone thought he died in the explosion.’

  Zack looked at her huddled form in confusion. She kept methodically stroking Reece’s head as if he was a child.

  ‘But he wasn’t dead?’ questioned Zack in a steely tone.

  ‘No,’ carried on Thea. ‘He was thrown clear by the blast. He hid for a while as he thought it was too dangerous to return. He knew there had to be a mole in the team. He came back when it was safe, but by then Skye had disappeared.’

  ‘He left Skye to think he was dead?’ gasped Zack, appalled.

  ‘He thought it was for the best,’ defended Thea, looking up and then bowing her head again at the anger blazing in Zack’s eyes. ‘He thought the people who killed his team might go after Skye and Leo. By the time the threat was gone, he knew it was too late. Then he met me,’ she said possessively. ‘He asked me to help him find her, as I was the best technical tracker they had,’ she saw the incredulity on Zack’s face and smiled a bitter smile at him.

  ‘I used to be the top of my field. I could hack any system, track anyone and delete whole towns from existence. I wasn’t always as useless and pathetic as I am now,’ she said defensively, hating the scorn she saw.

  ‘So, you found her?’ he said angrily.

  ‘Not for years,’ said Thea, taking a deep breath and laying Reece down on the floor so that she could stand up. She looked at her watch to see how long he’d been out for. It had been mere minutes, although it felt like an age to Zack. She walked towards the fridge to get some ice to wake Reece up.

  ‘Thea!’ commanded Zack. ‘How did you find her?’

  ‘Technology changes, and when I found out I was pregnant I was angry with her. He didn’t want kids with me, just with her.’ Thea looked over at Skye, who hadn’t moved an inch, before turning to put the ice in a tea towel, ready to apply to Reece’s forehead.

  ‘I tried something new and bingo! I had a trail from a couple of years ago. I could see she moved around and then I decided to see what all the fuss was about. If she was so perfect, I wanted to know why, so I brought her here.’

  ‘How
the hell could you do that?’ Zack demanded to know.

  ‘I knew you had a cottage up for rent, so I placed ads where she’d see them. She thought she was so clever, but she still had regular haunts at her old home. I left subliminal messages everywhere. When anyone else called for the cottage I rerouted the call to a contact and he told them it was booked. When she called, he said it was hers and available straight away. I used a photo of your granddad, as I knew your pretty face would scare her away. She hadn’t been near a man for years. Then I sent a friend in to spook her a little. Your granddad would have reminded her of her own dad and home. It worked a treat.’ She was marching the words out, but Zack felt sick at what she was saying. ‘I hated Skye then, but that was before I knew her.’ She started to sob, and reached down to place the ice-cold tea towel onto Reece’s forehead.

  Zack bent down to stop her, although what he really wanted to do was to forcibly pick up this madwoman and eject her from the cottage. ‘He might be dangerous.’

  ‘He would never hurt a hair on her head,’ she said through her tears. ‘He loves her.’

  Zack felt like he’d been punched and Skye leant her arm on the couch and tried to sit up, before she fainted again. Zack knew she’d be reeling from what she’d heard. She wouldn’t be able to believe what Thea had done. Zack rushed over to help her to sit up. He knew Thea would be aware Skye could have heard some of what she’d just said. She wiped her arm across her face and stood staring at Skye, a completely different person to the one Skye and Zack had thought they knew. Thea couldn’t move from the spot.

  Skye looked at Reece and a sob broke from her throat. ‘Get out!’ she screamed at Thea. ‘Get out of my sight and if I ever see you again, I swear I will break your neck and dance around your body. Get out!’

  Thea fumbled and fell before rushing for the door, tears streaming down her face. She would head back to the estate to get Flo, Zack realised. She wouldn’t want to be alone tonight, and would also fear what Skye would do if she came across Flo later.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Reece groaned and sat up gingerly, rubbing his jaw and focusing immediately on Skye before turning his head to look for Thea. ‘She’s gone,’ sobbed Skye. ‘I think you’d better leave too.’

  ‘Skye,’ he implored, moving to hold her cold hand before seeing Zack sitting so close to her, looking at him with disdain, and dropping the idea. ‘Please let me explain.’

  ‘How can you explain leaving me for years to bring up our son alone, thinking his father was dead?’ Skye raged, trying to get up, but blood rushed to her head and she stumbled and sat down again, as Zack jumped up and settled her onto the couch. He then walked to the kitchen to grab the whisky bottle he had seen there a few weeks ago. Keeping his eyes trained on Reece, he picked up the glasses and Scotch and walked back. Placing two glasses on the low table by the couch, he poured two hefty slugs, handed one to Skye and took a deep draught himself, ignoring Reece.

  Skye sipped her drink and colour began to flood back into her face. She looked at Reece as if she’d never seen him before. All of the hopes and dreams she’d had with this man, the memories; they shattered before her eyes. He wasn’t the prince she’d made him out to be. He was a weak man who put himself before his family.

  ‘Skye,’ he said pleadingly. ‘I thought you’d be safer without me. I didn’t know Marcus had set us up at first, and thought the threat was still out there. I thought I could protect you if they didn’t know I was alive.’

  ‘But you didn’t think it might be a good idea to stop my suffering by telling me that my husband wasn’t dead?’ Skye saw Zack flinch, but there wasn’t much she could do about that now. She was surprised he hadn’t run for the hills, to be honest.

  ‘I couldn’t come back until Marcus was dead and the threat had been neutralised. I spent months proving it was him, then he killed himself so he didn’t have to face me, the bastard. I came looking for you then,’ he explained.

  ‘You’d left it too late. By leaving me to protect our son, without the information that the threat was gone, I spent years and years running, scared for the safety of our child.’

  Reece looked aghast and Skye saw a new understanding come to Zack. A few things would start to slot into place. Perhaps he would finally understand that it was no wonder Skye was always so skittish about strange men in the fields and not happy about settling down. She’d endured hell. She knew he hated the lies, but must understand a parent’s need to protect their child. She could even sympathise with the other man before him, in a weird kind of way, although the route he’d taken was wrong and it had almost destroyed her. She certainly wasn’t ready to forgive him yet.

  Reece rubbed his temples and got up to sit on the armchair opposite them. Skye guessed that he really wanted to wipe the floor with this man who was sitting so close to her. He could take him in seconds, but he probably didn’t think that would help his cause and he was right. She bet he was confused about seeing Thea too. Had he discovered the messages Thea said she’d left for Flo’s dad, and followed her here months ago? Had he had found he actually missed her, and his curiosity at the clues she’d left made him come and check them out? Did he love her?

  Reece spoke in an even tone as if he was trying hard to control his emotions. ‘I was so shocked when I first saw you, Skye. Then I saw both you and Thea together and my world blew apart. What the hell has Thea been doing all this time? Has she known where you were all along, and wanted to keep you to herself as a punishment to me? If so, why run away and bring me here?’ he sighed. ‘I’d originally wanted to confront you both, but I was called in by LUCAN and had to bide my time. I had been on the trail of the people who killed our team and I had to make a choice to stay, or lose them again.’ Skye looked horrified that he’d made this decision, but he grimaced and carried on. ‘I’d spent years tracking them and couldn’t risk them going to ground. I made the decision to follow the lead and prayed that you and Thea would still be here when he returned. I left one of my most trusted people here watching you, but it was still the most challenging decision of my life. It was the right one, though,’ he looked into Skye’s angry eyes and almost baulked before he continued, ‘As the threat had been neutralised and my family would always be safe now. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were scared.’ He looked troubled by the idea that he’d caused so much pain. ‘I thought you’d decided to leave when you heard I was gone and chosen a normal life to bring up our son. I hoped it would be safer for you both as far away from me as you could get.’

  ‘That wasn’t your choice to make,’ yelled Skye, losing all sense of calm and jumping up and swinging for Reece. Zack stood up and reached for her, but Reece was faster and he caught her and pulled her to him, where she broke down and cried as if the world was ending. ‘I’m so sorry, Skye,’ he soothed, staring directly at Zack over her head, as if silently telling him to leave. Zack stood his ground and waited for Skye to decide what was happening next. Skye glanced his way and understood from his body language that he wanted to drag her from Reece’s arms, but knew that could make her push him further away.

  She gulped in some air, and couldn’t believe she was feeling Reece’s arms around her again. It felt so good, but he had broken her trust and, although she was elated that he was alive, he’d crushed her again by lying to her all these years. How would she tell Leo? She pushed him away and started pacing the room, her dress swirling around her legs and creating a pool of stars as she moved.

  ‘What about Thea? You didn’t take long to move on to another woman, or several, by the sounds of it?’

  Reece took a deep breath and accepted the bullet. ‘I met Thea a while after you’d disappeared. I was lonely and I missed you.’

  ‘Not enough to find me,’ she said bitterly.

  ‘At first I thought it was safer to leave you alone. Then I thought maybe I’d made a mistake, but it was too late. I asked Thea to find you. We spent so much time together, things just happened. I told her I didn’t want anythi
ng serious, but she didn’t listen.’

  ‘It’s pretty serious now Leo has a half-sister!’

  ‘I didn’t know about that until recently. I saw you together, but thought maybe she’d left because she’d met someone else. It’s why I’ve been hanging around and trying to work out what was going on here.’

  ‘She was jealous of me,’ said Skye, darkly.

  ‘What?’ said Reece in confusion, reaching for her glass and taking a gulp of the fiery whisky.

  ‘She wanted to find out why you loved me and not her, so it seems she looked a bit harder for me when she actually wanted to find me, then set me up to come here.’

  ‘Bloody hell,’ sighed Reece, putting his head in his hands and cursing the mess he’d inadvertently made. ‘She sent me messages to bring me here too.’

  ‘She told me she’d sent messages to Flo’s dad, but cleverly omitted who you were. Why would she do that, knowing I was here? It’s sick!’ Skye wanted to hunt Thea down and demand answers.

  Zack looked up at them and his eyes blazed at seeing them so near each other. ‘She wanted to see who you’d choose when they both had your child,’ he ground out, looking sick, and holding the whisky glass in a death grip as if he was controlling his anger but wanted to throw it at the interloper.

  Reece stared dismissively at Zack and squared his shoulders. ‘Who are you anyway? I’ve seen you hanging around Skye and my son. What’s his story?’ he demanded to know from Skye. Zack straightened his back and stood tall to show he wasn’t about to be intimidated by anyone.

  Skye stood between them and placed a hand on each of their chests, thinking her heart would break. ‘He’s the man who has brought me back to life,’ she said simply, making Zack smile, tiredly, and Reece look like he’d been kicked in the balls. She wondered if he’d thought about her being with other men over the years, and if the reality of it was quite different. Zack slipped his hand into Skye’s and she squeezed it reassuringly. ‘I think Reece and I need to sit and talk, though, Zack,’ she said gently.