From The Shadows (Blaze series Book 1)

by David Carter

  “I’m so sorry, Bobby! I didn’t know—I swear!”

  He held her by the shoulders and gently sat her back down on the edge of the bed. After she calmed down, he muttered, “You must think I’m a monster...”

  “No.” She trembled, “Of course I don’t. The man who stood with his back to the cameras is the monster.”

  “That was the governor of Winterhill. He’s sick and twisted, and takes pleasure in watching people fight to the death. So when he threw me in The Wolves’ Den I had to make a decision: it was either me—or them. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  She nodded.

  Blaze’s head was spinning—thinking about Franks’ daughter, knowing that if he didn’t deliver the memory stick in the next seven minutes that she was as good as dead, and that he would be responsible. “Look, I really need to go...”

  He got up to leave.

  “Bobby—”

  He stopped with his back to her.

  “I didn’t mean what I said to you at the courthouse. You will always be my son. I was just so angry with you, and I’m sorry. I’d give anything to make things right with you.”

  He let the words linger.

  “Will you ever forgive me?” she asked bravely.

  He let out the longest sigh of his life. Then he said, “Right up until this moment I wasn’t sure if I could ever get over you publicly disowning me, but I’m in the middle of a situation that’s made me think twice about the importance of family.” Then to her surprise he said, “I know I provoked you into saying what you said, and I’m sorry for burning down the school. It was wrong of me, but I did it for a damn-good reason—which had very little to do with you. Pissing you off was just a bonus at the time...”

  “I understand why you did it, Bobby, and I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when you needed me. If I could turn back the clock I would do things so much differently...”

  He closed his eyes and listened intently to what he’d waited twenty-three years to hear, his anger towards her fading as the sincerity of her words gnawed away at him.

  “I love you for who you are, Bobby Blaise. I know you may struggle to believe that, but I mean it with all my heart. I admit I made so many mistakes, and that you felt like I didn’t love you as much as Trinity and James, but that’s not the slightest bit true. I’ve always thought of you as my beautiful son.”

  He turned around to face her. “Why the hell would I believe that when you and Dad made me feel like I was nothing more than an inconvenience?”

  She tried to hold back another wave of tears. “You couldn’t be more further from the truth where I’m concerned, Bobby...”

  “What? You mean you loved me but Dad didn’t? You know he used to beat me, right?”

  “Yes, I suspected he may have, but I was never sure because you never confided in me with anything!”

  “I know...I wasn’t much of a talker back then...”

  She hesitated, then said, “You know, I never did tell you the real reason why Raymond used to beat me...”

  Blaze was taken aback, and sternly said, “No matter what I may have thought about you for all these years, there is no good reason for a man to abuse the mother of his child.”

  Elizabeth closed her eyes and started shaking.

  “What’s the matter?” he asked.

  She opened her mouth to tell him the truth but the words wouldn’t come out.

  “Mum?”

  He called me Mum. He’s let me back in. I can finally tell him, she thought.

  “He wasn’t abusing the mother of his child.”

  “What? What the hell are you trying to tell me?”

  “Raymond isn’t your father,” she blurted out.

  Blaze nearly toppled over. “What the fuck did you just say?”

  She finally told him the truth. “Raymond may have raised you, Bobby, but he isn’t your biological father. That’s why he gave you such a hard time. That’s why he beat me. And that’s why there’s always been a road block between us; my guilty conscience for not telling you the truth.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about!”

  “I can explain everything if you’ll just give me a chance!” she pleaded.

  “Explain what? That my life is a fucking lie right from the beginning!”

  Franks and Ryan heard the commotion from the corridor and quickly intervened. “Is everything okay in here?” asked Ryan.

  “No, it’s fucking not!” seethed Blaze, as he pushed between them and headed out the door, “it’s all fucked up like it’s always been!”

  Ryan looked sympathetically at Elizabeth. “Are you all right?”

  “I don’t know what I am any more,” she said sadly.

  He stood her up and gave her a hug. “We really need to go after him. Will you be all right by yourself until Trinity comes back?”

  “I think so.” She sniffled.

  Ryan encouraged Elizabeth to call Sharon if she needed anything, before bolting after Blaze. Franks did his best to keep up.

  “Whoa, horsey,” Ryan said as he ran up behind Blaze in the corridor. “You wanna tell me what just happened back there?”

  “It’s none of your fucking business,” he sulked.

  “I thought I told you that making up with Elizabeth was part of our deal, remember?”

  “Yeah, well, I just tried that—and it only made things worse.”

  “How so?”

  “I don’t wanna talk about it. I’ve got enough shit to deal with right now – in case you hadn’t noticed.” He held up the memory stick and waved it in his face.

  Ryan politely asked Anna Davies to go have a coffee in the staff room when they arrived at the reception desk. She didn’t make a fuss; she was awfully fond of him.

  Ryan, Blaze, and Franks felt a rush of hot air brush over them as the hospital’s electronic sliding doors suddenly opened. “Daddy!” Franks’ daughter cried out.

  “Are you okay, sweetie?” he asked anxiously, with tear-filled eyes.

  She nodded. “I just want to go home, Daddy.”

  The man walking in right behind them was dressed in a dark blue suit. Franks recognised him as one of Archer’s henchmen from his drugs organisation. “Let them go,” he demanded.

  “Hand over the memory stick,” the man replied.

  Blaze held it up for him to see. “It’s all yours. We don’t want any trouble.”

  “Toss it over,” the man said.

  “The girls first.”

  “I’ll give you one—then you toss me the stick—then I let the other go. No tricks.”

  Blaze had no choice; he saw the muzzle of a small pistol discreetly held to the small of Rita’s back. “All right, all right, just take it easy. We’ll do it your way,” he said.

  The man let Franks’ daughter go. She ran to the safety of her father’s arms. He picked her up and held her tighter than ever before. “It’s okay, baby,” he whispered, “you’re safe now; Daddy’s here.”

  Blaze tossed the stick over to the man.

  “Thank you,” he said with a smirk, and roughly pushed Rita forward so that she stumbled. He stared at Ryan as he said, “And if any of you try and follow us, I can assure you that next time I won’t return Frankie’s daughter in one piece. Do you understand?”

  “Like you said, no tricks,” answered Ryan.

  The man turned around and walked back to the black SUV waiting for him in the car park.

  Ryan and Blaze collapsed into two of the vacant chairs in the waiting area, breathing a sigh of relief. Franks held his slender wife, and kissed her. He nuzzled her long, black hair, caressing her as he did so. “I’m sorry I put you through this, baby,” he whispered, “I promise you everything’s going to be okay.”

  She broke their embrace and stared into his weeping eyes, sensing his unquestionable remorse, then rested her head against his. “Our baby girl is safe and we are together; that’s all that matters to me,” she said.

  Blaze watched the touching scen
e from his chair; it unexpectedly moved him. As Franks led his wife and daughter down the corridor to his room, he thought, why couldn’t I have a family like that?

  Ryan interrupted his thoughts. “Do you think they’ll be okay?” he asked him.

  “They’ll get through it. I’m just glad nobody got hurt. I’d have killed myself if something had have happened to one of them.”

  The cell phone Archer had given Blaze rang in his pocket. He answered it. “What the fuck do you want now? I gave you what you wanted, didn’t I?”

  “It’s nice to see you’re a man of your word,” replied Archer.

  “Yeah, well, you didn’t leave me much of a choice.”

  “Nevertheless, you can rest assured that Danny and Frankie will never hear from me again.”

  “I’ll be holding you to that.”

  There was a moment’s silence between them, until Archer said, “So, Bobby, until next time, then?”

  “Until next time, asshole.”

  Blaze hung up, turned the phone off, and threw it in the rubbish bin in the corner of the room.

  “Everything okay?” Ryan asked him.

  “Fucking super.”

  They said nothing for a minute, until Blaze randomly asked him, “So where’s your mate hiding today?”

  “Who, Steve?”

  “Yeah—the one who’s been trying to get into my mum’s panties.”

  Ryan couldn’t help grinning. “He’s been busy putting Arnold Spencer’s house back together after tearing it apart in search of the secret hideaway Trinity told us about. Why do you ask?”

  “No reason.”

  Ryan didn’t believe him. He felt Blaze was getting at something else. “Are you okay, mate? You know you can talk to me if you feel you need to get something off your chest...”

  For once Blaze let his guard down. He stared at the floor as he said, “Everything in my life is a fucking mess. And you were right; I do have a trail of shit that seems to follow me around wherever I go.”

  Ryan felt guilty. He said, “I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier—you know—about not remembering about the tattoo. It wasn’t entirely your fault. I’m just sick of getting nowhere on this bloody case. All my resources are getting pulled by headquarters, and it won’t be long till I’m pulled from the case, too.”

  Blaze said, “I just found out my asshole of a dad isn’t actually my biological father.”

  Ryan was shocked. “Is that what all the yelling was about with Elizabeth before?”

  “Yeah...”

  “Bloody hell! That’s some pretty heavy news on top of everything else you’ve been through recently. Did she tell you who your real father is?”

  “No, but I didn’t exactly give her the chance...”

  “Are you going to?”

  Blaze turned his head to face him. “Honestly, I don’t know. I’d decided to bury the hatchet with her after Archer threatened Frankie’s wife and kid. And then she springs this on me just as we were starting to get somewhere. What would you do?”

  Ryan thought about it for a moment, then answered, “If it were me, I’d want to know the truth.”

  Blaze sighed. “I’ll go see the lying bitch tomorrow and straighten everything out.”

  “Why not right now? She’s still up in Trinity’s room feeling sorry for herself. Hell, she probably doesn’t even know you were in a car accident last night.”

  “Because if I’m going to spend some quality bonding time with my mother, I’m gonna need a decent sleep and a shit-load of whisky first, or it’s gonna get real ugly, real fucking fast.”

  Ryan saw his point. “Are you feeling well enough to get outta here right now? Because if you are, I think I might just join you for a snifter or two down at The Greasy Axle.”

  “I’m always well enough when there’s whisky involved.”

  Ryan stood up. “I’ll go find Anna and sweet talk her into sorting out your discharge papers.”

  Ryan disappeared for a few minutes before returning with Anna. After she discharged Blaze, he gingerly walked outside with Ryan to his car, and asked him, “So where are we at with the Watcher now that Arnold’s been cleared?”

  Ryan just shrugged and said, “To be perfectly honest with you, Blaze, I think we’re all the way back to square one.”

  Chapter 59

  Blaze and Ryan woke up to the sound and smell of sizzling bacon and eggs as they lay on their respective couches in Sharon’s apartment.

  “Oh, God, my head,” groaned Ryan as he sat up. “I’m never drinking with you again, Blaze, you bastard.”

  “Harden up, soft cock,” he replied as he turfed off the blanket Sharon had covered him with when they had stumbled into her apartment and crashed out the evening before.

  Sharon gave them both a mug of fresh coffee. “Come eat some breakfast, Cam; that’ll make you feel better,” she said. “You, too, Blaze.”

  “Thanks. But you didn’t have to do that,” he replied.

  “Honestly, it’s no big deal.” She smiled. “But you better get moving before it gets cold!”

  The three of them sat around Sharon’s compact, square dining table. Blaze wolfed his breakfast down in no time at all. Ryan picked at his, trying to be a hero and not throw up in front of Sharon.

  “So, what are you boys up to today?” she asked cheerfully.

  “Are you always so goddamn happy at this time of the day?” Blaze asked her, before draining his coffee.

  She giggled. “Sorry, I’m one of those annoying morning people. I take it you’re not?”

  Blaze wiped his mouth with his hand. “That would be a definite no.”

  Ryan choked down a mouthful of bacon, then said, “I’m going down to the station to start sifting through a pile of paperwork that I need to catch up on. And while I’m at it, I hope to have an epiphany that results in me finding out who the Watcher is and where he’s hiding. Should be a swell day,” he said sarcastically.

  “Thank you, Mr Grumpy pants,” said Sharon. “What about you, Blaze?”

  “He’s on his way to see Elizabeth after breakfast,” Ryan answered for him.

  “Are you really?” she asked, pleasantly surprised.

  Blaze gave Ryan a filthy look. “Yeah, apparently...” he answered her.

  “I know she’ll be glad to see you.”

  “I wouldn’t bet on it.”

  “Blaze?”

  “What?”

  “You will be kind to her, right? You aren’t going there just to be nasty, are you?”

  He paused, then said, “One way or another, I’m sorting out our shit today. Whether or not she likes the outcome is another story...” He got up to leave. “Thanks for breakfast.”

  “You’re welcome.” She hesitated, then said, “Please promise me you’ll go easy on her? She’s been through enough hardship as it is...”

  Blaze, in his overtired, hungover state snapped at her. “Oh yeah? Like what? Did she tell you that she’s lied to me for my whole fucking life about who my father is?”

  Sharon reacted fiercely to his uncalled-for outburst. “Firstly, you will watch your language in my house, and secondly, yes she did! She called me right after you stormed out of Trinity’s room at the hospital yesterday!”

  “And yet you’ve still got the nerve to tell me to go easy on her?”

  “Did you let her explain?” she countered him.

  Blaze looked sheepishly at the floor. “No, I guess I didn’t.”

  Sharon got up from the table and stood face to face with him. “You need to be told this once and for all, Blaze,” she said sternly. “You aren’t the only person on Earth who’s had something terrible happen to them. Did you know my parents were killed in a plane crash since you’ve been gone? Huh? Did you?”

  Blaze felt ashamed. “No, I’m sorry, I didn’t know that. That must have been hard on you.”

  “You’re right, it was. But I got through it with a lot of support from Elizabeth. You shouldn’t take something as precious as f
amily for granted. Why do you think Elizabeth and I are so close? She’s the best thing that happened to me after my parents died. And if you’d just get off your high horse and give her the time of day, you might find out that you could both help each other through your emotional issues.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  She calmed down. “It’s honestly not my place to say. But I guarantee you that after you’ve listened to her side of the story, you’ll see things differently.”

  “But—”

  “Just trust me on this one,” she cut him off.

  “Fine,” said Blaze in defeat. “I’ll play nice.”

  “You promise?”

  Blaze exhaled heavily through his nose. “You’re lucky I still owe you one from high school,” he replied, trying to save face.

  Her smile returned. “Thank you. That means a lot.”

  Blaze turned to leave. He stopped short of the door to the stairwell when he saw a convoy of vintage cars driving down the main street as he glanced by the window, which suddenly sparked an idea in his mind. “Hey, Ryan?”

  “Yeah?” He looked up from his half-eaten breakfast.

  “You said Trinity possibly saw a Glendale Vintage Car Club cap at the Watcher’s house when she got kidnapped, right?”

  “That’s right...”

  “And we know that it can’t have been Arnold Spencer’s cap because he’s innocent, right?”

  “Yeah, what’s your point?”

  “Well, if Trinity is sure of what she saw, and my gut instinct tells me she is, wouldn’t it be safe to assume that the Watcher is a member of the Glendale Vintage Car Club?”

  “Yeah, I’ve already considered that, but you must remember that Trinity was drugged, bound, and blindfolded for nearly thirty-six hours, and admitted she couldn’t be one hundred percent sure of what she saw.”

  “But surely if she thinks that’s what she saw it’s worth looking into, isn’t it?”

  Ryan sighed. “Yes and no. It would mean we have a pool of over one hundred suspects to wade through, which wouldn’t be the best use of our time and resources—of which I currently have none, apart from you, Danny, Steve, and the local law enforcement.”

  Blaze felt deflated. He perked up as another thought came to mind. “What if I said your list of suspects would be closer to, say, a dozen or so?”