‘David?’ Andrea caught his arm. ‘What on earth …?’
David glanced at her, taking his gaze off Jonathan for a second, and Jonathan took his chance.
‘Shit!’ David started after him as Jonathan pushed past Ryan, and then shoved Sophie aside, hard.
‘Bastard,’ David uttered, slowing as Sophie hit the ground, winded.
‘Go!’ Sophie gasped as he instinctively stopped to check on her. ‘David, go!’
‘Sophie!’ Andrea was close behind him.
David locked eyes with her for an instant as she crouched down to Sophie, then, noting the fear in hers, he straightened up and bolted after Eden, only to grind to a halt the other side of the bridge. Standing by Jonathan’s driver’s side door, his arms folded and a defiant look on his face was Jake; by the passenger door stood an equally determined Dee.
It looked like the only way Eden was going to gain access to that car, was through them, and if he laid even one finger on his son … David’s jaw tensed.
‘Don’t do it, Jonathan,’ he grated, taking a cautious step towards him.
Breathing deeply, Jonathan dragged a hand shakily across his mouth. ‘Come on, baby,’ he said to Chloe, still firm in his hold, but tearful, David could see, kneading her eyes, probably wondering what the hell was going on.
‘Want Mummy,’ Chloe whimpered.
‘It’s okay, baby,’ Jonathan tried to reassure her. ‘We’ll go and get some sweeties and then we’ll go somewhere fun, okay?’
‘Home,’ Chloe said, looking at him uncertainly.
‘Home, it is,’ Jonathan said tightly, turning to set off on foot, only to find Ryan blocking his way.
‘Jonathan …’ David took another step towards him.
‘Oh, Jonathan is it now?’ Jonathan sneered, turning back.
‘Look, Jonathan, you don’t really want to do this, do you?’
‘What? Put my own daughter in my own car. As it happens, I do. Now why don’t you do us all a favour and fuck off and mind your own business, David.’
‘David? What’s going on?’ Andrea said worriedly behind him.
Keeping his eyes on Jonathan, David extended an arm, gesturing her to stay back.
‘David? What’s going on?’ Jonathan mimicked in soppy tones. ‘You really do think he’s something special, don’t you?’ Looking David over, he shook his head disdainfully. ‘Good with his hands, is he, Andrea, our family GP? Thorough, I bet, hey, Andrea? Is that what the attraction is?’
‘Jonathan, stop!’ Andrea moved towards him, only to be blocked again by David.
‘You know something, Andrea.’ Jonathan’s gaze travelled contemptuously over her. ‘I thought I cared that you were ready to drop your knickers the minute he clicked his fingers, but I don’t. If you’re so impressed by his credentials you want to shack up with him, you’re welcome, but there is no way you’re moving my daughter in with another man. Got it? Now, get out of my way. All of you.’
‘Mum-meee!’ Chloe cried in earnest now, squirming in his arms, making Jonathan’s hold on her precarious.
‘She doesn’t want to go with you, Jonathan!’ David shouted, frustrated and terrified, because Chloe was terrified, and he had no idea what to do. ‘You’re yards away from that water. Do you really want to take another risk with your daughter’s life?’
Jonathan debated – for a millisecond – then, apparently willing to take that risk, he walked on, to the side of David, towards the lock gates.
Shit. David’s heart skidded to a stop in his chest. He was going across. ‘Eden, don’t!’ Instinctively, David lunged towards him.
‘Back off!’ Jonathan spat, spinning around to face him. ‘You’ve got my wife. You’re not having my daughter, Adams, so just back off. Now!’
David stopped dead, his fear escalating. Wife? The man was bloody well losing it.
‘If you don’t …’ Jonathan said, his breathing erratic, his face taut and white. He took another step sideways, another step towards the lock, and nodded meaningfully … towards the water.
What? Fuck, no! David dragged his hand over his face. ‘Okay. Okay,’ he said, pulling in a tight breath. ‘If you want to cross, go. I won’t stand in your way. But take the bridge, not the gates.’
Jonathan looked at him, looked past him to the bridge. He’d have to go around him, past Andrea. David could see the deliberation in the guy’s eyes. He wasn’t going to go for it. ‘We’ll back off, I promise,’ he tried, desperately trying to keep him engaged. Keep him talking. ‘Andrea?’ he said behind him, hoping she’d realise they had no choice but to give him some space.
Jonathan looked at him again, a mixture of panic and pure loathing, and then he moved. Sideways. Fast. In two strides he was on the gate, endless depths of muddy lock water behind him, icy river water swirling treacherously in front of him: the twenty foot drop in between having any number of fall-breaking, bone-crushing obstructions.
Dear God, don’t let him do this. David’s gut twisted inside him.
Chloe was screaming.
‘Chloe!’ Andrea screamed behind him.
His gaze flicking towards Ryan, who was shouting into his phone, David didn’t debate.
Jonathan was two, three yards along the gate, every faltering step taking that child towards possible death. Attempting to quell his rapidly rising panic, David stepped cautiously up after him. ‘Grab hold of the rail, Jonathan,’ he said quietly, seeing the man stumble forward another step and then seem to freeze where he stood. ‘Loose one hand away from her and take hold of the rail,’ he repeated it as Jonathan swayed, visibly. ‘Chloe, hold tight onto Daddy’s neck, baby. Can you do that?’
Jonathan held Chloe tighter. He didn’t take hold of the rail. His eyes fixed on the water, he didn’t look up.
‘You’re not taking her home, are you, Jonathan?’ David asked, working to keep his tone calm.
Jonathan dragged in a deep breath. He didn’t move.
David closed his eyes. ‘She’s cold,’ he said, after a second. She was. Shivering, violently, and hiccupping now, rather than sobbing, her little body jolting in his arms with each cough. David edged carefully closer. ‘Pass her to me, why don’t you?’
That got his attention. Jonathan snapped his gaze up.
‘She trusts you, Jonathan. You’re her dad. Don’t let her down.’
He was wavering; and still swaying. David swallowed back a sick taste in his throat. ‘Pass her back to me, hey? You need to go, but you won’t get far with a toddler in tow, Jonathan. She’ll need feeding, changing. She’ll need her mother.’
‘She’s my daughter,’ lowering his face towards Chloe, Jonathan finally spoke. ‘My daughter.’ He looked back to David, his distress palpable, petrifying.
‘I know she is. I know you love her.’ David risked another step towards him.
Shit! He cursed silently as Jonathan dropped his gaze back to the water. ‘I know you didn’t mean her any harm, Jonathan. But you’ll bloody well harm her now if you do this. She wouldn’t stand a chance, Jonathan. You know she wouldn’t.’
‘Jonathan, please,’ Andrea begged wretchedly from the bank.
‘I thought they were out.’ Jonathan brought his gaze sharply back up, looking towards her. ‘You said they’d all be out! I would never have hurt them. Never!’ He looked between Andrea and David, his voice frantic. ‘It wasn’t supposed to take hold. The damage was supposed to be minor. I didn’t mean for anyone to be trapped. I just needed some breathing space. Some time, that’s all. An injection of cash to pay back Eva’s money.’
‘Told you so, didn’t I?’ Dee said, a triumphant edge to her tone.
‘It got out of hand. I tried to … I didn’t mean …’ Clutching Chloe closer to him, Jonathan trailed off on a sob.
‘They know, Jonathan,’ David tried, desperation in his own voice. ‘They know you wouldn’t deliberately hurt them.’
‘I saw them,’ Jonathan admitted, turning back to Andrea.
‘Saw who?’ Andrea pleaded. ‘Jonathan
, you’re—’
‘I was there. I saw them. I saw him …’ He nodded towards David. ‘… bringing the kids out. Carrying my baby into his house.’
Jonathan stopped, the rush of the water seeming to grow louder against the silence punctuated by the frightened whimpers of a child. ‘I can understand what you see in him,’ Jonathan went on, with a short, throaty laugh.
‘You’re scaring Chloe,’ Andrea tried tremulously. ‘Please, Jonathan, don’t—’
‘Whereas me … I just stood there. Watching. Too petrified to do anything. Too ashamed to even come back.’
‘Come back now, Jonathan,’ Andrea asked him, her voice catching. ‘Please.’
‘What’s the point?’ Jonathan sounded hopeless, defeated. ‘There isn’t any, is there? Not now. I could have killed them. I—’
‘They’re all fine!’ David shouted urgently, seeing Jonathan reel dangerously forwards. ‘But Chloe isn’t fine, Jonathan,’ he pointed out, tempering his tone, moving slowly towards him. ‘Hand her to me, yes? Keep her safe.’
Jonathan choked out another sob. ‘God!’ He glanced heavenwards, then nestling his face close to Chloe’s, he pulled her to him. ‘Bye, baby.’ He pressed a kiss on her cheek – and David stopped breathing. For a split second, it seemed as if the world had stopped turning.
‘Daddy will bring you some sweeties, okay?’ Jonathan said, and then he turned – and passed her to David.
It took two seconds to swing Chloe around into Andrea’s waiting arms.
It was one second too long.
‘Shit!’ The gates shuddering under his feet told David the man had gone over. Riverside. Gone under. Fuck! David stumbled forward, slipped, scraped his ankle, tried to right himself; to block out the noise behind him. Sirens wailing, way too loud in his head, his own heart thundering. Fuck!
‘Jonathan!’ Andrea screamed as David scrambled shakily from his knees to his feet.
Scouring the swirling black depths beneath him, he was aware of the squad cars screeching to a halt in his peripheral vision. They’d be too late. Much too late. Eden had obviously gone under. ‘Where the bloody hell is he?’
‘There!’ Jake’s voice. David’s gaze shot towards him, and his stomach turned over. He was too close to the edge. Way too close to the edge. ‘Get back! Jake, go back!’
‘I’ve got him,’ Ryan yelled, wrapping an arm around Jake and yanking him backwards as David’s instincts drove him to protect his son. ‘He’s there!’ Ryan pointed, halting him in his tracks. ‘Jonathan, he’s up.’
Whirling back round, David saw him. Head and flailing hands only, he was spluttering water, swallowing lungfuls of the stuff back. He wasn’t swimming. Why wasn’t the stupid bastard—
‘He can’t swim!’ Andrea shouted. ‘Sophie, take Chloe.’
‘No, Mum. Don’t!’ Sophie was adamant. ‘You need to stay here.’
Dammit. He wasn’t going to make it. No way would he survive long enough for the emergency services to reach him in these temperatures. No way. His heart sinking, David watched as Eden went back under and then, closing his eyes, he sucked in a breath and … Please God, give me strength … moved purposefully towards the edge.
‘Dad!’ He heard Jake’s terrified cry as he went in, and prayed harder: that Ryan would keep a firm hold on him.
He was braced when he hit the water, but still the freezing temperature paralysed him. Move, David instructed himself, his whole body immediately juddering from the inside out. Minutes he’d got. No, more like seconds, before swimming, let alone climbing out would become impossible. Hypothermia would soon start to set in. His blood pressure and heart rate would be increasing. His body would be constricting surface blood vessels – he mentally ran through the symptoms – conserving heat for his vital organs, making him sluggish. Hard to move. Calling on all his energy, David turned in the direction Eden had gone under and swam.
A yard or so covered against the tide, his muscles were already tensing. He was shivering, his core temperature already dropping. Eden’s would be way down.
Treading water, blinking the rank stuff out of his eyes and spitting it out of his mouth, David scanned the surface. Where the hell was he? There! Floating. Facedown. Arms splayed. Shit. Move! He’d be unconscious. Dead if he didn’t reach him. Swim, for fuck’s sake.
Not dead. Deadweight. Clothes. Too heavy. Dammit. His thought processes were slowing down. Couldn’t … think. Dragging in ice cold breaths that seemed to freeze in his throat, gasping them out, David finally reached Jonathan. No movement. Face still under the water. Turn him over, David’s brain urged him. His limbs were slow to obey.
‘Dad!’ He heard Jake again, his voice raw. The boy was terrified. ‘Swim!’
Seizing the man’s coat, David wrestled him over, then one arm supporting his head, he kicked back hard. His breathing was laboured, growing more difficult. Eden? Was he alive? David couldn’t tell. Keeping the man’s head above water, David spat out another mouthful. His limbs felt like lead weights. His clothes, dragging him down. Despite his best efforts, the current was taking him sideways.
Where was the bank?
Too far. No strength left.
‘Dad, swim!’ Jake’s voice, hysterical, desperate.
Hold onto him, Ryan. Hold on.
Gates. David blinked hard, turned, and went under. Spluttering out the foul tasting water, he surfaced, and focussed.
‘Dad, this way. You can do it. Swim, Dad!’
Gates. David willed himself on. Jake … please give me strength.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
‘Dubai?’ David glanced at Ryan, incredulous.
‘Apparently,’ Ryan said, passing David his coffee. ‘He’d booked two tickets.’
One adult, one child, David guessed, taking a sip of the warming drink gratefully.
‘The police are here.’ Ryan indicated the hospital reception. ‘Waiting to interview him.’
David nodded. He’d assumed they would be. No doubt they’d want a statement from him, too. ‘Is he okay?’ he asked. He shouldn’t care, he supposed, but however horrendous Eden’s actions were, the man obviously needed some serious psychological help.
‘Broken leg. Other than that, yes, thanks to you. I’d have let the bastard drown, myself, but …’ Ryan shrugged.
David wasn’t buying it, though. Seeing someone in trouble, Ryan had been ready to leap in himself, which would have just about destroyed Andrea. ‘Chloe?’ he asked.
‘Good. Bit bewildered. Revelling in all the attention and then she fell fast asleep. Sophie and Gran are fine, too. About your counselling suggestion, though, Gran says if you bring a psychiatrist near her, she’ll give him a flying kick to the crotch.’
‘Back on form then?’ David laughed, and then shivered and tried to stave off another bout of the shakes.
‘Definitely. Do you need another blanket?’
‘You’ll be tucking me in in a minute.’ David’s mouth curved into a smile. He was a good kid. They all were. Eden would get what he deserved, he guessed, but David suspected the man would be punished enough by his conscience.
‘How’s your mum doing?’ he finally ventured to ask.
‘Not great,’ Ryan answered truthfully. ‘Chloe’s been discharged, so she’s taken her home. She’s taken Jake, too. He was a bit reluctant to go, but I assured him you were surrounded by fit looking nurses, and he’s happy enough to bunk up in my room for tonight.’
No surprise there. David smiled, but quietly hoped Ryan hadn’t mentioned the fit looking nurses in front of Andrea. ‘Best idea, under the circumstances.’ He drew in a breath, hoping she’d be okay. She was a strong person, David knew that to be true, but there had to come a time when another crisis would be one too many for the strongest of people.
He wished he could have seen her, once he was more compos mentis, spoken to her properly, but an ambulance had whisked him away from the scene and when they reached the hospital he’d been surrounded by medical staff coming and going, t
rying to get his core temperature up. And Chloe had obviously needed her mum by her side.
He’d check on her, as soon as he could. He wouldn’t crowd her, though, he decided. Given what she’d been through, what she had to come to terms with, David imagined the last thing she’d need would be another man invading her space.
‘She said she’d try to come back,’ Ryan cut through his thoughts. ‘As soon as I get home and everyone’s settled.’
‘Tell her there’s no need,’ David said, determined Andrea shouldn’t come out again tonight. She needed to be home, in the warm, with her family. ‘I’m just about finished here. They’ll be discharging me soon. Could you tell her … Er, well, you know. I’ll give her a call tomorrow, if that’s okay.’
‘I think she might be pissed if you don’t.’ Ryan gave him a wily look. ‘Right, well, if you’re sure you’re okay, I’d better get gone. I need to phone Nita and explain why I stood her up tonight.’
Nita? Bloody hell, he was a braver man than David, bearing in mind the girl’s overbearing mother. ‘I think you’ll have a reasonable excuse as excuses go, Ryan.’
‘Yeah, right. You reckon her old battle-axe of a mother will think so?’ Ryan headed off, worriedly contemplating his mobile. ‘Oh, by the way,’ he poked his head back around the cubicle curtain, ‘Jake thinks you’re a hero. Should try throwing yourself in the river more often.’
‘Yes, cheers, Ryan.’ David smiled. Jake had looked pretty awestruck, he had to admit. Eyes like saucers, chattering excitedly on about how he could give Iron Man a run for his money. Obviously, he’d gone up in his son’s estimation, which felt pretty damn good.
‘I take it you know about Sally?’ Eva asked, passing Andrea a cure-all cup of tea, then shooing a begrudging Kit-kit from her chair to seat herself back down.
‘Sorry, Eva?’ Andrea said distractedly, reaching to stroke the black cat, which obviously preferred not to be associated with someone so unlucky and slinked aloofly off out of her reach. Andrea’s mind was elsewhere, in Dubai, imagining how bewildered Chloe would have been by the foreign sights, smells and sounds; by her father’s uncomprehending behaviour. Andrea still couldn’t believe Jonathan had actually intended to flee the country with her, to continue his dubious investment dealings somewhere that didn’t have tight financial regulation.
Learning to Love Page 33
