‘So what are you saying? That Ryan shot Harry?’ Robert whispered, eyes glittering as he absorbed this news. With Harry dead and gone, most of his troubles would be over.
‘It wasn’t like that.’ Chrissie closed her eyes against the unwelcome memory. ‘Dad, we’ve been through hell in these last few hours. Can we talk about this in the morning?’
‘No, we can’t,’ Robert insisted. ‘I’ll pour us all a shot of whisky and you’ll tell me everything. Now!’
Val and Chrissie looked at each other and sighed. Robert wasn’t going to let them rest until he had a full account of the night’s events. All the same, he listened impatiently, scarcely able to wait until Chrissie reached the end of her tale.
‘So, if you don’t have the briefcase and the kidnapper’s dead, who has my money now?’
‘Our money,’ Val reminded him gently.
‘Who do you think?’ Chrissie said, irritated that his concern appeared to be more for the missing money than for his nephew’s return. ‘The police, of course. They’re holding it as evidence, their favourite theory being that it was money involved in a drug deal gone bad.’
‘Then you get old Henry down there first thing in the morning and set them straight,’ Robert growled. ‘I’ll go myself if I have to.’
‘I’m sure we can manage without you, Dad.’ Chrissie sighed. ‘I’m having a long, hot shower now and then I’m looking forward to sleeping in my own bed.’
The old yellow taxi was returned before nine the next morning and Robert insisted on going to the police station with them although Val tried to persuade him otherwise. She had spoken to her uncle, who wanted to meet them before they confronted the police, to make sure they were all on the same page. They were already on the road when Sir Henry called to say he had been delayed. He told them not to go into the police station on their own but to wait for him on a bench in the street outside. He apologized yet again and said he would be there as soon as he could.
‘If I’d known he was going to be so late, I’d have had breakfast before we left,’ Robert grumbled, having no patience to wait for anyone. ‘That old fool should learn to get out of bed in the morning. Maybe it’s time we hooked up with a younger man with more modern ideas.’ He shivered. ‘And it’s chilly out here.’
‘I did tell you not to come,’ Val said, irritated by her husband’s criticism. ‘And my uncle may be old but his mind is as sharp as ever. I trust him implicitly because he’s the best there is. And I’m sure he’ll have a good reason for being late.’
He did. Arriving just over an hour later, Sir Henry apologized yet again. A distinguished little man with grey hair in a style he had worn for years, neatly trimmed moustache and old-fashioned clothes, Val had always thought he looked like a forties film star. He exuded confidence and she began to feel better already now he was here, taking charge. He hugged both Chrissie and Val but scarcely acknowledged the man in the wheelchair – in fact he seemed surprised to see him at all. There had never been any affection lost between them. Henry knew just how much of Robert’s prosperity was owed to Val’s inheritance from her father and he enjoyed cutting the younger man down to size.
‘I would have been here sooner,’ he said. ‘But I wanted my contacts to do some research on the man who was shot. And when they started digging, there was plenty to find. Ex -military gone bad – as they sometimes do – and operating under more than one alias. Psychiatric issues combined with a complete lack of remorse; a man who enjoyed killing. Getting paid for it was just the cherry on the cake. You were lucky to get away from him, Chrissie – he didn’t often leave witnesses around to identify him. And he had three surnames – Green, Brown or Black, with a passport to match each identity. A hired killer who covered his tracks very well so it took us a while to put it together today.’
‘But how did you manage to do it so quickly?’ Val said.
‘Oh, I have my sources.’ He smiled. ‘And I had some luck. His son was ingenuous enough to give their present address to the hospital. Yes, yes – I know all about privacy laws but there are ways around that. I spoke to Tim this morning and understandably he’s distraught. Harry was the only relative he had left. I’m afraid I took advantage of his misery to get to the bottom of their recent activities. He was only too ready to pour his heart out to a sympathetic ear.’
‘Tim isn’t a criminal, Uncle,’ Chrissie put in. ‘Just rather naïve. I don’t think he realized the extent of his father’s activities or how far he was prepared to go. He knew only that his father had issues with mine – hence the abduction. Harry convinced him the payment was owed and justified.’
‘I still think he should rot in jail,’ Robert said. ‘His father’s a common criminal and the boy an accessory to a kidnapping that could have escalated to murder. I shall press charges.’
‘I’d think carefully before doing that, Rob,’ Henry said. ‘The police might already be wondering how you came to the attention of such a man, in spite of the low profile he managed to keep. Awkward questions may be asked. I’d play the innocent, if I were you—’
‘No!’ Robert smote the arms of his chair in frustration. ‘I want to see justice done! And I want my money back, too.’
‘Calm down,’ Henry said, unimpressed by this show of temper. ‘Justice has already been done – the man is dead. My best advice would be for you and Val to tell the police you have no idea why your family has been targeted in this way. Nothing like it has ever happened before. As for the boy – forget him – he’ll have trouble enough getting on with his life after this. Let him go.’
‘Dad, listen to me.’ Chrissie had to speak up, crouching by his chair to look into his face. ‘I’m the one who was kidnapped and I spent a lot of time with Tim. He isn’t a bad kid and he’s already suffered enough. His mother is dead and losing his father is going to leave him in pieces. What good will it do to send him to jail? He might not be a criminal now but he’ll learn enough to embrace a life of crime by the time he gets out.’
‘Trust you to put a sentimental spin on it,’ Robert sneered, leaning away from her.
‘Come on,’ Henry said. ‘We can argue about all this later. Right now I have to convince the cops that your nephew isn’t a criminal and they should let him go.’
This didn’t happen easily. The police were disappointed to have their drug-dealing theories blown out of the water, but they couldn’t get past the persuasive arguments of Henry Wheeler. He soon worked his magic and Ryan was allowed to leave the police station without being charged, although he was warned not to leave the state and to remain at his current address. All the same, the police were in no hurry to release him and all this took until mid-afternoon. There would be an inquest into the death of Harry Green, as his son had named him, and Ryan would be needed to give evidence at the very least. Sir Henry left, promising to keep an eye on any developments. Robert continued to object because his briefcase containing the money was to remain in police custody for the time being, but his complaints fell on deaf ears.
Fortunately, Val’s car was still at the lay-by where they left it. Happy to avoid Robert’s company, Ryan offered to drive it home, pleased when Chrissie volunteered to accompany him. Meanwhile, Val had to drive her disgruntled husband in the old taxi, forced to listen to his catalogue of complaints. Having missed two meals, he said he was starving and made her stop on the way home to buy fish and chips. Then he proceeded to devour them greedily from the paper, filling the car with the smell of fried fish and cooking oil. From time to time, Val glanced at him in the rear-view mirror. You’ll keep, old fella, she thought. You think you’ve got away with everything, but you’re wrong. There are some very big holes in your story and I’ll have some very pertinent questions for you when we get home.
Alone with Chrissie for the first time in a very long while, Ryan was suddenly shy, not knowing what to say to her as they joined the freeway, travelling home. She saved him the trouble by speaking up first.
‘Ryan, I haven’t thanked yo
u properly for what you did last night. You put yourself in danger and took a tremendous risk for me.’
‘Think nothing of it, Chrissie. Anyone who loved you would have done the same.’
‘Oh Ryan, I wish you wouldn’t keep saying those things. It’s too painful when you know it can’t come to anything. I will always be your friend but there mustn’t be a romantic attachment between us.’
‘But it’s there, Chrissie, whether we want it or not. We’re not brother and sister, we’re cousins, that’s all. And now we have some time to ourselves without other people, I need to talk to you properly without any intrusions. And I don’t think I can do that while I’m driving.’ So saying he moved into the left lane and started signalling, ready to leave the freeway.
‘Ryan. You’re just making things worse for both of us. We need to get home.’
Ignoring her protests, Ryan came off the busy highway and looked around for somewhere secluded to park. He didn’t really know this suburb but he had chosen well if he wanted a quiet place to talk. There was a stand of ancient pines lining the road and he was able to pull off and park in a lay-by beside them.
‘Now, then,’ he said, turning to face her. ‘Tell me again why you can’t or won’t let me love you. Is it really because you can’t stand the sight of me?’
‘How could you think that? No!’ she said, forced to laugh at the directness of his approach. ‘But it’s wrong for so many reasons, I don’t even know where to start.’
‘OK. Name them. I’ll bet I can shoot them all down in flames.’
‘In the first place, you’re too young. You’re not even twenty-one and I’m twenty-six—’
‘Wrong already. I had a birthday last week.’
‘Oh, Ryan, why didn’t you say something?’
‘Because it was the same day you disappeared and I didn’t feel like celebrating. I suppose the next thing you’ll say is that I’m a bad prospect. A stable hand with no money—’
‘Give me a break. That’s the last thing that would matter to me.’
‘Good,’ he said. ‘Because it turns out that I might have some money, after all. Glen Harrison – Mike’s father – wants to make me an offer for the old farm up north.’
‘I didn’t know you wanted to sell it.’
‘Nor did I, until all this happened with you. I’ll never go back and live there again. Not if it means I have to leave Tommy – and you.’
‘Oho – I see you put Tommy first.’
‘Only to tease you. Oh, Chrissie, I’m so in love with you that it hurts. And I know I’ll never love anyone else, not if I live to be a hundred.’
‘And I’d be 106—’
‘Don’t make fun of me. If you really can’t love me, I’ll have to accept it but don’t make a trivial thing of it, please.’
‘Look, I’m not denying that what you’re feeling is real—’
‘I have no doubt about it. But you keep dodging the question. You still haven’t told me how you feel.’
‘Because I have to be the voice of reason. Think, Ryan! Think it through before we get carried away on this tide of emotion. We’re first cousins, which is the largest stumbling block. We’re just too closely related.’
‘And if we weren’t related at all, could you love me, then?’
‘Don’t go there, please. Just don’t ask.’
‘I will. I’ll go on asking you all day and all night until I have your answer because you still haven’t said no.’
‘All right, for all the good it will do you. I feel the same as you do. I’ve fought it because I didn’t want to face it but I’ve loved you since the day you kissed me so clumsily on the way home from the races.’
‘Yess!’ he cried, punching the air. ‘She loves me and I want the whole world to hear and celebrate with me.’
‘The world won’t want to celebrate at all, I can assure you,’ she said with a wry smile.
‘Then we shan’t tell them. We don’t have to go public or even get married. We’ll just be together in secret. Like this.’ And slowly, still expecting resistance, he put his arm around her, drawing her close. He kissed her gently, experimentally until, sensing her relaxing into the kiss, he deepened it. Chrissie could only think how good it felt as she gave herself up to it with a small sigh. A long time later, flushed and breathless, they had to come up for air.
‘Ryan, wait. I don’t want to hide in corners, pretending this isn’t happening. But if we do marry, it’s only natural for us to want children. And as we’re so closely related, there could be health issues. Wouldn’t it ruin everything if we had to watch a child go through life with a major disability, knowing it was our fault?’
‘You’re imagining the worst possibility – looking on the darkest side. Why not look on the brighter side? We’re healthy – all our parents were healthy.’ He closed his eyes briefly, trying to blot out the memory of his mother and the illness that haunted her final days. He gave a small sigh. ‘I can’t do it, Chrissie. I can’t imagine my life without you. Not now.’
‘We need to think about this a lot more. I’ll talk to my doctor and see what she says concerning the risks.’
‘Then you are willing to consider a future with me?’
‘I’m making no promises, Ryan. You have to be patient.’
And with that, he had to be content.
Seeing no reason to hurry home only to be bombarded with still more questions from Robert, they found a seafood restaurant willing to serve them an early meal. Chrissie used Ryan’s phone to text Val, telling her of their plans so she wouldn’t think they had wrapped her car around a tree. It was only when the food was put in front of them that they realized they were starving. Like lovers in a comedy romance, they fed each other oysters with lemon and chilli sauce. Chrissie said she’d never been able to enjoy them before. They sat talking for hours, only now learning how much they had in common; their love of animals, especially horses. Chrissie was a dedicated film buff and loved old black and white movies; she promised to show him some of her favourites. They ate a dessert of chocolate mousse, discovering a shared addiction to chocolate, too. Only after they had lingered over coffee and thin chocolate mints did they reluctantly decide to go home.
Once again, they stopped on the way to indulge their desire for closeness. And this time their lovemaking might have reached a conclusion but for the restrictions of a small car. Time passed without their realizing it and it was well into the evening before they finally arrived home.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
EARLIER, ON REACHING home, Val knew she must confront her husband and raise the various issues that troubled her. Margie was somewhere in the house, wielding the vacuum cleaner for a last go round before she went home, but otherwise they were alone.
In a previous life she would have hesitated, daunted by her husband’s size as well as his uncertain temper, but since his accident, he was far less intimidating. He seemed to sense that she had something to say as he headed for the lift as soon as he was back in his chair, hoping to escape to his study before she followed him there.
‘What do you want, Val? I’m too busy to talk to you now.’ He scowled as she pushed herself into the narrow lift beside him. ‘I’ve wasted enough time today already and need to catch up on my paperwork.’
‘What paperwork? Nothing that can’t wait, I’m sure,’ she said, wanting to remind him that she herself dealt with most of the business of the stables these days. Robert had become so inattentive and careless of late that several owners had lost faith in the Lanigan stables and taken their horses away. Val had to work hard to convince other clients not to follow suit and it was only her heartfelt promises and the memory of her father’s good reputation that persuaded them to stay. Blissfully unaware of this close call, Robert thought it was business as usual. He had no idea that the success of the stables now depended largely on Ryan and Tommy. Exasperated by his high-handed attitude she felt bound to tell him so.
‘You have no idea, have you, how hard w
e all work to keep things going here. You don’t appreciate anything Ryan does.’
Robert gave a derisive snort. ‘He has a roof over his head. What more does he want? And you let him live here in the house instead of bunking in with the other hands.’
‘He has every right. He’s your brother’s child.’
‘As if you’d let me forget.’
‘I don’t understand you, sometimes. You seem to grudge the time we spent going to the aid of a young man who put himself in mortal danger to rescue our daughter. It’s only luck that it’s the kidnapper who was killed. It could just as easily have been Ryan.’
‘Well, it wasn’t, was it?’ he snapped.
‘Now why do I think you sound disappointed?’ Val followed him into the office and positioned herself in front of him, leaning back on his desk and blocking his view of the computer. ‘I think you know a lot more about this than you’re saying. And there’s one thing that’s been puzzling me for some time. How did you know the kidnapper’s name was Harry?’
His eyes widened and she saw the question had shocked him. ‘I dunno.’ He looked away, avoiding her penetrating gaze. ‘Somebody must’ve—’
‘No, they didn’t. Nobody mentioned his name until you did. I remember it clearly. You said “Ryan shot Harry.”’ And she folded her arms, relishing the fact that she was making him squirm. ‘I’d say you’ve known this man for some time and had dealings with him before—’
‘Will you leave it, woman? I don’t have time to listen to your scatty theories.’
‘Then why are you getting upset? What am I saying that makes you so uncomfortable? You knew exactly how dangerous that man could be but you let Ryan go after him anyway, knowing full well that he might be killed.’
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