A Family Affair - Next of Kin (19 page)

Tom quietly led Ellen to the office next door and found Emily sitting alone at her desk. She was now semi-hysterical and shaking slightly. Hayden was nowhere to be seen.

“Emily, are you okay?” Ellen asked.

She shook her head. “They just stormed in here, and demanded to see Hayden. I had a gun pointed at me for a few moments.”

Tom shook his head. “Emily, I’m sorry. This is completely unacceptable, and I promise you, I will be lodging a formal complaint with the police. There seems to be some sort of mix up here. They are asking to see Hayden, but they obviously have the wrong man. You’re not hurt are you?”

“No.”

Tom looked around. “Did you see where he went, Emily?” he whispered. There were no police in the office at the moment, but it didn’t hurt to talk quietly.

“He was here talking to me one minute, and then we heard the coppers from the hallway. They were calling his name. But when they stormed in here, he was gone. I don’t know how he moved that quickly.”

“But where did he go, Emily?”

“I guess he just panicked. I don’t know why he just didn’t hand himself in, and let the lawyers sort it out. I didn’t tell the cops anything. You know how much I enjoy working for Hayden, Tom. I hope I didn’t do anything wrong, but I didn’t tell them anything. Why would he run though? I don’t understand.”

“Emily, focus!” Tom instructed her. “Where did he go?”

She looked directly at him. “He ran to the stairwell, I think. I saw the door closing. Maybe he went to the roof.”

“Oh my God, Elle. We have to hurry. I hope he’s not going to do anything stupid.”

Suddenly Ellen turned to Emily. “Listen, Em. We just need a minute with him. The cops are looking for him. You did the right thing by not telling them anything. If they come back, don’t tell them where he is. Please. And don’t tell them where we’ve gone either.”

She nodded. “I won’t tell them anything.”

Tom grabbed Ellen’s hand, as they raced out of Hayden’s office towards the fire exit. It had been years since Tom accessed the roof, which was normally only utilised by the company’s maintenance crew. He flew up the two flights of stairs, jumping two to three stairs at a time until he reached the door which opened to the roof. Ellen was close behind him, not missing a beat. They instantly saw Hayden standing at the edge of the building looking over.

“Hayden,” Tom called. “What the hell are you doing, mate? Step away from the edge.” None of this made any sense. Hayden shouldn’t be up there. He almost looked as if he was contemplating jumping off the building, but that couldn’t be right. Hayden was sensible and calculated and logical in everything he did. It wasn’t conceivable for him to do anything as irrational and out of character as jumping to his death.

Hayden didn’t answer. He didn’t turn around.

Tom’s certainty started to crumble. “The police are here to arrest you in relation to some sort of murder investigation. I told them it must be a mistake. I know you - you wouldn’t hurt anyone. In any case, we can sort it all out together. I’ll hire you the best criminal lawyer in the country. We’ll pursue the case relentlessly until they’ll wish they’d never heard your name. Please, Hayden. Say something.”

He laughed and slowly turned around to face them both. “I didn’t think it would end this way.”

Those words scared Tom. It suddenly seemed clear that Hayden was considering jumping. “What are you talking about? Nothing has to end today. You’re not feeling well, that’s all. Come away from the edge and let’s sort this out. Together. There’s nothing that you and I can’t do if we put our heads together. We built this company, Hayden. You and I made all of this from nothing. Listen, it’s better that you cooperate with the police right now though. They’ve got real guns with real bullets. We don’t want them to shoot you accidentally. We’ll sort it out though, I promise you that.”

Hayden shook his head. “This is a one-way road, Tom. I’m sorry. I can see from up here that they have the building surrounded. If I had more time, I would have liked to do one more thing.” He was thoughtful, and Tom saw his face contort in an unusual way. “But you’re on your own after today. We have achieved a lot though, haven’t we?” He turned around to face the horizon again, and began to move forward...

“No,” Ellen screamed. “Don’t jump, Dad. Please.” Ellen’s eyes were wide with the horror of the situation.

Tom turned to her in shock. She called him “Dad”. He saw that she cared about Hayden more strongly than a wife should care about her husband’s business partner. “What did you say?” he whispered. She’d said the word “Dad”, but it must have been a mistake. She was upset with the situation... that was all. They didn’t know who Ellen’s biological father was. Colleen had cheated on Tom, and incorrectly claimed that Tom was the father. Those details were certain, but they didn’t know with whom Colleen had cheated. It hadn’t been with Hayden. It couldn’t have been with Hayden. Hayden was his best friend. Hayden hadn’t even liked Colleen. In fact, he’d despised her. Someone would have told Tom if it was Hayden. Ellen wouldn’t have kept something like that from him - not when they had promised to be honest with each other. Hayden and Ellen were the two people he trusted most in the world. He must have heard incorrectly. “Elle, what did you say?” he whispered again.

She turned to him, the colour draining from her face. She didn’t want to explain, that much was clear. “I’m sorry, Tom. He didn’t want you to know. But it’s true. Hayden is my father.”

“What?” Tom asked, finding it hard to comprehend the meaning of the words. “That can’t be true.” How could Ellen have known that Hayden was her father this whole time? Was this just another secret between them?

Tom looked back at Hayden to gauge his reaction to Ellen calling him “Dad”. Whether it was true or not, Ellen’s scream had stopped Hayden in his tracks. He hadn’t jumped. He was still standing there watching them both.

“It doesn’t matter anymore, Ellen,” Hayden called. “It’s right for everything to come out. I’m glad you told him. It’s true, Tom. I’m sorry for that.”

“What are you saying?” Tom asked. “You fathered Elle?” he tried to do the calculation in his head. “That’s not true,” he said, trying to deny it to himself. “How?”

“Colleen had too much to drink one night. She obviously didn't remember the next morning because she never mentioned it to me after that. The next thing I know, you are telling me that you have gotten her pregnant.”

“How could you do that to me? I was your only friend.”

Hayden’s mood became even more sombre. “I never understand what you saw in her. I wanted to feel what you felt.”

“And?”

He shook his head. “I felt nothing.”

“And you didn’t think to say anything to me afterwards?” Tom roared. The existence of a daughter he’d fathered and didn’t know had haunted him for so many years. Hayden’s betrayal was rattling through his system at light speed. This man whom he trusted had lied and betrayed him. His head felt as if it had disconnected from the rest of his body. Was nothing as it seemed?

Hayden remained calm and cool even when standing one foot away from his own death. “I didn’t see the point until... until we knew whose it was. You sent me to check on Ellen when she was a young girl. Do you remember, Tom?”

“Of course.”

“I knew she was mine right away. But then you said you didn’t want contact with the girl, so there was no point in discussing it further. Her adoptive parents didn’t want her to know she was adopted. I thought that was the end of the story.”

Tom thought back over the events of the past few years. “When I found out that Ellen was Colleen’s daughter, and that I wasn’t her father, that was a happy day for me, Hayden. I assumed Colleen had cheated on me all those years ago. But maybe she really didn’t remember the night with you. I guess we’ll never know.” Was his wife really the daughter of his best friend? Tom looked at Ellen with fresh eyes, trying to comprehend this new information. He gasped. The evidence was there in her face. It had been there the whole time, but he hadn’t recognised it. Perhaps this was why she seemed familiar to him in that first moment he met her. She was the daughter of his high school lover and his best friend. He knew it was true. There was a similarity between his friend and his wife which couldn’t be denied. A number of his features were there. How could he not have seen this before today? “You should have told me, Elle. We promised no more lies. If you knew, you should have told me.”

“I wanted to,” she whispered. “I love you, Tom. I’m sorry.”

“I forced her hand, Tom.” Hayden called out. “But it never mattered anyhow.”

“It would have mattered to me...” Tom yelled in anger. How dare Hayden dismiss this piece of information as insignificant? “It would have mattered to me quite a lot actually. I don’t know you at all, do I, Hayden? Is there anything else you haven’t told me? Now is as good a time as any.”

Hayden remained calm. “The police have a video of me shooting someone. The man in the video is Ted Blake.”

Ellen breathed in deeply. “So he is dead. You shot Ted?” she asked Hayden.

“Yes.”

Tom couldn’t believe Hayden’s admission that he had shot someone. How did Hayden get a gun or know how to use one? “Well, I can understand your feelings towards that piece of scum, but you should have let the cops deal with him.”

Hayden laughed. “That’s not my style.”

“I guess that explains why the police haven’t been able to find him in any case. Where’s his body?”

“Most likely at the bottom of the ocean.”

“Right, anything else?” Tom asked, still shocked, but starting to feel angry too. He had no idea who this man was in Hayden’s shoes. His actions and admissions did not resemble the man Tom had trusted for so many years.

“Everything I’ve done, I’ve done for you, Tom.”

“No, I don’t accept that.” Tom shook his head. Hayden’s murderous behaviour would never have been sanctioned if he’d known about it.

“I took care of Chloe and Colleen for
you
,” Hayden insisted.

Ellen gasped. “What do you mean - you took care of Chloe and Colleen?”

Tom realised with relief that Ellen was just as confused as him. He was surprised at himself for that thought. Of course Ellen knew nothing about the deaths. Chloe had jumped from one of Satinol’s apartments, and Colleen had been killed in a bank robbery. Hayden couldn’t have been involved in those incidents.

“I removed them from the picture,” Hayden admitted.

“You killed them?” asked Ellen in disbelief. “How did you do that?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Had Hayden pushed Chloe to her death? Tom remembered Ellen saying that she ran into him outside afterwards, before they had met up at the police station...

Had Hayden orchestrated Colleen’s murder, making it look like a bank robbery? He couldn’t bring himself to ask Hayden those questions.

“You knew Chloe was my best friend, and Colleen my biological mother,” Ellen said to him.

“They were neither your friends nor your family. They were both monstrous snakes who didn’t deserve their place in your life.”

“It wasn’t for you to make that decision. I never even got to meet her,” Ellen said.

He shrugged his shoulders. “You’ll have to trust me.”

Ellen started crying and fell to the ground.

“You wanted answers,” Hayden yelled. “There is your truth. Sometimes not knowing is infinitely better.”

“Hayden, no,” Tom said, filled with dismay at what he was hearing. He definitely did not know who Hayden was. Yet, how was that possible? The two of them had been friends since junior school. Hayden had been quiet and reserved at school, having little interest in most of the other students. For some reason, he and Tom had bonded. They’d studied together, they’d played sport together, they’d been inseparable. The girls at school had wanted to get to know Hayden and had asked Tom about him, but he’d never been interested. He was all focus and drive. When Tom had started Satinol, Hayden had supported him, and been there all along to drive the direction of the company. There had been no signs of violence in him... or had there? Tom looked back at their shared history with new eyes.

When Tom was thirteen, his dog had been kidnapped and found dead in a nearby creek. Hayden had been there to support him, as Tom mourned for his trusted companion. Had his dog died at Hayden’s hands?

When Tom was fifteen, a girl from their school had been found murdered too. She had been heavily pregnant, and her death had created waves of shock through the school community. Nothing like that had ever happened before. To Tom’s knowledge, the perpetrator had never been caught. Had she died at Hayden’s hands too?

Tom couldn’t bring himself to ask. Part of him didn’t want to hear the answers to any of the questions his mind screamed out.

Unexpectedly Hayden’s focus turned towards Ellen again. “There’s one more thing to say, Ellen.”

Tom knew that neither he nor Ellen could take much more.

“I’ve done my bit. Tom will be relying on you more than ever. You and your sister will have to take care of business now.”

Tom knew that Ellen didn’t have a sister. What the hell was Hayden talking about? Had Hayden really lost his mind? As Tom turned to stare at Ellen, wondering if she knew anything about a sister, he noticed movement in his peripheral vision. Something disappeared. Silently and suddenly, Hayden stepped away from the roof’s edge, falling from the top of Satinol Cosmetics to his certain death. Tom turned to stare at the empty space where Hayden had stood only seconds before.