Dory's Avengers (59 page)

‘Why's Lady Bitch waltzing about out there again?' was a question often asked, as Rosanna did seem to spend a lot of time hanging around outside the inn. Unbeknown to them,
she did this hoping to get a glimpse of Adam, who filled her head the whole time. Dory's Avengers, remembering the harsh, arrogant Lady Rosanna they'd experienced in the past, thought she merely wanted to antagonise them.

‘She's probably looking for someone to bully.'

‘Probably missing Dyer; they're two of a kind.'

‘She must hate being exiled up here, silly bitch. Wonder what she did to piss His Lordshit off that much…'

‘Breathed probably,' said Theo. ‘That's all she had to do to piss me off…'

‘Theodore,' snapped Izzy, ‘don't talk about your sister like that!'

‘But, Mum, she hates me. I'm only returning the compliment…'

‘No! The lot of you, please remember that Rosanna is my daughter and show some respect!'

‘Mum, she doesn't deserve any…'

‘Respect for
me
then, Theodore. Insult His Lordshit all you like, I'll gladly join in; but never, ever insult my daughter in front of me! Whatever she's done, I still love her.' Point made, Izzy sidled over to the window and, concealing herself behind the curtain, glanced out at her oldest child as a very subdued-looking Rosanna passed by.

Ten days after kidnapping Dexter Montfiore, Lord William finally capitulated. He would have claimed that it was all part of his master plan to contact Applethwaite on that particular day, but in reality he couldn't bear another moment of not knowing how much suffering he was causing Alan and the others in The White Lion. Contacting Rosanna on her laptop, he ordered her to go to The White Lion and stand by to set up a visual link with the Unsponsored.

‘Make sure that poof Santiago is on hand to talk to me,' he told his impassive daughter. ‘If Theodore's about too, all
the better. I'd like him to witness the result of his pathetic little rebellion.'

Expecting Rosanna to whine about having to speak to the Unsponsored, His Lordship was mildly disappointed with her indifferent response.

‘As you wish, Father,' she said unemotionally. ‘I'll contact you as soon as we're ready to proceed.'

‘Take Faye with you!' ordered His Lordship, disconcerted by Rosanna's lack of reaction. Lord William had no idea of the pain Rosanna was still suffering over losing Adam. Considering himself and Rosanna to have a close relationship, His Lordship didn't realise that there were many things his oldest child wouldn't even consider discussing with him.

Faye was most put out to be sent to The White Lion with Lady Rosanna, but she was disciplined enough not to let it show in front of His Lordship. As she accompanied the younger woman to the pub, Faye mused that it might not be a bad thing. Matilda, no doubt, would have a few choice words to say to her mother, and they would be the least Faye deserved in her own opinion. Anything to alleviate the guilt at having caused Alan so much pain, albeit inadvertently. By the time these thoughts had passed through Faye's head, Rosanna was already rapping her knuckles on the inn's door.

‘What do you want, Rosanna?' asked Theo from within, holding back from an insult as his mother was still in the bar.

‘Father wishes to make contact, Theodore,' replied Rosanna, ‘about…er…' Rosanna had a quick look at the licensees' names above The White Lion's door, ‘about Dexter Montfiore.'

Rosanna and Faye heard the sound of bolts being drawn back. The door swung open and Rosanna stood face to face with her brother; the brother who resembled both her and
their father so much in looks but couldn't be more different in opinions. Hoping that his mother had concealed herself, Theo stood aside to usher Rosanna and Faye into the bar, locking the door behind them. Izzy had reluctantly retreated to the backroom, although Theo wasn't sure that Rosanna would even have noticed their mother. He watched his sister looking around the bar until her gaze fell on Adam, and remained on him.

‘Hello, Adam,' she said almost shyly. ‘How are you?'

‘Fine, Rose, thank you,' he replied, smiling at his unusually hesitant ex-girlfriend. ‘Would you like a drink? Faye?'

‘I'd love a glass of dry white wine please, Adam,' said Faye, watching Rosanna's reaction to Adam with interest and starting to understand what had caused the recent change in the young woman's personality.

‘Same for me, thank you, Adam,' said Rosanna, returning Adam's smile even as her heart contracted painfully. ‘Your mother is very well, by the way, although she misses you.'

Astounded at Rosanna's uncharacteristic thoughtfulness, Adam thanked her warmly and went off to fetch their drinks. As Faye predicted, Matilda wasn't so welcoming.

‘What the fuck do you want, Faye?'

‘His Lordship asked me to accompany Lady Rosanna…'

‘Oh yeah, and you wouldn't have the guts to say no, would you?' snapped her daughter. ‘This is partly your fault, you know. If you hadn't been drooling over Dad all the time, His Lordshit wouldn't have singled Dex out.'

‘You're not saying anything I haven't thought myself, Matilda,' said Faye, watching Theo wrap comforting arms around her daughter. The love Theo clearly felt for Matilda contrasted so starkly with his father's brutal treatment of Faye.

Almost as if she read her mother's mind, Matilda said, ‘Are you still letting His Lordshit knob you since he beat seven barrels of shit out of you…'

‘Matilda, I did ask you not to disrespect your mother. Hello, Faye. Good day to you, Lady Rosanna.'

Faye had to blink as Alan entered the bar, so different did he look to his normal self. Gone were his usual loud clothes, his favoured bright top, skin-tight trousers and heeled boots replaced by a simple shirt and jeans. Gone were the sparkling hair grips and the eyeliner. So vain was Alan normally that, until the kidnapping, only Dex and Matilda knew that he had bad eyesight. Usually he made sure his contact lenses were in before being seen in public, but in light of what had happened to Dex he couldn't care less if everyone saw him wearing his glasses, vanity being the least of his concerns.

‘Good day to you too, Mr Santiago,' said Rosanna politely, causing raised eyebrows around the bar and Theo to enquire as to whether she was taking the piss.

‘No, I'm not, Theodore. Thank you, Lysander; I trust you're well?' Continuing to amaze her brother, and everyone else in the bar, Rosanna smiled at Lysander as he handed her and Faye their drinks.

‘Now then, Mr Santiago, forgive me for putting you through this, but my father wants to speak to you about Dexter Montfiore. I'm so sorry I can't give you a heads-up concerning Mr Montfiore's state of health, but I'm not exactly flavour of the month at the moment…'

‘I understand,' interrupted Alan, anxious to find out about Dex but intrigued by Rosanna's apparent new humility. ‘But why are you being so…er…nice…?'

Looking into Alan's eyes, so full of pain that mirrored her own, Lady Rosanna spoke the truth.

‘Because I now know what a broken heart feels like, Mr Santiago.' Looking at her feet, Rosanna could feel everyone staring at her in amazement, and she didn't dare look around for fear of catching Adam's eye.

‘Oh. Sorry about that, Your…er…Ladyship,' said Alan, taken aback. ‘Please call me Alan.'

‘OK, Alan,' said Rosanna, raising her head. She didn't see any hostility in anyone's eyes, not even Theo's, and the ghost of a smile played round her lips as she said, ‘Please feel free to call me Lady Bitch.' Patting Alan's arm as he and a few others had the good grace to look embarrassed, Rosanna continued: ‘It's all right. I deserved it. Shall I call Father and let him know we're ready to proceed?'

Ignoring the nervous lurch in his stomach, Alan nodded and Rosanna switched on her laptop. Establishing a visual link between The White Lion and Lord William's office, Rosanna stood back as her father came into view.

‘Er, Santiago?' said Lord William, looking in surprise at Alan's unusually subdued appearance. When Alan nodded, Lord William continued with his usual lack of tact.

‘Good grief, Santiago; you almost look like a man. Didn't recognise you for a second…'

‘With respect, Lord William, I'd rather talk about Dex.'

‘Oh yes, I imagine you would. Lord William, is it now? Not Your Lordshit? It's amazing what a leveller the loss of one's bed partner can be.' Alan didn't reply, so Lord William continued.

‘Stephen, please go and fetch Montfiore for me. Gently, now; I don't think there's any part of him you haven't already thumped!'

Laughing at his own wit, Lord William noticed that the only reaction Alan Santiago gave to his words was to blink a couple of times. Alan wasn't able to hold in a gasp of dismay, echoed by his daughter and others around them, as Dex came into view. Lord William hadn't been exaggerating; Dex's face was swollen and bruised almost beyond recognition. Despite his injuries, Dex hadn't lost any of his easy-going humour.

‘Yeah?' he joked in reference to Alan's obvious dismay at his battered appearance. ‘You've not exactly made much of an effort yourself, Al. Why are you wearing my clothes, honey?'

‘They make me feel closer to you, Dex sweetie,' replied Alan, looking at Dex with eyes full of love.

‘Well, leave me something to wear when I get home, OK? Why are you wearing your glasses?'

‘All the better to see you with, my dear,' replied Alan, smiling for the first time since Dex's disappearance.

‘You know what I mean; I don't want you letting yourself go in my absence.' Smiling back at Alan, Dex added, ‘You know I'm kidding, darling; you're a sight for sore eyes, and boy! Do I have sore eyes…'

‘That's enough, you pair of mincing queens!' interrupted Lord William, pulling a face to register his disgust that two men could be so clearly in love with each other. ‘As you can see, Santiago, your…er…friend…'

‘Boyfriend,' corrected Dex.

‘Shut up, Montfiore! Santiago, your…thingy…Montfiore is at my mercy. As you can also see, my mercy is in short supply. I'll be blunt here. I don't want any more trouble from you. I've got the Games coming up, as I'm sure you know, and I've got more than enough on my plate down in London. Rosanna and the Sponsors still in Applethwaite will keep an eye on you, Theodore and the other Unsponsored. If I hear of ANY insubordination, then Mr Dyer may just have to teach Montfiore an even harsher lesson than…'

‘Oh, I wouldn't recommend that,' interrupted Alan, taking his friends by surprise as much as Lord William. Pulling something from the pocket of Dex's shirt, he waved it at the laptop's camera. ‘Do you know what this is?'

‘It's a passport…'

‘Yes, Lord William. An American passport, to be specific. Dex's American passport, to be even more specific. Dex is an American citizen, and I'm sure the American Embassy will take a very dim view of you holding him against his will.' Lord William recovered his composure quickly, but not
quickly enough for the flash of horror in his eyes at Alan's words to go unnoticed.

‘If you continue to harm Dex in any way, the American Embassy will take an even more dim view, and your Scheme won't be able to bail you out then…'

‘And how exactly do you intend to get in touch with the Embassy?' snarled Lord William, losing his composure in the cool face of the man he had hoped to break.

‘If you hurt my Dex any more, I'll find a way.'

‘You won't know…'

‘I will know,' said Alan steadily, trying to ignore the fact that his insides were churning even more frantically than before and hoping he was doing the right thing. Looking at Dex through the camera on Rosanna's laptop, Alan saw him nod slightly and smile encouragingly before Lord William cut off the visual link.

Realising that the contact with Dex was at an end, Alan gestured to Rosanna to shut down her laptop. Faye then touched Rosanna on the sleeve and indicated towards the door. With a brief, despairing look at Adam, Rosanna nodded and politely took her leave of the Unsponsored.

‘Thank you for the drink, Lysander. I'm sure Dexter will be all right, Alan. Surely not even my father's arrogant enough to take on the American Embassy.'

Smiling gratefully at Rosanna's words of encouragement, Alan saw the two women out of the pub and bolted the door behind them.

‘Well,' he said, ‘who was that and what has she done with the real Lady Bitch?'

‘She does have her good side,' said Adam thoughtfully, as Izzy re-joined the group in the bar.

‘It was difficult staying hidden, so near and yet so far from my daughter,' she said. ‘Adam's right. Deep down, my Rose is a good girl.'

Theo looked as though he was about to argue that point,
but caught his mother's eye and decided against it. Instead, he said to Alan, ‘What a masterstroke, waving Dex's American passport in His Lordshit's face like that. Al; you're a genius. When did you think of that?'

‘Couple of days ago, Theo sweetie,' replied Alan, sounding more like his usual self. ‘When I was cleaning the gym.'

Louis and Gideon exchanged smiles at the memory of Alan's frenzied scrubbing and sweeping around them as Louis tried to practise his floor exercises.

‘Why then?' Louis asked.

‘It put me in mind of that little altercation with Gideon, Louis. You remember? The day Dex first showed you the gym…'

‘When Dex pointed out that we're American, and therefore beyond the control of the Sponsors,' finished Georgie, grabbing Alan and kissing him soundly. ‘Alan Santiago, I love you; you clever, clever man!'

‘Steady on, Mrs Farrell,' said Alan, laughing for the first time in ten days. ‘You know I've only got eyes for your brother!' His face becoming serious once more, Alan looked around the room.

‘I don't know about you, my sweet friends, but the time has come for me to make a break for it. Tomorrow, I'm setting off for London.'