I Trust You (18 page)

Chapter 34

R
ita gazed at the little Renault car like it was a space ship. Lee piled the last of the bags into the boot before helping his mother into the back seat.

              He climbed in beside Marisa and started up the engine. The car bumped along the stony track until Lee jumped on the brakes. A black transit van was parked across the road end.

              ‘Bloody delivery drivers,’ Rita muttered.

              ‘Is there another way out of here, Mum?’

              Rita glanced behind them. ‘This track goes up to a farm on the hillside. But I’m really not sure if there’s another road up there that could take us out.’

              They didn’t have a lot of choice. Lee slammed into reverse, just as two burly men got out of the van and began walking in their direction. He gripped the steering wheel tightly to keep the car within the narrow track whilst still maintaining a decent speed. The two men soon realised they weren’t going to catch them up. Their only option was to turn and run back to their vehicle.

              When the Renault reached Rita’s cottage, Lee locked the wheel and reversed the car onto the driveway. He switched direction towards the hillside where nothing more than an overgrown cart-track lay between them and the farm buildings roughly half a mile beyond.

              Marisa kept glancing over her shoulder as the car lurched and bounced over the rocky terrain. To her, the black van seemed to be gaining on them fast. They reached a wooden gate which appeared to lead to one of the huge sheds. She leapt out and hooked it open, pushing the gate back as far as it would go. Her heart leapt in her chest as she saw the van just a few yards behind. Marisa shoved the gate shut with all her strength and rammed across the catch before clambering back into the passenger seat. Lee pulled away before she’d even closed the door.

              ‘That should buy us a couple of minutes,’ he yelled.

              The farm looked deserted. Several of the windows in the main house were broken. An old Land Rover sat on the driveway looking like it hadn’t been driven in decades. Lee felt a growing sense of dread. This place was in the middle of nowhere. The track leading out to the main road was no better than the one they’d driven in on. He wasn’t sure how much more the old Renault could take.

              Noting the van wasn’t yet in sight, he rolled the little vehicle through a set of corrugated iron doors, coming to a stop in a dark corner of the large outhouse. Quietly, he led Marisa and Rita out of the car. The luggage was a luxury they could no longer afford.

              There was an opening at the back of the shed which took them into a messy back yard. Pieces of rusty farm machinery rested against a far wall. Lee heard the distant sound of the van’s engine, straining against the inhospitable terrain.

              ‘You two get away,’ Rita rasped to her son. ‘They only want me. I’m holding you both back.’

              ‘Don’t be silly, Mum.’ Lee took her firmly by the hand.

              The kitchen door was unlocked. The worktops and table were thick with dust. Lee made a frantic search of the room, checking drawers and shelves, then heading out into the hallway, plunging his hands into the pockets of the coats hanging from a line of hooks opposite the stairs.

              They froze to the spot when the sound of a gunshot echoed through the valley.

              ‘Keep low and out of sight,’ Lee ordered. ‘They don’t know where we are. They need to flush us out.’

              Rita whimpered quietly but did as she was told, crouching at the foot of the stairs.

              ‘Sandra!’ The booming voice was coming from outside in the yard. It was Gerald Coleman. ‘I know you’re in there Sandra, with your son and Marisa.’

              The older woman flashed her son’s girlfriend a puzzled look. Marisa put a finger up to her lips.

              ‘What a touching reunion that must have been.’

              They heard him laugh.

              Lee was still performing a search of the ground floor, shuffling about the rooms on his hands and knees. Finally, he seemed to have found what he was looking for.

              ‘What a shame your time together will be so short. I’m just going to shoot the two of you right here. No need to even get rid of your bodies. This place doesn’t get many visitors. As for Marisa,
she’s mine
.’ Gerald’s voice had become frighteningly close. Suddenly, he kicked open the kitchen door and charged into the house.

              Lee shouted, ‘follow me!’ taking Rita by the hand and hustling Marisa towards the front porch. ‘And for God’s sake keep down!’

              They crouched low as Lee flung open the front door of the farmhouse and charged towards the Land Rover. He clutched a rusty set of keys in his hand which he’d retrieved from a downstairs office. The doors to the vehicle were unlocked. Rita and Marisa threw themselves onto the backseat, keeping their heads firmly locked between their knees.

              ‘Is this thing even going to start?’ Marisa’s voice was panicky.

              Lee fumbled about under the wheel, trying to locate the ignition as a bullet shattered the back windscreen. ‘I certainly hope so.’

              He tried to remain calm, turning the key gently so that his frantic attempts to start her up didn’t flood the old engine. But it was tough. From his crouched position, Lee could see that Gerald and his two heavies were standing directly in front of the vehicle, waiting for him to fail.

              Finally, the Land Rover juddered into life. Lee allowed himself to take a breath before engaging first gear and stamping on the accelerator. He saw the three men scatter out of their path. It took several minutes, and the vehicle was some distance along the track before they heard a bevy of shots being let off somewhere behind them. 

Chapter 35

T
hey’d been given use of one of the family rooms at Portsmouth police station.

Rita had a scratchy police issue blanket wrapped around her shoulders and a cardboard cup of tea in her hands. ‘Will I go to prison?’

              Lee sat down next to her. ‘I honestly don’t know. It’s very possible.’

              Rita let out a sob. ‘I shouldn’t feel sorry for myself, I know. I’ve done a terrible thing. But I feel as if I’ve served a sentence already, stuck in that place for all those years.’

              Lee said nothing, but held her hand supportively. He wasn’t sure it really made up for what Coleman and his associates had put that poor couple in America through.

              Marisa had been very quiet since they’d got off the ferry. ‘I suppose I’ll have to take a blood test. To see if I really am Shannon Montgomery.’

              Rita glanced up. ‘Oh, there’s no doubt about that, love. I can see the resemblance to Dylan so clearly now. It’s obvious you’re both cut from the same cloth.’

              A WPC poked her head around the door. ‘Mrs Coleman, your solicitor is here to see you.’

              ‘I don’t have a solicitor.’ Marisa raised her eyebrows.

              The WPC looked confused. ‘Mr Lawson? He seems very nice.’

              Marisa stood up. Roger. Well, she’d have to face him sooner or later.

              Roger Lawson was standing awkwardly by the reception desk, his hair was untidy and his suit creased. For once in his life, he appeared to have lost some weight. Marisa had refused to speak with him in private.

              He took a step towards her, but stopped short of attempting to make physical contact. ‘Darling, we’re so very sorry.’

              She almost laughed. ‘As if that even comes close to covering it.’

              He encouraged her to take a seat on one of the plastic chairs that lined the corridor. ‘We didn’t know who you were at first, not for ten years. Trudy was desperate for a child, she became suicidal for a while, after one of the later miscarriages. The 70s and early 80s were very difficult times for us.’

              Marisa said nothing, she was devoid of sympathy.

              ‘I’d come across Gerald Coleman very early on in my career. I did some contract work for Southern Seaways. I met Coleman there, he was only very junior in those days. Gerald has a way of cultivating useful people. We remained in contact. I told him one night, over several beers, about our failure to have a baby, how I didn’t believe our marriage would survive the strain. Gerald must have stored this information for future use.’

              ‘So, he called you up one day and said he’d found the perfect little girl for you, all blond pig-tales and pretty new dresses. Unfortunately, she’d been stolen from her real parents. How much did you pay for me, Roger?’

              He shook his head sorrowfully. ‘It wasn’t about the money. Gerald told us he’d saved you from a gang of brutal people traffickers in South Africa and brought you to Southampton on one of the ships. He said if the authorities found out they’d send you back. Once we’d met you at the Dorans’ foster home we fell in love with you. We couldn’t have allowed that to happen. It seemed a small price to pay to sign some false papers and turn a blind eye while Gerald bribed a few biddable council workers.’

              Marisa folded her arms across her chest, sensing her resolve weakening. ‘When did you find out who I really was?’

              A shadow passed across his taut features. ‘It was Celia who found out. She thought her husband was having an affair. She went through his bank statements with a fine toothed comb. She discovered that Gerry was sending money to Rita Haydon every month. Celia went to see her. That’s when she met Dylan. At first, she thought he was Gerry’s love child. She flew into a rage and tore the cottage apart. That’s when she discovered the press clippings Rita had kept. Celia was a clever woman, she looked at the little boy and thought of you – Roger and Trudy’s blond little girl, who’d been adopted at three years old.’

              ‘Did Celia tell you her suspicions?’

              Roger nodded. ‘She turned up at the house. The ages of the children matched the dates perfectly. That’s when we realised what Gerry had done.’

              ‘Why didn’t you go to the police right then and there?’ Marisa’s tone was exasperated.

              ‘Celia wanted to. She was a very principled woman, a devout Catholic. She confronted Gerry with what she knew. He spun her a few tales, tried to throw her off the scent. This went on for the whole summer of 1994. Then she had the accident.’

              Marisa gulped.

              ‘Trudy and I knew then that if we uttered a single word we’d be dead too and probably you as well. We couldn’t have put you in danger.’ He tried to reach out and take her hand.

              Marisa shrunk away from his touch. ‘I don’t know what to think just yet. I need more time.’

              Roger looked crestfallen.

              ‘You allowed Gerald to orchestrate my marriage to Eliot. How could you stand by and let that evil man control my life?’

              ‘Your relationship with Eliot developed quite naturally. After Celia’s death, I took over the legal affairs of the business. You and Eliot met at a few parties. I always believed you fell in love of your own volition. It was Trudy’s opinion that if you were with Eliot, it made you safer.’

              Marisa nodded, she could accept the logic in that. She also had to admit that the love between her and Eliot had certainly been real in the early days. ‘I’m going to need a while to take it all in.’

              ‘Of course. Your mum and I will wait for as long as you like. I know we’ll both go to prison. We’re ready for that. But it was still worth it for all the years we had with you.’

              Marisa shifted round. ‘But what about my
real
parents. Imagine their torment and grief! They never knew if their precious babies were alive or dead. They must have imagined them frightened and alone, crying out for their mummy. Gerald really did design the perfect revenge. He left those people in a kind of purgatory. If he’d killed us, it might even have been kinder. I don’t know how you could have been a part of something so utterly wicked.’

              ‘Oh, Gerald would never have murdered a
child
. He’s very attached to his own grandchildren. He recognises their innocence, their vulnerability. It’s adults he dislikes, with the power they wield over that innocence. To be honest, Marisa, your mother and I tried not to think about the Montgomery family at all. The event seemed so long ago, so far away. I suppose we persuaded ourselves those people weren’t actually real.’

              Marisa stood up. ‘Goodbye, Roger. I’ll be in touch.’

Chapter 36

T
here had been the question of the names. Neither Marisa nor Dylan wanted to give theirs up. On that decision, Rita appeared to have got it right.

              Rita Haydon, or Sandra Powell, as she was now required to be known, was deemed unfit to stand trial for her role in the abduction and false imprisonment of Shannon and Max Montgomery in 1983 and the subsequent extortion of seven million dollars from their grandfather. She was currently receiving indefinite psychological treatment at a detention facility in Portsmouth. Lee and Dylan were allowed to visit her there.

              Gerald Coleman was on remand at HMP Belmarsh awaiting trial on charges of multiple murder, kidnapping, extortion and fraud. The majority of legal commentators expected him to spend the rest of his life in prison. And there had been a great deal of commentary on the case, both in Britain and the United States. The discovery of the Montgomery children after thirty three years was big news.

              According to Marisa’s lawyers, Roger and Trudy Lawson were expected to be sentenced to ten years imprisonment, their charges having been reduced due to Roger providing crucial information about Gerald’s criminal organisation and the solicitor offering to testify against Coleman himself at the trial. Assuming good behaviour, the couple were likely to be released in five.

Since the moment she’d walked out of the house in White Bay, Marisa had missed the sea. She wondered if it would have been better to hate it, considering how the wide Atlantic Ocean had separated her from her true home for all these years. The reality was that the water made her feel at peace. It had the power to carry her back to the people she loved, as well as away from them.

              She placed her hands on the railing which ran around the sweeping wooden deck. A gentle breeze was rushing in off the ocean, blowing Marisa’s blond hair around her face. She turned back towards the sitting room of the beach house in Rockport, Massachusetts. Dylan was playing cars with Harry on the polished floor and Sophie was feeding the baby at the high chair in the state-of-the-art kitchen.

              Not for the first time, she caught Jessica watching her. Marisa knew her mother was still trying to decide if all of this was real. She’d told her how many times they’d had their hopes raised in the past, only for them to be cruelly dashed. In this case, the blood tests performed by the Montgomery family’s physicians were conclusive beyond a doubt.

              Nate walked up to his daughter and hooked his arm though hers. ‘Fancy a stroll along the beach sweetheart?’

              Marisa nodded.

              The Montgomery’s English bull terrier bounded energetically ahead of them across the sand. Marisa glanced at the middle-aged man beside her. Both of her parents were thin and lined but still good-looking. She imagined the stress of the kidnapping had aged them prematurely.

              ‘Marisa, darling. Your mom and I have been talking. We know that Dylan has a home back in London and Sophie’s parents live nearby. He’s settled in the UK now and we’re pleased for him.’ Nate glanced out at the gentle waves rushing up the beach. A flash of pain crossed his features.

Marisa realised then that to her dad, the sight of the water caused him nothing but torment. Even though his children had now been returned to him alive and well and he knew the little ones hadn’t really been drowned by their kidnappers, he and Jessica had still missed out on so much. She clasped his hand. ‘Go, on.’

He stopped walking and faced her. ‘With Eliot gone and the house in White Bay being sold. We want you to come and live here, with us. It doesn’t have to be forever, but we want to get to know you better.’

Marisa involuntarily put a hand to her growing stomach. ‘I have a friend, his name is Lee. We found one another through this process and I don’t want to lose him.’

‘We’ve got plenty of room, Marisa, both here and in Boston. This guy can come stay whenever he likes. You’re a US citizen now, this country is a place you can call home.’

She smiled, leaning into his bony embrace. ‘I’d love to stay. I want to find out everything about you both. I feel we’ve barely scratched the surface.’

The look on Nate’s face was one of relief and joy. ‘Thank God. Jessica would never have forgiven me if you’d said no.’

Marisa slipped her arm around his waist and they turned back towards the house. ‘Tell me, is Jessica’s father still alive?’

‘Max? I’m afraid he died in 2004. There are a few relatives you never got to meet. My mom’s still around though, she’ll be flying up from Palm Springs in a few days. I don’t think she’s ever been so excited in her whole life than to see you guys.’

Marisa gave her dad a squeeze. She was relieved her grandfather was dead. He hadn’t deserved the terrible revenge that Gerald had fashioned for him, but she didn’t want him in her life, just the same.

‘There was something else your mom and I wanted to know – needed to know.’ Nate seemed to hesitate.

‘What is it? You can ask me anything.’

‘Did they ever hurt you? Were you ever frightened or in pain? We hardly slept those first few years for worrying about that.’

Marisa touched a hand to his cheek. ‘They never did anything to hurt me, or either of us come to that. We were shown nothing but love. Especially Dylan, Rita completely adored him. My adoptive parents weren’t too bad either. They gave us a good childhood. Does that help?’

A layer of hurt seemed to peel away from Nate’s taut features. He instantly looked years younger. ‘Yeah, that helps Marisa. It helps a whole lot.’

They continued the rest of the way in companionable silence, until they caught sight of Jessica standing on the deck, watching for them to return. Marisa raised her hand and waved. The woman looked momentarily startled and then she waved back. It would probably take her years to stop being surprised to have a grown up son and daughter who waved at her and affectionately took her hand.

Marisa Montgomery could feel the first stirrings of the new life growing inside her. She’d had no scans yet or tests to confirm it, but Marisa could tell everything was okay. She didn’t know if it was Eliot or Lee’s child she was carrying. For now it didn’t matter. This was
her
baby and it was going to be just fine.