Sins of the Father (24 page)

***

Alicia sat bolt upright
in her chair, thrown from the nightmare and into reality with a
jolt. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep, and now the throbbing pain
in her head she’d lived with for two days had extended to her neck.
She was stiff from her catnap, or forty winks, as Gray would have
said.

The thought chased away
all memories of her dream. It made her smile; the way he would
snooze after a family meal, and then insist he was merely ‘resting
his eyes’.

She rose from the chair
and stretched out the kinks as she walked over to the window, drawn
by the magnificent view and the gardens she had roamed during her
last visit.

They were extraordinary,
a wonderful balance of colour and shade. It was a clever design,
created to match every mood. The extensive green was perfect for
cricket or a friendly game of rounders. A decked area sat within an
arched backdrop and looked inviting to anyone in the mood for a
lazy day in the sun. For those seeking adventure, a series of
winding paths, walled by conifers, tempted and delivered. Though
she couldn’t see it, there was a bench in the far right corner. It
was surrounded by a secret flower garden, which, a long time ago,
had enveloped two lovers as they made plans under the stars. So
confident they would have a bright future together.

Alicia allowed her
thoughts to wander, her mind creating a snapshot of scenes long
gone. But the memory of all that was stolen from them hurt too
much. She turned from the window as though that alone could banish
the pain. Because it didn’t, she was left with the urge to get out
of her room – to explore and find the laughter she remembered so
well.

The artwork in the hall
soothed her, especially Eric’s painting. She couldn’t help reaching
out to touch the girl she had once been in his eyes. She loved the
picture because it held so much of him. It was the reason she’d
found it a good home. With a last wistful glance, she left the girl
and went in search of company.

As she descended the
stairs, a strong aroma of coffee greeted her; it made her mouth
water. She followed her nose and found her way to the kitchen. The
changes were dramatic – the new extension adding to the
overpowering sense of space. It had been years since she’d last
stood in Betty’s domain.

It was a surprise that
she didn’t find her there, an even bigger one that Brad was. The
room had swallowed him up for a moment. On closer inspection, she
realised that for once, he didn’t dominate the space, he blended
into it and looked completely at ease.

Brad turned to find her
staring at him. “What?”

“
I don’t
know. You took me by surprise – you look so much at home in this
environment.”

He shrugged his big
shoulders, relaxing again. “I always wanted to be a chef. Perhaps I
missed my calling.”

“
It’s
certainly a far cry from what you became.”

Brad laughed, the deep
timbre sound reverberating around the kitchen. “There were so many
things I wanted to be when I was a kid.” He handed her a coffee,
knowing the strong aroma was the reason she had found her way
there.

“
Thanks.” She
studied him a moment. “How long’s the list?”

“
Well, let’s
see. First it was an astronaut, then for a while an architect.” He
grinned. “It changed so many times its hard to recall them all. I
suppose that’s what happens when you’re young and impressionable,
right?”

Alicia rolled her eyes,
laughing at the expression on his face.

“
Come on. You
must have wanted to be something other than an actor?” Brad
said.

“
I was so
many things in my imagination. I learnt to reinvent myself over and
over again. Choosing something for real didn’t have the same
appeal. Although...” She perched on a stool at the long island.
“There was a time I wanted to be a solicitor. Defending the
helpless; righting wrongs.” It made her laugh at
herself.

“
What made
you change your mind?”

“
Gray. When I
met him, my life changed in so many ways.”

“
He wanted
you to be an actor?”

“
Good heavens
no, he was against it from the start. But he came around
eventually, when he saw how important it was. Gray always wanted
the best for me.”

“
So he pulled
a few strings?”

Alicia thought she
detected an edge to Brad’s voice. She chose to ignore it. “No, he
didn’t. Don’t get me wrong, he would have done anything to help me,
but Gray respected my independence too much. He understood what I
needed – it was a skill.”

Brad tipped his head to
the side, debating the question in his mind. “Can I ask something
personal?”

“
We’re
talking about our dreams. What’s more personal than
that?”

“
So far
you’ve volunteered the information. It’s not quite the
same.”

She chuckled softly as
she moved to re-fill their cups. “Now I’m intrigued.”

“
How did you
meet?”

The question took her by
surprise. “Didn’t you read about it in your research?”

He sat opposite her and
made his voice gentle. “I want to hear it from you.”

“
It sounds so
predictable, maybe a little overdramatic, but he saved my life.
Well, indirectly. First he saved Eric.” It hurt to talk about it,
especially sitting in a house so full of memories, but it felt
important that he understood. “Eric and I were living in pretty
squalid conditions. When we ran away from the children’s home, our
main goal was freedom. Eric was diabetic, and though we squirreled
away enough insulin to last us a while, he regularly got
sick.”

Brad couldn’t begin to
imagine what it had been like for them – they were kids. “How did
you make sure he got the medicine?”

Her smile was sad and
full of self-recrimination. “We managed to get odd jobs; helping
out in kitchens, cleaning cars, that kind of thing. Then, when we
needed supplies, we would hop on a bus and ride to a new city so
that we could visit the emergency room at the local hospital. If it
hadn’t been for Eric’s illness we could have disappeared without a
trace, but because of his medication we had to be
careful.”

“
Were people
looking for you?”

“
Well, I was
still a minor so we couldn’t take any chances. Looking back it’s
easy to see that we were fooling ourselves. But we had enough pride
to keep us going for a while longer. On the day we met Gray, Eric
was feeling under the weather. He hid a lot of it from me, but he
wasn’t strong enough to continue the charade. Needless to say he
collapsed right outside an elegant clothing store.”

He heard the subtle
change in her tone and sensed she was still bitter about whatever
came next.

“
I assumed
people would come to our aid, but instead they walked right past
us. They looked at Eric like he was a piece of gum they didn’t want
stuck to their shoe.”

“
I’m sorry.
That’s tough.” He wasn’t surprised by it. He knew how uncharitable
some people could be.

“
It was the
last straw. I was used to being overlooked, had been all my life,
but when they wouldn’t even give us the time of day, I snapped.” A
mischievous light came into her eyes. “I suppose I’ve always been a
diva, and I really went to town on whoever bothered to listen. I
wasn’t surprised by their behaviour. I was just tired of fighting
it.”

“
Did it make
a difference?”

“
Not one bit.
If anything, I chased them further away. But when I turned back to
Eric, Gray was kneeling by his side.”

She could see the scene
like ghosts in her head, could almost hear their voices. Her own
was raised in challenge.

“
What are you doing?”
She’d snapped out at the stranger.

“
Relax, young
lady. I know what I’m doing.”

He did too. Gray’s sister
had diabetes so he knew exactly what hypoglycaemia looked like.
When he started to bark orders, everybody listened.

“
He took
control and didn’t relinquish it, not even when we fought him. The
need that drew us together was stronger than any one of us
alone.”

He reached out to cover
her hand with his. “He sounds like an amazing man.”

“
He was.” She
looked down at their hands and back to his eyes again. “Do I get a
question?”

Brad resisted the urge to
clear his throat, but he couldn’t do anything about his heartbeat.
It hammered warning shots into his chest. “Alicia...”

“
Perhaps it’s
more of a show and tell.” She moved around the island so quickly he
didn’t even have time to miss the warmth of her hand. “Why haven’t
you tried to kiss me again?”

He sucked in a breath,
fighting the desire to take her in his arms and demonstrate exactly
what he’d wanted to do since his first taste of her.

Alicia saw the struggle
dance across his face and knew that he wouldn’t do anything unless
she forced his hand. Before she could change her mind, she closed
the distance between them and planted a kiss on his surprised
mouth.

It was all it took for
his control to slip. His arms moved around her as their lips parted
in memory of the first round. Alicia’s head spun from the potency
of the kiss. If he hadn’t been holding her, she doubted her
treacherous legs would have held out. All she wanted to do was
crawl into his lap and sink into him. A slither of desire shot
through her. She moaned against his mouth, pressing herself
closer.

Hearing her response sent
the blood racing to his overcompensating heart. The ringing in his
ears both startled and terrified him. If he didn’t take back some
of the control, there would be nothing left. Though it took
strength, he pushed her gently away.

“
I’m sorry if
I crossed a line. But I knew you wouldn’t.”

Brad met her eyes, not
bothering to mask the desire in his. “I can’t do this, Alicia. If I
open myself up to that kind of need it’s not me who’ll be
unprotected it’s you.”

“
So you’d
rather turn it off than explore what we could have
together?”

He shook his head,
praying for a way to make her understand. “When I look at you I
have to fight every instinct I possess just to stop myself from
taking you into my arms. If I give in to my desires I’m not sure I
could draw a line. I don’t think I’d be able to stop.”

For a moment, she said
nothing. He watched her, almost scared of what she would do next.
“I’m sorry. That was unfair of me. When you tell a woman you find
her desirable to the point of distraction, she can hardly take
offense. I’m so used to getting what I want after a lifetime of
being ignored, that I forget there are things I just can’t
have.”

He groaned and dropped
his head to rest on hers. “You’re killing me here.”

She laughed a little as
she stepped back and gave them both some room. “Okay, we’ll do it
your way. But there is one thing you can do for me.”

His grin was quick and
full of humour. “What’s that?”

“
Don’t
disappear back into that shell of yours. Let me in a little,
without allowing the job title to be a barrier.”

“
I can do
that,” he said, both relieved and disappointed that she had given
in so easily. He had a feeling the next few days were going to be
the most challenging of his life.

Chapter
18

It turned out to be
harder than he thought. In the days that followed, he cursed
himself for making the promise.

He longed for his safety
position – he needed that separation. Whenever she was around, he
wanted to damn the rules and take what he wanted. It was a
dangerous place to be.

For her part, Alicia gave
him as much space as possible. Since she was also recuperating, she
spent the first few days writing, taking videoconference calls from
Jack or catching up on her world through Sarah.

Thanks to Susannah, the
command centre for Morgan and Fairchild was now mobile, and parked
on the grounds of Burton House. She ran things from there. His team
had cases of their own, in addition to their responsibilities to
Jack’s detail. From time to time, they assisted in Brad’s own
assignment, but more often than not, they used it as a base to hold
their regular briefings.

It was during one of
their meetings they discovered the man assuming the identity of
Thomas Morley, had been promoted to a killer.

“
The DNA
evidence uncovered matches a case in Colchester - an unsolved
murder. The guy, a dialect coach named Nicholas Tomlinson, took a
while to identify. Our man did a real job taking out the
competition. He’s one sick son of a bitch.”

Kelvin looked angry
enough to short-out the video link. As he was stationed at the
hospital, it meant Kelvin’s presence in the team meetings was of
the electronic kind, at least temporarily.

“
I don’t like
how organised he is. I know the original profile was wrong, but it
bothers me he’s still holding the cards. We need to know who he
really is.”