The Christmas Vigil (7 page)

Tom nodded, his expression thoughtful. “She’s been good for you, mate. It wasn’t even a year ago that your life was more than a struggle. Now it seems like you can’t keep the smile off your face.”

“Yeah, you’re right about that,” Andy said. “I can barely remember the dark days before I met her and yet I’d lived more than two decades with the ghosts of my childhood.” A fierce glint entered his gaze. “I swear to God my kids will never know a day of unhappiness. Not if I can help it.”

Tom’s face filled with understanding. “How are they?”

Andy chuckled. “Jack’s turning eleven this January and is smart and cheeky and fun. Gracie’s already six weeks old. Time sure gets away, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it does. It seems like only yesterday Lily and I were bringing our kids home from the hospital, but Cassie’s going on for sixteen and Joe’s just become a teenager. You wait until you have teens in the house, Andy. You’ll be pulling your hair out.”

Andy grinned and Tom could tell he thought Tom was exaggerating. He grimaced and bit his lip.
If only…

The shrill peal of the phone on his desk interrupted his unsettled thoughts. He reached across and answered it. “Tom Munro.”

“Tom, thank Christ I got hold of you. I’ve been trying to call you for the past hour.”

“Really? What’s up, Declan?”

“I take it you haven’t heard?”

“Heard what?”

The silence on the other end of the phone was long enough to give Tom pause. He straightened in his chair. “Declan? What’s going on?”

“It’s Dad. He’s not good. He’s in hospital in Grafton. From what I’ve been told, at the moment, it’s touch and go.”

“Shit.
What happened?”

Declan recounted what he knew and Tom shook his head back and forth in shock and disbelief. “Christ. How’s Mom taking it? Have you spoken to her?”

“No, I tried to call her a little while ago, but I only got her voicemail. She probably has her phone switched off.”

“Does everyone else know?”

“I’m not sure. Brandon called me and Clayton told him. I’m assuming Riley was the one who called Clay, given that Riley’s living the closest to Mom and Dad. Clay said Riley’s been at the hospital all afternoon.”

Tom ran a hand over his face and grimaced, trying to sort through his tangle of thoughts. Right now, Lily was at home with Cassie and Joe, but she was supposed to be attending her best friend’s bridal shower later that evening. As the matron of honor, it was important that she be there. She intended to leave for the party as soon as Tom arrived home.

Cassie was expecting him to drive her up to Avalon, where she was staying with a handful of her girlfriends. They’d arranged to have an end-of-year send off for a couple of girls who were leaving high school. She’d been nagging him about it for more than a week, insisting he be home in plenty of time. And then there was Joe’s end-of-year school play.

For once, he’d been given the lead role and he couldn’t wait for his family to witness his prowess on the stage. It was all he’d talked about for nearly a month. The play was set for tomorrow night. Tom had promised his son he’d be there. He’d arranged to have the time off, but if he had to be in Grafton…

Then there was that doctor’s appointment the day after that; the one he kept putting off. Not to mention the pile of invitations to Christmas parties both he and Lily had accepted. One of them was his office party.

Knowing Christmas was less than a week away sent a surge of anxiety rushing through him.
What if his father were still in hospital at Christmas?
It would be downright shitty for all of them to have to celebrate the day with the knowledge that their much-loved patriarch was lying sick in the ICU. The very thought was beyond depressing.

He clutched at his hair and groaned. There was nothing for it. He had to go. He had to be there for his mother and his father—not to mention his brothers and sisters. He was the oldest in the family. He had no choice. It was during times like this, times of family crises, when he felt the weight of their expectations the most—and he’d never let them down.

The memory of his mother’s brush with breast cancer a few years earlier flashed through his mind. His father had been a mess, unable to bear the sight of his wife, gaunt and pale, vomiting and in pain, as the deadly dose of chemicals poured into her veins in an effort to kill the tumor that had taken up residence in her chest. The family had turned to Tom, their oldest brother, to take the lead and show them the way out of the pain and shock and numbness of knowing the treatment might not work. He’d risen to the occasion without hesitation. That was why he would walk away from all of his daily obligations, his commitments, all the ties he had to normal life and go to them.

“Tom? Hey, Tom? Are you all right?”

Tom blinked and shook his head, becoming aware of the increasing urgency in Andy’s voice. He looked across at his friend and work colleague and attempted a strained smile.

“I-I don’t know. I don’t think so. M-my father’s been rushed to hospital. He’s in the ICU. They’re not sure if he’s going to live.”

“Oh, mate, that’s bloody awful. You have to get out of here. You have to go and see him. Where does he live?”

“Grafton.”

“At least you can get a direct flight from Sydney. What can I do to help?”

“Thanks, Andy. I appreciate your offer. I-I’m not sure if there’s anything you can do.
I’m
not even sure what to do.”

“Call Lily. That’s what you need to do.”

Tom nodded. “You’re right. I need to call Lily. She’ll know what to do.”

CHAPTER TEN

Josie and Chanel

Brisbane, Queensland

Marguerite had almost made it back to the hospital when her cell phone rang. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to listen to the countless messages that had been left during the time since she’d been in the ICU. No doubt Riley had called his brothers and sisters. Even now, they were more than likely making plans to come and see their father and to be with her and offer their comfort.

Not that she begrudged them their actions. She loved that they cared enough to come. She just didn’t know how she was going to face them, knowing what they knew. They thought their father hung the moon and the stars. It had always been that way. Now, some of them were probably questioning their faith in the man they called Dad. The very thought that their loyalties might be tested filled her with sadness. They didn’t know him like she did. They didn’t know it couldn’t possibly be true. All she could do was try and convince them to ignore what the evidence implied and trust her and her unshakable belief in their father.

She sighed. It wasn’t going to be easy. All five of her sons were in law enforcement. They’d been trained to look at the evidence and draw logical conclusions from it. They’d struggle more than her daughters with what had happened. Tugging her phone out of her handbag, she checked the Caller ID and her heart clenched.

Chanel.
Of all her children, her youngest would be affected the least by the evidence at the scene. She’d grown up as Duncan’s little girl. There was nothing anyone could say or do to make her think badly of the man she still called Daddy. Marguerite was grateful for her daughter’s fierce loyalty. She was going to need her support.

Drawing in a deep breath, she answered the call. “Hi, sweetheart. How are you?”

“Mom, how’s it going? I have you on speakerphone. Josie’s here, too. She’s just come home from work.”

“Hi, Mom. I’m waving from the other side of the room.”

Marguerite heard the laughter in Josie’s greeting and bit her lip against the surge of emotion that threatened to undo her. From the light-hearted tone in her daughters’ voices, it was clear neither of them knew. She drew in a breath and did her best to sound normal. “H-hi, girls. It’s… It’s good to hear from you.”

“What’s wrong, Mom? You sound…funny,” Chanel asked.

“N-nothing. I mean…” Her spurt of bravado dissolved. The last few hours had caught up with her. Fresh tears burned behind her eyes and emotion clogged her throat.

“What is it, Mom? What’s happened?” asked Josie, her tone quickly sobering.

With faltering breaths and broken sentences, Marguerite choked out the news as best she could. While she made mention of the hotel room and the fact he may have been expecting a woman, she spared them all but the barest of details. When at last she was finished, she was met with shocked silence.

“How could he?” cried Josie.

“I won’t believe it!” shouted Chanel.

The girls spoke over the top of each other, getting increasingly louder in their protestations and denials until Marguerite was forced to hold the phone away from her ear. She understood how they felt. She was still reeling from the news and she’d had a few hours to get used to it. At last, they seemed to realize she was no longer responding and fell silent.

“Mom, are you okay?” Josie asked, her voice low and shaky.

“Yes, sweetheart. I’m okay. I’m fine. I-I guess I’m in shock a little, too, like you, but I’m fine. It’s your father I’m worried about.”

“I’m on my way, Mom. I don’t know about Josie, but I’m driving down there as soon as I can throw a few things in my bag.”

“I-I’ll call my office and explain that Dad’s sick,” Josie added quickly. “I’m sure they’ll let me take some time off. I’ll come down with Chanel. We can share the driving.”

A surge of relief flooded through Marguerite. As much as she’d dreaded her children’s reactions, she couldn’t deny she was thankful they would be with her soon. Right now, she needed her family around her. She needed to draw strength from their numbers, from their support and from their unconditional love.

“Okay, darlings. Please, drive safely. I’ll see you soon.”

With a chorus of solemn good-byes, the girls ended the call. Marguerite sighed. It would take them three or four hours to drive down from Brisbane, depending upon how often they stopped for rest breaks. She expected to see them later that evening. As soon as she’d visited with Duncan again, she’d go home and make up the beds in at least a couple of the spare rooms. It was likely her daughters would stay with her. They normally did.

It was possible the boys would stay there, too. With Riley a two-hour drive away, it would be more convenient for her sons to stay with her, at the family home and of course, there was plenty of room. She and Duncan still lived in the home they’d had since they were married. With the birth of each child, another room had been added and it had undergone renovations over the years, but the bones of the house were as original and solid as the day they’d purchased it.

She remembered that day like it was yesterday. Duncan had been so excited to show her. He’d found it by accident when he was driving on the outskirts of Grafton only a month before their wedding. It had been a rush, but the sale had gone through the day before their marriage and he’d worn a smile as wide as the Clarence River the evening he’d carried her over the threshold as his wife. The house held so many memories and most of them happy. Now…

She didn’t even want to complete the thought. With a concerted effort, she pushed the circumstances surrounding Duncan’s medical emergency into the furthest reaches of her mind and strode through the doorway of the hospital. Her husband was gravely ill and he needed her. Nothing else mattered.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Clayton

Mascot Airport, Sydney

Clayton stared out through the glass walls of the airport and into the coming night. The lights of the city glowed softly in the distance. He pulled his carry-on suitcase behind him and headed toward the gate where the plane to Grafton was due to depart. Brandon, Tom and Declan were presumably already there, waiting for him. He and Declan had planned to travel together from Canberra, but it hadn’t worked out that way.

As if the day hadn’t been bad enough, Clayton’s cab had been involved in an accident and he ended up missing his flight. He’d been lucky to escape injury and had been luckier still when he managed to score a seat on the last plane of the day. It was fortunate he could still make his connection.

His thoughts turned to Ellie and he uttered a soft sigh. At least she hadn’t argued with his need to go—to be there with his family. Lately, it seemed all they did was argue and he knew the reason why. It had nothing to do with the way they felt about each other or even about his parents. He’d love Ellie until his dying breath and he knew she felt the same. What was causing the friction between them was his daughter.

Olivia had been a little over four when he’d married Ellie. His daughter couldn’t possibly have any memories of her mother, having only been a baby when her mother had died, but still, the child clung to the idea of her and stubbornly refused to open her heart to her father’s new wife. He and Ellie had been married for more than six years, but Olivia continued in her refusal to recognize Ellie as the woman who had been more of a mother to her than the one who’d given her life.

Clayton was caught in the middle and didn’t have a clue what to do or how to go about fixing it. He was a well-known and highly respected police profiler. He looked into the psyche of people for a living and determined what made them tick, but it was different when it was his family under the microscope.