Second Shot

“No-Pam,” Matt said, frowning at the interruption to his train of thought. “She said she met John a while before she and Greg split, and eventually John was the one who gave her the courage to leave her husband. She got a divorce and they moved away, made a fresh start, but Greg kept tracking them down, threatening them, hounding them. They were constantly on the move. Then, when they’d been living in one place for about six months, she came home one day and found John had just disappeared.”

“Disappeared?”

Matt nodded. “She said she’d only been out for a couple of hours — left him looking after Simone. When she came back the place had been broken up a bit-couple of things smashed like there’d been a fight. Simone was all alone in the house, hiding under her bed, crying her eyes out, and John had vanished.”

His eyes flicked between Sean and me, as if checking to see how the story had been received. Harrington’s face was shuttered. This was clearly not the first time he’d heard it. I shifted a little, carefully, in the bed.

“Were the police involved?” I asked.

“She told me they weren’t very interested,” he said. “He was an adult whose girlfriend’s ex was cutting up rough. They thought he’d just done a runner and she reckons they didn’t put much effort into finding him.”

“And what about Lucas?”

“Pam said that was the weird thing. Having been practically stalking her, he never bothered her again. When she made some inquiries of her own, she was told he’d left the army a month or so before John went missing. And he left the country the day afterwards.” He paused, face somber. “Pam swore John wouldn’t have just upped and left her and Simone. She was absolutely convinced Greg Lucas had murdered him.”

A brief silence fell into the void created by Matt’s words. All I could think of was that Ella had been left in the care of such a man. And that I hadn’t taken him down when I’d had the chance. The memory of Lucas using her as a shield, hiding behind her body, came roaring through my mind like a monster, licking at the back of my eyeballs with the flames of its tongue.

“Surely you must have told Simone what her mother said?” Sean demanded. “If not at the time, then later?”

Matt’s head sagged. “Pam made me promise I wouldn’t ever say anything,” he said. He must have been aware how lame that sounded because his head swung up again, stared pleadingly between us, as though begging for understanding. “I gave her my word that I wouldn’t tell. And then, when I did finally break my promise, it was too late,” he added dully. “Simone and I had already split by then.” His eyes skated over Harrington and the accusation sharpened the glance into barbs. “People had been telling her I was just after her money. She didn’t believe me.”

Harrington cleared his throat. “This information only came to our attention since Miss Kerse’s tragic and untimely demise,” he said with a little sideways glance at Matt. “Naturally, we are concerned for Ella’s welfare.”

And suddenly the reason the banker was here, with Matt, became clear. If Lucas wasn’t fit to have charge of Simone’s millions, Harrington had allied himself with the next in line to the throne.

“Naturally,” Sean said, and the cynical note in his voice told me he’d drawn the same inference.

Harrington colored slightly and plowed on. “Part of the reason I’m here,” he said, “is that I’ve spoken with my board and we feel we’d like to retain your services.”

I gave a short laugh. “What as?”

Everyone frowned at me, briefly united in their disapproval.

“When we flew into Boston yesterday I drove straight up to see Greg and Rosalind Lucas,” Matt said flatly “They refused to let me in.” He went back to his miserable study of the floor. “I just wanted to know my little girl was all right and they wouldn’t even let me see her.”

“On what grounds?” I asked. “You’re her father-you should have automatic rights over her.”

“They said Simone had told them I was a junkie,” he said, and now the bitterness was loud and clear. “They said they didn’t want someone like me to have any contact with their granddaughter, and that the courts over here would back them up.”

I raised an eyebrow at Sean, who shrugged. “If that’s the case, then they’re probably right,” he said calmly “They’d have to present some pretty compelling evidence, though.”

“Of course it’s not the bloody case,” Matt said, his voice rising. “So what if I’ve done the occasional bit of weed on a weekend? Who hasn’t? But the way they were saying it, I’d be shooting up in alleyways and dragging Ella into crack dens.” He broke off, took a breath, glanced at Harrington. “They seem pretty well-off people, and I know you told me the DNA test came back a match-so it looks like he really is Ella’s granddad. I don’t stand a chance of getting her back, do I?”