Second Shot

“No, why?”

“I just thought Ella was looking a bit uneasy, that’s all,” I said, turning back to watch the Range Rover. Lucas had the rear door open now and was strapping Ella into her seat.

Sean looked a little discomfited. ‘Ah, well, she spotted me,” he said.

I said nothing, just turned back and raised my eyebrows. He gave me a wry smile.

“She didn’t say anything, I don’t think, but that doesn’t mean she won’t at some point.”

We were both silent for a moment. The Range Rover’s brake lights flicked on as they climbed in and Lucas started the engine.

“What are we hoping for here, Sean?” I asked. “That we’ll catch them mistreating her? That we’ll stumble across some reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to keep her?”

“I don’t know,” he said quietly, “but at least we’re watching her- watching out for her. And it’s not just the Lucases we have to worry about, is it?”

As he spoke, the blue Ford we’d seen Vaughan’s men arrive in turned up the row where the Range Rover was parked. The Taurus accelerated hard towards them, then braked to an abrupt halt, blocking Lucas in. I tensed in my seat, waiting for the attack.

“Sean!”

He already had the Beretta out of his pocket, but there was no clear shot. And, besides, nobody had emerged from either car. Standoff. The Taurus sat there for half a minute, ticking over, the men inside staring at Lucas, who was staring right back at them through layers of glass and mirrors.

As abruptly as it had arrived, the Taurus pulled away, rearing back on its suspension as the driver planted the pedal, engine and transmission protesting hard enough to turn heads. A warning, then. Nothing more. But a warning about what?

There was a brief pause. Then the Range Rover swung out of its space, lurching a little to show that Lucas had been as unsettled by the whole thing as, no doubt, he was supposed to be.

We followed them out onto the main road, keeping three cars between us. Lucas had been through all the same training Sean had and in some ways it was a surprise he hadn’t spotted us tailing him before, but now he would definitely be on his guard.

“What are we going to do about this, Sean?” I demanded. “We can’t follow them around forever. What good are we doing?”

“Parker’s legal man is making progress,” Sean said. “He seems to think Matt’s claim for Ella is stronger, bearing in mind she’s lived with him all her life. He thinks Matt would get custody if it came to a fight.”

“Which Matt can’t afford to fund,” I put in. “Is Harrington prepared to back him?”

Sean shrugged, braking for traffic lights. “Well, we’ll just-,” he began, then broke off as his mobile phone started to ring. He checked the incoming number and handed the phone to me. “It’s Neagley,” he said.

I answered the phone. “Sean’s driving,” I told the private eye. “What’s up?”

“I think you’d better get back here,” she said, and there was something in her voice that hooked me. Was that excitement? “Matt’s found something and it could be important.”

“Like what?”

“We don’t think Greg Lucas was Simone’s father.”

I frowned. Whatever I’d been expecting-or hoping for-that wasn’t it. “But the DNA tests were a match,” I said, nonplussed. ‘And the police double-checked.”

“Yeah, but… it’s complicated. We’ll explain when you get here.” And she rang off.

When we got back Matt had the apartment door open before the Explorer had even stopped rolling. He was almost hopping from one foot to the other like a little kid with a secret that’s bursting to be let out. For the first time he allowed his impatience to show at my slow progress across the icy ground from car to doorway. Until Sean glared at him. Then he slunk indoors and waited for us to come to him at our own pace.

“OK, Matt,” Sean said when I was back on the sofa. “Let’s hear it.”

Matt shuffled the papers spread out over the replacement coffee table in front of him. There was an uncertainty to his fingers as they leafed through, as though if he handled the information badly it might evaporate right in front of his very eyes.

“First of all, I need to know how good is your researcher-Madeleine, isn’t it?”

“The best,” Sean said without hesitation, and the bluntness of his tone would have flattened someone less buoyed up.

“So you’re absolutely sure the dates she’s given you about Lucas’s army career stack up?” Matt said, wilting a little but still dogged in his persistence.

“Yes.”

Matt swallowed. “OK, then,” he said, picking up one particular sheet. “Simone’s birthday was the sixteenth of September.” His voice gave a tiny waver as he said her name, pricking my sympathy. He had not had time to grieve for Simone, I realized. And probably wouldn’t until their daughter’s fate was settled. I hoped that then he would just have one loss to mourn, not two.

Neagley came to sit down, bringing fresh coffee for Sean and me. As she passed Matt she put her free hand on his shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze of support. He threw her a wan smile.