Chapter 62: Chapter 63

Five Years Ago – Corby/Bech There is a knock at the door. She opens it to see a familiar figure. “Ah, Officer Corby. Nice to see you again. What can I do for you?”

He touches his cap. “Good morning, Mrs Bennett. I'm sorry to keep bothering you. I was hoping to talk with your son, Chad was it?”

“Chad's not in. Can we help at all?”

“Could you spare me five minutes? A couple more questions?”

“Not at all. Do come in. Coffee?”

“Please, yes.”

She waves him through to the lounge. “Do sit down. I’ll only be a minute. Black wasn't it?”

“That's right.”

She bustles back after only a couple of minutes, placing down the tray complete with coffee cup, cookies and doily. She passes him the plate of cookies “Do help yourself.”

He flashes brows at her. “Thanks. I will.” He bites in. “Every bit as good as last time,” he mumbles.

Mrs Bennett sits up, brushing her skirt down straight. “So, have you found her?”

“Not yet, but I understand Jennifer and your son are going through divorce proceedings? Do I have that right?”

She nods sharply, lips pursed. “Yes, that’s right. He's divorcing her.”

“Do you know the name of the lawyer she is using.? I might be able to track her down that way.”

She pauses, “I don’t, no, but….” She raises a finger. “One moment. I'll look in his room, see if I can find the papers.”

She fusses off out of the room, returning five minutes or so later with a large brown envelope. She extracts a sheaf of papers. “I think this should give you what you want… Ah yes….” She pushes a page to him, pointing. “There, the solicitor she’s using.”

“That’s perfect, thank you.” He takes out a notebook, jotting down from the sheet. Then, “If I were you, I’d just put them back where you found them. There's no reason to upset your son with this is there?”

He glances down at the plate. “Um, could I be cheeky and beg another of those cookies? They’re really delicious.”

Mrs Bennett beams, passing him the plate. “You mentioned last time that Jennifer is wanted in connection with some kind of swindle?”

He nods, a faint regret flitting across his face. “Yes, I'm here because we have had some more similar reports and we believe she might be connected. Small time grifting. None of it is serious, but the pattern is usually one of increasing severity in these cases. You know, starting small and escalating as confidence grows.”

Mrs Bennett sniffs. “I'll be sure to warn everyone in the area. If she tries to come back, you never know what she might get up to.”

Corby blinks. “That's probably sensible,” he agrees. “Make sure she can't fool anyone into trusting her.

Try the same thing on them.” He dabs biscuit crumbs up with the tip of a finger. “Do you have a recent photo of Jennifer?”

*****

Corby keeps his face straight as he gets into his car, waving a cheery little wave at the woman standing on the doorstep to see him off.

As he drives away, he looks down at the seat beside him where a paper bag of cookies sits next to a wedding photo.

He breaks into a grin.

*****

Richard Out of surgery, James remains in intensive care.

As I enter, Michael sits slumped in a chair, sleeping. His eyes are deeply shadowed, and the normally handsome man looks threadbare.

Wonder how much sleep he’s had?

And by the bed, Charlotte weeps inconsolably over the unconscious James. It’s heart-rending to see.

She’s exhausted with crying, each sob wracked from her body. Her face is dry, but puffy and swollen, red and blotched.

And the sheer injustice of it bites at me.

She doesn’t deserve this….

Leaning forward over the edge of the bed, she rests her head on folded hands, her face close to his.

“Master, come back to me. Please don't leave me. I promise I'll never disobey you again….”

Fuck. She's blaming herself….

“…. Just please don't leave me….”

Time to step in….

Her head turns a little as she hears the scrape of the chair and I sit beside her. “Charlotte this wasn't your fault. You didn't do this.”

Her face crumples and her tears stream once more. “I disobeyed him. He didn’t want me to do it and I disobeyed him. If I'd.…”

I lean in, take her hand in mine. “Yes, you disobeyed him, but for very good reason. You were right. We couldn't have stayed hidden long enough for the police to arrive. Your doing what you did certainly saved Elizabeth from….” I can’t bring myself to finish the thought. I change tack. “As you said, Elizabeth couldn’t have handled what was happening. And the fact is, that had you not distracted Klempner and his men, James, Michael and I couldn’t have done what we did.”

She sits up, wiping at her face with the back of a hand. “You think so? You really think so? You’re not just saying that?”

“No, I’m not just saying it. We're all responsible for our own actions and this wasn't your action. It was Corby's and he's dead now because of it. And no-one is going to mourn him.”

“No….” She looks at James then down, her words muffled by a sob. “What if he dies? What if my Mas… What if he dies? It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

How do I answer that?

How do I possibly answer that?

“You have Michael. He loves you. You love him too don't you?”

“Yes,” she chokes, “Of course I do, but it was supposed to be the three of us.”

“Charlotte, James is still alive, and you should remember that he has proved he loves you more than his own life. Wherever he is in there, he is trying to come back to you.”

Her eyes, still swimming, lift to mine. “You think he can hear us? You think he can hear me when I talk to him?”

“Yes, I'm sure he can hear you. He might not remember it later, but I'm sure he can hear you.”

“I’ll keep reading to him then….”

*****

James The voices….

“…. he loves you more than his own life. Wherever he is in there, he is trying to come back to you.”

“You think he can hear us? You think he can hear me when I talk to him?”

“Yes, I'm sure he can hear you. He might not remember it later, but I'm sure he can hear you.”

“I’ll keep reading to him then….”

Who are you?

…. a pale face framing green eyes….

Who are you?

Who am I coming back to?

*****

Five Years Ago - Chad Chad faces his mother, pale and controlled. “You went through my room?”

She pushes a plate of scones at him. “It was for the best, Chad. We know you still feel something for Jenny, after everything she put you through and….”

“You went through my room?” he repeats. “And you gave private information to a complete stranger without my permission?”

“She was only trying to help,” says Mr Bennett. “Sometimes you have to listen to your parents….”

“I'm not a child. I am a grown man and you went through my stuff? My private belongings. My private space. And you gave it to a stranger, a cop, information on how to find Jenny?”

Mrs Bennett twists her hands together. “He said she was wanted by the police. That she was swindling people out of money.”

Chad turns on her, jabbing a finger. “And you believe the City police would send someone way out here, twice, to chase up some small-time grifter who's probably not here anyway? You didn't think that's the least bit odd?”

“He was a policeman,” insists his father.

“Did he show you any ID?”

“Well no, but he was in uniform. He gave us a card.”

Chad’s eyes widen. “Did he?” He holds his hand out, snapping his fingers. “C’mon. Give.”

His parents meet eyes, then, “You’ve never behaved like this before, Chad,” says his mother. “Why don’t we all sit down and talk? Sort this out.”

“I’m done with talking. And I’ve not behaved like this before because I’ve never realised before that you think you still run my life.” He rubs the fingers of his outstretched hand together. “The card.”

Mr Bennett, slowly and with lips pressed to a line, takes his wallet from his jacket pocket and extracts the card, passing it to Chad. “I’ll have it back when you have taken the details.”

“Like Hell.”

“Chad!” protests his mother. “Don’t you dare address your father like that.”

He spins on her. “And don’t you dare behave as though I am either stupid or a child. You had absolutely no right to do what you did behind my back.” He turns on his heel and marches out, slamming the door behind him.

*****