Sins of the Father (21 page)

Morley must have known
about the event or he would never have risked his suicide mission.
The fact that he was one-step ahead of them didn’t bother him as
much as knowing they had missed a vital piece of information. He
should have known about the gala. If he had, the extra security
would have prevented Morley from carrying out his plan.

He helped lift Alicia
from the boat when they arrived back to shore. Her lack of colour
and response concerned him. It made him angry, and with each step
towards the ambulance, his anger grew; it reared up and turned his
cool skin red hot. His face became a frightening mask, which is
what Frank saw when he approached, his clothes dripping
wet.

“
Did you get
him?”

“
He got away,
sir. We lost him in the crowd.”

“
But we found
this,” Alvin chipped in, holding up a wig and what looked like part
of a face.

“
Goddamn,
he’s a slippery son of a bitch.” Brad looked towards the waiting
ambulance. “Follow me to the hospital and we’ll debrief
there.”

He stepped forward
without waiting for a response and climbed in beside Alicia – he
wasn’t going to leave her side. For a brief moment, the fear that
had clutched his heart when he saw her plunge into the water came
back. The feeling was stronger than it should have been because he
couldn’t imagine a world without her in it. It scared him to
death.

To refocus he played the
scene in his head; looking at it from a professional standpoint
instead of an emotional one. He realised something immediately;
Thomas Morley had blown his cover for a reason. He wanted Alicia
off the project and away from the studio. The son of a bitch would
get his wish, but he had underestimated the team protecting her,
and now he would find out exactly what happened to people who took
him on.

Chapter
15

Alicia struggled towards
the sound – someone was calling her name. The answer on her lips
wouldn’t form. Her eyelids were dipped in lead; that had to be why
she couldn’t open them. The voice was louder now, clearer, so she
continued to work at it and regretted her attempts as soon as the
light invaded her comforting darkness. The pain was intense; she
shrank away from it, trying to focus on the images that swam in
front of her eyes. The first face she saw was Brad’s. He looked
different, more vulnerable somehow.

“
Alicia.
Welcome back.” His voice was a soft whisper.

She tried to smile, but
it was a weak attempt. “Hi,” she croaked, horrified at the
sound.

“
How’re you
feeling?”

“
Sore!” Her
voice sounded a little stronger now.

“
Sorry. I’m
rehearsing the top-ten list of worst possible questions to ask a
patient.”

“
It’s better
than, ‘You look like hell’.” Alicia touched the bandage around her
head tentatively. “So, what’s the verdict?”

“
You look
like hell.” Brad grinned when she rolled her eyes. “The doctor said
you’ll be fine. They’re keeping you overnight… for
observation.”

“
That’s an
interesting way of saying they’re worried I might have dislodged
something up there. What about Chase?”

“
He’s fine.
He was lucky. Theo on the other hand is in a bad way. I’m
sorry.”

Alicia closed her eyes
again, tempted to give in to the darkness. She was struggling to
remember the details.

“
It’s about
time you woke up, sleepy head,” Jack said from the
doorway.

“
Hi, Jack.”
Alicia tried to turn but it hurt too much.

“
I should
have known you’d worm your way in here,” he added, making his way
over to the bed.

“
I couldn’t
let you steal all the limelight.” She caught a glimpse of Kel
waving at her through the glass.

“
He wants to
talk to you,” Jack said, looking at Brad. “Don’t worry, she’s in
good hands.”

“
I have no
doubt about that.” Brad stood and looked down at Alicia. “I’ll be
back soon.”

She smiled again in
response, not daring to try out a nod in case she did permanent
damage.

“
Rumour has
it he hasn’t left your side since you arrived,” Jack whispered when
Brad left the room.

“
That’s his
job.”

“
What,
sitting vigil by your bed? Whatever, I’m just grateful to him for
saving your life…no, don’t say it, I know, it’s his
job.”

“
Do I need to
be involved in this conversation? If not I’m going to
sleep.”

Jack pulled a face at
her. “I see you didn’t break your sense of humour.”

She took the hand he
offered and squeezed. “I think Thomas Morley tried to kill
me.”

“
I know.
They’ve been trying to find him. He disappeared at the scene.” She
felt him shudder.

“
At least we
know who we’re looking for now.”

“
I wouldn’t
be so sure of that,” Brad said from the doorway. He looked pained
by what he was about to tell her.

“
Kel has been
liaising with Detective Potts and it’s not good. They did a little
digging and discovered that your mystery stalker was bribing a
delivery guy to leave the messages. Potts traced the bomb threat to
his phone too.”

Alicia frowned, not
following. “But surely that’s a good thing. Did he give them a
description of Morley?”

“
The guy gave
a description all right, but it wasn’t Thomas Morley. The accent
was all wrong too, but since he’s a dialect coach, that doesn’t
give us much.”

“
What about
the description I gave?” Jack asked.

Alicia looked at him - he
hadn’t mentioned giving a description of his attacker. “You
remembered his face?”

“
No, not
really. But the more I dream about him, the more details come back.
His hair colour, physical build, that kind of thing.”

“
And,” Alicia
prompted, looking at Brad.

“
And the
description doesn’t match either person.”

“
So we’re
either looking for three people, or a master of
disguise.”

Kel walked forward and
smiled down at her. “We’re working on it. It isn’t as bad as it
sounds. Now that we have more information we can look into people
within the industry – those with the skills to pull this
off.”

“
I appreciate
that.” Her eyes were starting to blur. She had to fight to keep
them open.

“
I know
that’s the logical explanation, but it doesn’t seem possible that
someone we know wants to hurt her,” Jack said. “She wouldn’t harm a
fly.”

Brad stepped forward. “It
doesn’t work that way. This guy has a twisted kind of logic so it’s
likely something beyond your control. He’s convinced you have to
pay for that.”

“
That sounds
dangerous,” she said quietly, trying to control the beating of her
heart.

“
It is. But
we’re here to protect you and you can trust us with the
job.”

Alicia looked from Brad
to Kelvin and back again. “I know that. Thank you.”

“
Miss
Gladstone needs some rest now, gentlemen.” The nurse’s tone was
authoritative as she poked her head into the room. “You can come
back later.”

“
Hang in
there, Alicia.” Kelvin was gone before she could react.

The nurse disappeared
with him. On a wave of relief she closed her eyes, only half
present when Jack assured her he’d be back. She could feel Brad, so
she knew he was still in the room. It wasn’t necessary to open her
eyes to be sure he was there somewhere. Instead, she gave in to the
fatigue spreading through her body and allowed sleep to claim her
once more.

***

Alicia drifted in and out
of a fitful sleep. She was awake long before her visitors started
to arrive. Greg was the first. He entered the room carrying a bunch
of long-stemmed roses.

“
Hi,
sweetheart.” He laid the flowers on the table at the foot of her
bed.

“
Hi, Greg,
it’s good to see you.”

“
Stuart and
Sarah are right behind me. They’re talking to Brad and his
team.”

“
I can’t wait
to see the nurse’s reaction. Have they taken over the visitors
lounge?”

“
Pretty
much.” He took her hand in his. “But enough about them. How are you
feeling? And I don’t mean physically. That much is
obvious.”

“
Scared,
especially since he stepped things up - it’s one thing to hide in
the shadows, but to try something in broad daylight with all those
people...” Her voice trailed off.

Greg rubbed her cheek
gently. “I’m so sorry this is happening. If I could get my hands
on-”

“
Join the
queue,” Stuart said from the doorway, making them both
smile.

“
Hi, Stuart.”
She looked over his shoulder for Sarah who appeared in a flurry of
activity and rushed towards the bed. “Easy, hon,” she choked out
when Sarah squeezed her fiercely.

“
This
shouldn’t have happened,” Stuart said, stepping a little
closer.

Greg slapped him on the
shoulder. “Not on your watch, eh, Stu?”

He ignored him, moving to
perch on the end of the bed. “I’m beginning to think this project
is cursed.”

“
The
Gladstone curse!” Alicia worked up a laugh, though it was slightly
subdued.

“
Don’t say
that. I don’t want to hear that rubbish.” Sarah was a mite
superstitious when it came to mysterious events on set.

Stuart barely registered
the interaction. “I want you to come and stay with me at Burton
House,” he said, looking geared up for a fight.

“
I’d like
that. Thanks.”

Greg shook his head as
though trying to clear it. “Did I just hear you agree without a
fuss?”

“
Oh, come on.
I’m not that difficult.”

“
I was going
to invite Jack and Becky too. But Detective Potts doesn’t think you
should be in the same place.”

She looked at him,
surprised he’d passed up the chance for some light-hearted teasing.
Her brow furrowed in concern, and then in pain for using so many
facial muscles at once. “That sounds ominous.”

“
It sounds
bloody scary to me.” Sarah threw up her hands. “If this were a
movie they’d probably take this as a chance to draw him
out.”

“
It does feel
like I’m stuck in one of my own creations.”

“
Well I’m
glad that’s not true - you write some scary shit!”

“
Gee,
thanks.” She rolled her eyes, figuring that was safer.

“
You know
what I mean. And from one loon to the other...” She walked over to
a table by the door and retrieved a package. “This is from
Josh.”

“
I’ve missed
these.” Alicia could barely contain her excitement. “Do you guys
mind if I open it now?”

Greg laughed. “Of course
not. The old man and I will go find ourselves something to drink.
Have fun.”

Alicia would normally
tear into the packaging. Her hand shook in anticipation as Sarah
helped to prop her up. The emotion, mixed with humour, bubbled in
her throat when she opened the box and saw the t-shirt neatly
folded on top with the words ‘CRASH DUMMY’ written in bold letters
across the front. Underneath that, in smaller print, were the words
‘I do this for a living!’

She lifted it out and
laid it on the bed. “How does he manage to organise things so
soon?” she said to Sarah who was chuckling softly at their friend’s
sense of humour.

“
The man has
a gift.”

“
And he
shared it with me.” Alicia discovered eight in total. It was like
dipping into a bottomless handbag. In addition to the t-shirt she
found Italian chocolates, luxury bubble bath, a face mask, scented
candles, a romance novel, a bottle of Italian wine, and a DVD with
the words ‘PLAY ME’ typed across it.

“
That’s
pretty tame for Josh,” Sarah said. “Maybe he’s going easy on you.”
She took the DVD over to the entertainment unit at the foot of the
bed.

“
I love his
comfort packages. They’re the best kind.”

“
The
verdict’s still out on that one. Let’s see what he has to say for
himself.”

‘
Hi, Alicia.
And if I know our dear friend, hello to you too, Sarah.’ Josh’s
face appeared on screen and they laughed in delight. He didn’t let
a little thing like a few thousand miles get in the way.

‘
You know I‘d
be there if I could, so I’m hoping the box of goodies makes up for
it. Go on, be honest, you’re probably glad that I felt the need to
make up for not being there in person.’ Alicia nodded, grinning
like an idiot, even though he couldn’t see her. ‘Stop agreeing.
You’re supposed to prefer the real thing!’

Sarah nudged her. “He
knows you too well.”

‘
Stuart told
me you’re staying at his pad - oh God, I hope you’ve agreed.
Anyway, I thought I’d supply the goodies. All right, so I thought
it might encourage you to rest a little, because I know you’re
itching to get out of that bed. Never mind what the doctor ordered,
this is what Josh orders: get some R&R while you can…kick back
and rejuvenate by totally pampering yourself, courtesy of your
friend, Josh ‘pretty-fantastic’ Burton.’