The Corrigan legacy (23 page)

But everything depended on him getting out of this financial hole. He didn't know what he'd do if his business went under.

Kerry woke with a start as Wayne shook her. 'Wassa matter?'

'You need to get up. I told you last night, I have a gut feeling about your ex. He's gone back to his roots, I know he has. Where else could he take Lily that's out of our way? This is a small island and we can drive to Lancashire in a few hours. It's not even worth taking the plane. Come on.' He flung off the covers and leaped out of bed.

She groaned and covered her eyes with her forearm. She hated early mornings.

He chuckled as he yanked her upright. 'Come on! We have to get going.'

'I need coffee.'

'It's waiting for you in the kitchen.'

She stumbled downstairs and took a big gulp of coffee, then another. 'But how will we know where to look?'

'You said Cal came from a village called Blackfold, didn't you? Quite a small place. There's bound to be someone there who's noticed a Harley-Davidson. They don't exactly blend in with the scenery, you know.'

It made sense, it really did. She set the empty cup down. 'Give me fifteen minutes. And put some toast on.'

But she felt guilty, as if she was hounding her daughter. She'd never dreamed Lily would go to such lengths to get away.

On Monday Judith sneaked a look at her emails before she went to get breakfast, smiling as she read Cal's email of two days ago. He was very eloquent and although she'd worried during the night at being the first to express her love, she could see that she needn't have, because he'd said it in the email, and very tenderly too. She couldn't imagine Des writing anything like this, she thought as she printed it out and put it in her top drawer.

Just before lunch Lily came into the kitchen as Judith was finishing putting the top layer of pastry on an apple pie. Glancing from time to time at her half-brother, Lily wiped and put away the breakfast dishes without being asked to, then fiddled around with a bowl of apples.

Mitch sat and chatted cheerfully to them, clearly not intending to go anywhere, so in the end Judith put the pie in the oven, set the timer then went over and pulled him to his feet. 'Go and do something for half an hour, darling. We need to have some girls' talk.'

'Oh, sorry!' He ambled out and up the stairs to where Cal was working on Judith's computer and soon the two of them were deep in a technical discussion.

The huge relief on Lily's face told Judith she'd guessed right, so she shut the kitchen door. 'You do need to talk privately, don't you?'

'Yes. Look, I'm just about to start my period and I've nothing with me. Could we go out and buy something, do you think? Dad will give you the money. I need some more knickers too. I've only got what I was wearing when I ran away and a couple of pairs he brought with him.'

'I should have thought of that. Get your coat and we'll nip into Rochdale. The men can watch the apple pie. I'll just tell them we're going out.'

When he heard the sound of a car pulling up outside the house, Mitch looked out of the window. 'I thought it didn't sound like Mum's car. There's a big Landcruiser just pulled into the drive.'

Cal shoved his chair back and went to join him just as'two people got out of the vehicle. 'Oh, hell, it's Kerry and Wayne. How could they possibly have tracked me here?'

'Who?'

'Lily's mother and her new guy.'

'She doesn't take after her mother, does she? She's much more like our side of the family. I don't like the looks of that man - he has a brutal face.'

The visitors disappeared from view and the doorbell rang twice.

Cal sighed and braced himself. 'I'd better go down. You might like to stay up here.'

'Give you space? OK.'

The bell rang again as Cal reached the bottom of the stairs. As he opened the door, Kerry moved forward into the house.

'I've come for Lily.'

'She isn't here.'

'You won't mind if I do a quick search, will you?' Kerry moved towards the stairs.

Mitch, who had gone to the top of the stairs to listen, moved to block the head of the stairs. 'This is my mother's house and you have no right here.'

Closely followed by Wayne, Cal ran up the stairs. 'Let them look. They'll not find her.'

'They still have no right to do this.'

'Any more than he has a right to kidnap Lily,' Wayne snapped.

Mitch swung round to glare at him. 'He didn't kidnap her. She ran away - from you. And I can see why.'

Wayne simply pushed the boy aside and went to help Kerry search.

Cal held Mitch back. 'It's not worth it. They won't find her here, but it'll keep them occupied. Let's go and put the kettle on.'

When they got back to the kitchen, Mitch said, 'We should just tell them to leave.'

'I'd rather keep my eye on them.'

'But what are we going to do when Lily gets back?'

'We're going to hope she'll see his car and tell Judith to drive past. If they don't, I'll tackle him and give you a chance to run out and tell them to get away.' He grimaced. 'Though I'm not a good fighter and he looks as if he is.'

'He does look like brute force on wheels, doesn't he?'

Footsteps on the stairs heralded the return of their unwanted visitors. Without a word, Wayne went out into the garden and began searching the sheds.

'She's not here, you know,' Cal said to Kerry.

'I prefer to make sure of that. And she's been here. We found some of her clothes.'

'Coffee?'

She hesitated.

'I'd like to be civilized about this.'

'You're too soft for your own good, you always were,' she snapped. 'Why are you doing this to me, Cal?'

'I might ask you the same question, though what matters most is why you're doing it to Lily. I've never seen her so unhappy and jumpy.'

Kerry swung away from him. 'Black, no sugar, if you remember. The same for both of us.'

He watched her for a minute, shaking his head at how intransigent she could be when she'd set her mind on something, then began to make the coffee.

Wayne came in a few minutes later. 'Not out there.'

Kerry looked at Cal. 'We're staying 'til she gets back.'

'Whatever.'

She sat down opposite Mitch, glanced at him, then looked again. 'Who are you?'

'I'm Lily's half-brother. We look alike, don't we? This hair comes from the Corrigan side of the family.'

She gaped at him, then glanced at Cal. 'How the hell did you find out?'

'From Mitch's mother. She's Des's ex-wife and had her husband investigated.'

Kerry pressed her lips together, but her eyes kept straying towards Mitch and she didn't look happy.

Cal passed a mug to Wayne. 'Coffee?'

'Thanks.' He stood up. 'We'll go into that room at the front if you don't mind. Be able to see them return then. My guess is they've gone shopping and won't be long.' 

The only thing Cal could do was choose a chair nearer the door than Wayne and pray he'd hold the man back for long enough to allow Judith and Lily to get away again.

But he was pinning his hopes on one of them seeing the car and driving past.

Des sighed and rubbed his chest absent-mindedly as his accountant droned on and Raymond nodded, looking as if he understood every word. The two of them had done nothing but talk figures and cost-cutting at him today and he had a touch of indigestion. It must be that bread. It'd been very heavy, was sitting like a stone in his chest.

In the end he could stand the discomfort no longer and stood up, pressing one hand against his chest. 'I'm not feeling—' And that was as far as he got, because a vice seemed to tighten on his chest and he groaned with the pain of it, fighting against the blackness and failing to hold it back.

Raymond jumped to his feet as his boss crumpled to the floor, twitched a little and lay still.

John went to kneel by Des, feeling for a pulse and loosening his tie and shirt collar. 'Call an ambulance. Looks like a heart attack to me.'

For a moment Raymond stood there, open-mouthed, then jumped into action.

It took the ambulance only five minutes to arrive. He knew that, because he kept glancing at his watch. But those five minutes were the worst of his life because John had gone down to hold a lift at the ready and bring the ambulance crew up here.

When there was a sound in the corridor, Raymond let out a grunt of relief and stood up, moving back to let the paramedics deal with Des. They had him on the trolley very quickly and were out again before he realized someone would have to go with them to the hospital. 'You go with them.' He said to John. 'I'll call his family.'

He saw all the staff peering out of their offices and yelled, 'Get back to work.' After a moment's thought he rang Tiffany first, because she seemed as near family as Des had at the moment.

'Bad news, I'm afraid. Des has just had a heart attack.'

'He's not—'

'No, he's not dead, but he was unconscious. They said they were taking him to St Rita's. It's the closest.'

'I'll go straight there.'

'Take it easy. He won't want you to lose the baby.' Then he went outside to ask the secretary to ring Des's son and mother-in-law, before going to the hospital himself.

What a sod of a thing to happen! Just when they needed all their wits about them. Just when he had a few plans of his own that needed his attention.

Tiffany took a minute or two to breathe deeply and get control of herself. It wouldn't help Des if she panicked and lost the baby. Then she called a taxi and got ready to go out.

When she arrived at the hospital, she introduced herself as Des Corrigan's fiancee and was shown into a waiting room to one side, where she found Raymond and a man he introduced as the company accountant, both of them looking gloomy.

They stood up and Raymond came across to her. 'Des is holding his own but he hasn't regained consciousness.'

She went all shuddery for a moment or two and clutched his arm, letting him help her to a seat.

'I'll leave you to keep an eye on things here,' the accountant said, 'and I'll go back to the office. We want to quell panic there.'

'Right.' Raymond hesitated, then went to sit two chairs away from Tiffany, keeping a wary eye on her.

'I'm not going to faint, Mr Tate.'

'Just worried, given the circumstances.'

She looked at him coolly. 'I've done yoga and meditation. I can control my own stress. Which is more than we can say about Des. Can you manage the firm in his absence?'

'Yes.'

'Has someone rung his son and mother-in-law?'

'I told his secretary to do that.'

'Are you staying on here?'

' 'Til I know he's out of danger.'

'Good.' She folded her hands in her lap and closed her lips firmly. She did have skills to minimize stress, but that didn't mean she wasn't worried sick about Des. If - no, when he recovered, she was going to make a few changes  in his unhealthy lifestyle.

She couldn't bear it if he never even saw his child.

In Rochdale Judith and Lily started shopping with great enthusiasm. They'd agreed on the way into town to buy Lily some new jeans and a couple of tee shirts as well as the knickers.

When they went to pay at the first shop, however, Judith discovered she'd forgotten her credit card. 'I had it next to the computer, paying a bill on line,' she remembered. 'Oh, damn! I'm really sorry about this, Lily. I can't get you the jeans today, just the stuff you need and maybe one tee shirt and a couple of pairs of knickers.' She counted the money in her purse and they did some very careful shopping which used up most of her cash then set off home. Even that much shopping was fun and made her wish she'd had a daughter.

As they were nearing the house, her thoughts turned to what she was going to make for lunch and it took her a minute to realize what Lily was shrieking in her ear.

'Drive on past! That's Wayne's car.'

By the time that registered, Lily had undone her seat belt and slid down on to the floor, repeating, 'Drive past! Please!'

Judith did as she'd asked, speeding up again as she gave one glance at her house. If it had not been for Lily's quick reaction, she'd have turned into the drive without thinking about why a large four-wheel drive was parked in front of the house.

As they continued along the road, which led up to the moors, Lily looked up from a crouching position on the floor. 'How did they find us?'

It didn't take much thought to work that out. 'Cal came from round here originally, so it's a logical place to search. And the motorbike is very distinctive. We shouldn't have gone to the minimart on it last night.' She saw a turning space ahead and drew to a halt in it.

'I'm not going back to Mum. She'll only drag me off to America with her and Wayne.' Lily's voice became shrill as she added, 'I don't care what you say, I won't go back.'

Judith hated to see the unhappiness and tension in her companion, who had been laughing with her only a few minutes earlier.

'Isn't there somewhere else we can go? Please.' Lily pleaded.

And suddenly Judith realized that there was. 'Yes.' But as she started up the car, she groaned and turned to Lily.

'The petrol gauge shows nearly empty. I meant to fill the car in town. How are we going to buy petrol without my credit card?'

A kestrel hovers over the upper slopes of the moors then folds its wings and dives on its prey, rising triumphant with a mouse dangling from its talons.

After an hour had passed very slowly, Wayne fixed Cal with a lowering gaze and said, 'As custodial parent, Kerry wants her daughter back and you have no leg to stand on legally about this, Richmond . . . not now.'

'I've consulted a lawyer and I think you're wrong.' Cal ignored Wayne. 'You've been trying to fool me about the legalities, Kerry, so that you could take my daughter away from me. Why?'

'Because I don't want her growing up soft like you.'

'You want her like Rambo here?'

Wayne scowled at him and half-rose in his seat. 'Look here, fellow—'

Kerry tugged him down again. 'Don't let him provoke you. He's good at twisting words around, not so good at action.' She turned her head to spear Cal with one of the scornful looks he remembered so well. 'You've only got the ability to delay things, you know. And if you do, that'll put Lily in the middle of a tug of war situation. Can you blame me for trying to avoid that? If you do care about her as much as you claim, you'll let us take her to America and let her move on.'

'Never. She's as much mine as if I'd created her and anyway, she'd be unhappy with him.'

With a muffled grunt of annoyance, Wayne stood up and went to the window, fists rammed into his pockets, staring out.

Kerry stayed where she was, but Cal knew her well enough to sense that she was uneasy underneath her anger, as if she wasn't totally comfortable with all this.

After that the only sound in the room for some time was the ticking of a massive old clock on the mantelpiece, and the shuffling sounds Mitch made as he fidgeted in his seat near the door. From time to time he looked at Cal and offered the unspoken support and comfort of a half-smile.

Tiffany glanced up as someone came into the waiting room. 'Hello.'

Hilary came across to sit next to her. 'How is he?'

'Holding his own. That's all they'll say. Isn't Mitch with you?'

'No. He's still in Lancashire but I've left a message for his mother.' She hesitated then took Tiffany's hand. 'Are you all right, dear?'

'Yes. Just - worried.'

A nurse came in. 'Mr Corrigan has regained consciousness, is asking for someone called Tiffany.'

She stood up. 'That's me. I'm his fiancee.'

'You can have five minutes with him, then he has to rest. He won't settle without seeing you. Is he always so difficult?'

'That's Des.' It gave Tiffany hope, somehow, to hear that he was still being his old awkward self.

He was lying on a bed, with a monitor beeping beside him and wires attached to his body. He looked pale and drawn, and limp, as if he hadn't the energy to lift a finger, but he still smiled faintly when he saw her.

She pulled a chair up to the bed and sat down. 'What a silly thing to do, Des Corrigan.'

He clutched her hand. 'Sorry. I'll try not to do it again.'

'I've got your mother-in-law here, but Mitch is still out of town.'

'It's you I want. The business—'

'—can be left to Raymond. He's very capable or you'd not have had him working for you so long.'

'Yes.' He sighed and looked at their joined hands. 'You will marry me when I get over this, Tiff, won't you? I need you.'

'You never miss a trick, do you?'

'Not if I can help it.'

'All right. I'll marry you.' She'd have a few conditions to make first, but now wasn't the time to mention those. 'They said only five minutes and we've had six.' Standing up she bent to kiss his cheek.

'I do love you, Tiff.'

'I don't know why, but I love you too.'

The nurse came in, her eyes on Des, assessing. She seemed to approve of what she saw and nodded at Tiffany. 'He really does need to rest now.'

'All right.'

The nurse left with her. 'If things go well for the next day or two, he should be out by the weekend. Is there someone to look after him?'

'Me. We live together.'

'Good.'

When Tiffany went back into the waiting room, she felt things in the room waver around her and put out one hand on the wall for support. Hilary jumped up and put an arm round her, so she clutched the older woman instead, grateful not to be alone. 'I don't know why I'm being so silly. Des is looking tired, but he's alive.' Her voice broke on the last word.

'It's quite a normal reaction to feel wobbly once the worst is over,' Hilary said in her comfortable way. 'Did you have any lunch?'

'No.'

'Let's go and get something to eat and drink, then. You can't function without fuel, especially in your condition.'

'I'm not hungry.'

'Just a snack, to please me.'

'All right. It's really kind of you - given the circumstances.'

'I don't blame you for what Des has done, and nor will Judith. Their marriage hasn't been - sound for a long time.'

Tiffany had to swallow hard to hold back the tears. She turned to Raymond who was hovering behind Hilary, looking uncomfortable. 'I told Des you'd see to things at work and he's happy with that.'

He looked relieved. 'Right then. I'll get back to the office. Tell him I'm on to things. Will you be all right?'

'I'll stay with her and see her home,' Hilary said.

He nodded and walked out.

'I want to stay here, be with Des,' Tiffany protested.

'I'll go and ask someone about that.' She bustled off and Tiffany sat down, closing her eyes.

When the older woman came back, she said, 'They suggest you go home. They're going to sedate him and he won't make much sense until tomorrow. I've given them my phone number. You will come to my house, won't you? You shouldn't be on your own. I need to ring Judith.'

'She won't want to see me.'

'She'll understand. And you really shouldn't be left on your own, not in your condition.'

As they were getting into her car, Hilary shook her head, a wry expression on her face. 'I don't know how Des does it'

'Does what?'

'What do they call it nowadays? ... I know, pull the chicks'

Tiffany stared at her in surprise, then chuckled. 'I'm a bit old to call a chick.'

'You seem pretty young to me. Come on. Let me take you home and look after you.'

'I have some money. I don't know if it'll be enough, though, because they took everything they could find away from me.' Lily tipped out her purse and they counted the coins together.

'It may just buy enough petrol. We'll have to go back through the village and fill up there, because this road only leads up to a pub on the moors, but I can avoid passing the house.'

They were both on edge as they stopped to fill up the car in the village. Lily stayed hunched up in the back, an old scarf of Judith's tied round her bright hair, pretending to read a magazine.

Then, driving in the most conservative way she knew in order to conserve petrol, Judith headed for Cheshire. A few miles from Maeve's house the car began to sputter and jerked to a halt.

'Oh, no!' Lily looked at her fearfully.

Judith smiled and reached out to hug the girl. 'It's all right. We're not far from Saltern House. I'll give Andy a ring and explain the situation.'

She was relieved when he answered the phone on the third ring and explained only that she'd run out of both petrol and money on the way to see Maeve.

'Where are you exactly? Right then, stay there and I'll bring some petrol out to you.'

He was there within half an hour, during which time Lily bit her nails and jerked round if any car slowed down nearby.

'They won't find us here,' Judith said several times. But it didn't seem to get through to the girl, who continued to wear the headscarf and sit slumped in her seat, watching the traffic warily.

When a large blue Mercedes slowed down and stopped next to them, she looked at Judith with such fear on her face that Judith took hold of her hand. 'It's all right. This is Andy, your Aunt Maeve's PA.'

'But what if they don't want to help me?'

'They will, I promise you.' She opened the car door and got out. 'Andy, I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life. Do you have some petrol?'

He nodded. 'I've also brought Reg, who looks after Maeve's cars. He'll fill yours up and bring it back to the house. You can ride home in my car.' He looked at Lily and then back questioningly at Judith. 'If you'd rung, I'd have seat a car to pick you up at home, you know.'

'We - um - had to leave unexpectedly and I didn't realize I hadn't brought my credit card. We need Maeve's help.'

'Who's the girl?'

'Lily. Another of Maeve's nieces. She's running away from her mother and we need your help.'

'This is Des's other daughter?'

'Yes.'

He laughed. 'Strangely enough, we were trying to find her. Maeve wants to meet her.'

Judith could see the girl's white, anxious face pressed against the car window. 'Look, I'll explain when we get there. Lily's very upset, so please don't ask her any questions.' She sat with Lily in the back of the big, luxurious car, holding her hand.

'What shall we do if she won't help me?' Lily whispered as they slowed down to turn into the drive.

'She will, I promise you.'

Maeve felt restless and went to sit in the conservatory as she waited for Andy to return. He said Judith had been very guarded on the phone, but had promised to explain fully when she arrived.

When she couldn't settle, Maeve wound up in the kitchen sitting on one of the high stools chatting to her housekeeper.

'You're looking a bit better today,' Lena said. 'There's more colour in your cheeks.'

Maeve considered this, head on one side. 'Yes. I'm feeling a bit better too - well, I think I am - though I'm still much weaker than usual. I've to go in soon for another check-up.' She grimaced. 'I'm so tired of hospitals.'

'We're all human, even you, and sometimes we need them. Will you try one of these little rice-flour cakes for me? It's a new recipe and I'm not sure if there's enough sugar.'

Maeve picked one up and nibbled at it absent-mindedly. 'I wonder why Judith didn't let us know she was coming? Was that a car?' She put down the half-eaten cake and went back towards the front of the house.

Lena watched her go, a frown on her face. She hoped this visit didn't mean Des was causing trouble again. But at least she'd got a bit more food into Maeve, who was hardly eating enough to feed a bird.

Hilary picked up the phone, took a deep breath and dialled Judith's number. It rang several times and she was just about to put it down when someone picked it up. The person at the other end was a man and she didn't recognize his voice. 'Could I speak to Judith, please? It's her mother and it's very important.'

Cal stared at Wayne, who had moved closer and was listening carefully. 'Judith's out shopping. Can I take a message?'

'When do you expect her back?'

'I'm not certain.'

Hilary hesitated. 'Would you be Cal?'

'Yes.'

'Ah, she told me about you. Look, it's bad news, I'm afraid. Des, her ex, has had a heart attack. He's been taken to St Rita's and will be in for a few days. I think he'll be all right, they got to him quite quickly. But Mitch should come back and see him - just in case.'

'I'm sorry to hear that. I'll tell Mitch myself. Are you at home? Give me your number. Right, got it. I'm sure Judith will ring you when she comes back.'

He put the phone down. 'I need to speak to Mitch privately.'

Wayne stared at him, eyes narrowed, fairly bristling with suspicion.

Cal gestured to Mitch to follow him out and led the way into the kitchen.

'Who was that?'

'Your grandmother.'

'It's not Mum, then.' He let out a long shuddering breath. 'I was afraid she'd had an accident.'

'No. It's your father. And it is bad news. He's had a heart attack.'

'Dad! Is he—'

'They think he'll be all right, but you'll want to go and see him, I'm sure. They're keeping him in hospital for a few days.'

'I need to get back to London straight away.' He, lowered his voice. 'Where do you think Mum and Lily are? It doesn't take this long to nip into Rochdale and back.' 

'I'm hoping they saw the car and drove past. Now, I'd better go and tell them what's happened. Don't forget, Kerry was once your father's mistress. Maybe this will make them go away and leave us alone.'

'He doesn't look like he'd care about anyone.'

'But she will, for all her faults. She's not all bad, Mitch. She's been a good mother in her own way. She's just - a bit sharp.'

Mitch made a scornful noise in his throat and sat down suddenly at the table, fists clenched, eyes closed.

Cal went back into the front room. 'Mitch's father's had a heart attack. He's in hospital. I need to get the boy to London.'

Kerry looked across at Cal in shock. 'Is Des going to be OK?'

'They think so, but they're keeping him in hospital for a few days.'

'Well, you can't leave until they get back, can you,' Wayne said, with a sneering sort of smile.

'He can leave any time he wants,' Kerry said. 'I'm not keeping a son from his father at a time like this.'

'It could be a trick, honey, probably is.'

She shook her head. 'Cal isn't into tricks and lies. He's too honest for his own good, always doing people favours instead of charging them for his services. That's one of the things that drove me mad about him.'

Mitch came back into the room as she was speaking and looked at Cal. 'I'm all right now. I think we ought to wait a bit longer, see if Mum gets in touch. If she doesn't, will you take me to London? I need to see Dad, be there. You know.'

'Yes, of course.' He went and put his arm round Mitch's shoulders and the boy didn't shrug the arm off.

Cal saw Kerry watching them with a sympathetic look on her face.

She stood up. 'Shall I make us all some sandwiches? If you're going on a long drive, you'll want something to eat.'

'Thanks. That'd be a big help.' Cal pulled Mitch across to a chair. 'Your father will be all right,' he said. 'Your grandmother said they got help for him quickly and he's not old, can afford the best treatment.'