The Hornbeam Tree (37 page)

‘Nick’s got most of it with him,’ Max told her. ‘He should be back there today. Now, I’m going to try to get some sleep before I meet with Josh’s lawyer at noon. Call me if there’s any news from Elliot or Tom. Or have them call me.’

As she rang off Katie passed with a plate of warm croissants. ‘So what’s the scoop?’ Katie said, setting the plate on the table. ‘It’s got to be big for him to have called at this hour.’

Glancing anxiously at Michelle, Laurie speed-dialled Elliot’s number and said, ‘Apparently the charge against Josh Shine is conspiracy to commit terrorism.’

Michelle instantly paled. ‘But that’s preposterous!’ she declared.

Laurie looked at Katie, as she said, ‘What’s it going to mean for Tom?’

‘Too early to say,’ Laurie answered, failing to make a connection.

Michelle was already using Katie’s mobile to try Tom. ‘He’s not answering,’ she said, almost angrily.

Seeing how upset she was, Laurie quickly tried the other numbers she had, but still no luck. ‘They’ll be in touch at some point,’ she said gently. ‘It’s still quite early in the morning.’

Michelle nodded, and dashed a hand through her hair. ‘Sorry, I’m overreacting,’ she said. ‘I didn’t sleep too well.’

Though Katie was watching her closely, she made no comment as she pulled out a chair and sat down. A few minutes later she and Laurie were eating breakfast and discussing the results of their most recent research, while Michelle stood staring out of the window.

Though she was listening to Katie, Laurie couldn’t help thinking that it wasn’t only this morning that Michelle hadn’t seemed her normal lively self. She’d been distracted last night, and
slow
to rise to the usual bantering with Katie, which had made Laurie wonder if something had happened between them that Katie was doing a better job of hiding. Or maybe it was the emotional wear and tear of going through this with her sister that was finally getting to Michelle, and now, with this new concern about Tom …

‘Michelle, come and sit down,’ Katie said softly.

Turning round, Michelle looked for a moment as though she’d forgotten they were there, then forcing a smile, she came over to the table. ‘I hope you haven’t scoffed the last of the marmalade, Katie,’ she said, attempting a light-heartedness she was clearly far from feeling.

‘I was too afraid to,’ Katie responded, passing her the jar.

Michelle looked up, Katie winked, and as Michelle smiled, Laurie noticed her swallowing hard. She was obviously right on the edge, and Laurie was just wondering if she should tactfully suggest that she and Katie postpone their plans for the morning, when Michelle said, ‘I was thinking I’d pop into Chippenham, or Bath, and leave you two to it this morning. I need to buy a car …’

‘But you can have mine,’ Katie protested.

‘You need it,’ Michelle responded, starting to clear the table.

‘For now, yes, but …’

Knowing she wasn’t in the mood to hear Katie’s quips about her impending demise Michelle cut her short, saying, ‘I’m just wasting money, keeping a rental outside, and I expect Laurie will welcome the opportunity to have you all to herself for once.’

Katie eyed Laurie sceptically.

‘I can’t think of anything I’d like more,’ Laurie told her.

Chuckling, Katie said, ‘If my life were only half as interesting as yours, I might believe you.’

Reminded of the evening she had planned with Elliot later, Laurie’s insides twisted with nerves. ‘Actually, my life is a mess,’ she said lightly, ‘but I’m not going to let you do a typical Katie and start steering the subject round to me, it’s you I’m here to talk about.’

‘Oh dear, how dreary,’ Katie responded, and looked up as someone ran past the window. ‘Was that Judy?’ she said, turning to the door as it burst open.

‘Bloody rain,’ Judy grumbled, stamping her feet on the wire mat. ‘And what a storm last night. Thought the roof was a goner at one point … Oh my goodness,’ she cried, spotting Laurie, ‘I forgot you were here, but don’t worry, I’m not stopping. This is just madam’s personal delivery service,’ and she fished a small white bag out of her pocket and plonked it on the table.

‘Have you met my supplier?’ Katie asked Laurie.

Laughing, Laurie nodded. ‘Hi Judy,’ she said. ‘Nice to see you again.’

‘Stay and have some coffee,’ Michelle prompted, taking down another mug.

‘I wish I could,’ Judy grimaced, ‘but the boys have got football practice at nine, and I’ve still got a couple of errands to run before I go back to pick them up. Michelle, you haven’t forgotten you’re talking to us in the village hall later, have you? We’re all really looking forward to it.’

Michelle looked at her blankly, then suddenly remembering said, ‘Of course. I’ll be there. Six o’clock, isn’t it?’

‘That’s right,’ Judy responded cheerily. ‘We’re expecting quite a crowd.’ Then to Katie and Laurie, ‘Have a nice shoot, if that’s what you call it,’ and a moment later she was bobbing past the window again.

Katie’s eyes were ironical as she looked at Michelle. ‘Nice recovery,’ she told her. ‘Slow, but I think you pulled it off.’

‘I’d totally forgotten,’ Michelle confessed. ‘And I haven’t even prepared anything.’

‘So, I guess that’s the car search off the agenda,’ Katie remarked.

Michelle looked crestfallen.

‘Unless,’ Katie said, ‘you restrict it to Chippenham for a couple of hours, then I’ll help you put something together this afternoon on your life in the refugee camps.’

Michelle came to kiss her on the forehead, and tried to stifle the guilt she was feeling, but she had to be alone, if only for a short while, or she’d end up breaking down completely in front of Katie, and Katie just didn’t need it.

By the time they were all showered and dressed, and Laurie had tactfully removed her things from Molly’s room in case she came back early, it was almost ten o’clock, and at long last the rain had stopped. However, the debris the storm had left in its wake was strewn all over the garden. Michelle half-heartedly picked some of it up as she and Laurie went out to their cars.

‘I’ll tidy up later,’ Michelle said, putting what she
had
in a pile next to the front door. ‘It’ll come in handy for firewood when it dries out.’

Laurie went ahead through the gate, then stopping behind her car, she turned back to Michelle saying, ‘I know this news about Josh Shine is worrying, but you seemed very low before. Is there anything I can do?’

Michelle sighed, and gazed off towards the overflowing pond where the ducks were squawking in alarm as a dog circled their domain. ‘I’m just a bit tired,’ she said.

Laurie waited for her eyes to come back to hers. ‘None of this can be easy for you,’ she said softly. ‘I know how much you love her …’

Tears immediately welled in Michelle’s eyes. ‘Please don’t say any more, or I’ll start to cry,’ she warned with a shaky smile.

Laurie put a hand on her arm, then realizing that might have the same effect, she turned to open the boot to take out the camera.

‘I’ve spent the past ten years caring for the sick and dying in the most dreadful conditions,’ Michelle said almost harshly.

When she didn’t go on, Laurie said, ‘But none of them was your sister.’

Michelle swallowed and shook her head. After a while her eyes came back up to Laurie’s. ‘Actually, it’s not just Katie,’ she confessed, ‘it’s Molly. I can’t seem to get through to her, and I’m at my wits’ end trying to think of a way.’

Wishing she could come up with a better answer, Laurie said, ‘These things take time, and you haven’t been here that long.’

Michelle nodded, but seemed lost in her own
thoughts
until she said, ‘Katie has to tell Molly the truth about what’s going to happen, or Molly’s just going to stay in denial, and go on hating me for being here.’ She took a breath and looked off along the lane. ‘The worst part of it,’ she continued, ‘is that by not making Molly face up to reality, Katie’s denying herself what she needs most, which is to see Molly and me getting along.’

Almost able to feel the inner turmoil herself, Laurie said, ‘Have you spoken to Katie about it?’

‘We touch on it from time to time, but I don’t want to force anything … I mean, would either of us want to be in her position?’

Knowing it was the very last position she’d ever want to be in, Laurie shook her head and said, ‘Of course not. But I think you should tell her the way you’re feeling.’

Michelle’s expression reflected her dismay. ‘You’re probably right,’ she responded, with a sigh, ‘but not today. For some reason I don’t seem to be coping very well … I keep thinking about Tom. I’m missing him so much, and now this news from Max …’ Catching Katie watching them from the window, she gave her a wave, and said, ‘I should go. I’ve got my phone with me, if you hear anything.’

‘Likewise if you do,’ Laurie responded, and lifted the camera from the car to take it inside.

The FBI’s Acting Legal Attaché Stuart Fellowes was sitting at his desk in the suite of offices allocated to him and his staff at the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square. A cone of lamplight lit the keyboard in
front
of him, though for the moment his fingers were still as he read the message coming through on the screen, from the Counter-terrorism Division in Washington DC.

Subject sighted in Italy. Be ready

to move re memo dated October 22nd.

Location to follow.

Fellowes waited in case there was more, then in accordance with the instructions laid down for all communication from this source for this case, he erased the message and eased his thickset frame out of the chair. If everything went according to plan, this particular assignment was going to afford him a great deal of personal satisfaction. Nailing the left-wing bastards who spouted their anti-government rhetoric in the papers every day, like they didn’t seem to have a problem with what the fucking Arabs had done to one of the world’s greatest cities and nearly three thousand of its people, and who seemed to get some kind of kick out of slamming their own president who actually had the balls to stand up and fight for freedom, unlike most of the rest of the chicken-shit world, had long been a dream.

‘Nancy,’ he said to his assistant through the intercom. ‘Did you see the message?’

‘Yes sir,’ she answered. ‘It’s erased.’

‘Good girl. Now get me Jack Wilding on the line, from the anti-terrorist branch. The flag should have gone up for him at the same time as us, so we need to find out how he’s planning to play this.’

A few minutes later Jack Wilding’s voice came
down
the line saying, ‘Russell’s just turned up, back at his apartment.’

‘Any sign of Chambers?’

‘No. Someone’s going round there to talk to Russell. We’ve been in touch with the Italians. I’ll get back to you as soon as the location’s confirmed.’

In her office in the next room to Fellowes, Nancy Goodman put down her own receiver and turned back to her computer to start typing a message.

Katie was watching Michelle drive away up the lane, as Laurie carried the camera in through the door. ‘Is she all right?’ she asked, turning to give Laurie a hand.

‘She’s worried about Tom,’ Laurie replied, handing over the tripod.

‘And probably getting sick to death of being stuck here with me,’ Katie added, leading the way into the sitting room. ‘I don’t blame her.
I’m
sick to death of being stuck here with me, and this gloomy weather doesn’t help. Talk about a fast track into autumn. There’s hardly a leaf left on the trees, did you see? Though the forecast says it’s supposed to brighten up a bit later.’

‘Where are you going to be the most comfortable?’ Laurie asked, looking around the cosy sitting room, with its large, downy sofa beneath the leaded window, non-matching armchairs either side of the hearth, and threadbare Persian rug, on which Trotty was currently having a snooze.

‘I think we should get the fireplace in, don’t you?’ Katie suggested, squaring her hands to create a viewfinder around the big stone inglenook with
its
cast-iron burner, original bread oven and knotted oak lintel.

Amused by her mimicry, Laurie turned one of the armchairs to face out into the room, then set up the camera, a chair for herself and the few notes she’d made, while Katie tottered off to tart herself up a bit, as she so decorously put it.

‘You look great,’ Laurie told her when she came back sporting a fake tan down to her neckline, neat smudges of purplish-brown shadow to help the sunken effect of her eyes seem more moody and less ghoulish, and a delicate coral-coloured lipstick that blended quite beautifully with her chestnut wig. ‘In fact, you look stunning,’ she declared.

‘Steady on, now,’ Katie warned, though obviously pleased by the compliment. ‘Now, is this where you want me?’

As she sank down in the armchair, Laurie adjusted the curtains to stop the sporadic blazes of sunlight beaming straight into her eyes, then after checking the camera, she discreetly pushed the record button, and sat down.

‘OK?’ she asked. ‘Do you need anything? Water? Doughnuts?’

Katie chuckled. ‘I’m fine,’ she assured her, actually starting to feel a little nervous. ‘It’s weird,’ she commented, ‘I must have done a hundred or more TV appearances in my time, but now I’ve got to talk about myself, I’m like a jelly.’

Laurie waited for Trotty to snuggle down on Katie’s lap, then giving Katie a gentle prompt to begin, she said, ‘When you look back on your life now, what sort of things do you most regret?’

Katie grimaced, and tried not to think of the
camera
as all her mistakes, missed opportunities and toe-curling embarrassments came strolling up for an airing. ‘Oh, I could probably go on for days,’ she responded lightly, ‘but I suppose not being a better mother, or daughter, or sister rates pretty highly. And flunking it spectacularly as a wife …’ She smiled, ironically. ‘I’ve been an almost constant victim of the chattering in my own mind,’ she confessed. ‘I kept seeing the negative side to everything, when I could have bypassed all the self-destructive guff we feed ourselves by taking some time out to connect with my higher self and …’