The Millionaire's Redemption (12 page)

Relief flooded through her for a moment, followed by panic. “He must have been sent out by Robbie’s parents. They want to take Lilly away from me. They won’t get away with it,” she vowed fiercely.

“It might be safer if you moved away from here, love.”

“Where can I go?” Now was not the time to go to pieces. She had to think of a plan and quickly.

“Here, take the paper. You might find somewhere. I wish I could offer you a room at my place, but with the daughter and grandkids coming back, we’re crowded out.”

“I know, Harry, but thanks anyway.”

Her head started aching like it always did when she got stressed. She bought a loaf of bread and a couple of other things. Would the Englishman be watching the house?

She would have to be careful from now on. Play it smart. How could the English authorities get hold of her address? The Veteran Affairs people must have contacted their English counterparts, and Robbie’s dad once worked in the government. He would still have his network of spies operating there.

Dare they return home? There was no alternative. She needed to get some things for Lilly. She fought to keep herself under control. If she went to pieces now, they were both doomed. Lilly would be taken away from her. A fate worse than death.

When she arrived home, the street appeared deserted. She still had the house keys, so she went in through the door, in case the PI was hiding somewhere. Let him think they actually lived in the house. It might buy her a little time. He would keep knocking on the door a few more times thinking she was at work.

“What a mess we’re in.”

“Mumma.” Lilly gave a toothy, dribbling grin.

“Oh baby, you’ve got no idea of the danger we’re facing.”

Once inside the bungalow, she locked the door and jammed a chair against it. You fool she castigated herself, giving a hysterical giggle. The Englishman wouldn’t kick the door in. Come with the police and welfare people waving a court order most likely. Oh yes, he would do everything by the book. She could visualize it. Well, he would be too late. They would be gone. How? Where? She had no idea, but by tomorrow they would be far away from
Moorecroft Street
.

She fed Lilly then lay down on the bed to plot their escape. Interstate would be best. Maybe
Queensland
where it was warm. She had Mrs. Harris’ daughter’s address. At least she would know someone there. The more she thought about it the better the idea sounded.

She nearly went out to collect the mail but stopped herself. Instead, once Lilly fell asleep, she crept up the side drive, keeping herself hidden behind the many large shrubs.

Parked across the road was a metallic blue car. She couldn’t see the male driver clearly. Didn’t need to. Back inside the bungalow, she paced the floor. They had to get away, but how?

She heard the front door bell. It had a loud ring because Mrs. Harris was partially deaf and she wanted to hear it out in the garden. How long before the PI came around the back and did a thorough search? Thank goodness, a few items of furniture had been left in the house, so it didn’t look deserted. It would be best if he thought she was out at work. It would buy her a few more precious hours. How could she get away if he stayed there, though? She tried to rack her brain. To come up with something – anything.

Later in the afternoon, Holly sneaked out again and saw the car still parked across the road. There could be no mistake now. The man was watching the house, lying in wait ready to pounce when
he saw her
.

The backyard shared a boundary with the park. If she could climb over the fence, the PI wouldn’t see her. On the spur of the moment, she couldn’t come up with any other idea.

She piled as much as she could into Lilly’s pink bag and fed her a jar of custard as soon as she woke up. Thank goodness for summer, it didn’t get dark until late.

Putting the bag in the stroller, she carried Lilly over to the back fence. They would go to Justin. This couldn’t be construed as anything but an emergency. Surely he would help them or know someone who could.

She deposited Lilly on the ground and climbed up on the fence. The park appeared deserted. Folding up the stroller, she lowered it over the fence as best she could before dropping it, likewise the pink bag. Picking up Lilly, she held her in one arm, using the other to pull herself up on the fence rails. It wasn’t easy. She trembled as she straddled the fence. Now, what was the best thing to do?  If she lowered the baby down as far as she could, there would still be quite a drop. If she jumped down holding Lilly they might both be injured. The best option had to be lowering herself down.

She changed Lilly over to her right arm and slung one leg over the fence, maneuvering herself sideways. A wrenching pain shot up her arm as it temporarily took their full weight. The rough wood lacerated her hand. Because of her short stature, she couldn’t reach the ground. She jumped the last couple of feet and sank to her knees on the grass.

Lilly, thinking they were playing a game, gurgled happily. “Oh darling, what’s to become of us?” Holly whispered, burying her face in the baby’s soft, sweet warmth.

They had no time to lose if they wanted to make good their escape. Strapping Lilly into her stroller, she rested the bag on the hood and briskly walked away. How she hadn’t fallen to the ground in a screaming heap before now was a miracle. Pure desperation and a mother’s instinct to protect her child kept her moving. Her hand throbbed and she realized a large splinter had embedded itself in her palm.

On arrival at the railway station, she collapsed on to a seat. Now what? Get a train into the city before contacting Justin.
G
et as far away from here as you can. If Justin wouldn’t help, what then? Go to plan B she told herself –
Queensland
. She should have enough money in her bank account to buy a one-way plane ticket. What if the police were waiting at the airport? Oh God, she hadn’t thought of that possibility before. She might end up on a wanted person’s poster.

Get a grip on yourself woman.
Her head
ache worsened
, making it hard to think clearly. The throbbing in her temples
increased
as every minute passed. She feared she might be having a panic attack. By the time the train pulled into the station, she struggled to keep her eyes open, but she forced herself to focus. You’re doing this for Lilly. For your baby, you can do anything. No sacrifice would be too great, no pain that couldn’t be endured for Lilly.

They had to find a place where there were telephones, a baby change room and somewhere to eat.
Mayview
Shopping Center
would do. Plenty of people around, they could mingle and not be seen. It would be safer to wait for Justin there too. She didn’t fancy hanging around in some dark place on her own.

He lived in the center of
Melbourne
. She remembered him telling her that. Mayview wouldn’t be more than a ten minute drive for him.

He would be finished work by now, but she had his mobile phone number. With trembling fingers she dialed the number. It rang and rang. She broke out in a cold sweat. What if he didn’t answer it?

“Devereux.”

She almost cried with relief. “Justin, it’s Holly.”

No answer.

“Don’t hang up on me. It’s an emergency. I’m desperate.”

“What do you want?” His voice could have frozen water, and she shivered in the summer heat.

“Please,” she pleaded, blinking back frightened tears. What if he wouldn’t help them? “They’re watching the house. I climbed over the back fence to escape,” she babbled.

“Stop blubbering.” 

He sounded like he hated her. “The Kirwans. Private Investigator. He’ll get the police. They’ll take Lilly. You have to help me.”

“Why should I?”

His coldness chilled her to the bone. “Because there’s no-one else. Don’t hang up. Don’t hang up.” 

“What do you want?”

“I need you to pick us up and let us stay for a few days.”

“That’s not possible, get yourself a hotel room.” She couldn’t believe how cold and remote he sounded.

“I can’t afford to pay for one.”

“I’m sure you’ll think of a way,” he sneered.

“How?

“Use your womanly attributes.”

“I don’t know what you mean. Do you think I’d ask for help if I wasn’t desperate? If it was just me I wouldn’t, but there’s Lilly. Please Justin. I’ll pay you back. I swear it. I’ll do anything you want.”

Her words, frantic though they sounded, only confirmed what Owen had said, but he wanted to give her one last chance to clear her name. To prove that Owen had misunderstood her at the least or told a bare faced lie at worst. That she didn’t use her body to get what she wanted from men.

The question was distasteful but he asked it anyway. He had to know. “Sleep with me?” he asked harshly.

“Yes, yes, anything.”

The pain of Owen being proved right nearly felled him on the spot. He couldn’t believe how badly it hurt
-
-
an all consuming, searing pain that bit into his soul. “Exactly where are you?”

She shivered uncontrollably in the summer heat. “I...I’m at Mayview shopping center.” Devastated at his attitude, she could barely get the words. “Do you know it?”

“Yes. Wait for me outside the camera shop on the ground floor. It’s near the main entrance.” The line went dead.

Where was the camera shop? Too exhausted to find it on her own, she asked directions from a passing security guard.

“I’ll take you there, miss.”

“Thank you.” She felt terrible, no doubt looked even worse. He walked slowly, as if he knew she could barely drag one foot after the other.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” the guard asked when they
made it
to the camera shop.

“Yes. I’m getting a migraine. I’ve arranged for a friend to pick me up from here.”

“Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“No. Thanks for your help.” She didn’t know how she stopped herself from screaming.

As soon as he walked off, she sank to the ground and sat with her back propped against the camera shop wall, her knees pulled up under her chin. She gripped the side of the stroller in one hand, the pink bag in the other. It would be bliss to close her eyes and blot out the blinding light, but she couldn’t, in case she fell asleep and someone stole Lilly.

***

Justin strode into the shopping center. A man must be crazy falling for such a ploy. He wanted to tell Holly to go to hell, to sell her body in the street if she wanted money so badly, but somehow he couldn’t. She sounded so bewildered, so desperate.

He saw them straight away. The bloody pram that had nearly castrated him, the pink bag that just about concussed him, a rosy-cheeked, blonde-headed, sleeping cherub, and Holly, a tiny, dejected figure slumped against the wall of the camera shop. It was a strangely moving sight, but he hardened his heart or told himself he did.
Just remember how she tried it on with Owen and the radiographer.

“Oh, Justin, you came.”

Holly dragged herself upright and her whole body trembled with emotion as he strode up to them.

“You look terrible. What happened?”

She started telling him, but the tears came, and once they started falling, they looked like they were never going to stop. He snorted in annoyance but handed over a white handkerchief.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She gulped back the tears.

“For God’s sake, get a grip on yourself,” he growled. “Have you eaten today?”

“I don’t remember. Oh yes, breakfast, before I found out about the English private investigator.”

“What are you raving about?”

“When I went to the local shop, they said a man had asked about Lilly and me. There’s a man sitting out the front watching my place,” she gabbled. “I climbed over the back fence. I’ve got this enormous splinter in my hand and...”

“Give me a look.” As he picked up her small soft hand in his large hard one, he fought against the temptation to kiss it better. The breath whistled between his teeth when he turned her palm upwards. “It’s gone in deep.”

“If I had a needle I could dig it out. Thank you for coming. I was so desperate.”

He brushed aside her thanks. “You should see a doctor.”

“No, I don’t want a doctor, I only want you.”

The statement surprised him, but he gave no sign. Probably all part of the game to reel him in, but this fish wasn’t about to be caught and gutted by some conniving female.

“I think there’s a coffee shop near here. You look like you could do with one.”

“Thanks, I’ve got this awful headache from the tension.”

Picking up the pink bag, he left Holly to wheel the pram. He would have to buy a few groceries at the department store in the retail area of his apartment building. He rarely ate at his apartment, and if he did, it was specially prepared food delivered to his door from a downstairs restaurant.