By early evening, a clean-up team had sealed the penthouse window and removed the blood-soaked carpet, and the two broken doors and their frames. And Laura’s cot had been carried down to the guest suite. Sam phoned to let Jesse know that Officers Blake and Rice would be giving him a lift home from the hospital with a view to immediate debriefing before the evening’s alcohol erased all memories of the day’s events. Sophie said nothing. She just sat watching the fire, clutching Laura and waiting for the time when she could next take some painkillers.
Katie sat down beside her. ‘Would you like me to take her up. She’s fast asleep.’
‘No, I’ll do it, but I could do with a hand. Every time I lean forward, my teeth hurt.’
On the way up the first flight of stairs, it was difficult not to notice the wide, dark stain in the otherwise beautiful white oak. ‘Jesse thinks he can bleach it,’ said Katie. ‘It was the ginger guy. He’s not dead, but if you ask me that mole might kill him anyway.’
‘Did you see him.’
‘Only with a hole in him. I’ll need therapy about that.’
‘Do you know who shot him?’
‘It was Jesse.’
‘He seems quite unfazed by it all. Anybody would think he was used to killing people.’
‘He used to be in the army. That’s what they do, isn’t it? And he’d never let Benz and Jake see him fall apart. He’ll probably do that later when we’re alone.’
‘Sam never mentioned Jesse had been in the army.’
‘Yeh. Jesse in the army and Sam a policeman. Who would have guessed?’
‘Well, I didn’t.’
Katie helped persuade Laura into her sleeping bag then she and Sophie made their way downstairs for the debrief. They discovered Inspector Blake waiting in the hall. He informed them that Sam had gone up to his apartment to clean up. Jesse was with him. The inspector escorted them into the main room where Jake and Benz were giving Officer Rice their version of events, which was essentially Dad phoning up in a state and everyone locking themselves in the panic room. They’d taken their iPads in with them so it wasn’t too bad. Barbara and Katie were able to offer little more, other than Katie recalling the security monitor going haywire and Barbara remembering that, just as they were ushering the boys along, she heard the front door bang open. Of course, Jesse, Sam and Sophie’s recollections were what were required so, amid protests, Katie and Barbara escorted the boys to their room whilst the officers waited for Sam to appear.
Inspector Blake turned a cautious smile towards Sophie. ‘Officer Barnes has insisted, at every juncture, that you are not placed in danger but, sad to say, the situation today was beyond anyone’s control.’
‘Inspector Blake, in my experience, most situations are beyond anyone’s control. In this case, despite Jesse’s comprehensive security system, these people were able to break in and threaten us all. It could have ended very badly. Well, I suppose for the, what do you call them, for the assailants, it did end very badly.’
Inspector Blake gave a grim nod. ‘We will maintain an armed police presence in and around the grounds for the next forty-eight hours, until Mr Barnes’s security system is up and running. So, do try not to worry. But, Ms Denham, I have to ask, do you think your ex-partner was involved in this incursion? The use of high-tech equipment, the compromise of a highly-sophisticated security system…’
‘Ron, I said I didn’t want Sophie questioned until I was with her! We’ll follow correct procedures, if you don’t mind.’ Sam was striding through the archway, wearing a clean shirt and the jeans Sophie had given him that morning, his arm in a sling.
Inspector Blake got to his feet. ‘Sorry, Sam, I…’
Sam waved his hand to dismiss any formalities. ‘Officers, let’s get this over with.’
The three versions of the afternoon were recalled and taped. Sam and then Jesse accompanied the two officers to the library, where their individual recollections would be free of any external influences. However, Sophie was allowed to give her account beside the fire with Sam at her side and everyone listening. She found it very difficult to relive those moments, almost more difficult than originally living them, because reliving them involved more thinking about detail, more analysis. But, despite her dull headache, she managed to stay focussed. When she arrived at the moment when Bald Man was demanding to know where Laura was, Sam interrupted. ‘Did he actually say her name, Soph?’
‘I don’t think so. He just said “Where’s the baby?”.Why were they looking for her?’
‘I don’t know. Jonah clearly has at least some involvement in all this. And it can’t be a coincidence that Laura’s room at your mother’s house was completely wrecked and her cot and mattress were torn apart and burned. He must have hidden something in her room. Perhaps they think you still have it.’
‘But, Sam, everything we brought here has been used.’
‘It’s probably something small like a notebook, a hard drive, perhaps a memory stick with account details and passwords. Links to people who wouldn’t want the data to fall into police hands.’
‘We could go and tell Jonah that we haven’t got whatever it is they want.’
‘No bloody way, Sophie! Don’t even suggest it. He gave those murdering thugs access to this house.’
‘You can’t be certain it was him.’
‘Maybe not. But only a person with his expertise would have been able to break through Jesse’s security. Use that drone to jam the phones and cameras. We have to assume that someone is putting pressure on him.’
Sophie sighed. ‘Sam, I need to stop talking about this or I’ll go mad.’
‘Just tell us the last bit. As much as you can remember. Then we can both collapse.’
‘What, you mean the bit where you jumped through the window like Superman. With a rifle in one hand and your Hong Kong shooting club gun in the other?’
‘Yeh, that bit.’
Inspector Blake and Constable Rice finally left and the room fell silent save for the sound of fresh logs hissing and spitting in the heat of the fire. Sophie suppressed a yawn which hurt her jaw. She noticed Sam watching her. ‘Is that the first time you’ve been shot?’
‘Strangely, yes. And I can’t say I recommend it.’
‘Did they give you a tetanus jab?’ asked Jesse.
‘Yeh. And some anticoagulants and a dose of horse-strength antibiotics. I’ve got a bagful of the stuff to last into the New Year. And a bottle of diazepam in case I get anxious.’ He tapped Sophie’s thigh. ‘We can share it. Come on, I need sleep.’
Sophie dragged herself up but before she let Sam pull her up the stairs, she went over and gave Jesse a hug. ‘Jesse. I’m sorry I’ve brought all this trouble to your family.’
‘It’s not your fault, Soph. And, on the bright side, it’s encouraged me to upgrade the security system. I’ve always been worried about that external access. They said it was impenetrable but they obviously failed to take account of the likes of your ex.’
‘Well, thank you for saving my life today. I owe you.’
‘Don’t worry, I’ll think of a way you can repay me.’
Sophie eased Sam’s pyjama sleeve past the thick layer of bandage just to the left of his heart. Another two inches and she would have lost him. What if she’d pushed that thug’s arm the wrong way? It didn’t bear thinking about, although it was the one thing that Sophie couldn’t stop thinking about. She helped with his other sleeve, fastened buttons then climbed over to her side of the bed. ‘Does it hurt really badly?’
‘Only when I move, and breathe. And think about it.’
She watched him swallow down a small blue tablet. ‘So, all this time I’ve been sleeping with an undercover cop and I didn’t know it. But I suppose that’s better than sleeping with an evil psychopath and not knowing it.’
‘Do you want a Valium?’
‘No. In case Laura wakes up and I don’t hear her.’
‘Well, if you can’t sleep, take one, right?’ He climbed in beside her and tried unsuccessfully to find a position that didn’t involve agony. Eventually, he resorted to lying on his back, perfectly still, his breathing ragged, not so much with the pain but with a guilt that required exorcism. He sighed. ‘Sophie, I’m so sorry. I almost broke protocol and told you the truth so many times. And then the longer I didn’t tell you the more impossible it became.’
‘That’s what happens with lies.’
‘I was terrified that knowing the truth would put you in danger and, more selfishly, I was scared you’d throw me out.’
‘I probably would have done. But then I was living here, so I couldn’t have thrown you out. But you still didn’t tell me the truth. It’s what you and Jesse were shouting about. He told me.’ She edged closer. ‘But I don’t want to talk about it. Those lies can rot away in the past. Sam, we could have died today.’
‘But none of us did.’ He felt for her hand. ‘So, let’s be grateful.’
‘I am grateful. But I can’t stop thinking about those disgusting people, looking for Laura. What if they thought she’d swallowed the thing they wanted and…’ She pulled her hand away to cover her eyes, ‘…and they were going to cut her open and look for it?’
Sam moved to comfort her and winced with pain. ‘Soph, you have to stop thinking things like that. And Laura can’t even swallow chocolate buttons without retching. She’d hardly be able to swallow a flash drive. Or a notebook. Why don’t you take a Valium? It will make thoughts like that go away.’
‘But not for good. And when the Valium wears off, the thoughts will still be there, demanding more Valium. I need to deal with this myself.’ She exhaled a lungful of anxiety. ‘You were very brave today.’
‘Does that surprise you?’
‘Not really. What was that thing you did to that man’s neck?’
‘It was… it was a Glock-assisted karate chop. If you do it right you can hit the vagus nerve and the carotid artery and make a person unconscious.’
‘Do you know karate?’
‘I was working with the Hong Kong Police for six years. It would be odd if I didn’t. Although I was a member of a Shotokan dojo, which is Japanese and not that popular in…’
‘Could it have killed him?’
‘If I’d wanted to kill him I would have hit his throat and collapsed his windpipe. I prefer to take prisoners alive, but it’s not always possible. Sophie, please take a Valium. The monitor’s right next to your ear. You’ll be bound to wake up. I don’t want you lying here all night thinking about people being killed.’
‘Have you ever killed anyone before?’
‘Not to my knowledge.’
‘It must be awful shooting someone for the first time.’
‘I didn’t say I hadn’t shot anyone before. It’s just, the people I’ve shot haven’t previously finished up dead.’
‘People?’
‘Yes. Sweetheart, go to sleep.’ Silence descended, but not for long. ‘Soph?’
‘Mm?’
‘You don’t think any less of me, do you? Because of what I do?’
‘No, it’s just…’
‘Just what… Bloody hell I feel like I’m being anaesthetised. It’s just what?’
‘It’s just that I don’t like you having such a dangerous job.’
‘Sophie, we’ll talk about it tomorrow. I think I’m unconscious.’
‘I don’t want you getting hurt again.’
‘Mmm.’
She felt his body sinking towards sleep, saw the lines of tension disappearing from his face. Saw a different person beside her that night and realised that she had to come to terms with the fact that the sonnet-quoting, gentle man she had known for the last five months had a different, darker side. One that involved violence and damaged lives. ‘Sam?’
‘Mmmm.’
‘I think I’m pregnant.’