Kate and the children had actually come to like Ryan Early. He was a nice kid. He had a pleasant, innocent disposition. He was young for his age, closer emotionally to Billy than to Trudy, it seemed. He was enthralled with Trudy, though. There was no question of it. Adam had guessed right and played it perfectly. Kate wondered if they had needed to hold the boy, tie him up somewhere if indeed his plan was going to work. Shouldn’t they bind him? Gag him? She soon came to realize that wouldn’t be necessary.
He and Trudy watched several movies together on her iPad. They played card games. She sang to him, sang “Across the Universe.” Later he asked, and she sang it for him a second time. They talked for hours, all night long, about everything: the differences in life from London to Chicago, the kids at her school, his school. He made her laugh. The time went by, and in truth, for the last ten hours or so, he could have run out into the night anytime he wanted. Kate, quietly listening in, realized that Trudy was doing a far better job of holding the boy there than ropes or a gag could ever have done.
At the crack of dawn, Adam and Trudy took Ryan home. Adam didn’t say a word on the ride down to Croydon. The two teens sat together in the backseat and played another game on his mobile, his favorite game. Trudy teased him, thought it was silly and violent, “dumb,” but she played along anyway. He talked on and on about how great the game was and why, as Trudy continually teased him.
They arrived back at the Early home at around 8 a.m. Adam had called Jack when they were five minutes out. He was waiting alone on the curb, bleary-eyed and defeated. His weathered shoulders were beaten into a hunch, his wrinkled suit hanging on his paper-thin body in a way that made him look like a scarecrow posted in front of the old brick row house. The only bright moment of the long night he had endured arrived when his son climbed out of the back of the car and his father inexplicably hugged him tighter than he’d done in years.
Trudy got out of the rental alongside Adam and watched the reunion. She felt for the little British boy. She knew what it was like to be used, to be played with. Now having worked the other side of the game board, she didn’t like that position any better. She knew then that she had no interest in ever hurting anyone or in breaking anybody’s heart. This wasn’t a game that she ever wanted to play again.
Jack asked his son to wait inside and told him how important it was not to say anything to his mother, that the story would be that he had stayed at his best friend’s house last night. Ryan agreed. He wasn’t sure what exactly had happened or what was still taking place, but he sensed it was best to listen to his father.
Ryan turned to Trudy before he went inside. He wanted to say so much. He couldn’t summon words, so she did it for him.
“You’re the first person I’ve ever sung in front of, Ryan.”
“I like your singing.”
She pulled him in for a long, fiery hug, and then, before she let go of him, kissed him sweetly on the mouth for what seemed to Ryan the longest, most fantastic amount of time that had ever been recorded. As he floated back inside, she went over to the car, sat in the front seat, and closed the door. Her father watched her for a beat, a surprise jolt of pride warming the cold morning air. Somehow, inside the dark vat of drama their family had been dropped into, Trudy had found and been reunited with her sweet side.
Early cracked the moment back open with news of the reality that he was dealing with.
“She knows, Mr. Tatum. Georgia. She knows.”
“What do you mean, she knows?”
“She’s not stupid. She’s figured it all out. Everything we did last night. Knows it wasn’t a dream. Knows I’ve betrayed her.”
“She told you that?”
“She didn’t have to. She wants me to come get her. Take her over to Heaton’s place. On Hyde Park. It was in her voice. I heard it, clearly. I’ve been with her a long time. She knows. I’m positive of it.” Adam looked at him closely. He wasn’t lying. This wasn’t a trap. Early was good and frightened, spooked, unsure of what would meet him once he got to Heaton’s mansion.
“I’m not sure if you quite know what you’re up against with Heaton.” Adam thought it over. He knew he had an ace card in the hole. He knew he had Georgia’s confession on file. He knew it was safely tucked up on the “cloud,” in a place he could always get to it.
“Go. I know where Heaton’s place is. I’ll be there, too. You’ll be fine. Go.”
“But, he’s … it’s very dangerous, he’s a man that…”
Adam cut him off, didn’t let him finish.
“I’m not afraid of him, Jack. If anyone should be afraid, it’s Heaton. Afraid of me.” He turned and hobbled off up the road.