‘We didn’t bring the other two kids – thought it might be a bit much to meet us en masse. I’m hoping I can see Lucy, but she can’t know who I am, Tom. You do understand that, don’t you?’
Tom did. In theory, the danger was over since Finn McGuinness’s death, but technically Jack had committed crimes even though he had also helped break up one of the biggest and most successful organised-crime groups in the north of England. While no one might be actively looking for him any more, there was little doubt that word he was alive would bring some form of retribution crashing down on him.
‘Before we go through, Tom, I know about your forensic psychologist, but I don’t think we’re entirely out of the woods. Not yet. It seems that even though she’s in custody, recruitment is ongoing.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Ruth Vickery played a big part. She recruited the killer and the prison officer who turned his back, for which she would have been paid handsomely. But she’s not influential enough to have ordered the execution of Finn McGuinness. There are others involved. It’s bigger than we thought, and I probably shouldn’t be here until I know more, but just this once…’
Tom stared at him. His euphoria that Jack might be back in his life evaporated. It sounded as if he would have to stay in hiding.
But he was here now. Tom grasped his brother’s shoulder. ‘Come on. Let’s make the most of it then.’
Jack returned his smile as Tom pushed open the kitchen door.
‘Look who’s come to see us?’ he said, knowing Louisa would be as pleased as he was. She and Jack had had a bit of a bumpy introduction, but ever since then she had been hoping to get to know him better.
Tom explained to Louisa that Jack had to be called Pete and reached out to pluck his niece Sophia from Emma’s arms. She was a cute little thing, much finer boned than Harry, but at eight months old she already had a look of Jack in her eyes.
Tom was considering how he could stretch tonight’s dinner to feed their guests when he heard the front door open. Lucy was home. He could hear her chattering and assumed she’d brought a friend home with her – something they had encouraged since she’d been living with them.
He was wrong.
‘Dad, Mum’s come to say goodbye. Oh! Sorry, I didn’t realise you had visitors.’
Tom felt frozen to the spot. What the hell was Kate doing here?
‘We were just leaving,’ Jack said. ‘I’m Pete, by the way. An old friend of your dad’s. This is Clare and Sophia. You must be Lucy. Your dad’s told me all about you.’
Jack turned his back on the door, as if to say goodbye to Louisa and Harry, and Emma stood up, bending down to pick up her bag.
‘Kate!’ Tom said with false joviality. ‘Can I offer you a glass of something to see you on your way? Lucy, why don’t you take your mum through to the sitting room, and I’ll bring the drinks through.’
Kate was having none of it. She stood and stared, her gaze switching rapidly from Jack to Emma.
Louisa tried to get to her feet. ‘Tom, will you take Harry for a moment, please. There’s something I want to ask Kate about in private.’
‘Good effort,’ Kate said after a brief pause. ‘But you’ve all failed miserably. What’s going on? I thought you were dead, Jack. And Emma. Didn’t he dump you before he died?’
Tom felt his heart plummet. He’d just started to believe that he might have got his brother back, but now Kate knew he was alive. And she wasn’t the best person to keep a secret.
‘Dad?’ Lucy said. ‘You told me Uncle Jack was dead. Did you lie to me?’
94
After much convincing, Tom had managed to persuade Kate and Lucy to join him in the sitting room, leaving Jack, Emma and Louisa in the kitchen, where they were no doubt sharing their horror at what had just happened.
‘Lucy, I’m going to want to talk to your mum in a minute, but first I’ll explain something to both of you. I believed Jack was dead for many years. Kate, you know how devastated I was. I only found out by accident that he was alive several years later, and I was furious that he hadn’t trusted me – much as you, Lucy, must think I haven’t trusted you.’
‘Or me,’ Kate said, although in truth, by the time Tom found out, he and Kate had long been divorced.
Lucy said nothing and just stared at him.
‘I hadn’t even told Louisa, but Jack turned up here about a year ago, and that’s how she found out. I need you to understand that a number of very violent, vicious men wanted him dead, and the only way to keep him, Emma and their children safe was to get him away from here. Until recently he lived in South America, but Emma wanted to come back to have the baby. I’ve only seen him a couple of times since finding out he’s alive, and I’ve had no means of contacting him. I always have to wait for him to come to me.’
‘Why did they want him dead, Dad?’ Lucy asked.
Tom had hoped she wouldn’t be exposed to the worst evils in the world, but he couldn’t protect her now.
‘Jack knew too much about their operations. I’ll explain it all to you, Lucy, but it’s a lot to take in. These men were involved in some of the worst types of crime imaginable, and Jack helped to put the most evil of them behind bars. Even from prison, though, people like them have a long reach, and Jack wasn’t safe. He still isn’t safe, and never will be. I need you to promise that you will never mention to a soul that he’s alive.’
Lucy’s eyes had grown round with shock, but she didn’t answer.
‘Why don’t you go back to the kitchen, Lucy – talk to him and Emma, get to know him a little. Then we can talk again later, after he’s gone.’
She still didn’t speak, but slowly got up from her chair and left the room.
Tom shook his head. ‘That was crap timing, Kate. I was hoping she could get to know him as my old friend Pete, and then she wouldn’t have had to bear this burden. It’s a huge secret for a kid to keep.’
‘It’s hardly my fault. Why the hell didn’t you tell me?’
‘Because it wasn’t relevant to you or to your life.’
‘Does this mean you’ve had to give all his money back?’
Only Kate could think of money at a time like this. She knew Jack had left his millions to Tom, but there was no way he could give it back without revealing who Jack was. And anyway, Jack said he didn’t want it.
‘I don’t touch the money, other than donate to charities and anything I consider a good cause – including, as you know, your round-the-world trip.’
‘Well, I’ll thank him for that, then. I always wondered why you were so loath to spend it. I just thought you were tight.’
Tom didn’t dignify that with a response.
‘The one thing you need to know is that Jack faked his death all those years ago to prevent harm coming to those closest to him – and that includes Lucy. He was being blackmailed into doing things he didn’t want to do, and any failure to comply meant one by one the members of his family would be killed or harmed. He ended his relationship with Emma and confined himself to isolation for years – to save, among other people, our daughter. So I need you to promise me for that reason, if no other, that you will say nothing.’