A Family Affair - Next of Kin (17 page)

“Of course. Have a good day,” the girl said smiling.

Nikki knew this surprise visit might not go well. After all, Hayden might not even be in the office that day. However, he would never have agreed to this meeting if she had called ahead of time. This visit was her best chance of asking him what he knew.

Nikki made her way through two corridors past large luxurious offices with the most amazing views of the city. There were framed images of the company’s advertising campaigns on the walls, and Nikki recognised Ellen in two pictures taken from when she worked there.

When Nikki rounded the next corner, she saw Hayden instantly. He had his head turned, but there was an opened envelope in his hand. It caught her attention because of its bloody stains. Who would send a letter covered in bloodstains?

“Can I help you?” A female voice caught her off guard.

Nikki hadn’t noticed the petite blonde girl sitting behind the desk to her left. That must be Hayden’s assistant Emily.

Hayden turned abruptly, tucking the blood-stained letter into the pocket of his jacket. Whatever it was must have been important. “Nikki Lucas,” he said. “What on earth are you doing here?” he asked. “How did you even get into the building?”

Nikki didn’t answer.

“I clearly need to pay more attention to the security of this building.”

“Should I call security now?” Emily asked.

Hayden took a deep breath, and looked at his watch. For some reason, those motions looked fake to Nikki. She wasn’t sure why. There was definitely something strange about him. Just being around this man gave her a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was as Iris had described.

“No, it’s fine, Emily,” Hayden said. “I suppose I can make five minutes to see Ms Lucas – since she’s come all this way. Please ring the head of security and put an appointment in my calendar for later this week.”

“Certainly, Hayden. Anything else?”

“No, Emily. Please come in, Ms Lucas.”

Nikki was surprised that he agreed to see her without further argument, and she quickly followed Hayden into his office, at the same time trying to guess how old he was. She estimated he was in his late thirties, and given she was twenty-four, he matched the description Iris had given. His eyes were dark and his hair dark too. It was not surprising that Kane had thought of Hayden.

“Please take a seat.”

Nikki sat as directed.

Hayden himself remained standing. “For what reason do I have the pleasure of your company today, Ms Lucas?”

Nikki suddenly felt unsure of the facts in her head. Was it silly for her to be here? After all, Kane had said to forget his suggestion. There were many people with dark eyes and dark hair. “Er... um.. call me Nikki. I’m sorry to bother you and to come here uninvited like this. I wanted to ask you a question.”

“Go on.”

“Do you know who my parents are?” she asked timidly.

His eyes widened. “That is certainly an odd question.” He walked to the window and looked out, gazing far off at the horizon. “Do you know you can see Mt Dandenong from up here? Especially today, when the sky is clear and the haze low.”

Nikki didn’t like the way he sidestepped her question. “I’d like to know what you know about my parents,” she repeated, louder the second time.

Hayden obviously didn’t like his own comment being ignored. He abruptly turned back around. “I’ll tell you what I know, Ms Lucas.  I know you allowed yourself to be seduced by your late husband’s son. I know that you are partly responsible for Jack Bradley’s subsequent death. I know that Tom was devastated to have buried his father at such a young age. I know you are not welcome in this building. I know that Tom would be upset to see you here. On second thought, I shouldn’t have allowed you into my office.” He paused to let his statements have their desired effect. “I must ask you to leave.”

“Why won’t you answer my question?” His attitude had succeeded in arousing Nikki’s curiosity. Maybe there was something to Kane’s initial suggestion that Hayden was somehow involved.

He looked at his watch again for the second time in less than five minutes. His mood was changing quickly. This time he seemed bored. “Fine. Let’s see. If I recall correctly, your father is Ken Lucas. Your mother is the issue of some contention. I understand from Tom that Janet Lucas raised you under the assumption you were her child. In actual fact, you were the product of Ken’s short relationship with Sarah Lucas, who died after your birth.”

There was something about his response that felt insincere. It was as if he was reciting a rehearsed speech. Nikki shook her head. “Tom’s information is out-of-date.”

“Oh.”

“Contrary to everyone’s beliefs, it turns out that Ken and Sarah were not my biological parents.”

“Is that so?” He didn’t seem surprised by the statement, or perhaps it was just his disinterest.

Nikki was convinced he knew more than he was saying. “Do you know who my parents are?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“I travelled to Lakeside this week, the place where Sarah Rush gave birth. There is a nurse who still works there - Iris. She was the midwife who attended to Sarah in hospital twenty-four years ago. She remembers a teenage boy who was there on the night of the birth, and she described him to us.”

“Us?”

“Kane was there with me.”

The lines in Hayden’s forehead tightened. “I see.”

Nikki thought she saw the look of disapproval with which she was well familiar. “He is not my brother. I am not Sarah’s child.” No longer was Nikki going to tolerate such judgement.

Hayden waved a hand in the air indicating that he did not wish to hear any of the details.

Nikki continued. “Iris thinks the boy may have taken Sarah’s baby and left me in its place. She thinks Sarah’s baby was stillborn. Kane thought the description of the boy matched you...”

“Mr Jarrad suggested me, did he?”

“It doesn’t matter who suggested you. That’s not the point.”

“And does Mr Jarrad know that you’re here speaking to me?”

“No.”

“I see.”

“Well...”

“Well what?”

“I just have this feeling that you know what happened that night; that you know who my biological parents are. Were-you-there?” Nikki said, enunciating each word of her question slower. The question had been directed at him in such a way that he could not avoid understanding its meaning. “Tell me what you know, Hayden. Please.”

Hayden then did something unexpected and began laughing. “This is so entertaining to me. I’m glad you stopped by.”

Nikki realised that he couldn’t care less about her quest to learn the truth. Her personal situation was amusing to him, but nothing else. The man was infuriating. A part of her wanted to hurl something at him; she wanted that more than anything she’d ever wanted before.  She wanted to punish him. The more she looked into his face, the more she realised how perfectly he matched the nurses’ description. Kane was right to think of Hayden. His hair, his eyes, his mannerisms - it all fit. He had been there, she was sure. Sarah had killed herself because of what he did. He had switched the babies. He knew who her real parents were.

She felt a silent rage swelling and building in her body, its touch white-hot and radiating from every pore.  She wanted to hurt him right then, so he could feel her pain. If she had a knife, she might stab him. And she would not regret it – not one bit. She would revel in his suffering.

But suddenly he did something unexpected. His laughter subsided, but a smile remained, the tight lines around his eyes relaxing. He looked at her in a completely new way. Nikki tried to read his expression, but was confused by it. She’d never seen anything like it from another face before.

Confused by her own feelings and safe with the knowledge he was not going to cooperate, Nikki turned and fled. If she never saw him again, it would be too soon.

Nikki returned to Kane’s apartment, letting herself in with the spare key she had taken from his counter. It had been a bold decision to take it, but he was responding favourably to every move she made at the moment.

She guessed he was in the rooftop gym, and bolted upstairs to check. As she suspected, he was lifting weights. He raised an eyebrow to see her, and although he was clearly puzzled, didn’t miss one repetition.

The sun glistened as it hit the sweat on his bare chest, and Nikki marvelled at his physique yet again. There was a definite benefit for her in Kane having his own home gym, where he could workout with minimal clothing. Every muscle in his body flexed and relaxed repeatedly until his motions became almost hypnotic.

Nikki checked her watch. Her nanny finished for the day in two hours, so there was time to enjoy being with Kane. Her quest to pursue him and learn the identity of her parents meant there was extended time away from Alice. It was difficult being apart, but if she could achieve both goals it would be worth it. Alice might even thank her in future years for knowing her father and grandparents.

Nikki thought back over her conversation with Hayden. It had certainly been unsettling. They had left things in a weird way too - he had looked at her with such an odd expression. Nikki felt as if she’d pleased him, but couldn’t fathom how.

If only he’d known the rush of violent thoughts in her mind, he wouldn’t have looked so smug. She wondered where such thoughts had come from. Being a pacifist in general terms, it was unlike her to feel any kind of urge to cause injury. She had left quickly in part because of the brutal thoughts which flooded her mind. They scared her. Of course, she had never hurt anyone before, and would never do such a thing in reality. She believed in talking things through and walking away from conflict if need be. Yet the thoughts had been there nonetheless, and a small part of her had revelled in the power they offered.

“What’s eating you, Nik?” Kane asked, walking towards her. She hadn’t noticed that he’d finished his workout. He patted the sweat off his body with a small towel. “And by the way, make yourself at home here,” he teased, obviously not minding her presence at all.

Nikki looked at him appreciatively, loving everything about him. His voice and close presence immediately removed all the negativity from her morning’s visit. “Thanks, I will.”

“So, what’s going on? I thought you had something important to do today. And where’s Alice?” He looked around hopefully. “You know you can bring her here. I don’t mind.”

Nikki smiled. He had read her texts, and remembered her meeting. It wouldn’t be long before they were together more permanently. Kane seemed to be keener on fatherhood than Nikki would have guessed. “Alice is with her nanny at my place. They were having a bath when I left.”

He nodded. “All right,” he said, heading downstairs. “As long as you know she is welcome.”

Nikki liked to hear that. When they arrived in the kitchen she thought it was the right time to mention her outing in more detail. In fact, she really needed to talk about it with someone. “Besides, I have already finished my important business.”

“Oh, that’s good,” he said, pouring ice water into a glass.

“I confronted him today.”

“Who did you confront?” Kane asked, with only mild interest. Their conversation from the hospital was obviously not at the front of his mind.

“Hayden Joseph,” she answered.

Kane dropped his drink which smashed onto the floor. He ignored the glass and moved quickly towards her, pulling her chin to face him. Their eyes were only inches apart. “What did you say?”

Nikki wondered why he was surprised. Hayden’s name had provoked a reaction that she hadn’t been expecting. After all, it had been his idea. He had linked Hayden to the description given by Iris at the hospital. Of course Nikki was going to see him. It was the only lead she had to finding her real parents. “You heard what I said. I asked Hayden if he knew who my parents were. I asked him if he had been involved.”

“Why the hell did you do that?” Kane roared.

“The other day... you said the nurse’s description sounded exactly like Hayden. I thought more about it - the dates do line up. It could be him. So, I went to ask.”

“Nikki, that was very stupid of you.” He turned his back on her, looking for something with which to clean the floor. “Tell me that you didn’t mention my name to him. You weren’t that idiotic.”

Nikki was confused. Why would Kane not want his name mentioned to Hayden? Then she remembered the way that Hayden had reacted to Kane’s name being said aloud. Maybe something had happened between the two of them during the court case. She shook her head at Kane, not wanting to admit that she had referred to him briefly. It was a lie, but she had said nothing significant in any case.

His attitude hurt. Everything between them had been going so well until that moment. That was the first time he displayed any kind of hostility. “Kane, I don’t understand…”

“Listen to me,” he said, cutting her off. “I made a flippant comment to you the other day. I didn’t mean for you to run off and talk to him about it. You need to talk to me before you do such dim-witted things in the future.”