Instant Family (24 page)

"Ooh, mate," Alex murmured, his heart sinking with dismay he
tried to hide. It'd be a miracle if nothing was broken, and that was just
bones. He was no doctor, but he knew other organs could be damaged
in a severe beating-kidneys, spleen, eyes, brain. Horrible to contemplate, but maybe this was panic, his brain in lurid overdrive. Too many
TV shows, not enough info. He had no idea how bad Seb really was. Stay cool for the boys' sake. "We'd better get you to the emergency
room"

"I'll call Katy and get her to tell Chloe we're at your place, okay?"
asked Julian anxiously. "So she won't worry."

"Sure."

"Can I use your phone, please?"

"Here." He passed the cell to Julian and returned his attention to
Seb. The boy's right eye was almost closed. Ugly, dark bruising contaminated his child's face. Tears, sweat, dirt, and blood mixed in a
frightening mess. His breathing was shallow-cracked rib? How did
you tell? He'd need X-rays.

"Lean on me, Seb. Try to walk to the car, okay?"

They shuffled slowly to the BMW. Julian opened the rear door,
watching anxiously as Seb sank gingerly onto the seat with a groan.

"Lie down," said Alex. "Hop in and support that arm for him,
Julian."

"What about our bikes?" he asked.

"Chain them to a tree. We'll get them later. Toss your bags into
the boot."

The hospital was only minutes away. Alex drove in tight-lipped
silence. Seb lay breathing raggedly. Julian's white face stared at him
in the rearview mirror.

"Will he be all right?" he asked. "There's so much blood."

"Noses bleed like crazy. Hurt like hell too. I got a basketball full
in the face once." He forced a grin at Julian in the mirror. "Don't
worry. We'll be stuck with him a bit longer. He'll live."

He was answered by a shaky smile from the backseat.

"You all right?" Alex asked, catching his eye again.

Julian nodded. "They didn't want me. There were four of them.
Two of them held me so I couldn't help Seb."

Gentle, creative, artistic Julian. A lover not a fighter. Alex's heart
swelled at his unthinking bravery. If those thugs hadn't held him, he'd
have been beaten to a pulp as well for trying to defend his brother.
"Cowards always hang out in packs. Who were they?"

"Alan Simic," grunted Seb from the backseat. "And his mates"

"That's Zak's brother," said Julian. "Zak's the one Seb got caught
with. He got six months in juvie. They said it was Seb's fault for ratting on him."

Alex nodded. "The police will be interested in this."

"No," Seb gasped.

"The hospital may have to notify them of an assault." He had no
idea if that was true, but those thugs should be stopped, and he'd
do it himself if he had to. That policeman friend of Chloe's should
be told.

He pulled up as close as possible to the emergency entrance.
"Take him in," he said, twisting in his seat to face Julian. "I'll park
the car."

By the time he returned, Julian was reading a form with studied concentration, twiddling a pen in one hand. Seb slumped beside him. The
waiting room, surprisingly, thankfully, wasn't very full. A tired-faced
nurse appeared. She nodded briefly to Alex, then turned to Seb. "Let's
have a look at you while your dad and your brother do the forms." She
glanced at Alex. "I'll come and get you in a few minutes."

Seb stood up shakily.

"Twins?" she queried as they moved slowly away together, her
arm around his middle.

"Did you say I was your dad?" Alex asked Julian when she'd
moved out of earshot.

"Seemed easiest," he replied casually, frowning at the form. He
wrote something carefully. "I didn't want them to call Chloe."

"She'll have to be told."

"Later. It won't make any difference to Seb, but it will to her.
She'll have a fit."

"What about Simone?"

"What about her?"

"Perhaps we should call her"

"Why?"

"She's a relative."

Julian shrugged. "Okay, but she can't come. She's away-down
at the coast with friends. I can fill this out, and you can sign it. They
have to treat him. We can give them the insurance number later. I bet
no one knows that by memory."

Alex sighed, shook his head. Chloe would have a fit. But Julian
had a point. Her concert. She'd never play if she knew Seb was in the
state he was in. He looked at his watch. 4:20. They'd probably be
here for hours. He'd call Simone.

"I have to pick up Steffie soon," he said.

"I'll stay here."

"They'll want to X-ray him. Could take ages."

"I'll wait. You get Steffie. Pick up Katy too, so Chloe won't even
know. She'll think we're at your place. It'll be easier for her anyway
if we're not there. She's teaching until five-thirty."

Alex grinned despite his reluctance to join in with this mammoth
conspiracy. "You're a real tactical mastermind, aren't you?"

"Yes, Mr. Bond," Julian replied in a guttural Goldfinger voice.

Alex chuckled, pleased to see he'd regained his usual confidence.
"I'd better wait for that nurse first. I'll bring the girls back here to
see how you're getting on, but then we might have to rethink. I don't
want them sitting in the waiting room for hours."

Julian nodded. "Thanks, Alex. We knew we could count on you."

"Of course you can." Alex grimaced. "I hope Chloe sees it that
way." Especially when she discovered they'd all kept her in the dark.
Somehow he doubted she would.

"Promise you won't tell her?" demanded Julian.

After the performance the Mexican ambassador's wife insisted
Chloe and Amanda stay and have dinner in a room off the main dining room where the guests were now enjoying dessert and coffee.

Amanda faced Chloe across the white-clothed table, grinning with
delight. She raised her glass. Chloe clinked hers and drank. Nothing
like the high after a good performance with an appreciative audience.

Amanda said, "Someone phoned today about doing a concert at a
winery in Rutherglen. June, long weekend. We'd be away overnight.
Can you manage that?"

A whole concert. A whole weekend away. Fabulous. Except ...
"Depends who else has what on," she said.

Amanda nodded and smiled. She ate a forkful of spicy chicken
and rice. "I can find someone else if you can't, but I'd rather not."

Amanda was single, had finished her degree the previous year,
and possessed energy, drive, plans, talent, and commitment. She
freelanced-did orchestral work, played jazz, and wrote her own
tunes. Very versatile. Unlike Chloe, she didn't teach and had none
of the restrictions Chloe came burdened with: limited rehearsal
availability, limited travel availability, the necessity of generous notice before gigs. No spontaneous anything.

How long before Amanda found someone else for her duo, permanently?

Half an hour later Chloe drove to Alex's house, humming
snatches of melody from the program, smiling to herself. A whole
concert in Rutherglen. She had to do it. This was what she wanted to
do with her life. Play the guitar, perform. Perfect her art. Live, breathe, eat, and sleep music. If only she could take off whenever she
liked, do what she wanted. Surely Simone could cover for her that
weekend.

She was late again. Good thing the kids were at Alex's house, so
Stephanie could go to bed. Not that she would, probably. Be far too
exciting having Katy over to play. She wondered how Alex was coping with the whole tribe. Alone. Chloe snickered. Served him right
for offering. Maybe she could ask him to have them the Rutherglen
weekend. If he was still interested in the Gardiners' by June. The novelty might have worn off by then.

A police patrol car was parked in the street opposite the house.
Neighbors having trouble? Didn't happen much in Aranda. The residents were predominantly law-abiding, well-educated, middle-class
people. It was their kids who were the problem. Like Seb.

Chloe parked in Alex's drive. She skipped up the steps and tapped
lightly on the door. A tingle of excitement shivered down her spine.
She hadn't seen Alex since that tense little meeting on Saturday.
Would he be more demonstrative tonight? A private glance, a smile?
Steal a kiss? No! She'd made up her mind! But would he try?

Bundle the kids up, and get in and out quickly-that's what she'd
have to do. Not allow herself to linger. Whatever had happened was
over.

Chloe waited. Had she knocked hard enough? Were they all in bed?
Engrossed in a movie, playing a game? She knocked again. Louder.

Alex, stern-faced, opened the door.

"I'm..*" she started. If he wasn't so darn good-looking, she'd be
able to stick to her resolve much more easily. Her knees went weak
just at the sight of him. Stop it.

"Come in," he said tersely, forestalling her apology. Chloe stepped
inside, instantly alert. Something was wrong. Was he angry because
she was late? "I'm sorry," she began again.

Then she saw the policewoman. And Seb. Sitting on the couch beside Julian, face half covered by a white bandage across his nose,
the surrounding skin palely emphasizing the angry red right eye
swollen shut. Sticking plaster across his temple. His arm in a sling.
Wearing a T-shirt she'd never seen before.

Her whole body clenched like a fist. An unnamed fear sent ice through her veins. Memories of visions, nightmares conjured by a
shocked mind. An unimaginable scene of death and destruction made
real by photographs and news reports.

"What happened?" Her gaze flew wildly from Seb to Alex to the
policewoman who had risen to greet her, back to the bashed and
bruised body. Two rapid paces toward him. "Seb?"

"I'm fine, Chloe," Seb said thickly. "Nothing's broken."

"He was assaulted, Miss Gardiner," the policewoman said calmly.
"It's not as bad as it looks. I'm Constable Diana Black. I'm just taking statements from him and Julian."

Assaulted? Battered, more like it. The quiet matter-of-factness
steadied her. Reason asserted itself once more. Panic receded.

"But when?"

"On the way home from school," Julian said.

"But-" Chloe stared, uncomprehending. Hours ago. Before she
left home.

"We didn't want to worry you before your concert," Seb explained,
as if that were a perfectly legitimate reason to keep such a horrifying
occurrence from her.

Silence, while they all waited for her reaction. Her mouth opened,
closed. She shook her head.

"It looks worse than it is," said Alex from behind her. "Bad bruising, fair bit of blood from a minor cut on his head and his nose. We
took him to the ER, and they X-rayed him." They were all speaking
and acting as though it were nothing. As if Seb's being bashed was a
minor event, of no concern to anyone. Not even worth telling her
about.

"You knew!?" Chloe spun to face him.

"We called him," said Julian quickly.

"And not me?" Her voice rose in disbelief.

"You were teaching, and you had your concert," said Seb. "Alex
came."

"You didn't tell me?" She glared ferociously at Alex.

"Miss Gardiner," interrupted Constable Black. "I need to finish taking the statements if you don't mind." She fixed Chloe with a stern
eye.

Alex grasped her by the arm, his fingers cool on the bare skin.
"Come into the kitchen." He dragged her through an archway, through the dining room, and into the kitchen, pulling a bifold door closed behind them. She went unprotesting, still floundering in the mess of deception and shock and this further, most damning proof of just how
irresponsible and untrustworthy Alex was.

"How could you not tell me?" Tears of rage misted her eyes. His
hand still held her forearm but lightly now, as though he'd forgotten
the contact or didn't want to lose it. She snatched her arm away.
"How dare you? Seb's my responsibility. Not yours. Mine! I take care
of him and Julian. Where's Katy?"

He stepped back a pace, his expression stiffening to the remote,
arrogant one she knew of old. "The girls are in bed. I thought it'd be
best if Katy slept over."

"Did you!" Without asking. Assuming. Taking charge. Ignoring
her authority.

His eyes narrowed. "Yes, I did. Keep your voice down. I don't want
them witnessing this." His own voice dropped to a whisper redolent
with suppressed anger. "What would you have done, Chloe? We were
at the hospital for hours. You had your gig at six."

His blue eyes impaled her, demanding an answer.

"I would have stayed with Seb, of course." The answer flew
straight back without a second thought.

A corner of his mouth rose in disbelief. "Would you?"

The second thought arrived. Would she have called Amanda and
pulled out of the gig? Could she have done that to her? What would
Amanda have done, stranded at the last minute? Impossible to let
her down so badly. "I would have called Simone if I needed to ."

"But she's away. Why not call me?" He folded his arms and glared
at her, demanding an answer.