Sins of the Father (14 page)

He pushed his earpiece
into place. “Morgan.”

“
You’re so
predictable, sugar. I timed that down to the second. Are you still
wet?”

“
Was there a
point to this call, Suez?”

Her husky laughter
drifted across the line, relaxing him a little. “I have the
information you requested on Thomas Morley.”

“
Great,
thanks. Can you send it to my phone, I’m about to relieve,
JJ.”

“
The team
briefing is at 0900 if you can manage to come online for a
while?”

“
I’ll do what
I can.” He strapped on his kit as he moved across the
room.

“
Speak to you
soon then, Oracle out.” He chuckled to dead air when she
disconnected.

JJ was waiting for him
outside. He hadn’t expected to see Alicia so soon and as usual he
felt the now familiar tightening in his gut.

He was still fighting an
internal battle over the kiss and sleeping on it hadn’t helped. He
would deal with that, but first he had to tackle the subject of
Helen – it was long over-due.

When he’d been debriefed
by JJ he found himself alone with her, it was the perfect time to
bring it up.

“
I didn’t get
much sleep last night, so I need help to get through this morning’s
schedule,” Alicia was saying. He blinked to refocus his thoughts,
following automatically when she started out towards the
refreshment table. “I have an appointment with make-up in thirty
minutes and that will certainly solve one of my problems, but I
need food to keep my energy levels up.”

Brad
cursed the timing when he no
ticed a tall figure trying hard to sneak up on them. He
scowled, concentrating on the man’s features, and relaxed when he
realised it was Josh Burton. He had a finger to his lips in a
silent plea to keep quiet.

Josh crept stealthily
after them, waiting until he was close enough to make his move. He
leant forward and covered Alicia’s eyes with his hands - stopping
her in her tracks.

“
Now then,
little lady,” he said in a thick American accent.

“
Josh!”
Alicia squealed and spun around to throw her arms around
him.

“
Damn, I
thought my accent was better than that.”

“
Two days in
a row… you must be worried.”

“
I promised
Jacky-boy I’d swing by.”

She hugged him again.
“I’m so glad you did.”

“
I can’t stay
long.” Josh grinned down at her. “I’m on my way to
Italy.”

“
You didn’t
mention it.”

“
There’s a
lot going on. Let’s…”

“
Get
coffee?”

Josh nipped the end of
her nose playfully. “Yes, let’s grab coffee and I’ll tell you all
about it.”

Alicia turned to Brad
then, smiling apologetically. “Sorry, you know Josh though,
right?”

“
We met
yesterday…briefly.” Brad held out a hand. “It’s good to see you
again.”

“
Likewise.”

He had to bite down on a
wave of jealousy when Josh swung an arm around Alicia’s shoulders.
Instead of dwelling on the unwanted emotion, he made a sweep of the
area. They were alone for now.

“
I was hoping
to catch up with Sarah,” Josh said, gesturing towards one of the
seats beside the refreshment table. Brad had no choice but to
sit.

“
She’s not
here yet. You could always catch up with Mia instead.”

He pulled a face. “I’ve
been trying to avoid her all morning. She’s a little too eager - if
you know what I mean.”

Brad laughed, which
earned him a stern look from Alicia. “Don’t encourage him.” She
turned back to Josh. “I thought you liked her?”

“
I do. But I
prefer things a little more casual.”

“
I don’t know
what to do with you?”

He held up his hands in
surrender. “Come on, Brad, back me up here. Some women just cling
on too tightly. They can’t all be like our Al here.”

“
Oh, don’t
pull out that card,” Alicia said. She seemed genuinely shocked he
wasn’t serious about the relationship, perhaps even a little
worried.

“
When it
comes to commitment, we are the same you and I.” Josh looked ready
to go head to head on the subject.

It made Brad
uncomfortable. It wouldn’t normally affect him, but they’d dragged
him into their conversation, and whether a willing participant or
not he felt the need to contribute.

“
All
relationships are difficult,” he said, hoping to change the
subject. “It’d be no fun if they were easy.”

Josh turned to him with
interest. “Tell us more.” The grin he flashed looked like
trouble.

“
Nothing to
tell, I’m just trying to prevent a fight.”

Alicia chuckled and put
her hand over Josh’s. “Behave yourself, and whatever you do, don’t
tell Sarah yet. She had the relationship pegged from the beginning.
I haven’t won a bet in some time.”

“
That’s just
cruel. You can’t make a profit out of my misery!”

Brad gave up and sat back
to watch them fight it out. He knew Sarah was on her way in, he’d
heard the traffic on his two-way.

He was only half
listening as Josh talked about his new project. He was thinking
about Sarah’s arrival, keen to observe a change in the dynamic to
find out how Alicia interacted with a close female
friend.

Helen had been unable to
bond with women - she got nothing from them. He wasn’t testing
Alicia exactly, but he couldn’t help hoping he could chalk up
another difference between them.

He saw the moment Sarah
arrived on set, watched her saunter towards them. He liked her easy
grace, something he hadn’t picked up on during their first meeting.
Her appearance screamed class; the way she dressed, how she moved.
There was an air of sophistication about her that was impossible to
fake.

“
Hello,
stranger,” she said in Josh’s ear, making him jump in
surprise.

Now
that’s how it’s done
. Brad
resisted the urge to smile.

“
Sarah!
You’re early.” Alicia left her seat to give her friend a hard
hug.

A throaty chuckle bubbled
to the surface. “I got things wrapped up earlier than I
thought.”

She turned to Josh who
was now looming over her. “I had a feeling you’d be here.” She
kissed the cheek he offered. “And you,” she said, turning to Brad.
“Are a sight for sore eyes - welcome, it’s good to see you
again.”

“
It’s good to
see you too.”

With a little nod, she
looked back at Alicia. “Before I forget, you owe me
money.”

“
Damn. How
did you find out?”

“
I see and
know all.”

“
Bullshit,”
Josh coughed into his hand.

Alicia stared at him in
surprise. “You already told her?”

“
She badgered
it out of me.”

“
Speaking of
which…I think things are about to get interesting.”

They followed Brad’s gaze
to see Mia approaching the group with obvious pleasure.

“
Oh, oh.”
Josh gave Alicia a quick hug. “I’ll talk to her before I leave. I
should be around tonight so give me a bell.” He kissed Sarah on
both cheeks. “Behave yourself.”

Brad extended his hand
when Josh turned his way. Mia was almost upon them.

“
Nice meeting
you, Brad.”

“
Yeah, it’s
been fun.”

Alicia’s lips curved as
she watched Josh steer Mia away. “He thinks he’s a Casanova but
he’s not. He respects women too much to play games.” She thought of
everything he’d done for her. “He’s a good friend. He’s the reason
I found Jack again.”

“
I agree that
Josh moved things along a little, but you would have found each
other eventually.”

Brad
looked across at Sarah as she spoke. He caught the fierce loyalty
that went beyond friendship. It was akin to the camaraderie within
a troop.
There’s more than
one kind of battlefield.

“
I imagine it
was an emotional reunion,” he said, curious despite his efforts to
step back.

Sarah’s eyes twinkled at
the memory. “They stood there, holding each other like the world
was about to end. Seriously, I had to drag them apart.”

Alicia laughed as she
gave Sarah a playful shove. “She did not. It was just-”

“
Something
you wanted to do as a child – to hold on to him.”

She turned to him in
surprise. “Yes. That’s exactly how it felt.”

“
Is that part
of the training - amateur psychology?” Sarah asked.

“
Let’s just
say I know how it feels and leave it at that.”

Sarah immediately wished
she could take it back. The information she’d gathered jumped into
her head, pulsating like a giant reminder of what she’d forgotten.
It didn’t happen often.

Brad had lost his own
brother. He was a police officer and had been killed in the line of
duty.

“
Sorry. That
was insensitive. I should have made the connection.”

“
Not usually.
But since you looked so deeply into my past I have to say yes, you
should have seen it.”

Sarah smiled sheepishly
as Alicia looked from one to the other, trying to figure out what
was going on. “I think I missed something here.”

“
Don’t worry;
I’m sure Brad will fill you in.” Sarah gave him a pointed look.
“But it’ll have to wait. Right now you’re late.”

Alicia checked her watch.
“You’re right. I’d better head across.”

Brad stood as she did,
holding back a few steps so that Sarah could join them.

He preferred when he
could keep a little distance, or the professional part of him did.
The other part was replaying the kiss, and trying to remember the
reasons they couldn’t do it again.

***

“
So, what’s
he really like?”

Sarah was swinging in
circles on her chair so that Alicia’s face appeared and disappeared
on each turn.

“
Who?”

She stopped the incessant
movement to give Alicia a narrow eyed stare. “St Nicolas! Who do
you think I’m talking about?”

“
You’ve met
him – twice. You tell me.”

“
Evasion
tactics aren’t going to work so you might as well spill
it.”

Alicia caught Jerry’s
attention in the mirror and rolled her eyes dramatically. A dark
brow shot heavenward; he didn’t like to get involved. Jerry had
been her stylist for three years; a bad hair day wasn’t an option
when he was on board. His discretion was legendary – he had the
morals of a priest.

“
And you can
stop dragging Jerry into this. He has enough on his hands
today.”

“
Meow!”
Alicia didn’t need a translation of her friend’s responding
gesture. “Okay, fine. He’s professional, dedicated and versatile.
He…” She let go of a laugh when Sarah began to yawn. “Oh, who am I
kidding – he’s funny, charming and he has the control of a saint.
He does have a tendency to over-react when his so-called code is
threatened, but I think being around me is a code breaker in
itself!”

Before Sarah could react
to that Jerry was leaning forward to whisper confidingly in her
ear. “He has all the women around here in a flap. I’ve had more
requests than I know what to do with.

Sarah wiggled her
eyebrows. “Are those private requests, Jerry?”

He blushed and went back
to pulling tongs through Alicia’s hair.

“
He’s good at
blending into the background. When I’m on set I hardly notice he’s
around.”

Sarah snorted. “Now
you’re being ridiculous.”

The chuckle died in
Alicia’s throat when she saw Stuart and Brad in the mirror behind
them.

Stuart met her eyes in
the glass. “I need to talk to you.” The urgency in his tone was
impossible to miss.

“
I’ll step
outside for a moment. It’s about time for a fag break anyway,”
Jerry said, shuffling his feet nervously.

“
Jerry, this
involves you too. I’d appreciate it if you could refer to one of
the officers outside. We have to evacuate the studios.”

Jerry blinked as he
processed the information. His face was a mixture of hope and panic
- hope that Stuart was joking. It took only a moment for his
instincts to kick in. He dumped his tools, gave Alicia’s shoulder a
gentle squeeze and headed out.

Stuart didn’t waste any
time. “We’ve had a bomb threat. The Emergency Management Officer
has called for an immediate evacuation of all
personnel.”

“
Oh God.”
Alicia had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. “It has
something to do with him, doesn’t it?”

“
It’s a
possibility. I need you to go with Brad now, okay?”