Sins of the Father (6 page)

Still, as his eyes
travelled to the other photographs, the people in Alicia’s life, he
couldn’t help wanting to delegate his responsibility. There were
eight in their unit, Brad had served with four of them, but he
trusted them all with his life.

“
Shouldn’t
you be on your way instead of brooding over the details?” Kelvin
walked into the room with an easy swagger, and came to rest next to
Brad. “Nice board, by the way, it’ll come in handy.”

“
What can I
say? I like to stick and paste.”

Kelvin ignored the
sarcasm and nodded towards Alicia. “She’s a beaut, isn’t she –
there has to be twenty pictures up there but she demands all the
attention.”

“
Being
demanding is probably one of her better qualities.” He was not in
the mood for Kelvin’s chipper observations.

“
With an
attitude like that, she’s going to love you. She may be petite, but
I hear she eats cynics like you for breakfast.”

“
Damn you,”
Brad said, forcing out a laugh. “I’m mad with you for signing us up
for this, so don’t try to make light of my hang-ups.”

“
Then snap
out of it, big man. You don’t need to study this anymore than you
need me to tell you you’ll handle it.” Kelvin slapped him on the
shoulder. “You had this information memorised hours
ago.”

“
Okay, you’ve
made your point.” His eyes flicked to a copy of the letter. “It
bothers me how matter of fact his threat is. I think he’s planning
something big.”

Kelvin’s eyebrows shot
up. “He - why have you decided the author is male?”

“
The tone,
vocabulary, the feel of it; take your pick.”

“
Those are
factors, but they’re only indicators. You can’t know for sure.” He
studied Brad’s face for a moment. “What’s the other
reason?”

“
Call it a
gut instinct. The scary thing is, in another life, this could have
been written by me.” Brad sighed when he saw the doubt flicker
across Kelvin’s face. “Don’t give me that look, I’m not saying it’s
how I feel, there’s just a voice inside my head telling me things
are going to get ugly.”

“
Which is why
she needs us.”

“
I’m not sure
she needs me. Hell, even I’m not entirely convinced I can leave my
baggage at the door. It’s a conflict of interest.”

“
If Sarah did
as much research as she led us to believe then they already know –
talk to her about it. This assignment is about protecting her from
an unknown threat and there’s nobody better.”

“
Then you’re
lucky I’m around.”

“
Yeah, remind
me of that sometime.” Kelvin swept his hand across the board. “You
have the information here to help you decide if anyone in her life
poses a threat. So instead of standing here busting my balls, why
don’t you get to work?”

“
You’re
right.” He gave the board one last look. “I’d better head
out.”

Kelvin walked in step
beside him as they left the office. “Do me a favour?”

“
If you say
get Alicia’s autograph I may not be responsible for my
actions.”

Kelvin threw his head
back and roared with laughter. “I was going to say bury Helen in
the past where she belongs. But now you come to mention
it...”

Brad didn’t dignify the
comment with a response. He strode out of the office without
looking back; Kelvin’s laughter followed him out of the building.
It lightened his mood a little. Their conversation also drove home
that he had to take a step back from his personal feelings on the
case.

He worked on that as he
descended the steps to their small underground garage. The spaces
were empty apart from the RV they used for a mobile command, and
his own vehicle. Kelvin’s jeep was probably parked on the smaller
lot, used for temporary pit-stops. The fact that he found the
garage creepy was a great source of amusement.

Chapter
5

Alicia looked at the new
machine they’d installed in the gym and grimaced. Her muscles
already ached from the forty-minute workout – now her whole body
screamed in protest at the prospect of more abuse.

“
Come on, ten
minutes on that baby and we’re home free,” Sarah said, grinning up
at her from the exercise mat.

The room was set out so
that all the bigger machines were backed against a wall;
appropriate to muscle group. There were exercise mats in the
centre, like a runway to the torture zone. A series of treadmills
headed up the room, pointed in the direction of a plasma TV. So
far, they hadn’t even switched it on.

Alicia looked towards the
wall of mirrors and met her friend’s eyes with renewed
determination. “Okay, but only because you’ve already tamed the
beast.”

Sarah chuckled as she
continued to stretch out. “You’re just annoyed Stu set the schedule
back, otherwise you’d have dodged our ritual sweat
session.”

“
Maybe, but I
still don’t understand why we have to wait for the security guy.
There’re enough people around.”

“
Brad Morgan
is a personal protection specialist. He is the best of the best.
Would you like me to give a rundown of his qualifications for the
job?”

“
You have his
resume memorised?”

“
That’s just
insulting, but I’ll forgive you because you’re going to suffer on
our new friend.” She motioned to the machine and raised her brows
in silent question – prompting Alicia’s reluctant movement towards
it. “Brad Morgan is a former Royal Marine. As is his partner,
Kelvin Fairchild. Together, with six other comrades, they make up
Morgan and Fairchild.”

Alicia was trying to work
through the pain and found Sarah’s professional tone distracting.
“Tell me about their background,” she said, hoping it would pass
the few minutes she needed to break her stride.

“
Well, we
have three green berets. Let’s start with Brad. He served for
twelve years, enlisting when he was eighteen and working his way to
the top. He has some serious recommendations, and from what I hear
he’s an all round good egg - a competent one at that.” She paused
when Alicia laughed at the expression. “Then we have his partner,
whose honours match Brad’s, as does his career path.”

Alicia clenched her teeth
as the exertion threatened to beat back her control. “Okay, I get
it, they’re good.”

“
I haven’t
finished.” Sarah could see her plan was working – Alicia only had a
few more reps to go. “The third marine served as a sniper. He
sounds interesting; made me want to dig a little deeper, but I
resisted. It didn’t seem polite.”

“
You saw his
picture then?” Alicia snorted. She was feeling mean; the pain did
that.

“
My, you are
slow today. Please try to keep up. I met them, all of them,
yesterday afternoon.”

That earned her an
exasperated glance from Alicia. “So, you’ve met the team and all
you give me are their career stats? Come on, hon, I need a little
more than that.”

“
Okay, let me
tell you about Susannah. She heads up their little unit, but
pretends to give control to the men. She has military in the blood;
practically her whole family have served at some point or another.
She was a Royal Engineer, specialised in communications, and she
organises them like she’s manoeuvring troops on a battle field.
It’s scary stuff, but totally cool. Talking of scary, one of the
other female members was a Troop Commander in the Royal
Artillery.”

“
Let me guess
- the other was recently commended for taking out her enemies
single-handed?” Alicia slid bonelessly to the floor after her last
rep, missing her friends’ narrow-eyed stare.

“
That machine
makes you bitchy, no wait... that’s just you.”

Alicia was surprised she
still had the energy to laugh. “I love you too.”

“
Sure, I love
your bitchiness when I’m trying to ease your mind.” But she was
smiling down at Alicia – even spared her a look of sympathy. “The
third female member of the team is different to the others purely
because she never served. I’m not sure where her area of expertise
lies, but they all listen to her. The last member is unique too – a
Marine Engineer in the Territorial’s, has engineering
qualifications coming out of his ears but he chose to join their
little gang.”

A sly expression came
into Alicia’s eyes. “You’re going to have so much fun getting to
know them and their little secrets, aren’t you?”

“
Absolutely.
This job has to have some perks, and hanging around with men who’ve
spent most of their adult lives in uniform doesn’t hurt
any.”

They both laughed when
their eyes met; sparring felt good at any time of the day, but it
was the most fun when they worked out. Without waiting to be asked,
Sarah locked her knees and bent to pull Alicia to her
feet.

“
Go get a
shower. The day will start soon enough,” she said, taking a long
swig of her water. “I have to go into the office. I have back to
back meetings all day.”

Alicia looked at her
friend more closely. “You look tired. I bet you’ve slept less than
I have. Why don’t you stay in the city tonight and take it easy for
once?”

“
I might take
you up on that.” Sarah swung a casual arm around her. “Dad is still
in town so I may pay him a visit.”

They walked out of the
gym together, grateful for the familiar sights around them. The set
was a hive of activity – it meant that things were going back to
normal, as normal as they could. It was a good sign.

***

Alicia ducked out of her
trailer and blinked rapidly under the sun’s strong rays. They were
running almost two hours behind schedule. She’d all but paced a
tread in her trailer floor; she imagined Stuart was probably doing
the same thing.

As she walked towards his
office, she spotted Joshua Burton. Her face spread into a smile of
genuine pleasure. He looked handsome in khakis and a navy t-shirt,
the trade-mark mop of brown hair covered by a baseball cap. His
intense blue eyes looked back at her soberly, making her feel off
balance.

She pulled a face and was
relieved to see him laugh. It was obvious he was worried about her
– she couldn’t blame him for that. If Stuart and Greg had stepped
up to the plate and were competing for father of the year, Josh was
her adopted brother. The one she could turn to and usually
did.

"How's my favourite
lady?" he asked, hugging her with affection.

"Better now you’re here,
I’ve missed you.”

"I missed you too. How's
Jack?" He was watching her face intently.

"He’s finally awake. It’s
been a tough few days, but he’s doing really well."

"And Becky?"

"Oh, she's
great."

He draped an arm around
her shoulders. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner. Let's grab a
coffee and catch up a little."

Alicia led him in the
direction of her trailer. "How long are you back?”

“
Unfortunately, it’s just a flying visit. My next stop is the
hospital, but I thought I’d watch the action for awhile. There’s
nothing quite like a free preview.”

“
You could be
in for a long wait. At the moment, we’re waiting for my bodyguard
to get here. It’s not enough that I’m being escorted everywhere,
Stu had to make it official.”

"Don't sulk, sweetheart.
It doesn't suit you. You know there’s a good reason Stuart made
that decision - only the best for our girl.”

Alicia laughed, even
though she was choked up by his comment. As a child, all she ever
wanted was a family of her own. After Gray and Eric she thought
she’d lost that forever, but she’d underestimated her friends. They
gave her more than she dared to wish for.

“
I’m getting
used to the idea. From everything Sarah’s told me about Brad Morgan
he sounds pretty intimidating, almost perfect in fact.”

“
Nobody’s
perfect.”

“
You’re
pretty damn close, Burton!”

As he busied himself
making their coffee, Alicia leant against the unit, talking as he
worked. It was the first time she’d relaxed in days. She told him
about the decisions they had made about the film, her excitement
only tainted by Jack’s absence. He entertained her with stories of
his latest movie. She laughed deliciously at his antics; he was
renowned for being a practical joker. Josh refused to grow up and
she loved that about him.

“
So, when are
you going to tell me about it?” he asked, nudging her with his
elbow.

“
I told you
everything I know.”

“
A phone call
isn’t the same. I want to know how you really are. We keep you in a
bubble and we shouldn’t.”

“
That’s not
true, Josh. I still remember how cruel life can be. I know you try
to protect me, but I’m stronger than I look. I’m angry more than
anything else, angry that someone tried to hurt Jack. I won’t tell
you what I’d like to do to them.”

“
There’s my
girl,” he said, his eyes dancing with merriment.