Inescapable

Seth gritted his teeth.

“But that’s not your name on the licence by the door. Your name is Jones, isn’t it?”

She was good. “My mum remarried.”

She looked at him thoughtfully and then her eyes rounded and she stared at him as if horrified. “If this isn’t the safe house…and you brought us here.” She slowed, truly freaked. “You’re not…you’re not working for this man, Carlisle, are you?” She didn’t exactly back away, but she looked as if she was about to.

Seth grasped her around the shoulders, hating to see the mistrust that had risen in her expression. “No. There was a reason why I couldn’t take Adrian to the designated safe house.”

“What reason?”

Shit. He’d have to tell her, because she wouldn’t feel safe with him. If he didn’t tell her she would keep asking and then Adrian would find out. “I’ll explain why, if you promise to keep it to yourself. Adrian has got enough on his mind; I don’t want to add to his worries. Promise me you won’t tell him what I’m about to tell you?”

“Yes, if you feel that’s the right thing to do.”

Was she starting to accept his authority? He thought she’d just mellowed, but she really was playing along. He was glad of that. “That man you saw in the corridor, the one who took a shot at Adrian.”

“Yes?”

“I also saw him, from the fire escape. And I recognised him. He’s a fellow officer.”

Her eyes rounded. “You mean…”

“My guess is he’s on Eric Carlisle’s payroll. Once I knew that, I couldn’t risk taking Adrian to the safe house. A policeman in the same department as me can access that information on the system. This seemed like the best alternative option. ” He glanced around the familiar room. “My parents run this place; it’s where I grew up. They have an eight-week break in Spain every year, January and February.”

“Right. So why don’t you report him to the police, to your guys?”

“It’s knowing who to trust.”

“I see.” She stared at him with a heavy expression. “I understand that, believe me. The reason I left nursing, it was partly to do with a senior member of staff who I didn’t think was acting appropriately with a patient’s care. I took it into my own hands. It was the right move, but my senior got annoyed and said I couldn’t accept authority, that I’d acted without her agreement. The hospital backed her up. I handled it the wrong way, and I left, but deep down I know I did the right thing for the patient.”

For several moments, they stared into each other’s eyes, acknowledging the common ground. Then he found himself scooping her in against him to hold her. With her hands wrapped around his back, it felt natural, it felt good.

He didn’t want to have to tell her, tell either of them, but when he held her in his arms that sense of loneliness that he always nursed evaporated for a few moments. “I need to make contact with my boss, but I’m not going to use a phone or e-mail or anything that can pinpoint a location to anyone in the office.”

“It all makes sense now.” She looked up at him. “Any other ideas?”

“I’m working on it.”

“Can you send your boss an e-mail from an anonymous Hotmail account?”

“IP addresses can be traced.” As he said it he noticed his step dad’s computer on a small desk in the corner of the room, and an idea started to form. It was the mention of the Hotmail account. He had one that he rarely used. “Wait, hold that thought. You might have something there.”

The PC was old, and ran on a slow modem. His step dad only used it to run a simple web site advertising the hotel, and his mother occasionally sent Seth family photos to his Hotmail account. Seth walked over and switched the thing on.

“You’ve had an idea?” Lily was beside him as he took up the seat at the desk.

“Maybe.” He did, but by the time he’d got online and opened his account, doubt had slowed him up. He paused, thinking carefully through the idea. It was dangerous, everything was dangerous, but it was the least dangerous thing he’d thought of so far.

Scrolling through messages, he saw the one he was looking for, a party invitation from Colleen Ward. He opened it. A JPEG filled the screen, an image of a clown holding a bunch of balloons.

“Colleen Ward?” Lily had one hand on his back as she looked over his shoulder at the screen.

Seth briefly thought about sending her away, but she would be so curious that it was likely to cause more problems, because she already knew too much. He hit reply and began to type.

Colleen, thank you for inviting me to your birthday party last month. I had a great time, even though I ate too much of your mummy’s lovely cake. Please tell your dad that Uncle Seth says next time we have to play whack-a-mole, instead of musical chairs. Hugs and kisses from Uncle Seth

“Uncle Seth?” she looked amused.