A Family Affair - First Born (13 page)

“Hear, hear,” said Tom, raising his glass. When he put it down again, he looked thoughtful about something. “You know what I appreciate about Ellen?”

“Please tell us,” Jack said mischievously, ready to disagree with whatever his son said.

“Ellen has decided to study commerce at university. She doesn’t want to be a socialite. She is smart. She wants to be involved in the business, to contribute to its success, and I respect that.”

Hayden was pleased to hear of Ellen’s interest in the business. Maybe she wasn’t just a model after all. Suddenly his phone started to vibrate and he pulled it out of his jacket. It was the other part of his life calling, the part he kept hidden from Tom and from the outside world. “Excuse me, Tom, Jack. I need to take this call.”

“No problems, Hayden.” Tom looked around the cafe. “I’ll get the bill. We should be going soon anyway.”

Hayden answered the call, but kept walking until he was out of earshot before speaking. “You shouldn’t be calling me on this number,” he reminded the caller angrily.

“It’s an emergency,” the deep voice responded.

In spite of himself, Hayden’s interest was aroused. His man was stationed at the cathedral, keeping an eye out for trouble. “Go on.”

“Guess who’s just pulled up in front of the cathedral?”

“Who?”

“Your good friend, Ted Blake.”

“I see.” That was an unexpected development. Hayden had been searching for Ted for months, and been unable to find him.

“He keeps getting out of the car, walking around, and getting back in. He looks nervous about something, if you ask me.”

Hayden looked down at his free hand which was clenched into a tight fist. Ted was not going to ruin anything. Hayden slowly released his fist and tried to calm his thoughts. His vision was changing; everything he saw was tainted by a familiar fiery red rage. On one level, the rage comforted him. He understood its power. The situation was becoming clearer. He felt alive with this much adrenaline pumping through his veins.

“What do you want me to do?” asked the voice on the phone.

Hayden checked his watch. There was time to act. “Can you get into his car? Make him drive you to the factory. I’ll meet you there.”

“Understood.”

Hayden hung up, and thought of an excuse for leaving Tom’s pre-wedding breakfast early. Tom looked surprised but did not question his motives, so within fifteen minutes, he was on the road and heading towards his private factory in Collingwood. It was one thousand square metres of mostly empty and sound-proof space, surrounded by industrial buildings which were always empty over the weekend. It was the perfect place for problem-solving.

At the click of a button, the factory’s large automatic roller door wound upwards, and Hayden was pleased to see an older model Holden inside waiting for him. His man had a gun pointed squarely at the driver’s seat. It would be a clean job if they could keep Ted there.

Hayden drove into the factory, and the roller door closed quickly behind him. He left his car slowly, and walked to the boot where he opened a secret compartment underneath the spare wheel. He removed a hand gun which was kept there for occasions such as this. The silencer would be needed today as well. You couldn’t take chances in a neighbourhood like this.

His man did not look surprised to see Hayden’s gun after it was retrieved. After all, the two of them had done this before.

“Did you have any trouble?” Hayden asked him.

“No. No one would have noticed anything.”

“Good.”

“What’s going on here?” Ted yelled at Hayden and his man, looking from one gun to the other in an agitated fashion.

“Mr Blake,” Hayden said, turning to address him. “We get to meet at last.”

“Who the hell are you? How do you know my name?”

“I’ve been hoping to meet you - ever since you caught me off guard by kidnapping Ellen last year.”

“How do you know about that? What – have you been watching me or something?” Ted gasped in disbelief. “Are you some sort of perv then?”

“We would have met sooner or later. You are on my ‘to do’ list if you like. Coming here today has only brought the inevitable forward.”

“Are you a cop?”

“Do I look like a cop?”

“Are you going to hand me over to the coppers?”

“No.”

“If it’s the reward money you want, just say. I have some money tucked away from shearing.”

Hayden nearly laughed. The little man was almost funny. “I don’t want your shearing money, no.”

“Well then, who the hell are you people? Your friend here jumped into my car with a gun. It scared the hell out of me. Never liked guns much myself.”

“Indeed.”

“I’ve got important business in the city. I’ve got to stop a wedding.”

“You won’t be doing that, I’m afraid.”

“Why not? What do you care?”

“I’m actually an associate of the groom.”

“Well, you should know that he is about to marry his own daughter. I think the papers would like to know about this too.”

“Are you threatening us?”

“No.” Ted looked confused, and put his hand on the door handle, ready to get out if possible.

“Stay where you are.” Hayden pointed the gun at Ted’s skull.

Suddenly Ted said something which surprised him. “You know, I thought it would be the makeup man who got me. After all, he had Col killed, didn’t he?”

Hayden smiled and lowered the gun. “Tom literally couldn’t hurt a fly. He needs me to take care of matters like this. I’m the one who had Colleen killed. Say hello to her for me.”

Ted’s eyes opened wide in response, but Hayden was sick of the conversation now and quickly fired two bullets into his skull. Ted’s lifeless body fell backwards onto the seat.

The car would need to be torched now, as there was blood spatter everywhere. Hayden turned to his man, a loyal underground associate he had known for years. “I’m grateful for everything today.”

“It was no problem.”

“If you hadn’t spotted him, we could have had a problem on our hands.”

There was no excuse for a lack of civility when dealing with associates. Just because they both had dark hearts did not mean that good manners were not required.

“I’m sorry to drop this on you at short notice,” Hayden said apologetically. “But do you think you could take care of this one for me?”

“Consider it done. You’ve got the wedding to attend after all.”

“I’m the best man you know.” They both enjoyed the irony of that statement.

“Tom couldn’t have found a better man for the job. I hope this hasn’t interrupted anything important for the two of you this morning.”

“No, not at all. I do need to be getting back though.”

His man’s skills in body disposal were second to none. He could be relied upon to complete the job with professionalism. By midnight, Ted would be in pieces at the bottom of the ocean, and his car destroyed in a hot fire hundreds of kilometres away.

It was important to keep such men on side by paying quickly for any additional work performed. Hayden considered the logistics of the situation. The bank wouldn’t be open until Monday; he was going to have to pay using the cash reserves in his safe. There was at least forty-five thousand in there if he remembered correctly. He didn’t like the safe to be run so low, but there wasn’t a better solution available today. “What will your expenses be?” he asked his man.

It was a delicate negotiation – both men wanting to stay on the other’s good side. His man shrugged his shoulders. “Twenty thou’ ought to cover the costs.”

It was a generous first offer. Hayden had paid much higher in the past. “Let’s make it thirty, for good measure.” He would have been happy to pay forty.

“That’s very generous of you, Hayden.”

“Come by tomorrow morning at six, unless that’s too early for you.”

“Not at all. The Armadale property, like last time?” the man queried.

“Yes.”

Hayden liked to do all transactions early in the morning.

His man nodded, and Hayden almost smiled, pleased with the outcome. The problem had been sorted, and the thoughts in his head were gradually smoothing into straight lines. He reversed out of the factory, and quickly sped back to Tom’s house in order to prepare for the wedding.

Ellen spent the morning of her wedding day in her apartment with only her parents, Beth and Garry Jackson, by her side. If she were a traditional bride, there would have been bridesmaids surrounding her to assist with all the little details of the day. There would be laughter and stories, and well wishing. But she was not a normal bride - the memories of Chloe still haunted her and it would be difficult to trust someone again. Even Kane had disappointed her. For the moment, the only people she could rely on were her parents and Tom.

Tom had arranged for food and services to be delivered to the apartment, which meant Ellen and her parents could relax without having to venture outside. The hairdresser arrived at nine o’clock to do Ellen’s and Beth’s hair. She brought a suitcase full of equipment and a photo album of possible wedding hair styles. Ellen chose an intricate style which required her long tresses to be pinned and looped into place. Small white flowers were then woven into her hair and the end result was even more stunning than the picture on which it was based. Beth chose a simpler style with some curls added to her normally straight shoulder-length hair. Ellen thought that it was nice to see her mum looking radiant and happy.

She only nibbled at the platters of fruit, nuts and croissants, too nervous and excited to sit down and eat properly.

“It’s all going to go just fine,” Beth said, patting Ellen on the shoulder after the hairdresser had left. She obviously realised how anxious Ellen was feeling.

“Thanks, Mum.”

“Seeing you makes me remember how nervous I was on my wedding day.”

Ellen’s father walked over, the wedding invitation in his hand. “Remind me again why he wanted to get married at the cathedral? How many people are invited to this event?”

Ellen smiled. “Tom wanted to get married at St Paul’s so his employees could come if they wanted. It is possible that a lot of people could be coming. I’m not sure of the exact number.”

“Just be happy that you aren’t paying for it all, dear,” Beth said.

“I offered to pay, but he wouldn’t let me even talk about a contribution.” Garry looked uncomfortable with that fact.

“Well, I think the cathedral was needed for Margaret’s friends alone,” Beth said, with a good-humoured chuckle.

Ellen knew that Margaret and her mother had only met once, but as expected, they had not become kindred spirits. Margaret had spent much of the meeting listing the friends who would be attending the wedding, how far they would be travelling, and what they would be wearing. Ellen patted her mum on the back. “Well, at least she will be preoccupied today, talking to them all.”

“That’s true.”

“Tom says the actual reception will be more intimate,” said Ellen. In truth, she had no idea what to expect from either the ceremony or the reception, as Tom had kept much of the planning under wraps. Weren’t brides usually the ones who organised such details? In their case, the groom and the groom’s planner had made most of the decisions. Tom wanted the day’s beauty and extravagance to be a surprise, and Ellen had been happy to see him so excited. Besides she had been preoccupied with other matters leading up to the big day.

“I see. Well, he wouldn’t let me pay for the reception either,” Garry said gruffly. “And why did he have to choose the tallest tower in Melbourne for the event? I’m sure there are plenty of nice ground floor reception centres in this city.”

Ellen smiled at her dad’s concerns. He had never liked heights. “It’s going to be amazing, Dad. The planner says it’s the most perfect venue in the city. You’ll love the view once you are there. And you don’t need to worry about the money side of things. Tom wanted to pay for everything – he wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

Garry Jackson’s face turned into a frown. It was hard to work out exactly what was on his mind. Didn’t fathers dislike having to pay for expensive weddings normally?

The day continued to fly for Ellen. The bouquets were delivered at lunchtime, and the makeup artist arrived soon after. She was friendly and chic, and achieved a wonderfully natural look for both Ellen and Beth. They bade her goodbye by two o’clock, which left only one major task to do. It was time to put the dress on.

Ellen’s bump was still small, but her dress had been altered to accommodate the growing curve. She studied it hanging in her room with awe. If there was a dress more beautiful, she hadn’t seen it. The dress was an elegant, yet contemporary design. Ellen loved the strapless, sweetheart bodice made of ivory silk and covered with lace. The waist was high, and highlighted by a beaded narrow belt, which flowed into a full organza skirt with chapel length train. Her challenge for the day was to avoid an embarrassing fall, given the length of the train.

“Mum,” Ellen called.