A Family Affair - Next of Kin (11 page)

Ken sat there in silence.

Nikki could tell this was too much information for him to process. She remembered back to a conversation with Jack from when they were married. He had sworn there had only been one affair during his marriage to Margaret, and it had been with Sarah Rush. It was proven that Kane was Jack’s child and therefore it was most likely that Kane was Sarah’s child as well. It all made sense to her. She was the baby who had been mixed up at the hospital. Sarah had given birth to a second child, but Nikki was not that child. Two questions remained - what had happened to Sarah’s second child, and more importantly, who the hell were Nikki’s biological parents?

Dr Phillips watched Nikki and Ken patiently while they sat in silence thinking everything through. After a minute or so, he looked at his watch. “So, are there any questions before we finish this consultation?”

Nikki was thoughtful. “So just to confirm - Kane is definitely not my brother?” She wanted to hear it one more time.

“There is no evidence of shared parentage. Your intuition was right all along. I can say with confidence - no, he is not your brother.”

Nikki breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God.”

“There’s at least one piece of good news today then,” Ken said, obviously choked up.

Nikki had been so focussed on the news regarding her and Alice’s relationship with Kane that she hadn’t noticed Ken’s deteriorating state. Her father was sobbing silently while valiantly trying to hold himself together. “Dad,” she said, reaching for him.

“Let’s go, Nikki. I want to leave.”

“Is there any more to hear, doctor?” Nikki asked.

“No. I have prepared two copies of the results and conclusions for you to take home.”

“Thank you, Dr Phillips. Thank you so much,” Nikki said. She gathered the papers in one hand, and took Ken by the arm, leading him slowly back through the corridors until they were outside in the fresh air. He seemed to have aged noticeably over the last thirty minutes. “Dad, you’re so upset. I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought you here after all.”

“I just can’t believe that you’re not my daughter.”

“Don’t say that.”

“No, you know I don’t mean it like that. You know I love you, but biologically, you’re not mine. Where did you come from? We have no idea, do we? If Sarah was not your mother, then who the hell was?”

“That’s what I want to know too. This is the hospital’s fault. They’ll be lucky if I don’t sue them. This is not the end of it, Dad.” Nikki paused and looked towards her father. “I hope you don’t mind if I still call you that.”

“Of course not, Nikki. In some ways, for Alice I mean, this is a good news story.”

“But for you and me, it’s not so good, is it?”

“No.”

Nikki gave him a gentle hug before pulling away. “Hang on while I call Kane.” With one arm still around her father, she whipped her phone out and dialled the number she knew by heart. “He needs to know.” A rush of blood pumped through Nikki’s body, as she knew that pursuing the father of her baby was now to be her number one priority. No one would be able to look at her in that judgemental way again. Kane was not her brother - he was only the father of her daughter. Nikki sighed when Kane’s number diverted to voicemail again. “Hmmm.”

“Still can’t reach him, love?”

“No. I wonder where he is.”

Ken’s expression was still glum. “I just realised that I don’t have any children.”

“Oh, Dad.” She gave him another hug. “You do have a child somewhere. We just don’t know what happened to him or her. There was a mix-up remember. Sarah’s baby must have gone home with another family.”

Ken pulled away, and dried his eyes. “I’ve got to go, Nikki. I need to see Janet.”

“Of course, Dad.” Nikki wondered if he would take any steps to find the other child - his true son or daughter.

He kissed her on the cheek, before turning to go without another word.

Nikki’s heart was torn in two. She wanted to comfort her Dad while he explained everything to Janet, but even more, she wanted to hold Alice in her arms, while Kane’s arms encircled them both. As much as she wanted to run after her dad, Nikki turned in the opposite direction, determined to find Kane.

Hayden was working in his office when the door swung open unexpectedly and Kane Jarrad pushed his way inside. Kane was being held onto by Hayden’s executive assistant, who was remonstrating with him to no avail; her efforts easily overpowered by the boy’s strength and obvious will to enter.

“Well, well,” Hayden said, putting his pen down. “Look what the cat’s dragged in. I can see we are going to have to improve security around here.”

“I’m sorry, Hayden,” his executive assistant said. “I rang security, but they didn’t come quickly enough, and then he just burst in.”

Hayden put his hand up to quiet the girl. “It’s fine, Emily. It’s not your fault. You can go.”

She nodded, and went out, clearly relieved.

“I’m not leaving until we talk,” Kane insisted, looking around, as if he thought someone might grab him from behind.

Hayden scoffed. Kane was a silly little boy. “I don’t talk to anyone unless it’s on my terms.” Hayden assessed the situation. Kane had taken the effort to dress in a suit, but was obviously worked up about something. What he could possibly want to discuss was a mystery though. There was nothing else to say between the two of them. The court case was over, the judge having dismissed Kane’s case quicker than even Hayden had anticipated. Their little conversation after the verdict should have been sufficient to keep the boy away.

Suddenly, two security guards arrived, and reached for Kane.

Kane saw them coming, but couldn’t avoid being grabbed. “One minute, Hayden. That’s all I want,” he pleaded.

The two security guards struggled against Kane’s strength, but edged him slowly towards the door.

“Why would I give you that?” Hayden asked, enjoying the scene. Kane was being treated like a common criminal. “My time is valuable, and not to be wasted by scum like you.”

“You’ll be sorry if you don’t.”

Hayden noticed a new look in the boy’s eyes. There was definitely something going on in that dim-witted head of his - something new. The boy was confident about whatever it was. It couldn’t be related to the court case, as that was truly over. There were no grounds for appeal. A small bubble of curiosity appeared in Hayden’s mind. “All right then. One minute.” He turned to the security team. “Leave us. Thank you.”

“Yes, sir,” they said, releasing Kane who dropped to the ground. It only took him a second to jump up and straighten his jacket and tie, trying to retain some dignity in the situation.

Hayden looked closer at the suit - it was the same one the boy had worn to court. Perhaps he only owned one. This was clearly not the sort of boy who regularly dressed well.

Once the door was closed, Hayden poured himself a small tumbler of whiskey, but did not offer Kane anything to drink. He watched the boy’s actions with mild amusement, sipping his drink. Kane had done well to get to this floor without a security pass. “Tell me something, boy. How did you get into the building without a pass? Answer me that before I consider talking about whatever it is you wish to discuss.”

Kane looked surprised at the question, but then a half-smile escaped his lips.

Hayden instantly guessed that a woman was involved. He had charmed his way in.

“One of the girls from your reception goes to my gym,” he confirmed.

“I see. Well... I will be reviewing the footage, and she will be fired by the end of the day.”

Kane looked as if he was going to argue in defence of the silly little girl, but then thought better of it.

Hayden was definitely curious now. “So, for what do I owe the dubious pleasure of your company, Kane? And this had better be good.”

“I want to show you something,” Kane said, pulling out a mobile phone from his back pocket.

Kane had nothing of any interest to Hayden. “Are we playing show-and-tell?” This meeting was quickly becoming tedious. He looked at his watch. He had a meeting of senior managers in thirty minutes, but naturally was already prepared. There was no point being in his position if one wasn’t organised. He would give Kane two more minutes before ejecting the boy.

Kane appeared to be shaking. “But first, I want
you
to know that I have made a copy of what I’m about to show. If anything happens to me, that copy will be immediately sent to the police.”

Hayden smiled, amused by Kane’s inept attempt to gain the upper hand. The boy had no idea who he was playing with. “Oh, I’m looking forward to this.” Hayden always covered his tracks. It was impossible for there to be anything of value on that phone. Yet, the boy was confident about something.

Kane walked towards him tentatively, pressing play on the video before handing him the phone. He speedily retreated to the other side of the room, as if he thought Hayden might charge at him. Kane was obviously scared.

Hayden would have chuckled at his behaviour, but having someone nervous around him in broad daylight was not a good sign, even if it was Kane Jarrad. Hayden’s eyes went to the video. The scene was instantly familiar. It was the day of the wedding - the moment he had shot Ted Blake in his factory. How the hell did the boy get this? Hayden kept his cool. He didn’t need to watch the activity - he remembered what happened, so instead tried to determine how the footage had been acquired. It was grainy, probably filmed by the phone itself. But it was clear enough to identify both Hayden and his associate. His associate would not have set him up - someone else had filmed this scene. It couldn’t have been Kane - he wasn’t that clever, and wouldn’t have kept this to himself for this amount of time. No - Kane must have just received the video recently, but from whom? Given those facts, there were at least two people who would need containment.

Ted’s face was obscured by the car, although it was clear that a person was in the car by the angle of the camera. There was obviously a window in the roof of his warehouse that Hayden was unaware of. There must be an access point to the roof too - Hayden would need to dismantle that. This couldn’t be allowed to happen again. Hayden didn’t flinch when the kill shot occurred. He never flinched. In fact, seeing it again was almost pleasurable. Killing Ted Blake had been intensely satisfying.

Once it was finished, Hayden looked squarely at Kane. “Where did you get this from?” he asked matter-of-factly.

“That’s all you’ve got to say for yourself?” Kane asked.

Hayden knew that the existence of this footage was a critical error on his part. It should never have been filmed. He had allowed himself to be exposed by a dim-witted boy who stood by expectantly. But what was the boy waiting for - some sort of outburst? Hayden never let one expression cross his features that wasn’t there for a reason. He was calculated and clever that way. Kane had presented him with a problem - nothing more. It was a small setback which needed to be solved without delay. He wondered what the boy wanted... and if the information about the duplication was true. If it was, the problem was more complex than it would otherwise be. But he had solved many complex problems before, and was not at all concerned. Kane was smart to make a copy - the boy would have been dead within twenty-four hours otherwise.

“Well?” Kane said. He looked uncomfortable with the silence that existed between them, while Hayden studied him.

Hayden watched his every move. He himself was very comfortable with silence. His own mind was running at a million miles per hour, trying to determine the best next move. Clearly the boy’s heart rate was accelerated by the pink flush on his face. The sweat was beading on his forehead. Kane had probably never blackmailed anyone before - that fact was written all over his face.

“You killed that man,” Kane said. “Who was he?”

“What does it matter
who
he was? He is gone... vanished.” Hayden made a gesture like a puff of smoke disappearing into the ether.

“You can’t just kill someone like that.”

“I can do whatever I please. People disappear all the time. Didn’t you know that?” Hayden took a step closer to Kane.

Kane swallowed.

“If you are so concerned about the man, why have you brought the video to me? You could have taken it straight to the police. Isn’t that what people like you call justice? An eye for an eye, and all that.”

“I want to know who he was.”

“Or do you want something else, I wonder.” Everyone had their price, and Kane would have already considered what his was. Perhaps, Hayden should have taken the boy out of the picture months ago. All of this messiness could have been avoided. Working within the law always caused problems. “What makes you think you won’t be dead by sunrise tomorrow?”

Kane took a few steps away from Hayden, as if conscious of the distance between them. “As I said, I made a copy. If I go down, you do too. My associate has strict instructions.”

“Ah, your associate... And what makes you think I don’t know who your associate is?”

Kane looked worried. “You couldn’t possibly know who I gave it to.”