Dory's Avengers (35 page)

Boxing Day dawned crisp and sunny over the whole Sponsor-oppressed country, with snow starting to encroach on the Lake District lowlands. This didn't stop the Applethwaite Unsponsored supporters from enjoying the lunchtime football match against local rivals Keswick, and Louis was among the people out from an early hour clearing the snow from the pitch. Under strict instructions from Gideon not to get drunk or eat too much today, having done both the previous day, Louis was glad to get his muscles back in use before his training resumed the next day. That Gideon would work him harder than ever to make up for the excesses of the festive season was not in doubt in Louis's mind.

‘You're an Olympic gymnast now, Louis,' Gideon had said crossly when Louis appeared downstairs that morning, bleary-eyed and hung over. ‘You can't keep on getting pissed!'

The Keswick team, Kes Underclass FC, arrived in good time for the twelve o'clock kick-off and were delighted to see the pitch clear of snow and perfectly playable. Free from the trappings of Sponsored health and safety rules, which would probably have deemed everything about the snowy field unsuitable for a football match, the Unsponsored arrived in droves to enjoy the game. Such was the camaraderie among the Unsponsored that the game was a good-natured affair despite being a local derby, and resulted in a 2–0 victory to Applethwaite. A lot of supporters stayed to enjoy festive drinks courtesy of Dex and Georgie, who often hosted drinks on the house parties in The White Lion for
the cash-strapped Unsponsored. Under the watchful eye of Gideon, Louis stuck to mineral water while everyone else tucked into free wine, beer and cider. It didn't dampen his mood at all, though – Unsponsored get-togethers were always high-spirited. Over and over again he had to tell the tale of Lord William's intrusion into his Wednesday training session for the sake of the Kes Underclass supporters. Louis didn't mind at all; no matter how many times he told the tale, he never got bored of it.

Hundreds of miles south, in the most affluent area of London, the head of the oppressive Sponsorship Scheme was personally watching over the preparations for his Boxing Day drinks party as he wanted everything to be perfect. Upstairs, his son was getting himself ready for the party with unusual care. Normally one to just throw on some clothes, Theo tossed outfit after outfit onto his bed before he was happy with the way he looked. Newly shaven, he'd patted on some of his favourite aftershave before dressing in his clothing of choice and making his way down to the great drawing room, as excited as any schoolboy going on a first date.

‘You're very fragrant, Theodore,' said Lord William as his son walked past. ‘Making extra effort for the lovely Catherine, eh? Good lad, I'm glad we're seeing eye to eye for once…'

‘You're right in one respect, Your Lordship. I am making the effort for Cathie. I like her. Very much. That is my only motive for making an effort.'

‘If you say so, Theodore,' said Lord William, eyes twinkling. ‘That'll be the first of the guests now. Servants, make yourselves scarce. Mooreland, show our guests up…Bloody hell, where's Theodore gone?'

Excited by the sound of the doorbell, hoping that Cathie had arrived with her parents, Theo was slightly disappointed
to see Stephen Dyer opening the door to David, Julia and Adam Foster.

‘Step this way, if you please,' said Mooreland to the guests, arriving at the foot of the stairs and glaring at Dyer for intervening. ‘Lord Theodore, His Lordship requests your presence with the rest of the family in the drawing room.'

‘Can't I just wait here…' began Theo.

‘I'll look after Lord Theodore,' Dyer butted in with a lascivious smile, making Theo's stomach turn.

‘Actually, Mr Mooreland, I
will
wait upstairs,' Theo said, hurrying after Brian Mooreland and the Fosters. Watching Theo's easy, confident walk, Dyer found himself once again torn between wishing he didn't find the young man attractive and a desire for Theo so strong it was painful. At that moment the doorbell rang, and without waiting for Mooreland to return Dyer answered the door once again. Ushering the Lorimer family into the St Benedict residence with a smile that was more of a sneer, Dyer was very dismayed to see the gorgeous Lord Theodore thunder straight back down the stairs and grab Catherine in a warm embrace.

‘Cathie,' he murmured, kissing her, ‘I've missed you!'

‘I've only been gone a couple of days,' replied Cathie, laughing at Theo's words even though she herself had been counting the minutes until she could see him again.

‘Mr and Mrs Lorimer, Miss Lorimer, please follow me' came Mooreland's voice from the stairs. ‘Lord Theodore, perhaps
now
you would be so good as to accompany me back upstairs. Dyer, there's no need for you to greet His Lordship's guests; that's my job.'

Theo couldn't resist a triumphant smile at the loathsome Dyer as he passed, arm tightly round Cathie. Dyer, for his part, couldn't resist watching Lord Theodore's sexy walk as the young man went up the stairs, seeming to move with more grace and poise than ever.

In the drawing room Lord William was in his element, entertaining his guests as the room filled up with people. Noticing that Theodore seemed to be joined at the hip to Catherine Lorimer, Lord William smiled in satisfaction. Perhaps Theodore was coming round to the ways of the Scheme after all. It never crossed His Lordship's mind for a second that his son had been telling the truth about feeling genuine affection for Catherine.

However, Lord William's afternoon wasn't to go exactly as he'd hoped. Engaged in conversation with Stephanie Rogers and Philip Lorimer, His Lordship was annoyed to be approached by an anxious Lee Fellows.

‘Your Lordship,' began Fellows nervously, ‘I hate to disturb you, but Pete Lomax is on the phone. He says it's urgent…'

‘Who?' snapped Lord William

‘Pete Lomax, Your Lordship. One of our security men in Applethwaite…'

‘That wretched village!' hissed Lord William before he could stop himself, noting to his dismay that Philip Lorimer raised his eyebrows in surprise.

‘Just a rather vocal bunch of Unsponsored, Philip; nothing to worry about,' said Lord William with an attempt at ease before turning to Lee Fellows.

‘I'll take the call in my office, Fellows. Philip, Steph; please excuse me for a few minutes.'

As Lord William strode from the room, Philip Lorimer smiled at Stephanie Rogers to mask his sudden unease. Lord William hadn't been able to hide the extent of his anger from the observant Lorimer, and that anger had been frightening to behold. For the first time it occurred to Philip that Lord William was a dangerous man. A dangerous man whose son was currently courting Philip's only daughter. Whatever these Applethwaite Unsponsored had done it was clearly going to be bad news for them once Lord
William had been put in the picture. Did Philip really want Catherine caught up with a family like the St Benedicts? Looking over to where Catherine was sitting close to Theo, gazing adoringly at him as he played his new guitar for her, Philip realised forlornly that it was going to be nigh on impossible to persuade his daughter away.

Upstairs in his third-floor office, Lord William was incandescent with rage as he spoke to Pete Lomax on the phone.

‘He did WHAT?' said His Lordship, trying to keep his voice as low as possible.

‘He renounced his Sponsorship, Your Lordship.'

‘Where's he from? Glasgow? Get on to the security up there, get his wife and children. I'll teach Burns a lesson he won't forget…'

‘With respect, Your Lordship, Burns's wife and kids are nowhere to be found. I got on to Glasgow right away, but the house is all locked up and quiet.' Pete Lomax wished heartily that anyone but he had been the one to find out that his fellow spy, Ally Burns, had defected. Cheers, Ally, he thought bitterly, we were supposed to be mates! On the London end of the phone, Lord William was angrier than ever.

‘That bloody village, that bloody backwater! Lomax, listen to me! I'll be sending men up first thing in the morning. They'll have instructions that must be carried out. I'm going to teach that bloody village a lesson it won't forget in a hurry. Understand? Still with me? Good!' Ending the call, Lord William took a while to compose himself before joining his company downstairs; all pleasure in the festive season was over as far as he was concerned.

First thing the following morning, Lord William called all his most trusted security men together in the St Benedict residence security room on the ground floor. Mindful of Dyer having taken such liberties with Theo on Christmas
Eve, Lord William contented himself with having Mooreland stop either Theo or Marina from descending any lower than the third floor during the course of the meeting. Lord William particularly wanted Dyer in on this meeting anyway. It didn't take long for His Lordship to outline his plans to the group, and he wasn't at all surprised to see Dyer's lips curve up in what passed for a smile on his face.

‘Stephen,' said Lord William, ‘I can see you're up for the job. Everyone else?' Looking around the room, Lord William was satisfied that he'd chosen his men wisely; all had excited gleams in their eyes at the prospect of the action to come.

‘Good,' said Lord William. ‘Now, I won't keep you any longer. I can see you're anxious to be on your way. Remember what I said now; let them know you're about first. Flex your muscles a bit, make them worry, get them thinking for a few days, then go in for the kill!'

All smiling nastily at Lord William's choice of words, the men murmured, ‘Yes, Your Lordship,' before dispersing to make preparations for the journey. Stephen Dyer in particular was virtually dancing with excitement. He'd not had a good time recently, but this little jaunt was going to make up for that. Yes indeed; this should have been done months ago in Dyer's opinion.

As Lord William's team of thugs began their journey up to Applethwaite, Philip Lorimer was having a very difficult conversation with his daughter. Catherine had always been close to both her parents; they adored her and the feeling was mutual, so for father and daughter to be at loggerheads was unprecedented.

‘Cathie, my darling, come and sit with your old dad for a while. There's something I want to discuss with you.'

Sitting beside her father in the family's luxurious but comfortable sitting room, Cathie smiled at her unusually anxious father.

‘What is it, Daddy?'

‘I'll come straight out with it…Oh God this is difficult. Theodore St Benedict…' Seeing his daughter's face light up at the mere mention of Theo's name, Philip realised just how difficult a task was ahead of him.

‘You like Lord Theodore a lot, don't you, Cathie?'

‘Loads and loads, Daddy. He's so funny, kind, loving… gorgeous too,' she added grinning, eyes shining. Sighing, Philip ploughed on, wanting to get the difficult words over and done with as soon as possible.

‘Darling, I'm not so sure he's good for you. I'm not so sure any of us being involved with that family is good…'

‘Why?' Catherine's voice was quiet and composed, but Philip couldn't miss the horror dawning in his daughter's eyes.

‘I think Lord William is a dangerous man. He, er, he had a phone call yesterday afternoon. It wasn't a welcome call, and it made him very angry. Oh, he tried to hide it, but his eyes! His eyes were…evil, darling. That's the only word to fit; they were the devil's own eyes.'

‘Theo's not like his father though, Daddy. They couldn't be more different.' Philip was impressed to hear that his daughter's voice was still steady, but he wondered how long that would last as he went on.

‘I know that, darling, but there's a lot of mystery around Lord Theodore, isn't there? Where's he been all these years?'

‘He had a breakdown, after his mother disappeared…'

‘Really, darling? Do you really think Lord Theodore's the kind of personality to have a breakdown? Then there's the fact he never leaves that house. Has he offered to take you out? Of course not; he never leaves that mansion. Why?'

‘He's agoraphobic, Daddy. He told me, he's too nervous…'

‘Nervous? Lord Theodore? Cathie, I think he's lying to you.' Catherine went silent. Much as she hated to admit it,
she shared her father's fears about Theo's history. It just didn't seem to add up somehow.

‘Darling,' her father went on, ‘your mother and I love you so much. You're our world. I don't want anything bad to happen…'

‘Daddy, I know.'

‘So you'll stay away from Lord Theodore? I have a little suspicion the whole romance may have been commissioned by His Lordship to get me onside, Europe Logistics being the only major business in the UK not Sponsor-controlled.'

Once again Catherine was silent, as her father had hit upon another of her secret fears. However, she couldn't help remember the tenderness with which Theo kissed her, the sincerity when he told her she looked beautiful, the warmth in his eyes whenever he looked at her. Eventually, she said, ‘I take your point, Dad, but I will not be staying away from Theo. In fact, I'm going to see him right now. I won't deny I've had the same worries as you, but I care far too much about Theo just to give up on him. I've got to give him a chance to tell me his side of the story.'

‘And if he doesn't? Or if he confirms our fears?'

Catherine sighed, then replied slowly and painfully, ‘I'll never see him again in that case, Daddy. Just let me give him this chance.'

It was about half an hour later that Philip Lorimer's car drew up outside the St Benedict residence; Philip's stature in the world of logistics entitling him to travel the well-to-do streets of Kensington despite not being Sponsored. Stopping to let Catherine climb out, Philip then drove off quickly before his resolve let him down and he dragged his beloved daughter back to the safety of the car. Recognising that Catherine would find a way to see Theo whether or not her father agreed, Philip decided it would be better to get the painful episode over with as soon as possible.