Guilty Secret Page 14

  The mention of Nick’s name seemed to flick a switch somewhere in Vicky’s head that brought her back from her internal thoughts.

  ‘Of course not,’ she agreed absently, then focused, her cheeks colouring slightly. ‘Actually, I was also wondering it you could give me a once-over and a prescription for the Pill.’

  Frankie flicked a quick glance at the clock and saw that she still had time before her first patient was due.

  ‘No problem,’ she said, standing up to get her stethoscope and sphygmomanometer. ‘I take it you want a repeat prescription for whatever you’re taking at the moment?’

  ‘No. Um. Actually, I’ve never taken anything before because I haven’t needed to,’ she admitted with an unexpected touch of shyness for a qualified nurse.

  It was rather more than Frankie needed to know about the woman Nick was going to marry. It implied that she had actually loved him enough for the last twelve years to wait for him to be her first lover. Frankie couldn’t help but admire her steadfastness.

  At the same time she was struck by the uncomfortable thought that lack of any sexual activity with his fiancée might have been one of the reasons why Nick had been so keen to sleep with her.

  That was something else she was going to have to think about later.

  ‘Well, if you’re intending to wait a while before starting your family it would be a good idea to start taking it straight away to make sure the brand agrees with you. We can always change it for another if it doesn’t. Anyway, you need a month to get the drug into your system before you’re officially “safe” from pregnancy.’

  While she carried out the routine checks and asked the usual questions to ascertain Vicky’s suitability to take the Pill, she couldn’t help pondering on the strange irony of the situation.

  Here she was, the woman pregnant with Nick’s baby, giving advice on how to avoid pregnancy to his future wife.

  ‘By the way,’ she called just as Vicky was about to leave the room with her prescription in her hand. ‘You wouldn’t happen to have heard how Joe is doing, would you? Is he up to driving yet or do you think he needs someone to do some shopping for him?’

  ‘He’s all right,’ the younger woman said without turning back. ‘I…Someone’s already been up to check on him.’

  ‘Good,’ Frankie said, but she was speaking to herself.

  The rest of the morning was fairly routine, but just as she thought her afternoon of home visits was going to allow her to be standing at the school gates ahead of time everything went wrong.

  She’d arrived to check on one of her older patients, newly returned home just three weeks post-operative after a much-needed hip replacement, to find her lying on the floor in agony.

  ‘Miss Phipps, what have you done to yourself?’ Frankie said as she hurried towards the little bird-like creature huddled on the stone floor. It was a good job they’d arranged a secret place to leave a key or she might have had to find a way to break in when the fiercely independent retired schoolteacher didn’t answer the door.

  ‘I dropped an egg and slipped on the mess,’ she said in disgust. ‘At least I didn’t fall on my new hip.’

  ‘Unfortunately, I think you’ve broken the other one,’ Frankie had to tell her. ‘I’m going to have to phone for an ambulance and get you to hospital.’

  She pressed the speed dial function on the mobile that would connect her directly to the switchboard at Denison Memorial and within moments was able to confirm that a unit was on its way.

  ‘You couldn’t put the kettle on, could you?’ Miss Phipps asked weakly. ‘That was almost the worst part about lying here so long. I’ve been so thirsty.’

  ‘I’ sorry, but it would be better if I didn’t give you anything until we find out what’s wrong. If you need to go into Theatre, we don’t want to have to wait for hours until your stomach’s had time to empty.’

  ‘I suppose you’re right,’ she sighed. ‘In that case, can I get you to put some things into a bag for me? The gowns in the hospital are so enormous it’s like trying to live in a tent. And as for the necklines…Well!’

  Frankie had to chuckle. She could just imagine what the elderly spinster thought about the way the neck of the hospital-issue gowns would slip revealingly off her narrow shoulders.

  By the time she’d supervised her patient’s departure and locked up her little cottage, she knew she was going to be pushed to arrive at the school in time. The bell should be ringing in about five minutes and her journey would take at least fifteen. Thank goodness the staff knew that delays were sometimes unavoidable and they were willing to wait with the children until they were collected. There was a sense of security in knowing that they were prepared for such eventualities.

  Except, when she pulled up outside the school the doors were already closed and all the lights were turned off except for one that might have been the principal’s office.

  ‘I can just imagine what Laura will say if she’s had to wait in Mrs Harrison’s office,’ Frankie muttered as she crossed the playground. That was apparently one of the punishments for children who misbehaved—to have to do their work under the head teacher’s eagle eye.

  All was quiet as she made her way along the corridor and as she knocked on the door she was musing that schools all seemed to have the same smell about them.

  ‘Hello, Dr Long. What can I do for you?’ Mrs Harrison asked pleasantly, beckoning her into the brightness of her sanctuary.

  ‘Oh, I’ve only come to collect Laura and Katie,’ Frankie said. ‘Unfortunately I was delayed getting a patient transferred to hospital so I’m a bit late.’

  ‘Collect Laura and Katie?’ the head teacher repeated with a sudden frown. ‘But they were collected some time ago. There are no children left on the premises.’

  ‘Collected? Who collected them? When?’ Suddenly Frankie was immersed in a parent’s worst nightmare. ‘I didn’t ask anyone to come for them because I knew I was only going to be a few minutes late.’

  ‘Oh, my…’ Mrs Harrison whirled and strode across to consult a brightly coloured chart on the wall then reached for the phone on her desk. ‘I’m phoning the member of staff who was on playground duty this afternoon. He will know who collected—Anthony? Helen here. I need to know who collected Laura and Katie Long this afternoon.’

  Frankie waited with bated breath, unaccountably relieved when Mrs Harrison smiled and said her goodbyes.

  ‘Panic over,’ she said happily. ‘They were collected by their father.’

  ‘Their father?’ Frankie repeated in disbelief. ‘Are you sure? Martin never collects them from school. He doesn’t finish work till after five.’

  ‘I’m quite sure. Mr Clitheroe asked for identification but he said it wasn’t really necessary when the girls were calling him Daddy.’

  Still stunned by what had happened, Frankie barely remembered her manners before she left the school.

  What on earth was Martin doing in Edenthwaite at this time of the afternoon and why had he decided to collect the girls? He’d never done it before.

  She was already halfway home when she realised that this might have something to do with his decision to ask for the children to come to live with him. Had this been some sort of spying mission so that he could gather evidence that she was a neglectful mother?

  It was so much worse than that, Frankie learned when she found the letter waiting for her on the kitchen table.

  Not only had Martin collected the girls from school but he’d also brought them home to collect their belongings before driving them to his house.

  ‘In view of the immoral nature of your behaviour I have had no option but to remove my daughters from your sphere of influence,’ his pompous letter stated with relish, and she collapsed in a heap on the kitchen floor as all the strength left her legs.

  The only person Frankie could think to contact was Nick.

  If her brain had been working more rationally she would probably have realised that it was inappropriate to invol
ve him when it was her behaviour with him that had brought this disaster about. Although how anyone had found out about what had happened between them was another matter entirely.

  As it was, her hand had reached automatically for the phone and the only number she could remember was his.

  ‘Nick, I need you,’ she blurted when he answered, too panic-struck to monitor her words, her teeth beginning to chatter as shock set in. ‘M-Martin has taken the girls away. He—he took them from school. He—he left a 1-letter—’

  ‘Shh, Frankie. I’m on my way,’ he broke in when she couldn’t get the words out fast enough because her brain seemed to be paralysed. ‘Put the kettle on. I’ll be there by the time you’ve made the tea.’

  He broke the connection with a decisive click but it was several seconds before she could bring herself to break even that tenuous connection with him.

  True to his word, she heard him drawing up behind her car as she poured the freshly brewed tea into two mugs.

  He didn’t need to knock on the door. By the time he reached it she’d already pulled it open and was waiting for him with tears rolling down her face.

  ‘Ah, Frankie, don’t,’ he crooned as he took her in his arms and wrapped her up tight against his body. ‘We’ll sort it out. I promise we’ll sort it all out.’

  ‘B-but how?’ she wailed against his shoulder. ‘He’s a lawyer and his letter says—’

  ‘Lawyers still have to put their trousers on one leg at a time, the same as the rest of the world,’ he pointed out rudely, but the silly image was enough to grant her a measure of control. ‘Now, Frankie, can you show me this letter?’

  It didn’t take him long to scan it but his face remained so expressionless that she had no idea what he was thinking about it. Was he blaming himself for his part in her troubles? Perhaps he—

  ‘Was there any official documentation with this?’ he demanded suddenly, gripping each of her shoulders in his hands.

  She shook her head. ‘Nothing. That’s the envelope and that’s all there was in it.’

  ‘Right. Good. I need to use your phone a minute,’ he said rather distractedly as he searched through his wallet for something. Whatever it was, he seemed to have found it when he drew out what looked like a business card.

  ‘Simon?’ he said when the phone was answered at the other end. ‘Nick Johnson here. I need a bit of urgent advice.’

  It was a good job he was using a cordless phone because over the next few minutes Nick marched several miles up and down the room as he explained the situation. Frankie was sitting cringing at the thought that he was going to say something about the intimacy between the two of them, but it was never mentioned.

  Finally the connection was broken and Nick turned to face her.

  ‘He’s working on it,’ he said seriously, as if Frankie should know what he was talking about.

  ‘Working on what? Getting the girls back?’ She didn’t let herself dare to hope. Martin was a lawyer who knew his business inside out, and his speciality was family law.

  ‘I’m sorry, Frankie. I should have explained.’ He came to sit beside her and took her hands in his, rubbing them gently when he felt how cold they were. ‘That was Simon, an old family friend who just happens to be rather prominent in the field of family law. Since his wife tried to disappear with their children he’s developed a particular interest in custody arrangements and at this very moment is checking to see what he can do for you.’

  ‘Does he think he can?’

  ‘He’s too wily to say anything before he’s done some checking, but it sounds as if Martin has rather jumped the gun.’

  ‘Jumped the gun? How?’

  ‘By taking the children away from the custodial home before he’d formalised any change in the arrangements. He’s made an unsubstantiated accusation to use as an excuse, but as a lawyer he should have known that it wasn’t enough.’

  ‘He was probably counting on the fact that I wouldn’t know any better.’

  ‘He’d forgotten the old saying, “It’s not what you know but who you know that counts.” Simon is going to do some phoning and then he’ll get back to us with the results. It might not be until the morning, depending who’s left work early on a Monday, but—’

  He was interrupted by the phone and reached across to snatch it up.

  ‘Hello? Simon! That was quick. What news?’ Nick listened for several minutes with a serious expression that didn’t betray a single emotion. Frankie was just getting ready to scream with frustration when he turned to her with a smile. ‘Do you think the other members of the practice could do without you tomorrow morning? Simon’s got you an appointment in court at nine.’

  ‘What about Martin and the girls? Will they be there?’ Her heart was pounding so fast that her whole body was shaking. She hated the feeling that her life was out of control and at the moment it felt as if it had exploded into a million fragments.

  ‘He’ll be ringing Martin as soon as he finishes talking to us. Now, can you make it tomorrow morning?’

  ‘Of course I can, Nick. On my hands and knees if necessary. We’re talking about Laura and Katie and the fact that Martin’s trying to take them away from me.’

  He turned back to the phone. That’s a yes, Simon. See you there at about eight-thirty.’

  He returned to sit beside her and pulled her close but Frankie found it hard to respond for a moment. Everything had happened so fast that her head was spinning.

  ‘You said that you’d see him at eight-thirty?’ she said, picking up on his last words.

  ‘Actually, we’ll be seeing him at eight-thirty so he can ask you some questions before you go into court. I thought you’d like some moral support.’

  ‘Oh Nick…’ she began, her voice rising to a wail as the enormity of the situation started to dawn on her. She shouldn’t impose on him. She had no right. Oh, but it made such a difference having him here with her, especially when she could bury her face in the solid curve of his shoulder.

  ‘Oh, Nick, I’m so afraid I’m going to lose my babies. What will I do if Martin won’t give them back? He wasn’t even interested in them till he got married again.’

  ‘That’s one of the things we’re going to tell Simon tomorrow morning.’

  ‘But what good can he do?’ she cried, noticing that he’d said we but at the moment unable to take much comfort from it. ‘It’s all there in Martin’s letter.’

  ‘All we know at the moment are the grounds he’s going to use to try to take the girls away, but he has to prove them, which he hasn’t, and he has to go through all the proper channels, which he hasn’t.’

  Nick paused to hook a gentle finger under her chin, lifting until she was looking up into his caring blue eyes. ‘At the moment, he’s gone against the custody agreement without your knowledge or consent. Apparently he could actually be accused of kidnapping Laura and Katie and that wouldn’t look good on his CV.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘Look, Frankie, I don’t pretend to know anything much about the law, but I do trust Simon and I know he’s probably got more contacts within the profession than any lawyer has a right to. That’s because he’s one in a very long line of brilliant lawyers, barristers and judges who all command the utmost respect from their colleagues. If there’s anything that can be done, you can be certain that Simon will do it.’

  The phone rang again and Nick reached out for it as easily as if it were his own house.

  ‘Hello?’

  Frankie recognised the voice on the other end, demanding to know who was speaking. She cringed, but when she held out her hand for the phone Nick ignored her.

  ‘Who is this?’ he demanded briskly.

  ‘Martin Long. I’m Frankie’s husband and I want to have a word with her,’ she heard him say belligerently, and noticed that he seemed to have forgotten that he was now her ex-husband. ‘Anyway, who are you? One of the men she entertains at all times of the day and night?’

  ‘My name is Dr Johnson
and I work at Denison Memorial,’ Nick said with icy precision. ‘I am treating Dr Long for shock because someone has kidnapped her daughters.’

  ‘Kidnapped?’ Frankie cringed when she saw Nick wince at the volume of the shout. ‘Does the bloody woman know what that sort of accusation could do to my career? And how the hell did she get hold of someone like Simon—’

  Nick had obviously had enough of his ranting.

  ‘Sorry to butt in, but at the moment Dr Long is waiting for her legal counsel to get back to her so she’d rather you didn’t tie the line up. I look forward to meeting you tomorrow morning.’

  He broke the connection with a deliberate click before turning to her with a wicked grin. ‘I think we’ve got him rattled.’ He chortled and wrapped both arms around her for a hug that felt deliciously like coming home.

  Thank you, Nick,’ she said fervently. ‘It seems such a small thing to say when you’ve done so much for me but—’

  ‘No thanks necessary,’ he said softly. ‘At least not until Laura and Katie are back home again to stay. Then we’ll have to have a celebration.

  ‘A celebration and a half,’ she corrected with a watery smile. ‘I promise. But there’s still tomorrow morning to get through.’

  ‘Well, how do you want to spend the night, then? Watching your favourite videos? Watching your least favourite videos? Listening to music? Seducing me and ravishing my poor puny body all night?’

  Frankie had been torn between welcoming his company through the fraught hours and telling him that he should go home but the wicked expression on his face when he’d tacked on that last suggestion destroyed any resistance with a burst of laughter.

  Nick gazed down at the woman who’d finally fallen asleep in his arms and smiled wryly.

  She’d obviously thought he was joking about the seduction and had settled for a diet of slightly fuzzy videos played on a machine that was obviously in dire need of servicing. Just one of those little jobs that she didn’t have the time to notice, let alone do anything about. The sort of thing he’d be able to do for her if only…