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And a nice new titbit about Eric.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Scotland Yard protection officers drove Caelan and Blake towards Notting Hill. The whole drive there, Rathbone fidgeted but said nothing. He didn’t even ask about the scabs and bruises on Caelan’s knuckles. Ogarkov had croaked on lots of things. Pity he couldn’t have croaked more quickly, and more easily. The man was now laid up for his troubles in a secure hospital. They’d get him well enough to make the journey home, then dump him somewhere along the Finnish border, not all that far from his hometown of St Petersburg.
“Does she know I’m here?”
“What do you think?” Caelan chuckled, shaking his head.
They reached their street, perfectly leafy and in the full bloom of spring with blossom drifting gently across the pavements and roadways, people out walking their dogs in shorts and t-shirts… windows open, music drifting from a house or two… a couple of artists pitched on the little green nearby.
Blake inhaled deeply, nodding as if this is what he’d imagined for Flora and was glad she had it. As they were crawling up the street in their black state car, Caelan spotted a little spy trying to hide himself in the front seat of a vehicle he’d once owned, an Audi TT. A ridiculous car he bought years ago that he quickly got bored of and sold to his best mate.
The officers in the front seat spoke almost inaudibly into their mikes. When one of them turned and gave Caelan the nod, he knew there’d been checks done and nothing suspicious had been discovered in the vicinity of their house.
Well, except for…
Their black car pulled up outside the gate before the small garden path that led to their front door. Flora was immediately there at the open door holding the baby, obviously having wondered at the strange black car outside. Once she saw her father get out, she burst into tears and Caelan thought he never saw an old dude who was dying scuttle so fast down a path and towards his daughter and grandchild.
Caelan watched them head inside and then gestured for the armed guard all was well. They moved their vehicle so it was still close by but not right outside the door. Caelan used that opportunity with them out of his line of sight to signal to Eric to get his arse inside, too. Their secret signals could only be understood by the two of them. Nobody else. Back in the day, they’d only ever been able to trust one another. Sure, he’d loved his other blades, but sometimes there’s just the one who really gets under your skin.
Eric came jogging down the street and stopped at the foot of the steps leading up to the front door, out of puff due to anxiety. “What’s wrong?”
Eric’s eyes darted to Caelan’s hands and he gulped. “Ogarkov?”
“We had a little chat about his comrades today,” said Caelan with a wry grin. “And perhaps someone you used to ken, too.”
For a moment Eric looked terrified, but then Caelan smoothly transitioned into grabbing the back of Eric’s neck like a typical friend might do, steering him indoors. “I canna believe ye never told me about your da.”
“You never asked, prick,” said Eric, throwing an elbow out towards Caelan and only just missing. “We cool?”
“Nae, but let’s just say I have one more ounce of respect for you today than I did yesterday.”
“I can handle that.”
Caelan glanced at Eric as they made their way inside. The man clearly thought he was in the clear. Thought nothing could touch him. Perhaps he really believed Ogarkov hadn’t croaked that one last titbit. Well, he had… and Caelan was going to carefully hold onto that.
They passed the living-room door and watched as Blake bounced the baby on his knees, Logan squealing with delight in response. Flora turned her head and mouthed, “Thank you.”
Eric patted him on the back. “Nice work.”
“Let’s no get excited, not just yet.” Caelan glanced at Eric and sighed. “We should leave them to it.”
Eric followed Caelan into the kitchen and they sat around the central island drinking chilled bottles of water. It was a nice warm day out.
“Do you want me to come with you?” asked Eric, reading Caelan’s mind.
He shook his head. “No when she kens what you did to get her put away. I have to do it alone. Before we get rid of her.”
How clever he thought he was, this ingrate. Caelan was 99% sure that when he visited his mother, he would find nothing but a woman rotting away in jail. The only reason why Eric would ride along would be to try and twist the narrative in his favour.
Eric was buried so deep in the fiction, even he’d started to believe it.
Caelan felt a sense of purpose now he knew the truth.
“Why didn’t you mourn them?” Caelan glared at Eric, the water bottle in his battered hand crunching as his fist tensed. “Hamish, and the others. Flora said as much.”
“I never loved them, and, they never loved me,” said Eric, steepling his hands in front of him. “I had no hand in their deaths. I couldn’t have done anything for them. And we’re taught from the beginning, are we not? That this is the reality of our work. And we lost before, remember?” Caelan thought of Dani and those couple of others; they hadn’t had time to mourn back then when they were continent hopping. “The Russians likely wanted Ogarkov dead no matter the cost, cos they knew how easily he’d squeal.”
