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“He used her as a guinea pig.” Disgust twists at my insides. It sounds like something my father would do in the name of science.
“No, they had a mutual agreement. He could have as much of her blood as he wanted so long as he helped keep her condition in check. There’s a medication she takes that the NHS doesn’t supply, and he made sure she had it. But he was also trying to help her.”
“How?” I ask, turning to look at her.
“He was trying to, Henry. James genuinely thought that if he could work out why her blood lacked the substance, he might figure out a process from removing it in a person that clots too easily and maybe putting it into a person that has trouble clotting. Eventually, the body would train itself to do it on its own, like…” Percival shrugs. He looks baffled by everything he’s trying to explain. “I don’t know how the science works. I just listened to James and Alastair talk about it.”
“He wanted to figure out a way of performing gene therapy.” Gene therapy was a hot topic for my father. I used to listen to him preach about it to his dictaphone. For hours, he would sit in his study, reading textbooks and dictating notes for his research papers. All the while, he’d have Fauré on repeat in the background.
“Whatever it is, it’s all in the briefcase that’s missing,” Percival says with a hopeless shrug. “If the wrong people get their hands on it, it will create a scandal unlike any the firm has had. Technically, the study would be branded as unethical because of the deal Eve and your father made. The medicine and the conservatory scholarship. They’re all a part of it.”
“I see.” Sitting on the edge of the bed, I pull a blanket over her. Really, I need to get her out of her damp dress, maybe burn the damn thing whilst I’m at it. “What does my mother have to do with it?”
“She knew about the study, and she would’ve had Sterling continue, but he didn’t care for Eve the way your father did. To him, she was a rare jewel, but to Alastair, she would’ve been a means to getting what he needed.”
That sounds about right. It’s why my father was in the business of finding cures and Alastair was in the business of cutting people up. And today, I would’ve treated her the way he would have. The thought makes me sick to my stomach. But there’s another thought in the back of my mind, and it angers me beyond any rage I’ve ever been in.
“Why?” I ask him, wrapping my hand around hers as if its warmth has the power to soothe me even now. “Why don’t I know any of this? Why didn’t she tell me?”
“There are a few reasons. They’re all intertwined, and maybe flawed, but I thought it was the best way to continue after he was killed.” Percival pushes up onto his feet and moves to stand over the bed, watching Eve again with tantamount sorrow and affection. “It all goes back to the study he and Alastair were running.”
“Is that why they’re dead?”
“One of the girls here was studying to be a nurse, and she had a troubled relationship with her family. Morals—the girl had morals, for a time, at least, and Sterling had a soft spot for her.”
“He had a soft spot for a lot of them.”
“Yes, well, as you can see, it didn’t end well.” A dry scoff pushes from his lips as Eve stirs for the first time. I check my watch to confirm that it’s about right for her to start waking now. “This girl was helping them with the admin side as I helped with the logistics. Her name was Emma Elizabeth Smith when she came to Hush, but before that, she was a Chapman. Her father was George Chapman.”
A laugh rips from me. Disbelief and annoyance. I can see where this is going now, and I know my mother’s games well enough to know that her innocent, grief-stricken plea for revenge was nothing but a move in her wily games. She and I are not all that dissimilar, but her gumption exceeds what I imagined.
“She became embroiled in a love affair outside of here.” He points around the room. “The man was unknown at the time, and I found that he was one of the United Republic’s faithfuls. He corrupted her, turned her against us, and she started reporting back to him.”
“So, we had her killed before she could provide him with hard proof.”
“Yes, your mother asked Simon to approach one of Chapmans’ rivals on the streets, and we struck a deal. They would take care of the problem for us and make it look like a gang attack, and we would help them regain some of the territory they’d lost to Chapman.”
My memory takes me back to the meeting in the office. Simon was always that one step ahead of what was happening. Unlike his usual advice, he was pushing for me to let loose on Chapman.
“They brutalised that girl in ways that—” He pauses with a shake of his head, as though he can’t bring himself to say what happened to the girl. “We couldn’t get to the Republic lover in time. By then, he’d gone to Chapman, and we knew it was only a matter of time before he sent his people for us.”
“She used me.” The words roll from my tongue, leaving a sour taste that causes me to flinch as I push to my feet and take my phone back from Percival. “My mother used me, and you allowed it to go on and on.”
“I made the Duchess a promise while I made sure Eve was looked after like your father would have wanted. I brought her to you because I knew that you’d see in her the same rarity that James saw. Maybe you’d grow to care for her and…” He shrugs like the rest would be nothing but history. A fairy tale.
“I do care for her.” More than anyone will ever know.
“She cares for you too.”
“My mother doesn’t like her.”
“She was never going to like the woman who would take her place in both title and affections. It stands to reason that maybe this is why she had Andrew look into Eve. Why she fed him just the right information to make you turn your back on Eve.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that she knows too much.”
“Those threats she made today weren’t real. Eve’s too loyal for it, and she loves you,” he says with a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
I stare down at her sleepy form as consciousness twitches her eyelids and limbs. “Doesn’t change the fact that she let another touch her.”
