Running Scared, page 16
“Em!” Gary ran down the steps after her.
“Leave me alone,” she yelled, flicking at his hands. “You’ve done nothing but lie to me for the past two days. Just—go—away.”
Gary reached out and brushed a tear from her cheek.
“Don’t touch me,” she snapped at him.
“Okay, I know I deserve all I get, but this is different. You’re hurt and I’m going to help.”
Emma defiantly tried to pick herself up off the damp ground, and winced in pain as Gary noticed a puddle of blood on the ground.
“I’ve just pulled a muscle,” she told him angrily.
Gary got closer and had a good look. “Oh, hell,” he said almost inaudibly when he saw the damage, then pulled out his mobile. “David, get over here. Now.” Gary looked about. “Be careful, mate.”
“David’s still here? What the...”
“Don’t get mad, we’re just trying to keep you safe. Now Em, I want you to hold on around my neck, and don’t let go. I’m going to lift you up. Okay?”
“Okay.” As Gary leaned forward, Emma wrapped her arms around him, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. “Sorry.”
“This is going to hurt sweetheart, but I can’t do anything about it.” Looking around again, Gary picked her up and began to carry Emma inside. She let out a shriek of pain. Gary gently sat her on the sofa, elevating her legs on the coffee table.
Before Emma had the chance to check her injuries, Gary had cut open her jeans with his pocketknife.
“Hey!”
Gary ignored her protest. He pulled a clean handkerchief out of his pocket and wrapped it around Emma’s bleeding calf, applying pressure.
Within minutes, David arrived on the scene. Emma looked from one to the other quizzically.
“I’ve been staying over there.” He indicated a cabin about thirty meters away.
Gary, hands covered in blood, wrapped a blanket around Emma’s shoulders then leaned over and whispered something to David.
David left the room leaving Emma and Gary alone.
“Gary,” Emma said softly, “I, I feel a bit dizzy.”
Gary propped some cushions at the end of the sofa, laid her back and again covered her with the blanket, all the time keeping the pressure on the bleeding leg.
David returned, putting his phone back in his pocket. “On their way. What can I do?”
“Keep the pressure up, would you?”
“Who’s on their way?” Emma demanded. “What’s going on?”
Gary kneeled on the floor next to her, holding her hand, neither of them noticing the blood. “Em, I don’t want you to panic,” Gary began.
“Panic? Why should I panic? I’ve pulled a muscle and cut myself in the fall.”
“Em,” He leaned forward and gently kissed her forehead. “You’ve been shot. An ambulance is...”
Emma sat upright. “Shot? Oh my God!” She tried to get up, but Gary pushed her back down. “Hang on, you’re wrong. I didn’t hear anything. See? You are wrong.” She lay back against the cushions. “Aren’t you?”
Gary watched what little color she had, drain from Emma’s face. Her gaze rested on David as he kneeled at the end of the sofa pressing a towel around her leg, trying to quell the flow of blood.
*
Emma was laying on a bed in the emergency department, the leg of her jeans cut to shreds.
“Some honeymoon,” she laughed sardonically. “First the bride is almost poisoned, and then she’s shot.”
Gary sat on a nearby chair, and was saved the need to respond as David walked in, followed by two uniformed police officers.
The first to walk through the door was a female. Gary guessed she was barely out of the Academy; she appeared to be so young. Following in her wake was a male officer. He was a great deal older, probably in his late forties. This was the officer Gary would target.
Gary flashed his police I.D. at them.
“Detective Inspector,” the older officer acknowledged as he nodded.
Gary noted their puzzled look and knew he needed to explain, but not in front of Emma.
“Outside,” he directed them.
“Don’t worry about me, I’m just the invisible woman,” Emma shouted sarcastically as they disappeared out the door.
David stayed behind, having been placed on guard duty. “He’s just gonna let the local coppers know what’s going on,” he explained, trying to placate Emma.
“That,” she said dryly, “he could have done in here. David,” He looked across at her warily, not wanting to say too much. “How could I have been shot, and not heard anything?”
“They must have, er, used a silencer. I’d say they realized you didn’t get to eat the chocolates.”
“And I’d say you’ve said too damned much,” Gary interrupted.
“Sorry, Boss.” David left the room, and stood at the door to ensure no unwanted visitors entered.
“Well, Em, looks like you get your wish. We’re going home.”
*
“Tell me again why we have to go to the clinic?” Gary was getting cross; Emma just wouldn’t do what the doctor told her, and keep off her injured leg.
The wound was superficial—luckily the bullet caused only minor damage to the muscle. Minor to what it could have done, anyway. Still, there’d be a lot of treatment; constant changes of dressings, physiotherapy, and crutches.
And Emma was not an easy patient. It was going to be a long haul.
She sighed a long heart-wrenching sigh of exasperation. “I want my relaxation CD’s. If I have to be cooped up, I want to at least be able to meditate.” She pushed herself up off the recliner she’d been sitting on and began to limp across the room to the kitchen.
“Where the hell are your crutches?” Gary walked over to Emma and put his arm around her, giving her at least some support.
“I don’t need crutches. I’m quite capable of walking.” She shrugged out of Gary’s grip and continued her journey to the kitchen to make a cup of tea.
“Sally!” he bellowed at the top of his voice. Gary looked around as he heard a thud not far behind him. “Listen Squirt, I’ve told you before, Mummy needs her crutches.”
“But, Uncle Gary,” Sally tried in vain to use the crutches, but they were way too high for her.
“No buts. Give Mummy back her crutches.”
Sally handed the crutches over to Gary and ran off to play with her toys.
“Listen, Em, I’ll get David to bring your CD’s over here.” Gary didn’t want Emma to become a target again.
“Nope. I’m sick of being cooped up.”
“Does it feel so damned good to have a bullet in your leg that you want to repeat the pleasure of it?” Now he was getting annoyed with her. The case was moving so slowly, and it was really getting to him.
“For God’s sake—all right. Get David to get the damned things then.” Emma snatched the crutches from him and took off toward the kitchen once more.
*
David sat on the sofa next to Emma as she flicked through the bundle of CD’s he’d collected from the clinic. Sally stopped playing with her toys to see what was going on, and climbed up onto his knee.
“Funny, I don’t remember this one.” Emma stared blankly at the cover trying to remember it.
“Em?” Gary watched her face, trying to interpret her expression. “Em? Are you with us?” Finally, he ran his fingers along her cheek.
“Oh! Sorry.” She turned the cover over to reveal the reverse side. “I really don’t remember this one. And it’s different to the others. See? Nothing on the back.”
Sally stretched out her little hands, trying to reach the stack of CD’s.
“This picture looks familiar, but I just can’t place it,” Emma told them, trying to force herself to remember. The pain in her leg wasn’t helping either.
“Can I see Mummy? Please?” Sally begged.
Emma handed over the CD, still trying to place the scene captured on the front cover.
“Ooooh, it’s a park with a slide and swings!” Sally said as she wriggled about on David’s knee. “And look there, Mummy.” She pointed to an almost indistinguishable image in the distance. “Airplanes!”
Emma took the item back, her heart pounding in her head, and a smile on her face. “Yes, it is, Sal. It’s a place Daddy and I used to take you to all the time.”
*
Sally stood at the front window, peeking through the curtains, waiting for Pru, Clay, and baby Nikita to arrive.
It was a warm, sunny day, the sky virtually cloudless. The only sign of the breeze was the slight movement of the leaves on the trees.
Sally desperately wanted to go outside and ride the pony, but Gary had put her off. Later, he had told her. She cheered up considerably when she was told the baby was coming over for a visit. She wasn’t interested in Clay or Pru this time, just little Nikita.
“They’re here! Uncle Gary, they’re here!” Sally sprung toward the door, trying to reach the handle.
“What have I told you Squirt? Never, ever, open the door, unless we say you can. Okay?”
“Okay. Sorry, Uncle Gary.” As Gary leaned down to pick the tot up, she wrapped her arms around him, and gave him a big hug. “Mummy, Uncle David,” she yelled directly into Gary’s ear, “Nikita’s here!”
*
“She certainly is a beautiful baby,” Emma said, having her first cuddle of the most recent addition to the Bedford family.
“Don’t you go getting clucky,” Gary warned. “That’s the last thing you need right now, pregnant and on crutches.”
Gary longed for fatherhood, and Emma wanted another baby, she’d told him. It had pained him to refuse her, but the timing was wrong.
Sensing her mood, Gary sat on the arm of Emma’s chair, kissing her softly on the cheek. “Soon, Em, soon,” he whispered. “Let’s sort out this mess first.”
The men quickly disappeared into Gary’s study where Clay slid the mysterious CD into the computer.
Taking a deep breath, Clay pressed a few keys and waited while the computer churned out the information the disk possessed.
Finn arrived a short time later to find them all huddled in a group. Gary looked across and acknowledged him with a nod of his head.
“Did I miss anything?” Finn asked.
“Nope, just started,” Gary replied. He turned back to the computer in time to see garbled letters and symbols scrolling up the screen.
“Clay? What’s going on?” Gary was no computer expert. He knew enough about computers to get him by, and that was precious little.
“Dunno yet.” Clay heard a noise to his left and turned in time to see Emma standing in the doorway.
Gary grabbed a chair and sat her down. “No crutches, again?” he whispered.
She ignored him and watched Clay at work on the coded CD.
Clay sat reading for what seemed like an eternity, then began to type a series of commands, with no result. He continued for about twenty minutes again without effect, and was beginning to show signs of frustration.
David leaned forward and spoke to Clay. “What about if you try this?” He pressed a few more keys, added another string of commands, but again no result.
Emma sat watching for another hour, waiting in the silence—almost nodding off to sleep, until Gary spoke.
“You’re looking tired, Em. Go and rest awhile.”
“I’m fine,” she lied. “I want to wait here.”
David shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing’s happening, and it looks like it will be hours before we break the code.”
“I don’t understand any of this. I thought you just had to type a few symbols or something, and voila! It happened.”
Emma looked around the room, annoyed, as the men laughed at her ignorance.
Finally, Clay waved them to stop. “See Emma, it’s like this, first we have to break the code. It’s hard to explain, but it’s kinda’ like finding the right cog. One method is to try every possible password or key phrase, and there are millions of possibilities. Once you’ve got it, everything works. It’s called brute-forcing.” He noted her confused expression. “Okay, I’ll give you an example.” He rubbed his stubbled chin, trying to think of a different analogy.
“I know!” Finn interrupted enthusiastically. “You know those toys with shaped slots they have for kids?” He smiled as Emma nodded her acknowledgement. “If the kid doesn’t find the right slot, the piece won’t go in, right?” She nodded again. “Well, this is exactly the same. If we don’t find the right slot, then we can’t decipher the code.”
“Thank you, Super Dad.” Clay was supposed to be the computer expert, not Finn, and he was obviously annoyed at his brother for outdoing him. “Anyway, the bottom line is, we could be here for days before we get anywhere.”
“So that means you can go rest,” Gary told Emma, sliding his hands underneath her, as he lifted her from the chair.
Gary looked around the room as he walked back into the study carrying a tray of mugs, sugar, milk and a glass pot filled with filtered coffee.
All eyes were on the computer screen.
“What did I miss?” he asked, putting the heavy tray on the desk.
“Nothing—yet. Little Bro’s about to download from a cryppie site.” Finn poured some coffee and passed it over to Clay.
“What the hell are you talking about, Finn?” Gary took a sip of the steaming liquid, and glanced at Finn over the rim of his cup.
“Encryption—we’re trying to get some code breakers off the Internet. Don’t you know anything about computers, Bro?”
Gary shrugged his shoulders indignantly. “A little. I’ve downloaded a few games for Sally.”
The room filled with laughter.
*
“Gary Bedford!” Peggy wandered casually into the study at 8 am, her apron already around her waist. “You’ve left a terrible mess in the kitchen. Have you boys been up all night?” It was quite obvious Emma was still asleep, Peggy decided. She would not have allowed this chaos to occur.
“I’m afraid so, Peggy. Sorry about the mess.” She got up on her toes trying to see over Gary’s shoulder. “Sorry, secret police business.” Gary turned the inquisitive woman around and headed her back out the door.
“Sure it’s not secret men’s business?” Peggy joked. She was used to being thrown out when Gary was in cloak-and-dagger mode, and was not even remotely offended.
“Any chance of breakfast?” Gary called hopefully as she disappeared into the kitchen.
*
The men sat around the table eating the pancakes Peggy had cooked for their breakfast. They had already demolished three batches. Placing yet another jug of filtered coffee in the center of the mahogany table, she looked around at the assembled group.
She’d never seen Gary look so tired, or frustrated. And Clay, well he looked thoroughly fed up. Finn always seemed to take things in his stride, and today was no different. David usually just went with the flow—as long as there was food around, David was generally happy.
Jake—now he was an entirely different kettle of fish. He was the serious one—always worried about something. He’d arrived while she was still cooking the last batch, probably a good thing too, otherwise he’d have missed out all together.
Anyone would have thought these boys hadn’t eaten for days!
*
Emma fumbled down the stairs slowly, her damaged leg a major hindrance. Gary had tried in vain to get her to sleep on the ground floor. But not Emma—she was too damned stubborn for her own good.
Gary looked up from his food as she entered the room. His eyes slid down her body; from the top of her disheveled blonde hair, over her short, flimsy nightie, down to her bare legs. If the boys hadn’t been there...
He watched jealously as the other men also looked her over, then suddenly jumped up from the table, grabbing a blanket from the sofa and wrapping it around her. She obviously didn’t realize the others were still here; otherwise she would not have appeared wearing almost nothing.
Leaning forward, he stole a kiss, much to Emma’s embarrassment—with all their onlookers—he caressed her blushing cheeks. Gary didn’t care who was watching. She was his wife. He missed sleeping with her last night, and was sure she felt the same.
He dragged his lips away from Emma’s reluctantly, but kept an arm around her. “Morning, Em.”
She smiled, running her soft fingers over his stubbled chin, his dark hair making it appear thicker than it really was.
Gary’s face lit up at her touch. “Want some breakfast? Peggy made pancakes.”
“No thanks—looks like you boys need it more than I do.” She laughed lightly, lifting the mood of the group. “I’ll just have coffee for now.” Emma limped toward the table, much to Gary’s annoyance—no crutches, again—and sat at an empty chair. “Any progress?” She looked from one to the other expectantly.
Gary put his hand up to stall the others. “A little. Just don’t expect miracles.”
Peggy placed a cup in front of Emma, and Gary poured her some coffee. “Hello, Peggy.” Emma smiled at the older woman.
Gary suddenly noticed how tired Peggy looked already. And the day had only just started.
*
Gary stood at the window in his study, looking out across the paddocks. The dew was still wet on the long grass, the wooden fences showing signs of dampness. Droplets of dew rolled down the floor-to-ceiling window as the sun shone in the cloudless sky. The leaves danced in the light breeze as horses galloped toward the barn, anticipating the fresh hay they knew would be forthcoming.
This house was his refuge—his way of getting away from his other life. The life he had before.
Gary sighed as he thought about life without Emma. And Sally. His life was nothing until they appeared. Not that he realized it then, but now...
“A penny for them.” Finn’s voice broke into Gary’s private revelry.
