Off the Record (27 page)

Chapter Thirty-three

‘Darling, I’m worried about you.’

‘I’m OK, Mum.’

It had been three days since their visit to the police station. Jake had suggested that it would be best if Kate and Alexandra were moved to a different location. If they weren’t travelling with the band they would be safer, and it would make it more difficult for Roxanne. Johnson had kicked up, wanting to keep her mother with him, but Paul and Kate had been silent. In fact, Kate suspected Paul had been relieved at the thought of her leaving. He might even have suggested it to Jake in the first place.

She’d expected to be angry at that, but even now she felt nothing. She’d cried and swum herself to exhaustion and would have carried on, if not for the welcome numbness that had finally wrapped itself round her like a protective blanket.

So when Jake had come up with a plan to guard her and her mother away from the band, she had agreed without argument. And three days later she still felt numb.

‘But Kate, you’re barely eating.’

‘Now there’s a pot calling a kettle black!’

Her mother looked outraged. ‘How can I eat when you’re so unhappy?’

For the first time in days Kate felt a genuine smile force its way through the fog in her brain. ‘I’m OK, Mum, really. I’ve just got some stuff to work through, that’s all.’

‘About Paul?’

‘Oh no, that’s all perfectly clear.’

‘Are you sure? I thought the two of you …’

‘So did I for a while,’ she shrugged. ‘But it was a bad idea.’

‘But Kate, he’s not happy.’

Kate sighed. ‘And no doubt you’re telling Johnson the same thing about me,’ she guessed.

Alexandra studied her daughter’s face, her worry evident. ‘You’re our children, and we love you.’

‘And you’re hoping that we’ll all live happily ever after,’ she muttered, shaking her head. ‘Sorry, Mum. It’s not going to happen. The tour moves to Europe next week, and I’m staying put.’

‘But Kate, you can’t! Until Roxanne is found it’s too dangerous to leave you alone.’

‘Well that answers my next question,’ she responded wryly. ‘You’ll be going with Johnson, won’t you?’

Alexandra blinked, as though realising the same thing for the first time. ‘Well yes. I … I’d like to. Is that all right with you, Katie?’

Is it? Am I ready to see my mother go off around the world with a man who isn’t my father? Am I so selfish that I’d contemplate arguing against it, when it’s clear they love each other? Am I so stupid that I want to cry all over again because she’ll see Paul, and I won’t?

‘Are you sure it’s what you want, Mum? You’ve lost your home and life has been pretty weird these past few weeks. When it all calms down, will you still feel the same?’ Her mother was silent for a moment.

‘You’ve made a good point, darling,’ she said eventually. ‘But I think that what Johnson and I feel for each other will survive. And unless I go and find out, I’ll never know for sure, will I?’

‘So you’re prepared to take the risk?’

She smiled. ‘Yes. I am. I think he’s worth it, don’t you?’

Kate nodded, knowing that for her mother this was the right decision.

‘Yeah, he’s a nice man,’ she agreed. ‘Mind you, he’d better make an honest woman of you after all this!’

Her mother blushed, and Kate knew. ‘He’s already asked you, hasn’t he?’

‘Yes.’

‘And you’ve accepted.’

‘Not yet.’

‘Why not?’

‘I wanted to talk to you about it first. But with the fire, and you falling out with Paul … are you sure you two can’t work out your differences?’

‘Oh, Mum!’ She felt awful. ‘I’m sorry, I’ve been so wrapped up in my own stupid dramas, I should have …’

‘No, Kate. You’ve nothing to be sorry about. It’s been hard for us all.’

‘Yes, and the last thing you need to spoil your happiness is having to put up with Paul and I fighting.’ She paused, not sure how to go on. She wanted to make it right for her mum, but she knew in her heart that unless Paul could accept help to deal with the demons that Roxanne stirred up in his life, then they had no chance of any sort of a relationship.

‘I don’t think Paul and I will ever be close now, but I’m sure we can get on well enough. You can’t let us stop you, Mum. I want you to be happy, and I know Paul wants the same for his dad.’

Alex smiled. ‘Bless you, darling, I know you will. We just hoped … well, we want our children to be as happy as we are. Don’t worry. Johnson and I have waited so long to be together. A few more days aren’t going to hurt. Besides, we agreed that we need to be patient and make sure this business with Roxanne is settled before we make any public announcement.’

‘That’s probably a good idea. Goodness knows what she’d do, if she knew.’

‘Well, only the four of us know at the moment, although I’ve a feeling some of the security team and the band might have guessed.’

It took Kate a moment to realise who ‘the four of us’ were. She’d been used to being part of ‘the three of us’, and then ‘the two of us’. Now she was faced with the reality that Johnson Brand was going to be her stepfather, and his son would be her stepbrother. Her mother was asking for her blessing, and she wanted to give it. But that meant she had to face Paul again, and again, and again. A crack appeared in her protective shell and pain lanced through her. Could she bear it? She closed her eyes.

‘Kate?’ her mother asked her tone gentle, and Kate felt a loving hand touch her shoulder. She opened her eyes, forcing them to smile as she leaned over to hug her.

‘Go for it, Mum! I’m happy for you. Johnson’s lovely.’

‘Thank you, darling!’

‘We just need to find this madwoman. Then you can get on with it.’

She felt her mother shudder. ‘I’m praying for her. She’s so troubled. I’m praying that God will give her peace.’

Kate shook her head. ‘I might have guessed. You’re too nice for your own good sometimes. Just remember, if we come face to face with her, she’s off her head. Don’t go praying over her, just run like hell!’

‘Oh, I’m sure it won’t come to that. After all, the police are looking for her, and Johnson’s security team seem very good.’

‘Mmm.’ She wasn’t so sure. One of the things she had been doing over the past couple of days was to check out the stories from when Roxanne had begun stalking the Brands. She couldn’t help feel that someone in his team must have been feeding information to Roxanne. But of the men who had been with Johnson all those years ago, and were still with him, she couldn’t imagine any of them betraying him like that.

And much as she liked and respected Jake, it looked as though Roxanne was still getting information. Otherwise, how would she have found them in Manchester, or known that Johnson and Alexandra were alone in his hotel suite the next day? Kate wanted to check out a few things from her own notes, but she was beginning to believe the JBB might have a traitor in their midst.

‘Let’s just keep our guards up, OK?’ she urged her mother.

Alex and Kate spent the next week in a quiet boutique hotel in central London, and never went anywhere without bodyguards. It drove both women crazy that they should be so restricted, but they agreed that it was only sensible to keep a low profile. Other than Alexandra’s regular calls to Johnson, they had no contact with friends or colleagues.

It didn’t help that the newspapers picked up the story of the fire and linked it with the kiss pictures. Some enterprising hack had then dug deep enough in the US press to find Roxanne’s stalking trial. He’d then been contacted by ‘someone close to the band’ and put two and two together. Jake kept in touch with the police, and they were beginning to suspect that Roxanne herself might well be feeding information to the press. She’d almost certainly taken the photos of Johnson and Alexandra kissing outside the vicarage and passed them to the tabloids.

‘But why would she do that?’ asked Alex, totally perplexed. ‘Surely that would make it more likely that she’ll be locked up again.’

‘The mind of a psychotic isn’t wired like most minds,’ said Kate. ‘She’s probably using the press as a way of boasting to Johnson about how clever she’s been. It’s a warning that she can get to him through the people he cares about.’

Alex shook her head. ‘You certainly know how to cheer me up. Are we never going to be safe from this woman?’

‘Of course we are, Mum. Johnson won’t let anything happen, and the police have sent her picture and fingerprints all over Europe now. They’ll pick her up soon.’ She stretched. ‘And as soon as this is sorted, I think I’ll write a book about it.’

Her mother regarded her with raised eyebrows.

‘Well why not? What other journalist has a better chance of getting the inside story? I’d be daft to let someone else write some fluff full of rumour and supposition.’

‘Well just clear it with Johnson first, OK?’

‘Of course. He’s my main source of information. I won’t do anything without his cooperation and approval.’

She was fairly confident that Johnson would co-operate. How his son would react was another matter. Kate expected her soon-to-be step-brother would be far from happy.

She sighed. The numbness was wearing off. Suddenly, she missed him so much she ached. If she were honest, she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to write the book to put the record straight, or to provoke a reaction from Paul.

‘Well that’s your career sorted. I wonder what I’ll end up doing with mine,’ Alex mused.

‘You’re going to be Mrs Johnson Brand,’ Kate reminded her.

Alexandra’s whole face lit up with joy. ‘So I am!’ she smiled, and hugged her daughter.

On Sunday morning, Alex said: ‘I want to go to church, would you like to join me, darling?’

‘I suppose so. Where’s the nearest one?”

Alex waved a hand. ‘I’m not in the mood for wandering into a strange church, I’d rather go somewhere I know. I’ll feel safer. I thought, as we’re in London, we can go to St Michael’s in Blackheath. It’s where we worshipped when I was young.’ She smiled. ‘And, it’s where I met your father.’

Katie raised her eyebrows. ‘Is it now? Well, that definitely makes it worth a visit,” she smiled. ‘OK. We’d better let the babysitters know.’

‘Do we have to?’ Alex sighed. ‘I thought we could just slip out and get a taxi.’

‘And what would Johnson say if he knew you were going to do that?’ He was not a patient man when the woman he loved was stuck in England, and the band now had back to back gigs through France, Germany, Sweden, and then Italy. Every day he called at least three times to talk to her mother, and make sure they were safe. ‘If we go off to church, and he calls when you turn off your phone during the service, he’ll freak. It wouldn’t be fair to do that to him, Mum. It would be better to let the lads tag along. Mind you, I’m pretty sure that one of them’s Jewish, and he might not take too kindly to babysitting us in an Anglican service,’ she teased.

‘All right,’ her mother conceded. ‘Give them a shout, and let them know our plans.’

The trip out to the suburbs was completed in good time, although traffic was still far heavier on a Sunday morning in London than it ever got in rural Wiltshire. Kate wondered where she would end up living, now that her ties had been cut. She still had her rented flat in London, but the police had advised against going there for the time being. Her heart knew that she wanted to be wherever Paul was, but that was unlikely to happen.

St Michael & All Angels looked just the same. Her grandparents and great-grandparents had worshipped here and this was where Alex had been christened and attended Sunday school as a child. She didn’t recognise the minister, or any of the congregation.
Everyone moves on
, she reminded herself.

But it was good to be in a familiar place. They sat near the front, while the men sat at the back, watching and waiting. Kate had been right about Jake being Jewish, but he had been very gracious about spending time in church.

‘No problem, ladies,’ he’d told them. ‘I hear your Jesus was a good Jewish boy.’

‘He was that,’ Alex agreed, laughing.

The service was a traditional Eucharist, and Kate relaxed and absorbed the sacred words and music. It felt strange not to see one of her parents officiating, but also a relief. She knew that her mother would serve God just as well without a dog collar. There was no doubt in her mind that she would continue to serve Him, no matter what direction her life took from this point. She prayed that this time she and Johnson would be able to make a life together. The couple loved each other so much, and Kate was grateful that her mother had been able to find happiness again after the death of her father.

Kate couldn’t help feeling a pang of envy though. For a brief moment in time she thought that maybe she had found the blessing of true love in Paul Brand. But he’d made it clear that he wasn’t going to take their relationship any further. Sometimes she let herself dream that once Roxanne was caught he’d have a change of heart. But the damage had been done, and she doubted he would risk his heart. Nor was she sure she had the courage to risk her own again. It hurt too much.

Of course, Roxanne was still out there somewhere. Kate knew that Alex prayed that God would touch Roxanne’s heart and heal her.

‘She must be so ill and unhappy, darling, wanting Johnson so much that she’s prepared to kill anyone that she sees as a rival for his affections.’

Alexandra touched Kate’s arm, bringing her attention back to the service, and nodded towards the aisle. The congregation were rising to move towards the altar for communion. Alex stood up and slid out of the pew, then stood back to let Kate out. They joined the queue of people, oblivious to the anxious looks of Jake and his partner at the back of the crowded church.

Kate had just raised her head to accept a sip of communion wine when it happened.

The priest lowered the chalice, saying ‘The blood of Christ’.

‘Amen,’ she responded just as someone screamed. Everything seemed to happen at once. Kate was aware of a scuffle behind her, as the chalice fell from the priest’s hands, emptying the red liquid over her white top. Kate turned to her mother and out of the corner of her eye saw Roxanne push her way past an elderly couple in the aisle.