Millie nodded, but Jake guessed from her expression that she would still beat herself up for some time to come. ‘Are you sure you’ll be okay?’ he asked.
She took a second, and then nodded firmly. ‘I’m fine,’ she lied – for his sake, he guessed. ‘I need some space, to try and get my life back, you know?’
Jake nodded in turn. He understood, but knew she had a long journey ahead – it wouldn’t be easy for her to get over what had happened. He was reluctant to let her out of his sight, but smothering her wouldn’t help her rebuild her confidence. They were just going to have to trust her to tread carefully in future. ‘Remember, if you need to talk about anything, anything at all, I’m listening.’
She glanced at him. ‘I know,’ she said, and then surprised him by leaning over to give him a neck-breaking hug. ‘Remember, ifyouneed to talk, whatever shit’s happening between you and Mum, I’m there for you too.’
Hearing her sounding more like the spirited Millie he knew, Jake felt some of his apprehension abate a little.
‘Love you,’ she said, turning to open her door.
‘Love you right back,’ he said throatily as she climbed out. ‘Remember to call your mum when you need a lift home.’
‘I will.’ Closing the door, Millie gave him a wave and then turned towards Anna, who was standing on the doorstep waiting for her.
Guessing that she wasn’t going anywhere else – that she had learned from her experience and hopefully wouldn’t easily make the same mistake again – Jake breathed a sigh of relief and drove on to the hospital. He wanted to visit Edward, who was making a good clinical recovery, thank God. He also wanted to check on Natasha, who hadn’t yet regained consciousness, and bring himself up to speed with her expected prognosis. He’d been hugely relieved to hear that Zoe had been brought out of her medically induced coma. She was still under ICU observation, but the swelling had been considerably reduced, thereby reducing pressure on her brain and preventing secondary injury. Dean had sounded nothing but relieved when he’d called him. Jake very much doubted he’d had anything to do with her fall. All he could hope was that Zoe would remember enough to exonerate him.
Parking in the hospital car park, he texted Emily, telling her how long he expected to be, and then walked to the main entrance.
‘Dr Merriden,’ someone called as he approached it.
Looking up, his stomach knotted nervously as he saw DS Regan.
‘I just wondered whether you were aware of any other letters sent out that we might not know of?’ she asked when she reached him.
Thinking she might have been about to mention the explosion, possibly asking him his whereabouts, Jake felt relief flood through him. ‘None that I’ve heard about,’ he said, guessing she would be thinking that someone might have confided in him. ‘I take it you’re not making much headway?’
‘Not much, no.’ She sighed disappointedly. ‘We’ll keep on it, but I’m afraid we’re coming up with nothing forensically yet. I’ll let you know if we do.’
‘Thanks.’ Jake smiled his appreciation, though with Millie and Emily in mind, he was praying it might all just fade away. ‘Any idea what might have caused the car workshop fire?’ he asked, holding her gaze and hoping to Christ she couldn’t read anything in his eyes.
Regan shook her head. ‘Looks like it was an unfortunate accident,’ she said. ‘There were cigarette and spliff ends littering the forecourt. It seems Lewis was fond of tossing them out of the window. Not a smart move when you live above a tinderbox.’
‘No. Not a nice way to go.’ Jake looked suitably concerned. He’d been hoping that Ben had tossed the cigarette without thinking. Learning that Millie had filled him in on much of what had happened, including that Lewis was his biological father, he couldn’t help feeling that Ben’s justifiable anger might have got the better of him. He and Emily could live with what had happened, just. The psychological impact on Ben, however … He guessed they would have to go slowly and cross one bridge at a time.
‘The worst. He was a nasty piece of work, but even so …’ DS Regan grimaced. Jake assumed she would have seen what was left of Lewis, and sympathised with her. A blackened and burnt-to-the-bone corpse wasn’t a pleasant sight. At least the man had been unconscious. He tried to salve his conscience with that knowledge.
‘I’ve spoken to Zoe,’ Regan confided. ‘Only briefly, as she’s still very weak. She’s told us it was Lewis she was seeing. I had to cut the interview short before we were able to establish whether he was the person who called on her before she fell. We have the eyewitness statement. It’s not one hundred per cent reliable, so we’ll need her to confirm it, but it looks as if Dean Miller might be off the hook.’
‘That’s excellent news.’ Jake felt another surge of relief, though his gut twisted as he thought about the decision Emily had also had to make all those years ago. Had she chosen not to go through with her pregnancy, Ben would never have been part of his life. The boy had been hard work since hitting puberty, but Jake couldn’t imagine an existence without him. He loved him. He was going to have to work hard at convincing him how fiercely, that he would do anything to protect him – even lie for him, which he had, and would keep doing if he had to. In his mind, Ben’s life had been blighted enough, learning about his parentage. The kid was struggling with his conscience; that was obvious. He’d realised, though, that in going to the police, he would be allowing Lewis to achieve what he’d set out to do: destroy their family.
‘And Natasha?’ he asked, wondering if they’d made any progress with their investigations into the hit-and-run. Aware now that Lewis had wanted to destroy his and Emily’s relationship, destroy whatever confidence she’d found by ruining the lives of their patients, the life she’d made for herself, Jake had wondered whether he might have been involved with Natasha too.
‘We’re still working in the dark there,’ Regan admitted, with a disconsolate shrug.
‘Do you have any physical evidence?’ Trying to sound casually interested, Jake dug a little.
‘We have some tyre impressions,’ she offered, and his mind shot immediately to the damage to his car. ‘I’m not sure they’ll be much use, though. They’re not clear enough to identify the manufacturer. There’s no chance of picking out any individual identifying characteristics. I’m thinking we’ll have to wait until we can talk to Natasha herself.’
‘Hopefully that will be soon,’ Jake said. ‘I’ll check how she’s doing and let you have any information I can glean.’
‘Thanks. The consultant thinks she’ll make a good recovery, but he’s not overly forthcoming.’
‘Protective of his patients.’ Jake understood that.
‘Definitely.’ Regan rolled her eyes. ‘I’d better get going. A detective’s work is never done,’ she added. Jake managed a smile. It was obviously her catchphrase. ‘I’ll keep you informed if we do come up with anything regarding the letters.’
‘Cheers.’ He allowed himself to breathe out.
