It took Jack just under an hour to reach Natalie’s house, since she lived on the outskirts of Buckshaw village.
‘Hey, Jack!’ she called when she saw him walk down the driveway. She was on the front lawn, gardening.
‘Hi, I’ve come to collect Dad’s phone,’ he said, rolling his eyes.
‘Oh, right, he sent you, did he?’ Natalie laughed. ‘Come on, let’s have a cuppa. The kids are out with their dad,’ she said, taking off her gardening gloves.
Jack was pleased to have caught his sister alone. They were soon sat in the conservatory sipping tea, and Natalie nodded towards the glass coffee table where the forgotten mobile phone was.
‘Put that in your pocket, before you forget to take it,’ she told him.
Jack slid the phone into his inside jacket pocket. It felt hard against his ribcage. Could it contain any vital evidence? Any incriminating text messages? Or secret contacts? Was he going to search his dad’s phone once alone? Yes, of course he was. He felt justified, his rationale being that his father surely wouldn’t have anything to hide, or, if he did, then he deserved to be found out.
‘What’s the matter, Jack?’ Natalie frowned, wondering why her brother looked so pensive.
He let out a sigh. ‘Natalie, I’ve met someone,’ he began to explain.
‘Who?’ she asked excitedly, sitting forward, all ears.
‘She’s called Tara and I met her in hospital. She’s the doctor who stitched up my hand.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah. Tara’s great…’
‘But?’ replied Natalie a touch warily.
Jack gave another deep sigh. ‘She knows Dad, or at least of him.’
There was a slight pause.
‘How?’ she asked quietly. Jack could tell by the tone of her voice that her line of thought was pretty much on the same wavelength as his.
‘Tara said he did some work for her friend…’
‘Well then, that’s totally feasible,’ reasoned Natalie.
‘No, I’m sure there’s more to it. Just the way her face and body language changed when learning who my dad was. And also with Dad when I asked him about Tara. He went all cagey.’
‘Cagey?’
‘Yeah, well, on the surface he appeared OK, but that nervous twitch he has appeared.’
‘Oh,’ she flatly replied, knowing exactly what her brother was talking about. She sat back in silence.
‘I don’t really know what to do,’ continued Jack. ‘Just when I’ve met someone special, this happens.’
‘You could just ask her outright?’ she suggested.
‘I could, but she’s likely to stick to her original story, that he’s done some work for her friend.’
‘Ask Dad?’
Jack gave a harsh laugh. ‘He’s not going to admit to anything, is he?’
‘This could all be totally innocent, Jack. Dadwillhave met a lot of people through his work,’ conceded Natalie, ever the peacemaker.
‘So why act so guiltily then?’ he retorted. Then he added, ‘And it’s not like he hasn’t got form, is it?’
‘No,’ she agreed dully. ‘But I like to think that’s all in the past.’
‘I’dlike to think it’s all in the past,’ answered Jack.
‘Well.’ Natalie sighed now. ‘Time will tell. If there is something, it’ll rear its head. It’s bound to.’
All the way home Jack kept going over and over what he and Natalie had discussed. Before returning the phone to his parents’ house, he parked up in a nearby sideroad and pulled it out of his jacket pocket. He knew the passcode to open it, his dad’s date of birth, and was instantly in. Jack immediately clicked on ‘contacts’ and scoured down the list for Tara’s name. Nothing. Then he went to ‘messages’ and quickly scanned what was there. Again, nothing of any consequence. Jack went to ‘calls’ but didn’t see anything suspicious there either. Then, as an afterthought, he searched the missed calls and inhaled sharply. There it was, Tara’s number.
