Masters And Lovers 1-4 novel Chapter 37

James

Charlotte, freed now, stands silent, her eyes narrowed, watching it all.

Klempner, gun in hand, nods to her. “Jenny.”

She nods back. “Father.”

His mouth works.

Acknowledgement from her?

For the first time…

But he’s earning it…

“How are you, Jenny? Did he hurt you?” His tone is odd, hesitant.

He’s nervous?

He faces down a man with a gun without blinking, but he’s nervous of Charlotte?

She snorts. “I can't believe you have the nerve to ask that. I’m sorry about your mother, but you're still a maniac.”

Something like humour skips across his face. “The point is, that I'm the maniac on your side. And I'm probably a lot better equipped than you are to deal with the maniac who isn't.”

She’s weaving a little. Her nose-bleed has stopped but with the blood down her face and clothing, she’s not a pretty picture.

How badly hurt is she?

And not admitting it?

I hook my arm around hers, as though casually, but trying to gauge if she needs support. “Astonishingly, it seems we’re in this together. Once we knew it was Ben…”

Michael looks close to tears. “Charlotte, I’m so sorry. My own brother…”

She cuts in, her voice sharp. “Where’s Kirstie?”

Michael looks away. I speak instead. “She jumped from the moving car. She’s badly injured. Ryan’s looking after her. It was Kirstie who raised the alarm. How we knew how to find you.”

Klempner fixes his eyes on Mitch. It’s as though I’m seeing a different man. The harshness, the madness dissolved away, leaving only…

“Mitch.”

But the red-haired woman, so much like my Jade, stands frozen, once more pressed hard back against the wall.

She’s terrified of him…

“I’d like some privacy,” he says.

Mitch swings her head. “Don’t leave me alone with him.”

“Not gonna happen,” says Michael.

Fury flashes over Klempner’s face. “What did you expect?” I say. “With your track record?”

The fury fades and he nods, then turns back to Mitch. “You found your daughter then.”

“She found me. Frank told me you'd killed her, but she found me anyway.”

Klempner hisses, his eyes flashing between Mitch and Charlotte, the rage… the fury… splashing up to the surface again. Then he seems to regain some control.

He rubs the back of his head, stares up, then back. “Yes, so they tell me. As you can see, Frank lied. Mitch, if I’d known she was mine… You didn't tell me you were pregnant.”

Mitch shifts on her feet, some of her panic fading. “It was very early. I didn’t realise myself until later and when I saw what you did, what you’d done… I was inside Blessingmoors. I saw those women. I was scared.”

“And you ran to him? To Conners?”

“No, not at first. I tried to go home. Back to my family. But they wouldn’t have me. And Frank was there. He wanted me and… Larry, I was so frightened.”

He looks down, then back at her. “Of me.”

“Of you, yes.”

His eyes drop once more. His chest heaves. “Did he make you happy?”

“No. I never loved him.” She looks to Charlotte. “I never wanted his children.”

Klempner moves closer. Mitch chews at a lip but doesn’t retreat. “Twenty years,” he says, “and you don’t look any different.”

Her face falls. “I’ve grown old.”

“No, you haven’t.” He reaches out, hesitantly. She flinches but doesn’t pull away as he touches her face. “You do look tired through.” Then he scowls, looking close. “That didn’t happen today.”

Holding her chin between thumb and forefinger, he turns her face, not to the new bruising, but to the other side, where the last traces of a cut on her cheek are all but gone.

“Where did you get that?” His eyes dart to me and Michael, the heat returning. “Was it one of them?”

“No. No, it wasn’t. Quite the opposite. They rescued me. It was Frank. They stopped him. Took me with them. Took me in. I’m divorcing him.”

“Frank? He was beating you?”

She swallows, looks away.

Expressionless, Klempner says, “Where is he now?”

“I… I left him after….” Her eyes dart between me and Michael. “They came to my home. And it was Jenny. Jenny was there, on my doorstep. After Frank told me you’d murdered her…”