‘Am I supposed to be scared?’
‘Mother, stop this! You need to tell us exactly what’s going on. I saw how you looked tonight. I want to hear the truth.’
Alison shook her head and despite Autumn’s attempts, she wouldn’t meet her eyes.
*
Taking the Foreign Secretary and bringing her to the house hadn’t been the plan at all, but with her security detail there, she was never going to open up. It would have been lie after lie, spinning a tale, denying accountability for anything and everything, a complete waste of time.
But it was Autumn’s reaction to her mother that had made him alter the plan. She really believed that there was more to this story than what he’d been told by his contacts at Section 7. Despite despising the woman, she had believed enough to want to give her a chance. Her plea had been heartfelt, and he’d reacted to that. Right or wrong, it was done now.
He spun his gun around on the table as Alison and Autumn looked on. Tawanda was making hot chocolate in the kitchen, and no one had spoken since they had congregated over in the lounge.
‘All right, I’ve had enough of this silence shit, so I’m going to cut right to the chase. I know that you’ve been selling secrets to the terrorist organization As-Wana, and I know that you’re behind this plot to kidnap Autumn,’ Nathan stated.
*
Autumn put her fingers to her mouth and began to chew the edges. One… two… three… four… five.
‘Oh, you do, do you?’ Alison replied, her professional face almost completely restored.
‘Mother, is it true? Have you been selling information to terrorists?’ Autumn questioned.
Tears formed in her eyes as her anxious look was met by one hard and practiced.
‘Is that what you think, too?’ Alison asked her daughter.
‘Nathan said that—’
‘And you believe him. You believe someone you’ve known a few days,’ Alison said with a tut of annoyance.
‘Pack up the attempt to play on the emotions and get to the truth,’ Nathan interjected. ‘I want to know it all.’
Alison straightened her skirt and crossed one leg over the other. ‘You seem to have a lot of faith in your colleagues at Section 7, Mr Regan. Have you never doubted the information they’ve given you?’
Autumn looked to Nathan, saw him swallow.
‘There are many things going on behind those doors back in London. The truth gets blurred so much, no one knows what’s real and what’s a lie,’ Alison continued.
Autumn turned to her mother. She was back to being calm, collected, and under control. Maybe she’d made a mistake. Maybe her mother had played her again.
Nathan picked up the gun and held it fixed in his hand. ‘If you don’t open up, right here, right now, I’ll kill you,’ he threatened.
Alison let out a loud titter of laughter, and in the kitchen, Tawanda slammed down the kettle.
In one stride, Nathan was at Alison’s side. He pulled back her head, clenched her hair in his fist, and put the barrel of the weapon against the side of her head. ‘Stop fucking me around or I’ll end this. You’re nothing to me, and you’re nothing to Autumn.’ Nathan wrenched Alison’s head back even farther. ‘You’re a liar and the world’s worst mother, and if that isn’t enough, you’re a traitor to your own country!’
Alison let out a yelp. Autumn stood up and moved to Nathan’s side.
‘Autumn, it isn’t true,’ Alison pleaded.
‘You talk to me, not her!’
‘It isn’t true! I’m not a traitor. I wouldn’t do that. I couldn’t do that.’
‘I don’t believe you, Mother,’ Autumn responded, her face pale and her lips tight.
How she had misjudged her. There was nothing in her heart, no love, no compassion for anyone or anything, just selfishness, and a desire for career recognition—whoever she worked for.
‘Autumn, it’s true! Mr Regan, please,’ Alison begged.
‘Please what?’
‘I’ll tell you everything.’
‘No, she won’t,’ Autumn answered back.
‘Autumn.’
‘She’s been a liar all her life. She doesn’t know how to do anything else. She’s hollow and emotionless, and I’ll never know what my father saw in her.’ Autumn’s lips formed a snarl.
‘He understands what I have to do,’ Alison said, weeping.
Autumn turned away and shook her head.
‘This is your last chance,’ Nathan threatened. He released the safety on the weapon.
Autumn turned back, her eyes wide. Suddenly, her chest felt tight, and her legs turned to liquid. She stumbled and grabbed hold of Nathan to stop herself from tumbling to the floor.
Tawanda hurried toward her and held her up. ‘What’s wrong, child?’ she asked.
‘She said “understands”,’ Autumn said through trembling lips.
‘What, child?’
‘She said “he understands what I have to do”. She should have said “understood”. Why didn’t she say “understood”?’ Autumn directed her eyes at Alison.
‘I’ve had enough of this,’ Nathan said. ‘I’m going to count to five then—’
‘She needs to know the truth, and I will tell her.’ Alison looked up at Nathan. ‘And you—all of it.’
‘You can’t do that,’ Nathan warned.
‘It’s the only thing I can do. Now, put that gun down and get Autumn a martini, please.’
No one moved, and Autumn felt like she was standing on the edge of a mountain, waiting for that one piece of information that was going to send her out and over the rocks.
‘Mr Nathan, what is going on here?’ Tawanda wanted to know.
‘Get Autumn a drink,’ he ordered then tossed the gun onto the sideboard and ran his hands through his hair.
‘There isn’t an easy way to say this, and no matter how I wrap the words up to soften the blow, I know it won’t.’ Alison reached for her daughter’s hand. ‘You have to understand that I had important reasons to keep it from you, reasons I hope you’ll understand. Autumn, I—’
‘What is it?’ Autumn stated through clamped teeth, desperate to hold herself together.
‘Your father,’ Nathan stated. ‘He didn’t die. He’s alive.’
Twenty-Five
There was sand in her nostrils, and it speckled her lips. Her mouth tasted of
