offended. ‘What kind of people do you think we are?’
‘I know exactly what kind of people you are.’ Dad held me even closer. ‘Magnus, let Lissa go. Please. That’s all I ask.’
I struggled. ‘No. I’m not going to leave you. It was me who got you into all this.’
From behind us Esther was laughing. ‘Let you go? Are you joking?’
And Magnus Pierce just shook his head sadly. ‘I’m afraid, Jonathan, that is out of the question now.’
I began to shake, I couldn’t help it. Dad pulled me closer against him.
‘What are you going to do with us?’ he asked.
We never did find out.
Because at that instant all hell broke loose in the office. The whole place was suddenly swarming with policemen and women, bursting through doors, pounding up stairs.
Esther gasped and tried to rush past them but she was grabbed and held.
Magnus Pierce’s face was ashen. He took a step back and looked from Dad to me, puzzled. It was all over in panic-stricken seconds. Handcuffs were snapped on Magnus Pierce’s wrists. He didn’t struggle. He looked straight at the detective who held him and said coldly, ‘I’ll be out of this in days. You know that.’
The policeman grinned at him, and glanced at Dad. ‘Will he, Mr Blythe?’
Dad’s voice was sure with his answer. ‘Not this time,Magnus. You were holding my daughter against her will.’ His voice was unforgiving. His glance moved to the policeman. ‘I’ll tell you everything you need to know.’
Magnus Pierce’s eyes narrowed viciously and didn’t leave Dad until he was pulled out of the office.
When he had gone, Dad let out a long, exhausted breath. ‘How did you know we were here?’ he asked the policeman.
‘We’ve had a man watching this office for weeks,’ he told Dad. ‘When he saw this young lady,’ he managed a smile in my direction, ‘running inside, looking, shall we say, slightly upset, he contacted us and even before we got here he saw you being escorted into the building by a couple of Pierce’s heavies. He said you looked even more upset than your daughter. It wasn’t too hard to put two and two together.’
Dad held me close, and for the first time, I let him. He was shivering. ‘I was so frightened he’d hurt you. I couldn’t think why you’d gone to see him.’
‘I thought you were going back to work for him,’ I mumbled. ‘When you read my diary you changed. As if you thought all I wanted was money, to go to Adler Academy, to get my old life back.’
He squeezed my arm. ‘It was reading your diary that did change things, Lissa. I realised the same thing that hadhappened to me was happening to you. You were being drawn into doing things by someone you thought was a friend. Keeping your mouth shut. Protecting Diane Connell the way I had protected Magnus Pierce. You made me see how wrong that was. That’s when I decided to tell the police everything I knew. No matter how dangerous it might be.’
When he spoke again, his voice was choked with tears. ‘You’ve been caught up in a horrible world, Lissa, and it’s all my fault. No wonder you can’t forgive me.’
But I had created a horrible world of my own, and I couldn’t blame anyone else for that.
I hugged him closer. ‘Don’t worry, Dad. It’s all over now.’
He shook his head. ‘With Magnus Pierce it will never be over.’
Chapter Eighteen
But he was wrong.
Oh yes, Magnus Pierce got out on bail, and we were all afraid.
But he was the one who ‘disappeared’. It was suspected at first that he’d fled the country, but that turned out to be wrong too. Because a few days later a body was found, wrapped in a tarpaulin and buried in a shallow grave. Magnus Pierce had made many enemies and he could never be relied upon to keep his mouth shut the way my dad had.
Yes, my dad. Easy to say it now. He cried the night we heard, not for Magnus Pierce, but because of the dark and sinister world he’d drawn us into. A world, he said, we should have known nothing
‘I know exactly what kind of people you are.’ Dad held me even closer. ‘Magnus, let Lissa go. Please. That’s all I ask.’
I struggled. ‘No. I’m not going to leave you. It was me who got you into all this.’
From behind us Esther was laughing. ‘Let you go? Are you joking?’
And Magnus Pierce just shook his head sadly. ‘I’m afraid, Jonathan, that is out of the question now.’
I began to shake, I couldn’t help it. Dad pulled me closer against him.
‘What are you going to do with us?’ he asked.
We never did find out.
Because at that instant all hell broke loose in the office. The whole place was suddenly swarming with policemen and women, bursting through doors, pounding up stairs.
Esther gasped and tried to rush past them but she was grabbed and held.
Magnus Pierce’s face was ashen. He took a step back and looked from Dad to me, puzzled. It was all over in panic-stricken seconds. Handcuffs were snapped on Magnus Pierce’s wrists. He didn’t struggle. He looked straight at the detective who held him and said coldly, ‘I’ll be out of this in days. You know that.’
The policeman grinned at him, and glanced at Dad. ‘Will he, Mr Blythe?’
Dad’s voice was sure with his answer. ‘Not this time,Magnus. You were holding my daughter against her will.’ His voice was unforgiving. His glance moved to the policeman. ‘I’ll tell you everything you need to know.’
Magnus Pierce’s eyes narrowed viciously and didn’t leave Dad until he was pulled out of the office.
When he had gone, Dad let out a long, exhausted breath. ‘How did you know we were here?’ he asked the policeman.
‘We’ve had a man watching this office for weeks,’ he told Dad. ‘When he saw this young lady,’ he managed a smile in my direction, ‘running inside, looking, shall we say, slightly upset, he contacted us and even before we got here he saw you being escorted into the building by a couple of Pierce’s heavies. He said you looked even more upset than your daughter. It wasn’t too hard to put two and two together.’
Dad held me close, and for the first time, I let him. He was shivering. ‘I was so frightened he’d hurt you. I couldn’t think why you’d gone to see him.’
‘I thought you were going back to work for him,’ I mumbled. ‘When you read my diary you changed. As if you thought all I wanted was money, to go to Adler Academy, to get my old life back.’
He squeezed my arm. ‘It was reading your diary that did change things, Lissa. I realised the same thing that hadhappened to me was happening to you. You were being drawn into doing things by someone you thought was a friend. Keeping your mouth shut. Protecting Diane Connell the way I had protected Magnus Pierce. You made me see how wrong that was. That’s when I decided to tell the police everything I knew. No matter how dangerous it might be.’
When he spoke again, his voice was choked with tears. ‘You’ve been caught up in a horrible world, Lissa, and it’s all my fault. No wonder you can’t forgive me.’
But I had created a horrible world of my own, and I couldn’t blame anyone else for that.
I hugged him closer. ‘Don’t worry, Dad. It’s all over now.’
He shook his head. ‘With Magnus Pierce it will never be over.’
Chapter Eighteen
But he was wrong.
Oh yes, Magnus Pierce got out on bail, and we were all afraid.
But he was the one who ‘disappeared’. It was suspected at first that he’d fled the country, but that turned out to be wrong too. Because a few days later a body was found, wrapped in a tarpaulin and buried in a shallow grave. Magnus Pierce had made many enemies and he could never be relied upon to keep his mouth shut the way my dad had.
Yes, my dad. Easy to say it now. He cried the night we heard, not for Magnus Pierce, but because of the dark and sinister world he’d drawn us into. A world, he said, we should have known nothing
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