Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
As the minutes ticked by, Lily had the increasing notion that something wasn’t right. What could have kept Flynn and the sergeant away for so long?
“Flynn’s leaving next week,” she said, breaking the silence.
Maria nodded. “I heard. Glynis is worried it’ll be hard for you.”
That felt like a massive understatement. “I keep thinking something will happen and he won’t have to leave, but there’s only a week to go, so I’m not sure how much longer I can keep my head in the sand.”
“Are you and him together?”
Slowly, Lily nodded. “He thinks we can have a long-distance relationship, but I’m not sure they ever work out.”
“I expect it’ll be tough, but if you love each other, you’ll make it work.”
“Did you love Derek?” Lily asked, not disguising the hint of bitterness in her words.
“Yes,” Maria said quietly.
“Do you think he loved you?”
“I like to think so.”
“That disproves your theory then.”
She was saved from the awkward atmosphere by the door opening. At the sight of Flynn, she shot out of her seat.
“Where did you go?”
“There was an emergency,” he said, a faraway look in his eyes. “Sorry it took so long.”
“It’s probably a good thing anyway,” she blurted out.
“Because Maria is here now, and she knows about the passport. It’s a wild story, but I think I know how you can verify it…
” She talked rapidly, telling him about her uncle’s theory that someone had killed her parents and grandmother, and had been coming after her too.
She could hear how unbelievable it all sounded, but Flynn barely reacted to any of it – just stared at her blankly as she rushed through it all.
“I’m sure if you look back through the files about my parents’ death there’ll be something about my uncle and grandma asking questions. And my grandma probably told the police she thought someone pushed her. I’d think so anyway.” Finally, she stopped talking.
“Why did he have so much cash?” Flynn asked.
Lily opened her mouth to say she didn’t know, but Maria answered for her.
“If he needed to hide, he knew anyone could track them down through the bank. He wanted to always have enough so that they could rely on that and be untraceable.”
“Makes sense,” he said. “So it was legally obtained?”
“Yes. Derek had plenty of money – from Lily’s parents and from her grandmother. They lived off that, and he withdrew his wages from the bank every month. That way, if anyone ever questioned it, he had proof of where it came from. He’d just look like a man who didn’t trust banks.”
Flynn nodded and moved towards the back rooms. “Wait here a second,” he said without looking at them.
Lily frowned at how odd his voice sounded. Hollow almost.
“That was weird,” Maria said. “It almost seemed as though he didn’t even care.”
Lily whipped around to the front door. “Why is he alone?” she said, thinking aloud.
She barely had time to ponder it before Flynn reappeared.
“What was the emergency?” she asked.
Ignoring the question, he held out her backpack.
“Get rid of the passport,” he said in that same dull monotone.
“If you’re sure the money is legal, you should probably start spending it.
The pounds anyway. You’ll have to get the euros changed or you could deposit them into the bank … but don’t make any big transactions.”
“I don’t understand what’s going on,” she said, taking the bag when he thrust it at her. “Where’s Sergeant Proctor?”
Flynn swallowed hard. “He had a heart attack.”
Lily sucked in a sharp breath. “Is he okay?”
The slight shake of Flynn’s head made no sense.
“No one else knows about your backpack,” he went on.
“Except for Len, but if I deny any knowledge of it, no one will believe a word he says. As long as you get rid of the passport, there’s no proof to back up what he says.
Maybe hide the cash for now, just in case. Not at your place. Somewhere else.”
“Flynn?” Lily blinked back tears. “The sergeant?”
“He died.” His chin quivered before he pulled his shoulders back. “I need to go and tell his wife, so you have to leave.”
“He died?” That can’t be right. “He can’t be dead.”
“He had a heart attack,” Flynn repeated, then pressed his lips together. “I did CPR, but…” He trailed off with another shake of his head.
Lily felt rooted to the spot. “I’m so sorry, Flynn.”
“I have a lot to do,” he said robotically. “Please, just go. I’ll call you later.”
When she took a step towards him, he took one back. “I have things that I have to do. I need to talk to his wife… I’ll call you later, but… I can’t do this now. I just need to get things done.”
“Yeah. Of course.” She bit down on her lip and nodded her understanding.
He couldn’t deal with sympathy. He had to keep it together and get through his tasks.
As much as it might feel like rejection, it wasn’t about her.
“Call me if you need anything,” she said and gave him what she hoped was a comforting smile before she walked outside with Maria.
Without discussion, they set off back to the ice cream shop, neither of them speaking until they were inside with the door locked behind them.
“Poor Flynn,” Maria said. “He seemed really shaken up.”
“He and the sergeant had got pretty close.” Lily sank onto the nearest chair. “He was a nice man. I can’t believe he’s dead. How can he be dead?”
Of course, there was no answer to that, and they sat in stunned silence for a few minutes.
Eventually, Lily loosened her grip on the backpack and set it by her feet. Opening the top, she withdrew the passports and everything else except the money. “Could you do me a favour and keep hold of this until I know Len won’t make a fuss about it?”
“Of course.” Maria picked up the bag. “I promise I won’t touch any of it.”
“I’m not worried about that. You can spend the lot as far as I’m concerned.”
“I’ll just keep it safe.”
“Thank you. For everything.”
She chewed her lip. “I didn’t do anything.”
“I’ll probably have more questions,” Lily said. “I can’t think straight now, but I guess I’ll think of things later.”
“I don’t know if there’s much more I can tell you, but I’ll do my best to answer any questions you have.”
Lily walked Maria to the door. “It feels a little odd to finally have answers. Especially as I was starting to think I’d never know the truth about my childhood.”
“I can’t imagine knowing is much of a relief, given what you’ve found.”
“It’s better than not knowing. I really wondered whether Uncle Derek was some kind of spy.”
“I think he’d probably have liked that notion.”
“Probably.”
Maria stepped outside, then turned back. “Call me if you need anything.”
After thanking her again, Lily watched her walk away, eyes on the backpack, which had felt like such a burden over the last ten months. Sharing her problems definitely made the burden easier to bear.
Trudging upstairs, she shot off a message to Flynn, then stood over the sink and watched her forged passport go up in flames.
The relief was immediate, but her mind soon wandered to the events of the day.
She thought about Flynn having to tell the sergeant’s wife that her husband was dead.
Her chest squeezed at the thought, and tears filled her eyes as she ran through a snapshot reel of her time getting to know the sergeant over the last five months.
When the waves of grief passed, she mostly felt numb. And also a little guilty.
Because as sad as she was about the sergeant, she couldn’t help but wonder if this meant that Flynn might be able to keep his job on St Mary’s.