Those Left Behind - 11. A waiting game

Friday, Arthur and Adam moved in properly. It felt strange, the four of them in the house. It was plenty big enough, but Ludo was so used to having space and time and he was horribly aware that Arthur seemed to be trying to occupy as little room as possible. Late morning, Ludo wandered into the work area for Arthur that they had created in what had been Jackie’s study. His heart lurched, it felt so odd her not being here, though like Damian, he didn’t want her back.

“Look, we’re never going to settle together if you worry about getting in my way.”

Arthur knitted his brows, “What do you mean?”

“Have you ever been to the theatre and someone behind you opens a sweet wrapper very slowly and carefully and you notice it far more, that way, even though they try not to be noticed.”

“Yees.”

“Well, I notice you trying not to take up room. I know it’s early days and all that, but just be you. I’m happy to have you here whatever the reasons. I want us to work. OK.”

Arthur nodded.

The result wasn’t instantaneous, but at least by tea-time, Arthur simply appeared with tea and biscuits.

“Where’d you find the biscuits?”

Arthur shrugged, “In a tin?”

“Blimey, I’d no idea they were there.” And the two grinned.

The boys were delighted and scampered off to do stuff together. There was no word from Graham Marcus. When they were preparing the evening meal, the phone rang. It was probably a sales call, so Ludo let Damian answer it. When the boy did not come back, Ludo went to see and was surprised to hear the boy on the phone.

“Mum’s away, she’s gone to Japan on business. For a month. No sorry, I don’t. No, he’s busy.”

Ludo stared at the boy who started guiltily when he put the phone down.

“It was Adam’s idea, well sort of.”

“It was a journalist?”

Damian nodded, “Instead of putting the phone down, I said something untrue.”

“OK, but if you keep doing that, they’ll get annoyed and shout at you. Best ignore the phone for now.”

Arthur grinned when Ludo told him, “I reckon the lad might be on to something.”

Ludo’s mock punch turned into wrestling which turned into something more.

***

“Bad news on the computer records, sir. The bank is playing hardball.”

“The bank? I thought the files were backed up by the husband’s firm?”

“They were but turns out she was using some sort of dongle.”

One of DI Donaldson’s eyebrows raised.

“It’s a genuine tech term it seems. A clever device she plugged into any computer, and it encrypts the files using the bank’s security system.”

“So, the husband’s firm backs the files up, but the bank has encrypted them. For fuck’s sake.”

“The bank will de-crypt the files. But it takes time. And makes you think.”

“What?”

“Well, according to the husband she was using his laptop for personal stuff, yet she was still encrypting it using the bank’s security system. Habit or paranoia?”

“Give me a break.”

DS Marcus grinned, “Well as it happens, sir, we have had a bit of luck with the photos. Gloria recognised one of the mountains in the background. We’ve checked with the French Embassy and got pretty good locations. They’re stepping up the search in that area.”

“About time. Fucking stupid that the SFO lost them in the first place. What about the husband? Any more thoughts?”

“He still seems above board, and we’ve not found anything in his background.”

“And the boyfriend. Is that real? In your expert opinion?”

DS Marcus grinned, largely his boss dealt with Graham being gay by ignoring it. Which was fine, by him.

“I’d reckon they were on the level, and definitely quite new. It’s difficult to fake things like that. In fact, it’s rather cute”, he grinned at his boss, “the husband is clearly still finding it all a bit new and a novelty.”

“So, what do you reckon?”

“Geoff wondered if she was hoping to frame him, get off like that?”

“Bit far-fetched.”

“Stranger things. Still, it’s the SFO’s game and we’re just the gophers. I thought I’d drop in on the husband tonight.”

“Good idea. Keep up the pressure.”

“He could be in on it.”

“The bank has confirmed he’d have needed to be a high-level hacker to get into their system, as he had no official security clearance.”

“And could he be?”

“The boys reckon it’s unlikely. There’s nothing in his background, and though the boyfriend has a bit of IT experience there’s nothing at that level. And Graham, after you’ve seen the husband tonight, I think we need to get him to the station, just to put a bit of pressure on.”

***

The doorbell rang just as Ludo and Arthur were settling down to a drink after getting the two over-excited boys to bed. It was DS Marcus.

“My apologies, but I was just on my way home and wanted to keep you in the loop about things. May I?”

Two glasses of red wine were rather conspicuous on the table and the combination of that and the Ella Fitzgerald playing in the background seemed at odds with the visit. Arthur turned the music off whilst Ludo got Graham a glass of wine.

As the guy settled himself, Ludo noticed again the significant bulge in the guy’s groin. Graham Marcus was packing it; Ludo was intrigued in spite of himself. First off, Graham explained about the encryption. Ludo nodded and seemed au fait with the problem. He explained that they’d had the issue before at home and all he could do was delete the files.

Then Graham recited a series of names.

“Do you recognise any of those places?”

Ludo looked blank, “Where are they?”

“Eastern France, sir, on the Swiss border.”

“Sorry, I’ve never been to the area.”

“And your wife?”

“Not with me. Holidays were usually at the seaside, on a beach, the hotter the better, with the odd city break. Not one for climbing mountains was Jackie.”

“I see, sir. So, you can’t think of a reason for her being there.”

“Sorry, as far I knew her only trips for the bank were Strasbourg, Stuttgart and Frankfurt, and she didn’t go away on her own.”

“No foreign friends?”

Ludo laughed, “Jackie didn’t really do friends, it was family and work, that took all her time.”

As Graham Marcus finished the wine, the conversation became more general and it was alarmingly easy to chat to him, call him Graham and forget that he was a police officer aiming to get information about wrong-doing. Their potential wrong-doing.

Early on Saturday morning, Ludo awoke in a panic. It wasn’t anything specific, perhaps just the way things seemed to be so out of control. He’d put a brave front on to Damian but in reality, Ludo had no idea what was going to happen. He got up and went to make himself a tea, with the idea that he’d try going back to bed. There was the sound of the padding of bare feet and Arthur appeared, looking bleary.

“You, OK?”

“Anxiety. Couldn’t sleep. Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You know what it’s like, strange bed, strange noises, strange light even.”

“Strange bloke snoring beside you. I’m glad you’re here, though; it makes all the difference.”

Arthur gave a wry smile, came over and they hugged. Ludo made another tea.

“It’s no good planning, is it? We don’t know what the police will turn up.”

“All you can do is be helpful and truthful.”

“I try, but I feel he doesn’t believe me.”

“That’s what he’s paid for.”

They went back to bed and, surprisingly, slept like babies till two voices shouting woke them up.

“There’s a man outside the house.”

“Two men.” The boys were excited yet anxious.

Ludo rolled his eyes, got out of bed and pulled on a pair of cotton pants. As Arthur went to make coffee, he went to the front window.

“And?” Arthur was spooning coffee into the jug.

“Blokes waiting.”

“But we know who they are.”

“Yep.”

“Shall I take them coffee?”

Ludo grinned, “Don’t you dare.”

The bell went, around an hour later; at least the journalists were being civilised with their timekeeping. The guy’s accent was local, no doubt a regional hack hoping to make a killing. Poor sod. Ludo was polite, but the only thing he’d say was that he didn’t know where she was. No doubt that would be in the papers.

Arthur went to fetch a paper. He drove, deciding it was probably safer and when he returned, he managed to mock scare the boys by saying he’d knocked a journalist over. Both had been excited and scared, liking the idea of doing damage to these people disturbing their lives. And Ludo realised that he did too. He wanted them gone, gone, gone. He knew killing or maiming a journalist wouldn’t help, but bugger, the idea didn’t half feel good. He looked over at Arthur and got the distinct impression that the guy had the same idea. Arthur would have made a great straight guy for a comedian; it took the boys ages to realise the journalist accident was a ruse. Damian worked it out first and was most gleeful as the two boys scampered away.

Arthur had bought three newspapers, but none mentioned Jackie, Andreas or them. Ironically, they were all full of the latest banking scandal.

They decided that it was no good sitting, waiting for something to happen. So, they took the boys out. They weren’t mobbed, it was nothing like the TV, and the car exited from the drive completely unimpeded. Ludo suspected that the boys were a bit disappointed, but frankly the less excitement the better.

***

Sunday, the story made the papers. Not a big amount, just a few paragraphs, and nothing specific about Ludo. Yet.

“You going to keep a scrap book”, Arthur was grinning.

Ludo wanted to say, ‘Fuck off’, but something held him back, “I’ll keep the papers at least. Damian might want to know more details when he’s older.”

“You realise nothing’s going to happen.”

“Today?”

Arthur shrugged, “Bank staff won’t be working, police probably only work Sundays when it’s something like a murder.”

Ludo gave a weak smile, “You’re saying we’re not serious enough.”

“I know it seems devastating from our point of view, but to them it’s just a couple of absconded criminals.”

Ludo pulled a face, “And we’re those who are left behind.”

Arthur nodded, “Work that’s being done is the research, probably.”

“Looking into backgrounds.”

“So, it won’t be today. There is one thing.”

“What?”

“You’ve not been called into the Police Station yet.”

“Why ever should I be?”

Arthur put his head on one side, “Come on. They clearly have to have some concerns about you.”

“How much did I know?” Ludo gave a sigh. “Yeah.”

“So, expect a visit.”

“Put the screws on?”

“A bit.”

However, before they could get too maudlin, they were interrupted by two lively boys informing their Fathers that the weather was lovely and if they hadn’t anything else to do, could they go out. Ludo looked at Arthur who shrugged and gave Ludo an encouraging look.

Truth to tell, Ludo was feeling anxious and depressed, making him lethargic. Each time he thought he got his mojo back, something else popped up to remind him that he was stuck in a morass not of his own making.

They agreed on Anglesey Abbey, partly because Ludo couldn’t come up with anything else. Damian wanted to walk down to look at the flour mill and dashed off to check its opening hours. Ludo shook his head and Arthur smiled.

“Wish I could recover like that.”

Arthur hugged him, “Give it time.”

“Thanks.”

“What for?”

“Being around. Keeping me sane.”

It was a fun day. They took a picnic as Arthur had a horror of having to queue up for hours to get food if it was busy; it was, and the picnic proved a good idea. The boys were into everything. Arthur let Ludo decide what they did, and Ludo left it to Damian and Adam. The result was a crazy day where the boys got to do everything they might want, something that rarely happened when Jackie was around.

It was Arthur’s idea to let the two boys off for a time on their own. They’d checked phone signals, made sure that they had their maps and knew where to go if they got lost. Ludo wasn’t so sure, but Arthur pointed out that they were two ten-year-old boys with tongues in their heads, knew the car’s registration number, could read a map and after all, the area open to visitors was all neatly fenced off.

Once on their own, Arthur had a plan. With a grin and ‘come on’ he led Ludo off into the formal garden.

“Uncle Edwin used to swear that he knew a guy who used to come to parties here.”

“When was that?”

Arthur frowned, “1950s, I think. Before it was given to the Trust.”

“So, you and he did talk about gay stuff?”

“Only obliquely, Uncle Edwin never said what his relationship to the bloke who’d visited here was.”

Ludo smiled, “But you filled in the gaps.”

“Precisely. Anyway, the bloke that created the garden and furnished the house had a nice taste in naked men.”

Ludo cocked his head, “Real or artistic?”

“Oh, artistic. There’s never been a hint, though he was unmarried.”

Ludo smiled, “Say no more.”

“And here, I have a little map of some of the prizes”, and Arthur waved printout that he’d brought with him.

It made for a fun half hour, chasing round statues of naked men in the garden and imagining visitors in the 1950s coming across them.

“Camp or what?” Arthur was smiling at a bronze of a remarkably nubile young man. Supposedly a copy of a Renaissance nude, it was in essence a bit of campery.

“Damian would love it, any excuse to talk about men’s willies.”

“Perhaps we should take a picture?”

Ludo laughed. “Don’t you dare. I’ll never live it down, all those questions.”

“Oh, come on.”

This was a surprise, Arthur showing his unbuttoned side and Ludo allowed himself to be persuaded and the result was a surprisingly good picture of the two of them laughing uproariously with that naked young man in the background.

***

“Dad, the statue is naked.”

“Well, a lot are.”

“But you’re stood right next to it.”

Ludo smiled, “That’s allowed. It’s a copy of a famous Renaissance statue.”

Damian just made a humph noise, but he peered at his Father’s phone closely. Adam and Arthur were in the shop, but Damian hadn’t been bothered and in a fit of devilment, Ludo had showed him the photo.

“His willy’s not very big and he doesn’t have much hair.”

Ludo stared at his son, “For a start, not everyone’s willy is big and secondly it’s a statue not a photo, the sculptor does what he wants.”

“Mmm. I think he looks nice.”

“So, it’s OK we had our photograph taken, is it?”

“You’re not going to show it to people, are you?”

“Of course not. It’s just a bit of fun.”

“In that case, I like it.”

The flour mill proved a hit with the boys, too. They were lucky and there was milling going on. Because of this, they couldn’t explore the building properly, but there was a man telling people about the process, and there was the exciting noise of the milling. To Ludo, it was just a pleasant old building, surprisingly tall, and built over the water, which interested both boys immensely. The man was great at explaining everything to them, not just how the mill worked but how it had been built in the first place.

Of course, they had to buy some flour. Ludo had no idea what you’d use wholemeal flour for, but Arthur said that it might work for pizza dough, which got a cheer from the boys. They walked back along the river, only Damian pointed out to his Father that it wasn’t a proper river but one that had been created to help drain the Fens. Trust Damian to remember that, but it meant the boys scampered off ahead leaving Ludo and Arthur to end the day with a relaxing walk.

Perhaps the day had worn the boys out, or perhaps they were happy getting away from the adults, but Damian and Adam went up to bed without demur. Ludo felt weary, despite their relatively quiet times but Arthur pointed out that the anxiety of waiting, the being on edge all the time, took its toll. The two went up to be early.

Ludo found he was looking forward to it, to having Arthur next to him, and late evening was a good time, they were less likely to be interrupted. What began as a simply affectionate cuddle developed into something far more intense, much to both their surprise. It never failed to amaze Ludo, how Arthur’s body turned him on in unexpected ways, and whilst late night intimacy was not the time to go exploring, there was plenty to enjoy. After a long lingering of tongues in expected and unexpected places, they reached a remarkable climax with Ludo inside Arthur, the two men managing to contain their excitement and stay remarkably silent.

The giggles that followed were rather noisier, but it felt fun to end the day on such a note.