Chapter 11
Lucas stepped off the ferry at the port and looked around. The sky was covered with clouds and was a dark grey in colour, and the sea too was a similar shade of bleakness. It was a week since he had been broken out of prison and yet it already seemed like a lifetime ago. He had had to wait for three days before the drug trafficking truck left Rezekne and so had booked into a cheap and somewhat unpleasant hotel. The journey itself had been even more unpleasant, but the memory of that faded away as Lucas asked a stranger for directions to the nearest train station and set off walking, following the directions he had been given. He was in Newcastle, roughly three hundred miles from where he wanted to be, but the only ferry he had managed to get out of Amsterdam had been to here, and he taken it. It had taken a while for him to persuade them to let him on to the ferry without previous booking, but he had somehow managed. The crossing had taken fifteen hours and, with nothing to occupy his mind, Lucas had found himself extremely bored and tired, but still unable to sleep. Perhaps it was the thought that he was finally returning to England, or, more likely, the fear that something terrible had happened to Amber in his absence. Trying his best to push the thought away, he focused himself on finding the train station. The stranger who he had asked for directions had said that it was a twenty minute journey, but whether by car or foot Lucas had no idea. It soon transpired that he had probably meant by car. Eventually, however, Lucas arrived, and booked the first train to London there was.
It was nearing half past four when Lucas found himself outside Thames House. For some reason he had expected it to have changed, but nothing was different. He paused on the steps for a moment, realising that he didn't have his pass or a mobile phone to call anyone. Praying that the security would recognise him and let him through, he pushed open the door and stepped inside. He was instantly asked for his identification.
"I don't have it," Lucas said honestly.
"Then you can't come in," the security guard replied.
"I work here. Look, call Harry Pearce, tell him its Lucas North and that I need him to come down and get me because I've lost my pass."
The security guard raised an eyebrow at him, but remained stubbornly silent.
"There's no need for that." A voice behind them said, and Lucas turned round hastily. "I am so glad to see you Lucas."
"Harry." Lucas felt a bitterness spike in his heart at seeing him again. "Where is she? Is she okay?"
"She's fine, she's upstairs." Of course, Lucas thought, she had come in to the Grid demanding to know what had happened. "I'll take it from here, thank you," Harry addressed the guard. Turning back to Lucas, he said, "I am so, so sorry for what happened. Why didn't you tell me that she was pregnant?"
"I tried, Harry," Lucas said, his voice shaking. "I could never find the time, or the words."
"It's fine, I found out when she turned up on the Grid one morning. I feel so guilty, Lucas. I hope that one day you can forgive me." Harry looked to him as they approached the pods, but Lucas said nothing and stepped through them onto the Grid.
He almost broke down when he saw Amber sitting at Jo's desk, flicking through some paperwork absently. She looked up at the sound of the pods opening and stared at him, taking in his dishevelled appearance; the clothes stained with dirt and blood; the tatty rucksack hanging limply from his shoulder; his messed up hair and weeks' worth of stubble. Tears formed in her eyes, glistening in the light as she covered her mouth with her hands. He moved over to her and she stood up, dazedly walking to him, afraid that she was dreaming. Once she was close enough, he instantly pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her neck and feeling all the worry that had overwhelmed him these last few weeks wash away. She pulled away and moved her hands to his face, as if checking to see he was real.
"You're back." Her voice shook with the effort of trying to suppress her tears. "You're okay?"
Lucas nodded gently. "Yeah I'm back, I'm fine. Are you okay? Is the baby okay?"
Amber smiled. "She's fine."
"She?" Lucas repeated.
"Yeah. I had to have a scan while you were away and they said, did I want to know the baby's gender? And I didn't know whether you were going to make it back or not so I said yes, and it's a girl." Tears rolled down her cheeks and Lucas brushed them away with his thumbs.
"No more baby 'it', then?" he asked.
Amber laughed shakily. "No." She sniffed and tried to regain her composure. "Now we have to decide on a name."
Lucas smiled at the thought. "That can wait for a little while longer."
She nodded her agreement. "I'm so glad you're home."
"Me too." Lucas sighed in relief. "Me too."
