Robbie entered the en-suite bathroom and set a glass of wine down on the rim of the tub where Laura soaked under a mound of rose scented bubbles. At the sight of him her face brightened. "I remember the first time you did that."
He sat down on the edge and swirled his hand in the water. "I'll never forget."
Laura gently laced her fingers in his under the water. "This is the first time since we returned from New Zealand."
"A bairn in the house changes things. We have to grab the chances we can." Robbie nodded to Flavia who was happily dozing in her swing just outside the bathroom.
Laura's face darkened, "After tomorrow we may have more chances..."
"You think her father is coming to take custody of her?"
"I don't know. He's not the child raising settling down type."
"He's wild?"
"No, a child raising settling down man can be wild." She flashed him a grin then turned somber again. "I expected we would care for Flavia until Caroline recovered."
"The father may do it instead."
"What if too much time passes before Caroline recovers and he won't give Flavia up or even share custody?" She tightened her grip on Robbie's hand. "We would never do that and I know Caroline would still want us and Carole and Brad, the Godparents and Grandparents, involved. He may not."
"Then we get him on our side, hint at an offer to help out, make ourselves welcome."
"Agreed, we will do it for Flavia." She took her hand back to pick up her wine and take a large drink. "It's a good thing I have a good dentist." To Robbie's questioning eyebrows she replied, "I will be gritting my teeth all through the meeting."
Robbie lay down on the floor. "Ah, my back still likes this too. Some time ago, a brilliant doctor recommended this."
"Laura twisted her neck to glance at Flavia then Robbie. "If the swing holds out, I know some other things you like."
Ellen Jacoby sat in her lounge sorting through a box of old photographs. One of them made her recall what little she was able to glean of Laura and Robbie's baby. She pulled out her phone and found the one photo she managed to take of the infant. Looking above the dodo on the chest she saw it, a very distinctive chin.
Back in the small bomb proof room Brad continued to labour over the second laptop. His concern was deepening by the minute. Mick Capelan had gone to get them a takeaway, not telling Lizzie he was going to the Red Crawl. Something there needed his attention. He had a brief chat with Mrs. Collinson before returning to Brad and Lizzie with some Irish Stew for the three of them.
After a quick break to eat, Brad returned to laptop. Lizzie watched Capelan peer over Brad's shoulder. While not being a brilliant code detector, Mick knew the basics. He backed away from Brad and tried to convince Lizzie to leave the room. Lizzie stood firm and a scuffle between the two of them ensued. Brad was oblivious to their altercation as he confirmed his suspicions. By this time Mick had the door open but Lizzie was able to resist his efforts to put her out. Brad leapt up from his chair by the laptop and pushed them through the opening just as a not-so-small bomb detonated, not remotely as usual with the small bombs, but the laptop itself. The three of them were blown out of the room.
After Robbie helped Laura out of the bath they sat propped up on pillows in bed in their dressing gowns. Wondering if it would be their last night together as a family, they took turns holding Flavia as she slept. Robbie continued to stay awake while Laura, having taken a Valium, began to doze on and off. She had initially refused the Valium until Robbie said he wasn't arguing, she needed to sleep in order to cope with tomorrow's ordeal. He was always better at functioning without sleep. During one wakeful moment Laura told Robbie, "Carole is going to be here tomorrow when Cale comes. She is trying to get hold of Brad, left him a message that he should be here too."
Robbie nodded and shifted the child over to Laura for a few moments, then took her back when the lids of Laura's eyes began to close again. Robbie watched over the two blonde heads for the rest of the night, encouraging both Flavia and Laura back to sleep whenever they stirred by humming the tunes of songs he remembered Val singing to Lyn and Ken when they were young. While the two ladies in his life slept he put his mind on the case of the small bombs.
Brad, Lizzie, and Mick were piled up outside the small bomb proof room. Each was attempting to join the living. Brad's blaring phone helped to jar them into consciousness. Carole's message was delivered with urgency. Feeling pain in his right arm Brad forced his left hand into a pocket, pulled out the phone and read the summons to meet with their grandchild's father.
The light from Brad's phone allowed Lizzie, on the bottom of the pile, to see how she was pieced together with Mick and she pulled out body parts to dismantle the puzzle and roll out from under while Brad moved in the opposite direction. Mick, the most injured of the group, groaned as he allowed Lizzie to help him up.
Mick sat slumped against the wall while Lizzie found her phone working and called in to request back up. Brad bent down to see to his colleague's battered face when Mick thumped him on his bad arm.
"What was that for?"
"It was only a small bomb? That's what you said. You nearly got the good sergeant killed. If I hadn't seen the warning signs in the code this could have had a different outcome."
"You couldn't find a code enigma if your life depended on it. You should stick to undercover work. If you and Lizzie had argued for two more seconds we'd all be toast, not even enough pieces for the pathologists to reconstruct us."
Mick retorted, "pathology is overrated."
A crime scene squad arrived along with Peterson's anti-explosives team, minus Robbie and DC Green. All three bomb survivors refused the offer of a once over at the hospital. Mick Capelan left to report to his superior while Brad sent a message to Carole to say he would attend the family meeting. Lizzie called DI Hathaway with an update and he told her to stay with Brad Hobson, in case this wasn't over.
Over at the Red Crawl, DC Green completed a phone call while observing Mrs. Collinson as she headed for the back exit. Green left by the front door only to find Mrs. Collinson wielding an iron which she brought down on his head after first doubling him over by kicking him in the groin. After flattening DC Green, Mrs. Collinson put the iron in her large handbag, made a phone call, then a car picked her up to take her home.
First to arrive at Robbie and Laura's house was Carole. Brian had stayed home to look after his grandmother. Laura put Carole in a supportive chair so she could hold Flavia without bothering her shoulder. Laura was too nervous to sit. She made tea and found they were out of biscuits. James arrived next and he told Robbie what happened to Lizzie and Brad. During the night Robbie had formed a theory about Carl Drew and the bombs. He took a small pad of paper and a pen out of his pocket to sketch out the pattern of bombs for James. The last one was meant to explode outside the women's prison where Stella Drew, Carl Drew's wife, was being held. Robbie's theory was twofold. First, Carl Drew was creating the bombs for someone in return for special favors for his wife in prison. Second, the last bomb, the large one, was meant to provide a diversion and chaos in the prison so that Stella could attempt an escape. The exploding laptop was meant to be smuggled into the prison before it was intercepted by an agent from MI5.
James was happy to have this chance to discuss the case with Robbie, even admitting that some of the clues were uncovered by Peterson's team. One big question remained, who was the mastermind and why were there clues leading to Grace Orde at each bomb site? Why was she being set up as a suspect?
"Alec Pickman", Robbie grumbled.
James got up and walked over to a window to gaze out at the patio. "We still haven't figured out what role the canoe played in this case." Robbie joined James at the window and floated an idea past him.
Laura checked to see Flavia was still content with her grandmother Carole as she scurried to answer the doorbell, steeling herself for the expected father and his solicitor. Instead she found a rather flustered Mrs. Collinson on the front step carrying a plate of scones. She brushed past Laura on her way to the kitchen where she set the plate down, donned an apron, and turned her attention to the tea kettle. "I heard you were having company dear and came to lend a hand."
