Jean and Alice both found themselves nodding off in the car; waking with a start as one of the babies started to slide off a lap. In the end they lay the babies on the seat and put their hands over their little chests. They were too young to understand what was happening and as they had been fed and kept clean, amused and loved by their mothers they didn't seem too bothered by the whole situation. It was a relief, heaven only knew what would have happened had they screamed all the time they were in Morgan's house.
Joe drove smoothly and fairly fast, but not enough to unnerve either of them. He hummed pleasantly which broke the silence and made them feel comfortable.
"What time will your father get home, Joe?" Alice asked, wondering when they could expect cars to come screeching up behind them and it all to go horribly wrong.
"It'll be after midnight, I expect," he passed a police car sitting in a layby, "he'll have had dinner, maybe a show and then gone off with his companion for … well you know … and then he'll head home."
"Do you think he'll check on us?"
"After checking on Dan and mum, but they know nothing. He'll throw a fit, first, then he'll have to work out how you got out and which way you've gone. He'll know it's me; we've argued about it …"
"I heard," Jean admitted, "when you were outside our room."
"Ah, that's why you decided to trust me?"
"Don't think we have much choice, but I don't give much for your chances if you try anything stupid," she warned.
"No, Mrs Blake, this is me. Not a chip off the old block. Dad often said I must've been swapped at the hospital. The only good I've had out of his money was music lessons, mum's idea."
"Music lessons?" that was the last thing Jean expected a gangster to provide for his son.
"Yeah, I play the sax. I'd like to play professionally, in a band, maybe. I don't shoot, don't own a gun, don't want to. Dad'll know I haven't done you any harm so he may come to Ballarat, for which I'm sorry, but, honestly, ladies, I don't think you'd have got out alive, you know too much."
Alice shuddered, Jean squeezed her hand, they fell silent again.
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About an hour later they were on the outskirts of their home town. Joe asked for directions to whichever house he should head too.
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"That's a car!" Matthew leapt up from his chair in the Blake's living room, Lucien joined him and they ran up the hallway to the door. Both were armed, even though Alice had said they were safe, this didn't have to be them, they had to be prepared.
But it was.
Jean was first out of the car, in seconds Lucien was by her side, lifting Jacob off her while she took Jennifer off the seat. Matthew was at the other side of the car, wrapping his arms round Alice and Isobel.
Joe got out and held his hands up.
"See," Alice smiled sleepily, "told you we were safe."
"Bloody hell, Alice," he breathed, "I have never been so scared …"
"Me too."
"Lucien, Matthew," Jean put her hand on Joe's shoulder and introduced him. "Can we go inside, please?"
"Gosh, er, yes, right," Lucien stammered.
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Genevieve, Thomas and Li were standing in the living room, not sure what to expect, but soon they were all hugging and kissing and the kettle was on. Jean thought she'd rather have a large whisky.
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It was past three in the morning by the time everyone was settled. Isobel shared Jennifer's cot, Matthew and Alice were in the guest room with borrowed nightwear, Joe was in a spare room upstairs and officers were stationed at the bottom of the drive, armed and ready for Morgan and his thugs should they decide to follow Joe. Matthew thought it was inevitable.
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Over breakfast, a late breakfast, they held a council of war. It was deemed too dangerous to send Li to school until Froggy Morgan was safely tucked up in a police cell. Matthew was going to let Joe tell him everything in Lucien's study, as he wasn't to be arrested – according to his wife – and as he had thought about it over-night and Alice had told him how kind Joe had been he agreed with her, so his welfare was added to the family's.
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When Froggy Morgan had arrived home the previous night, filled with good food, good wine and his other needs perfectly attended to he hadn't expected to find the room where he had left his captives, empty, or his younger son gone and his wife and elder son out cold. He was livid; so livid he grabbed the revolver he kept in his bedside drawer and shot both of them, in the head. He knew what Joe had done, it was obvious even in his fury, that Joe had taken them back to Ballarat. This time he would have to do the job himself, he was surrounded by idiots, traitors.
He stormed around the house, shooting and reloading until he ran out of bullets, then threw things at the walls, kicked over pieces of furniture until the house looked like a bomb had gone off.
He loaded his car with all the ammunition he could find. Apart from a semi-automatic rifle, he threw in dynamite and a few grenades he had squirreled away after the war. He was determined to wipe out the Lawson family, the Blake family and anyone else who might be standing close enough. They stood in the way of him continuing to rake in the money by theft, bribery, blackmail … any which way he could.
As he didn't know where he was going in Ballarat after he got into the town he had to drive round until he saw some sign. It didn't occur to him that if he looked in the telephone directory it might shorten his journey, but that was all to the good for Matthew and everyone in the house. He cruised round the residential areas as the sun came up, not really sure what he was looking for. There was unlikely to be a big sign over the house saying 'Chief Inspector Lawson lives here', or Matthew wandering around the streets with his wife and child, certainly not at that hour of the morning.
He careered up a road passing two police officers standing at the end of a driveway. Screeching to a halt he turned the car round, knocking over a gate and the corner of a wall, but he didn't seem to notice; the officer, however, did.
"Chief," one radioed through to Matthew in the house, "think we may have company."
"Tell me," he replied.
"Big car come up the road at speed, braked and turned, taken out a gate and part of a wall, now it's heading back."
Matthew lifted the phone in the study and called the station, telling the men on shift to get 'their backsides' up to 7 Mycroft Avenue, as fast as they could, and to be armed.
There was a burst of gunfire as Morgan passed again and whipped the car round, blocking the road, still firing wildly.
Something flew through the air and rolled in front of the officers.
"Shit!" one kicked it away, "grenade!"
"Wha …?!" the explosion left a hole in the very end of the drive. Bits of tarmac, stone and grenade shrapnel rained down on them, doing little damage beyond scratches and little cuts – thankfully.
"Bloody hell," the first one gasped, "he's got grenades …"
"And?" his mate spat out some dust.
"God knows …" he aimed his weapon at Morgan. "Drop your weapon!" he yelled, "hands where we can see them!"
The answer was a hail of semi-automatic gunfire.
The officer fired in response.
They were joined by Matthew and Lucien, also armed, Lucien with his old service revolver.
"Lads." Matthew patted one on the shoulder.
"Seems he's got grenades, boss," he ducked as another one flew past his head and landed in the middle of the drive.
"Cover!" Lucien dived into the shrubs, followed by the others. The grenade exploded, a piece of the drive hit the hanging basket.
Lucien crept to the edge of the garden where he could see the car and Morgan. The car boot was now open and he was obviously looking for more ammunition and grenades. Lucien raised his revolver and fired, hitting the boot lid and sending it down onto Morgan's shoulders. He yelled several impolite descriptions of the doctor and police inspector as he pushed the lid up. Lucien fired again, again hitting his mark, Matthew joined in.
"Keep going," Lucien patted his back, "you two, fire at the boot lid …" he ducked along the wall and out onto the road.
"Shit, Blake!" Matthew hissed.
"Boss," the officer nodded in the direction of the car. They fired again, keeping Morgan pinned down, literally, by his boot lid.
The first thing Morgan knew of Lucien was his hand on his waistband as he was hauled out of the boot and the other hand, curled into a fist slamming into his face.
"That's for my wife," Blake thumped, "that's for my baby boy," he thumped again, "and that's for my baby girl," he thumped a third time. Morgan was seeing stars. Lucien made sure he didn't hit him hard enough to render him unconscious. He imagined Matthew would do the same for Alice and Isobel.
Lucien propelled him forward towards Matthew and his men.
"All yours, Lawson," he let Matthew get in his two punches for Alice and Isobel and handcuff him while he went to see what was in the boot.
"Ah," he nodded, "definitely not a friendly visit." The car would be towed down to the station and an inventory made of the contents.
Matthew's men had arrived, rather disappointed to have missed all the 'fun' but delighted to be taking in one of Victoria's most noted gang leaders.
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The explosions had brought back sounds of the war to Li and she winced at every pop, bang and crack. Genevieve drew her into her arms, while Thomas drew her into his. Jean and Alice held the smaller children in their arms on the floor as they cried and screamed at the noise. Jean hummed to them, she told them papa would keep them safe and they were not to be frightened even though she wondered what kind of trouble Lucien and Matthew were getting into. But they were too small to understand. Then it went quiet, eerily quiet.
Thomas heaved himself up from the floor and hobbled to the front door. Everybody else held their breath.
Cautiously, he opened the front door to see Matthew and Lucien, apparently unscathed, checking the crater in the drive, hands in pockets as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Thomas raised his hand.
"Father," Lucien grinned, "well, we got him. Sorry about the mess on the drive."
"As long as it's not you with a hole," Thomas went out to them, "grenade?"
"Aha," Matthew hummed, "and at the very end, cuts and scratches to my lads, they'll live …"
"Think they were duds, really," Lucien shrugged, "not as much damage as I would expect from a fully functioning grenade. We were lucky."
"And…?"
"Morgan is in custody," Matthew straightened his back and inhaled, "Joe has told me as much as he knows about his father's business and dropped some names. We should be able to wrap everything up nicely."
"Everybody ok?" Lucien nodded towards the house.
"Scared, I think it brought back memories for Li, and the babies were frightened."
"Right," he hummed, "well, I think a few days at home, a few fun things to do and lots of listening …"
"Sounds good. Maybe keep her up to date on the case, Li, that is, help her to know that he won't be coming back …"
Lucien nodded.
"Well, I'm going to speak to Alice," Matthew sighed, he would have to oversee the questioning and ring Melbourne, get them to go to the house and see how his wife and elder son were, "then, I'm afraid I have to get to the station."
"Alright, mate," Lucien placed his hand on his shoulder, "we'll look after her and Isobel. You taking Joe with you?"
"Yeah, get his statement typed up and signed, then see what he wants to do. He has no part in his father's activities, I guess he can start to live the life he wants."
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Joe bid them farewell and apologised for what his father had done. He had been told that the Melbourne force had found his mother and brother dead and he was going to see to their burials.
"I'm going to sell the house," he hummed, "then I'm off, to find a band, or start one."
"You take care, Joe," Jean took his hand, "I'm sorry about your mother and Dan …"
"Mum drowned herself in drink most of the time, I don't think she'd have lasted much longer, but he murdered them and that wasn't right. It was his way, if something went wrong we all ran for cover as he fired at anything and anyone around."
"He sounds like a very angry man."
"Yeah, I guess he was." He shrugged, "thanks for being so understanding …"
"Hey," she smiled, "you rescued us, remember. Take care of yourself, Joe."
"Thanks Mrs Blake," he looked over her shoulder, "Dr Lawson."
They waved him off, watching him avoid the holes in the drive and Jean thought she should find someone to repair the surface.
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Vivi and Bill had only known about the goings on through the newspaper. It had made front page news in quite a few papers and they wondered if they should head home.
Bill rang the Blake's and asked how things were.
"Fine, Bill, honestly," Jean smiled down the phone, "it was a bit shocking, when Morgan decided to throw grenades at the house …"
Bill gasped.
"… they were duds, just left a hole in the drive. We'll give you the whole story when you come home, until then, enjoy yourselves."
"Right, well, if you're sure you're all ok …"
"We are, Bill, honestly."
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"Grenades?!" Vivi stood up.
"Hey!" he soothed, "sit down, Jean says they're all fine. A hole in the drive but they were duds, she insists."
"Oh Bill," she bit her lip, "why?"
"Sounds like he was off his rocker," he pulled her onto his knee and wrapped his arms round her, "but he's locked up, now, he'll go to trial, Boss's got lots of evidence, even his own son has given a statement."
"Hmm," she pursed her lips, "we'll see."
He laughed and pulled her into a long kiss. They were on their way back now, having had ten days of loving and exploring both the countryside and themselves. Morgan could wait, he had other plans for the evening.
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In due course, Morgan went to trial for murder, kidnapping, theft, extortion, keeping a house of ill-repute and anything the law could throw at him. He was convicted on all counts and sentenced to hang. The testimony of William Munro saw his sentence reduced but he was thrown out of the police force and the State of Victoria. The ex-Commissioner was sentenced to a long term in jail, so long both Blake and Lawson thought he would die there.
Peace reigned. Li went back to school and considered her future as a midwife, a career she hadn't wavered from since helping Alice with Isobel's birth. Jean and Lucien's children settled and Matthew dealt with the usual crimes and misdemeanours in Ballarat and went home to his wife and daughter each day.
Bill and Vivi settled into his house and rented out her bungalow, and because they didn't always have time to fit Vivi's device they eventually welcomed a baby boy into their lives. She claimed she wasn't a natural mother and took the baby to her office on the days she was there. Nobody seemed to mind Dougie sleeping in his bassinet in the corner and sometimes his presence would ease the tension.
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Jean leafed through the post, bills, payments, letters – Christopher had started dating a young lady and wondered if he could bring her over to meet the family.
"Hello," she pulled a letter and an invitation out of the last envelope. "Oh …"
"What?" Thomas pottered up behind her.
"An invitation to a jazz concert."
"Jazz, eh?" he hummed.
"Yes, from Joe, Joe Morgan, though he goes by Joe Ellis, now." She scanned down the letter. "His mother's maiden name; he and his band are playing here next month and he wondered if we'd like to go."
"Well?" he looked eager.
"I suppose that's a yes then," she laughed. "I'll write back when we've talked to everybody else, and worked out what to do with the little ones."
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Joe was delighted to see everyone in the audience, though he had to ask later what they had done with the little ones.
"Found a nurse willing to babysit," Jean shrugged, "there's always someone willing. How are you, Joe?"
"I'm doing ok, Mrs Blake, thanks," he smiled, "the band is doin' well, nobody seems to know about my upbringing and those that do don't seem to care. The past is in the past, I've even managed to date a couple of times, without getting stupidly jealous."
They wished him well as they left.
He waved them off and went to close up the hall.
Life was pretty good, he thought.
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"Life's good, isn't it, Lucien?" Jean snuggled close.
"Just one thing to make it better," he grinned.
"And that would be? Oh, oh Lucien."
