Pinky Promises - Chapter 9
Even when Becker had woken up and finally been able to provide the names of his attackers, Fern and Connor had stayed put. Jess had raised her concerns about them knowing where Connor lived and that she wouldn’t be happy sending them home just yet. Especially as they had no way of knowing where they were since the tracker was no use now that the vehicle stayed put at the ARC.
Becker, as much as he hated to admit, needed help around the house while Jess was at work and Connor just so happened to be in-between figuring out his next steps and creating enemies.
He’d learnt not to offer to help but anticipate the soldier’s movements and make them as easy as possible for him before he’d even thought of making them. The man enjoyed a green tea with his lunch so Connor would put the kettle on just before they’d start getting hungry, offer to make him a drink as he was making one anyway, and start prepping their lunches. They let Connor drive now and he’d fetch missing ingredients for evening meals, do the school runs and sneak a visit to the caravan when he knew no one would notice.
When he closed his eyes and listened to the wind rustle through the leaves above him, he was back in the Cretaceous and away from the confusion that had started to consume him when they’d arrived home. He kept his mind busy by playing with the old hand-held anomaly detector, taking it apart and putting it back together again just to make sure he still could.
Connor never stayed too long as he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that he was being watched. When it was dark, he lingered within the squares of light outside the caravan as he worked on the table underneath the windows, his ears listened for noises that didn’t belong and his eyes watched for moving shadows.
He didn’t take his work back to their temporary home as his life wouldn’t be worth living if Jess found out he broke his promise of staying out of trouble. Again. Connor locked his equipment in the caravan before making his way back towards the jeep and leaving, already missing the calm.
“You know there’s a Tesco around the corner, right?” Becker quipped as Connor arrived with a bag full of food.
“Aldi’s cheaper.” He reminded, pushing the door closed with his foot and flashing the soldier a smile without letting their eyes meet.
“Where do you go?” Becker questioned, trying to pull himself up off the sofa with an arm in a sling and pain in his ribs.
“Aldi, I just said.”
“Temple.” He paused as he managed to stand, an eyebrow raised towards Connor. “You go to the caravan. Don’t you?”
“Yeah.” Connor wasn’t going to lie about it, it wasn’t the worst thing he could be doing.
“What do you do there?” They walked together towards the kitchen counters now, Connor getting ready to put away what he’d bought.
“Build, mostly.” It was the truth. “My hands need to be doing something and I have to keep my mind busy.”
“I get it, I bore you.” Becker scoffed, picking up some shopping with his good arm and slowly distributing them between the cupboards and fridge. “Did you at least pick up the photos that Fern wanted?”
“Shit. No.”
“We’ll go tonight, you can show me what you’ve been building.” The man smiled, but Connor noticed the slight quiver at the edges from whatever pain he tried to hide.
“Okay.”
*
There was an orange tinge to the darkness as they drove towards Connor’s home. A halo of strange light hovered just above the trees that surrounded the caravan and they could just about make out the grey trail that billowed through the black sky.
As Connor pulled up to the gate he stalled the jeep in his panic and he almost tripped on the seatbelt that swung from his body as he rushed. Becker’s shouts were consumed by the sound of angry metal and the crackling of wood.
The flames were high, curling around the branches above as the night’s stillness fed its hunger and it wanted more. Connor ran towards the door, but there was no way in as it all fell apart around him.
The orange trailed to the woods behind the caravan and towards the shed tucked in the shadows that could no longer be cast. Ashes fell on them like snow, burnt notes and memories destroyed in an instant.
Becker stopped him from trying to bolt towards the shed to see what could be salvaged, his good elbow pressing down against Connor’s shoulder as the soldier’s handheld him back.
Connor fell to his knees. When he closed his eyes there was still no ignoring what was happening in front of him as it was warm on his face and there was no mistaking the roars from the flames as they engulfed the last of the memories he had of Abby.
His fingers grabbed at the dusting of cinders that coated the gravel that dug into his legs. Pieces of his new life all around him.
“Connor, we need to get back.” Becker pulled at his jacket.
There was a small crowd gathering at the gate now, people huddled together in dressing gowns and pyjamas all shocked and in awe, thankful they were simply bystanders.
“Connor…”
*
Fern had gone to sleep hours ago so Jess was left to wonder if the boys had managed to stay out of trouble or if it had somehow found them like it always seemed to. The flat was just too quiet without them all fighting over the TV remote, arguing about the washing up and entertaining Fern.
Jess would lie in her bed at night now, feeling the warmth of Becker beside her and listen to the stillness around her and it had stopped feeling right. Peace didn’t come with their work and it wasn’t something she wanted at home either, but she wasn’t quite sure how to bring it up and talk about kids. There had been conversations in the past, of course, but the timing had never been quite right.
Now, when there was more than ever to lose, she was reminded that if anything had happened to Becker in that car park, she was left with no real piece of the man she loved. A mortgage and a ring which could be as easily lost.
Her thoughts were interrupted with the sound of footsteps outside and the rattling of keys in an unsteady hand.
It took her a moment to digest the next sight. Becker and Connor were both covered in dust and soot. Their faces almost stained black. Hands filthy.
“What happened?” Jess asked, trying to make sense of what she could see.
“Sorry Jess, I’ll mop that up,” Connor said, looking at the path of dust that dropped from their shoes with each step.
“No, Connor, it’s okay. What happened?” She asked Becker now.
“There was a fire,” he started. “At the caravan. It’s gone.”
“A fire?”
Connor had already started to walk away, heading towards the bathroom. When he was out of sight she turned to Becker.
“It’s all gone, Jess. All of it.” He said, trying to dust off the bandage that was wrapped around the splints of his broken fingers.
“How?” Jess asked although she thought she might know the answer.
“They’re investigating but I… I don’t know Jess… these guys, they’re aren’t messing about.”
“If it’s them.” She reminded, but the feeling in her stomach told her she was stupid to ignore her instincts.
“Of course it’s them, Jess. They’re trying to scare him. Life would be much easier without Connor in the picture.” Becker said, not angrily but not calm. “I’m going to go check on him.”
Connor was sat on the edge of the bath with his head in his hands when she joined the two of them. He didn’t say anything and his breathing was steady as if he’d accepted the night’s events or something was being calculated in his head. She filled Fern’s hair-washing jug with soapy water and dunked a flannel into it until it softened with wetness.
She looked at Becker before she started and he gave her a slow but approving nod. Jess pulled Connor’s hands away from his face and she was greeted with red eyes from crying or the strain from the heat of the fire. She started dabbing at his cheeks and he closed his eyes to let her wash away any signs of what they’d witnessed.
“I’m sorry, Connor,” Becker said as he walked to the door and leaned against the wooden frame.
Connor’s head bobbed in a nod, either too tired or sad to look at the soldier.
“We’ll leave in the morning.” It was almost a mumble, words said without a thought as he didn’t have to look at the people they were directed at which made them somehow easier to say.
“What?” Jess spoke, dropping the flannel into the jug she was holding and the water splashed into the space between them.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you two.”
“You’re staying put, Connor Temple. And Fern. You’ll be safer here.”
Connor opened his eyes at that only shortly looking at her before they darted towards Becker.
“Don’t look at me mate, my wife just gave you an order.”
Jess glanced over her shoulder to look at her husband who scoffed a smile that spread to the other faces in the room, hers first and then Connor. Their faces still dirty with fire and rage.
“They’ve gone too far, Connor.” Becker pushed away from the doorway now, coming to stand next to Jess as they both looked at the man sat on the bath. “We have to end this.”
Jess scoffed now, pushing herself to a stand and leaving the jug of black water on the floor.
“And how do you propose we do that, exactly? You need to rest, your hand is still broken, we have Fern… do you think they’ll let us settle this during school hours? Lester’s had Toby sacked, as far as he’s concerned it’s already ended.”
Connor pulled out an old handheld detector from his jacket’s pocket and handed it over to Becker. She managed to catch a glimpse of a red dot on the screen.
“They’ve taken a detector I had at the caravan. I’d been working on it when I could - shout at me later,” he said as he saw Jess open her mouth to say something, “- but something wasn’t right. So, I thought I’d add a tracker to it, just in case. Turns out, they couldn’t resist taking it.”
“Probably thinking it will lead them to an anomaly now they don’t have Toby on the inside.”
“Maybe.” Connor agreed.
"Well," Becker handed the detector to Jess, "now we know where they are."
*