Kane and Abel/Sons of Fortune Read online

  “Take Su Ling home,” said Tom, “and whatever you do, don’t talk to the press.”

  “Don’t bother,” said Nat. “You can issue a statement on my behalf saying that I’m withdrawing from the race. I’m not having my family dragged through any more of this.”

  “Don’t make a hasty decision that you may well later regret. Let’s talk about what needs to be done in the morning,” said Tom.

  Nat took Su Ling by the hand, walked out of the studio and through a door leading into the parking lot.

  “Good luck,” shouted one supporter as Nat opened the car door for his wife. He didn’t acknowledge any of the cheers as they drove quickly away. He looked across at Su Ling, who was thumping the dashboard in anger. Nat took a hand off the steering wheel and placed it gently on Su Ling’s leg. “I love you,” he said, “and I always will. Nothing and no one will ever change that.”

  “How did Elliot find out?”

  “He’s probably had a team of private detectives delving into my past.”

  “And when he couldn’t come up with anything about you, he switched his sights onto me and my mother,” whispered Su Ling. There was a long silence before she added, “I don’t want you to withdraw; you must stay in the race. It’s the only way we can beat the bastard.” Nat didn’t reply as he joined the evening traffic. “I just feel so sorry for Luke,” Su Ling eventually said. “He will have taken it so very personally. I only wish Kathy had stayed on for another day.”

  “I’ll take care of Luke,” said Nat. “You’d better go and collect your mother and bring her back to our place for the night.”

  “I’ll call her just as soon as we get in,” said Su Ling. “I suppose it’s just possible that she didn’t watch the program.”

  “Not a hope,” said Nat as he pulled into the driveway, “she’s my most loyal fan and never misses any of my TV appearances.”

  Nat put his arm around Su Ling as they walked toward the front door. All the lights in the house were off except for one in Luke’s bedroom. Nat turned the key in the lock and as he opened the door, said, “You phone your mother, and I’ll pop up and see Luke.”

  Su Ling picked up the phone in the hallway as Nat walked slowly up the stairs, trying to compose his thoughts. He knew Luke would expect every question to be answered truthfully. He walked down the corridor and knocked gently on his son’s door. There was no reply, so he tried again, saying, “Luke, can I come in?” Still no reply. He opened the door a little and glanced inside, but Luke wasn’t in bed and none of his clothes were laid out neatly over the usual chair. Nat’s first reaction was that he must have gone across to the shop to be with his grandmother. He turned out the light and listened to Su Ling talking to her mother. He was about to go down and join her when he noticed that Luke had left a light on in the bathroom. He decided to switch it off.

  Nat walked across the room and pushed open the bathroom door. For a moment he remained transfixed as he stared up at his son. He then collapsed onto his knees, unable to get himself to look up a second time, although he knew he would have to remove Luke’s hanging body so that it wouldn’t be the last memory Su Ling would have of their only child.

  Annie picked up the phone and listened. “It’s Charlie from the Courant for you,” she said, handing the phone across.

  “Did you watch the program?” the political editor asked the moment Fletcher came on the line.

  “No, I didn’t,” said Fletcher, “Annie and I never miss Seinfeld.”

  “Touché, so do you want to make any statement about your rival’s wife being an illegal immigrant and her mother a prostitute?”

  “Yes, I think that David Anscott should have cut off the questioner. It was obviously a cheap setup from the start.”

  “Can I quote you?” said Charlie. Jimmy was shaking his head vigorously.

  “Yes, you most certainly can, because that made anything Nixon’s got up to look like the The Muppet Show.”

  “You’ll be glad to hear, Senator, that your instincts are in line with public opinion. The station’s switchboard has been jammed with calls of sympathy for Nat Cartwright and his wife, and my bet is that Elliot will lose by a landslide tomorrow.”

  “Which will make it that much tougher for me,” said Fletcher, “but at least one good thing comes out of it.”

  “And what’s that, Senator?”

  “Everybody has finally found out the truth about that bastard Elliot.”

  “I wonder if that was wise?” said Jimmy.

  “I’m sure it wasn’t,” said Fletcher, “but it’s no more than your father would have said.”

  When the ambulance arrived Nat decided to accompany his son’s body to the hospital, while his mother tried helplessly to comfort Su Ling.

  “I’ll come straight back,” he promised, before kissing her gently.

  When he saw the two paramedics sitting silently on either side of the body, he explained that he would follow in his own car. They just nodded.

  The hospital staff tried to be as sympathetic as possible, but there were forms to be filled in, and procedures to be carried out. Once that had been completed, they left him alone. He kissed Luke on the forehead and turned away at the sight of the red and black bruises around his neck, aware that the memory would remain with him for the rest of his life.

  Once they had covered Luke’s face with a sheet, Nat left his beloved son, passing bowed heads murmuring their sympathy. He must get back to Su Ling, but before that, he knew there was someone else he had to visit first.

  Nat drove away from the hospital on automatic pilot, his anger not diminishing as each mile clocked up. Although he had never been to the house before, he knew exactly where it was, and when he eventually turned into the driveway, Nat could see some lights coming from the ground floor. He parked the car and began to walk slowly toward the house. He needed to be calm if he was to see it through. As he approached the front door he could hear raised voices coming from inside. A man and a woman were arguing, unaware of the visitor outside. Nat banged on the knocker and the voices suddenly went silent, as if a television had been switched off. A moment later, the door swung open and Nat came face-to-face with the man he held responsible for his son’s death.

  Ralph Elliot looked shocked, but recovered quickly. He tried to slam the door in his face, but Nat had already placed a shoulder firmly against it. The first punch Nat threw landed on Elliot’s nose and sent him reeling backward. Elliot stumbled, but regained his balance quickly, turned and ran down the corridor. Nat strode after him, following Elliot into his study. He looked around for the other raised voice, but there was no sign of Rebecca. He turned his attention back to Elliott, who was pulling open a drawer in his desk. He grabbed a gun and pointed it at Nat.

  “Get out of my house,” he shouted, “or I’ll kill you.” Blood was streaming from his nose.

  Nat advanced toward him. “I don’t think so,” he said. “After that stunt you pulled tonight, no one will ever take your word again.”

  “Yes, they will, because I have a witness. Don’t forget that Rebecca saw you barge into our home making threats and then assaulting me.”

  Nat advanced, ready to take a second punch, causing Elliot to step back and momentarily lose his balance as he stumbled across the arm of the chair. The gun went off, and Nat leaped on Elliot, knocking him to the ground. As they fell to the floor, Nat jerked his knee into Elliot’s groin with such force that his rival bent double, letting go of the gun. Nat grabbed it and pointed the barrel at Elliot, whose face was contorted with fear.

  “You planted that bastard in the audience, didn’t you?” said Nat.

  “Yes, yes, but I didn’t know he would go that far, surely you wouldn’t kill a man because …”

  “Because he was responsible for the death of my son?”

  All the color drained from Elliot’s face.

  “Yes, I would,” Nat said, pressing the barrel of the gun against Elliot’s forehead. Nat stared down at a man who was no