Tilly.
She appeared from the shadows behind Daniel and she slipped her tiny hand into his immense one. Neither Scott nor Gemma saw her, but Hannah could have sworn that Daniel’s gaze lowered to settle on her.
And suddenly Hannah was no longer a police officer, following rule books and procedure.
She was a mother, pure and simple, with all the resourcefulness and intuition that motherhood entailed.
‘Maybe there’s a way,’ she said.
‘There’s no other way,’ Scott answered. ‘I tried to protect Daniel, but I failed. I’m tired now.’
He was saying he’d reached the end, that there was no going back.
‘Listen to what I’m saying, Scott. Daniel saved my life, so now let me save his.’
The earnestness in her voice made Scott’s eyes widen.
She said, ‘What you did personally is one thing. You’re going to have to face up to that. Daniel doesn’t have to.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘We can change the narrative, Scott.’
‘I don’t . . . What are you talking about?’
‘I’m talking about putting it all on your shoulders, instead of Daniel’s. Are you enough of a father to do that?’
Scott laughed when he realised what she was saying. He shook his head. ‘You don’t know how many times I’ve thought about that. But here’s the problem. Daniel can’t lie. He calls things as he sees them. He’s as honest as the day is long.’
‘I’m not asking him to lie.’
‘Forget it. It’s too late now.’
Scott flicked off the safety catch on his gun.
‘Daniel,’ Hannah said. ‘I want to ask you a question. Are you ready?’
Daniel nodded.
‘Don’t put him through this,’ Scott warned.
‘That day when you met Joey Cobb in the lift. What happened after he attacked your dad?’
‘Please,’ Scott said. ‘Stop.’
‘Somebody came and saved him.’
‘And who was that?’
‘Adam-9. He stops bad guys.’
‘Yeah, that’s right, he does. And how did Adam-9 stop Joey?’
‘He used his robot arm. He’s used it before, against the Quark Monster.’
‘Good. You’re doing well, Daniel. Here’s a harder question for you. Who is Adam-9 really?’
‘I . . . I don’t know. Nobody knows.’
‘Well, it couldn’t have been Joey, right? That only leaves you and your dad.’
Daniel looked down. Tilly looked back at him.
‘I suppose. I think . . . I think it must have been me.’
‘You see?’ Scott said, wiping tears away with his free hand. ‘See how easy that was? They’ll tear him apart in a courtroom, and they’ll do even worse to him in prison.’
Hannah said, ‘I think you need to tell your son the truth now, Scott.’
‘What?’
‘Your secret. You can’t keep it any longer. You have to tell him.’
‘I . . . I don’t know what . . .’
Hannah turned to Gemma. ‘You’ve got no choice now, Gemma. Go and get the things.’
Gemma looked mystified.
