Acts of Kindness Read online

  There were gasps from around the room.

  Ben held up his hands. ‘So far we have evidence in small samples but I’m convinced the same statistics would hold true everywhere. Isadora commissioned research to be done into the towns in the US where OAK planned to open outposts. She wanted to monitor the numbers of kindnesses carried out per head of the population so when OAK launched, she would be able to demonstrate the positive impact it had. We’d never done that kind of study in the UK before; we took it for granted that kindness levels would be higher where OAK operated. But when Isadora saw the figures, she realised something earth-shattering. The kindnesses per head in those US cities were the same as we were registering here in the UK, where OAK operates.’

  A hubbub broke out all around the room.

  ‘How can that be?’ Bella wanted to know. ‘What are you saying?’

  ‘I’m saying where OAK doesn’t exist, ordinary people step in and fill the void. While OAK still operates – every time an agent steps in ahead of you to perform a kindness – you’re robbed of the sense of well-being that comes from helping others. The bond small kindnesses form between people, a bond that forms the basis of communities, is weaker while OAK is in operation. Not fully denied, there are still plenty of opportunities to be kind, agents can’t be everywhere. But what Teddy’s evidence showed us was that people’s natural inclination is towards kindness and without OAK, they would have more opportunities to be kind.’

  Ben stopped and let the idea sink in. All around the room concern showed on people’s faces as they digested what they’d heard. The organisation they’d dedicated their lives to – that they’d lied to their families about, lost sleep over, risked their lives for in the past few hours – was worthless. Worse than worthless, it was making the world a poorer place.

  ‘Believe me,’ Ben said, taking in their horrified looks, ‘I was as distraught as you when I realised what the data meant. OAK in its present form isn’t a force for good. That’s not to say it can’t be, and that it’s not worth saving – but that’s for another day.

  ‘When I understood what the data was showing I realised something else staggering. Isadora had seen this information and she’d buried it. Not because she’s an inherently bad person but because she couldn’t allow herself to believe it. OAK is Isadora’s life’s work. It’s what her ancestors dedicated all their energy and money to create. This data wouldn’t compute so she pretended it didn’t exist and pushed on with her expansion plans regardless.

  ‘It’s her overriding passion for OAK that I’m banking on now. Because yes, Bella,’ he turned towards her, ‘we have to involve the police – there has to be some retribution for what she and the others have done. But I think OAK can be saved in some form and Isadora will help us do that. I’ve got two aces up my sleeve. Her love of OAK, and the one other thing she truly cares about.’ His eyes had flicked back to the monitors, this time towards the far screen which showed the inside of the barn above them. Two figures could be seen passing between the tractor and the pick-up truck. ‘Right on cue.’

  They all waited in silence as the figures disappeared into the shadow behind the tractor. After a moment, muffled sounds could be heard in the lobby, growing louder. Footsteps paused outside the door.

  ‘Here’s our bargaining chip,’ Ben said, standing up and pressing the button to open the door.

  Stumbling a little as James pushed him into the room, hands tied behind his back, was the dishevelled figure of The Librarian.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The expression on Isadora’s face turned from shock to suspicion when she saw The Librarian.

  Ben had unlocked the door to her cell and she had emerged tentatively, eyes flickering between the faces.

  She looks like she’s aged ten years, Bella thought. Catherine stepped up to Isadora’s side protectively. Finn loomed on her other side, looking very much as though if his hands weren’t tied, he’d be using them to rip Ben’s head off.

  Everyone instinctively got up from their seats – like children standing when the headmistress enters the room, reflected Bella. The exception was Gladys, who remained in her chair and gave a cordial wave when she caught sight of Isadora.

  ‘You look gorgeous in that dress, dear,’ she called. ‘It could have been made for you. Parisian couture, you know.’

  Isadora stiffened and something of her usual regal bearing seemed to return to her as she pointedly ignored the other woman.

  ‘Why,’ she asked Ben, in a voice of ice, ‘have you brought The Librarian here? He never leaves OAK.’

  ‘Except when he’s trying to murder people on tropical islands,’ retorted Ben. ‘Please take a seat – Isadora, Catherine, Arran.’ The newly released captives sat down at the table with a show of reluctance, eyeing the weapons in the hands of Theresa’s agents.

  Lauren pushed a bottle of water toward Catherine who sent it flying with a blow from her bound hands.

  ‘What the hell are you all playing at? What are you trying to achieve, keeping us prisoners here?’

  ‘It won’t be for much longer,’ Ben promised. ‘But we need to come to an understanding before we can let you go.’

  James had taken The Librarian by one dirty tweed-clad arm and dragged him across to sit with the others. Isadora regarded him with troubled eyes.

  ‘The Librarian has nothing to do with this,’ she insisted. ‘I demand that he be taken back to OAK.’

  Ben took no notice of her, turning to address the room.

  ‘At this point, ladies and gentlemen, it’s worth providing a bit of backstory. I’m sure you all know how Isadora came home to run OAK after her mother died. As well as running the Institute, she also had to take on the care of her younger brother, who couldn’t cope with losing his mother so soon after their father’s early death. He had a breakdown and over the following years became an alcoholic. She kept him close by, giving him a ceremonial title that allowed him a position of respect at OAK without any associated responsibility. Most of you won’t be aware that The Librarian is Isadora’s brother.’

  Bella heard Oscar mutter, ‘What the…?’ under his breath. He looked at her, eyes wide. She goggled back at him. A couple of the cupuli shifted round in their seats, shooting questioning looks at each other. Bella looked at Isadora, sitting primly in her borrowed evening dress, face white, and tried to make out some resemblance between her and the raddled man in the tweed suit.

  The cupule with the eyebrows called out, ‘Come on! Why should we believe this shit?’

  To Bella’s surprise, it was Isadora who replied. ‘It’s true. It’s not a secret, it’s just not widely known.’

  ‘Isadora didn’t think people knowing who The Librarian was would be helpful to OAK, did you, Isadora?’ Ben said, calmly. ‘Because, everyone, what you have to remember is Isadora’s motivations are always – always – what’s best for OAK. In this instance, Isadora, The Librarian is at the heart of our problem and our potential solution.’ Looking over at Theresa he added, ‘Could you explain?’

  Theresa nodded.

  ‘Isadora,’ she said. ‘I think you sent The Librarian out to Le Chêne to kill Teddy Thatcher. But whether you sent him or not, what’s undeniable is that he was there and he attacked Teddy. I have the CCTV footage to prove it.’ Isadora’s hands gripped the edge of the table. ‘The evidence on that tape,’ Theresa continued, ‘would make for a convincing attempted murder charge. Particularly when you add it to the testimony of Bella, Ben, and Teddy himself.’ She gestured to Teddy who appeared to be trying to sink right through the seat of his chair, the floor, and several thousand miles of earth to start a new life in Australia. Maggie laid a hand on his shoulder and snarled at Isadora.

  Catherine and Finn exchanged glances. Isadora appeared to have fallen to pieces, her eyes glued on her brother with a look of desperation. The Librarian was paying no attention to what was being said, his eyes flitting feverishly around the room.

  Wondering if anyone’s got any wh
isky, Bella guessed.

  ‘What do you want, Ben?’ snapped Catherine. ‘If you had evidence and wanted The Librarian convicted, you’d have gone to the police by now.’

  ‘I want the same as you – to save OAK.’

  She snorted.

  ‘I want to remove the elements who have been corrupting it, namely the four of you,’ Ben went on, looking at her, Finn, Isadora and The Librarian. ‘I want you to agree to be taken into custody and charged by the police for kidnapping, with a story that we will agree together. I want you to help prevent any investigation into fraud by AC against its clients.’

  Catherine’s eyes twitched. ‘So, you’re happy to profit from fraud? Your anti-corruption principles don’t stretch that far?’

  ‘No,’ Ben said. ‘With Teddy’s help, we’ll transfer the money back in a way that it can’t be traced to us, even if we have to do it over a period of time. But if AC gets investigated the risk is that OAK will go down too. And I’m sure none of us want that.’

  ‘All I ever wanted was to protect OAK,’ said Isadora in a quiet voice. They all looked around, surprised. She had regained her composure somewhat and was watching Ben. ‘My intentions have only ever been for good.’

  ‘Then you’ll do this. For OAK,’ replied Ben.

  Bella and Oscar helped move bits and pieces of furniture from the bunker up into the barn. Some people were stationed at the bottom of the shaft to push camp beds, chairs, a gas stove, catering packs of food and other sundries up to others who dragged them out through the opening and arranged them by some hay bales in one corner of the barn. Bella and Oscar were in the latter party – Bella adding some artful extra touches in the form of crumpled piles of clothes and half-empty bottles of water. By the time they finished, she was sweating, flapping the neckline of her T-shirt to waft cooler air to her clammy skin.

  Everyone who wasn’t required for the piece of theatre that was about to be staged was told to return to the bunker. The camera in the barn had been angled to cover the little group in the corner. Isadora, Catherine and Finn sat in a semi-circle on hay bales. The Librarian lay on a camp bed, facing away from them. The hands of all four were tied with baling twine. Maggie and Teddy stood hand in hand by the tractor while Ben paced back and forth between the captives and the entrance to the barn, a phone held to his ear. Nearby a hunting rifle leaned against the wall.

  ‘Turns out Ben was right then,’ Bella whispered to Oscar. ‘When it comes down to it, Isadora will sacrifice almost anything for OAK.’

  The atmosphere in the bunker was tense, everyone speaking in hushed tones as if they could be heard upstairs. The cupuli had been released from their restraints and a couple of them were lying, exhausted, in the dormitory area but most were in the main room, glued to the monitors.

  Gladys joined her son and Bella, resplendent in her reclaimed dress and mink coat. Diamonds – or at least something that did a good impression of diamonds – sparkled at her ears.

  ‘It’s nice to feel properly dressed again after that dowdy old outfit.’ She followed Oscar’s gaze. ‘Could you explain what’s going on, dear? I think I drifted off and missed the important bits. That nice handsome Ben isn’t going to shoot them, is he?’

  ‘Of course not, Mum! He’s calling the police. And then when they’re on the way he’s going to alert the media. Isadora’s fall from grace needs to be public so there’s no chance of her trying to take back OAK in the future.’

  As they watched Ben took the phone away from his ear and touched the screen to end the call. He typed something else into his phone then replaced it to his ear.

  ‘What has he told the police?’ Gladys asked.

  ‘The bare minimum, I expect,’ Bella said. ‘He’ll keep the details for when they get here. The plan was he would say he’d found Isadora, Teddy, and Maggie and give them the location then hang up.’

  ‘When they get here, he’ll tell them the story they’ve all agreed to stick to,’ Oscar added. ‘Which is that The Librarian got drunk—’

  ‘So far, so plausible,’ interrupted Bella.

  ‘The Librarian got drunk,’ Oscar repeated, ‘and picked a fight with Teddy, in which Teddy got hurt quite badly. Isadora panicked, worried her vulnerable, alcoholic brother would go to prison. To avoid that, she kidnapped Teddy then went into hiding herself. Her accomplices Catherine and Finn put it about that she’d been abducted. They thought Teddy might have smuggled footage of the fight out to Maggie when they heard about the “evidence” on the news so they snatched her from her house that evening. Ben had gone to her house to check she was okay, saw her being bundled into a van and followed the van here. He went home, got his hunting rifle and came back to investigate. He crept in, took them all by surprise and after tying them up and getting them to confess all, called the police. That’s the story they’ve come up with, Mum, wrapped in a little bow ready to gift to the police.’

  A look of perplexity clouded Gladys’s brow. ‘But that’s not true. Why would Isadora and the others say it is? When they get to the police station and Isadora’s on her own, she can tell them that Ben kidnapped her.’

  ‘But she won’t, Mum. Because she doesn’t want Ben and Theresa to give the police the footage of The Librarian attacking Teddy. When they get to the police station Teddy will say the fight got out of hand but that both he and The Librarian were equally to blame and he doesn’t want to press charges. So, although Isadora’s brother may be charged as an accomplice to kidnapping and perverting the course of justice, he won’t get anything like the sentence attempted murder would carry. And Isadora doesn’t want the police investigating the fraud because it would lead them to OAK and would mean both AC and OAK would get shut down.’

  ‘And your charity OAK is terribly important because…?’ Gladys enquired, head on one side like a glamorous sparrow. ‘It’s all rather hard to follow.’

  ‘It’s best if we don’t talk about it, Mum,’ Oscar said. ‘Because if I told you what OAK does,’ he looked at her with mock-solemn eyes, ‘I’d have to kill you.’

  ‘Oh, you silly boy!’ Gladys squealed with delighted laughter and slapped him on the arm.

  On the screens, they saw Ben turn his head and one or two of the others look up, as if in response to a sound which hadn’t yet penetrated to the bunker. Moments later, even underground, they heard sirens approaching.

  Two or three more minutes passed in suspense and then in the corner of the screen armed police could be seen swarming forward, crouching low between the farm machinery, guns raised. There was no audio in the bunker but they seemed to be shouting orders, in response to which Ben set his rifle down on the floor and raised his hands. All the prisoners did likewise – as well as they could with bound wrists – as did Teddy. Maggie stood with her hands on her hips squaring up to an approaching officer until Teddy took her hands and raised them himself.

  In the bunker, everyone held their breath. The only sound was the rattling of Gladys’s jewellery as she fidgeted with her bangles.

  The police made everyone stand up, including a reluctant Librarian, and two officers patted them down. A plain-clothes officer appeared and led Ben a little away from the rest, nodding in response to what he was telling her. Once everyone had been searched and all areas of the barn had been inspected by the armed officers, they started to round up Isadora, Finn and the rest and escort them towards the main doors to the barn.

  All was proceeding without incident until the officer nearest the front of the group pulled up short and raised a hand to halt those behind him. He appeared to have seen something out of sight of the camera in the barn.

  The lead officer strode forward out of the barn and out of sight. Minutes passed. Finally, he came back, spoke to another officer and again the group continued its procession towards the exit and out of sight of the camera.

  For a minute or so no one moved. Then Theresa stood up.

  ‘Well,’ she said, ‘I reckon we made it. Looks like the press got here on time too from the way t
hat officer reacted. It’s all down to Ben, Isadora and the rest of those guys now, let’s hope the police go for their story. We’ll wait ten minutes to be sure they’ve left, then take the emergency exit out of here through the other barn.’

  ‘Okay, Shobs,’ Ailsa said, as she held up three fingers behind the camera.

  Shobha nodded, arranging her face into her preferred on-screen expression of mixed professionalism and concern. She could hear the lunchtime news anchor in her earpiece announcing they were passing over to Shobha Sharma for an exclusive report from Wiltshire, where there had been developments in the Acorn Consulting kidnappings story.

  ‘Three, two, one,’ mouthed Ailsa.

  ‘That’s right, Rob,’ Shobha said, nodding. ‘Early this morning, West Country Tonight received an anonymous tip-off that the kidnappers of Isadora Faye, and Edward and Margaret Thatcher, were about to be apprehended by police.’

  All around the country viewers watched as the shot of Shobha Sharma’s face cut to shaky footage of the exterior of a barn with several police vans and an ambulance parked outside. Shobha could be seen, left of shot, running across the field towards the barn with a microphone in her hand, the camera jolting all over the place as its operator tried to keep up with her. They both slowed as they reached the building and Shobha pulled up, panting, out of sight of the door.

  ‘I can hear voices inside the barn,’ she rasped into her microphone as she struggled to catch her breath. ‘I’m going to get a bit closer to see what’s going on.’

  She pressed herself against the wooden planking of the barn’s exterior wall and edged along it to the doorway, the camera close behind her shoulder. As they both swung round into the barn, the camera struggling to refocus as it switched from sunlight to the windowless gloom, a voice yelled out.