The Sins of the Father (The Clifton Chronicles, #2)(28)

‘Enter,’ said an unmistakable voice. Joyce opened the door, and Harry walked into the room. He was surprised to find another man he’d never seen before seated opposite the warden. The man was wearing an army officer’s uniform, and looked as smart as Harry felt unkempt. He never took his eyes off the prisoner.

The warden rose from behind his desk. ‘Good morning, Tom.’ It was the first time Swanson had addressed him by his Christian name. ‘This is Colonel Cleverdon, of the Fifth Texas Rangers.’

‘Good morning, sir,’ said Harry.

Cleverdon stood up and shook hands with Harry; another first.

‘Have a seat, Tom,’ said Swanson. ‘The colonel has a proposition he wants to put to you.’

Harry sat down.

‘It’s good to meet you, Bradshaw,’ began Colonel Cleverdon as he sat back down. ‘I’m the commanding officer of Rangers.’ Harry gave him a quizzical look. ‘You won’t find us listed in any recruitment manuals. I train groups of soldiers who will be dropped behind enemy lines with the purpose of causing as much mayhem for the enemy as possible, so the infantry will have a better chance to do their job. Nobody knows yet where or when our troops will be landing in Europe, but I’ll be among the first to be told, as my boys will be parachuted into the target area a few days before the invasion.’

Harry was sitting on the edge of his seat.

‘But before that balloon goes up, I’ll be putting together a small specialist unit to prepare for any eventuality. This unit will consist of three groups, each comprising ten men: one captain, one staff sergeant, two corporals and six private soldiers. During the past few weeks I’ve been in touch with several prison wardens to ask if they had any exceptional men, who they felt might be suited for such an operation. Your name was one of the two put forward by Mr Swanson. Once I checked your record, from when you served in the navy, I had to agree with the warden that you’d be better off in uniform rather than wasting your time in here.’

Harry turned to the warden. ‘Thank you, sir, but may I ask who the other person is?’

‘Quinn,’ said Swanson. ‘The two of you have caused me so many problems during the past couple of years, I thought it was the Germans’ turn to be subjected to your special brand of subterfuge.’ Harry smiled.

‘If you decide to join us, Bradshaw,’ continued the colonel, ‘you will begin an eight-week basic training course immediately, followed by a further six weeks with special operations. Before I go any further, I need to know if the idea appeals to you.’

‘When do I start?’ said Harry.

The colonel smiled. ‘My car’s outside in the yard, and I left the engine running.’

‘I’ve already arranged for your civilian clothes to be collected from the stores,’ said the warden. ‘Obviously we need to keep the reason you’ve left at such short notice between ourselves. Should anyone ask, I’ll say you and Quinn have been transferred to another prison.’

The colonel nodded. ‘Any questions, Bradshaw?’

‘Has Quinn agreed to join you?’ asked Harry.

‘He’s sitting in the back seat of my car, probably wondering what’s taking you so long.’

‘But you do know the reason I’m in prison, colonel?’

‘Desertion,’ said Colonel Cleverdon. ‘So I’ll have to keep a close eye on you, won’t I?’ Both men laughed. ‘You’ll be joining my group as a private soldier, but I can assure you, your past record won’t hinder your chances of promotion. However, while we’re on that subject, Bradshaw, a change of name might be appropriate, given the circumstances. We wouldn’t want some smart-ass in records to get their hands on your navy files and start asking embarrassing questions. Any ideas?’

‘Harry Clifton, sir,’ he said a little too quickly.

The warden smiled. ‘I’ve always wondered what your real name was.’





EMMA BARRINGTON





1941





14

EMMA WANTED TO LEAVE Kristin’s apartment as soon as possible, escape from New York and return to England. Once she was back in Bristol she could grieve alone and devote her life to bringing up Harry’s son. But escape wasn’t proving to be that easy.

‘I’m so sorry,’ said Kristin, placing an arm around Emma’s shoulders. ‘I had no idea you didn’t know what had happened to Tom.’

Emma smiled weakly.

‘I want you to know,’ continued Kristin, ‘that Richard and I never doubted even for a moment that he was innocent. The man I nursed back to life wasn’t capable of murder.’

‘Thank you,’ said Emma.

‘I have some photographs of Tom while he was with us on the Kansas Star. Would you like to see them?’ asked Kristin.

Emma nodded politely, although she had no interest in seeing any photographs of Lieutenant Thomas Bradshaw. She decided that once Kristin had left the room, she would quietly slip out of the apartment and return to her hotel. She had no desire to continue making such a fool of herself in front of a complete stranger.

As soon as Kristin went out, Emma jumped up. As she did so, she knocked her cup off the table and on to the floor, spilling some coffee on the carpet. She fell to her knees and began weeping again, just as Kristin came back into the room, clutching a handful of photographs.