blue eyes open and staring at the sky. A second shot had pierced her shoulder and shattered the gold stars. She had been a decoy. It was the only explanation and it had worked. Sophy staggered to her feet and ran towards the entrance. The flames had been quenched but smoke still billowed across the courtyard and carried the sickening stench of burned fuel.
‘The children are still inside the house,’ she screamed at the gardai, who were emerging through the smoke.
They dispersed immediately, some entering the hall, others running to the back of the house.
‘Everything is under control.’ A woman came to her side. Her face was unfamiliar but Sophy instantly recognised her voice. Miriam’s unruffled tone belied the facts. Her daughters and Kelly Bracken were trapped inside the smoldering house. The negotiator and Sergeant Moynihan surrounded her like kindly but determined guardians as she begged to join the search.
Two paramedics carried a stretcher down the steps. Unaware and uncaring whether Victor had escaped or been consumed by fire, she looked away but not before she noticed that his face had been covered. An ambulance siren wailed as his body was driven away. He had died with her name on his lips but her terror allowed her no room for hate, shock, or pity. Her gaze remained fixed on Hyland Hall. Smoke still streamed from the entrance but the old house stood strong, solid and enduring.
Gardai came into view from the side of the house. Spotlights pierced the drifting plumes as Sophy watched the group break apart and then there was nothing left to do but reach out her arms to the three girls, who broke free and ran towards her.
Chapter Sixty
Sophy
What did it take to mend a marriage? A near drowning, an unexpected inheritance, a siege? Each one should have been earth-shattering enough to drive her into Luke’s arms but the issues that had broken them apart remained unresolved. Trust, when lost, was as arid as a desert. Where to root new beginnings?
After he was discharged from hospital, they met with Jack’s solicitor. Benedict Hancock’s offices were located on Upper Main Square, two doors away from Victor Coyne Property Analyst. The building was for sale. Sophy kept her face averted as she walked past the sign.
Two weeks had passed since the siege. She had not attended Victor’s funeral and, according to Ellie, only a small number of people turned up to pay their last respects. The fire he had started, and that had led to his death, had not spread beyond the hall. Apart from smoke damage, the rooms were intact. The restoration that Jack had envisaged was now taking place. Until then, she was living in Clonmoore in a rented apartment with the girls. Luke would remain in the gate lodge to oversee the repairs.
Lost, she had said when Jack asked her for a word to describe her husband. It no longer applied to Luke. He had found himself when he came to Hyland Estate. An ancestral call, perhaps. She had no way of knowing the depth of his thoughts as he struggled into a new identity. The son of the late Jack Hyland.
Benedict Hancock made no secret of his curiosity about the siege as he escorted them into his office. He had known Victor all his life and he, like the rest of the town, was shocked by the fact that one of their own, born and bred in their midst, could commit such a heinous crime.
The document he laid before them was the same as the copy Isobel had found in the hidden drawer. Jack’s wishes were clearly stated but he had offered them an option to sell their inheritance if they did not want to establish the Hyland Equine Foundation.
‘You have a free rein, no pun intended, to do what you like with the estate.’ Benedict chuckled dryly at his wit. ‘Take your time to think about your options. Let me know your wishes when you decide.’
The Coffee Bean was quiet when they sat down at a table.
‘Same as usual?’ Jessie, the owner, called across to them. They both nodded as she busied herself at the coffee machine.
‘Are you still having nightmares?’ Luke asked.
‘Waking or sleeping, they come, regardless,’ Sophy replied. ‘What about you?’
‘The same.’
‘After Julie almost drowned, I kept having flashbacks. Jack told me once to let them play. That’s how you conquer them. I don’t know if that’s true.’
‘He had a lot to conquer.’ He shrugged and winced. The pain in his shoulder