He’d switched to the carrot and stick method of eliciting information now. It was a lie. Even if this was his father, he wanted nothing to do with him, but the promise of some financial gain for Larry might just make this horrible bastard open up.
‘A DNA test?’ he asked, but Zac could sense it was half-hearted.
‘Of course. I mentioned I’m a lawyer, Mr McLenn. I only deal in proven facts. That’s why there would be an irrefutable DNA test, and anyone knowingly falsely claiming to be my father would be liable for potential legal action for fraud.’
Not strictly accurate, but it got Larry’s attention, as he knew it would. There were two options here – that Larry went for it because there was indeed a possibility that it could be true and there could be a little pot of gold at the end of the genetic rainbow.
Or…
‘Aye, well, you can take your care and shove it, because it cannae be me. Which is a shame, because the son I’ve got is fucking useless and I could do with some bastard taking care of me.’
Yep, there was option number two – Larry knew there was no way he could be Zac’s dad, and he didn’t want any more legal issues in his life so he didn’t even try to bluff it.
He saw Alice balling up her fists again after the comment about her son, and he admired her restraint because he wasn’t sure he’d manage the same.
‘You know what? Get the fuck out of my house. I don’t know who you think you are, but you can just go. Piss off.’
Neither Zac nor Alice needed to be asked twice. He had his answer and could walk away, but as he stood up, towering over Larry, he made a point of distracting him, by spitting, ‘Don’t worry, we’re going.’
Alice took advantage of Larry’s focus being on Zac. Out of the corner of his eye, Zac saw her take the opportunity to make a ‘Call me’ gesture to Sandra. The other woman looked away.
‘Sandra,’ Zac said, hoping that he was doing the right thing. ‘I hope you’re feeling better soon and that your face heals well.’ He racked his brain for the right thing to say – something that wouldn’t inflame the situation or make Larry think she’d grassed him. ‘I hope the police find the person who assaulted you. Terrible, the crime on the streets these days. I’ve got a friend who’s a police officer in the area – I’ll make sure she knows about your injuries, just in case it ever happens again.’
Sandra raised her eyes and they both saw Larry flinch and knew the point had been made. It wasn’t perfect but hopefully it would help for now.
He thought the conversations were over, but he hadn’t realised that Alice wasn’t done yet. As she passed where Larry was sitting, she leaned towards him, clearly trying to show that she wasn’t intimidated. Larry flinched for a second time. ‘And, Larry, the promise about my call to the police still stands. Sign my divorce papers by the end of the week, or expect a knockat the door. Zac, here, will be a very willing, and very credible witness.’
With that, she straightened up and walked on by. Zac paused to let her go past him too, to protect her from any random lunges from Larry. Nothing came, and they both walked at speed down the hall. They couldn’t get out of that door fast enough.
He managed to wait until they got to the end of the path before blurting out, ‘Do you believe him?’
Larry had said it wasn’t him, and Zac had already formed a judgement on whether or not he was being honest. However, Alice knew him better than anyone else, so she was the one person who could give an informed opinion on whether his gut was telling him the right thing.
Alice nodded. ‘I do. Two reasons. Not to make this about me, but if he’d had an affair with Morag, he’d have been desperate to tell me, to cause me pain and rub my nose in it.’
It was a good point and even in the short time Zac had known Larry, he’d got a measure of him and suspected that would be true.
‘And the other?’
Alice was walking quickly, and he was having to rush to keep up with her.
‘If he truly thought there was even the slightest possibility that you were his son, he’d have accepted the DNA test in the hope that he could take you up on the offer to take care of him. He used to demand money from my son all the time – just one of the many reasons that Rory cut him out of his life.’
Bingo. Alice was right. There was no doubt about that.
For the first time since the prospect of Larry McLenn being his father was raised, Zac felt the twist of anxiety in his gut unwind just a tiny bit.
They were almost across the communal grass area in front of the house, close enough to see that Val was watching them, ready and waiting in the Jeep.
‘The thing is though… The photos of Mum and Dad still don’t make sense. The dates still don’t work. If I didn’t get half my DNA from that vile human being in there, then who was it?’
Alice looked like she could weep with either the relief or the stress of it all. ‘I honestly do not have a single clue, Zac.’
She climbed into the front seat of the Jeep, while he folded his way-too-long limbs into the back.
‘Well?’ Val asked urgently, and he saw that she had the expression of someone who was watching something terrible unfold but couldn’t look away.
‘It’s not him,’ Zac said, relief oozing out of every word.
