Where There's A Will

Chapter Forty-Eight

Jim yawned hugely and rubbed his eyes, which threatened to close and remain that way, before he picked up the large Starbucks cup that sat in front of him. As he sipped from it, and returned his attention to the bank across the road, he wondered why he hadn't gone to bed earlier, he could have done with the extra sleep – it wasn't particularly early, the bank's door had been unlocked an hour before, on the dot of 9 a.m., but it had been 4 a.m. when he crawled between the sheets.

After about five minutes of careful observation, during which he tried to avoid being too obvious, lest he be suspected of planning a bank robbery, or something equally as ridiculous, he saw Owen Keating enter the bank. That was what he had been waiting for, and he forgot all about his coffee, and about caution, as he watched for Owen Keating's reappearance.

"Good morning, Mr Keating," the secretary outside the office of Tom Andrews, the manager, greeted the distraught father, who acknowledged her with the briefest of nods. "You can go straight in, Mr Andrews is expecting you," she said, rising to her feet so she could open the door for him.

Tom Andrews was on his feet and already on his way round his desk when Owen Keating and DS Burke entered the office. "Owen, how are you doing?" he asked with genuine concern. "I couldn't believe it when I heard what's happened; how are you and Maria coping?"

Keating took his friend's outstretched hand and shook it briefly. "I'm getting by," he said. The strain he was under was clearly visible on his face, which was lined and drawn. "But Maria is struggling; the doctor has her on medication. Thankfully, it should all be over by this time tomorrow – his relief at that thought eased the lines on his face, for a moment – and we can try and get on with our lives."

Andrews nodded, not knowing what else he could say; anything he did say, he realised,would only be platitudes and useless in comforting his friend. "Would you like a cup of tea or coffee while I go and get the money?" he asked of Keating and the –he assumed – police officer with him equally. He was unsurprised when both men declined. "I'll be back shortly then."