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Robert makes his way into the pub and finds Aaron sitting with Adam in the far corner. He walks over and slides into the booth seat next to his boyfriend.
“Hey,” Aaron nods to him. Adam tilts his beer in greetings, but they both continue with their conversation. Robert looks over at the bar and sees Vic fiddling with the taps.
“Vic’s on bar?” Robert asks.
“Yeah, mum is out at Lisa’s today to send a care package up to Belle.” Aaron replies. Vic walks over and slides something out of her pocket.
“Robert, do you know Andy's passcode?”
“His what?” Robert frowns up at her.
“His passcode.” She waves Andy’s cell phone in his face. “I’ve been trying all day but I can’t get it.”
“How should I know?”
“Hang on, I think I got it! It was his and Katie’s anniversary.” Vic smiles and starts flicking through stuff.
“What are you looking for?” Robert asks.
“I don’t know, anything! Maybe he got something on Chrissie, but he didn’t realize it!”
“Vic!” Robert looks over at Adam who is frowning at his wife.
“What do you mean, something on Chrissie?”
“Oh, um, I just meant like if there were plans or something. Why he’d run off instead of going to his hearing.” Vic covers, smiling down at Adam as she takes a seat. Adam seems pleased with this answer, and Robert and Aaron share a look between themselves. Vic shrugs apologetically and keeps scrolling. Suddenly, she perks up.
“Oh, maybe this is something!”
“What is it?” Robert asks, leaning forward eagerly. He notices Aaron shift forward as well.
A scratching sound echoes from the phone and then suddenly, very loudly, Andy’s voice shouts:
“JUST WAIT!”
It echoes throughout the whole pub, causing everyone to go silent and look over at them.
“You tryin’ to kill me? Or should I say finish me off?” There’s a brief pause and Robert feels his stomach drop. He knows what this is. Andy recorded it? “Well? Aren’t you gonna deny it?”
“Vic, shut that off.” Robert urges.
“No! No I’m not, because you’re right. It was me.”
“What is this, Robert?” Vic asks, staring at him. Adam and Aaron also look at him with frowns on their faces. His face flushes as the next words come:
“How much did you pay Aaron to do it? Probably didn’t need much!” Aaron blinks, startled at his name. Everyone in the pub listens intently.
“Vic, shut it off!” Robert demands.
“It wasn’t him.”
“Really? Then he’s the innocent man that you’re letting go down for it!”
Robert grabs the phone from his sister’s hands and hits stop. He’s breathing heavily and feels like he might pass out. He hadn’t known Andy had recorded it. He had thought they would never talk about that day again.
“What was he talking about, Rob?” Vic asks, her voice shaking.
“Vic, please, just leave it.” Robert begs. Before he can argue, Adam has yanked the phone out of his hand and pressed play.
“That was never the plan.” Andy’s voice urges.
“Oh! So there was a plan? Who was it?” Robert remembers how furious he’d been. Andy had tried to kill him.
“It doesn’t matter!”
“It does to me!”
“Rob, what is he talking about?” Vic demands. Robert makes eye contact with Ross who is seated at the bar.
“Look, I’m telling ya! This was me. I didn’t pull the trigger, but I did everything else. I wanted you to die.”
There’s a sharp intake of breath from several people in the bar. Robert feels guilty that he’s glad they heard Andy sound so spiteful. Maybe they’d believe Robert wasn’t the only rotten apple in the Sugden family.
“You really hate me that much?” Robert can hear how incredulous he’d been. But then he remembers what Andy had replied with and he tries to grab the phone without success.
“You killed Katie.”
“Adam, please, shut it off!” Robert shouts, lunging for the phone. Adam shakes his head and holds the phone out of his reach.
“I didn’t kill – You know, I’m fed up with telling ya it was an accident. You wanna believe I killed her? Fine, I KILLED THE BITCH!” Vic looks at him like she’s never seen him before when that rings out. “So you tried to kill me. No, actually, you got someone else to do it and you let Aaron take the blame! You coward!”
“Robert,” Aaron murmurs, staring at him in shock. Robert stands up from the table and stares at them all.
“But I didn’t though, did I? I didn’t kill ya, not yet.” Robert closes his eyes and feels himself starting to panic.
“So is that why you chased me here? To finish the job?”
“Maybe. You’ve seen where we are.”
A hand grips his shoulder and he blinks his eyes open to see Aaron holding him steady.
“Yeah, I’m not blind. It’s Wilson’s field.”
“Where you let Jimmy’s brother die!”
Robert looks over at where Jimmy is sitting, gaping at him from across his brew on the table. Robert shakes his head helplessly.
“No, I didn’t let him die, I saved you first! It’s the biggest mistake of my life. And I seem to remember it was in your car.”
Jimmy’s face has gone all red and Robert just stares at him, hoping he’ll understand how sorry he is.
“No! No way! You are not pinning that on me. You were the one that drove at us, decided to play chicken, you killed him! Just like you killed Katie.” There’s a slight pause and then Andy says, smugly: “That would’ve been the last time you spoke to dad. It was, wasn’t it! And what was the last thing he said to you?”
Aaron’s hand squeezes his shoulder when Robert’s words come out in a broken voice: “Which part? The bit where he put all the blame on me? Or the bit where he called me a lunatic and told me to just drive away forever and don’t come back-“
“Don’t come back! Yes! Yeah, that’s right. Well you should’ve listened to him.”
Robert squeezes his eyes shut when the next words, heartbroken and angry, drop onto the silent pub.
“You killed mum! And he helped you. Max dies, and he decides to send me away!”
“Is that what this is about? The fact that he liked me more than you?”
Vic is shaking her head, tears gathering in her eyes. Robert is starting to feel numb. Why won’t someone make it stop? Why won’t anyone stop the recording?
“I tried, you know. I – I tried to get away – I tried to get away as far away from here as possible.”
“Well you should’ve tried harder.” Andy shouts at him. Robert feels himself flinch and Aaron lets him go.
“Yeah, well, maybe it’s fate. Maybe there’s only one way to break the cycle. So come on, then. This’ll be your best shot.”
“Rob,” Vic whispers, standing up and taking a step towards him, only to pause when Andy’s voice sounds so vindictive and angry.
“I could, you know. It’d be so easy. I could start hitting you and never stop.”
“Yeah? Go on, then. End it. End it now, because I am not letting you get away with this. You drive away now and I’m going straight to the police. And if they don’t get you, I will. You hear me? I’m not going anywhere, Andy! You tried to get rid of me before, and I’m still here! I’m coming for you, Andy. This doesn’t end here. This doesn’t end!”
A car door slams and then the recording shuts off. Everyone in the pub remains deathly silent. All Robert can hear is his own ragged breathing and the blood rushing in his ears.
“C’mon,” Aaron whispers to him gently. “Let’s go to the back.” Robert lets himself be led into the back of the pub and gets deposited onto the sofa.
“Rob,” Vic repeats, coming into the room and sitting next to him. “Oh, god, I am so-“
“Don’t.” Robert says, shrugging away from her. “Don’t.”
“Robert, all those things-“
“It’s done, okay?” Robert glares at her. “Why couldn’t you just leave it? Why did you have to-“
“All right,” Aaron cuts him off. “Vic, can we just have a moment.”
“Yeah,” Vic nods sadly. “Robert, I am so sorry.”
When she’s gone, Aaron takes her place on the couch next to Robert and hands him a glass of water.
“You never told me about that.”
“It was right after that I called the police. Told ‘em it wasn’t you who shot me.”
“When did you find out it was Ross?”
“A little while later. I kept asking who it was and finally he told me. That’s why Debbie left. I told her it was Ross who had shot me and that it was Andy’s idea.”
“Christ,” Aaron sighs, pulling him into a hug. “Your family never does half-ass things, huh?”
“Like you Dingles are one to talk.” Robert replies, but his mind is far away.
“They all know, now.” Aaron tells him. “They know it wasn’t always just you winding stuff up.”
“Does it matter?” Robert asks. “To them, it’s too little too late. Andy’s gone and they think he’s a nutcase. They probably all think I just drove him nuts.”
“Robert, they all see that you were hurt.” Aaron takes his hand. “What Andy did to you all those years ago, even if you were a little shit, you had your reasons. Not always the best reasons or actions, but they can understand.”
“I don’t know.” Robert just shrugs and Aaron wraps him in a hug.
“I understand, Rob. I’ve got you.”
“Yeah, I know.” Robert lets his forehead fall on Aaron’s shoulder and imagines for a moment that it’ll be okay.