Changing Lara

by Anna Jacobs

  ‘My chauffeur’s partner will pick you up. He’s in the same business, luxury cars. The only problem is it’ll take him a few hours to get to you. Will you be all right till then?’

  ‘Yes. I can yell for help if I stay in the hotel and it’ll be light when the car arrives, won’t it? That’ll feel much safer.’

  ‘Good. The driver is called Jim. Wait in your room till the clerk at reception calls to say Jim has arrived to pick you up, then go down and get into the car.’

  She hesitated, not entirely reassured. ‘Anyone could say they’d come to pick me up. Jim’s such a common name.’

  He grunted. ‘Not just anyone will have been sent by me, will he? If it makes you feel better, I’ll tell him to call himself Edward Jim for the purpose of picking you up. No one else will be likely to use such an awkward double name.’

  ‘Yes, Edward Jim sounds better. Um – will it be a big car? Only I have a lot of luggage.’

  ‘Yes. It’s a big car.’ He chuckled suddenly, as if genuinely amused by her question.

  ‘What are you laughing at?’

  ‘You, honey. But in a nice way.’

  ‘Hmm.’ People did sometimes laugh at her and she could rarely work out why. She’d learnt to fix a half-smile on her face and wait till they got over it. Now she didn’t need to smile, just wait for a moment then ask, ‘Where will he be taking me?’

  ‘He’ll bring you to my flat in London. I may or may not be here, but my housekeeper will have instructions to look after you. She’s called Mrs Bryant and she rules the place with a rod of iron, so don’t get on the wrong side of her.’

  The thought of a bossy housekeeper was reassuring, she didn’t know why. ‘Oh, good. I like London. There are so many lovely shops.’

  He chuckled again. ‘Yes, there are. Goodbye, then.’

  ‘Just a minute. Gil said he’d be watching the hotel, so perhaps you should tell the driver to watch out for him.’

  ‘Yep. I’ll do that.’

  ‘Bye.’ She put the phone down and nodded happily at her reflection in the mirror, then began to check her luggage. She had most of her clothes with her, since she’d not found anywhere to live yet. She’d hung some up to stop them creasing, so had to repack them again now, which helped take her mind off her worries.

  She couldn’t sleep, kept glancing at her watch and when it started to grow light, she phoned down to reception to warn the guy there that she’d been called away and would need a luggage trolley sending up once her car arrived. Oh, and she needed to sort out payment for her stay right now, but she wasn’t coming down to reception till her car arrived, so if they needed a personal signature, they’d have to come up to her room for it.

  ‘To your room? But all the payment equipment is down here, madam.’

  She had her story ready. ‘Well, my ex is stalking me and I’m frightened he’ll hurt me if I hang around in the public areas of the hotel. I’m sure you won’t want to get into a fight with him. He can be very vicious.’

  ‘Oh. You’re right. I definitely don’t want that. Um, look, I think I’d better call Mr Santiago, the owner. He’ll know how to sort this out. He won’t let anyone hurt you, I’m sure.’

  ‘Just the regular security guy will do. Someone I trust is coming soon to pick me up.’

  ‘Mr Santiago lives nearby, madam. I’m sure he won’t be long.’

  The clerk cut her off and she dumped the phone down harder than she should have done. She hadn’t wanted a fuss made, didn’t want to attract Gil’s attention if he was watching the hotel, as he’d threatened.

  Why would no one do what she wanted? Ever since she’d moved to Wiltshire things had gone wrong for her.

  She hoped desperately that everything would work out well in London and that Edward was as kind as he seemed – and as rich. Kind was not much good without the money to do what was needed to live a comfortable life.

  As the minutes slowly passed, she admitted to herself that she was feeling more frightened than she could remember for a long time. Gil was a dreadful man. Who knew what he’d do to her if he didn’t get his own way in this.

  She’d been such a fool!

  Euan put down the phone and got out of bed. ‘There’s some woman at the hotel who’s afraid of her ex and has asked for a security guy to escort her out of the hotel. She’s afraid of going out on her own to the car that will be coming for her. The night clerk called me to ask if I would go and take charge.’

  ‘In other words, he’s worried about the situation.’

  ‘Yeah. But he’s only young and I don’t want things to go pear-shaped, so I will go and keep an eye on what’s happening. Sorry you got woken up, Molly love. Will you be all right if I leave you?’

  She looked at the clock and threw her covers back. ‘I’ll never get to sleep again. It’s too near morning and it’s starting to get light. I’ll come with you and we’ll have breakfast together at the hotel once it’s all sorted out. We can always freshen up later in our private room there.’

  Less than five minutes later they left the house. ‘I’ve never met a woman who can get ready so quickly,’ he teased.

  ‘I probably look a mess, but who cares? I’m curious. Who is it making a fuss?’

  ‘Some American female.’

  When they reached the hotel, he told the desk clerk to phone the worried guest to let her know they were on their way up to see her. He’d already asked Molly to come with him to make sure the woman felt safe speaking to him.

  He blinked in shock at the person who opened the door to him, momentarily bereft of speech. He didn’t think he’d ever seen a woman as beautiful as this in real life. ‘Ms Larson? I’m Euan Santiago, the owner of the hotel, and this is my wife, Molly. I’m sorry to hear you’re, um, feeling insecure.’

  She scowled at them both and he thought her beauty seemed to fade a little as she did so.

  ‘I didn’t want a fuss made, Mr Santiago. I just wanted to slip out of the hotel quietly without alerting anyone who might be watching and without being followed.’

  ‘Is your ex that dangerous?’

  She shrugged. ‘I think he is and he’s been making serious threats about what he’ll do if I don’t, er, go back to him. It’s better to be careful than sorry, so I need to get well away, I think. You could have left it to your security guy to see me out, though.’

  ‘I prefer to keep an eye on such a delicate situation myself. Anyway, the security guy won’t be inside the hotel just now. He’ll be doing a tour of the grounds and checking a few places out.’

  ‘Fine security that is!’

  ‘That’s why I came myself. Would you like to wait for your car downstairs in the bar area? You can pay your bill first, then my wife and I will sit with you, so you’ll be perfectly safe.’

  She paused to consider this, head on one side, then nodded. ‘All right. I’d welcome a cup of decent coffee, too, if there’s one going.’ She scowled at the in-room refreshment bar.

  ‘Not happy with the in-room coffee?’ Molly asked.

  ‘I’ve had worse, but yours isn’t exactly a pleasure to drink.’

  ‘I’ll check that out later. It seemed all right when we chose it.’

  The guest merely shrugged.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Nonie Jayne could have done without all this fuss. The conversation in the bar area was awkward and she left it mostly to the Santiagos, but at least this coffee was excellent and she felt safe with them. She sat where she could see the entrance but not be seen from outside the hotel.

  When a big car pulled up at the front, the driver got out but stopped to shade his eyes and stare across the car park before coming inside.

  He looked round the reception area and his gaze settled on Nonie Jayne. ‘Ms Larson?’

  ‘How did you recognise me?’

  ‘I was told you were beautiful. I’m Edward Jim.’

  ‘Oh. That’s all right, then.’ Pleased by this compliment, she pointed to the pile of suitcases on the tro
lley. ‘That’s my luggage.’

  To her surprise, he didn’t attempt to touch it.

  ‘Look, Ms Larson, Mr Charsley told me to keep my eyes open as I drove and I had a feeling someone was following me from a few miles back. It started when I turned off the main road. We were on narrow country lanes and this little grey car stuck right on my tail in a way that puzzled me. If I went fast so did he. If I slowed down, he did the same. Once I pulled into a passing space and he stopped nearby, which made me certain I wasn’t mistaken about him following me.’

  He shook his head, looking worried. ‘When I reached the hotel entrance, I didn’t signal but braked at the last minute to turn off. Sure enough he braked hard too, then followed me into the car park, though he stopped under a tree at the far end. Would you please look out of the window and see if you recognise the car, Ms Larson?’

  She did as he asked and jerked back almost immediately. ‘Oh no! That’s his car! It must be him inside it. He’ll know it’s me leaving when we load all the luggage into your limo and I bet he’ll follow us. And he’s a violent man.’

  There was silence, then Molly snapped her fingers as she got an idea. ‘How about this? Euan and I could take you and your luggage away from the hotel in the delivery van, which is plenty big enough for all your suitcases. It’s parked behind the hotel so the man in that car won’t be able to see you go out to it. And if you sit in the back of our van, he won’t see you leave, either, especially if I get into the passenger seat at the front of the hotel.’

  Nonie Jayne nodded vigorously. ‘Good idea. Let’s do it.’

  ‘We’ll transfer you to your hired car somewhere away from the hotel, once we’re sure we’re not being followed.’

  The driver nodded slowly and thoughtfully. ‘Yes, that’s a great idea. We could stay in touch by phone and if anything goes wrong, make new arrangements. I’ll leave first and wait nearby to make doubly sure he doesn’t follow either me or you, shall I?’

  Since Euan knew the area better than Molly, he took over. ‘How about we meet at The Blackbird pub? It’s in a nearby village, not visible from the main road.’

  He and Jim got together and put the information into the satnav on the driver’s smartphone, then Jim left the hotel and drove off.

  Euan kept watch from inside the hotel, calling to the others. ‘The grey car has stayed at the far side of the car park. Either he wasn’t following the big car or he was only doing it to look for you.’

  Nonie Jayne let out her breath in a long whoosh. ‘I recognise the car so he’s come after me. That’s scary.’

  ‘Come through to the rear, Ms Larson, and we’ll load you and your luggage into the delivery van. After that I’ll bring it round to the front and Molly can get into it openly. That should fool him.’

  Nonie Jayne didn’t enjoy having to sit on a lumpy old cushion among her luggage in the rear of the van. It reminded her too much of when she was a child and the family was doing a midnight flit because of unpaid rent. But she didn’t protest. All she wanted at the moment was to get away from Gil.

  After that, she’d see how things went with Edward. Or else go home to the States.

  She sat clutching a hand loop on the side of the van, hardly daring to breathe till they’d picked up Molly openly near the front entrance and driven away from the hotel. Then she asked, ‘Did he follow us? I can’t see out behind us from here.’

  ‘No, he didn’t follow. He’s still waiting in the car park. You’d better stay where you are, though. After we meet your driver, you can travel in more comfort.’

  ‘Sure. And thanks for this.’

  She hadn’t a clue where they were now but she trusted the Santiagos.

  How had she got into this mess? She usually managed things better than this, planned ahead, had fallback plans.

  It just proved you shouldn’t get angry when you were dealing with either money or ex-husbands. Or greedy.

  She would engrave that on her heart from now on.

  Gil stayed where he was at the far corner of the hotel car park and watched the luxury car he’d been following pull up at the hotel. It was just the sort of vehicle he’d have expected Nonie Jayne to hire to get away in. He wasn’t going to let her do that, though, because she was his prime target.

  Unless he’d guessed badly, from what she’d let drop and the way she dressed, he was sure she had a big chunk of money stashed away somewhere. He meant to get hold of it, one way or another.

  Beauty like hers could be useful to him later in scams, as well. She’d dazzle most men, distract them and leave them vulnerable. This was it, his big chance in life.

  There was only the driver in the limo, so it wasn’t bringing someone here, that was certain. The driver came out after a few minutes on his own, not looking happy. There must have been some mistake about his booking.

  One thing was certain, Gil decided as he watched the car pull away: Nonie Jayne hadn’t gone off with this fellow. She couldn’t have sneaked out because the car had been in full view the whole time and besides, she’d mentioned having several suitcases to lug around as well, since she was between homes.

  No, he’d been mistaken in his suspicions about this luxury car.

  He settled down again to keep watch, feeling more relaxed about the situation. He’d go inside openly later in the morning and ask to see her.

  Five minutes later he jerked upright, on high alert again, as a van pulled out from behind the hotel. This one had a sign on it: Penny Lake Hotel. It stopped in front of the building and a woman came hurrying out, carrying a shopping bag, and got into the passenger seat. Not Nonie Jayne.

  Still no sign of her leaving, then. Perhaps she’d taken heed of his warning.

  He wriggled down into a more comfortable position. It was going to be a long, boring morning but he had to keep an eye on the hotel to make sure she didn’t try to leave. Luckily he could use his binoculars to keep watch on the row of houses as well from here.

  Not his favourite sort of robbery, this; too much hanging around in daylight. But it’d bring him in something to tide him over till he got hold of Nonie Jayne’s money.

  As the morning crawled past with nothing happening, he began to feel a bit uneasy and wondered if he was right about all this. He’d been wrong before and it had landed him behind bars.

  Well, you had to try, didn’t you? Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If he was wrong and she didn’t have money stashed away, he’d use her in other ways.

  He’d seen a film once where a guy used a beautiful woman to trick money out of older men. He’d never forgotten it.

  He glanced at his watch from time to time. Not yet.

  His stomach rumbled and he was thirsty.

  He hated waiting around.

  John Crichton scowled at Sandra when she returned to the hotel empty-handed. ‘Is your contact ever going to come up with the goods?’

  ‘I’m really sorry but he’s working on it as fast as he can, dear.’

  ‘Well, I’m fed up to the teeth of waiting around, dear.’

  She gave him a wounded look. ‘He’s doing his best. After all, you’d have had to wait around for even longer if you’d been able to have the plastic surgery.’

  ‘Well, that would have been worth it. Only I couldn’t have it and my time on earth is more limited than I’d expected, so it’s not worth hanging about. If the travel arrangements don’t get sorted out quickly, I’ll get in touch with a guy I know instead. He can arrange anything, anywhere.’

  ‘No, don’t do that, John. I’m sure my contact will have it all sorted out by tomorrow.’

  It took a big effort not to snap at her again. Everything was an effort these days.

  He went to bed early because he felt exhausted, but slept only intermittently. Well, that had one good result at least – it gave him time to develop his final plans. Strange how he often got ideas during the long watches of a wakeful night.

  As they were having breakfast together the following morning, he complain
ed about how badly he’d slept. Later on, he yawned a lot and when Sandra suggested he have a nap, he pretended to be reluctant, then finally agreed.

  Sure enough, she peeped in a short time later to check that he was asleep, then she closed the door fully. He got quietly out of bed and went to stand by the window, which he’d left slightly open. As usual she had gone to stand by her window to make the call. She was a fanatic about fresh air and always left the windows open when she could.

  Bingo! His plan had worked and he could hear most of what she was saying. She sounded angry and after a while she didn’t even try to keep her voice low.

  Careless of you, Sandra, he thought and leant against the wall next to the opening, wishing he could also hear what the other person was saying.

  ‘No, Dirk, it has to be today or he’ll arrange it himself.’

  She was quiet, making little noises as if to encourage this Dirk person to continue, then said grudgingly, ‘Yes, that’s possible. Go on … Hmm.’

  A longer silence, then, ‘Are you sure that’s going to be safe for us?’

  More silence, then, ‘Well, it’s a small risk. Very tiny, really, so we’ll do it. No, Dirk, it’s that or I’ll have to do things his way, which may not suit us half as well. For our plan to work, I need to be in charge, so that we can do what’s been arranged at the other end.’

  Startled, John wondered whether they were planning to kill him. Had this man always been in the background of her life? Had she been seeing him when she was supposed to be visiting her family in Spain?

  When he heard her end the call, he lay down on the bed and feigned sleep. His heart was pounding again. It was getting increasingly unreliable. Had that specialist been telling him the truth about how long he was likely to live? Or was he closer to extinction than he’d thought?

  Sometimes he wished his damned heart would just give up trying to beat and put him out of his misery once and for all, but so far it had always steadied again.