by Beth Abbott
“What do you mean?” He frowned at Claire. “There’s never been anything between Lacey and me. I don’t know how you could even suggest it.”
“I’m not suggesting it.” Claire shrugged. “But with the way Lacey prances around the office letting everyone think you and she have a ‘special relationship’, are you really surprised that Suzy picked up on it? Or got upset about it? There have been enough shenanigans over the last week or so to convince me that none of this has been in Suzy’s imagination. Lacey has put in a lot of time and effort to make sure Suzy hasn’t felt sure of herself.”
“Seriously?” Matt scoffed. “Or are we talking about office gossip again?”
Claire gave him a pointed look before glancing around the room, seeing everyone still busy.
“Y’know, I’ve had a hunch about something this past week, and I think now’s the time to check it out. Come with me.” Claire stood up and walked to the door, leaving Matt no alternative but to follow her.
They made their way down to the main office, but before they got to Lacey’s desk, Claire deliberately put her hand out to stop Matt from moving into view.
“Lacey?” Claire stepped up to the young PA’s desk. “Do you have the keys to the small store-room off the hallway?”
“Um, yes, I think so.” He heard Lacey’s response. “Was there anything I can get for you?”
“No, nothing dear.” Claire smiled. “I just wanted to check out how big it was. I’m looking for somewhere to store Tony’s stuff if it arrives early.”
“Oh, I could do that for you.” Lacey offered.
“No, it’s Ok.” Claire’s smile didn’t waver. “I’m also looking for something to keep me occupied, while everyone else is busy upstairs.”
Matt heard Lacey rummaging in her drawer until she found the keys.
“There you go.” Lacey’s voice sounded less assured than usual, and he wondered if it was in response to Claire’s confidence.
The older woman turned to walk away, and then paused before turning back.
“That reminds me… do you have any of the ink we use on the stamp pads?” Claire smiled at Lacey. “I was going to send out some receipts this week for some of my London clients. I like to send them out with the official ‘Payment Received’ stamp marks on them.”
“Sure, here you go. I always keep some in my drawer.” Lacey handed over a small bottle of black ink.
“Oh, do you have any red as well?” Claire frowned. “I like to use red for certain clients.”
“Sure.” Lacey handed over another bottle. “We buy them in sets of black and red.”
“Thanks, honey.” Claire smiled before walking away. “Much appreciated.”
Claire led Matt into the hallway and closed the door before stopping and turning to face him.
“We buy them in sets of black and red.” Claire mimicked, holding them up for Matt to see. “But obviously, since she automatically handed me the black one, that’s the colour Lacey uses for the Birmingham receipts.”
“Claire, you’re talking in riddles.” He shook his head. “I have no idea what you’re driving at.”
“She uses the black ink for work.” Claire repeated. “So, why is the red bottle nearly empty?”
Matt took both bottles from her, and sure enough the black bottle was almost full, whereas the red bottle was almost empty.
Claire stepped past him and inserted the key Lacey had given her into the lock.
Matt watched her push the door open and switch on the light.
He couldn’t actually recall coming into this room before, and as he looked around, he could see why. It was little more than a dump for old furniture, filing racks and stationary.
“What’s so important about this room?” He frowned at Claire.
“Wait there a second.” Claire exited the room and made her way back into the main office.
Matt glanced around and realised they could be making better use of storage space like this. The room was about three or four metres square, and while it had no windows, it could still be used for meetings or even training sessions if it was tidied up.
When Claire returned, she carried a cup of water, and a bunch of white paper towels from the kitchen.
“Thirsty?” He asked, still unsure what she was up to.
Claire leaned over one of the chairs in the room and wiped the black fabric seat cover with the paper towels.
When she held them out for his inspection, Matt looked closely. They were just white paper towels, for goodness sakes! What was he supposed to see?
He shrugged, completely confused.
When she leaned forward and tipped the clear water onto the chair, Matt decided the woman had gone crazy.
“And… why exactly did you do that?” He asked slowly.
Claire placed the paper towels flat on the seat cushion and then firmly pressed them into the material with her fist.
This time when she picked them up to show him, they were bright red. Scarlet, in fact, like the ink in the bottle.
He glanced up at Claire.
“Suzy’s new suede skirt?” He whispered, remembering the ruined garment.
“Bingo!” Claire smiled. “Lacey is the only one with a key to this room, and she’s the only one who keeps red ink in her drawer.”
Matt took the paper towels from her and stared at them.
“Do you think...?” He began.
“I swear to God, Matt…! If you suggest that the ink might have been spilled on the chair by accident, I will slap you so hard you’ll be seeing Tweety-bird for a month!” Claire growled. “If it had been an accident, why wouldn’t Lacey have owned up to it when Suzy’s skirt was ruined? Why hide the chair AFTER Suzy sat on it?”
Matt stared at Claire, and for the first time he realised what a fool he’d been.
“It’s not the only thing she’s been doing.” Claire sighed. “Hannah sent me evidence of things Lacey’s tampered with to make Suzy look incompetent. Adding passwords to spreadsheets where there were none, and then blaming Suzy for losing the passwords. Removing meetings from your calendar and shit like that.”
“But I haven’t missed any meetings lately.” Matt frowned.
“That’s because Suzy has started keeping snapshots of your calendar days in advance, so she can spot when things are removed.” Claire shrugged.
“Why didn’t you just remove Lacey’s access to my calendar?” Matt frowned.
“It’s her job to have access to both of our calendars, Matt.” Claire scowled. “What’s the point in paying a PA to do a job, and then preventing them from doing it? I could hardly have explained that away, could I? And besides which, I only got the evidence from Hannah late yesterday. I hadn’t had the chance to speak to anyone about it yet.”
“I don’t understand why she would do stuff like this.” Matt moved to the stairs and sat down. “She’s got a responsible job with good money, a company car, and a lot of extras thrown in. What more did she want?”
“If you ask me, she wanted her handsome boss as well.” Claire shrugged.
“Claire, I’m at least fifteen years older than Lacey, who is a young, clever and pretty woman.” Matt scoffed. “What would she want with someone like me?”
“Matt, you’re not that far into your forties, still fit and handsome, and of course, pretty damn rich.” Claire smiled at him. “Are you really that naïve?”
Matt stared down at the paper towels. Was it really as simple as that?
Money?
“Don’t you remember the Mrs Merton chat-show, when she was interviewing Debbie McGee about her marriage to Paul Daniels, who was decades older than her?” Claire smiled before clearing her throat.
“So, tell me, Debbie… What was it that first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?”
Matt snorted a laugh as Claire mimicked the chat-show hostess. Yeah, he remembered that one. It was voted funniest one-liner in some opinion poll or other.
“Have I really been that easy to
hoodwink?” He asked his long-time friend.
Claire shook her head.
“Most of this has been going on behind your back, so it would have been impossible for you to guess at the half of it.” She reminded him. “However, when Suzy tried to tell you what was happening, you should have believed her. That’s the only part I’m mad at you for, Matt. Suzy would never do anything to hurt you, or damage your professional reputation. If she told you Lacey was taking you for a fool, then you damn well ought to have believed her. Not asked her to jump through hoops to prove it to you, and then ignore the evidence when she did.”
Matt dropped his head down and scrunched up his eyes.
If only he could have a do-over! He’d take back every stupid fucking word he’d said this morning and would’ve told Lacey that Suzy was taking her rightful place.
Hell, he should’ve done something about this whole mess months ago, the minute Suzy voiced her concerns.
“What should we do about her? Lacey, I mean.” Matt looked up at Claire, pleading for guidance. “Do I leave it? Or do I challenge her about it now?”
Claire shrugged.
“Your call, Matt.” She passed the buck right back to him.
Matt pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialled one of his saved numbers.
“Lacey? It’s Matt.” He realised he was stating the obvious. “Could you join me out in the store-room by the back stairs for a minute?”
He didn’t bother waiting for an answer, ending the call and putting the phone back in his pocket.
It was less than twenty seconds before the office door opened.
“Hey, Matt.” Lacey smiled at him seductively. “Well, that was an offer a girl couldn’t refuse.”
Lacey’s smile faded quickly when she stepped around the door and found Claire waiting for her.
“Lacey, we were wondering how all these chairs came to be in here.” Claire smiled at the younger woman, but Matt could see there was none of the usual twinkle in Claire’s eyes.
“Oh, they’re just old furniture that was cluttering up the main office.” Lacey shrugged. “It looks much tidier and more professional for our clients if we don’t have surplus chairs hanging around.”
“But wasn’t this the chair you gave Suzy to sit on, when she came into the office for that trial run?” Claire smiled.
“Was it?” Lacey turned to Matt with a smile and a shrug. “I was really too busy to notice.”
“Too busy to notice that Suzy’s new suede skirt was ruined after sitting on it?” Matt asked quietly.
“Was that what happened to it?” Lacey’s look of shock was totally fake in Matt’s opinion. “Suzy never said.”
He held out the paper towels with the red ink on them.
“We’ve just established that the chair seat was wet from red ink.” He held out the red ink bottle in his other hand. “So, how many people in the office have red ink in their drawer, Lacey?”
Lacey stepped back a few inches.
“You’re suggesting I poured red ink on the chair before I gave it to Suzy?” Lacey gave a short laugh before pointing at Claire. “I see what this is. She’s trying to get me fired, blaming me for something I didn’t do! How do you know she didn’t pour it on the chair herself just now, when you weren’t looking?”
“I know, because I trust Claire implicitly.” Matt shrugged. “And even if I didn’t, the ink bottle was already in my hands before Claire walked anywhere near the chair. She couldn’t have done it.”
“Well, anybody could have done it.” Lacey shrugged. “They could’ve taken the ink out of my drawer and poured it on the chair without anyone knowing.”
“Lacey, you keep your drawer key on a chain around your neck.” Matt pointed out. “Everyone knows your drawer is always locked if you aren’t at your desk, because you keep the petty cash tin in there.”
“You’re just looking for an excuse to get rid of me because of what’s going on with Suzy.” Lacey argued. “You’re just feeling guilty because you had a spat with your wife before she went missing, and you’re looking to blame it on me.”
“Lacey, at the moment I’ve got a lot going on, and the last thing I need to concern myself with is what you’ve been up to behind my back.” Matt growled. “Go back to your desk and stay out of my way until this business with Suzy is over, and we’ve all had a chance to breathe again.”
“And then you’ll sack me.” Lacey pronounced, folding her arms across her chest.
“Lacey, if I was going to sack you, I could have done it five minutes ago!” Matt snapped. “Now, get out of my sight before I change my mind.”
Lacey opened her mouth to speak, but one glance at Matt’s face told her she’d better keep her thoughts to herself.
She turned and hurried back into the office leaving Claire and Matt facing each other.
“Right then.” Claire turned and locked the store-room door, pocketing the key before turning back to him. “Shall we go and see what progress they’ve made towards getting Suzy back?”
Matt almost smiled at Claire’s ability to move on from the ‘Lacey conversation’ to what really mattered in a heartbeat.
“Yeah, let’s do that.” He nodded before wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Thanks for opening my eyes to what’s been going on around here. I probably wouldn’t have believed it if you hadn’t rubbed my face in it.”
“Technically I rubbed the paper towels in it, but I’d be happy to rub your face in it as well, if you’d like.” Claire grinned up at him.
“Thanks, but I’ll pass if it’s all the same to you.” He shrugged. “I’ve had quite enough embarrassment over my actions for one day as it is.”
As they made their way back up to the conference room, Matt wondered whether he would ever get the chance to tell Suzy what an asshole he’d been.
He wouldn’t care how red-faced he got apologising for being a world-class dick, as long as his Suzy was standing right in front of him to hear it.
Chapter 52 – Jay
“So, what happens next?” Jay sat on the top step and stared down at the basement level where the two women were locked up. “Have you demanded the ransom yet?”
“Not yet.” Heather confirmed. “I’m letting them sweat a little before I make the call.”
“You mean calls, don’t you? Plural.” Jay switched the phone to his other ear.
“No, I mean call.” Heather repeated. “By the time I put the call through to the relatives, they’ll all be together, I assure you.”
“But we spoke to the women earlier, and they said they’d never met before this morning.” Jay frowned. “The dark-haired one is a nurse, and the other woman’s husband works for a security company. How much do you think their families will pay to get them back?”
The woman’s laughter on the other end went on for so long it grated on his nerves.
“The dark-haired woman is indeed a nurse.” Heather confirmed when she could finally speak. “But she also happens to have a famous and very rich brother. As to the blonde, her husband doesn’t work for any old security company, he’s a director of a huge security company. They’ll pay plenty to get the women back.”
“How do you know that?” Jay frowned.
“It doesn’t matter how I know anything.” Heather chuckled. “It’s just good for us both that I do.”
“Have they called the police yet?” Jay wondered.
“Not yet.” Heather snorted. “They’re so sure of their own abilities to find the women, they’ll try and do this in-house, so to speak. They’re all ex-military, special forces I think, and don’t they all think they’re the dog’s bollocks! Arrogant assholes, the lot of them.”
“How do you know all this?” Jay wondered if she’d bugged someone’s office or something.
“I have someone on the inside who is feeding me updates as and when they can.” Heather sniffed. “I’ll know as soon as they do if they think they’ve made some progress.”
“Well, find out if the
y’ve got anywhere close to guessing where we are.” Jay instructed. “The last thing I need is a visit from a bunch of SAS types.”
“Ok, I’ll get hold of my contact and check.” Heather confirmed. “If there’s any news at all, you’ll be the first person I call.”
Heather cut the connection, and Jay stared at his phone.
She was good at saying all the right things, but of course they only had her word for it that she was going to get the kind of money they hoped for.
“What’s the latest?” Reggie asked, and Jay glanced over at his brother.
“Everything is going according to plan.” Jay nodded. “Heather appears to have an insider who is feeding her intel, so we should be able to stay one step ahead of them.”
“That’s something at least.” Reggie nodded. “And there won’t be a problem getting the money?”
“Yeah, about that…” Jay grinned. “Our sweet and innocent little nurse downstairs has a famous brother who’s minted. We’ll get the same ransom for her as we would have for the original woman. And the husband of the blonde chick who’s supposed to be a security guard, is actually the director of a big security company, so anything we get for her is going to boost our take.”
“The lying little bitch!” Reggie fumed. “Wait until I get my hands on her!”
“Yeah, well you can keep your hands to yourself until the ransom has been paid.” Jay reminded him. “After that, you can slap them around or do whatever you like to them, as long as you keep them alive until then.”
“I’m sure I can find plenty of ways to amuse myself with those two, without getting anywhere close to killing them.” Reggie grinned. “The boys will have some ideas as well.”
Jay glanced over at the three of Reggie’s men who’d been brought in to help out with the job. They were grinning in anticipation at whatever Reggie had planned for the women, as punishment for lying to him.
He looked down the stairs towards the basement and wondered if he should have kept his mouth shut. He didn’t care if Reggie wanted to slap them around a little, but he had a feeling that Reggie and his goons wouldn’t be happy stopping at that.
Jay wasn’t into rough sex, and he sure as fuck wasn’t gonna rape anyone.