Back to You

by Cathy Cole

  The shout rang out through the court. Eve swung round in her seat, to see a pale-faced man standing up in the public gallery. Even from a distance, Eve could see that he was clenching and unclenching his fists.

  “Silence in court!” shouted an official as a hubbub of excited conversation broke out across the room.

  “Seventeen years ago,” said the prosecutor when the noise died down, “the defendant was involved in a fraudulent property deal that was brought to the attention of the Financial Services Authority in London.”

  Eve felt sick as the magistrate raised her eyebrows and made a note. It couldn’t be true. She looked at her father, willing him to deny it, but he remained silent, staring at his hands.

  “Twenty-seven thousand pounds from that deal remain unaccounted for,” the prosecuting counsel continued.

  “Twenty-seven thousand pounds of my money!” shouted the man in the gallery again.

  “Will someone please remove that gentleman?” said the magistrate as uproar broke out. “This is a court of law, not a circus.”

  “In addition to his track record, the defendant has the means to abscond if he is not remanded in custody,” said the prosecuting counsel as the man was hustled away from the gallery by a pair of burly guards. “And the prosecution strongly believes that if he does abscond, several million pounds of the investors’ money will never be seen again. Your Honour, I ask you most sincerely not to grant bail.”

  “Mr Munroe, do you have anything to add on behalf of your client?”

  Mr Munroe shook his head. Eve saw her father cover his eyes and slump forward in the dock.

  “The defendant will be remanded without bail until such time as the case against him is brought to trial,” said the magistrate. She stood and exited the room. The bail hearing was over.

  Eve wanted to stand up and run to her father as he was pulled to his feet by the guards and led towards a door in the far corner of the courtroom. Had she heard right? There would be no bail?

  “I’m very sorry,” said the lawyer, placing his hand on Eve’s sleeve. “I did what I could.”

  “Daddy’s staying locked up?” said Eve, crushed.

  “I’m afraid so.” The lawyer was already packing his things away, snapping his case shut. “We have a few weeks until the trial to organise his defence. I will do what I can, Miss Somerstown. Until then, I’m afraid there’s nothing to be done.”

  He left. Eve found she couldn’t make her legs work. The courtroom cleared around her. The door behind her father had swung shut several moments earlier. He would be back in his cell within half an hour.

  “He didn’t do it,” she whispered to herself.

  An image of the pale-faced man in the gallery came into her mind. She pushed it away.

  EIGHT

  At last, Eve found the strength to stand up. She picked up her bag and made her way to the doors, her mind whirling with all that she’d heard. To her horror, she felt tears rushing hot and thick into her eyes. She couldn’t cry, not here.

  What did it all mean? Her father had never mentioned a previous fraud case. Eve knew he had worked in London before she was born, but so had most of her parents’ friends. There had never been a whiff of scandal about her father before, not that she had heard.

  Maybe Daddy came to Heartside Bay to start again, she thought. Maybe he’s put those days behind him and this is just a terrible coincidence.

  The excuses were starting to feel hollow, even to her own ears.

  She walked out of the courtroom, blinking in the bright sunlight. Only it wasn’t sunlight. It was flashbulbs.

  “Miss Somerstown! How do you feel about your father not being granted bail?”

  “Your father has been accused of grave financial misconduct, Miss Somerstown. Did you know anything about his dealings?”

  “Miss Somerstown, over here! Over here, Miss Somerstown!”

  Eve flung her hands up to protect herself from the barrage of questions and flashbulbs. Microphones were pushed into her face. She could barely move down the steps. A terrible feeling of claustrophobia swept over her. Why was she alone? Where was her father’s lawyer?

  “Leave me alone,” she said in desperation as a camera loomed before her. “Please, leave me alone…”

  Somehow she was on the pavement now. She started running. Journalists and photographers ran easily beside her, snapping their cameras and waving their recording devices at her. She recognized one of them as the journalist she had dodged outside her house the day before. He was smiling.

  “Leave me alone!” she screamed.

  She swung sharply around a corner into the cobbled lanes of the Old Town. The stones seemed to twist under her feet, and she stumbled and almost fell. Clutching her bag close to her body, she ran a little faster, twisting to the left and the right, snaking her way through the huddled buildings. She had no idea where she was. All she knew was that she wasn’t being followed any more.

  Panting for breath, she leaned back against a damp brick wall. She needed to get back to the hotel, where no one could see her. She wasn’t prepared for any of this. She never thought she’d feel like this, but she needed her mother.

  I hope you and Chloe are enjoying Paris, Mummy, she thought bitterly.

  She forced herself to think straight. Fumbling in her bag for a hairband and a pair of sunglasses, she scraped her hair back into a bun on the back of her neck and slammed her sunglasses on the end of her nose. Then she found a silk scarf tucked down in the recesses of her bag. Taking off her coat and stuffing it into her bag, she wrapped the scarf around her neck and studied her reflection in a nearby window. It wasn’t the best disguise in the world, but it would have to do. No one knew she was staying at the Grand Hotel. If she could just make it back there in one piece, she could lock herself in her room. No one could get to her there.

  Eve could hear the sea somewhere ahead of her. She followed the sound of the waves. Running swiftly across the eastern end of the High Street, she ducked down a flight of steps and found herself on Marine Parade, at the back of the hotel. She loitered as unobtrusively as she could by the rear entrance, waiting for someone to come out. At last, the door opened. Checking one more time to ensure she hadn’t been followed, Eve slipped inside and took the back stairs to her room.

  She collapsed on her bed with a sigh of relief. Checking her watch, she saw that it was almost half past two. One more hour, and Rhi would be here. Everything would feel better then.

  There was a sharp rap on the door. Eve sat bolt upright, her heart in her mouth. The journalists had found her.

  “Who is it?” she said, her voice high with fear.

  “Miss Somerstown, it’s Alfred Thomas, the manager of the hotel. May I have a word?”

  Eve opened the door. She was pushed backwards almost at once as a tall man in a pinstriped suit came into the room. He looked very grave.

  “Yes … can I help you?” she asked, trying to stay calm.

  “I’m afraid your card has been declined, Miss Somerstown. Unless you have another means of payment, you will need to move out immediately.”

  What? Eve held out her hands in appeal. “I’m so sorry, there must have been a mistake. My card has never been declined before. I … I’m sure I can pay with something else…”

  With shaking fingers, she opened her purse. She always used credit – always. Two pound coins looked forlornly at her.

  “I’m sorry, Miss Somerstown,” the manager repeated.

  “Wait!” said Eve desperately, fumbling for her phone. “I need to call someone, they’ll be able to help…”

  Who could she call? Rhi was the only person talking to her right now. It would have to be Rhi.

  The phone went straight to voicemail. Eve remembered there was still an hour of school before she would be able to reach her friend. She had to think of something else…
/>   The bank. Of course. The family banked with a private firm in London. They had a special helpline for clients that her father had made her program into her phone in case of emergencies.

  “Hello, it’s Eve Somerstown here,” she began when someone picked up at the other end. “I’m having a little trouble accessing funds for a hotel bill. There’s been some kind of error—”

  “I’m sorry, Miss Somerstown, but there’s no error,” said the female voice on the other end. “Due to your father’s unfortunate circumstances, all the family accounts have been frozen.”

  Eve’s heart sank. How could she have been so stupid? She should have known that her card wouldn’t work – they hadn’t been able to keep anything. But being able to buy whatever she wanted was so normal for Eve that she hadn’t even thought about not being able to use her card.

  “I’m sorry not to be able to assist you further,” the woman on the phone continued. “Goodbye.”

  Eve stood for a moment with the phone still pressed to her ear as the other end went dead. She couldn’t think.

  The manager clicked his fingers. Two large men in green bellboy uniforms came into the hotel room. To Eve’s horror, they opened her and Rhi’s suitcases and prepared to start packing. She summoned everything she had.

  “If you don’t mind,” she said forcefully, “I can pack for myself. I will be down in ten minutes, Mr Thomas. I’m very sorry for the confusion.”

  “Ten minutes,” the manager repeated. “We will expect full settlement of your bill, Miss Somerstown. I hope you have accommodating friends.”

  Eve waited until the manager and the two bellboys had left the room before she let herself cry. She cried silently, holding her stomach with her face buried in the soft white pillows. She cried until every part of her felt numb with exhaustion. Then she washed her face in cold water and started to pack. She had no idea where she was going to go next, or what she was going to do.

  There was another knock. Why wouldn’t they leave her alone? She slammed the case shut and ran to the door, yanking it open.

  “Which part of ‘I will be down in ten minutes’ didn’t you…”

  Eve stopped dead. It wasn’t Mr Thomas the hotel manager, or his goons. It was a girl a little taller than herself, with chestnut-coloured hair and freckles scattered across her nose. A pair of big green eyes with long, dark lashes and a wide smile. It seemed impossible to believe, but Eve recognized her at once. How could she not? Apart from the fact that she’d been looking at her photo only moments earlier, she would have known that face anywhere.

  “Becca!” she gasped, and fell into the girl’s waiting arms.

  NINE

  Eve couldn’t believe Becca was here. She held her tightly, sobbing her name over and over again. How was it possible that her long-lost friend was standing with her now in the Grand Hotel? It was like a miracle. She suddenly felt safe, like everything was going to be OK. If Becca could appear out of the blue like this, anything could happen. Her father could be freed. She could go home. Life could go back to how it had been before, only better, because Becca was back.

  Becca rubbed her back and let her cry. “It’s OK, Eve,” she said every now and then. “Everything’s going to be fine. You’re going to come through this stronger than ever, I promise.”

  Everything about Becca was familiar. The touch of her hair on Eve’s face. The warmth of her embrace. It already felt as if she had never disappeared from Eve’s life at all.

  “Where have you been for the last seven years?” Eve asked through her tears. “Where did you go? How did you know I was here?”

  Becca shut the hotel door behind them. “Let’s get inside where no one can hear us.”

  Eve was still crying. She couldn’t stop. “I’ve missed you so much,” she wept.

  Becca’s smile lit up her freckled face. “I’m here now, aren’t I? You can’t miss me any more.” Her smile faded as she added, “I came as soon as I heard about your dad. It’s been all over the TV and the radio. I’m so sorry, Eve. It must have been awful.”

  “Where have you been?” Eve repeated.

  Becca went to the window to stare out at the sea. “All over the place,” she said. “We left in such a hurry, I couldn’t even say goodbye. I’m sorry about that. Do you remember when I left?”

  Eve could still remember how she had felt that day. The disappointment, the slamming doors. The smell of warm baking gradually going cold. “I’ll never forget,” she said. “We had a playdate. You didn’t show up. I’d made cupcakes.”

  “You mean, Yelitza made cupcakes,” said Becca, grinning back at her.

  Eve managed a watery smile. “Yes, OK, Yelitza made them. But I iced them. Mummy found them the next day and threw them away. She was on one of her anti-sugar crusades that day. I never tasted a single one.”

  “Is Yelitza still with you?”

  The lump in Eve’s throat threatened to return. “I don’t think Daddy could pay her any more. She went home.”

  Becca nodded. “Too bad.”

  “Why did you leave?” Eve asked curiously. “You were there one day and gone the next. I cried for a whole week when I realized you weren’t coming back.”

  Becca grimaced. “You know what it’s like when you’re a kid. You have no control over anything. I didn’t understand at the time, but Dad was in trouble with his business. There was going to be this awful scandal, but your father stepped in and bailed him out so we had enough money to leave and make new lives for ourselves.” She crossed the room and took Eve’s hands. “I know what you’re going through, Eve. I went through the same thing. That’s why I’m here. To help you, like your father helped us.”

  Eve put her arms around Becca again and hugged her, unwilling to let her go in case she disappeared again.

  “I have to get out of here,” she said after a moment. “The manager came in a few minutes ago to tell me my credit card had been declined. He’s expecting me downstairs in about two minutes to settle the bill. I don’t know how I’m going to do that. I don’t have any money.”

  That was something Eve never thought she’d hear herself say.

  “Not a problem,” said Becca. “We’ll get out of here and you can come and stay with me for a while.”

  “Are you living in Heartside Bay again?” said Eve with a leap of delight.

  “Not exactly. Do you remember Gran’s cottage? We used to go there sometimes, remember?”

  Eve had a faint memory of a whitewashed cottage with low-hanging eaves and tangled rose bushes. She nodded.

  “Gran died a couple of years ago,” Becca said. Her face darkened. “My family is behaving like a bunch of spoilt little kids, all fighting over who should inherit it. No one’s been there in a while. I thought we could go there. We’ll be camping a bit, but at least it’s a roof. What do you think?”

  Eve couldn’t think of anything nicer than the old whitewashed cottage. She remembered it as cosy, and smelling of lemon cake. A safe haven where she could be with Becca. “Thank you,” she said gratefully. “Just give me a minute and we can go.”

  Becca wandered around the hotel room, picking up random items left around for the occupants’ use. A pad of paper, a pencil, tea and coffee sachets, creamers, sugar. Eve emerged from the bathroom with her wash things to see her old friend tipping half the contents of the minibar into her rucksack.

  “They’ll be here in a minute,” said Becca, shouldering her rucksack, which looked a lot bulkier than it had a few moments earlier. “Let’s go.”

  With Becca beside her, Eve felt strong again. She quickly pulled on her coat and clicked her suitcase shut. Then she followed Becca down the quiet corridor to the back stairs she had taken barely fifteen minutes earlier.

  Footsteps were coming the other way. Becca shoved Eve in a broom cupboard and motioned for her to be quiet.

  “What are you doin
g?” Eve whispered.

  “You still have a hotel bill to settle,” Becca pointed out, listening at the door. “They won’t let you leave until someone pays. I haven’t got it and nor have you. We’re doing a flit, Eve. It’s the only way. Perhaps when this business with your dad is settled, you can pay the bill. Right now, we need to get out of here without anyone seeing us.”

  Eve had never left anywhere in secret before. She waited quietly with Becca as the footsteps passed by.

  “Good thing they didn’t need any cleaning products,” Becca remarked, looking around them at the shelves stacked with disinfectant, cloths and mops.

  Eve giggled, clapping her hands to her mouth to prevent the sound escaping. Adrenaline was kicking in now, making her feel a little sick. She was leaving a hotel without paying. She would be in a lot of trouble if she was caught.

  Like I need more trouble, she thought, gripping her suitcase.

  But Becca was right. They had no choice. When the coast was clear, they slipped through the exit at the back of the hotel and vanished into the bright afternoon light.

  This is it, Eve thought, following Becca across the beach towards the bus stop at the west end of town and praying no one was watching. No turning back now.

  TEN

  Waiting for the bus had felt like for ever to Eve. She was more used to calling Paulo, her father’s driver, to pick her up than waiting in hot bus stops filled with stinking litter. Becca sat calmly on the bench beside her, like she waited in broiling bus shelters every day of her life. She probably did, Eve thought. What did she know about her friend these days? Nothing at all. Just how very glad she was that Becca had turned up when she did, offering sanctuary and a roof.

  When the bus arrived, her shirt felt like it was glued to her sweating back. Her green suede slip-ons were looking dusty. She tried to remember if she’d put anything more summery into her suitcase. She had a feeling the rest of her shoes were much the same as these ones.

  The bus was even hotter than the bus shelter, and smelled of old burger wrappers and smoke. Eve followed Becca to a seat at the back, past old pensioners and vacant-looking mothers with snotty-nosed kids in pushchairs taking up half the aisle, trying not to meet anyone’s eye. How did people travel this way?