by Neale, Kitty
Chapter Seventeen
‘No, no, come on up,’ Ruth giggled. God, was she still drunk? She’d lost count of how much champagne they’d had, ordering room service in the middle of the night. She could swear, though, that she was high on adrenaline, the success of her ultimate plan to snare Adam and his assets. ‘They probably won’t be up and we can just ignore them if they are.’
Adam rarely went to the flat – it depressed him, but this morning was different. Soon they’d be away from the dreary place. He’d already earmarked in his mind a lovely penthouse he’d seen for sale with superb sea views. Would Ruth’s savings stretch to a deposit on that, he wondered. Or maybe they would be enough to buy it outright? That would be even better.
As they opened the front door they were greeted by sounds of someone crying. Stepping into the living room, they found a distraught Lorna in Robert’s arms. Her face was blotchy and he was rubbing her back, and it looked as if they’d been standing like that for some time.
‘What’s happened?’ demanded Ruth. ‘We’ve got some great news that will cheer you up! Adam and I are getting married! What do you say about that?’
If she’d been expecting congratulations, there were none. Lorna made a strange gulping sound and turned to face her. ‘Oh,’ she said. ‘That’s nice for you. But Mum has just died, so I’m a bit upset right now.’
Ruth vaguely remembered that the woman had been sick and that was why Penny had had to go to her friend’s so often on a Saturday. ‘I’m very sorry to hear that,’ she said. ‘That’s very sad.’ She managed to inject sympathy into her voice, although it went against her nature to do so. But she knew her friend had mentioned her mother in Battersea and this must have been a heavy blow for her. ‘But guess what? We’re getting married! As soon as possible! Isn’t that exciting?’
‘Very exciting,’ said Robert, shaking his head. ‘You must be very pleased.’
‘Oh, we are, aren’t we, darling?’ crowed Ruth, nudging Adam. ‘Say something, Adam.’
‘Er, sorry for your loss,’ he managed. ‘Thing is, we’ll be getting married almost immediately …’
‘Actually, we have some news too,’ said Lorna, as her sobbing gradually stopped. ‘I know I don’t look it right now, but I’m also extremely happy. Yes, Mum’s died and that’s terrible. But Robert just asked me to marry him and I said yes. I want to wait until the divorce is well behind me so it won’t be at once, but we’re going to get married as well.’
All four of them fell silent, realising that this was the moment of no return.
‘There’s more,’ said Robert. ‘Ruth, it’s been an education working with you. But the time has come for me to strike out, and with Lorna beside me I’m sure it’s the right thing to do. So I’m resigning.’
If Ruth was dismayed she hid it well. ‘I see,’ she said. ‘In fact that is good timing. Not only am I going to marry Adam, but our two firms are merging. So there will be changes all round.’
Another silence fell.
Finally, Lorna spoke. ‘And what will that mean for Penny?’ she asked. ‘How will you look after her? She can come to live with us if she wants to. I’d be more than happy …’
‘No, no, that won’t be necessary,’ said Ruth at once. ‘It’s time she got a proper education. She won’t get that at that dump down the road, and look at who she mixes with. No, I’ve had my eye on a good school for a long time. She can go to St Martha’s.’
‘But that’s the other side of the county!’ gasped Lorna. ‘It’s closer to Brighton than here! When will we see her?’
‘She can stay with you in the holidays,’ said Ruth dismissively. Really, these two were the limit. With all the bombshells that had just gone off, they had to concentrate on that blessed child. What was wrong with them?
‘Oh no,’ cried Lorna. ‘That’s no time at all. Ruth, please think again. She’s not even nine yet. She can come with us, honestly, it’s no bother. Imagine how lonely she’ll be away from us all.’
‘Lorna, be sensible,’ snapped Ruth. ‘What would it look like if I gave my daughter away to be looked after by someone else? And I can’t have her under my feet just when things are really starting to take off at work. Really, it will be the best place for her. She’ll love it.’
Lorna began to cry again, even harder this time. The sorrow of the night had exhausted her and she’d barely managed a wink of sleep on the way back, but this was too much. Rage coursed through her, combined with heartbreak at the thought of losing Penny and what the little girl would have to go through. ‘I can’t believe you’re saying that. You don’t love her. You never have. You should never have had her.’
‘Don’t give me that, you miserable old cow,’ shouted Ruth, all restraint now gone. ‘What’ll you do with her? Smother her? Teach her to stay at home and look after a man? Make cakes?’
‘She needs to be with people she loves and who love her!’ Lorna exclaimed. ‘Isn’t it obvious? How can you think differently? Who cares what it looks like? This is Penny we’re talking about, not some stupid business deal. You pour all your love into that agency and never show anything for your child. What do you think that looks like, if that’s all you care about? If it wasn’t for her I’d have left long ago, but that little girl needs love! She needs me!’
‘Well, she’s not going to stay around here now I can afford to send her to St Martha’s,’ Ruth retaliated. ‘She’ll be too busy there to miss anybody, and that includes you. Both of you.’
‘Come on, Lorna, let’s go,’ said Robert, appalled at the turn events had taken. ‘We can come back later for your things. You’re coming home with me. You don’t have to listen to this.’ He wrapped her coat around her and guided her to the door and down the stairs, leaving Ruth and Adam to glare down at them as they left.
None of them saw a small, horrified face gazing down from the upper landing.
‘Well, that was a hell of a start to the morning,’ said Ruth as she filled the kettle. ‘Who’d have guessed she’d be so angry with me? Must be the shock of her mother’s death. Still, maybe it’s for the best. I have to say I was getting tired of coming home to that long face. Robert’s welcome to her. Here, have some coffee – we probably need it.’ She grinned suggestively up at Adam as she handed him a mug.
‘Yes, two of a kind, made for each other,’ Adam agreed. ‘He’s good at his job, I’ll give him that, but he’s not exactly fun to have around, is he? You’re better off without him. We can take our time and find people that suit us properly.’ He sniffed his drink and sighed. ‘We can have a big kitchen with a real coffee maker. No more instant granules. How’d you like that?’
‘Mmm,’ said Ruth. ‘Something to get you going in the mornings.’
‘Oh, I think we both know what gets me going in the mornings.’
‘Stop it!’ said Ruth playfully.
‘I was impressed with the way you came back about that school so quickly,’ he said. ‘I know of that place, it’s got a great reputation, but it doesn’t come cheap. Am I going to be married to an heiress?’ He put his arms around her waist and pretended to waltz her round the kitchen.
‘No, silly,’ said Ruth, almost letting herself be carried away with the moment. ‘I didn’t think you’d mind. I know you won’t want her under our feet. It’ll surely be a drop in the ocean for you.’
Adam came to a halt. ‘Drop in the ocean?’ he echoed. ‘Drop in what ocean?’
‘Well, your ocean, of course,’ she said. ‘Your ocean of limitless wealth.’
‘Now you’re joking,’ he said. ‘You are joking, surely?’
‘No,’ she said, suddenly sober. ‘Why would I joke about a thing like that? Look at you, your own firm, these fabulous premises – and don’t forget I know exactly what they’re worth. God knows I tried to find some like it for ages, if you remember. You’re sitting on a goldmine. We’re sitting on a goldmine.’
‘Ah, there might have been some misunderstanding there,’ Adam said, trying to make light of
it. ‘Anyway, with your savings, it won’t matter, will it?’
‘Savings?’ she repeated. ‘What savings? Oh, I had savings once. But they’re nearly all gone. Do you think I can dress like this with the tiny profits from the business? I hardly think so.’
They stood stock still, staring at each other. The silence lasted a very long time, as the penny dropped for both of them: the other had no money. They were each as bad as each other.
‘Tell me about this misunderstanding,’ Ruth eventually said, very slowly.
‘These premises came bargain-basement cheap,’ Adam admitted, ‘and you know that can only happen for a very small number of reasons. In this case it was because it was on a ridiculously short leasehold. I don’t own this flat outright – in a few months I’ll have no right to it at all. Same goes for the office.’
‘So let me get this straight,’ said Ruth, unable to believe that she would come out of this with nothing. ‘You have no private income, no secret stash of cash, no lovely corner premises with accommodation above.’
He nodded.
‘And I have no savings, no property at all, except for the contents of my wardrobe,’ she went on. ‘Shit. Shit, shit, shit. I do not believe it. What do we do now? I thought we had something there. I thought we had something really good going.’
‘We do, we do,’ insisted Adam. ‘We are great together. You know that. We’ll be huge. We just need some backing.’
Ruth ran her hands through her hair and gazed at the anaglypta ceiling, furiously thinking. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘We don’t have to pay Robert any more – that’s the school fees sorted. I don’t have to pay Lorna. We can live on the savings from that. But what about the premises? Can we extend the lease?’
‘I’ve tried,’ Adam admitted. ‘The greasy old sod won’t have it. Says he has plans to develop this building. Makes my blood boil when I know we could do it so much better.’
Ruth shook her head. ‘There’s always a way. Remember what you learnt from Joe Young. You find the weakness – then exploit it. What’s his weakness?’
Adam groaned, but then he remembered the hotel from a few weeks ago. ‘It’s girls,’ he said. ‘Not just any, but young ones. He’s married to someone his own age and her family are big in local politics. He won’t want a scandal. And I suspect some of them might be underage.’
‘There you are, then,’ said Ruth. ‘You want to give this one a go? Or are you happy to leave it to me?’
‘Ruth Hamilton-Smyth,’ he said in admiration. ‘Are you suggesting we start our new business venture on the basis of blackmail?’
‘How I hate that word!’ she exclaimed. ‘I much prefer to call it the pursuit of truth. Righting wrongs and all that. You just have to have confidence. If he’s done it, and he doesn’t want the whole town to know, then he’ll give in. Do you doubt me?’
‘Never,’ said Adam. ‘No, I’ll never doubt you. I have the utmost confidence that whatever you want you’ll get.’
‘Good,’ she said. ‘I’m glad we’ve got that sorted out.’ She looked at him mischievously. ‘Well, I know one thing I want very much. Or rather, someone.’ And she reached out to kiss him, hard.
PART TWO
Chapter Eighteen
1987
Penny groaned, as she tried to stay awake and focus on the huge textbook in front of her. She couldn’t see the point of all the complicated sums she had to get her head around for the forthcoming mock O-levels, as she never intended to use any of them in real life. Still, Lorna and Robert had insisted she try harder when she’d stayed with them for Christmas. ‘You’ll be glad later on,’ Robert had assured her.
But Penny wasn’t convinced. She knew they only wanted the best for her but holidays in Margate with them had felt increasingly suffocating. Her classmates would return with tales of outrageous exploits: drinking, sneaking out to nightclubs, riding in fast cars with older men, being asked if they were models. Penny wasn’t sure how much of it was true but it sounded more interesting than watching telly or helping in the garden if the weather was fine enough.
It wasn’t that she was ungrateful. Lorna and Robert had provided the only home she had, as her mother and Adam were far too busy to have her come to stay in their penthouse, if they even knew when term ended. They were riding high on the property boom, with Ruth taking the market towns of Kent by storm, while Adam expanded into an area of London called Docklands. Penny had no idea what any of this meant, but Robert informed her they were doing exceptionally well and had a real eye for opportunities. Maybe when they’d established themselves they’d have time to see more of her.
Penny knew he was saying it to make her feel better but she was under no illusions these days. Her mother had never had time for her, even when she’d had nothing to do in Spain but sunbathe and socialise. Penny didn’t feel that she really missed her, and anyway Lorna was always there with her love and support. Ruth had scarcely bothered to write to her daughter. Once a term or so a short note would arrive, usually telling her to work harder, and making extravagant promises that Penny was fairly sure were only there to impress whichever teacher had the job of checking the letters. It was a strict school and everything was monitored. In fact Penny received far more letters from Maureen, who’d taken a real shine to her, although these were mostly heavily censored by the time they got to her. It only added to the glamour of how she imagined Maureen’s life in Soho, with everything so exciting and scandalous that she wasn’t allowed to know the details.
Giving up with the revision for the evening, Penny stood and stretched. She’d grown tall, easily as tall as her mother, and she had passed Lorna a couple of years ago. Not bad, she thought, checking her reflection in the mirror. She had her mother’s dark hair – at least she’d done that much for her. She didn’t know if she resembled her father or not; the only photos of Laurence Hamilton-Smyth had been taken when he was in his seventies, which made it hard to tell. It didn’t bother her, as she wasn’t given to worrying about something she’d never had. If she wanted fatherly advice, which she usually didn’t, she turned to Robert.
Penny realised she was hungry. The food at St Martha’s was mostly terrible, but it had been a long time since she’d last eaten and she decided to head downstairs to see if there was anything for supper. She dimly remembered the food from her childhood in Spain – the tortillas, the spicy meatballs, the fruit that tasted of fruit. Everything here was bland by comparison. One day, she thought, making her way down the draughty corridor, one day I’ll go back there and see if it’s all as wonderful as I remember it. And I’ll never have to do maths again.
Ruth was enjoying the feel of her new sports car, which she’d had for just over a week. Adam had teased her about it, especially when she had demanded a red one, but she loved it. There weren’t that many roads she could really open up on between Tunbridge Wells and Margate, but sometimes she’d have an excuse to go on the motorway and then she’d really let it roar. There was nothing to beat the feeling of taking charge of such a powerful vehicle, spiced up by the knowledge that she’d done this all herself. She’d earned her car; more than earned it.
Finally, life was good. They’d had to struggle to start with, waiting to see if their daring gambit with the freeholder had worked. But her instinct had been right – he was too terrified of being unmasked to make trouble, and had agreed with all their demands in the end. That had bought them some time and they’d been able to expand, just as the market was ripe. Now Adam was pulling in big clients from the City, looking to relocate to Docklands. Ruth was happy to let him. She still didn’t want anything to do with London, even though Vincent Chase had been dead and buried for years now. She was delighted to be wined and dined by the City types as Adam’s wife and business partner, but that was quite enough.
Funny, thought Ruth, the lights of the cars coming towards her were behaving strangely. Maybe she was tired? She turned up the expensive stereo she’d insisted on, blasting out George Michael’s latest number one.
That usually made her feel better. No, the lights were still weaving peculiar patterns.
She realised she had a headache coming on, a really bad one. Now and again they attacked her, but she dismissed them as hazards of the job, which was always stressful. Shit, this was affecting her ability to drive. She’d better pull over and find some painkillers. This was harder than she’d thought as the road seemed to be distorted, bucking and twisting like a snake, even though she knew this part of her journey was completely flat. With relief, Ruth saw a layby up ahead and managed to steer into it, parking at a weird angle. Can’t have a headache, she thought, got far too much to do tomorrow, and we’re being taken to The Ivy.
Bloody typical, thought Adam. Early start tomorrow, which would surely be followed by a late night, and they could really have done with eating on time this evening. But there was no sign of Ruth. Probably got carried away playing with that new toy of hers. It wasn’t that Adam was jealous of the car; he could easily have afforded one for himself, but he suspected she was taking time off to drive around and test it on every possible route. All very well, but he had a thousand things to discuss with her. Irritated, he made himself some supper, grabbing whatever Waitrose goodies he could find and piling them on a plate.
Adam was just finishing it when the intercom went. Marvellous, not only was she late but she’d forgotten her keys. Clearly he wasn’t going to be allowed to digest his hasty meal in peace. Muttering, he went to the front door. ‘About time …’ he began and fell silent at the sight of two police officers.
‘Mr Adam Mortimer?’