There in front of him, virtually untouched, was her pride and joy. The thought of her spending time designing each pair of shoes and boots she’d then displayed so thoughtfully made him proud of her. Beautiful, as well as talented, he mused, saddened to know that even though her contents appeared untouched by the fire, smoke could do as much damage ensuring her valuable stock would probably have to be discarded. He hoped her insurance policy was good. She was probably going to need to make a big claim.
Sebastian knew enterprises such as Paige’s could rarely afford setbacks as expensive as this one would potentially be. He walked over to the nearest shelf and lifted a green leather boot, holding it to his face to smell the suede. He groaned as a definite odour of smoke instantly wafted up his nostrils. He put the boot back down again, hearing two of the security guards being questioned by one of the firemen.
‘You’re sure,’ the fireman repeated.
‘It looked like a body. No idea who it could be though.’
Sebastian hurried over to them and introduced himself. ‘I need to know everyone is accounted for before I leave.’ He waited and when the fireman didn’t reply, added. ‘I know the layout of this store, surely that will save you time looking around.’
The fireman shrugged. ‘Fine, let’s get a move on.’
Without waiting for him to change his mind, Sebastian took the stairs two at a time, finally reaching the fifth floor storeroom to find what did indeed look like an inert body on the floor over by the window. ‘Shit.’
The head store man was already there. Noticing Sebastian approaching he held up his hand. ‘It’s OK, it’s a mannequin.’
Relief coursed through Sebastian. He hadn’t noticed he’d been tensing most of his muscles until the relief of this statement allowed him to relax. ‘Thank God.’
‘Too right,’ said the fireman coming up behind him. ‘It makes the investigation a lot easier when there aren’t any casualties.’
Sebastian sighed. ‘Right, I’ll leave you to it. I don’t suppose the store’s going to be opening again in a hurry?’
The taller fireman shook his head. ‘You can tell your tenants not to expect to be able to return to this building, at least for a few days. We’ll let you know when they can come and check their stock, then it’ll be a while after that before work can be carried out to clean up the mess.’
‘Thank you,’ Sebastian said, pulling his mobile from his jacket pocket. The first person he wanted to speak to was Paige. He knew by the look on her face earlier that she was in a terrible state, and didn’t want to keep her in suspense for a moment longer than necessary.
As he moved through the parting crowds towards his parked car, Sebastian visualised Paige’s shop. It broke his heart to think that she could be put into financial difficulties thanks to some vandal. She didn’t deserve this. He understood how hard she’d worked to be able to start up her own business, with no backing from anyone else, and nothing but hard work and a determination to push her forward. She was going to need that tenacity even more so now.
It had all seemed so easy in Sorrento, and it saddened him to think that their reunion hadn’t gone according plan. In fact nothing had since his arrival in Jersey.
‘Paige,’ he said as soon as her answer phone message had finished. ‘It’s Sebastian.’ Leaving a message for her, he arrived at his car. Of course, he realised, she was probably being comforted by Olly. What was all that about? He seemed very attentive for a friend. He terminated the call with more vigour than was necessary on the touch screen. So much for their evening together.
Sebastian stepped into his Mercedes and started the engine. He had a lot of planning to get through before tomorrow. He may as well get started now. He liked to be organised and, if nothing else, it would keep his mind busy and stop him from thinking. He hadn’t realised how deeply Paige had affected him. Sebastian sighed. He shouldn’t have fallen for her, not with the decisions he was going to have to face in the immediate future.
‘Do you think my insurance policy is going to cover all the damage to the stock?’ Paige asked Olly as they drove home. She couldn’t afford to be out of pocket, and began to feel sick at the thought of what she could have lost in the fire. Those shoes were a culmination of years of hard work, designing, sourcing materials, and concentrating on intricate details.
‘I’m sure you’ll be properly covered,’ he soothed. ‘You went through the estimates with a fine tooth comb before making your final choice.’
As Paige stepped into the warmth of her narrow hallway, she immediately noticed the flashing light on her answer phone machine. Pressing ‘Play’, she felt her stomach flutter as she listened to a message from Sebastian.
‘Paige, I noticed you came to De Grey’s,’ he said, his voice huskier than usual, which she assumed must be due to the smoky atmosphere he had just been in. There was a slight pause before he continued. ‘The centre will definitely be closed for the rest of the week. Give me a call if you want to inspect your stock at some point, but I doubt you’ll be able to go in there for at least another two days. There’s a lot of clearing up to do, which can only be started once the police have completed their investigations.’ There was another pause. ‘Try not to worry too much.’
Paige threw her coat onto the arm of the sofa, while Olly poured her a glass of wine from the bottle Sebastian had brought earlier in the evening. Unable to believe so much had happened in such a short time, she stood next to Olly as they listened in silence to Sebastian’s message once again.
‘This is horrible, especially when you spent so much money on those flyers for me. What a waste.’
‘It’s Sod’s Law.’ He passed her the glass. ‘Why would anyone start a fire deliberately? Morons.’ He glanced over at the worktop. ‘I’m starving. Shall we have something to eat?’
Paige shook her head. She didn’t have the stomach for food right now. ‘I don’t want anything,’ she said, going into the lounge and slumping in her armchair.
Olly shrugged. ‘Can I make a sandwich then?’
‘Of course you can. Help yourself to whatever you can find in the fridge.’
‘Sure you don’t want one?’ he shouted from the kitchen.
‘No, thanks.’ Paige took a sip from her glass. All she could think of was having her shop back to how it had been when she’d closed up earlier that afternoon.
Olly returned with a plate of toast covered with bolognese sauce. He switched on the television on his way to sit down. His phone bleeped. Taking it out of his trouser pocket, he read the message, raising his eyebrows as he did so. ‘Apparently, when the guys from the fire department first arrived at the scene, they thought they’d found a dead body in one of the larger storerooms.’
Paige shivered. ‘Someone died? That’s horrible. Do they know who it is?’
Olly waved his hand at her. ‘Calm down. I said they thought that was the case. It turned out to be an old mannequin.’ He laughed, looking as relieved as she felt. ‘I remember the blokes in there used one as a coat rack in the winter.’
‘Don’t frighten me like that, you dope.’
‘You have to see the funny side,’ he said pulling a silly face at her.
She didn’t smile. ‘It’s been a strange day all round. Don’t let’s talk about it any more.’
‘I’ve just thought,’ he said, stabbing his fork into a mouthful of food. ‘That mannequin could have been me.’
Paige frowned, unable to see how. ‘Seriously?’
He nodded. ‘I’ve been working late for weeks, only finishing on time for the past few days.’
‘Olly, stop, or I’m going to have nightmares.’ She grimaced at the thought. ‘Anyway, you would have escaped from the building, everyone else did, and let’s be honest, you’ve never bothered to work that late.’
‘I have actually. My workload has increased massively since this bloody takeover. Mr Perfect has wanted reports on everything. I know he’s trying to find a way to cut costs, but I have spreadsheets comi
ng out of my ears. I walked in on the secretaries moaning about it, the other day.’ He grabbed the remote control. ‘Let’s keep the news on, see if we can find out anything else.’
There was nothing new to report. All the newsreader did was to reiterate that the shop would be closed to clients, as well as staff, for the rest of the week until a structural survey had been carried out and tests performed.
Paige tried to concentrate on making a mental note of her stock, but her mind kept wandering back to the haunted look on Sebastian’s face. She’d begun to imagine them spending time together ever since those carefree days in Sorrento, and even tonight, with his face flecked with soot, she couldn’t help thinking how attracted to him she was. Paige sighed, taken aback at how soon she’d managed to get over Jeremy.
‘What’s wrong?’ Olly mumbled, placing his empty plate on the table in front of him and rolling over onto his side on Paige’s sagging sofa.
‘I’m fine,,’ she said, picking up his plate and grabbing him by the arm. ‘I’m just tired and I think it’s time you went home.’ He opened his mouth to argue. ‘You live next-door, it’s not like you have a commute, now go.’
‘Fine,’ he said groaning as he stood up. ‘See you in the morning.’
She phoned Sebastian on his mobile as early as she dared the next morning, unable to stop the feeling of frustration when her call was sent straight to voicemail. Clearing her throat, she said, ‘This is Paige. Thank you for letting me know about the shop. You’re bound to be busy over the next few days, so I’ll call you soon to arrange a convenient time for me to inspect my stock.’
Olly knocked on the front door and walked in to the kitchen just as Paige was opening a pack of bacon. ‘Your timing is incredible,’ she said laughing. ‘I won’t bother asking if you want breakfast.’
She made them both a bacon sandwich and strong mug of tea and carried hers through to the living room. Pulling open the curtains and French doors to let fresh air in to the room, she sat down and smiled at him. ‘You look like you had a bit more to drink when you got home last night.’
‘I feel rough,’ he groaned, holding his head in his hands. He took a sip of the tea. ‘This should sort me out a bit though, thanks.’
Paige turned on the television. ‘The news will be on in a minute. Maybe there’ll an update?’ She was hoping to find out more information, but knew she’d have to physically go to her shop to understand the full extent of the damage to her stock.
‘You’re not going to try and go in today?’ he asked, munching on his food. Paige shook her head. ‘Me neither, not much point I suspect.’
There was only a repeat of the previous night’s information on the news with a short extra confirming that staff should not to go in for the rest of the week.
‘Great,’ Olly said. ‘You don’t need to tell me twice.’
‘Maybe there’ll be more in the Jersey Gazette later?’
‘But that won’t be out in the shops until at least two o’clock this afternoon, I can’t wait until then.’ Olly gulped down the last of his tea. ‘I’m going home to shower, and make a few phone calls. Someone must know something.’
‘You’re just nosy and want to know any gory details.’ Paige dreaded the thought that anyone could have been hurt. ‘Call me later.’
‘Will do.’ He patted the top of her head.
He reached the front door and opened it, but before stepping outside turned to her. ‘Don’t let this situation upset you too much.’
Paige went over to her desk and pulled out a lever arch file. It was time to sort through her outstanding invoices. At least she’d always made it her policy to remove her takings from the shop every night. She knelt down and pulled back a corner of the lounge carpet to the side of her desk. Opening the small floor safe underneath, she took out the cloth bags containing her cash. Paige placed it onto her desk, and began sorting the notes. She bagged up the change in small plastic bags, ready to take it all to the bank later in the morning.
She knew it was going to be difficult to estimate her losses. It depended on how long the shop would be closed, and even though she was going to be able to make a claim for any damaged stock, the cost of restocking her designs lay mainly in the wait for them to be made to order. She would have to be very careful, at least until she knew where she stood financially.
She hoped Sebastian would phone her soon, to let her know when she could go and inspect the damage. It would only be then that she would have an idea what she was dealing with. However dreadful matters were, the bank would still expect her to keep paying for her house, the lease on her shop, her bills.
The phone rang. ‘It was Frank.’ Olly announced breathlessly, without waiting for her to say hello.
‘Frank who?’ Paige shook her head to clear her thoughts.
‘He was one of the messengers.’ When she didn’t speak, he added. ‘The older one, with the broken nose.’
‘He started the fire?’ Paige asked, pushing the blue moneybag into her briefcase.
‘No, he’s the one who spotted it and called the emergency services.’
‘He must have been terrified.’
‘I suppose so, but more to the point, what the hell was he doing there so late at night? He’s a part-time messenger and contracted to finish before three. Why would he be there at seven in the evening?’
Paige tried to come up with a logical answer, but failed. ‘No idea, strange though.’
‘He doesn’t have any family, bit of a loner by all accounts,’ Olly continued, sounding excited by the unexpected drama.
‘Where did you find all this information?’ Paige always teased Olly, when he couldn’t help being nosy, but this time he had surpassed himself.
‘One of the other messengers told me. Couldn’t wait to spread the word,’ he said gleefully. ‘They called him into the station to question him about Frank’s usual duties, and the times he carried them out. Maybe they suspect him of starting the fire. I can’t wait to find out more.’
‘Hey, this isn’t an episode of Bergerac, you know,’ she teased, relieved he had something else to think about other than his relationship with her younger sister. ‘This is real.’
‘Sorry, I forgot. I can’t help getting carried away. It’s interesting though, don’t you think?’
‘Not really. Someone could have deliberately set this fire without knowing if anyone was in the building. Whoever did this has caused difficulties for a lot of people.’
It disturbed her that something suspicious had been going on in the very department store where she worked. She knew without doubt there must be more to this story than they were aware.
She made her excuses. ‘Why don’t you go and carry on your investigations,’ she suggested, checking her watch knowing she should be getting on with things. ‘I’m going to phone the insurance brokers and find out exactly where I stand.’
She wasn’t looking forward to hearing bad news, but couldn’t bear not knowing how serious her situation might be. Paige picked up the phone and keyed in the number.
Chapter Eleven
Arriving home after doing her banking, Paige sent off an email to her suppliers with several sketches and notes for the designs, and an explanation about the fire. She asked them if they could give her the earliest possible date for delivery of the new shoes, and took out her stock list, cross referencing it against her sales.
All she needed to know now was exactly how much of her stock had been affected by the fire. Not wishing to fret unnecessarily about it, she then set out a spreadsheet ready for the day that she could go into her store and check off each item she was unable to salvage. If nothing else, she would be prepared for the inevitable meeting she knew she’d have to endure with the insurance assessor.
Paige ended the call and sat back in her chair. At least she now knew she would be reimbursed for most of her damaged stock. She just had to hope that she would receive the insurance payment soon so that she could pay for the replacement stock her s
uppliers would be making for her.
With nothing left to do, she vacuumed her cottage to keep from fretting further. She was struggling to cram the vacuum cleaner back into a narrow broom cupboard, when she heard a knock at the door. ‘Come in,’ she shouted, wondering why Olly was back again so soon. ‘What’s happened now?’
‘I’ve jacked in uni,’ Clem announced.
Paige swung round, slamming her fingers in the cupboard door as her bottom bumped it, pushing it shut. ‘Bugger.’ She put her fingers into her mouth and sucked gently to ease the pain. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Nice welcome, sis,’ Clem said. ‘Can I borrow some cash to pay the taxi driver? I didn’t have enough.’
Paige nodded towards her red handbag on the sideboard. Hurrying over to the tap, she turned it on and held her purple-tipped fingers under the running cold water. ‘Ooh, that hurt.’ She listened as Clem closed the front door and returned to join her.
‘Well?’ Clem said, standing just inside the kitchen doorway. ‘Are you going to give me a hug, or what?’
Paige turned off the tap, and without thinking did as her sister asked. ‘Come here then,’ she said, concern coursing through her. ‘Why would you pack in your studies now?’
Clem didn’t answer. Paige could see by the look on her face that she was in some sort of trouble. ‘Does this have anything to do with you finishing with Olly?’
‘No,’ she said defensively, taking a seat on one of the high stools by Paige’s short breakfast bar.
‘What is it then?’
‘It’s nothing really.’ She shrugged, reminding Paige of a naughty schoolgirl trying to avoid getting a telling off. ‘I’d just had enough and wanted to come home.’
‘Fine.’ Paige didn’t believe her, but filled the kettle and switched it on. ‘So, why are you here and not at home with Mum and Dad?’
Clem pushed a lose strand of her auburn bob behind her ear. ‘They’re not back from their cruise until tomorrow, and anyway, I was hoping I could move in with you for a bit. Help you out at the shop when you go on buying trips, that sort of thing.’
A Jersey Affair Page 9