Red Letter Day

by Colette Caddle

  Celine studied his lean body appreciatively and had to steel herself not to reach out a hand to touch him. If she did that she knew they'd never get to Arklow. Selecting a pair of cotton trousers and a light top from her wardrobe, she carried them into the bathroom.

  'Are you getting shy on me?' Richard taunted.

  'No, just playing safe. I happen to know that your intentions are far from honourable.' And she closed the door with a decisive click.

  An hour later they were travelling down the coast road, with the top down on Richard's SLK Merc. Marina would have been horrified at the state of her hair, Celine thought with a smile, but she loved the feel of the wind in her face.

  'Are you okay?' Richard asked, putting his hand on her knee.

  'Fine,' she shouted back and reclined her seat slightly. Talking was impossible so she might as well catch up on sleep. It seemed only seconds later that Richard was calling her.

  'We're just coming into the town, Celine.'

  'Already?' She sat up and rubbed her eyes.

  'Would you like me to stop so that you can tidy up?'

  Celine grinned. 'Bad as that, eh?'

  'A bit windswept,' he admitted.

  Celine rummaged through her bag for a comb and some lipstick while Richard pulled into the side of the road. When she'd finished with the comb she passed it to him. 'Your turn.'

  Once they were both presentable, Richard drove through the town and out towards Babs' house.

  'You seem to know your way around here,' Celine observed.

  He nodded. 'Yeah, I've brought Rose down a few times. Driving got difficult for her in the last year.'

  'You're a real nice guy, aren't you?' she teased.

  'Substitute nice for boring,' he muttered as he turned into the driveway.

  Celine frowned as she noticed Babs' car was missing. 'Gosh, I hope they're in.'

  'There's only one way to find out,' Richard said and rang the doorbell.

  After several moments, it opened and Rose was looking at them, a mixture of surprise and delight on her face. 'Celine! Richard! What a lovely surprise. Come in.'

  Celine embraced her and then moved aside as Richard gave Rose a gentle hug.

  'You look well, Rose,' he told her.

  'I'm fine. Come on through. Babs should be back in a minute. She just went to the supermarket. How on earth did you persuade Sadie to look after the shop on a Saturday?' She smiled at Celine but there was concern in her eyes.

  'The shop is shut,' Celine told her as they sat down at the large kitchen table.

  When Rose saw Richard putting on the kettle she looked worriedly from him back to Celine. 'What is it? What's happened? It's not Fergus, is it?'

  'Fergus is fine,' Celine assured her.

  Richard drew up a chair beside Rose and took her hand. 'The shop's been broken into, Rose. Nothing was taken and no one was hurt.'

  'Oh, is that all?' Rose closed her eyes and put a hand to her chest. 'For a moment I thought you were going to tell me . . . something terrible.'

  Celine looked at her and smiled. 'Fergus was right. He said you wouldn't be bothered once you knew no one was hurt.'

  Rose seemed to have only heard part of the sentence. 'You talked to Fergus?'

  The kettle boiled and Richard went to make the tea.

  Celine nodded. 'After I'd called the police I tried to phone Richard but I couldn't get him. There was no way I was going to call you at that hour of the night so I phoned Fergus.'

  Richard set the teapot between them with two mugs. 'I think I'll leave you to it. I'll be in the garden if anyone wants me.'

  'He came over straight away,' Celine said as Rose poured. 'When the police were gone he cleaned up the mess. I'm afraid they really trashed the place, Rose. Anyway, once Fergus had cleaned up the worst of it he said he was going to stay in the shop for the rest of the night. Well, I couldn't let him do that so I told him he could sleep on the sofa.'

  Rose smiled. 'Thanks, love.'

  'I'm afraid he didn't get any sleep in the end. We did a lot of talking.'

  'Oh?'

  Celine sighed. 'Yes, we covered a lot of ground. About the drugs, about Dermot, about the bastard who murdered him. Do you know, Rose, I didn't even know that he was dead?'

  'I'm surprised the police didn't inform you.'

  'They probably tried,' Celine said with a guilty smile. 'They got in touch a few times over the years but I refused to talk to them. I just couldn't. Daddy stepped in and he did whatever was necessary. He used to try and talk to me about what was going on but I didn't want to know. Nothing was going to bring Dermot back.'

  Rose wiped her eyes. 'I'm so glad you've talked. I don't know about you, Celine, but I think it will help Fergus a lot.'

  'I'm sorry it took me so long, Rose. I've been very selfish.'

  'Don't be silly, love, no one thinks that.'

  'I do.'

  'Grief hits people in different ways. If you'd had a child it would have been easier for you. Having a dependant forces you to get on with things.'

  Celine blinked hard as she stared into her mug.

  'Would you have liked children?' Rose asked.

  Celine nodded. 'In retrospect, yes, but not at the time. I was just starting out and we were looking forward to finally having some spare cash. We were going to have fun, we were going to travel. But when Dermot died, I prayed I was pregnant. Marina had a lousy marriage and yet, if she hadn't met Ray, she wouldn't have Josh. And Josh, little menace though he is, means the world to her.'

  Rose looked out of the window at Richard. 'You're very young, Celine. You can still be a wife, a mother. You could still be an award-winning dress designer too if you put your mind to it.'

  Celine shook her head and laughed. 'Don't you start nagging me, I get enough of that from Marina.'

  Rose smiled. 'Okay then, I'll say no more. Let's get back to our current problem. Tell me how bad things are at the shop.'

  Celine gave her the full story about the break-in and then a quick inventory of the stock situation.

  'We need more stock and quickly.' Rose chewed on her lip.

  'Give me some names and numbers and I'll get on it.'

  'No, love, you've enough to do. Making a few phone calls won't hurt me and no offence, but I've more chance of success.'

  Celine shook her head. 'I completely understand.' Working in the second-hand game required a sensitive touch and Rose had developed an excellent rapport with her customers.

  Richard appeared in the doorway. 'How's it going?'

  'Great.' Celine grinned at him. 'We should be back in business in no time.'

  'Give yourself till Wednesday,' Rose suggested. 'Monday and Tuesday are always quiet anyway.'

  'We'd better go, Celine.' Richard shot her a meaningful look.

  'Oh, but you must stay for some lunch,' Rose protested. 'Babs will be back soon.'

  'Sorry, Rose, but I have to get back for an important meeting.'

  Rose shot him a look of pure disbelief. 'You have an important meeting? Would you believe that, Celine?' She turned to wink at her manager who was bent over her notebook, her face red. 'Ah, I see.'

  'What do you see?' Richard's eyes twinkled.

  'Nothing, nothing, you two go on.' Rose almost pulled the chair from under Celine and pushed her towards the door. 'I must start making these phone calls.'

  'Your son will be down next weekend,' Richard told her. 'He said he'd call and let you know what train he's on.'

  'Grand.'

  At the doorway, Celine turned to hug her. 'I'm sorry to have brought you such bad news.'

  Rose waved away the apology. 'I could understand you apologising if you'd left the door wide open or the alarm off but there's nothing you could have done about it. I want to thank you for all the hard work you've done to redeem the situation and please pass on my thanks to Marina. The next time she spots something she likes, Celine, you tell her it's on me.'

  Celine smiled. 'She'll be ecstatic.'

 
; Richard hugged Rose. 'Take care of yourself.'

  'You too, Richard, and thanks for bringing Celine down. It was very obliging of you.'

  Richard grinned at Rose's knowing look. 'My pleasure.'

  'She took that very well,' Celine said when they were sitting in a small Italian bistro in Blackrock.

  'That's Rose,' Richard said, biting into a breadstick. 'She has her priorities right.'

  Celine took a sip of Chianti. 'I should be back at the shop working instead of sitting here boozing at lunchtime.'

  'I think we deserve a break.'

  'Perhaps you're right. If there's one thing I've learnt in the last couple of days it's that I should be living for today, not worrying about the past.'

  Richard raised his glass. 'That's something to drink to.'

  They had a pleasant meal, talking about nothing hugely important, teasing and flirting. Celine closed her eyes as they sped back to Hopefield and revelled in the warm wonderful feeling of new love.

  'Hey, sleepyhead, we're here.'

  Celine opened her eyes and yawned widely. 'Couldn't you go round the block a couple of times?'

  Richard laughed as he got out of the car and came around to help her.

  'Thank you, kind sir,' Celine said as she reached up to kiss him.

  'Well, miss, you are really something else!'

  They turned to see Mary Boyle standing on the pavement, a picture of disapproval.

  'Good afternoon, Mrs Boyle,' Richard said but Celine had gone rigid in his arms.

  'You must be married then, Mr Lawrence,' the woman continued. 'She only goes for the married ones. Does your wife know about her?'

  Richard's smile faded. 'I'm not married and I have no idea what you are talking about, Mrs Boyle.'

  'Ask her.' Mary shot a spiteful glance at Celine. 'She's the adulteress.'

  Dominic, attracted by the raised voices, came out of his shop. Taking in the situation in an instant he moved to stand between Celine and Mary. 'I think you've said enough, Mary, don't you?'

  'It's disgusting!' she snorted and walked away, her nose in the air.

  Richard glanced from Dominic to Celine. 'Would one of you like to tell me what all that was about?'

  Chapter 37

  Fergus whistled under his breath as he mopped out the floor of the snack bar. He was feeling more cheerful than he had in days. Sarah had stayed over again last night and it had been wonderful to wake up beside her this morning. Also, there had been no sign of Mick Garvey and Fergus began to wonder if he'd jumped to the wrong conclusion about the shop. Maybe it had had nothing to do with Mick after all. Maybe Mick had got tired of hassling him and moved on to annoy someone else. Maybe, Fergus grinned, he'd been arrested and was sitting cooling his heels in a jail somewhere. His thoughts were interrupted by the beep of his mobile indicating that he had a text message. He pulled it out of his pocket and pressed the button to read it.

  MEET ME IN LOCAL AT 12. NO EXCUSES. MG.

  Fergus froze. He should have known that the little bastard wouldn't give in that easily. Garvey was vindictive and nasty and he wouldn't rest until Fergus agreed to work for him. Realising that he was out of his depth and that his actions would affect Rose, Sarah, possibly even Celine, he decided to call Richard.

  'Yes?' Richard barked.

  Fergus held the phone away from his ear. 'Er, sorry to disturb you, Richard, it's Fergus here.'

  'Fergus, hi, sorry, I was just in the middle of something. Is there a problem?'

  "Fraid so.' Fergus told him about the text message.

  Richard thought for a moment. 'Okay, go ahead and meet him.'

  'What?'

  'Meet him, don't be confrontational and buy us some time. We need to keep him happy for the moment while I try and figure out what to do. For God's sake don't agree to anything. Fergus, are you still there?'

  'Yeah, I'm here,' Fergus replied, trying to quell the sick feeling in his gut.

  'Call me after you meet him and don't worry, Fergus, you're not alone. I will do everything I can to help you on this.'

  'Thanks, Richard,' Fergus said and hung up. He believed him but Richard didn't know what a scumbag Mick Garvey was. Fergus was frightened and he knew he had every reason to be.

  Richard stared at the phone hard and tried to concentrate on the problem that was Mick Garvey. It wasn't easy because all he could think about was Celine and Kevin Gilligan. He'd known that there was something between them that night in her flat but it came as a shock to find out that not only was he married but he was still on the scene. Of course she said it was over but he wasn't sure he believed her. He felt cheated somehow. He'd opened himself up to Celine in a way he hadn't with any other woman. He was attracted to her physically but on top of that he loved her honesty and guileless nature. Now he realised she was just like all the rest, incapable of honesty and unworthy of the trust he'd placed in her. It hurt like hell because he'd thought they had a future. She had tried to get around him, tried to explain, but Richard was not about to believe those innocent grey eyes again. He wouldn't be anybody's fool. With supreme effort he turned his mind back to Fergus's problem. He'd been playing around with an idea of how to sort out this Garvey character and now it was time to put it into action. He flicked through his address book and then dialled a number. 'Inspector Declan Murphy, please.'

  Mick was already at the bar when Fergus walked in. 'Get the drinks in,' he instructed and walked over to a table on the far side of the room.

  Fergus bought two pints of Guinness and carried them over. The temptation to throw them over Mick's head was almost irresistible.

  'Glad ye came to your senses, Gus. I'd have been pissed off if ye hadn't shown up.'

  'Did you break into me ma's shop?'

  Mick looked back, wide-eyed. 'Gus, how could ye think such a thing? Sure I'd never get through one of those little windows!' He threw back his head and laughed.

  'Keep away from there or I'll fucking kill you,' Fergus warned.

  Mick's smile disappeared. 'Don't ever talk to me like that, Gus, do ye understand? If ye know what's good for you and yer ma ye'll do exactly what I tell ye.'

  Remembering Richard's words Fergus nodded. 'Yeah, sorry.' He clutched his pint with both hands wishing it was Mick's neck.

  Mick sat back and the smile returned. 'That's better.'

  'What do you want me to do?'

  'Not so fast,' Mick murmured. 'How do I know I can trust ye?'

  'To coin a phrase, Mick, you know where I live,' Fergus drawled.

  Mick sniggered. 'Funny man, Gus, yer a very funny man. So yer interested in a bit of action?'

  Fergus shrugged. 'Not really but you're right, I could do with the money.'

  'Making snacks for yuppies in a gym doesn't pay that well, does it?'

  Fergus shook his head.

  'Okay then, I'll think about it.'

  Fergus looked at him. 'Is that it?'

  Mick frowned. 'Don't get lippy, mate. I'll be in touch when I've got something for ye.'

  'Not in the centre,' Fergus warned.

  Mick glared at him. 'Get the fuck out of here, yer giving me a headache.'

  Fergus left without another word. It wasn't until he was back out on the street that he noticed spots of blood where he'd dug his nails into his palms. Feeling sick, he wiped them on his jeans and prayed that it would be the last time there would be blood on his hands.

  'I don't know about this, Richard,' Declan said after he'd taken a sip of his pint. 'Garvey is a nasty piece of work. Are you sure this lad of yours isn't involved?'

  'No, Declan, I told you, Fergus is as straight as they come.'

  'But he was in trouble before.'

  'Only because he was using and that was years ago,' Richard pointed out. He knew he couldn't rush Declan into this. He hadn't changed much since their schooldays.

  'This isn't "The Bill", you know. We don't usually set up stings in Dublin Central.' He chuckled as he lit a cigarette.

  'I realise that, but wh
at else do you suggest? Garvey has already done over the shop.'

  'We don't know that.'

  'No, but it's a safe bet. He made enough threats. Who do you know that would be interested in doing over a boutique?'

  Murphy grinned. 'I know plenty, Richard. Thieves aren't always that smart, especially if they're off their heads.'

  'Come on, Declan, you know this has Garvey's name written all over it. I thought you'd be glad of the opportunity to put a character like him away. A feather in your cap, surely, to put away a drug dealer.'

  Declan pulled on his moustache as he digested this. 'I'd need your friend's total cooperation and he'd have to do exactly what he's told.'

  'Of course.'

  Declan threw back the remainder of his pint and stood up. 'Okay, leave it with me.'

  'Thanks, Declan, I appreciate it.'

  'Don't thank me, I haven't done anything yet.'

  Richard was nursing a second pint when Fergus finally arrived. 'What will you have?'

  'Nothing. I need to get back to work.' Fergus shifted from one foot to the other.

  'So what did he have to say?' Richard asked.

  'The usual.' Fergus pulled out twenty Rothmans and lit one with shaky hands. He'd been trying to give up but he'd figured without Mick Garvey coming back into his life. 'He was definitely behind the break-in, though.'

  'Do you think we can get him on that?'

  'Not a chance.'

  'So what does he want you to do?'

  'I don't know. He's being very cagey, said he'd be in touch.'

  'What did you say?'

  'I told him I could do with the extra money.'

  'Good. I've had a word with a friend of mine, he's an inspector.'

  Fergus's eyes widened. 'Jesus, Richard!'

  'Don't worry, I've explained everything, he's on your side. He's going to find a way to get Garvey but he'll need your help.'

  'I don't know—'

  'Do you have any better ideas?' Richard hissed.

  Fergus dragged deeply on his cigarette. 'You just don't know what he's capable of.'

  'Of course I do and more to the point, the police do. They're professionals, Fergus, and they're your only hope of getting him off your back for good.'