The Tangled Web

by Lacey Dearie

  ‘He’s there.’ She snapped her compact shut. ‘Blue t-shirt, light brown hair.’

  ‘We have to leave!’ Vicky panicked.

  ‘No!’ Adam scolded her. ‘Stop acting on impulse. Think!’

  Vicky said nothing but her eyes widened from the shock of being reprimanded by her younger brother.

  ‘I think we should leave too. It’s too risky to stay here,’ Flic whispered.

  ‘Walking out will draw attention to us,’ Lumi pointed out.

  ‘If we’re going to leave, we need them to be focused on something while we’re walking out,’ Adam mused.

  ‘I can create a distraction. I’m Diana, remember? I can go talk to them,’ Lumi volunteered.

  ‘Then they’ll look over to see who you were with,’ Adam noted.

  ‘We could leave while Lumi’s walking over to them, and if they ask she could say she’s with you Adam, and you’re a work colleague?’ Vicky offered.

  ‘Could we get out without drawing attention to ourselves?’ Flic asked.

  ‘Well, he doesn’t know me, it’s you he shouldn’t see,’ Vicky rammed home. ‘Even with your black hair, he might recognise your face. Just keep your hair over your face and walk quickly.’

  ‘This is stupid. You’re all stupid. You’re thinking too much. I am Diana. I am a waitress. This is a restaurant. I’m going over to take his order,’ Lumi announced.

  They powerlessly watched as Lumi rose from her seat, walked towards the counter and picked up a notepad and pen. She casually strode towards the table George and his friends were seated at and smiled.

  ‘Oh my God! She’s not going to, is she?’ Vicky panted.

  Flic shoved her compact into her bag and bolted toward the door without thinking or talking any more about it. The longer she sat there, the more chance there was to be noticed.

  She marched down the stairs and crossed the road, giving the traffic only a passing thought as she strode into the outdoor display area of a Russian supermarket. She stepped behind a pillar and pretended to look at the vegetables on display. She inhaled sharply, trying to fill her lungs. She felt like she had forgotten to breathe since she saw George. The earthy smells of the vegetables sitting out in the muggy heat began to her feel woozy. But then again, she reminded herself, the adrenaline and shock of seeing George could easily be making her feel that way too.

  She felt a finger tap her shoulder and jumped. She instinctively swung her bag and whacked the body the finger was attached to.

  ‘Argh! Jesus!’ Vicky yelled.

  ‘Sorry. But you could have been anybody!’ Flic reasoned.

  Vicky shook her head and rubbed the shoulder which had been hit. ‘Adam said he’ll pay the bill and leave. He’s going to leave Lumi to it. We’ll talk to her later and find out what story she made up to explain us being there.’

  ‘I feel like such an idiot. I didn’t think for one second that we’d all end up in the same restaurant tonight. Paphos is a decent size. Surely he could have picked somewhere else,’ Flic groaned.

  ‘Sods law,’ Vicky shrugged.

  ‘Look! Adam’s leaving now,’ Flic pointed.

  The two of them watched from behind the pillar as Adam casually strolled out of the restaurant toward a bookmaker’s on the other side of the street. Flic was confused for a second before realising why he was going there. The restaurant was on a corner, meaning there were two sides of the building with windows. Vicky and Flic were able to watch the front view from the supermarket across the road and Adam could see into the windows on the side of the building on the other side of the street. She had just assumed he would join them but the decision he had made was more prudent.

  ‘She’s a bloody loose cannon,’ Vicky snarled, nodding towards Lumi.

  ‘As long as she gets the job done and we haven’t been seen, I’m happy,’ Flic dismissed.

  Vicky reached into her pocket for her phone. ‘Oh thank God! It’s dried out now. It’s working again! We should video them talking. If she touches his arm or he hugs her or something, that could be evidence.’

  ‘Yeah, of course,’ Flic agreed. In her haste to get away she had completely forgotten the job they were here to do. She silently scolded herself for allowing her emotions to affect her professionalism.

  Then she remembered she wasn’t a professional. She was a chancer. An opportunist. She had been at a loose end a few months ago and this had seemed like a good idea.

  ‘I wonder what they’re saying,’ Vicky muttered.

  Flic watched them converse. She saw Lumi smiling and chatting, writing something down on the notepad and then laugh. The men laughed too. She studied George beaming as he looked up from his seat at Lumi. He hadn’t changed a lot. He was a little fatter. His hair was slightly shorter. He had a tattoo on his arm now. Was that a beer belly? No, it was just the way he was sitting. He still had the same kindness in his brown eyes. The same cheeky smile. The same way of jiggling one restless leg when he was sitting upright at a table. He still made everyone else laugh when he laughed. He was everybody’s mate and she detected Lumi warming to him already.

  Flic shook her head to bring her back to the present. She tutted. She wasn’t surprised Lumi was warming to him. Lumi didn’t know any better. But she did. The glint in his eyes was mischief rather than kindness. His smile was devious – not cheeky. His mannerisms were irritating. He wasn’t everybody’s mate. He was his own mate. She knew what made him tick. She knew him better than anyone else. She knew what a deceitful prick he was. And apparently so did Amy now. She had learned and Amy had learned. And every other woman he got involved with would learn too, given time.

  ‘Hmm, turning on the charm by the looks of it,’ Vicky surmised.

  ‘Him or her?’ Flic asked. The flirting was obvious. She was glad Vicky was videoing this. This was exactly what they were looking for.

  ‘Bloody hell! Look! She’s been spotted,’ Vicky sniggered.

  Flic’s eyes darted to all the different windows of the restaurant, looking for the person Vicky was talking about. She noticed two waitresses and a man in a suit behind the counter with worried expressions on their faces, having a discussion and nodding towards Lumi and George’s table. The waitresses seemed to be talking over each other and one gesticulated wildly as she talked. The man halted them both with raised palms and started walking towards Lumi. Flic and Vicky began to involuntarily giggle as George pointed at the suited man, who by this time looked livid. Lumi sprinted to the door.

  ‘Oh we shouldn’t laugh! This isn’t funny! How are we going to explain Diana suddenly walking out on her job,’ Vicky whooped.

  ‘We’ll think about it later. Or maybe Adam could think about it. He seems to be so much better at this than we are,’ Flic sighed.

  ‘Yeah. I noticed that,’ Vicky nodded, furrowing her brow.

  ‘Looks like she’s going back to the hotel,’ Flic noted, seeing Lumi tear down the street they had come from earlier that evening.

  ‘She’s still running,’ Vicky hooted. ‘Oh, look! Adam’s running after her.’

  At the sight of her brother running too, Vicky doubled up in hysteria. Flic checked the view across the street and saw one of the waitresses who had been complaining about Lumi taking an order from George and his friends. ‘Coast is clear, we should try and catch up with them.’

  They dashed across the road and along the street, still tittering to themselves about what they had witnessed. They ran on the road rather than the pavement which was cluttered with misplaced trees and littered with loose paving slabs.

  They finally caught Lumi and Adam just as they reached the hotel. Lumi was catching her breath and petting one of the hotel’s resident cats. Adam rested against a wall casually.

  ‘You ladies need to exercise more,’ Adam snorted. Flic noted that he had barely broken sweat, despite having just run the same distance as they had, but was resting his leg.

  ‘I’m usually very fit, it’s the heat and humidity that’s getting to me,’ Vick
y countered.

  ‘Yeah, right. Sure it is,’ Adam mocked agreement. ‘Lumi was just about to tell me about her conversation with George,’ he said, turning towards Lumi expectantly.

  Lumi seemed surprised to be prompted to give details of the conversation. She raised her eyebrows and shrugged, ‘We didn’t say much really. We talked about the weather.’

  ‘Bullshit!’ Flic exclaimed.

  ‘We saw the two of you talking and flirting. There was more than just weather getting discussed. Spill!’ Vicky spat.

  ‘It’s true. That was what we talked about. And he asked how I like Cyprus and my new job,’ Lumi sulked.

  ‘Did you arrange to email each other or see each other again?’ Adam quizzed.

  ‘Nothing definite, but I gave him my number. He texted me a minute ago before you got here to give me his number. He’s going to text me tomorrow and we will meet,’ Lumi replied. She picked up the ginger and white cat she had been petting and skulked towards the door of the building. They heard her ask for the room key at reception.

  Vicky peeked her head around the door and waited until Lumi was out of earshot before saying, ‘Do we believe her?’

  ‘No,’ Flic replied without hesitation. ‘There was a lot more to that conversation than she’s giving away. I wish we’d had a way to hear what they were saying!’

  ‘Well, I can’t guarantee they didn’t talk about the weather and how she liked living in Cyprus, but I CAN guarantee she’s lying about giving him her number,’ Adam said.

  Vicky raised her eyebrows. ‘How do you know?’

  Adam smiled. ‘Did you see the notepad and pen she picked up on her way to their table? Remember the waitress taking our order ditched that pen because it wasn’t working? And the notepad had run out of paper? That was the pen and paper Lumi picked up. There’s no way she could have given him her number.’

  29

  16th July

  Vicky threw the thin cotton sheet to one side and ran a sticky hand through her hair. She was finding it too hot to sleep. The air conditioning was taking the edge off the heat, but the humidity was stifling. She looked over to the bed next to her and saw Flic sleeping. She had removed her make-up and switched off the lights before she entered the room so that Vicky couldn’t see her without her war paint, but an orange glow was seeping through the curtains from the street lights and shining on Flic. Vicky decided she looked about ten years younger without the make-up. She had previously estimated Flic’s age around the forty mark. Now, she looked barely in her thirties. She sighed and made a mental note to apply for Snog, Marry, Avoid on Flic’s behalf and get her a make-under.

  She reached over to the small white wicker dresser and picked up her phone. She guessed it must be around half past midnight at home and there would be plenty of nightowls on Tête-a-net right now. She opened up the app on her phone and logged in using the Magnum PMT profile, hoping to find some gossip about the appearance on The Roland Reading Show.

  She skipped her crowded news feed and clicked on Scarlett’s profile first to see her latest updates.

  “Scarlett McDonald and Peter Blackwood have ended their complicated relationship”

  Vicky raised her eyebrows as she noticed that nobody had commented, despite the fact the update had been posted six hours ago. What happened with Peter? She decided not to bother getting into any exchanges of messages with Scarlett tonight. She definitely wouldn’t get any sleep then.

  She was tempted to click onto Christos’s profile and see what he had been up to since she last logged on. The truth was she was scared to. Pamela had been vague and even though she told herself that there was no way Christos would say or do anything to suggest he was flirting with Kayla, there was a nagging doubt somewhere in the background. She didn’t want to believe that Christos would cheat on his girlfriend. He was one of the few good men around.

  She didn’t want to check Pamela’s updates either. She knew it would put her mind at rest though if she did.

  She logged out and put her phone down on the dresser. She picked it back up again. Twice more she put the phone back down then lifted it, unable to make a clear decision.

  ‘What’s going on? Are you sleep texting?’ Flic murmured, barely coherently.

  ‘I’m…’ Vicky trailed off, wondering if she should start explaining her worries to Flic or wait until the morning and speak to her then.

  Flic jumped up in bed and reached for the light, clumsily knocking over a bottle of perfume in the process and squealed, ‘Shit!’

  The door to their room swung open and Lumi burst into the room brandishing a kitchen knife, yelling something in rapid Romanian.

  ‘Jesus Christ, Lumi! Chill out! I just dropped a bottle of perfume. Get that fucking knife out of here!’ Flic screamed.

  ‘You should be more careful,’ Lumi spat, glaring at the two of them before slamming the door shut.

  Vicky sat bolt upright in bed, paralysed with fear. Only her eyes seemed to be moving and she directed them at Flic who was rearranging the bottles and make-up on her bedside table.

  ‘We have GOT to get this assignment over and done with and get the hell away from her. She’s mental,’ Flic tutted.

  ‘Uh-huh,’ Vicky croaked.

  ‘In the meantime, I suggest we remove all knives and sharp objects from the kitchen tomorrow and keep them in OUR room,’ Flic sighed. ‘I know she was just trying to protect us all from…whatever she thought was going on in here, but, honestly, she’s a nightmare to live with. No wonder Magnus got shot of her.’

  Vicky managed to unfreeze her hands and put them over her face. She had no idea why she suddenly felt tearful. She could only assume a whole day of worrying about what Pamela said had finally overwhelmed her.

  ‘Vicky? Are you crying?’ Flic worried.

  ‘No,’ Vicky sobbed.

  ‘Oh babe, what’s wrong? Are you scared of her? She IS a bit bonkers,’ Flic conceded.

  ‘No, it’s nothing to do with Lumi,’ Vicky sniffled.

  ‘Oh. You’re worrying about Christos, aren’t you?’ Flic humphed.

  ‘How did you know that?’ Vicky’s eyes widened.

  ‘It’s pretty obvious. If I was in your position, I’d be worrying about him too. But then, I’m never likely to be in your position. I don’t do attached. Men like him are off limits,’ Flic shook her head.

  ‘He’s off limits to me too. I just feel a bit let down. He’s probably one of my best friends, and I don’t want to believe that he could be like that,’ Vicky snivelled.

  ‘Mmm-hmm,’ Flic nodded.

  ‘And he’s been such a good friend to me. If he was cheating on his girlfriend, I’d lose so much respect for him,’ Vicky sniffed.

  ‘Mmm,’ Flic replied.

  ‘He just wouldn’t be the person I thought he was,’ Vicky finished.

  Flic stared at Vicky, waiting for her to add more to the reassurance she was trying to give herself. Vicky added nothing and chewed her lip, waiting for Flic to provide some comfort.

  ‘Gimme your phone,’ Flic commanded.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I’m phoning Pamela. We’re going to find out exactly what was said,’ Flic advised.

  Vicky gingerly reached out for her phone and extended her hand to pass it to Flic. Flic grabbed it from her and began scrolling through the menu to look for Pamela’s number.

  ‘Right. Here it is.’ She selected Pamela’s number and pressed the call button. ‘It’s ringing. Anything you want me to ask? Anything specific?’

  Vicky shook her head. She was afraid of what she was about to hear.

  ‘I’ll put it on speakerphone,’ Flic advised.

  ‘What the hell do you want Vicky? It’s late!’ Pamela bawled from the other end of the line.

  ‘Pamela, it’s Flic.’

  ‘Oh, hi Flic,’ Pamela replied, sounding slightly friendlier, before shouting, ‘Now what the hell do YOU want?’

  ‘Listen up, brat-face. I’ve had enough of you being rude to everyon
e you come into contact with. I’m phoning to find out what kind of mess you made of your assignment,’ Flic snarled.

  ‘I didn’t make any kind of mess, you old trout. I was successful!’ she smarmed.

  ‘What do you mean, successful?’ Flic pressed.

  ‘I got him,’ Pamela replied. The smile and smugness was evident in her voice.

  ‘What does that mean? You need to provide evidence, or there’s no fee. And that means, no commission for YOU,’ Flic fibbed.

  ‘There was commission?’ Pamela gasped.

  ‘There might be. Depends how good a job you made of it.’

  ‘I’ll email over the chat and the login details right now. When do I get my commission?’ she persisted.

  ‘Send the details to Vicky’s personal email address. Tonight! We’ll discuss commission later,’ Flic brushed her off, and hung up before Pamela had any opportunity to giver her more lip.

  Vicky dried her eyes and attempted to blow her nose but it was congested. The air conditioning and crying seemed to be a bad combination. It made her feel like she had a cold, and although she didn’t, she began to feel miserable and fatigued as if she were truly ill.

  ‘I don’t know if I want to see what she meant,’ Vicky admitted.

  ‘If you don’t, you’ll keep thinking about it. You’ll waste more hours that you could be sleeping thinking about something that’s probably a complete misunderstanding,’ Flic reasoned.

  ‘And what if it’s not a misunderstanding?’ Vicky quavered.

  ‘Well. At least you’ll know what a prick he is. And you can deal with him accordingly,’ Flic replied. Her sympathetic tones had changed and become more crisp, thinking that Christos, apparently one of the good guys, was yet another louse. ‘Now, go down to that….um…..Internet café downstairs and find out.’