by Mandy Lee
Out in the lounge, we stand naked in front of the window, Dan behind me, his arms around my waist. Over the sea, a fork of lightning hits the water. I wait for the sound of the thunder and there it is, rumbling across the Atlantic. A small knot of anxiety forms in the pit of my stomach. The arms tighten and I will the knot to disintegrate.
‘It’s passed,’ he whispers.
‘Thank God for that.’
Another minute or so slip by in silence before he speaks again.
‘I could stay here forever. No problems. No work. Just you and me.’
‘So, this is how it’s going to be?’
‘With Boyd out of the way? Yes.’
I smile to myself, thoroughly contented. I have the man I love and in every possible way, I’m in paradise. Things are perfect, and they’re only going to get better. In fact, I remind myself, he’s already working on our future together.
‘Why didn’t you tell me before?’ I ask.
‘Tell you what?’
‘That you’re thinking of selling Fosters?’
He takes in a deep breath.
‘I only thought of it tonight, Maya. I’m as surprised as you are.’
***
It’s a brilliant morning. With the storm over, the air’s a little fresher now, the sun as bright as ever. When we finally join Bill at the main house, we find him buried in a newspaper.
‘And so.’ He smiles, folding up the paper. ‘The love birds emerge from their nest.’
‘Sorry, Bill,’ Dan says. ‘We didn’t wake up until late.’
He gives me a sneaky wink. In actual fact, we woke early. We just didn’t get out of bed until almost eleven.
‘You seem to have relaxed, both of you. The tea and coffee are fairly fresh. We’ll have to wait for food. I think Kathy’s just gone down to your place. She likes to keep it tidy.’
I stare at Dan, knowing for a fact that he didn’t put that sheet in the wash. With a shrug, he pulls out a chair and waits for me to sit before he lowers himself next to me. Without asking, he pours me a cup of tea and then helps himself to coffee.
‘Any more thoughts on selling?’ Bill asks.
Taking a mouthful of coffee, Dan shakes his head.
‘You know, there are other building companies that would snap it up. But they’ll dismantle it. Take what they want. People will lose their jobs.’
‘I know.’
‘And I know what you’re like. More sensitive than you let on.’
With a grimace, he looks up over the edge of his cup. ‘It’s time to move on, Bill. I’ve got other fish to fry. I’ll do my best for the people there but, like you said, I can’t be responsible for all of them. Not any more.’
‘So, how will you keep busy?’
‘I have Maya.’ He pauses. ‘And there are other things.’
‘Such as?’ I ask, suddenly intrigued.
He doesn’t get a chance to answer. Huffing and puffing her way up the steps, Kathy comes to a halt by the table.
‘Danny boy! You left your phone in the bedroom. It keeps ringing.’ She hands it to him.
‘Take a seat, Kathy.’ Bill waves at a spare chair.
‘I haven’t got time for no chopsin.’ She shakes her head. ‘There’s linen to sort.’
With a half-disgusted smirk, she waddles back down the steps and disappears inside the bungalow. I take a peek at Dan, wondering if he’s feeling as embarrassed as me, but clearly he’s not. Instead, he’s busy scrolling through his messages.
‘Anything interesting?’ Bill asks.
Dan shakes his head. His face clouds over. ‘Excuse me. I won’t be a minute.’
Getting to his feet, he clasps the phone to his ear and walks away across the lawn.
‘Clive, what’s going on?’
That’s all I hear. Coming to a halt in the shade of a tree, he stays there for a minute or two, listening intently. It’s not good. I can tell from the way his shoulders have suddenly hunched. At last, he says something, thrusts the phone into his pocket and returns to us.
‘We need to go home, Bill. I’m sorry.’
‘But why?’ I demand, stunned by his announcement. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘Jodie. She’s disappeared.’ Sitting back at the table, he takes a sip of coffee.
‘Jodie?’ I’d virtually forgotten about the pink princess. ‘But she’s a teenager. She’s probably just slipped off the rails. She’ll be back.’
‘She’s been gone since Saturday morning and she’s not answering her phone. She’s never done anything like this before. She’s always kept in touch with her mum.’
‘Are we talking about Norman’s grand-daughter?’ Bill interjects, his face suddenly creased with concern.
Dan nods.
‘And they’ve called the police?’
‘Yes, but they’re not concerned yet. She’s not been gone long enough. And besides, she’s been a bit of a tearaway in the past.’
But not recently, my brain muses. It might be nothing more than a simple coincidence, but then again … Even though it must be a hundred degrees in the shade, I shiver. After what happened at the Savoy, there’s every chance that this isn’t a coincidence at all. I look at Dan, almost certain that our trains of thought are heading in exactly the same direction.
‘What about her dad?’ I ask. ‘Can’t he go looking for her?’
Dan shakes his head.
‘He walked out on them years ago. He doesn’t care.’
‘You don’t think …’ I falter.
‘I do,’ he confirms. ‘And so does Clive.’
I feel sick. Boyd may well be unbalanced, but surely he wouldn’t go that far.
‘What’s going on, Dan?’
Bill’s voice causes him to start. He turns and fixes our host in his sights. And then, without hesitation, he launches into an explanation of everything: right from his first visit to Boyd’s flat in Edinburgh through to Jodie’s disappearance. And then he fills him in on Boyd’s past record. Listening intently to it all, the old man strokes his chin. When Dan’s finished, he takes a minute or two to process the information before he speaks. And when he does, he sounds different. There’s a hard edge to his voice.
‘And you’re absolutely sure he’s got something to do with this?’
‘Yes,’ Dan answers crisply. ‘I underestimated Boyd, but I won’t be doing that again.’
‘I don’t like the sound of this man. He’s got it in for you.’ He points at Dan. ‘And that makes him my enemy. You know, I still have a few contacts back in London. They’d find him soon enough.’
‘You’re not talking criminals?’ I venture.
From the look on Dan’s face, I’m pretty sure I’ve just said the wrong thing. I’m about to apologise for jumping to a ridiculous conclusion when Bill confirms that I haven’t.
‘Let’s just say I managed a few shady financial deals back in the day. I know people with clout. They can help with finding this bastard … and then they can scare him off.’
I can’t help but think he’s planning on a little more than a simple talking to. And while I know the world would be a better place without the likes of Ian Boyd, I’m not entirely comfortable with the possibilities.
‘But …’
Holding up a finger, Bill stops my complaint in its tracks.
‘From what Dan’s just told me, this man’s playing dirty. You need to fight fire with fire.’
Dan gives me an uneasy look. ‘Let’s leave it to the people I’ve hired.’
‘And they are?’ Bill asks.
‘A security company.’
‘Which one?’
‘Foultons. They’re good. We’ve got bodyguards, private investigators. Ex-military, ex-police, that sort of thing.’
Bill considers the information.
‘You do what you think is right,’ he says at last. ‘But the offer’s there.’ He leans forwards. ‘And sometimes you need all the help you can get. Even if you don’t like where it’s coming from.’
Silence settles over the veranda, each one of us lost in our own thoughts. It’s Bill who speaks first, evidently deciding that it’s time for action.
‘Now, if you give me your passport details, I’ll get onto the flights. You can always get a seat in club.’
‘Today?’ Dan asks.
‘If I can’t get you a direct flight, there’ll be something via New York. And if there isn’t, I’ll find a private jet.’ The old man stands up. ‘Go and get yourselves sorted. I’ll give Norman a call and tell him you’re on your way.’
While Dan embraces Bill, thanking him for his help, I gaze up at the clear blue sky. It’s a cloudless morning, completely calm after the storm, and the sea is glass-like once again. I’ve had my taste of the things to come. No worries. No threats. Just peace, pure and simple.
And my heart slumps.
Because now it’s about to end.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I slide onto a stool opposite Clive, grunting a barely conscious greeting in his general direction. Looking pretty dishevelled, he grunts one back in return.
‘How was Bermuda?’ he asks, opening up with small talk.
‘Short and sweet. I love it though … even with the giant monster cockroaches.’
He smiles a little.
‘And the flight back?’
‘Flights,’ I correct him. ‘We had to change in New York. It was bloody awful.’
And that’s an understatement. It turns out that conquering a Lear jet is no preparation for the joys of boarding a big scary thing on two separate occasions. While the journey from Bermuda to New York was spent in state of near catatonia, the Atlantic crossing saw me curled up into a ball in a Club class pod, quaking and jittering and letting out the occasional groan. And even though Dan held my hand, or let me sidle over onto his lap whenever the seatbelt sign flicked off, it didn’t seem to make the slightest bit of difference.
‘Coffee.’ Clive pushes a mug towards me, one of three. ‘I thought you’d need it.’
I take a sip.
‘Do you think Jodie’s alright?’ I ask.
‘She’s alive, if that’s what you’re worried about.’
I sigh in relief. ‘Thank God for that.’
‘She spoke to a friend this morning.’
‘Does Dan know?’
He casts a glance at the open front door. Out in the lobby, Dan’s busy talking to a newly-reinstated Beefy.
‘Not yet.’
Shoving the suitcases to one side and slamming the door behind him, Dan joins us. He slips his iPad onto the counter, grabs a mug of coffee and takes it over to the window. Looking out over the Thames, he begins to fire off a barrage of questions and although they come thick and fast, Clive manages to catch every single one of them.
‘Any more news?’
‘A friend managed to contact her. She finally answered her phone. About an hour ago.’
‘So, what’s going on?’
‘She’s as high as a kite, holed up in a flat with some bloke, too zonked out to answer her mobile until now.’
‘And she knows this man?’
‘No.’
‘Is it Boyd?’
Clive hesitates.
‘No secrets.’ Turning away from the window, Dan takes a mouthful of coffee. ‘Maya’s in on everything now.’
‘It’s not Boyd. He’s too young, about Jodie’s age. Apparently, she was out shopping. He chatted her up and invited her back to his flat.’
‘Jesus, that girl’s got a screw loose. So, any connection to Boyd?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘And where’s the flat?’
‘The friend asked. Jodie didn’t have a clue.’
‘That’s no help.’
‘But she could see a pub from the window. The Tiger.’
There’s a silence. While Dan finishes off his coffee, Clive takes a mobile out of his jacket pocket. He seems to be looking up a web page.
‘So, where do we go from here?’ Dan asks at last. ‘There must be plenty of pubs in London called The Tiger.’
‘Actually …’ Clive holds up the phone, displaying a map. ‘There’s only one. And it’s in Camberwell.’
Coming over to the counter, Dan puts down his mug, takes the mobile out of Clive’s hand and studies the screen. ‘We should go down there. Knock on a few doors.’
‘Exactly what I was thinking,’ Clive smiles.
‘So what are we waiting for?’
‘What?’ I splurt. ‘Now? But you’re knackered.’
With a shrug, he hands the mobile back to Clive.
‘What difference does it make? We need to get her home before Norman has a coronary.’
I’m over-tired and hardly thinking straight after the marathon terror session, and perhaps that’s why my brain’s suddenly flooded with melodramatic visions of Ian Boyd lurking in the shadows like a spider at the edge of its web. I can hardly believe it when I spring to my feet and grab at Dan’s shirt sleeve.
‘Don’t do anything stupid,’ I plead.
With an indulgent smile, he wraps his arms around me and plants a kiss on my forehead.
‘Don’t worry, sweet pea. It’s not in the plan.’
Clive gets to his feet, shrugs on his suit jacket and runs his fingers through his hair.
‘You know,’ he muses, ‘this could be nothing at all to do with Boyd.’
‘And if it isn’t, that girl’s in major trouble.’ With another kiss, Dan releases me.
‘And if it is, it could be another distraction.’ Clive pauses, waiting for Dan’s full attention. ‘What about Maya?’
‘Oh, don’t be daft.’ I wave a hand dismissively. ‘He’s not going to break into the Batcave while Dan’s out playing the superhero.’
‘She’s perfectly safe,’ Dan confirms. ‘We’ve got Beefy up here. And besides, he wouldn’t get past the concierge.’ He picks up his iPad and switches it on. ‘Give me your phone, Maya.’
I jolt. ‘What?’
‘Your phone.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I want to put an app on it. I want to be able to track you if I need to.’
Silently grumbling that this really is going too far, I retrieve the mobile from my handbag where it’s been languishing for the past few days, amazed that it’s still charged.
He holds out a hand. ‘Once Boyd’s off the scene, I’ll remove it, I promise. But right now, we need to play it safe.’
***
It’s early afternoon when they leave. Desperate to distract myself from all thoughts of what might be going on, I haul the suitcases up to the bedroom and unpack. After a shower, I sit in the studio, staring blankly at the canvases for an age. I really should get back to the paintings, but I can’t. I’m too consumed with worry over Dan. When my stomach eventually grumbles, I go back downstairs and make sandwiches and tea, inviting Beefy in for lunch. He asks about Bermuda. I gush about its beauty, complain that we couldn’t stay longer, and apologise belatedly for abandoning him in a side street. He thanks me for getting him reinstated. And then exhaustion seeps through every last molecule of my being. While Beefy resumes his position outside, I lie on the sofa, telling myself that I’ll just close my eyes for five minutes. When I open them again, I find Clive crouching in front of me, touching me lightly on the arm.
‘Maya,’ he whispers.
‘You’re back. What time is it?’
‘Nearly six.’
‘Jesus, I’ve been asleep for hours.’ And suddenly, I’m panicking. Why isn’t Dan waking me up? Something must have happened.
‘Where is he?’
‘Relax. He’s in the shower.’
I sit up.
‘Did you find her?’
‘Yes.’
‘So, what happened?’
Clive blows out a breath and from the look on his face, I’d say that things didn’t quite go to plan.
‘She was in a flat opposite the pub.’ He talks quietly, occasionally looking towards the s
tairs. ‘Smoking dope with some lowlife kid. Dan knocked seven shades of shit out him.’
My face must be a picture of horror.
‘It’s alright,’ Clive reassures me. ‘The kid’s pretty bruised, but he’ll live. And he owned up. He’d been paid to do it.’
‘Boyd?’
He shakes his head.
‘A third party. The kid couldn’t name him … even after Dan broke his nose.’ He winces at the memory. ‘But it’s Boyd alright.’ He nods towards the staircase, lowering his voice and leaning in. ‘Look. There’s no easy way to say this. I’m worried about Dan. After we dropped Jodie off with her mum, he made me take him back to the club.’
I narrow my eyes, hoping to all that’s holy that Clive doesn’t mean what I think he means.
‘Isaac’s place?’
‘Yes. He’s got it into his head that Isaac’s hiding Boyd. He went through that place like a lunatic, caused a total rumpus, had Isaac up against a wall … again.’
‘Again?’
‘Like he did at the Savoy. Lily told me about that little episode.’ He bites his lip. ‘I’ve never seen him like this before … I’m scared.’
And so am I. Within the space of a few hours, it seems that my calm and carefree boyfriend has been transformed into a fist-wielding hot head.
‘If we don’t get this sorted soon,’ Clive goes on, ‘he’s going to end up in big shit. He’s lucky Isaac isn’t pressing charges.’
‘Maybe we should call the police.’
‘Are you kidding? If we involve the police, the kid denies being paid and Dan gets done for GBH.’
‘That might not happen.’
‘I wouldn’t bet on it. Besides, Jodie’s mum doesn’t want any trouble. We just need to find that bastard and deal with him.’
A door bangs upstairs.
‘Don’t ask him about it,’ Clive warns me. ‘Just try to calm him down.’ He gets to his feet. ‘And don’t let him come into work tomorrow.’
‘He won’t. He’s on holiday.’
‘And like an idiot, I told him what’s going on at Fosters. We’re having a few issues. He’ll want to come in, Maya. Believe you me. And if he does, he’ll be biting heads off left, right and centre. Keep him at home.’
‘I’ll do my best.’
Clive glances at the staircase one last time and stands up.