Before I Say I Do

by Vicki Bradley

  ‘Is it safe?’ Rachel asked me.

  ‘You’re with me, aren’t you?’ Jonny was getting away. ‘Come on, we don’t want to get left behind.’ Rachel had to run to keep up with me. I kept looking back, scared I’d lose her. I grabbed her hand. Jonny ran so fast.

  Jonny stopped and opened his arms. ‘This is where it happened.’ He was enjoying being the guide and I was enjoying being led by him.

  A brook flowed in front of us, noisy and angry. He pointed to a willow that hung over the water, its branches forming a green cage. ‘Right there’s where they found the girls. Any clues of who killed them will be here. Come on. The light won’t last for ever.’ Jonny grabbed a stick and started poking it into the river, mud swirling to the surface.

  I started searching the riverbed near him. The water sparkled and I saw a fish dart away from Jonny’s stick. Rachel came bustling over to me, wanting to help me look.

  ‘Go find your own spot.’ I shoved her away and she sloped off. It was just me and Jonny. Just like I wanted it to be. Butterflies fluttered inside my stomach.

  Chapter 7

  Alana Loxton

  Monday

  Mr Benson wore an expensive black suit with a white handkerchief in his top pocket. To one side of his oak desk were three plasma monitors, with graphs fluctuating like snakes in a basket. A set of crystal glasses and a decanter stood on a small desk to Loxton’s side filled with dark blood-red liquid. The wine probably cost more than her monthly salary.

  Loxton smoothed the cheap grey linen of her own suit and fussed with the cuffs of her cream blouse. Kowalski threw her a sideways glance, and she told herself to relax. People with money always made her nervous.

  ‘I understand this is something to do with one of my employees,’ Benson said. ‘A Mark Rowthorn?’

  ‘Do you know him?’ Loxton leaned in closer.

  ‘I’m the CEO of this bank.’ Benson tilted his head kindly, as if he was explaining something to a child. ‘I don’t know every employee personally.’

  ‘He was reported missing yesterday,’ Loxton said. ‘He never made it to his wedding.’

  Benson froze momentarily, then nodded quickly. ‘Missing? That’s strange.’

  ‘Do you have any idea what’s happened to him?’ Loxton asked.

  Benson paused for a moment, weighing up his options. ‘Anything from drink-drive to a pub brawl. My employees work hard, and they party hard too. I’ve had a few dealings with the police regarding the odd stray employee who ended up on the wrong side of the law. Missing is different though.’

  ‘Do Mark’s employee records show any issues?’ Loxton knew it was a long shot, but they had to ask.

  Benson tapped on his keyboard and scanned the screen. ‘His last year’s review was very good indeed.’

  ‘No arguments with anyone?’ Kowalski asked. ‘No disagreements with clients?’

  ‘Mark’s an investment banker and we only employ the best here. We don’t have disagreements with clients. He appears to be a very well-liked colleague.’

  ‘We’ll need his records,’ Loxton said.

  ‘I’m afraid I can’t hand over employee records. We have strict policies, and there’s the Data Protection Act. I can assure you, though, I’ve had a look, and there is nothing of interest to you in there.’

  ‘Could I speak with his direct line manager? It would help us a great deal.’

  ‘He’s away on his summer holiday.’ Benson shrugged his shoulders and gave her a sympathetic smile. ‘Mark was about to get married, you say. Perhaps this is more of a domestic issue?’

  Loxton frowned. Benson didn’t want them poking around. He’d forced her hand. ‘Mr Benson, if you don’t co-operate, I can go to a court and get an order to force you to let us look at his records. But all of that wastes precious time, which Mark Rowthorn might not have, and it draws unnecessary attention to your bank, wouldn’t you agree?’

  Benson pressed his lips together. He regarded her as if he was trying to weigh up if she was serious. ‘Look, this is completely confidential,’ he said finally. ‘I don’t want this spread across the newspapers.’

  ‘Of course,’ she said.

  He stared at her a moment longer and then sighed. ‘We’ve been having some issues.’

  ‘Issues?’

  Benson nodded but dropped his gaze. ‘We’d started to suspect some insider trading, which is of course illegal, but we didn’t have any proof. Then the regulator brought it to our attention and Mark Rowthorn’s name came up, along with a couple of others.’

  ‘Which other names?’ She tried to keep her voice calm.

  ‘The other people have been ruled out.’ Benson folded his arms. ‘They’re not relevant.’

  ‘But who were they?’ Loxton asked.

  Benson shook his head in annoyance.

  ‘Mr Benson, we need to know. One of your employees linked to this has gone missing.’

  ‘Fine, but this is off the record. It was a Duncan Etherington, a David Steele and a Meredith Shaw. But there’s no evidence to prove they had anything to do with it.’

  Loxton sat up straighter at the mention of David Steele’s name. She remembered the whispered conversation they’d overheard at Talbot’s flat, how he’d been evasive when she’d asked him what it was about. What was it he’d said exactly? He’d promised someone that he wasn’t going to mention something to the police. ‘Are you sure those three employees have been completely ruled out?’

  ‘They just worked on some of the mergers that Mark Rowthorn did, and we’ve eliminated them from the investigation. Mark Rowthorn is the only one who’s worked on every single merger where inside trading is suspected. His own private trading makes interesting reading too.’

  ‘How much money are we talking?’ Kowalski raised his eyebrows.

  ‘Well, it’s very difficult to say at this stage.’ Benson dropped his voice slightly and leaned closer towards them, as if worried someone might overhear. ‘We could be talking hundreds of thousands, maybe even more. Mark Rowthorn has a few investments, and they may be perfectly legal, but we’re working with the regulators to establish if there was any wrongdoing.’

  ‘Have you reported this to the police?’

  ‘We are still conducting the internal investigation. At this stage it’s more intelligence than evidence. We tend to go to the police only when we have something concrete to pass on to them.’

  ‘Did Rowthorn know about the investigation?’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Benson said. ‘Like I said, it was only intelligence that the regulator passed to us, and we like to eliminate innocent parties before we start taking action. As you can imagine, banks survive on their reputations, and we don’t want to cause unnecessary damage if there’s just been a simple misunderstanding.’

  ‘Can you send us what you have?’ She passed him her card with her email address on it.

  ‘Yes, of course, but it’s not a great deal at this stage.’ Benson took her card and placed it on his desk without looking at it.

  ‘Does Mark Rowthorn have life insurance?’ Kowalski asked.

  ‘Yes, I believe he does. All our staff do. We offer a very good package.’

  ‘Who is listed as his benefactor?’

  Benson turned to his computer and typed into the keyboard, studying the computer for a moment. ‘A Miss Julia Talbot. She would receive Mark Rowthorn’s life insurance pay-out in the event of his death. But that isn’t the scenario we’re looking at, is it?’ Benson looked worried.

  ‘There’s nothing to suggest that at this stage,’ Loxton said. ‘How much would that pay-out be?’

  Mr Benson looked uncomfortable. ‘Well, our standard is four hundred thousand, and I can see that’s the package Mark Rowthorn has opted for.’

  Loxton tried not to look so surprised. That was one life insurance package. ‘Mr Benson, have any threats or demands been made to the bank?’

  ‘None. We have strict policies in place with regard to kidnapping scenarios. The first th
ing we would do, of course, is call the police. Is there anything to suggest kidnapping?’

  ‘No, not at all,’ Loxton said. ‘I just like to cover all bases.’

  ‘An employee disappearing is of great concern. Please keep me updated.’ Mr Benson stood up. ‘Now, I have some meetings scheduled that I can’t miss. My PA will show you out.’ Mr Benson pressed the intercom for his PA and smiled at Loxton, but was obviously desperate for them to leave.

  ‘Thank you for your time.’ Loxton stood up, it was clear Mr Benson wasn’t going to help any further.

  Loxton had trouble keeping up with Benson’s PA, an attractive woman with red hair in a tight bun and four-inch black patent heels, clattering a few metres ahead of them.

  ‘Do you think Benson’s hiding anything?’ Loxton whispered to Kowalski.

  ‘You’d hope not,’ Kowalski whispered back.‘But you’re right, Benson doesn’t want us poking around.’ Kowalski nodded towards their escort, who was striding ahead but kept glancing back to make sure they hadn’t wandered.

  They reached the shiny lifts and the secretary turned to smile at them as she pushed the button.

  Loxton decided to try her luck. ‘Mr Benson said we could borrow a meeting room to interview a few employees this morning about an incident. Would you mind finding us a free one?’

  The PA frowned but then nodded and showed them to a glass side room. ‘Please, take a seat. We’ll start with you, if you’re free?’

  ‘Of course.’ The PA took her time sitting down, glancing at the door as if someone might come to rescue her.

  ‘Could you tell us your name, please?’

  ‘Emily Hart.’ The PA glanced towards Mr Benson’s office, unsure.

  ‘Do you know Mark Rowthorn?’ Loxton asked.

  ‘Yes, he works in this office. He’s one of the brokers.’

  ‘He’s been reported missing.’

  ‘Is he all right?’ Hart bit her lip, she looked genuinely concerned.

  ‘We don’t know yet, I’m afraid,’ Loxton said.

  ‘Mr Benson told us Mark was missing and that the police would be coming. He told us not to talk to you.’ She motioned behind her towards the open-plan office. ‘No one wants to be involved in this; they’re all distancing themselves from Mark.’

  ‘What do you think might have happened to him?’ Loxton said.

  ‘Did Mr Benson tell you Mark was about to be sacked?’ Hart kept her voice low. She threw glances at the people in the office. Loxton was glad her back faced the office. It meant only Loxton and Kowalski could see the fear in her eyes.

  ‘He said Mark was under investigation,’ Loxton said. ‘That it was at the early stages.’

  She laughed bitterly and shook her head. ‘Typical Benson. Look, please don’t tell anyone I spoke with you. I could lose my job.’

  ‘Any information, however small, might be what we need to find him. And we will do our best to keep anything you tell us confidential.’ Kowalski was on full charm initiative, tilting his head in sympathy.

  Hart nodded at Kowalski in appreciation. ‘Thank you. Mark was known around here for being reckless. He took big risks, but he always got high rewards. His nickname was “the Legend” but his luck ran out in the last couple of months. A few bad deals. The company completed a review and discovered that he might have been involved in some insider trading. Maybe even laundering money. They take that very seriously. It damages their reputation, and what with the current banking climate . . .’

  ‘How much money overall?’ Loxton tried to keep her voice level. They were getting somewhere.

  ‘Even Mr Benson doesn’t know how much. They’re still investigating. It will be hundreds of thousands for the regulators to have noticed. Mark was about to face a disciplinary board.’

  ‘Did Mark know?’

  ‘Mark was distraught about it, said he’d been set up, but there was nothing he could do. Once the management have any doubts about you, it’s impossible to keep on working here.’ Hart looked close to tears.

  ‘How long have you known Mark?’ Loxton wondered how close she was to him. He seemed to have confided in her.

  ‘We’ve both been at the company for years.’ She closed her eyes for a moment. ‘Around six years. I’ve been here longer than him.’

  ‘Why do you think Mr Benson didn’t tell us Mark knew he was facing a disciplinary board?’

  ‘Mark’s father has already called here asking Benson if he’d seen Mark. The company wants to distance itself from whatever’s happened. They don’t want to be blamed if Mark’s done something . . . stupid.’

  ‘Benson’s thinking suicide?’ Loxton said.

  Hart began to weep and covered her face with her hands. She managed a quick nod as she tried to gain composure.

  ‘Thank you, Emily,’ Loxton said. ‘You’ve saved us a lot of time. And what was your relationship with Mark, if you don’t mind me asking?’ Loxton said.

  ‘We were friends.’ Hart’s tears dried up and she folded her arms across her chest defensively. ‘I’ve already told you that.’

  Loxton nodded and handed Hart her card.

  Hart stood up to leave but paused. ‘I’m worried about him. All that money missing and now he’s disappeared. I know he was having financial problems. He’d asked his father for money, but Charles said no because he’d already given Mark twenty thousand towards the wedding. God, poor Mark.’ She clenched her fists and looked down. Loxton felt Hart might be more involved than she was letting on.

  ‘We’re doing our best to find him.’ Kowalski stood up.

  Hart nodded, wiping the tears from her face. ‘Please tell me when you find him.’

  ‘Of course,’ Loxton said as she showed her out.

  *

  After another hour of interviewing City Enterprises employees, they had got no further. They had learnt Rowthorn had a talent for downing pints and was gregarious and well-liked by his colleagues. None of them had a bad word to say about him. And none of them knew what could have happened to him.

  Once they were out of the impressive building, Loxton felt herself relax at last. She waited until no one was near them and turned to Kowalski. ‘I couldn’t work out who was trying to protect themselves more: Benson or Hart.’ Kowalski nodded at her. ‘None of his other colleagues mentioned the insider trading. Rowthorn seems to have only confided in her.’

  ‘She was either in on it or she and Rowthorn were more than just friends. We should get intel checks done on her and keep an eye on her in case Rowthorn makes contact.’

  Kowalski nodded. ‘And let’s see if the fiancée knows anything about the insider trading.’

  Chapter 8

  Julia Talbot

  Monday

  There was a buzzing in my head that kept repeating. It took me a minute to realize it was the phone.

  I’d been staring at photos on Mark’s Missing Person page on Facebook. I’d spent all afternoon creating it. I’d chosen an image of him where he was smiling his lopsided grin, the one that had made my heart melt. Had I picked that one just to torture myself? I didn’t know how long I’d been staring at his face for. It was nearly six in the evening. Lucy should have been back from work. I hated being on my own right now.

  I closed the laptop lid. I couldn’t bear to see Mark staring at me anymore, his eyes seeming to accuse me from whichever angle I looked at him.

  The phone was still ringing. I heaved myself up and lifted the receiver.

  ‘Hello, Mr Rowthorn?’ A female voice. She sounded mid-twenties.

  ‘He’s not here.’ Why was this woman calling our landline? I felt the old suspicions rise.

  ‘We need to speak with him urgently.’ The woman sounded official.

  ‘I’m his fiancée, Julia Talbot. What’s this about?’

  ‘Ah, Miss Talbot. It’s regarding the missed mortgage payments. I’m afraid we have no alternative but to send out a court summons to you both.’ Her voice sounded strained.

  ‘A court summons?’ I pu
lled the receiver closer to my ear. Had I misheard her?

  ‘Yes. To repossess the property. The mortgage is quite clear: if you fail to make the repayments, we can repossess the flat. And you’ve missed seven.’

  ‘But there must be a mistake. We’re overpaying our mortgage every month.’ The receiver was slippery in my hand. Anger bubbled up inside me. She must be wrong. This was the last thing I needed right now.

  ‘We’ve been very patient, but you’ve failed to make any repayments for the past seven months.’

  ‘That can’t be right.’ My heart thudded hard in my chest.

  There was a long silence.

  ‘How much are we behind?’ My throat was tight, my voice small.

  ‘Twelve thousand and seventy-five pounds.’

  ‘You must be mistaken.’ My voice came out as a whisper. It felt like my throat was closing up. How could we be in so much debt? Mark had never said a word.

  ‘I’m afraid I’m correct. The summons will be sent today, but we wanted to forewarn you.’

  ‘I didn’t know about any of this. Why has no one contacted me?’ I asked.

  ‘We have been sending letters to your address in both your names.’

  I hadn’t seen a mortgage statement for over a year. I just thought they’d gone paperless, like everything else. Mark must have been hiding them from me. Hiding all of this from me. I felt sick. When had the lies started? Now I knew why he’d wanted the wedding to be on a Sunday, why he was trying to save money here and there.

  ‘I didn’t know about this. Please, can’t I just renegotiate the payments with you now?’ What was I going to pay with? I’d gone into my overdraft paying for the honeymoon and my credit cards were maxed out on the wedding items which I’d not budgeted for correctly. When anyone mentioned a wedding, the price doubled.

  ‘You’ll have to do that at the court hearing. Unless you can pay the outstanding amount now.’