The Cost of Living

by Rachel Ward

  ‘Goodnight.’

  She got out and closed the door. She walked slowly up the path and round to the back, partly because her legs would only just move, and partly because she was savouring her close encounter with Tom.

  7

  ‘Three and a half thousand pounds, Bea. That’s amazing!’ said Dot. Standing next to her at the mirrors, Bea hardly reacted. Dot frowned. ‘What’s up, love? You look like someone’s taken your lollipop away.’

  Bea leaned close. ‘Don’t tell anyone, but I was followed home last from the pub last night.’

  ‘Followed? Again?’

  ‘Yeah, he knew who I was, too. He called out my name, just before Tom turned up and I got in his car.’

  ‘Tom? The dishy copper?’

  Bea tried her very best not to blush, but saying his name, hearing it, thinking about the two of them in the car together made her go all hot – she couldn’t help it.

  ‘Here, you’re blushing. You like him, don’t you?’

  ‘Maybe. Shut up.’ She grew redder and hotter.

  Dot grabbed a stiff paper towel and started fanning Bea’s face. ‘Love it!’ she said. ‘You go for it, girl!’

  Bea grabbed the towel away from her and gently blotted her forehead.

  ‘I’m not going for anything. There’s nothing going on! I mean, we haven’t . . . ’

  ‘You have. I know it.’

  ‘Just a kiss.’

  Dot’s eyes lit up. ‘Ooooh, I knew it. Is he a good kisser?’

  ‘Shut up.’

  But Dot kept looking at her, eyebrows raised.

  ‘Yes, okay,’ she admitted. ‘Yes.’

  Dot drew Bea into a triumphal dance, waltzing her round the washroom. When they came to a stop, Dot gave her a little squeeze.

  ‘I’m happy for you, babe. I really am. About time.’

  ‘It might not even be anything, Dot, so don’t say anything, okay?’

  ‘Okay.’

  Dot zipped her mouth up and then said in a muffled voice, ‘Your secret’s safe with me.’ Then, unzipped, ‘Come on, you’re going to get a hero’s welcome in the staffroom.’

  Which is exactly what happened. A hero’s welcome, Costsave style – a ripple of applause, some whistles and catcalls and a ‘small token of appreciation’ from management in the form of a box of Costsave Luxury Range Belgian Chocolates. An early edition of the local paper had come in and was proudly on display on the coffee table, open at page four. Bea anxiously studied the photo for Saggy’s cheeky face and cheekier T-shirt, but thankfully an eagle-eyed picture editor had cropped him out. Everybody agreed what a cracking photo it was – a sea of smiling faces, Ginny looking like a supermodel on the bike and Keisha and a slightly tearful Kayleigh in the foreground.

  ‘Brilliant, Bea, that’s what it is,’ said Gavin. ‘Costsave is back on track. Anna’s going to arrange one of those big presentation cheques and we’ll get Keisha and Kayleigh down again for the handover. So, well done all!’ Gavin started clapping, turning around and directing his applause to everyone in the room. The others joined in.

  Ant slunk into the room, using the noise as cover for his lateness. Bea noticed he was looking flustered. They made eye contact and he started edging his way through the group towards her.

  ‘Now,’ said Gavin when the noise had died down, ‘next up – Halloween. We’re going to make it the best one ever for the store and the town. The local police will be coming in today to talk about it, and how to avoid last year’s antisocial behaviour.’

  ‘The Great K-Town Egg Riot?’ Dean heckled from the back. ‘Oh, man, that was classic!’

  Gavin fixed him with a stern look. ‘It was not “classic”, Dean. It caused a lot of people a great deal of nuisance and distress. As you know, the perpetrators were never caught, but we’ll be bringing in a strict no eggs to under-eighteens rule. Ask for ID if you have any doubt.’

  Dean was still chuckling to himself.

  ‘And if anyone is found selling eggs to under-eighteens, it will be a disciplinary offence.’ He looked at his watch, ‘Right, stations, everyone. Ant, stay here a minute. You were late.’

  ‘Yes, I know, I’m sorry but I had to go a different way. The path was taped off by the cops and there was a white tent up. Something’s gone on.’

  There were murmurs of concern from the others, but Gavin wasn’t going to be put off.

  ‘You need to allow time to get here. It’s important to all be here for the team briefings. You need to think “team”, Ant,’ he said, tapping the side of his head.

  ‘Yeah, sorry, Gav— Mr Howells – it’s just—’

  ‘What?’

  He and Gavin were causing a bottleneck in the doorway, the rest of the staff bunching up behind, ready to go downstairs to the shop floor. There was a bit of good-natured jostling – the mood was still buzzy.

  Ant was standing on his tiptoes looking past Gavin across the heads of the group.

  ‘What is it, Ant?’ Gavin repeated.

  ‘The tent,’ he said. ‘The tape.’ He paused and scanned the crowd again. ‘Has anyone seen Ginny?’

  Her name rippled through the staff from the front of the queue to the back, and every single one of them fell silent. Gavin shot a look over to Anna, who pressed her lips together and nodded. Ginny was due on shift now.

  Gavin cleared his throat and said, ‘I expect she’s off sick. Anna will ring from the office, just to check that she’s okay. The rest of you go to your stations.’

  The staff filed out and down the stairs. On the way down to the shop floor, Bea found Ant at her shoulder.

  ‘Something’s happened to her,’ he said, keeping his voice low.

  ‘You don’t know that,’ said Bea. ‘She’s probably slept in or got a cold or something.’

  ‘She lives round the corner from that path.’

  ‘So do lots of people. Did you actually see anything apart from the tent?’

  Ant shrugged. ‘Just a load of coppers in uniform and then a bloke in a white jumpsuit thing going into the tent.’ Bea felt her stomach contract. ‘There’s a body there, Bea.’

  ‘You didn’t see one though?’ She was trying to keep calm.

  ‘No, but—’

  ‘Don’t jump to conclusions, then.’

  ‘Okay, but . . . something else.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I’m going to need your help, Bea.’ She looked at his face. There was no mistaking the distress.

  ‘What’s up?’

  ‘They’ve put me on picking – doing the shopping for online orders. I can’t do it, Bea. Can you help me?’

  ‘I don’t see how I can. I’m stuck on the checkout. If you bring it to my till at the end, I can check what you’ve got against the list. But that’s about all I can do.’

  ‘Can you tell me the first ten items and then I’ll come back for the next ten?’

  Bea sighed. ‘We can try, but why don’t you just own up? Tell someone why you can’t do it.’

  ‘I can’t. People’ll just think I’m thick.’

  They were just outside the door to the shop floor now. Bea stopped walking.

  ‘At least tell me. Say it.’

  Ant looked at her. There was a sharp frown line between his brows. He licked his lips a couple of times.

  ‘Bea,’ he said, so quietly she could only just hear him. ‘I can’t read.’

  Without saying anything, she put her arms round him. He felt rigid and unresponsive in her embrace, mortified by the words he’d just said out loud. Bea stepped back again.

  ‘I’ll help you as much as I can, Ant. We’ll sort this out.’

  Hard as they tried to sneak under the radar, Neville was soon on their case. After Ant had called by to see Bea for the third time, he swooped.

  ‘Break time is when we chat,’ he said to Bea. ‘I’m going to have to report you to Mr Howells if you and Anthony keep stopping work like this.’

  ‘We’re not chatting, Neville, I’m helping him. He’s really try
ing. He wants to get it just right. He doesn’t know where everything is yet.’

  ‘But Eileen is his supervisor on the shop floor. He should be going to her for advice.’

  ‘Um, well, they didn’t exactly hit it off, you must have noticed. It’s not holding me up, I promise, and I’m happy to help. Don’t get on at him, Neville, please. He’s trying his best.’

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ant scoot into view. He saw Neville, skidded to a stop and reversed, dragging his trolley out of sight. He waited until Neville had gone back to his station, then darted over to Bea without his trolley.

  ‘What did he want?’

  ‘He’s onto us.’

  ‘Not—?’

  ‘No, just on at me to stop “chatting”. I told him I was helping you find stuff.’

  ‘I can’t do it, Bea. I can’t do this.’

  ‘Ask Eileen.’

  ‘I can’t. She’s a monster. She’ll dob me in.’

  ‘She’s not that bad, Ant, just try.’

  ‘I can’t. I’m gonna . . . I’ll just have to—’ he looked around wildly ‘hide in the bogs or something.’

  ‘Don’t do that, look at the stuff you’ve already got and guess what else she’d like. Bring it to my checkout, and I’ll send you back for stuff if it’s wrong.’

  ‘I can’t do that! I’m not a flippin’ mind reader! How do I know what she wants?’

  ‘Bags of rocket. Ripe and ready avocado. Soya milk. She’s into alternative, healthy stuff, Ant. Give me the list. Yup, it’s all here. Organic mince – that’s in packets at the far end of aisle six – quails’ eggs.’

  ‘Quails’ eggs? What are they?’

  ‘Tiny little speckled eggs – look in the luxury foods section. Come on, Ant. You can do it.’

  ‘I can’t. I really can’t.’

  ‘That’s it, you’re both on report!’ Neville had appeared without either of them noticing.

  ‘Please, Neville, just give him a chance!’

  ‘He’s had plenty of chances. As have you. I will ask Mr Howells to issue both of you with an official warning—’

  They wouldn’t have to wait long. Bea could see Gavin walking along the end of the aisles, looking down each one. She sighed.

  ‘You can ask him now,’ she said. ‘He’s coming our way.’

  Neville bustled over to him. Bea could see him telling Gavin about all their shortcomings. He was enjoying this. Eileen joined their little group. She was nodding as Neville spoke and trying to get a word in. Put the boot in, more like, thought Bea.

  Ant groaned and leaned his head onto Bea’s conveyor belt. ‘It’s all over, isn’t it?’ he said. ‘Just shoot me now.’

  His anguish was real. Bea stretched forward and put a comforting hand on one of his shoulders.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Dot hissed from the next till. ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘I’ll tell you later,’ Bea hissed back, and then to Ant, ‘Tell the truth, Ant. Gavin’s a top bloke, for a boss. He’ll want to help you.’

  Neville, Gavin and Eileen walked over to Bea’s till. Bea withdrew her hand from Ant’s back.

  ‘Stand up, boy,’ Neville commanded. Ant stayed down.

  ‘Ant, come and talk to me in the office,’ Gavin said.

  Ant groaned again, but didn’t move.

  ‘Come on now. This is silly. You’re getting in the way of our customers. I want to hear your side. I’ll listen to you.’

  Ant tipped his head and squinted up at his audience. Gavin held his hand out to him. ‘Come on.’

  Ant unwound and stood up, but didn’t take Gavin’s hand. He smoothed himself down a bit and stared at the floor, shuffling his feet.

  ‘I might as well just leave,’ he said. ‘I know how this is going to go.’

  Gavin held his hand out again and this time gently made contact with Ant’s elbow. ‘Come on, come up to the office.’

  ‘Um, Mr Howells, I think you’re needed,’ Eileen broke in. She tipped her head towards the door. They all looked in that direction. Tom and his partner in crime-solving were heading their way.

  Gavin looked at his watch. ‘Ach,’ he said, ‘they’re coming to talk about Operation Safe Halloween. I thought it was eleven thirty. Must have got my wires crossed.’ He squeezed Ant’s arm. ‘Come and see me later. Just carry on here for the time being.’

  Ant rolled his eyes at Bea, but she was focused on Tom, waiting for him to acknowledge her, make eye contact. She could feel herself blushing, feel Dot’s eyes on her. Tom got closer. He was looking straight forward. For a moment he seemed to see her, but then it was like he was looking through her, to Gavin and the others. He came right up to her till and there was nothing – no flicker of recognition, no little sign. Her stomach flipped. Her face burnt. Yesterday meant nothing. She meant nothing to him. Why else would he ignore her like this? Shit! Damn him, then. And damn her for caring.

  She glanced up at his face again. His pale freckled skin was blotched with pink patches. His Adam’s apple was bobbing up and down.

  ‘Constable Barnes,’ Gavin said, with a Costsave welcoming smile, ‘and Constable Sanders. Did we say ten for our Halloween chat?’

  Tom swallowed hard. ‘It’s not that, I’m afraid, Mr Howells. We’re here on other business. Can we go to your office?’

  The smile fell from Gavin’s face. ‘Other business? Of course, of course. This way.’

  He ushered them across the shop floor and through the door to the stairs. Neville trailed several paces behind them, not invited, but not able to leave them alone. Eileen looked daggers at Ant.

  ‘You can’t get away with this. The amount of skiving you do is ridiculous. And you’re encouraging him. I expected better from you,’ she said to Bea.

  ‘Eileen, it’s complicated, it’s—’

  ‘Don’t, Bea! It’s nothing to do with you!’ Ant shouted. ‘It’s me! I can’t do this!’

  ‘All right, let’s all calm down. Not on the shop floor,’ said Eileen.

  ‘I’m trying my best! I just can’t—’

  ‘All right. All right. Take some time out. Go and help Wayne with the trolleys in the car park for a few minutes. I’ll do this list.’ She took the printout from Ant and started wheeling his trolley towards the Organic and Free From aisle. Ant watched her go, puffing out his cheeks and blowing out air through his mouth.

  ‘This is too difficult, man,’ he said. He headed through the shop towards the front door.

  ‘What’s going on with him?’ Dot asked Bea.

  ‘I’ll tell you on our break. Can you cover for me for a minute? I need a wee.’

  ‘Yeah, okay. We’re not exactly busy, are we?’

  Bea logged out of her till and headed for the staff door. She crept up the stairs and stood at the top, listening. She could hear voices coming from Gavin’s office. She tiptoed closer to the door and pressed her ear against it, but could only catch the murmur of conversation, not the words. Then a sharper noise as a chair scraped back. She darted along the corridor to the ladies’ loos and locked herself into a cubicle. After a decent interval she flushed and emerged, giving her hands a quick wash and dry, before going back out to the corridor. The door to the ladies’ locker room was half-open. She could see figures inside. She went a little closer, and peered through the gap. The two police officers stood by as Gavin used his master key to open one of the lockers. Ginny’s locker.

  Bea gasped. Tom heard and looked round. The movement made the others look too.

  ‘Bea,’ Tom said. He shook his head. And Bea knew.

  ‘No,’ she said. ‘No.’

  She managed to reach a cubicle in the toilets just before she threw up.

  8

  Costsave stayed open for the rest of the day, but the whole place took on a different tone. Customers and staff conducted their business in a hushed, crushed way. The metal beams which on normal days made the shop look and feel like an industrial warehouse seemed to Bea more like the arches in a cathedral, a quiet spac
e where people were lost in their thoughts as they wheeled their trolleys around, loaded and unloaded their shopping. The noise of the barcode scanner grated on her nerves until she didn’t think she could take it any more.

  Neville had retreated to the customer service desk and stayed there for the entire shift so Bea was able to help Ant complete a couple of online orders when he came back in from the car park. After that, he asked Eileen to be excused and she let him go back onto trolley duty outside until the end of the afternoon. No one had any appetite for a fight. They were all just trying to get through the day.

  The two police officers called various staff members into Gavin’s office, quizzing them about the day before. Bea kept an eye on the comings and goings from her checkout. Tom played it straight when it was Bea’s turn. What was she doing yesterday? Had she noticed anything out of the ordinary during the spinathon or at the pub? What time did she leave the Nag’s Head? His colleague raised an eyebrow when she told them both about getting into Tom’s car, but didn’t say a word, just carried on scribbling in her notebook. Bea thought Tom coloured up a little, but she wasn’t sure.

  ‘Is it the same person, do you think?’ Bea asked. ‘First Emma and now this?’

  ‘We can’t discuss the investigation,’ Tom said.

  ‘No. No, of course not.’ But in her mind, Bea was already running through her list of suspects. She could cross-check them now, couldn’t she? Who had been in the store both days. Who had been at the pub. Although, really, what business was it of hers? It was a job for the police, wasn’t it? Even so, the thought of being busy, of actively trying to do something appealed.

  As she was heading for the door, Tom called after her. ‘I don’t want you to walk home alone, Bea.’

  She turned around. Was he offering her another lift? Was this his way of getting them together again? ‘Is that what you’re telling everyone?’

  ‘It is actually, until we catch him.’ A little bit crushed, she reached for the door handle, but Tom wasn’t finished. ‘I won’t be done here, otherwise I’d give you a lift. Check in with me anyway. I need to know that you’re safe.’

  This was more like it. She nodded and smiled and made her way back to her station.