‘Thanks.’
‘Who’s Athena De Bois?’ Alexi asked as they took seats in the elegant little room.
‘The woman who now runs this place.’ Tyler grinned at her. ‘I did my homework.’
‘Evidently.’
A short time later, the same girl returned.
‘Athena will see you, if you’d like to come this way.’
The girl led them up a wide staircase and tapped at an open door at one end of the first floor corridor. She then stepped back, ushered Tyler and Alexi into the room and closed the door behind them. An elegant woman was sitting behind a marble desk in the tastefully appointed office. The walls were painted a soft shade of yellow. A large abstract painting dominated one of them and an equally large mirror reflected light projected through the full-length window directly behind the woman’s chair. Tyler was reminded of a line from a Gilbert and Sullivan opera, She could very well pass for forty-five in the dusk with the light behind her. Not that this particular lady needed any help from artfully placed mirrors to make the best of herself, but still…
A fig tree flourished in a ceramic pot in one corner of the room and a small cream-coloured dog was fast asleep in a soft basket. It didn’t stir when Tyler and Alexi entered the room. The view looked over a decked garden with strategically placed tubs of flowering plants and expensive-looking outdoor furniture. The only indication of the nature of business carried out in the establishment was a graphic statue of Aphrodite.
Athena De Bois was, Tyler figured, probably pushing fifty but was aging gracefully, her poise and elegance immediately apparent as she stood to greet them. She wore tailored trousers, a fuchsia silk blouse that clung to her slender body and her hair was swept back into a perfect chignon.
‘Mr. Maddox,’ she said, extending a slim, beautifully manicured hand, her nails varnished the exact same shade of pink as her blouse. Tyler imagined such attention to detail was de rigueur in her line of work. ‘I’m Athena De Bois.’
‘Tyler Maddox. Thank you for seeing us without an appointment.’
The hint of a smile flirted with her lips. ‘A private investigator,’ she said, picking up his card from her desk and twisting it between her fingers. ‘My curiosity got the better of me.’
‘This is my assistant, Alexi Ellis.’
The ladies shook hands.
‘I know that name,’ Athena said, a note of suspicion entering her voice as she subjected Alexi to an appraising glance. ‘But not, I think, in the role of investigator. Help me out here, Alexi. Why do you look so familiar?’
‘Tyler’s the investigator,’ Alexi replied. ‘You probably know me from the Sentinel.’
‘Of course.’ If Athena was discomposed to have a journalist in her office, she gave no sign and remained perfectly calm. ‘I admire your work.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Please,’ she said. ‘Take a seat and tell me why an investigator and journalist are interested in Natalie Dwight.’
‘She’s gone missing,’ Tyler replied bluntly. ‘And we’re rather concerned about her.’
‘Missing?’ Athena raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow and appeared slightly less composed. ‘How long for?’
‘We’re now into the fifth day.’
‘Oh.’
‘Do you know her?’ Alexi asked.
‘Excuse me, but before I answer you, I need to understand why you’re here, Alexi, and in what capacity.’
‘That’s easily explained. I’m staying with a close friend in Lambourn at the moment. She and Natalie have become friendly. It’s Cheryl who alerted me to Natalie going on the missing list. I agreed to take a look into it, and met Tyler along the way. You have my assurance that I won’t be writing about this, and if I ever do, I shall seek your permission before I say a word about your organisation.’
‘Please don’t take this the wrong way, but why should I believe you? We’ve only just met and your profession is not exactly known for its ethical standards.’
Alexi flashed a wry smile. ‘We’re not all bad. I’m doing this as a favour to a friend, and because I feel as though I’ve come to know Natalie a little over the past day or so. I want to find her.’ Alexi leaned forward. ‘I can sense she’s in danger and needs help rather badly.’ Alexi paused. ‘If it’s not already too late. The police are being slow to involve themselves and so we’re all she has.’
Athena leaned back in her chair, apparently satisfied. ‘Very well, what do you need to know?’
‘You said you and Natalie are friends,’ Tyler said.
‘Oh yes. We worked here together for some years. I was coming to the end of my career as an escort. She was in training.’
Alexi frowned. ‘Training?’
‘There is a very great deal more to this profession than you might think.’ Athena appeared resigned to Alexi’s misconception. ‘How long do you think a person would last at your newspaper if they just assumed they knew how to be an effective reporter?’
Alexi conceded the point with a nod and a smile. ‘I hear you.’
‘Presumably you’re aware that Natalie moved to Lambourn and set up a business in floral art,’ Tyler said.
‘Yes, I did know that.’
‘You keep in contact with her?’
‘We’re still friends.’ Tyler could tell from the slight tightening in her expression that he had offended her. ‘It might surprise you to learn that escorts are capable of forming friendships, just like anyone else.’
‘It doesn’t surprise me in the slightest,’ Tyler replied composedly.
‘Sorry.’ Athena briefly lowered her head. ‘Sore subject.’
‘I can imagine.’
‘Apart from my friend Cheryl Hopgood, who’s a hotelier in Lambourn,’ Alexi said, ‘you’re the only other friend of Natalie’s we’ve come across, and we didn’t actually know the two of you were friends when we came here today.’
‘Natalie is a very private person.’ Athena fiddled abstractedly with Tyler’s card. ‘We do form friendships, but are cautious about whom we trust.’
‘Which, presumably is why she changed her name when she stopped working and no one who knows her in Lambourn is aware what she used to do for a living.’
‘What conclusions do you think they would draw if they did?’
‘Good point,’ Tyler acknowledged.
‘If she wasn’t driven out of town by jealous females, you can be sure those females would lock up their husbands.’ Athena’s smile became strained. ‘Take it from me, it would be a waste of breath to tell them they had nothing to fear from her. Entertaining gentlemen professionally is one thing. When it comes to our private lives, we can enjoy the luxury of being considerably more selective.’
‘I can understand that,’ Alexi said.
‘So, tell me how you think I can help,’ Athena said.
‘When did you last speak to Natalie?’
‘About a month ago. She was coming up to town for a couple of days and we arranged to meet for lunch.’
‘Did she tell you she planned to join a dating agency?’
‘Yes, she wants to settle down, like a normal person,’ she said quietly. ‘Easier said than done for people like us. She asked me if I thought she should do it and I told her to go for it.’
‘It’s a problem for her because if she finds someone she likes and tells him the truth about her background, he’s unlikely to continue with the relationship,’ Alexi said pensively. ‘If she doesn’t tell him, she’ll be living a lie.’
Athena nodded. ‘Quite. It’s all right for men to have a chequered past but the same rules don’t apply to women, in spite of the so-called equal society we live in.’
Tyler was starting to understand why Natalie had dated Darren Walker three times. He was a decent bloke and would probably not have cared about Natalie’s past.
‘We’ve investigated the three men she dated so far,’ Tyler said, ‘and are satisfied that none of them know what’s happened to her. That’s why we decided to dig
a little deeper and is how we came across her past life.’ Tyler leaned back in his chair and hooked one foot over his opposite thigh. ‘Our problem is that we can find out very little, other than that she worked here.’
‘We know she was adopted,’ Alexi said.
‘And we also know she was arrested as a minor for soliciting.’
‘She was.’
‘But unfortunately we have no way of knowing if she returned to her adoptive parents, or how she finished up becoming an escort,’ Tyler explained.
‘I can’t see how any of that information will help you. It’s ancient history and has no bearing on the person Natalie has become.’
‘Perhaps not.’ Tyler sighed. ‘But I’ll bet my pension on her disappearance not being random. Natalie wasn’t in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was targeted.’
‘How can you be so sure?’
‘There was no sign of a struggle in her home, her car is still in the garage, and she isn’t answering her phone or email,’ Alexi said. ‘She’s also missed one business commitment that we know of, which is totally out of character.’
‘Yes, it is.’ Athena frowned, looking genuinely concerned now. ‘All right, I’ll tell you what I know. She was arrested at the Park Lane hotel for trying to shake down a rich guest.’ Athena’s eyes were softened by a smile. ‘It was obvious that she was under age and didn’t have a clue what she was doing. Ordinarily girls like her wouldn’t get through the front door of such an establishment, but she must have slipped past the concierge when his back was turned.’
‘You sound as though you witnessed the event,’ Tyler said.
‘Oh, I did,’ Athena replied. ‘I thought you must know that, which was why you were here, asking to talk to me.’
***
Alexi blinked. ‘You saw Natalie as a teenager trying to pick up a rich man in a five-star hotel?’
‘I was there in the lobby, waiting for a client to finish a telephone call. Natalie was totally out of her depth, but even then she had a certain something about her that made her stand out.’
‘You introduced her here?’ Tyler suggested.
‘Yes, actually I did. She made such an impression upon me that I made it my business to find out more about her.’
‘You had a friend in vice willing to tell you what you needed to know,’ Tyler suggested.
‘We wouldn’t last long in this profession if we didn’t have friends in the right places,’ Athena said with a sardonic smile. ‘Natalie was adamant that she didn’t intend to return to her adoptive parents but, of course, Social Services knew best and forced her to. I knew she would run away again, and they probably did too, but since she refused to tell them what had gone wrong, they had no choice.’ Athena sighed. ‘Suffice it to say, I told Bella—’
‘Bella?’ Alexi asked.
‘The lady who ran this establishment when I was still an escort. I told her about Natalie and that I thought she had potential as an escort. When she ran away a second time and was picked up by vice, my contact tipped me the wink and I took her under my wing.’
‘Just like that?’ Alexi asked, unable to keep a faint note of censure out of her voice. ‘Without knowing why she was so determined to run from the only home she’d ever known?’
‘I didn’t need to know. I could see it in her eyes that she had her reasons. Compelling reasons that probably forced her to try and sell herself in the first place.’
‘Isn’t that what you were asking her to do by bringing her here?’
Athena sat a little straighter. ‘Do you know how many beautiful young girls aspire to enter this profession?’
‘Enlighten me.’
‘As many as those who wish to become models or actresses and, believe me, as ambitions go, becoming a top escort is almost as unattainable. Take the girl that let you in just now, for example. What did you make of her?’
‘She looked like the girl next door,’ Alexi replied slowly. ‘Fresh and young, and yet…’ She glanced at Tyler. ‘She got your attention, even dressed casually and not trying to make an impression.’
‘It’s the way she moved,’ Tyler replied, spreading his hands. ‘I’m a man. It was impossible not to look.’
‘Then we’re doing something right,’ Athena said, some of the tension leaving her body. ‘That’s what we teach here. It’s not all about sexy clothing and thick makeup. Just the opposite, in fact. The gentlemen on our books require understated sophistication. Look upon this place as an academy from which only one in ten ever graduates.’
‘Blimey!’ Alexi muttered.
‘Natalie was fifteen by the time we took her in. She was angry with the world, with just cause, and didn’t want to listen to anything we tried to tell her about the pitfalls of the occupation. She knew better, of course.’ Athena’s shrug was impossibly elegant. ‘Well, what teenager doesn’t? Most kids with that attitude refuse to toe the line and get shown the door, but Bella agreed with me about Natalie’s potential and allowed her some leeway.’
‘Please don’t take this the wrong way,’ Alexi said. ‘But how do you learn to become an escort?’
‘How much time have you got?’ Athena smiled. ‘Natalie was bright, so it was easy to get her to develop an interest in all the right things she’d need to keep herself informed about in order to make polite dinner conversation…politics, current affairs, stuff like that. She had to read the papers every day and answer questions intelligently upon a whole range of subjects. She learned to speak properly, to walk, to dress, to use makeup and style her hair. Trainees also get investment advice.’ A ghost of a smile flirted with Athena’s lips. ‘We have an accountant on staff, believe it or not.’ Alexi nodded. She believed it. ‘Natalie’s apprenticeship lasted two years.’
Alexi flexed both brows. ‘That long?’
‘We charge our clients a lot of money. In return they expect the very best, which is what we pride ourselves upon giving them.’
‘It sounds as though Natalie was your protégée,’ Tyler remarked.
‘She was in many respects. I brought her in here so I felt responsible for her. We became friends, and I value that friendship. I hope you find her safe and well.’
‘Can you think where she might have gone?’ Alexi asked.
‘No, I’m sorry, I can’t. If I had any ideas, I’d tell you. I want her to be found.’
‘Please don’t take this the wrong way,’ Tyler said. ‘But it did cross our minds that she might have befriended a wealthy date with a view to exploiting that wealth.’
Shades of irritation clouded Athena’s expression. ‘Natalie was wealthy in her own right. Even if she was not, she wouldn’t do that.’
‘She purchased her house and paid for an extension from which to run her business. That made a big dent in her nest egg, but since then regular large amounts have gone into her account. You can see how it looks to an outsider.’ Tyler paused. ‘Especially to the police, if they start digging.’
Athena shuddered. ‘Let’s hope Natalie’s found and it doesn’t come to that.’
‘We have managed to see her financial records through, shall we say, roundabout means. We’ve also alerted her bank manager to her disappearance. If he reports any discrepancies to the police, it will escalate their enquiry,’ Tyler explained. ‘Which means her past will inevitably come to light.’
‘We found out about it,’ Alexi added. ‘So they will too.’
‘Yes, I see.’ Athena turned her head to one side, as though she didn’t want them to see her frown. ‘I want her found, but I don’t want any adverse publicity for this agency. We have a lot of high profile clients who won’t appreciate it.’
‘Natalie used my sister’s dating agency,’ Tyler said. ‘Which is how I got involved, and my main concern is in protecting my sister’s interests, just as yours is in protecting your own.’
‘Do you know why Natalie ran away from home?’ Alexi asked. ‘I’m assuming it’s because her father exceeded his fatherly duties, but have no idea i
f there’s any foundation in that supposition.’
‘Oh yes, it’s true.’ Athena pursed her perfectly glossed lips. ‘He’s a sports agent. Represents a number of top footballers, tennis players, people like that.’
‘Gerald Seaton,’ Alexi said, frowning. ‘Of course. I know that name. Who doesn’t?’
‘He is well-known, very charming and highly respected. He took Natalie to some flashy awards ceremony when she was fourteen. Her mother, for some reason, wasn’t there, so Natalie had a posh hotel room all to herself.’
Alexi shivered. ‘Let me guess—the Park Lane hotel.’
‘Precisely. She told me how excited she’d been. How grown up she’d felt. She idolised her father, you see, and would do anything to please him. Well, anything except what he wanted from her when he called on her last thing, smelling of drink as she put it, to make sure she had everything she needed.’ Athena sighed. ‘Seems he decided she didn’t and set about proving it to her. He raped her repeatedly that night, told her no one would believe her if she cried rape because, of course, she’d egged him on. She owed him for taking her in and giving her such a luxurious lifestyle.’ Athena frowned. ‘All the usual garbage that rapists spew to justify their perversions. But most worrying of all, he made it clear that now he’d started he didn’t plan to stop. From that moment on she was his whenever he wanted her.’
‘Shit!’ Alexi muttered.
‘He underestimated Natalie’s strength of will, though. His actions well and truly shattered her hero worship and opened her eyes to the real world. She told me she grew up that day and accepted what she’d spent years trying to deny. There was obviously something fundamentally wrong with her. There must be or her birth mother wouldn’t have given her up. And now, the man she looked upon as her father seemed to think he could use her as he pleased. Well, it didn’t please Natalie, and she was determined it wouldn’t happen again. She also decided that if she was attractive to older men she might as well make a living for herself on her own terms.’
The Deadline Series Boxset Page 14