by Jenny Kane
‘Truly?’
‘Truly.’ Abi stood up and kissed Max. ‘It made me think of the young Stan and how many happy hours he would have spent in his garden when he was with Mary here.’
‘You little romantic, you.’ Max kissed her gently, and then suddenly pulled back. ‘What did you do with Cass and Dora? They aren’t about to walk in or anything are they?’
‘I left them in Cass’s kitchen with Dora plotting revenge on Justin.’
‘Then God help Justin!’ Max ran a palm through Abi’s hair.
‘They’ve probably started plotting another celebration by now.’
‘Celebration of what?'
‘You moving in!’
‘Oh, that!’ Max smiled suggestively, before picking Abi up off the chair. ‘Celebrating? Umm? Sounds a good idea to me.’
Chapter Twenty-six
‘Abi gave me Sasha’s number as a starting point, and I did some digging. It didn’t take me long to work out how to unearth information about Jacinta or Justin’s PA. There’s always someone who knows more than you think they do. The trick is to find them.’
Dan stared solemnly across his desk at Dora, who was clutching a notebook and biro with the look of a private detective hot on the trail of something that smelt bad. ‘You found out more than you expected?’
‘Pretty much exactly what I expected, actually. It’s all a bit textbook. Clichéd, even.’
‘I think you should elaborate.’ Dan, fighting off the urge to pour them two fingers of whisky each, crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. ‘Am I going to have to swear off my decision to never punch another human being ever again?’
Dora’s professional expression slipped a fraction as her eyes drifted towards her care manager. ‘You really do like Cass, don’t you?’
‘Whether I do or not is hardly the point. What I do not like is someone – anyone – being ripped off or taken for granted.’
Watching him in silence for a second, Dora took an unnecessary glance at her notebook, before saying, ‘If my assessment is correct. . .’
‘Which it is?’
‘I am ninety-nine per cent sure.’
‘Tell me.’
Dora laid her notes down. ‘It appears that Justin hasn’t just been cheating on Jacinta, but on Cass as well. With Crystal.’
‘Shit.’
‘Quite.’
Dan felt the muscles in his arms twitch, unconsciously balling his hands into fists. He hadn’t worked out why he felt so protective towards the high-maintenance city girl, but listening to Dora describe how Justin had started to see Crystal some time ago, prior to any plots against Cass, made him feel like he had to do something.
The care manager began to play his mobile phone between his fingers in agitation. ‘When did Jacinta ask Crystal for help in starting this plot, or was it the other way around?’
Getting up from her chair, without waiting to see if Dan wanted one or not, Dora poured two cups of coffee from the machine in the corner of his office. ‘I spoke to Sasha’s assistant, who put me in touch with a friend of hers in the administration department of Family Values. It seems that Crystal rules that place with a rod of iron, and is neither liked nor respected. She has something of a reputation for being self-serving.’
Passing Dan his coffee, Dora went on, ‘If Crystal had learned about Justin planning to buy a property in Cornwall – which as she is his PA is a reasonable hypothesis – I suspect she feared he was leaving London, and therefore leaving her as well.’
‘You think she was aware of his affair with Cass then?’
‘Oh yes. I have no doubt, having spoken to the woman myself, that she would think it a victory to be the youngest of Justin’s mistresses. To suddenly discover that perhaps he actually cared for Cassandra, rather than her just being someone to have sex with, made her even more jealous than she already was.
‘I suspect that, until that moment of discovery, Crystal was having fun pulling the wool over two powerful women’s eyes. Suddenly it must have dawned on her that, in fact, she was the one being used.’
Dan began to see what Dora was saying. ‘So you think that Crystal decided to get her own back on Justin for humiliating her and on Cass for meaning more to him than she did by siding with his wife?’
‘It would seem so.’
‘How the devil did you find that out? You can hardly have asked her outright if she was sleeping with the boss.’
Dora laughed. ‘When I first started working undercover, there was none of this wonderful bugging technology you have today. You merely had to ask the right questions as carefully as you could.’
‘So you did just ask her?’
‘No.’ Dora grinned. ‘I arranged for some old friends in London to meet with Sasha. They told her what sort of questions to ask, how to ask them, and showed her how to use a gadget or two.’
Dan shook his head, as much in disbelief as respect, at Dora. ‘Gadgets? I assume we are talking the latest in discreet Dictaphones here?’
‘Something in that area, yes.’
‘And Sasha did what was asked, just like that? Against a friend?’
‘Friend?’ Dora scoffed at the notion. ‘There are no friends in the City. There are merely people who have the jobs you want. Sasha is a highly intelligent young woman. She would excel in a company like Family Values, and what’s more, she is approachable, and knows the value of treating her staff with respect.’
‘She did it because she wants Crystal’s job?’
‘I suspect it was partly ladder-climbing, but partly because I told her it would help Abi. I made sure that news of how Luke really treated her while they were married hit the gossip circuit; they’re all feeling a bit guilty about that now. I took advantage of that and rubbed in how much it would please Abi if Sasha helped, as well as how much it would help her career-wise to uncover a company fraud.’
‘You said that? A company fraud?’ Dan was amazed. ‘Dora, remind me never to piss you off!’
Dora chuckled. ‘I’m not so hardnosed as I was, but I had to be when I was young. The things I saw. . .’ She broke off and was quiet for a while; lost in memories that she tried hard not to remember.
Understanding all too well, Dan remained silent for a while, before pulling his friend back to the point.
‘To clarify then, you got Sasha’s number via Abi. Sasha was intrigued, and agreed to meet a friend of yours to learn how to use secret recording equipment. Then she took Crystal out, or met her by “accident” or something, and got her talking about work and men and such?’
‘Pretty much. Obviously I sent Sasha lots of info on my ex-colleague, Harold his name is. I didn’t want her thinking she was being set up on some weird stalker-type date. She was very keen, as I said. That girl is a loss to MI5!’
‘Sounds like it!’ Dan sipped from his coffee cup thoughtfully. ‘Was it Crystal who approached Jacinta after fearing she was about to lose a wealthy lover, or was it Jacinta who found out about Cass and approached Crystal for help?’
‘The latter. You should have heard the gloating in Crystal’s voice. The pleasure she took from the fact that Jacinta had approached her for help.’
‘You don’t think Jacinta knew about Crystal’s affair with Justin then?’
‘No, I don’t. I think Jacinta approached Crystal because she is his PA, and therefore the person with the most direct influence over her husband. We will be able to use Crystal’s – and therefore Justin’s – double deception as leverage against him. Justin is, as I feared, a worm of a man, and worse, a coward. He won’t want his wife knowing about his second affair.’
Dan spoke with open hostility now. ‘Justin was never going to be faithful to Cass, even if he did marry her. I can see it all now. Cass would gradually adopt Jacinta’s role, and Crystal would replace Cass as chief mistress to brighten up his business trips. Until the next pretty young thing with blonde highlights and killer ambition took her place.’
Unable to argue with Dan’s log
ic, Dora added, ‘There’s one other thing I discovered that is significant. Jacinta has significant shares in Family Values. And if Crystal’s boasts to Sasha were truthful then Justin doesn’t know about them. It seems that Jacinta was in no small part responsible for making sure her husband got the partnership in that firm in the first place. She pulled strings.’
‘You make her sound like some sort of puppet master, or mistress I suppose.’
‘That is precisely the impression I got. My understanding is that when Justin told Jacinta he was leaving her she threatened to take away his new job and everything that went with it if he divorced her.’
‘How do you know all this, Dora?’
‘Contacts, Dan my love!’ Tapping the side of her nose with a sly wink, Dora added, ‘I’ve had them for generations, and I have never cut them. One never knows when information might be required.’
‘What I don’t understand, is why a woman as obviously well connected as Jacinta would want to stay married to a creep like Justin, when she knows he’s cheated on her at least once?’
‘Status, pride, and money.’
‘Oh, those things.’ Dan ran a hand through his short hair. ‘So, do we tell Cass, or not?’
‘I didn’t think it was supposed to rain down here!’
Cass sheltered under a shop awning after, with much giggling, the three friends discovered they couldn’t all fit under Beth’s massive umbrella.
Abi huddled closer to her friends. ‘It was raining the first day I arrived. I was so cold. I felt so cheated that it wasn’t hot. Luckily it is mostly sunny in the summer.’ Hitching her bag further up her shoulder, wishing she’d worn a skirt and tights rather than her jeans, which were now clinging to her legs, unpleasantly damp, Abi pointed to the department store on the opposite side of Penzance’s raised pavement. ‘We’ve exhausted all possibilities for bridesmaids’ dresses everywhere apart from in there, and that posh wedding boutique around the corner.’
Beth, who was beginning to feel tired and hungry, pointed towards the department store. ‘Let’s try there. It’s close and has a coffee shop.’
Cass rolled her eyes. ‘You two wouldn’t be obsessed with taking coffee breaks, would you?’
‘Yes.’ Beth and Abi laughed as they spoke in unison.
‘Although,’ Beth added as they crossed the road, ‘I’m more of a hot chocolate person these days. Can’t get enough of them.’
Abi scanned the list of what was on each floor. ‘And we’re in luck, the cafe is on the same floor as the bridalwear. Trying on uncomfortable dresses can be rewarded immediately afterwards with hot chocolate. And if you’re a good girl, Beth, I might let you have a biscuit.’
Regarding her new friends with affection, Cass couldn’t help remember what Dan had said about how much fun it was to share things with other women. He’d been right. He’d been right about a lot of things. A flush of shame at how she’d initially behaved towards these people coloured her cheeks.
‘You OK, Cass?’ Abi asked as they boarded the first escalator.
‘Fine, thanks. I’ve gone a bit hot after coming in from the rain, that’s all.’ Cass forced her expression into what she hoped would be a convincing smile. She hadn’t told them what a strange shopping trip this was for her. She felt so out of her comfort zone. In the world she was used to, Cass only went to boutiques. She’d never ordered clothes off the peg, and the mere idea of going to a department store for wedding clothes was completely unthinkable.
‘Over there.’ Beth pointed towards a small section of wedding clothes in the far corner. ‘We’re bound to find three outfits that fit OK together.’
Cass was bemused. ‘I’ve never shopped like this. How can you be so laid-back about it? Don’t you want to look incredible at the wedding? You’re both so pretty. It wouldn’t take much to make you drop dead stunning for Stan and Dora’s big day.’ Realising that she’d sounded bossy, Cass added, ‘If you wanted to, that is.’
‘You’re fairly pretty yourself.’ Abi gave her a quick hug to show she hadn’t taken offence. ‘This is weird for you, isn’t it?’
‘Good weird, but yes. I haven’t bought clothes from a department store since I was a student.’ Cass winced as she heard the sound of her own voice. ‘God, I’m such a bloody snob.’
Beth smiled. ‘You were conditioned by the world you lived in. We’ll have great fun bringing you down to our level.’ She winked before pointing at a rack of variously coloured bridesmaids’ dresses. ‘Now go and hunt through that lot quickly, before my need for refreshment reaches boiling point!’
With three hot chocolates steaming before them on the table, and a packet of ginger biscuits propped in front of Beth, Cass couldn’t stop marvelling at the fact they’d all found something to wear.
‘If the girls from my old agency could see me now they’d never believe it. They’d think you’d drugged my drink or something.’
‘You like your dress though, don’t you?’ Abi hoped so, she adored her own snug-fitting, tastefully low-cut dress, which was almost identical to Cass’s.
‘I love it. I love them all.’ Cass looked down at the oversized carrier bag laid carefully over the fourth chair at their cafe table. Inside it were three mocha-coloured matt silk bridesmaid dresses. Hers and Abi’s were sleeveless, with neat straight skirts that stopped short of sweeping the floor, whereas Beth’s was a two-piece, with a forgiving panelled skirt that had plenty of ‘baby-give’ in it, and a short-sleeved top that flattered her pregnancy-enhanced breasts to perfection.
‘That’s good. I think Dora will like them as well.’ Beth crunched into another biscuit and, uncaring of where she was, kicked her shoes off. ‘It’s such a shame Sally is being so difficult. Even if she can’t be here, she could have joined us via Skype or something.’
Abi slapped her forehead dramatically. ‘I totally forgot to tell you, what with Max moving in and buying the dresses and everything. I sent a new Skype message to Sally explaining the situation properly, and she replied.’
‘Is she coming over?’ Beth cupped her hot chocolate as if it was freezing outside and not just a damp summer’s day.
‘No, but she has definitely mellowed towards the idea of the marriage.’
‘Well, that’s something.’ Cass smiled. ‘Dora was telling me that Stan has been very low about it.’
‘Max said the same. Even a walk with Sadie only cheered him up for a while. I’m going over this evening to tell him the news in person and to Skype Sally with him.’
Beth was about to ask about how Stan’s grandchildren had taken the news, when Cass’s mobile burst into life.
‘Oh, it’s Dora. Probably checking up on our dress status.’ Cass answered, ‘Hello, Dora, you caught us toasting our successful dress shopping with a hot beverage.’
Abi and Beth exchanged glances as a cloud passed over Cass’s face.
‘You want all my handwritten correspondence about the agency. . .and with Justin?. . .Well, yes, but why do you want it?’
Cass talked for a long time, while Abi and Beth looked at each other, not sure whether they should stay there or leave their new friend in privacy.
Eventually, Cass hung up.
‘Are you alright?’ Abi asked cautiously.
‘I’m not sure. Dora says she has found out what happened to my agency. She wants all my business records and any handwritten letters I have from Justin.’
Beth was confused. ‘Why would she want those?’
‘I haven’t a clue. She’s sending Dan over for them this evening. Apparently it is very important. Dora wants to make sure all her facts are right, I suppose.’
‘Right for what?’ Abi frowned.
‘I’m not entirely sure about that either. And why does she have to send Dan to fetch them. You could take them when you see Stan later, couldn’t you, Abi, if you didn’t mind of course?’
Beth put down her empty cup. ‘Well, that bit is obvious.’
‘It is?’
‘Dora is despe
rate to get you on your own with Dan again.’
‘Dan?’
‘Yes, Dan. You know, tall bloke, tattoos, cute. Saved you at the hotel the other day.’
Cass blushed, awareness of her surroundings coming back to her. ‘Oh yes, that Dan.’
Chapter Twenty-seven
‘How do you think Cass will take it?’ Dan passed his office phone to Dora. ‘I still don’t think she’s accepted Justin isn’t going to leave his wife for her. Not deep down.’
Dora sighed. ‘I’m honestly not sure. We don’t know her that well yet. One thing I’m sure of though. Cass has a strength about her. You have to, to survive running your own business in the City, especially one that deals with the parents of private school children intent on sending their little darlings to Oxbridge from the moment they’re born.’
Double-checking the phone number that Sasha had given her, Dora looked Dan straight in the eye. ‘She’s going to need her new friends. Most of all she is going to need you, Dan.’
‘I’m not the sort of guy she wants, Dora.’
‘No, you’re not; but you’re the sort of guy she needs.’ Regarding him like a benevolent professor, Dora added, ‘And please don’t insult my intelligence by telling me you aren’t interested, because it’s clear that you are. Which is why you are going to go and fetch the documents from her for me this evening. It is also why it is best that you leave me to make the next few calls on my own, because they are liable to make you cross.’
‘Abi, my girl!’
Engulfed in Stan’s arms, Abi was nosed out of the way by Sadie, who didn’t appreciate not being the first in the queue to be greeted by her former owner.
‘Alright, Sadie! I’m pleased to see you as well.’
Sitting on the sofa while Sadie was fussed, Abi dived in. ‘I’m so sorry I haven’t been over much lately, Stan. What with finding bridesmaids’ dresses, the start of the tourist season in the gallery, looking after Cass, and Max moving in, it’s been non-stop.’
‘Never apologise for having a full and happy life, my girl.’ Stan sat next to her with a small puff of relief. ‘Good to take the weight off! Dora has been playing spy all day, and I’ve been trying to tidy up enough of my stuff to squeeze a bit more of her stuff out of boxes and into cupboards.’