Chapter 29
CHAPTER 29
AFTER A NIGHT of reflection and regret, I stumbled into the bathroom at Albany House early the following morning. I might as well not have bothered going to bed, for all the good it did me.
Yesterday evening at the Blackwood Foundation Ball had been a monumental screw-up. Why had Luke been there? I’d checked the guest list in the afternoon as I always did, and his name wasn’t on it, which meant he must have taken someone else’s seat.
I leaned forward, hands on the mirror above the basin, and stared at my puffy eyes. Good going, Emmy . Although in the cold light of day, the situation wasn’t the end of the world. No, the apocalypse had already happened, last year in the parking lot of the Green Mountain Hotel.
Yes, Luke knew who I was now, and yes, his dislike for me had been confirmed, but what impact would that truly have on my life?
Probably not much of one.
So his presence had made me uncomfortable? Compared to some of the situations I’d been in, on a scale of unpleasantness from zero to ten, being in a room with Luke came so low I’d have to limbo. If Black were alive, he’d have told me to man up, and I intended to do exactly that.
Things became easier when I left the country at noon. I had a jungle survival exercise scheduled in the Belize rainforest, and it only took a phone call to fly out there a few days early.
Just imagine, seven days of peace and quiet—me, a bunch of special forces guys, and nature. Okay, so there was a bit of crawling around in the undergrowth required, I got bitten all over, and I had to survive on things that certainly wouldn’t feature on your average menu. Chilli fried grub anyone? But there were no meetings, no paperwork, no awkward people to deal with, and no technology demanding my attention every five minutes.
Of course, Nate had given me a satellite version of my red phone, together with instructions to keep it with me and turned on at all times, but it fell out of my pocket and smashed on a rock when I was climbing a tree on day two. I heard the despair in his voice when I borrowed a phone to inform him he’d have to communicate with me via base camp from now on, but secretly I found it liberating.
A week later, I returned to the UK relaxed and rested. Sure, I had some bites and scratches, but my tan looked good and Bradley could fix my hair. I sauntered into the office, getting several odd looks when I smiled. Nobody had seen that from me in a long time. I’d even stopped off at Krispy Kreme and bought donuts. I hid them in the break room where hopefully Toby wouldn’t notice, then continued to my desk.
My mood soon dropped when I saw my email inbox and the pile of papers waiting for me.
Welcome back to reality .
It took me the rest of the morning to get through it all, and there were some real nasties in there. First up, a message from the Metropolitan Police asking if I’d testify as a witness in Tia’s kidnapping trial. My answer? Not voluntarily.
I hated court and never went unless I was subpoenaed. Even then, I’d do anything I could to get out of it. Two years ago, I’d even gone so far as to get one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to write me a note.
Dear Judge,
Emmy is away on very important and very classified government business so she won’t be able to attend the hearing today.
Sorry.
Of course, the language was more officious, but you get the gist of it. It cost me a super-expensive box of cigars, and I had to fly to Cuba to pick the stupid things up then smuggle them back into the country.
I sat back in my chair and folded my hands behind my head. How could I get out of court this time? A light bulb pinged, and I made a quick phone call.
Black’s Aunt Miriam was on the warpath too, demanding a copy of his will and a bunch of money. Well, she could get lost. I told my lawyer to tell her so, in those exact words if necessary. I knew—because Black had told me—that she had financial problems, so we could play a game of legal tennis all year. She’d run out of cash long before I did.
I’d built up a nice nest egg over the years, and I was still making money faster than I could spend it. I hadn’t done anything about the will yet because I didn’t need Black’s assets as well. There was no hurry.
When I got to the bottom of the pile, I found a message that had been forwarded around to several people before landing on my desk with a coffee stain and a post-it note saying Yours? stuck to it. I took a mouthful of my own Americano and started to read.
Subject: For the attention of E Black
Hi Emerson (I think),
Luke came home tonight and told me your name, but I’m not sure this is the right person? If it is, I want to say thank you for saving my life (again!)
I wish you’d stayed because I miss having you around, but Luke really hates your guts now so I guess I can’t blame you for leaving. If ever you are in Lower Foxford, and you feel like going out for lunch or something, it would be nice to see you. Luke told me not to contact you, but I could sneak out and he wouldn’t even know.
If not, then I understand, and I hope you are happy and that life goes OK for you.
Love from Tia xxx
Looked as if I’d never escape from the past, didn’t it? Although Tia was one part of my past I didn’t mind coming back. Hanging out with her was like having a little sister, and while I’d never admit it to her brother, I admired the rebel in her. Luke may have behaved like an idiot, but I didn’t see why I should cut Tia out of my life because of it.
So I fired off an email.
From: [email protected]
Subject: Emerson
Hey Tia,
Hope you’re doing OK after your tangle with Simon. Try not to get into any more trouble while I’m not around, eh?
Lunch would be good. If you tell me when you’re free, I’ll clear some time in my diary. I can pick you up, but best not from Lower Foxford, or it would get back to Luke before we even left the village. If you need any hints on sneaking out, let me know. I’ve had plenty of practice at that, lol.
I’ve put my number at the bottom—text/call me whenever you want to chat.
Ash / Emmy x
That was my last bit of paperwork. I decided to celebrate with a donut, only to find the vultures had eaten them all, and when I went to the mini fridge in my office, starving, it was filled with carrot sticks and celery. For crying out loud, I’d eaten better in the rainforest.
“What on earth is this lot?” I asked Tina, my London assistant.
“Er, Toby gave me a shopping list.”
“If I give you a new shopping list, would you be a darling and pop out to get me something I can actually eat?”
She shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot and refused to meet my eyes. “Toby told me I couldn’t. He said you’d ask, but you’re on a strict diet.”
“Fine.”
I walked out to the break room and found one of the junior analysts eating a sandwich.
“Hi. Gareth, isn’t it?”
“Uh, yes?”
“Gareth, I’ll give you fifty quid if you’ll nip out and get me a Subway.”
“I-I-I can’t,” he stammered. “Toby said you’re only supposed to eat the food he prescribed.”
“Did he tell everyone in the whole office this?”
“Uh, yeah, he sent a memo around.”
Toby was officially in my bad books now. “A strict diet” meant the fridge at Albany House would be filled with chicken, fish, lean cuts of beef, vegetables, fruit, and cottage cheese. Protein shakes. Eggs. Not a chocolate bar in sight. I’d starve.
I looked at my watch. Half an hour until my next meeting—just enough time to find some proper lunch without being late. I jogged down to Subway and ordered a turkey foot long and a bag of cookies to go with it, turning down the cashier’s offer to add a soft drink for only fifty pence. I never touched that fizzy stuff. Artificial sweeteners, colour, preservatives—those things could kill you.
The cookies made me happy, but silly things still made me miserable, like Black’s toothbrush sitting beside mine in the bathroom off our shared office. The alternative was to throw it out, though, and I couldn’t bring myself to do that. Not yet. While it was still there, if I didn’t think about it, I could almost believe he was coming home.
My last meeting of the day was at New Scotland Yard, a one hour debrief that turned into three as we rehashed the mess they’d made of the security exercise at the conference centre. In a typical display of public bureaucracy, they’d sent sixteen people to the meeting when four would have been perfectly adequate, and they all wanted to have their say.
After I escaped, I headed back to my old haunts. You could take the girl out of East London, but you couldn’t take East London out of the girl, and over the years I’d kept in touch with some of the people I grew up with. After a quick visit to JJ’s and a drink at the pub opposite, I stopped for a catch up with Vinnie, the guy who’d been generous enough to share his knowledge of car theft when we were younger. He tended to work late, as that was when most of his cars were nicked, so I knew I’d find him awake.
He was underneath what had once been a Mercedes S Class when I arrived. I poked him with my foot, and he shot out on a wheeled plank, banging his head and cursing.
“Don’t you ever knock?”
I shrugged. “Nope.”
“Why are you here? Anything important?”
“Nah, just thought I’d stop in to say hello.”
“In that case, put the kettle on, would ya?”
We caught up over a cuppa, reminiscing about the old days and the people we knew back then. When Vinnie got called away to deal with a wiring problem on a Porsche, I went to check on one of the kids I mentored through the Blackwood Foundation, leaving the BMW X5 I was driving in Vinnie’s care. It wasn’t a good idea to park it on the street around there, although I suppose there was a certain irony in leaving it at a chop shop for safekeeping.
The lad’s new job at Harry’s Fish Bar meant he had a steady income and as much free food as he could eat, and he served me up a portion of chips with plenty of vinegar, just the way I liked it. Better than Toby’s baked sweet potatoes, that was for sure. I ate them out of the paper on my way back to Vinnie’s.
“Don’t be a stranger,” Vinnie said as I picked up my car.
“I won’t.”
“Come over for dinner next time. You can meet my daughter. She’s a real daddy’s girl.”
“What, she dismantles the Lego cars instead of playing with Barbie?”
“Something like that.”
This evening had been my kind of night out on the town, and I was smiling as I started the BMW. Vinnie had even topped up the oil.
Thank goodness for old friends.