Chapter Twenty-Five #4
‘Did you see her with Luke while you were in the club?’ she demanded.
‘Yes. I saw them arguing and then they both left.’
‘Together?’
‘Yes, together.’
‘Well there you are. What more proof do you need?’ Cat pressed her palms against her cheeks, feeling sick and miserable.
‘I doubt he was very pleased knowing she’d already spoken to me.
Still, I guess it saved him a lot of grief.
’ She took a deep breath. Her whole life was in chaos.
Luke had returned to his old love and planned to set up home here in Carrenporth.
The Smugglers, the mini-mart, the Copper Kettle, the harbour – everywhere she went there was more than a chance she would run into them.
Always a reminder of what had happened; of the way he had betrayed her. She couldn’t allow that to happen.
‘Nathan, I can’t stay here any more, I have to get away,’ she said, deciding her only option now was to leave, her mind already focussing on possible destinations.
‘But where will you go? Your home, your work, your life is here.’
‘Not for the immediate future. I can’t live here never knowing when I might see them together. And I will. It’s bound to happen. ’
‘Cat.’ Nathan moved along the bed, wrapping his arms around her in a hug. ‘Tomorrow, I promise I’m going to find Luke Carrack and give him a bloody good hiding for doing this to you.’
‘No, please.’ She pulled from his embrace, resting her hands on his shoulders. ‘Promise me you won’t get involved. It’s my problem. I don’t want the family dragged into this. He’s not worth it, and anyway, the last thing I want is for you to be arrested.’
Nathan sighed. ‘Okay, if you insist, but I’m not happy.’
‘I do, honestly. It won’t achieve anything.’
‘Maybe not, but it would give me a great deal of satisfaction,’ Nathan said, hugging her again, his comfort and warmth bringing on a fresh bout of tears.
‘I’m sorry, I’ve made your shirt all wet,’ she said, pulling back and taking a tissue from a box by the bed to try and repair the damage. Feeling a little more composed she looked up at him.
‘I will get over this,’ she said, dabbing at the front of his shirt. ‘And there is somewhere I can go.’
‘Where?’
‘To Italy with étienne. He did offer, remember?’
‘Yes, but for a visit, not work.’
‘I’m sure he can find something for me. And it will give me time to get over Luke.
’ The idea took root and suddenly she was confident she could make it happen.
But how long would it take to put all this pain behind her?
Six months? A year? Who knew? If she found Garda as magical as Ruan and étienne had said it was she might never want to return.
But no, that wasn’t true, was it? Cornwall was her home.
She would find her way back eventually. When the time was right.
‘Are you really sure you want to do this?’ Nathan’s sorrow at losing his sister was obvious and she saw him struggle, looking for something that would persuade her to stay.
‘I don’t want to, I have to,’ she said, reaching for his hand and squeezing it. ‘There is no other option.’
Luke unlocked the front door of his cottage and turned on the hall light.
Tonight he should have been spending the night here with Cat, making up for lost time, talking about their future together.
He’d been planning to ask her to move in with him.
Instead he faced a cold, empty bed and probably very little sleep.
He’d made a mess of things. She was right; he had lied.
But he had no idea Tanya would turn up again and, worse still, decide to wreck their relationship.
After Cat’s final, painful words he’d headed back into the club to find the cause of all the trouble.
She was waiting at the top of the stairs.
He could see from the smug expression on her face she had deliberately set all this up to get rid of Cat.
The smile soon vanished when he informed her bluntly he didn’t want her now or at any time in the future and she should leave.
Hearing his words, the sweet, if slightly scatty girl he’d known in Bali told him quite arrogantly that his preferring to be with Cat and not her made him one of life’s all-time losers.
When he demanded the cuff back she threw it at him with a vicious smirk, saying it had fulfilled its purpose and she no longer needed it anyway.
If he didn’t want her then at least she had the satisfaction of knowing Cat didn’t either.
He walked with her to her car, making sure she left before he headed home.
Her words stung but he was determined to prove her wrong.
What he had with Cat was special and strong, something that might bend but never break, and tomorrow he was determined to prove it.
He undressed, fell into bed and lay there, his eyes closed, still unable to stop images of the disastrous events of the evening filling his mind.
He cursed himself for letting her go but he’d had no choice.
She was so angry, so hurt. In the morning he promised things would be different.
He would drive out to the hotel and see her.
She would be calmer then and maybe even regretting their argument.
Whatever he found himself facing he couldn’t, wouldn’t lose her.
Eventually he managed to drift off to sleep, waking to the chug of diesel engines as the small fishing fleet left the harbour for their day’s fishing.
A glimmer of morning light broke through the curtains where they didn’t quite meet, and without checking his bedside alarm he knew their departure meant it must be close to five a.m. He closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep again.
Instead, the events of the night before were back playing in his head.
To rid himself of this continuous torment he decided to get up.
He showered and dressed, grabbed a couple of rounds of toast and went outside to sit on the low wall just above the harbour, watching Carrenporth wake up to a grey hazy September morning.
He decided to wait until nine thirty before driving to the hotel.
By that time Cat should be at her desk and he would be able to talk to her privately.
He reached the hotel just before ten, parked up and walked in through the front doors.
The first person he saw was Nathan talking to one of the receptionists.
Ignoring him, he made his way to Cat’s office, knocked and entered, surprised to find Cat’s assistant, Siobhan Pendennis sitting behind her desk.
He remembered she had been backpacking around South East Asia all summer.
‘Morning, Siobhan,’ he said as he leaned in the doorway, giving her a friendly smile. ‘Is Cat around?’
However, before she had the chance to reply, he heard approaching footsteps echo across the foyer.
‘I’ll deal with this, Siobhan.’ He turned at the sound of Nathan Trevelyan’s voice and saw his frosty expression. With a nod, Siobhan scooped up a small pile of files and left the office.
‘If you’re looking for Cat, she’s gone.’
‘Gone?’
‘Yes, away.’
‘For how long?’
‘She didn’t say, and, to be quite honest, it’s none of your business.
’ Nathan paused for a moment as if gathering his thoughts.
‘You know, she asked me not to touch you,’ he said, his cool blue eyes fixed on Luke, ‘although you will never know how near I came to seeking you out last night and giving you a good thrashing for what you did to her.’
‘I know, and I’m sorry.’ Luke met Nathan’s hard stare. ‘I handled things badly. Is there no way I can talk to her?’
‘I’m afraid not,’ Nathan replied. ‘Anyway, aren’t you supposed to be with Tanya now?
You should be making her your priority, not wasting time here in a pointless effort to see my sister.
You want some advice? Forget Cat and get on with your new life.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m expecting a visitor at any moment. ’
‘No, you don’t understand, about Tanya …’ Luke began, hoping if he could just get Nathan to hear him out he would understand the situation and maybe talk Cat into coming back from wherever she was.
‘Forget it, I’m not interested. What’s done is done,’ Nathan said with a dismissive wave of his hand. ‘Just leave, will you? Before I call security and have you escorted off the premises.’
Luke watched his long strides back towards his office and saw the door close.
He left the hotel, stepping out into the grey morning.
Yes, he would get on with his life, he told himself, but there was no way he would forget Cat.
Not now. Not ever. She would come back eventually and when she did he would be waiting.
Leaving Tarwin House, Luke’s next destination was Arcadia Motors. He was back and ready to work. He’d expected Gareth to be in touch to talk about his return but maybe he’d been busy.
As soon as he stepped through the main doors and walked past the vehicles on display he sensed something was wrong.
Serious faces looked up at his approach, giving him a nod of recognition before promptly returning to their work.
Reaching Gareth’s door, he knocked and entered.
The man behind the desk was nothing like the smart-suited individual who normally occupied this office.
He looked world-weary and hung over, his clothes crumpled; a swathe of stubble graced his chin as he stared into a large glass of whisky on the desk in front of him.
‘Gareth? Whatever’s happened?’
‘They’ve arrested Evie for Marika’s murder,’ he said in a tired voice, his gaze still fixed on the amber liquid in his glass.
Luke released a heavy breath as he moved into the room and closed the door.
So much had been going on in his own life during the last twenty-four hours he had lost touch with the real world.
He’d assumed his release meant they were back to square one with the investigation, but an arrest so soon?
And Evie of all people? As he had been stepping away from his nightmare his uncle had been walking into one of his own.
‘I don’t understand. Why Evie?’
‘They found her bracelet on the beach near to where the body was discovered. I told her to wait for a lawyer but she wouldn’t.
She went ahead and admitted being there and attacking Marika.
Stupid, stupid woman,’ Gareth growled into his glass before taking another slug of whisky and fixing bloodshot eyes on Luke. ‘Anyway, what brings you here?’
‘A return to work. I thought I’d call in to see you first though.’
‘I don’t think so, Luke. At the moment I don’t want you here.
My wife’s in custody, my shit of a son’s gone AWOL.
It’s a total bloody mess and the last thing I want is seeing you every day as a reminder of how this all started.
Don’t worry, you’re still on payroll. So why don’t you bugger off for a while?
Take a holiday? You must need it after what you’ve been through.
Maybe in a few weeks I’ll feel more like seeing your ugly face, but for now you’re on gardening leave.
Isn’t that the politically correct phrase they use for people who’ve been suspended?
’ He gave a mirthless laugh as he slugged back another mouthful of whisky.
‘Gardening leave. Who thought that one up, eh?’
Luke shook his head. He owed Gareth big time and wasn’t about to give up on a man struggling to cope, even if he was currently pushing him away.
‘Okay, but you know where I am if you need me,’ he said quietly.
Gareth was silent. As Luke reached the door he turned back to look at him. Lost in his misery, he grabbed the whisky bottle and poured himself another large shot. ‘Go on, get out of here,’ he said waving him away.
Jordan sat in a dark corner of The Smugglers nursing a half empty bottle of lager.
He wasn’t sure how long he’d been here or how much he had consumed, his intention was to get thoroughly smashed.
Only then could he have some peace, drift away into darkness and free himself from the day from hell he had just experienced.
His mother had been charged with Marika’s murder.
Locked away in Truro Police Station’s custody suite, she was currently awaiting her first court appearance
In a daze after seeing her being driven away and hearing the news, he’d found himself the subject of his father’s ferocious anger.
Gareth had paced up and down throwing accusations at him.
He was useless, over-indulged, irresponsible and totally to blame for everything that had happened that day.
This tirade ended with him being told to pack and leave.
Apparently his father couldn’t bear the sight of him any longer.
He was on his own. He shrugged off the insults.
His father was always having a rant about something or other.
He’d pack a bag and get Ed, Spence or Daniel to put him up until his father’s anger had eventually burnt out and it was safe to return.
Unfortunately what he didn’t anticipate was the Carrenporth grapevine, which had overnight turned him from rich waster into a social pariah of the first order.
As a result his friends refused to talk to him and Chantelle had booted him out of her life with a short sharp text message.
His situation was dire. His father hated him, his friends and his girlfriend had abandoned him; there was nowhere he could go.
Well there was one place. The Smugglers.
Which is where he was now, tucked in a shadowy corner away from the other customers, numbing the pain by drinking himself into oblivion.
He raised the bottle to his lips and drank back the last of his beer, then pushing himself unsteadily to his feet, he headed to the bar for another.