FOUR
SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA
Oliver
The decision had made sense in the office. It made slightly less sense now.
‘Noah, this is Alex,’ I said as I brought him down to reception where Alex was waiting. ‘She’s coming with us to check on Grainger.’
‘Hello, Noah,’ said Alex. ‘Nice to meet you. Again.’
I looked between my son and Alex. ‘Again?’
‘She was in the café earlier.’
‘She? You mean, Alex,’ I corrected.
‘Yes. Alex was in the café this morning. Changing her shoes.’ Noah looked down at my feet.
I followed his gaze down to the high heeled shoes and her slim ankles showing under her cropped trousers, then back to her face. She gave a shrug. ‘I didn’t take the tube in these,’ she said and patted her bag. ‘Trainers. And I was here early, so got a coffee beforehand.’
I nodded and checked my phone. ‘Paddy’s out the back with the car. Let’s go.’ Her heels clipped on the floor behind me.
We headed out the rear of the property and through the back gate into the road behind the buildings.
The black MPV was idling at the curb, with Paddy at the wheel.
I nodded, slid open the side door, and helped Noah in.
For a second, I considered extending my hand to help Alex up, but I thought better of it.
She hopped in, despite the footwear, and took a rear-facing seat opposite Noah. I climbed in and sat next to him.
‘Are you going to work for my dad?’ asked Noah as he settled himself in his seat.
‘I hope so, but I’m here today on a trial.’
‘What sort of trial?’
She glanced at me, and I nodded by way of consent for her to continue. I noticed the way she spoke to him. It was friendly and natural. It was more than could be said for the way I’d behaved when she’d first walked through the door.
‘Well,’ she said, ‘I want a job at your dad’s company, and he needs to know I can do the work and I’m not just faking it.’
‘Why would you fake something you can’t do?’
‘Good question. It’s not a clever thing to do, but some people aren’t very clever.’
‘And Dad is testing you?’
‘Yeah, that’s right.’
‘Good,’ said Noah, and then leaned closer to Alex. ‘Because Dad hates liars. He said that’s the one thing he can’t abide. That being honest is always better, even if it hurts.’
She glanced up at me at that. The truth is always better. I hadn’t exactly been the model of transparency back in the office, or maybe I had. I quickly gathered myself.
‘Something like that,’ I said. And then to Noah. ‘Now you’d better let Alex get on with her work.’
I had given her an employee’s handbook and welcome pack that contained more background on the company and what to expect at Risk, along with some photos of the estate and the area.
It was just to help her acquaint herself with what and where we were heading.
It wasn’t exactly work, but I appreciated being confined in a vehicle, and then an aeroplane might be a bit intense, and it was a good distraction.
‘Yeah, she might not pass the test otherwise,’ said Noah.
I took my phone from my pocket, grateful for something neutral to focus on, although half watching Alex from the corner of my eye as she settled into the file.
Methodical and considered, pretty much how she’d conducted herself during the interview.
She was exactly the candidate Joe had described, and if I’d managed to keep the shock from my face when she’d walked in, I might have retained some personal dignity.
I was composing an email when Noah lowered his book and peered across at Alex. I caught it in my peripheral vision, and I knew it meant Noah was about to ask something that would not be a simple question.
‘Aren’t you cold?’ he asked.
I looked fully up. ‘Noah, remember Alex is working.’
‘I just wondered because it’s really cold outside now. Alex doesn’t have any socks on. Her legs must be cold.’
All three of us looked down at Alex’s leg. Not that I needed reminding of what her ankles looked like.
Alex smiled. ‘I didn’t think about the weather when I got dressed this morning.’
‘Noah,’ I said. ‘One of the things you need to remember is that it’s not always a good idea to comment on someone’s appearance. Not unless it’s in a good way.’ I was aware, as I said it, I was giving him the perfect opening.
‘I didn’t say Alex had bad legs,’ said Noah. ‘She hasn’t got bad legs, has she?’
And there it was. The sting, courtesy of my son. ‘No. Erm. Given the circumstances, it’s not proper for me to comment,’ I said eventually. I was very much aware of how pompous I sounded. What the hell was wrong with me?
‘You said always be honest,’ replied Noah.
What was the boy trying to do to me? I heard the snort of laughter from Alex and put my hand to my forehead as my own words were thrown back at me.
Noah turned back to Alex with the bright, mischievous expression that told me he was enjoying himself enormously.
How was it my son was more like Aaron than me?
‘Isn’t that right, Alex? You believe that too.’
‘I do indeed,’ she replied, making no effort whatsoever to maintain a straight face.
‘I can’t believe I’ve been outmanoeuvred by an eight-year-old,’ I said.
‘You can’t fault him.’ She was laughing openly now. And, to my own considerable irritation, her laugh sounded good. Too good.
‘I don’t usually give in this easily,’ I said.
The laughter faded to a small smile before she dropped her gaze back to the file on her lap. ‘I really should get back to this.’
‘And you need to get back to your book,’ I told Noah. ‘No more talking.’ I kept my voice firm, but I’m not sure anyone was really buying it.
I caught Paddy glancing at me in the mirror with an expression that told me he had found the whole thing amusing.
I looked out of the window. Until an hour ago, she had just been a name on a file.
Alex Cartwright, former army. Medical Corps.
A calm head in a crisis, or so Joe had said.
I was about to find out whether he was right, which was, I supposed, what an extended interview was for.
That I hadn’t planned on conducting it in Scotland was a detail I was choosing not to dwell on.
ALEX
I sat back in my seat and tried to concentrate on the file Oliver had given me to read and a questionnaire at the back to complete. I liked his son. He was sweet, and it showed another side of Oliver Laker that I perhaps wouldn’t have had the chance to see if this interview hadn’t been extended.
Briefly, I had seen his personal side, and I had to admit, I liked what I saw.
It was something that had been lacking from my life growing up.
I used to be jealous of my friends and their apparently healthy, loving relationships with their dads.
These days, I was okay with my childhood, and it gave me a sense of second-hand happiness when I saw men being good dads to their kids.
I turned the page of the file and glanced up.
Noah was holding his book up, but he wasn’t reading it.
He was peering over the top at me. Oliver was looking at his phone and tapping away.
Probably answering emails or messaging Joe, saying I suppose you think that’s funny.
That’s the kind of message I was planning on sending him, anyway.
I looked back at the questionnaire. Scenario-based mostly, the kind designed to see how you thought rather than what you knew. I worked through them steadily, though my mind kept drifting. I put it down to tiredness. It had been a long day, and it was barely midday. It was only going to get longer.
I turned another page and stopped at the section titled Reporting Structures and Chain of Command. It outlined how employees were expected to escalate concerns, how incidents were documented, and who had access to information. Standard stuff for a firm like this.
I read through it once and then again more slowly. There was nothing wrong with it on the face of things. It was well put together. But much as it was designed to reassure me, I could feel the little knot of anxiety tighten in my stomach. Safeguarding and protocol didn’t always end well.
I turned the page and moved on, but I was reading the words without taking in their meaning. I looked out of the window. We had left London now and were on a motorway heading north.
I thought about the job. About what it would actually mean to take it. Working for a firm where everyone had a military background, from staff to residents. It was something that should have reassured me, but that familiar feeling was not always safe ground.
I glanced over at Oliver. He was talking to Paddy about road conditions, his eyes on the weather. He had his hand resting across the back seat, his fingertips on Noah’s hair. It was such a small gesture that it was hardly worth noticing. But I did notice.
My father had never once done anything like that to me.
He had left when I was seven, and the most I could say for him was that he sent birthday cards with an occasional tenner tucked inside until I was about twelve, and then it stopped.
I wasn’t bitter about it. I had made my peace long ago, but sometimes it still caught me off guard.
I turned my attention back to the questionnaire and completed it. Twenty minutes later, we were pulling into an airfield, and Oliver was helping Noah out.
I climbed out and paused on the tarmac, looking over at a light aircraft, stationary just in front of the hangar, its engine ticking over.
My eyebrows raised involuntarily. This was our transport up to Scotland.
Apparently, it was taking us to a small airport near Inverness, and then we were driving out to Risk from there, Oliver explained.
‘You coming?’ he asked, as he walked by me, holding Noah’s hand. He looked back over his shoulder.
Was I coming? I was about to get on a plane with a man I didn’t know and head off to Scotland. I mean, who did that kind of thing? I picked up the medical bag from the back of the car. Me apparently. That was who.
LAKER COMMAND WHATSAPP GROUP CHAT
Oliver: Heading up to Risk now. No contact from Grainger.
Dom: Weather report looks grim up there. You sure about this timing?
Aaron: Roads are meant to be getting worse. Could get cut off.
Oliver: Can’t leave Grainger any longer. Something’s wrong.
Dom: Taking Paddy?
Oliver: Yeah, and Alex. She’s got medical training if Grainger’s hurt.
Dom: Alex?
Aaron: The interview candidate? Bit of an unconventional first day.
Dom: Nothing says welcome to the team like potentially freezing to death in the Scottish Highlands
Oliver: She was happy to come. Knows what she’s getting into.
Dom: Worst job interview ever if you find Grainger in pieces.
Aaron: “So tell me about your experience with hypothermia…”
Oliver: Can we focus on the situation?
Aaron: Can you?
Dom: What’s the backup plan if you get snowed in?
Oliver: There are supplies at the site.
Aaron: Cosy cabin, beautiful woman, snowstorm… Practically writes itself.
Dom: Assuming you don’t all freeze to death. Or find Grainger’s body.
Oliver: Christ, you two are cheerful.
Aaron: On the plus side, if Alex handles whatever you find up there, she’s definitely hired.
Oliver: We’re leaving the airfield in 10. Will update when I can.
Dom: Stay safe up there. And try not to get the candidate killed on her trial day.
Aaron: Yeah, HR would have a field day with that paperwork.