Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
I sat at my desk for almost an hour, resisting the urge to bite my nails, occasionally looking back at the now empty place in my phone’s photo album where the pictures of Zahra had been.
How had that leak happened? Directly before them was a picture of Arthur snuggled in Molly’s arms, which brought a stab of guilt as I remembered it had been a while since I’d heard from her. I wondered if Arthur’s tummy was still bothering him and he was still keeping Molly and Ben up all night.
Directly after was a selfie I’d taken of me and Jamie in Birch Bar, right before he’d insisted I put my phone back in my bag and leave Sam’s messages unread.
I was smiling at the screen, Jamie’s face so close to mine our cheeks were touching.
I’d thought that if Sam saw it, it would fan the flames of jealousy I’d hoped to make him feel.
I remembered how I’d gone along with the idea with a kind of mischievousness, a sense that this was a bit of fun, a way to shake things up and bring Sam back to my side.
It hadn’t worked. Even before last night, I’d felt increasingly that Jamie’s plan was in danger of spiralling out of control, and that if I didn’t call a definite halt to it, I’d be sucked into a place where I really didn’t want to be.
But now that I had, it was too late – I’d read Ava’s letter, and I knew that whatever dalliance she and Sam had been engaged in back when Jamie first came up with his plan had now progressed way beyond that point.
Anyway, if the expression on Jasper’s face was anything to go by, my colleague was going to have far more serious things to deal with than the disintegration of my relationship.
Poor Jamie, I found myself thinking. If he got told to leave, who would replace him?
Would they be someone I got on with so well, someone who had my back the way Jamie did?
And what would Jamie do? If Jasper fired him, he’d struggle to find another job – not that roles in the luxury concierge industry were easy to come by at the best of times.
But I hadn’t reckoned on Jamie’s resilience and fast-talking skills. To my amazement, when at last he emerged from Jasper’s office, he was smiling, all traces of his hangover apparently erased like he’d been enjoying a bracing swim in cold water.
‘Well, that was exhilarating.’ He strutted back to our desks and sat down, picking up a couple of cold chicken nuggets and eating them. ‘Maybe next I’ll try skydiving. Possibly without a parachute.’
I looked at him, bemused. ‘What happened?’
‘Trent’s sacked us. They took their time about it. Wanted to make sure all the wedding arrangements were sorted before they gave us the push. But they’re citing “indiscretion” and bad publicity apparently. We’re getting the blame for the leak of the stag story to Gossip Guru.’
‘Oh my God.’ Although this didn’t exactly come as a surprise to me – because Jamie had had the method and opportunity (although admittedly no motive I could identify) to do it – I was still shaken. ‘What did Jasper say?’
‘Maybe ask what he didn’t say.’ Jamie whistled out a long sigh. ‘That would be quicker.’
‘But he didn’t—’
‘Tell me to clear my desk and fuck off to the far side of fuck? Not this time. I’m on a verbal warning. But as I pointed out, if I decided to take this to a tribunal, he wouldn’t have a leg to stand on because he can’t prove anything.’
‘But the photos…?’
‘I invited him to get some forensic tech geezer to go through my phone and email,’ Jamie said smugly. ‘As soon as I said that, he knew they wouldn’t find diddly squat. And they won’t.’
‘Are you saying you didn’t do it?’
Jamie’s eyes widened, making him look the picture of outraged innocence. ‘Are you saying you think I did?’
Did I? Part of me did, I realised, despite the apparent lack of motive.
‘I’m not… I mean… not exactly…’ I stumbled. ‘But you were there.’
‘Along with Trent, his eleven besties, his security team, their local fixer, fifteen strippers, God knows how many waitresses and hostesses, and a frankly terrifying bouncer. Wouldn’t like to meet him alone on a dark night.
’ He shivered theatrically. ‘Could’ve been any one of them. No reason to suspect yours truly.’
‘But who else had phones on them?’
He grinned wolfishly. ‘Not the strippers, that’s for sure. Although come to think of it, given the other things they were putting up there, a phone would’ve been a piece of cake.’
I shivered with revulsion.
‘Jamie, be serious. Your job’s on the line here. How can you joke about this? Either you’ve been falsely accused of something and given an unfair warning, or you did it and got away with it. Either way, it’s a massive deal.’
He leaned back, stretching his arms above his head as if he needed to release tension from his shoulders. I could see sweat patches in the armpits of his shirt, and in that moment, I knew he was hiding something.
‘You don’t have to tell me,’ I went on hastily. ‘Just… be careful, okay?’
‘Georgia. We’ve worked together a long time. What – almost three years?’
‘A bit longer.’
‘And we’re mates, right?’
‘Sure.’
He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his voice lowered. ‘Of course I did it.’
I’d read about people – murderers and people like that – who, having committed the perfect crime and got away with it, found themselves consumed with the urge to confess, to brag about their skill in eluding justice. Now, that was playing out right in front of me.
My heart pounded, and my own armpits started getting damp.
Now I knew, I was in this as deep as he was.
Even though I hadn’t been there, hadn’t even seen the photos, hadn’t leaked a thing myself, by telling me, he’d made me an accessory to his – well, it wasn’t a crime exactly, but it was about as serious as misdemeanours got.
‘But why?’ As soon as I asked, I wished I hadn’t. I should have told him to shut up and leave me out of it. Or perhaps walked straight into Jasper’s office and revealed that Jamie had come clean to me. But I couldn’t do it – I couldn’t betray my friend.
He shrugged. ‘Because I could. Come on, Georgia – we spend our days booking tables in restaurants and ordering gender-reveal cakes for bloody baby showers. A guy’s got to have a bit of fun sometimes.’
‘You did it for fun?’
‘Why else?’
I looked at him, appalled. Despite my earlier suspicions, I’d never expected that Jamie would come out and confess to behaviour that was…
well, unethical didn’t begin to cover it.
Was this really who he was? Someone who’d break Rosie-Mae’s heart and trash Trent’s reputation for fun?
Had trusting him been the biggest mistake of my life?
‘The thing with Cormac Kennedy at the Ritz. Was that you too?’
‘Get you, Miss Marple. Two and two makes four – the deduction skills of a true pro.’
‘And…’ But I found I couldn’t bring myself to ask whether he’d had anything to do with Zahra’s Instagram posts being sent to her father. That was too much – too close to home.
But Jamie hadn’t finished. ‘Oh, Georgia – there’s just one more thing.’
‘What?’ I asked, my mouth dry.
‘Like I said, we’re mates. I’ve helped you out – admittedly not entirely successfully, but my heart was in the right place. I’ve looked after you, all these years. I care about you. And you care about me, don’t you?’
I could see where this was going. I didn’t want it to, but I felt powerless to stop it.
In spite of everything, I did care about Jamie, and I believed he cared about me.
He might have lied about a lot of things, but he was telling the truth about that – even though it was a truth I suddenly felt deeply uncomfortable with.
Reluctantly, I nodded.
‘So you won’t dob me in, will you? You wouldn’t do that to a friend. Apart from anything else, there’s nothing in it for you.’
I thought for a moment. I could get up, right now, go to Jasper and tell him what Jamie had told me. Jamie would be sacked. I’d lose my only ally at Devereaux Partners. The firm could lose Cormac Kennedy as a client if an investigation took place, and then my own job could be on the line.
And besides, what Trent had done was on him. All Jamie had done was leak a few pictures. The wedding was going ahead regardless. Maybe Trent had even learned a lesson – although what lesson that might be I didn’t want to think about.
That he could do bad stuff and get away with it? The same lesson Jamie had taken a masterclass in over the past few months.
But maybe I needed to learn a lesson of my own from him – to look out for number one.
‘I won’t tell Jasper,’ I said reluctantly.
‘Good girl,’ Jamie said. ‘I knew I could count on you.’
He picked up his vape and headed towards the stairwell, not inviting me to join him this time. His usual swagger was absent, I noticed – he walked like people walk at the end of a long run, after they’ve made it across the finish line.
Which was exactly what he had done. Thanks to me, his job was safe for now. He’d need to tread carefully for a while, but it wouldn’t be long before he was in the clear with Jasper again.
Then what might he do? What would I be expected to do to protect him?
And how on earth was I going to protect myself?