Urge to Kill (1) (14 page)

‘Most assuredly, my dear. Such a pleasant experience.’

Anne smiled down at Mother before looking up at Clive. He could see triumph in her eyes.

‘I enjoyed it. I look forward to seeing you at Lizzie’s show.’

‘Yes. Clive, you must tell me more about this show of Lizzie’s. The costumes sound ridiculous.’

‘It’s nothing, Mother.’

‘Well, as her family, we will go and support her. And Anne will be very happy to join us.’

He began to wheel Mother away, horrified at what he was hearing.

‘Oh, and I want you to invite this young lady to lunch. No more of this silly shyness. I never heard of such a thing. As I have always said, Clive, finish what you start.’

Anne was becoming a clear, escalating danger to his plans. He needed time to plan what to do about her.

Unable to bear the thought of Mother going on about Anne, once they arrived home, he abandoned her to Mrs Sinclair with the excuse that he needed to fetch something from the office. Anne presented Clive with a delicate problem, but if she were to be despatched, everyone in the office would be a suspect, including himself. He would need to be very clever about how she was disposed of.

To cheer himself up, he decided to take a run out to DI Turrell’s flat. Once he had the flat’s number, he would be able to send the DI a little message.

CHAPTER 18

E
ppie wished she had been able to tell Matt about starting her new job before he left, but he had showered and gone all within ten minutes, saying he would get a coffee at work. She was already asleep when he arrived home the night before, so there had been no chance then.

Now, as she brushed her hair, Eppie realised something had made her hold back. She had not wanted to lose the warmth and closeness of the night, needing to be reassured of his love, of his need for her.

Matt’s anger of Monday had shaken her more than she had realised. It wasn’t that she was afraid of him. And, although she tried to tell herself she didn’t want to bother him while he was on a case, the truth was, once she had started work at the health club, he would have to accept it. Eppie felt she had to make Matt understand that he couldn’t have everything the way he wanted. Their life together would have to be built on compromise. Despite this, she hoped that she wouldn’t have to face him on her first day.

Eppie was nervous as she presented herself to Mrs Trowbridge, but this was soon forgotten when she was introduced to Sandi, one of the receptionists, whom she was to shadow for the next few days. Sandi was bubbly and helpful, and Eppie took an immediate liking to her. All the staff were busier than usual trying to reassure the guests who were alarmed at the continued police presence and questioning. Staff had been told to say that everything would be back to normal soon and that they were in no danger.

Sandi thought it was nice to have so many men about the place, especially the ones in uniform and was inclined to flirt with them. Eppie knew she would have to tell her at some point that her husband was in charge of the case but decided against it for the moment.

During the few quiet moments, Sandi began showing Eppie where everything was kept. When Eppie said she had only just got married, Sandi became excited.

‘Oh, I’m getting married in six months. You must tell me all about it. I’m having such a hard time deciding on colours, the bouquet…well everything. Tom’s no help at all.’

‘Ours was rather sudden.’

‘But that’s dead romantic. We’ve been engaged for over a year. I think it must be easier your way. But we’ve got family coming from all over, even Australia and Canada. The guest list keeps multiplying, so everything has to be perfect.’

Listening to all Sandi’s plans, Eppie was glad she and Matt had had a whirlwind romance and that her father, bless him, had taken care of most of the details of the wedding. She couldn’t imagine having the event hanging around her neck forever. But Sandi had been trying to decide colours, flowers, dress, etc., for well over a year and seemed to be relishing the whole thing.

At one point during the morning, Eppie had seen the young man and woman who worked with Matt. She remembered them vaguely from the evening reception and thought the woman had a funny nickname, one that she couldn’t recall. Neither of them had come to the desk nor seemed to recognise her, and Eppie was glad to leave it that way. She kept her fingers crossed that Matt was working somewhere else.

She decided to stop worrying about Matt and threw herself into work, learning everything she could from Sandi. With guests starting to gather in the lobby for the dining room to open for lunch, she and Sandi had become busy, so Sandi was unable to press her with any more questions about Matt or talk about weddings.

Eppie found herself dealing with guests on her own and was enjoying the variety of their requests, many she could already answer.

It was also good to see a familiar face in the polite young man from Monday. He smiled as he approached, and she tried to remember his name. He saved her by announcing himself.

‘Clive. From Monday.’

‘Oh, yes, of course.’

‘So, did you manage to calm the angry husband?’

‘Just about. But I haven’t told him yet about the job.’

‘So, see you back in the deli later then.’

Eppie laughed with him. Looking at him as he stood there, tall and straight, good looking in a slightly too neat sort of way, she guessed he would never be untidy or spontaneous but always controlled and careful.

‘I want to arrange for my mother to talk to someone. See if maybe a massage could help her. She gets these dreadful cramps in her legs.’

‘How thoughtful. Trouble is I don’t yet know where to find the list of therapists or how to book one. I’m sorry but we’ll need Sandi’s help. Are you alright to wait a moment?’

‘Of course.’

It seemed rude to turn away from him, even though Sandi had given her some forms to file. Plus he seemed to want to prolong the conversation.

‘It must be nice working with people.’

‘So far so good. I didn’t want to be shut up in an office.’

‘Is that what you did before?’

‘No. I worked with my dad. So every day was different.’

‘Working with my father would be my idea of hell.’

She laughed. ‘It couldn’t be that bad?’

‘Not if you like square bashing.’

‘Oh, I see, the army. So what do you do, instead?’ Eppie picked up the slight hesitation before he replied.

‘Oh, working with figures all day—very boring.’

Just then, Sandi came over to see how she could help. She took down the book with the details of all the therapists and Eppie made a mental note to remember where it was kept.

Eppie watched as Sandi ran down the list. Clive leaned right over the counter to view the details for himself, even though Sandi was pointing out possibilities. She read out the details of some, only to dismiss them as too young or too new, until Clive decided that a mature therapist, Mrs Mooney, would suit his Mother.

After thanking both of them, Clive turned to leave, then turned back to the desk.

‘I’ve just had a thought. Would it be possible to fit us in for dinner on Saturday night? I’ve heard the French chef is very good and it would be such a treat for Mother.’

‘Eppie, would you like to take care of this? It will be good practice.’

Eppie nodded and picked up the restaurant book, surprised that she remembered all that Sandi had taught her.

Talking about Clive afterwards, Sandi explained that Clive had taken his mother in after his father had died and from all accounts was a very caring son. He was a day member at the spa, coming in for a few sessions after work or on the occasional day.

It was not until nearly two o’clock as she returned from her lunch break that Eppie had to face Matt. As she rounded the corner from the staff canteen, there he was at Reception, talking to Sandi. Sandi had her flirty smile on as she looked up at him, and Eppie could see that he was appreciative, although he was maintaining his authority.

Eppie had the instinct to go back around the corner, but Matt looked up and saw her before she could move. At first, Eppie found it amusing as she watched the mixture of expressions cross his face, until it settled into a cold, controlled anger.

She tried a welcoming smile as she approached. ‘Hello, Matt.’ For a moment she thought he was going to ignore her and move away, but he made a conscious effort to turn to face her.

‘Eppie,’ was all he managed.

‘I—I have a job. Here,’ she said, feeling as if she were an underage teen caught in a nightclub. She could tell that he was shocked when he averted his eyes.

‘I see. Well, I had better let you get on then.’ With a brief nod to Sandi, he turned and walked away.

Eppie had never felt quite so shut out and alone even though Sandi was all agog.

‘Oh, Eppie. Tell me that’s not him! He’s simply gorgeous.’

‘And as mad as hell.’

For the rest of the day, Eppie tried hard to field Sandi’s questions, none of which she felt like answering. This stern coldness was a side of Matt that she had never seen, and she would have preferred a stand up row.

Was she putting Matt in an impossible position? This was a murder scene, and he had to have authority and control. But then, how could her presence here make any difference? She had no intention of interfering or approaching him when he was busy. So why couldn’t he afford her the same courtesy.

He could behave as normal with Sandi, so why not with her? Matt would just have to realise that she was simply doing a job. Eppie began to feel angry and was determined to hold her ground.

After all, this must be the safest place to be. With all the police about, no one would be stupid enough to attempt another murder here.

CHAPTER 19

C
live had arrived at the office early, hoping that Ben might be there and they could have a word without Anne’s prying eyes.

Wherever he happened to be in the office, he could feel Anne watching him. She would bring him coffee and be inclined to stay and chat, all the time glancing around, intent on making sure that the whole office was aware of their supposed friendship.

If he went anywhere near Ben, she was there using a variety of ways to attract his attention. These were usually work related and Clive couldn’t ignore her in the middle of the office but was forced to walk away and sort out her problem. Since Ben and he had begun getting closer, as he liked to think, he noticed that she had directed one or two sharp glances towards them. Whatever else he could say about Anne, he had to admit she was clever. She had picked up on his feelings for Ben and was jealous.

Anne had the power to make what could be private and beautiful into grotesque fodder for the office gossip machine. So far, Clive had managed to keep a delicate balance with her, but after her performance in Marks & Spencer’s last night he doubted he could keep it up.

Today, Anne would be feeling powerful and there was no foretelling how she would be. Mother’s approval would no doubt give her courage, and he shuddered at the thought of having to endure both her and Mother together. Anne would be certain to remind him that Mother had suggested she come to lunch.

Clive wondered what his life would be like without Mother. Commanding her full attention over the last two years had been enjoyable, but it hardly made up for her abandonment of earlier. Ben now complicated and coloured his life, and he didn’t want to wait until she died to experience that love.

Today, it felt as if they had their own special wavelength, for Clive had barely seated himself at his desk when Ben arrived. He stood to welcome him.

‘Sorry about yesterday. I just couldn’t let Mother down.’ Clive moved around his desk as Ben approached.

‘Sure. Don’t worry. I’m sure there will be other opportunities.’

Ben was standing right next to him now, and although the words sounded innocent, he had put the emphasis on ‘opportunities.’ They both knew exactly what he meant. He heard himself reply in a low voice. ‘I certainly hope so.’ He leaned towards Ben automatically reaching out his hand. What he wanted was to pull Ben forward and fasten their lips together. However, before they could even touch fingers tips a strident voice rang across the office.

‘Good morning. You two are early. Lovely day isn’t it? Shall I get us all a coffee?’

Ben recovered first, turning to acknowledge Anne. ‘Great. Two sugars, hold the milk.’ With a slight shrug of his shoulders, he moved away from Clive back to his own desk in the outer office.

With a satisfied smile on her face, Anne disappeared into the small hallway that served as a cloakroom to hang up her coat. She returned and moved over to the coffee machine, humming as she sorted out the three coffees.

Clive watched as she deliberately plonked Ben’s coffee down on his desk so that some of the hot liquid tipped onto his desk and his leg.

‘Oh, I’m so very sorry, Ben.’

‘No problem.’

As Ben sought out a tissue to mop up, Anne smirked and came towards Clive, placing his coffee on a coaster before moving back to shut the door on the outer office. She turned to look at him with a concerned look on her face.

‘I wonder if I could have a brief word, Clive.’

It was the last thing he wanted. There was a churning pool of anger deep in his stomach blocking any civilized reply, so he nodded instead and sat down resigned.

‘It was so lovely to meet your mother last night. She’s such a genteel lady.’

At least Clive could agree with that even though to him genteel meant pseudo posh and stuck up. ‘Yes, she certainly is that.’

‘I thought we got on rather well.’

He could see immediately where this was going. She was intending to use Mother as her ally to bring them together. With his anger fighting to explode, Clive applied his usual device of clamping it down and turning it into ice. This way, he could remain in control, could plan what had to be done with this stupid bitch who dared to imagine for one moment that he would ever wish to have anything to do with her. It was important that she continued to think she had the upper hand while he decided how to get rid of her.