A Regimental Affair (25 page)

‘Come round, then. Alice has taken Megan shopping for more school uniform so we won’t be disturbed.’

‘I’ll be with you in five minutes.’

It was less than that when Richard rang the doorbell at Montgomery House. Despite the proximity of his house to the colonel’s, he was chilled to the bone by the icy wind that cut through his jeans and sweater. He was glad when Bob opened it almost immediately. Richard felt he must have been looking out for him.

‘Come in, come in, out of the cold,’ Bob said. ‘Tea? Coffee?’

‘Neither, thanks,’ said Richard rubbing his hands together.

‘Let’s go into the kitchen. Warmest room in the house.’

Richard followed him along the hall and into the kitchen. The Saturday paper and its variety of supplements were spread over the table and a large mug of tea steamed beside it.

‘Sure about the tea?’ asked the colonel. ‘The kettle’s only just boiled.’

‘No, honestly.’

‘So what’s so urgent to drag you out of a nice warm house to come and see me?’ The colonel sat down on one of the pine ladder-backed chairs and gestured to Richard to sit too. Richard pulled the chair out and settled himself. He put his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his clasped hands.

‘It’s about Ginny.’

‘Go on.’

‘I think I know why she wants to move. I don’t think it’s anything to do with her family.’

‘Really?’ said the colonel. He sounded quite edgy, almost angry. ‘So what has she said?’ Richard was slightly surprised at the tone of the CO’s voice.

‘She hasn’t said anything as such; I’ve sort of deduced it for myself. Well, she hasn’t said anything to me. I think she’s spoken to Debbie.’

‘Has she?’ His lips tightened and Richard could see a muscle pulsing near his ears as the colonel clenched and unclenched his teeth. Richard felt as though he was upsetting Bob but he didn’t have a clue why. He was painfully aware that Debbie had warned him against doing this and now it seemed she was being proved right. He wondered what the hell she knew.

‘And what has she said to Debbie?’

‘I don’t know. Debbie said she was told in confidence and she won’t tell me.’

‘Oh.’ The muscle stopped pulsing. ‘So what have you deduced?’

‘She’s had an affair with someone in the regiment and it’s ended badly.’

The colonel nodded. ‘And who do you think she’s had the affair with?’

‘I don’t know. But I think we should find out. Ginny’s the best admin officer I’ve ever come across, and I feel we would be better keeping her and ditching whoever has made her so unhappy.’

‘And how do you propose to find out?’

‘That’s just it, Colonel. I’ve got no idea. I was rather hoping you might have some thoughts.’

The colonel examined his fingernails thoughtfully. ‘To be honest, I haven’t. I mean, I can hardly haul her into my office and demand an answer. And supposing you’re wrong? Supposing it is something to do with her family. After all, that’s what she told me.’

‘I don’t think I am wrong. Debbie as good as confirmed I was right. She said she doesn’t know who the other party was but I bet she does. Ginny and she are as a thick as thieves. They tell each other everything.’

The duty officer at the Department of Corporate Communications in the MoD had settled down in the duty bunk with a plate of sandwiches and the TV guide. The previous week had been quiet – the press had been engrossed in a scandal involving a leak at the Ministry of Transport and all the media’s attention had been focused in that direction. ‘And long may it stay like that,’ he murmured to himself as he noticed that there was a particularly good documentary about the English Civil War on that evening. He was just about to bite into his cold chicken sandwich when the phone rang. He removed the sandwich, unbitten, from his mouth and picked up the receiver.

‘DCC Army, duty officer speaking,’ he said into the mouthpiece.

‘This is Marcus Hepplewhite here.’

‘Hello, Marcus. What’s the
Mercury
on to this time?’

‘I’ve got a story that one of your commanding officers has been dipping his wick.’

‘So?’

‘Well, for one, he’s married, and secondly, it’s his regimental admin officer he’s been knocking off.’

‘
Female
RAO, I assume?’

‘God, yes, although it would probably make a better story if it weren’t.’

‘No doubt,’ the press officer said dryly. ‘And who have you got in your sights?’

‘Colonel Car Crash.’

‘Bob Davies?’

‘The one and only.’

‘Are they back from Kosovo?’

‘Indeed they are, according to my source. They got back just before Christmas. So what is the official comment from the army?’

‘Absolutely nothing. I know nothing about it.’

‘So we can print it?’

‘I can’t stop you, you know that. I assume the story’s got legs?’

‘I wouldn’t have bothered you if it hadn’t. The “Other Woman” was given the bum’s rush by Colonel Car Crash when he came to his senses and she told our trusty reporter Tabitha Alabaster every juicy detail imaginable. We’ve got it from the horse’s mouth.’

Chapter Sixteen

Ginny had been back from Taz’s house for a couple of hours when her mobile rang.

‘It’s me. Bob,’ said the male voice, although she’d recognised it instantly. ‘We need to meet. There’s a problem.’ No preamble. No how are you? Just straight to the point.

Ginny was taken aback. This was the last thing she’d been expecting. But even though she was surprised, she managed to keep her cool. She wasn’t going to be bounced into a meeting just because Bob had got the wind up about something.

‘It’s not convenient tonight.’

She could hear the exasperation in his voice as he replied. ‘It is urgent.’

‘Tomorrow.’

‘I mean
really
urgent.’ He sounded almost desperate. It must be serious.

‘OK. Give me half an hour.’

‘Where?’

‘The disused airfield. Where the gliding club meets. I’ll be by the hangar at six.’

‘Right.’ The line went dead.

Ginny flipped her mobile shut and sat down on her bed. Something had rattled the boss. She wondered what it was but she knew that it could really only be one thing. Unless Bob had said something, Alice wouldn’t have found out and no one in the regiment knew, apart from Debbie. Ginny was sure Debbie wouldn’t tell a soul. She was her friend and friends didn’t do that sort of thing to one another. So what on earth could it be?

Outside in the corridor she could hear the mess phone ringing. Other single officers were about now – they had started to drift back ready for work on Monday – and Ginny hoped someone else would answer it. The phone stopped.
Problem solved
, she thought. A few seconds later it began to ring again. Ginny went to the door of her room and looked out. There didn’t seem to be a soul around. Perhaps the few other current inhabitants had gone out again. It wasn’t beyond the bounds of possibility – after all, it
was
Saturday night. Reluctantly Ginny walked to the alcove that housed the phone and picked it up.

‘Hello.’

‘Is this the officers’ mess?’ asked an unknown voice.

‘Yes,’ replied Ginny.

‘Can you tell me if it would be possible to speak to a Miss Virginia Turner?’

‘Speaking. Who’s this?’

‘I’m Marcus Hepplewhite.’

The name was faintly familiar to Ginny, she knew she’d heard it somewhere but she couldn’t place it. ‘I’m sorry but …’

‘I’m the news editor of the
Mercury
.’

Now she remembered the name. ‘Yes,’ said Ginny slowly. Her mind was reeling. What on earth would the press want with her?

‘We are going to run a story tomorrow about a liaison between you and Lieutenant Colonel Bob Davies, the man who became familiar to our readers earlier this year as “Colonel Car Crash”.’

‘I beg your pardon?’ Ginny slumped against the wall. How the hell …?

‘I believe you had an affair with Colonel Bob Davies while you were on tour with his regiment out in Kosovo. I am ringing to offer you the chance to give your side of the story. Is it true that now the affair is over you are being forced to leave the regiment?’

Ginny slid down the wall until she was sitting on the corridor floor. Her heart was pounding and she felt quite sick.

‘Miss Turner, are you there?’ said Marcus’s voice in her ear.

‘I don’t know where you got this from, but it’s all a lie.’ Ginny hoped she sounded convincing.

‘I don’t think so. One of the country’s top freelance journalists has told me that she heard the story from you yourself.’

‘Don’t be so ridiculous.’ Ginny was now more angry than scared. Since when had she talked to a journalist?

‘You told Tabitha Alabaster only this afternoon.’

‘I did no such thing.’ Now Ginny was absolutely steaming. ‘I don’t know who did speak to this hack, but it wasn’t me.’

‘I expect you know her as Taz.’

Ginny felt as though she had been punched. Taz? Taz! Surely not? She was a friend.

Marcus continued. ‘You told Taz and she has filed the story. Is there anything you would like to say?’

‘Go to hell,’ snarled Ginny down the receiver and slammed it back on to its rests. She stayed slumped against the wall for a few minutes. That explained why the colonel was so worried. The press must have phoned him too. The shit was about to hit the fan and no mistake. And she still couldn’t believe that Taz had betrayed her. She’d told Taz because she seemed so sympathetic – she seemed to care. And all the time she’d been wheedling information out of her to make a quick buck. Ginny felt a surge of anger. No one,
no one
did that to her and could hope to get away with it. After she’d seen the colonel, Ginny decided she would go round to Taz’s and have a word with her. In fact, she was going to have several words, and most of them would be very direct. She glanced at her watch. If she was going to meet Bob on time she was going to have to get a move on. The airfield was only just behind the barracks but it was a good fifteen-minute walk over to the hangar. At this time of day, and in the dark, they should be safe from any other prying eyes, although if it was going to be all over the papers the next day, did it really matter?

Ginny returned to her room and flung a coat over her shoulders. She rummaged in her pockets to find a pair of gloves and put them on. She noticed her hands were shaking dreadfully. Ginny breathed deeply and left her room. Whatever was going to happen now was largely her fault. She had been indiscreet and now the proverbial chickens weren’t just coming home to roost, they were booking into the best bedroom and asking for room service.

She walked swiftly out of the mess and through the barracks to the gate that led on to the airfield. It was a derelict area of land that the regiment used for the occasional training exercise and that the dog owners of the barracks used to walk their pets. The physical training instructors bullied the troops around its perimeter track in an effort to keep the regiment up to a peak of fitness, and randy squaddies used it as a trysting place with local girls during the warmer, lighter months of the year. However, on a miserable winter’s evening, Ginny and Bob could be almost certain of having the entire area completely to themselves. Ginny passed through the wicket gate in the chain link fence and on to the concrete perimeter track, rutted and pockmarked as age took its toll on the surface. The moon was up but clouds kept scudding in front of it and, in the near pitch-black, Ginny had to watch her step. Several hundred yards away loomed the dark shape of the old hangar. Ginny picked her way along the old roadway until she reached it. She peered into the darkness, trying to see Bob, but the shadow was too deep. She approached the huge doors and there seemed to be no sign of him. She resigned herself to a wait in the cold. She hoped he wouldn’t be long, it was perishing.

‘Nice one, Ginny.’

She leapt at the unexpected proximity of his voice and gave a little gasp. ‘God, you frightened me,’ she hissed.

‘Not half as much as your little revelation to the press has frightened me,’ he snapped back.

‘So they phoned you too. I realised just after your call why you wanted to meet me so urgently. The
Mercury
got hold of me just after I put the phone down to you. Even so, it’s no reason to be lurking in the shadows waiting to scare the wits out of me,’ she said in a low voice.

‘I’m lurking for two reasons. Firstly I wanted to be sure that it was you, not some lad on a hot date, and secondly I wanted to make sure you hadn’t got an entourage of paparazzi trailing along with you.’

‘That was below the belt.’

‘Was it? And which of us has gone to the press?’

‘But I didn’t. At least, I didn’t know I did.’

‘Ignorance is no defence in law.’

‘Do you honestly think that I am so mean-spirited as to tell the tabloids about our fling in Kosovo?’

‘I don’t know. You tell me.’

‘Look, I may not like the fact that things are over between us, I may want a posting so I don’t have a constant reminder of how unhappy I am, but I am not mean and I am not vindictive.’ The anger that Ginny had felt as a result of the phone call was welling up again and if Bob was going to level accusations at her and not believe her, well, he could take a running jump.

‘So how do they know then? Thought transference?’

Ginny shot him a withering look but it was wasted in the gloom. ‘You’ve met Taz, haven’t you? I think Debbie and Richard took her along to your house for Christmas drinks.’

‘Yes. So what?’

‘I had lunch with her today. We got talking about men. She was nice, she was sympathetic and I told her that I didn’t seem to have much luck. She’s nothing to do with the army, she’s just a friend, so I told her about you. It turns out she’s one of Fleet Street’s finest.’

‘Fuck.’

‘That pretty well sums it up. I got fucked by you in all senses of the word and now she’s done much the same.’

‘So what do we do now?’

‘You tell me.’

Bob passed his hand over his face and sighed heavily. ‘We could deny it.’

‘I expect if Taz is sneaky enough to use a story one of her friends told her, she’s sneaky enough to record it.’