Winner Takes It All (16 page)

‘
It wasn’t
much different before the fire,’ she half smiled. ‘I had such plans
for this place. Jack, my business partner tells me all the hotels
being built around here are modern glass things. I wanted this to
be old fashioned and classy; in-keeping with the area. I only hope
it’s not ruined beyond repair.’

From the side of the
building came a fire officer dressed in a smart uniform, his skin a
little dark and ruddy - no doubt from examining the cause of the
fire.

‘
Can I help
you?’ he asked in a local accent.

‘
I’m Alexandra
Cusack the owner of this building,’ she said. ‘This is my friend
Robin Lancaster.’

The fire officer
proffered his hand.

‘
Officer
Deeks,’ he said. ‘I’ve just been having a look round; it’s hard to
tell what the cause of fire was.’

‘
How bad is
the damage?’

‘
Ground floor
is pretty much gutted, but from what I can see, the top floors have
escaped too much damage. It was lucky the gentleman caught it in
time, otherwise it would have been ruined.’

Once they had finished
with Officer Deeks, Alex got on the phone to Jack. She was so
grateful to him for spotting the fire in time. He had probably
saved her hundreds of thousands of pounds. She called him on his
mobile and it took ages for him to answer.

‘
Hi ya Alex,’
he yawned.

‘
I’m in
Liverpool. Can I see you?’

‘
I’m in bed. I
didn’t get to sleep until six o’clock.’

‘
Oh I’m
sorry,’ she replied, feeling chastened.

‘
No don’t be
silly. I’m at the flat, come over.’

She ended the call and
looked at Robin.

‘
I’ve got to
meet with my business partner,’ she explained. ‘If you want to fly
back to London, I can get the train back.’

‘
No don’t be
silly. I had nothing planned today anyway, so I might as well stick
around. Meet this hero who saved your hotel.’

Alex drove at speed to
the Docks, desperately wanting to see Jack to thank him for
everything. She felt strangely emotional; all the traumas of the
past few weeks were finally getting to her and to her dismay she
also felt grateful for Robin being here. She’d known him all her
life and the familiarity warmed her.

Reaching Jack’s flat,
Alex suddenly wondered how she looked. Stupid as it was, she
couldn’t help herself; remembering she’d had very little sleep and
a bumpy journey up here. She was convinced she looked a mess and
wished she had somewhere to freshen up. She then kicked herself. It
wouldn’t matter to Jack; she was quite positive he didn’t find her
attractive and her appearance wouldn’t even register with
him.

‘
This is a
lovely development,’ Robin commented, looking around. ‘I’m afraid I
always picture Liverpool to be a bit of a slum. But there truly are
some nice parts.’

Before Alex could respond
to her friend’s snobbish comment, the door opened and she was
almost convinced she’d come to the wrong flat. Before them stood a
woman wrapped up in a dressing gown, her dark brown hair ruffled
and messy.

‘
Can I help
you?’ she asked in a gravelly Scouse accent.

‘
Er, I’m
looking for Jack,’ Alex said.

‘
Are you
Alex?’

‘
Yes, that’s
right.’

‘
Come
in.’

The woman turned and
sauntered into the flat. Without another word, she went through to
the back of the flat, and disappeared.

‘
Who’s she?’
Robin asked quietly.

‘
I’ve no
idea.’

Alex couldn’t deny the
disappointment she felt that Jack had obviously spent the night
with this woman. She wasn’t sure why – she could hardly expect
someone as attractive as him to live like a eunuch. Through the
kitchen the woman remerged and behind her followed Jack in a vest
and pyjama bottoms. Alex had never been in such a weird place.
Beside her stood her old boyfriend who was still mad about her, in
front of her stood the man she really fancied, his muscles and
gorgeousness all on display and with him was a woman who he was
obviously intimate with. She had no idea how to react.

‘
Hi ya Alex
luv,’ he said, ruffling his hand through that dark blonde
hair.

‘
Hi Jack,’ she
replied. ‘This is Robin Lancaster, an old friend of mine, he flew
me up here. Robin this is Jack Byrne, he’s in charge of the
renovation of the hotel.’

The two men shook hands,
then it was Jack’s turn to dispense with introductions.

‘
Alex, this is
Lisa, my wife. Lisa, this is Alex.’

The women nodded at each
other and it took all of Alex’s strength to hide the whimper that
came from her mouth. Knowing Jack was married felt like a punch in
the stomach and the disappointment knocked her for six. Why hadn’t
he mentioned Lisa before? Why hadn’t Mel warned her he had a wife?
But then again, why should she? What did his marital status have to
do with his ability to manage a project? Despite being messed up
after a disturbed nights sleep, Lisa was very attractive - tall and
slim, with shoulder length dark brown hair and a very Celtic bone
structure – not unlike her aunt Paula. Alex suddenly felt very
small, fat and insignificant.

‘
I bet you’re
both hungry,’ Jack said, rubbing his hands together. ‘Would you
like some breakfast?’

‘
I’m fine
thanks,’ Alex replied quietly.

‘
I could go
some toast,’ Robin chipped in.

‘
Toast it
is.’

‘
I’m going
back to bed,’ Lisa announced. ‘I can’t function on four hours
sleep.’

She followed Jack back
through the kitchen and Alex and Robin went to sit in the living
room while Jack made coffee and toast.

‘
How do you
know Jack?’ Robin asked quietly.

‘
He’s my
friend Mel’s cousin,’ Alex replied, aware that she was snapping.
‘He’s a property developer.’

Robin looked round the
ultra-trendy room, nodding is head in appreciation.

‘
He’s
certainly made some money from it.’

He looked back at Alex,
smiling in that inane way.

‘
When we leave
here, do you fancy going for lunch somewhere?’

‘
I think we
should fly back to London. I’ve got a hundred and one things to do
back at Sheridans HQ.’

‘
Of course,’
he nodded, not quite able to disguise the disappointment in his
voice. ‘Well I might drive down to Layton House on Sunday and see
your father. Why don’t you come down? We could drive into Brighton
and have lunch.’

‘
Robin I’m not
going out with you again. I’ve only just split up with
Tim.’

‘
I know that!’
he cried. ‘For God’s sake Alex, we’ve known each other all our
lives. Can’t we at least be friends?’

‘
Yes of
course, I’m sorry Robin. You’ve just got me at a bad
time.’

Jack returned with a pot
of coffee and a plate piled high with buttered toast. Alex politely
accepted a cup of coffee, but couldn’t face food. Knowing Jack was
married made it even harder for her to look at him. To know he was
so desirable and yet belonged to someone else was painful and
upsetting.

‘
So what
happened last night?’ she asked, staring into the black, swirling
coffee.

‘
Me and Lisa
had been at a dinner at the Adelphi and we were walking back here.
It was just as I passed the hotel, I noticed the smoke coming out
and called the fire brigade.’

‘
The fire
officer reckons you’ve saved Alex a lot of money,’ Robin said. ‘Any
longer and the building would have been gutted.’

‘
You still
want to go ahead with the renovation Alex?’ Jack asked.

‘
Of course.
I’m not letting a little setback like this get to me.’

‘
Only I’ve
been doing my research and there’s a hotel in Hove called The Train
Inn. There are pictures of it online and it looks as though it’s
been done out in the same way you want Sheridans, you know,
Edwardian. I was wondering if you wanted to go and check it out at
the weekend.’

‘
I suppose
so.’ She didn’t mean to sound petulant but she was just so tired
and confused by the depth of her feelings.

‘
I can come
down on Saturday. I’ll probably book in.’ He laughed. ‘Have a
weekend by the sea.’

‘
There you go
Alex,’ urged Robin. ‘You can go and see this hotel on Saturday and
drive up to Layton House and have lunch with me on Sunday. It’s all
worked out perfectly.’

Soon after this, Robin
excused himself and went to the bathroom. As soon as he was gone,
Jack leaned forward, a cheeky glint in his beautiful
eyes.

‘
Who’s the
oik?’ he asked.

‘
A very old
friend,’ she replied haughtily. ‘And I’d prefer it if you didn’t
insult him.’

‘
Sorry, it was
rude of me. How’s your dad doing?’

‘
He’s on the
mend.’ She paused. ‘You’ve never mentioned your wife
before.’

‘
Haven’t I? Oh
you know what it’s like.’

‘
Have you been
married long?’

‘
Five
years.’

‘
What does she
do?’

‘
She’s an air
hostess, works for BA on long-haul flights. I guess that’s why I
forget she’s around a lot of the time.’

‘
Romantic. So
does she live here?’

‘
No she’s
based in St Helens, but she stayed here last night cos we’d been
out.’

‘
I see. Well
once again, thanks for what you did.’

He shrugged.

‘
It was just
by chance I came across it. I’m no knight in shining
armour.’

‘
I never
thought you were.’

Robin returned soon
afterwards and Alex made it clear she wanted to go. She didn’t even
understand why she was acting like a bad-tempered child herself.
The fact that Jack had never mentioned he was married was none of
her business and she had to remind herself that she was head of
Sheridans at the moment and she couldn’t imagine Christian ever
letting his lust for a woman get in the way of business. She
promised to be in touch, thanked him once more and left.

Driving back to the
airport, her mobile began to ring and sensing it was important,
Alex asked Robin to answer it. She listened in and got the feeling
he was talking to Fire Officer Deeks. Their conversation was brief
but by the tone, Alex could tell it was serious. Robin ended the
call, laying the phone back onto the dashboard.

‘
That was
Officer Deeks,’ he said. ‘They’ve finished their preliminary
enquiries and they’ve found evidence of petrol. It looks like the
fire was started deliberately.’

‘
Who would do
that?’ Alex fretted.

‘
Could be
anyone; a rival hotelier; someone who objects to change, even a
disgruntled tramp. That place looks like the sort of place tramps
might congregate.’

‘
There are
some horrible people out there,’ Alex said, more to herself than
her friend. ‘And right now, I could really do with avoiding
them.’

Ten

Tom sat at his desk,
opposite Tara, not letting her know he was quaking in his boots at
reading Jackson’s email. His cousin was spitting feathers because
the arson attack on Alex’s hotel hadn’t been entirely successful.
Her business partner had caught it in time and only superficial
damage had been done to the ground floor. What was worse was that
Reg Chisholm, Jez’s old army mate had been drinking before setting
fire to it, and had been haphazard enough to leave evidence behind
and now the police were investigating. So not only had Bannerman
had to cough up the grand to pay Chisholm for his work, they were
now looking at offering him twenty thousand to take the rap for the
fire without naming names.

Jackson’s email implied
Tom was no good at his job and that they’d been relying on him to
find someone who could commit arson without being detected. Alex
Cusack was still ploughing ahead with the conversion and the whole
thing had done little to dent her confidence. Tom’s only hope now
was that the drink he was going to have with Michael Cusack would
prove fruitful. He’d found Michael’s email address on the computer
and had sent him a friendly message suggesting they got to know
each other over a drink and to his delight Michael accepted. He
suggested they met in Pilkingtons, an exclusive wine bar in Covent
Garden. Tom just hoped his cousin was still feeling bitter about
things and could provide him with something he could go back and
tell Jackson.

Pilkingtons was on Drury
Lane and from the outside looked just like any other ordinary wine
bar. However let any member of the public try and get in there
without an invitation and they would immediately be thrown out. To
belong to the club you had to be worth at least half a million and
Tom could only dream of the day he would be in this sort of income
bracket. He was greeted at the door by a concierge who took his
jacket and directed him to Mr Cusack’s table. The bar was pretty
dark and boring looking, with a traditional counter and the usual
jazz playing in the background. Tom had more fun the other evening
when he and Tara had gone to play darts in The Cherry Tree. It had
been a head trip to realise that the mighty Louisa Cusack had grown
up in that modest little pub.