Page 16 of Hooked On The One That Got Away
And he took Willow by the arm and practically dragged her to a table in the farthest, darkest corner of the restaurant. All the other tables had small candles on them. Harvey had snuffed theirs out. Willow could barely see her own hands.
‘Harvey, I think the best way to not look suspicious is to – well, not look suspicious,’ Willow said. ‘In other words, act normal.’
‘I’ve never done anything like this before,’ Harvey hissed, as if it weren’t completely obvious. ‘I never even scrumped as a child!’
Then he frowned. ‘You look very pretty.’
Willow decided to ignore the fact that he made it sound like an accusation. Harvey wasn’t good with change. Even evolution happened too fast for his liking.
‘Thank you,’ Willow said. ‘Now, what is this allabout?’
‘Hsst!’ Harvey held up a warning hand.
A waiter was approaching, with two plates that, as he placed them down, Willow saw held beautifully cooked duck breast, mixed greens, and chips the size of girders. Everything glistened with butter.
‘I took the liberty of ordering for you,’ said Harvey. ‘And it’s on me,’ he added to Willow’s relief.
‘Good thing this dress has a bit of give,’ Willow muttered.
The waiter came back and poured two glasses of red wine.
‘A modest Burgundy,’ Harvey informed her. ‘But I think you’ll like it.’
If Charlie had been there, he would have caught Willow’s eye and grinned. Wine Wankery, as he termed it, was a constant source of amusement to him. To be fair to poor Harvey, “modest” was low down on the WW-scale. To score highly, he’d have to employ terms such as “audacious” or, Charlie’s favourite, “penetrating mouthfeel”.
‘Harvey,’ said Willow, firmly. ‘I can’t eatordrink until I know why you’ve brought me here. So, spill!’
Harvey checked all around the room, including the ceiling, just in case there were spies clinging to the exposed beams. Then he leaned as far across the table as he could. To oblige, Willow did the same, hoping her boobs remained clear of the buttery duck.
‘I spoke to Piggers,’ Harvey whispered. ‘He said to tell you that everything is very nearly in place, and when it is they will make their move.’
‘What doesthatmean?’ Willow whispered back.
‘Not a clue.’ Harvey shook his head. ‘But he also said that they would appreciate someone keeping an eye on a particular stretch of river over the next few days. He wondered if you would care to be that someone? All you’d need to do is swim as usual and take note of any activity that seems suspicious.’
‘What kind of activity would be suspicious?’ Willow asked. ‘Apart from actual tankers pumping raw sewage into the water, of course.’
Harvey fumbled in his back pocket and slid something under the table to her. It was a small, old-fashioned mobile phone, and Willow slipped it into her bag.
‘Someone from Piggers’ group will be in touch,’ Harvey informed her. ‘And that’sallI know,’ he added, spotting that Willow was about to start interrogating him.
They stared at each other for a moment.
‘Thank you, Harvey,’ Willow said.
‘You’re most welcome,’ said Harvey. ‘But I’d be very grateful if you never mentioned this subject to me again. I feel I’ve aged ten years atleast.’
As they ate their duck, whichwasdelicious, Willow tried not to think about the phone in her bag, or who might contact her on it, or what on earth she may have just got herself into.
Chapter Twelve
The text arrived at seven the next morning. It gave a location and a list of things to watch out for. If Willow spotted any of the above, she was to take photographs, note the date and time, and upload to a secure website. The website passcode arrived in a second text, and she was instructed to memorise it and delete.
At least they didn’t ask her to eat the phone, Willow thought, as she committed the code to memory.
The location was not an area of the river she’d swum in before. It was out of town and relatively remote. Willow had to park by the edge of a field and make her way to the river via an overgrown footpath. Briefly, Willow wondered if she was in fact being set up, and any minute, the water company’s hired thugs would grab her and bundle her into a van. But as the only life forms that she could detect nearby either buzzed, chirped or mooed, Willow decided she was probably safe.
She’d had no choice but to take the neon pink swim buoy and for once, she was glad of it. There was no one around to save her if she got into trouble, so the inflatable buoy could be her life raft. Willow set off up-river, using a gentle breaststroke rather than freestyle. She wanted to make sure she could observe everything.
