Page 86 of Cooking Up a Christmas Storm
‘You were miles away.’
‘Just trying to decide whether…’ The end of the sentence died in her throat as she saw a figure at the coconut shy. It couldn’t be. She’d talked about family holidays in the Highlands, but what would she be doing here? Jodie moved to put Pavel’s pleasingly large frame between her and the woman she was desperately trying to keep an eye on.
Pavel twisted round. ‘What are you looking at?’
‘Nothing.’ But not nothing.
‘Who is it?’
‘No one.’ But not no one. Diane. Jodie’s former boss at the coffee shop. Her mum’s old friend. Here. Now. What was she doing here? Jodie scanned around. At any moment Diane could turn around and see her and come over and talk to her and say any of a million things that would prove that she wasn’t Gemma Bryant pretending to be Jodie Simpson, but just Jodie Simpson messing up life in a new and original way. ‘I need to get out of here.’
‘What?’
‘You want to come with me?’
‘Where?’
‘Anywhere.’
She saw the hesitation.
‘To check something in the office. Everyone’s out here. Prime time for some spying. For Adam and Bella?’
‘OK.’
She hurried away from the mini stage and the massive Christmas tree and along the track to the admin hub. Now she’d thought of it this was actually a brilliant opportunity. ‘Keep watch. Shout if anyone comes by.’
Jodie slid behind Saira’s reception desk and wiggled the mouse to light up the screen. Locked. Right. In movies this was straightforward. You just had to remember the name of the one childhood pet the user truly loved. Jodie, unfortunately, had not bonded that well with Saira. The password for the tablet Jodie had been given on her first day was JODIE123. She’d had strict instructions to change it immediately. She tapped in SAIRA123 in the hope that her colleague was less diligent.Incorrect password.
Jodie rolled her chair back and a flash of orange caught her eye. There was a Post-it note stuck to the underside of Saira’s desk. She unpeeled it and read.JohnMcKHOT123.Well, there was a lot to unpack there. She typed it in and Saira’s computer sparked into life.
‘What are you looking for?’ Pavel asked from his vantage point by the window.
‘I’m not sure. I probably need to be on Fiona’s computer but she mostly uses her tablet and that’s with her. And I don’t know. There’s something about Saira.’ Jodie couldn’t put her finger on it, but her attitude to Fiona was off.
Most of the folders on Saira’s desktop were standard. The same general business files that Jodie had access to. She hovered her mouse over the one that looked unfamiliar.Special Projects.Inside there was one folder.Lowbridge.
Jodie clicked to open and scanned the file list. Most of the things here had been created a few weeks ago. Did that coincide with the McKenzie estate stealing the band and announcing their own event? One file had been updated more recently.Ticket List.And the date was today.
‘Someone’s coming.’
‘I just need to—’
Pavel shook his head. ‘No time.’
Jodie switched the screen off and jumped out from behind the desk, just as Fiona came through the door.
‘Pavel? Jodie, what are you doing?’
‘That’s my fault.’ Pavel bailed her out. ‘I needed some insurance details for my records, just to show everything’s in order. Didn’t want to disturb you. And I just thought I’d forget by Monday.’
Jodie nodded. ‘Yeah. So yeah. That’s all sorted. We’ll just…’ She grabbed Pavel’s hand and led the way back towards the Christmas tree, and then paused. ‘In here.’ She dragged him through the now empty grotto waiting area and into the main grotto. ‘Nobody’ll be in here now. I was supposed to clean up.’
‘It looks pretty clean.’
‘Yeah.’ It did.
‘Did you find anything back there?’
