Page 79 of Best Served Hot
‘Sorry to hear that,’ said Derek.
‘Yes. A lot came out recently about Ethan, and quite honestly, it’s stuff you’ll need to know, too,’ Nicole told the group.
‘Oh?’ Derek said, intrigued.
‘Christ, can you stop this, please? I’ve told you; you needhelp. Don’t make me call that doctor again. You hated it last time we had to have you sectioned,’ Ethan said quickly.
Nicole looked at Ethan evenly. ‘I’m telling them everything. Can you be quiet while I do it? It won’t stop me if you keep running your mouth, but the whole thing will take a lot longer.’
‘What does she mean?’ Jonny asked Ethan.
‘Jonny, I need you to see this.’ Nicole pulled a file out of her bag and handed it to him.
Ethan looked like he was trying to resist the urge to grab the file and run off with it. But that might have undermined his credibility a tad.
‘What is this?’ Jonny asked, opening the file.
‘It’s the fake insurance policy for the show,’ Nicole explained. ‘You’ve been paying through the nose to ensure the set, and it’s gone right into his pocket.’
Jonny’s eyes widened. He looked at Ethan. ‘Ethan…’
But Ethan was quiet at last, frozen in horror.
‘There’s been stuff, a hell of a lot of fraud actually, but this is what I have proof of,’ Nicole said. ‘The policy doesn’t exist. I think the show was with them under the old exec, but when Ethan took over, he cancelled the policy and took the money, and paid it to a company he created with almost the same name. Look, there’s an extra S in Smithson’s Liability. It would have been put down to a typo if anyone looked it over. Unless they double-checked the business licence number. Totally different. The company can be traced to Ethan directly. I’ve checked with Companies House. You should do the same,’ she advised Jonny.
Ethan managed to unfreeze himself, laughing shrilly. ‘This is too crazy. Ofcoursewe’re insured.’ He shook his head at Nicole. ‘That’s it. I’m calling Doctor… Aragorn.’
‘Aragorn? Really? That’s the best you could do off the top of your head? BloodyLord of the Rings?’ Nicole said, annoyed at him. She turned back to Jonny, Derek, and Sarah. ‘Look, I’m telling this to you because there’s a problem. He’s put this money into a Cayman Islands account, along with whatever else he’s thieved from you. And he recently tried to pin the whole thing on an ex-employee. He put it in her name. Alex Torrence. I found out about this a while ago, but I couldn’t come forward until I had something with Ethan’s name on it. Otherwise, she’d have taken the blame. As he planned. But the fake company was founded weeks before she started working there.’
Nicole realised Jonny was already on his phone, googling unhappily. ‘Yep, here it is on the Companies House site. Matches the business licence number. Ethan Pine.’ Jonny looked personally aggrieved. ‘Why,Ethan? What did you need to do this for?’
‘Iwouldn’t, Jonny. It must be a mistake,’ Ethan cried. ‘I’ve been set up!’
Jonny sighed, long and deep. He shook his head at Ethan, who was looking about as nervous as Nicole had ever seen him. ‘You know what? I don’t think I can make lunch.’
Derek nodded, looking ghostly pale. ‘Yes, it’s a shame. But I think my afternoon just got rather busy.’
Sarah looked at Ethan with naked outrage. ‘Yeah. I think I just got handed quite the afternoon of work myself.’
Ethan began to walk backwards toward the waiting cab. ‘This is nuts,’ he declared, opening the door. ‘She’s lost it. It’s the divorce! It’s sent her off her rocker. She’s always been jealous of my career. Hers never quite matched up.’
‘That’s accurate,’ Nicole said agreeably. ‘I don’t have his money, that’s for sure. His or other people’s.’
Ethan gritted his jaw as he climbed into the cab. ‘She’s just… OK, I’m leaving now, but it’s to clear my name!’ He slammed the cab door shut. It pulled out quickly at his frantic behest.
Nicole turned to the group. ‘I’m sorry.’
Jonny shook his head. ‘No, I am. We should have caught this. I’m gonna look into it now, get some more details, but after that, I think I’m gonna have to call the police.’ He groaned, mortified. ‘I can’t believe we haven’t been insuredfor four years.’
Derek, quiet for most of the reveal, groaned. ‘My knees feel weak. You’ve got to help me inside. Then we need to call lawyers. This is going to be the biggest headache of my career.’
Jonny gripped him on one side, Sarah on the other, and they dragged him inside.
Nicole watched them go in, and she thought,That’s it. He’s done.And she walked away, totally disinterested in what happened next or where that cab had taken Ethan.
He’d done one provably fraudulent thing, and it was in black and white. He was on the hook for everything. He could go to prison or flee to the moon. It didn’t matter anymore.
But Nicole knew exactly where she was going next.
