Page 31 of A Simple Mistake
When his phone rang, Jack breathed a sigh of relief.
“Horwood,” he answered, pushing his chair back and stretching the kinks out of his back and neck.
“Can you come see me?”Aidan’s voice came across the line.“I’m at the Inn.”
Lincoln’s Inn, where Aidan kept his barrister’s chambers, was within easy walking distance from the Nancarrow Mining HQ on the Strand—and the chance to ditch his screen and stretch his legs sounded wonderful.“I can do that,” Jack said.“Give me a few.”
He didn’t ask what Aidan wanted.Had it been a topic that could be discussed over the phone, then Aidan would have done so.Jack picked up his jacket, his slate, and his phone and left the office.On the way down the stairs, he sent a text to Gareth, and then he was outside breathing the scent of rain on parched streets and dusty foliage and enjoying the breeze coming off the river.
Jack walked towards Saint Mary’s in the Strand before skirting the Royal Courts of Justice.At their inception, the Inns of Court had lain just outside the jurisdiction of the City of London.But London had grown over the centuries, had spilled out into the surrounding countryside so that now even Kingston and Richmond were part of the metropolis.Not a complete, integrated part, the way the Inns of Court now were, but a part of Greater London.
Spheres of influence—whether his own or those of third parties—were on his mind far too often these days.Had the times when his actions affected none but himself been better or worse?Jack couldn’t answer that in any satisfactory way, not when he knew a return to that state to be impossible.Like Rio or Paston, he’d started out as a solitary fighter, only to end up woven into the fabric of other people’s lives.Whether he saw himself as an integral part of a greater construct or an insect trapped in a web not of his making… depended on the kind of week he was having.
He crossed into Lincoln’s Inn and slowed his steps for his customary peek at the undercroft, the pattern of the vaulted ceiling fascinating and soothing in equal measure, but with Aidan’s request still in his ear, he didn’t linger.
Moneypenny waited for him as he trudged up the stairs.She gave him only a single look.“Coffee and aspirin?”
Jack shed his jacket and smiled at her.“Please and thank you.One day I’ll work out how you can always tell.”
“One day, you might.Go right in.I’ll bring your coffee.”
Aidan wasn’t alone in his office when Jack walked in.Skylar Payne perched on the edge of a chair, shoulders around his ears, and fingers tapping a tattoo on his thighs.“Finally!”
Jack raised an eyebrow.“Where’s the fire?”
“I need you to take over this case I’ve been looking into,” Skylar blurted, not giving Aidan a chance to explain.“I’m off to Japan.”
“You what?”The quivering tension in Skylar’s frame took on a different hue.“You have a job in Japan?”
Skylar bounced from his chair and dipped a mock bow.“Chief stylist to Tempest’s Asia tour.”
Jack gaped.“Tempest?As in…”Oblivious”?“Heart in a Downpour”?ThatTempest?”
“That Tempest, yeah.Andheasked me.”
Skylar grinned like a loon, and Jack couldn’t fault him for it.Jack would pay an indecent sum to see Tempest perform.Going to work on his tour was— “Bloody epic.”
“One for the portfolio, sure.I met him in L.A.a couple of years ago, but I didn’t think he’d remember me.Not from one awards show.But he did, and no way am I going to let an opportunity like that slip through my fingers, right?”His grin turned evil.“Don’t worry, I’ll get you an autograph.”
“You’d better, if you need me to pick up your slack.You’ll be there long?”
“Four months at least.And yes, you may give me a shopping list.”
“Thank you most kindly.I will.”
Moneypenny brought in coffee and biscuits and handed Jack two aspirin as she passed.Jack swallowed them, though his headache was subsiding the more he relaxed and focussed on Skylar’s bright smile.He could fit another job into his already crammed days, especially when treats were coming his way.Jack hadn’t been to Japan since he’d started working for Nancarrow Mining, and amongst all his acquaintances, Skylar was the only one who understood and appreciated what Jack was missing.
“Are you two quite finished clowning around?”Aidan growled just as Jack was about to start listing what he wanted.“I thought you were in a hurry to be off?”
“There’s always time for honest appreciation.”Skylar resumed his seat, waved Jack into the remaining one, and then turned to Aidan.“Get on with it, then.I assume Horwood hasn’t heard the story.”
Aidan Conrad glowered, but he didn’t argue.Eyes on Jack, he summarised the details of Margot McTavish’s death, her niece’s conviction, and his own request to Skylar.“Your turn now, Payne.Do you think this should be a murder investigation, or do I call my client and tell her she’s dreaming?”
Skylar dug himself out of the chair’s plush upholstery and perched on the edge of the seat once more.“There’s something not right about this case.”
“You said something was bugging you.Did you find it?”
“Yes, but…”
