Page 88 of A Simple Mistake
“Was it just me, or was Julian positively bouncy this morning?”Jack asked once he’d made short work of the dainty cucumber and roast beef sandwiches.
“You’d be bouncing, too, if you’d finally got rid of your annoying cousins.”
“He didn’t have to wait.”
“Yes, he did.Julian does things by the book, and he had nothing against his cousins apart from annoyance.”
“He’s made a standing offer to buy their shares,” Janet reminded him, “but none of them have ever taken him up on it.The company is just too profitable.”
Frazer straightened.“Cecily Nancarrow has turned in all her electronics, I forgot to say.Package turned up this morning.Analyse or destroy?”
“Oh, analyse,” Janet said immediately.“Let’s see if she had any nasty little secrets.”
“You both didn’t like her?”Except for attending two board meetings, Jack had had little interaction with the members of Julian’s extended family.
“Cecily Nancarrow sat on that board since before Julian’s grandfather handed him the company.She was like… furniture.”Frazer thought a moment.“A very squeaky chair.Things will be so much quieter now she’s gone.”
“And that’s a good thing?”
“Gods, yes.She loved to nitpick everything Julian was doing.”
“Did Julian say whether he wants us to keep digging now he’s booted his cousins?”Janet switched from sandwiches to scones and reached for the jam.
“I can’t see him walking away from this without knowing who therealcompetition is, but I’ll check with Gareth.Doyouwant to keep digging?”
“Sure.Julian’s cousins were just the sideshow.Far more important, in my opinion, is finding out who got hold of that laptop.And if we found evidence that Donovan is in it, too… it would get even quieter.”
“Seems I’ve missed an awful lot around here.Again.”Jack knew he pulled his weight when it came to their work.It didn’t stop him feeling guilty about skipping out whenever someone needed him.
“That happens when you run three jobs,” Frazer declared.“What I don’t understand… why is it there’s always shit blowing up around you?”
Jack shrugged.“They gave me the fuck-up fairy for a godmother?”
“Must have done.I don’t know how you cope with it all on nothing but coffee, but I can’t argue you do.Now.”He turned to Janet.“Spill.”
“Spill what?”Jack looked from one to the other.
“What she wouldn’t tell Gareth.Not even when he asked.”
Janet was so unhappy Frazer put her on the spot that Jack signalled for another flute of champagne and started to worry when Janet twirled it between her fingers instead of drinking it.“If it bothers you this much—”
“It’s not that.”She finally took a sip of fizz.“But this stays between us until there’s proof, okay?”
Frazer scoffed.“There’s no reason you have to do this alone.It’s as if you’ve forgotten that Mr Bond over there loves to poke his nose into the craziest corners on the internet.For fun, too.Or that I’m almost as nosy.”
“I haven’t forgotten.It’s just…” She finished the fizz with a gulp.“I have an idea about who’s behind this.It’s a notion based on links and names I’m seeing and stuff I’ve heard over the years, but most of it is hearsay and rumour, which is why I’ve kept it to myself.”
“And?Who’s trying to stick their dirty fingers into our pie?”
She leaned over the table and whispered, “Fostrite Industries.”
Jack blinked once, twice.Then he had it and whistled.“Damn, woman!You don’t do things by halves, do you?”
“It’s a hunch, Jack.I can’t prove a single link.”
“Yet.Keep tracking those payments.I’ll help Don with the names.”He flexed his fingers, ready for another fight, and didn’t care what his wide, delighted smile said about his attitude to risk.At thirty-two, he had a home, a lover, a family, and a few too many jobs, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Gareth hated waking up in an empty bed at any time.He hated it more when pale grey light seeped around the curtains, telling him he could have slept another two hours before he needed to get up.He hated most of all that it was becoming a daily occurrence.
