At her desk, she answered a few emails before checking her spam. There was a note from an unknown email address that she would have left alone had it not been for the title ‘Urgent.’
She opened it, and realised that it was from Pete. She’d blocked his email address but he’d written it from a second one.
Bella, my messages don’t seem to be getting through. Are you OK? I told you that I need to speak to you, and I know you said you’re busy, but I really think that you’re going to want to hear what I have to say. Please reply to this urgently so I know you’re all right. I’m at the Peyrat house for a day or so more, but I can be with you in a few hours, whenever you’re ready. Pete.
She simply couldn’t deal with this now. She’d had an update from theagent immobilierand knew that the house sale was due to complete in three weeks’ time, so it couldn’t be anything about that. She’d yet to speak to a solicitor about their divorce, but it was early days in their separation, and she wasn’t in a rush to get that particular ball rolling. Not until she’d sorted everything here at work. One crisis at a time.
He must have suspected she’d blocked him; otherwise, why use the separate address? If she replied to this email, she’d just be confirming the fact. Better, surely, to give it a couple of days, wait until the Hotel Club executives had left and then reply to his original email, citing problems with her PC.
She closed the email and left it in spam.
Back in her inbox, there was a new email. This one from an address she did recognise. Juliette’s.
Hello,
You mentioned you had an important event at work, and I am at a loose end this week, so I thought I could come and stay in your hotel and offer you moral support. What do you think?
J
Hi Juliette,
That would be amazing. I’d love to see you. Maybe we can go out after to celebrate (fingers crossed). I’ll book you a room with my staff discount. It won’t be one of the Superior rooms I’m afraid (the ones I’ve worked on the most) but I’m getting some photos taken this afternoon and…
Before she could write more, an almost deafening sound began to reverberate around the building. Seconds later her door flew open and Yves burst in. ‘It’s the fire alarm!’ he said. ‘We need to evacuate!’
‘Oh my God, is there a fire?’
‘It might be one of the guests activating it in error,’ he admitted as they jogged down the stairs. ‘Sometimes it happens. But it’s important we get everyone out safely. You need to assemble in the car park – can you get there OK? I’m going to check the rooms for guests.’
‘Are you sure I can’t help?’
He shook his head. ‘It is protocol,’ he said, ‘don’t worry.’
She nodded. At least she had some time before the photographer arrived and work wasn’t too hectic, or she’d have cursed being away from her desk like this. She wondered whether the fire alarm had been set off deliberately, or whether someone had stumbled against one of the red fire points or something. Yves was right, it was more than likely a false alarm.
It was only when she passed the entrance to the second floor that she was sure for a moment that she could smell smoke.
39
NOW
‘What’s happening?’ she asked breathlessly, standing next to Claudine on the small, tarmacked area just behind the hotel.
Before Claudine could answer, Mélodie ran up, phone clamped to her ear. ‘It’s Yves. Everyone is out,’ she confirmed. The guests were grouped together in the corner of the car park; there were about thirty in all. Among them, Madame Roux, somehow still immaculately dressed, with Coco on a lead sniffing at her boots. She caught Bella’s eye and shook her head impatiently. A small collection of staff – cleaners, the kitchen workers, and one or two Bella didn’t recognise – were grouped nearby.
‘Is it a false alarm?’ Bella enquired.
‘No.’
For the first time, Bella looked properly at her boss. The woman’s face was pale, her eyes, glassy.
‘Don’t worry,’ Mélodie said. ‘Yves has said it was contained in only two rooms. Very small fires. He was able to use the fire extinguisher. And of course there were the sprinklers.’ She smiled, clearly delighted the crisis was averted.
But the juxtaposition of Claudine’s pale face next to Mélodie’s untroubled one meant that Bella couldn’t relax. Something had happened. Had Claudine been burnt in some way? Was it shock?
Yves appeared at the corner of the building and Mélodie began to walk quickly in his direction. Bella turned to Claudine.
‘Do you need to sit down?’ she asked.
