‘The police?’ The wave of dizziness hit again.
‘This is bad, Rebecca. Very bad.’
32
It was happening again. That squeezing in her chest and constriction of her throat that were making it impossible for her to think straight, and this time it was accompanied by a sweating of her palms and unfathomable heat burning up the back of her neck. Why was this happening? She’d never suffered from anything like this before. The only explanation she could think of was that maybe it was something to do with the snowstorm incident. That it’d had more of an effect on her lungs than she’d realised at the time. It would probably be worth speaking to a doctor about it at some point, though obviously it would need to wait. Right now, she needed to focus.
Pulling the phone away from her mouth, she forced herself to take two steadying deep breaths. When that didn’t work the way she’d hoped, she closed her eyes and tried again. Thankfully, Ruby was no longer whining, but licking at her fur, her bottom on the cold gravel stones, even as Bex started walking down the driveway.
‘What exactly happened?’ she said when she’d brought the phone back to her lips. ‘What do you mean the police are involved?’
‘The word embezzlement has been used,’ Nigel told her.
‘Embezzlement.’ Bex’s eyes bulged in surprise. ‘Who’s been accused of that?’ A split second later, she realised the answer to her own question. Her stomach plummeted. ‘You can’t be serious? Me? Someone’s accusing me? Who?’
‘I don’t know all the details right now,’ Nigel said. ‘I’ve been kept out of the loop. All I know is what I’ve been told which is that accusations have been made against you, and it’s been advised that you’re removed from your position immediately. And all accounts you’ve worked on in the last five years are to be investigated. I don’t need to tell you something like that’ll cost the firm a lot of money and time, Rebecca.’
No, she didn’t need to be told that. Something like that would cripple a small firm. And even put a dent in one the size of theirs.
‘But it’s nonsense, Nigel.’ She could hear the pleading in her voice. ‘You have to know it’s nonsense. I would never do that. I couldn’t.’
She stopped and glanced around her, surprised at how far and how quickly she’d walked, particularly considering her haggard breaths, although the tightness seemed to have lessened now. So perhaps it was due to the change in temperature. From being in the warmth of the drawing room to being outside in the cold. Either way, she rested her hands on her knees for just a moment while Ruby caught up before continuing onwards.
‘Nigel, this is me. I’m the one you trust, remember? That’s why you sent me up to Scotland two years ago to start all this. Because you knew I could be trusted to deal with a problem this size.’
‘I do. I understand what you’re saying, Rebecca, but it doesn’t change the situation now.’
‘No, I know it doesn’t. Of course it doesn’t. Sorry, I’m just needing a minute to get my head around this.’
‘Rebecca, I don’t want this to happen, believe me. And for what it’s worth, I feel that the timing of these accusations is incredibly suspicious based on what you told me earlier today.’
The words should have given her some relief, but they didn’t stop the flicker of sickness within her. She could hear the word ‘but’ hanging in the air between them. In the end, she said it for him. ‘But…’
‘But, I can’t defend you here all by myself. Christ, I don’t even know all of the accounts you’ve worked on in the last eighteen months. I need you here, Rebecca. If there’s going to be any way of fixing this problem, then you’re going to have to come down here. Now. The CEO’s at the office, and he’s flying back to Monaco in the morning, but I suspect he’ll be here till ten tonight. That’s his usual way of doing things, anyway. Is there any chance you can get to the office by then? Just so he can hear you out, so you can explain the situation to him. Like you did to me.’
Bex bit down on the inside of her cheek as she took the phone away from her ear and glanced at the time. It was just gone two, meaning there were definitely another couple of flights leaving from Edinburgh to London that night, as long as she could get a space on one of them.
She had just passed the cedar tree with its blue-paint accents. Another fifteen-minute walk and she’d be back in the village. But then what? She’d need to get a lift to the airport. She knew that Roddy was busy, but maybe Fi’d be able to do it before she dropped her parents at The Haven?
Her stomach dropped. Crap. Her parents had flown all this way up here to keep an eye on her, check she was all right, and now she was going to abandon them like this.
‘I’ll get a flight,’ she said, realising just how long she had gone without speaking. ‘I’ll let you know what time I get in.’
‘I was hoping you’d say that,’ Nigel responded.
Bex went to hang up but needed to stop. ‘Nigel, you know I’m not to blame, right? You know that I’d never do a thing like this; I’d never steal from the company. From you.’
‘Just get back as quickly as you can, Rebecca,’ he replied.
This time, he was the one who hung up; the sudden silence and lack of farewell caused a knot to twist inside her. Well, that didn’t feel good. Not good at all.
33
Of all the dogs in the world, why was Bex walking with the only one that currently refused to walk?
Part of her felt so guilty. Ruby clearly hadn’t recovered from whatever had made her sick before. She was struggling to keep up with Bex, stopping every couple of minutes – either to sit down, scratch, lick, or sometimes just let out a little whine. And it was true, Bex was definitely walking faster than she normally did, but she’d seen Ruby sprint after rabbits and hares at full pelt for distances longer than this driveway.
Maybe it had been the cold that had gotten to her too. Slowed her recovery or slipped it back a few pegs. The thought caused a flurry of guilt to fill her.
