‘Look, D… Mum, we’re here already.I’m starving.Hurry up, I want to talk to Leo about fish.’
Jess’s eyes met Stan’s and he felt a warm glow spread through his body at her obvious approval, even though George’s future equilibrium was so uncertain.A battle had been won, but Stan was aware that the real war had only just started.
* * *
Kev pulled the van up onto the pavement outside the shop, and everyone piled out.Leo had heard the engine, and had the door open in seconds and Mab flung her arms around Jess before her friend had even had a chance to get through the door properly.
‘Oh, I’ve missed you so much, Jess, don’t go away again, will you?It’s horrible!’
‘Now you know why I made so much fuss about all that time you spent in Portugal,’ said Jess, disentangling herself and turning to make sure that George was following her.He was, propped up by Stan and Kev, but he was a delicate shade of green, and Stan could see that the journey had been almost too much for him.Nina moved forward to put a protective arm around both mother and son.
‘Right, straight to bed for you, Georgie Boy, and I’ll bring you some hot chocolate in five minutes.You know where your room is, don’t you?’George grinned weakly at Stan, and picked up his backpack.
‘Yep, Grum… I mean Grandma.Are there any Jammy Dodgers?Where’s Maurice?’
‘On the bed waiting for you,’ said Mab.‘I told him you were coming and he said he’d warm the quilt up ready.’
‘Good.I need to talk to you, Leo, can you come into my room in ten minutes?Erm… please?’George added, catching Stan’s eye.Leo raised an eyebrow.
‘Sure thing, Boss.Can I do anything else for Your Lordship?’
‘Nope, but you’d better bring a pen and paper.This is gonna take a long time,’ said George, with a huge yawn, as he left the room.
‘Don’t worry, Leo,’ said Stan, ‘he’ll be asleep before you get there, and anyway, I need to prime you on a few things before you go and visit He Who Must Be Obeyed.Oh, are you off, Kev?Thanks for everything, mate.’There was a brief skirmish as Stan tried to slip an envelope into Kev’s pocket without Jess seeing him, and then all was peaceful.
The rest of the evening began to drag, with too many tired and preoccupied people all trying to pretend that everything was normal.Eventually, Stan put his favourite and most relaxing Spotify playlist on, opened some Chianti and ordered in a couple of pizzas in desperation because no one could seem to think about cooking.While they ate, Leo brought the newcomers up to speed with recent events, and they were suitably horrified.Stan said that he was certain that Edward was behind the rat report but nobody could see how or why the orders had been cancelled.The suppliers were both adamant that the emails had come from Leo, and when it occurred to him to check his sent mail, he found that this was true.
Everyone sat in silence as they thought this new development through.There were two simple options.Either someone out of the immediate area seriously had it in for Leo, knew his password or had the expertise to hack into his account, or worse still, it had been done from inside the flat.
‘If I thought Old Crabby had had access to this place, I’d be sure that it was him on all counts,’ said Leo.‘Have you got anything a bit more upbeat than this, Stan?I’m losing the will to live here.’
Stan pulled a face, but set about swapping the previous playlist for something more cheerful before they all jumped out of a window.The sound of Motown filled the room, and Jess laughed suddenly.
‘I just had the most overwhelming urge to leap up and dance to “Needle in a Haystack”, Mab.It was always the one that got us on the floor, d’you remember?’Jess turned the music down before they could embarrass themselves, but when she looked across at Mab to share the joke, her friend was leaning back in her chair, apparently exhausted.
‘But, getting back to the point, how would he know your password, or be able to sign into your email address, Leo?’asked Stan.Leo looked embarrassed and Harry raised his eyebrows.
‘That wouldn’t be too tricky.His email address is a really obvious Gmail one and his password is Leolamb1, hardly a challenge to hack into.I’ve told him many times that he should at least add some extra numbers to it.EvenI’mtechier than Leo when it comes to security.’
‘But you never think anyone would want to get into your emails, do you?’said Leo, draining his glass and pouring everyone some more Chianti.He, Harry, Mab and Nina had not been drinking since George’s accident, but now he felt that they all needed it.He leaned over the table.
‘You haven’t got any wine, Mab.Here, pass your glass, pet.’
‘Oh, um… no, it’s OK, I’ll get some ginger beer in a minute, thanks,’ said Mab, quickly covering her glass with her hand.
‘Are you feeling poorly, love?’asked Jess.‘I thought you looked a bit peaky when I came in.’Stan saw Mab and Nina exchange swift glances.
‘No, no… just dieting, as usual.’Mab laughed rather mirthlessly.
‘Well, it’s definitely working, you look fabulous, apart from being so pale,’ said Jess, admiringly.‘Are those new jeans?And I haven’t seen that top before either.Mab… you’ve been shopping without me!’She sounded so horrified that everyone laughed.‘Well, it’s OK for you lot.I never get to go shopping.And when I do want to go, Mab’s always busy with her book.’
Before Mab could reply, the sound of the telephone silenced them all, and Leo jumped up to answer it.
‘Yes… who is this?What?What?Is this some sort of sick joke?Hey, don’t hang up…’
He turned to face the others, now as pale as Mab, who stared back at him.
‘Leo, who was it?Why are you looking like that?’she asked.
