Hating herself, she said, ‘Maybe because Iam, and we’re actually pretty good at reading one another. Anyway, he was quiet for the rest of the day, and when he left, he told me that if I did want to rethink the Terrier coming on board, he’d be up for discussing it.’
David’s eyes widened. ‘Seriously? But of course you’re not?’
‘Hell no! Not in a million years. What concerns me though is that Rathour seems to be putting her forward as someone he wants involved in RK Media.’ That couldn’t be true, it just couldn’t.
‘In what capacity?’
‘I’ve no way of knowing without talking to Kinsley. Obviously, I’ve left messages, but he hasn’t got back to me yet.’
‘OK. So I guess it’s a deal breaker for you if they are talking to her?’
She was about to answer but stopped and let her eyes slip from his face out to the dark night, where a crescent moon was shining so brightly it was lighting up her small garden. ‘It ought to be,’ she said in the end, ‘but if I do turn it down, she’ll be right there, waiting, and the thought of her taking an opportunity that should have been mine …’ She looked at him again. ‘I haven’t felt this competitive in a long time,’ she admitted, ‘and I’m not sure how much I like it.’
‘When it used to be something you thrived on?’
‘How do you know that?’
‘Wild guess.’
She smiled. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if Kinsley is actually behind this,’ she said. ‘He’s a great mentor, no doubt about that, and a fantastic ally if you need one, but he can be a manipulative bastard when he sets his mind to it, and he doesn’t like to lose.’
David’s eyebrows arched with interest. ‘If you’re right, then perhaps this is a timely reminder of who you’re going to be dealing with?’
She nodded slowly. Being Kinsley’s number-one choice for a high-profile media position was beyond ego-boosting – but if she was being controlled, played like a pawn in one of his carefully calculated power games … that didn’t feel good at all.
‘I’m going to have to ring off,’ David told her. ‘Mum’s about to serve supper, and Rosie wants me to run lines with her for the new play she’s in.’
Smiling, Cristy said, ‘What time did you get home?’
‘Just after six. I took the four o’clock plane, but I had a meeting in St Peter Port … Tell me before you go, has Claude Major been in touch since last night’s drop, or anyone to give you a lead?’
‘Nothing credible.’ She sighed. ‘But if he’s in France, which is highly possible, or anywhere else in the world, actually, it could take some time to get to him – or someone who’s keen to talk about him. Some good news, though: we finally got a call back from Elizabeth Patten, the ex-DC who worked the case? She’s not available until next week, apparently, but she’ll be happy to talk to us on Tuesday if we email her some times that work for us. Actually, I’m thinking of sending Clove up to Windermere rather than do it by video link. She’s always keen to travel, and it might be good for her to start taking on more of the main interviews.’
‘Ready for when you’re no longer around? Unless you take her with you, of course.’
Her insides lurched at the mere suggestion of such treachery and how it would affect Connor.
After ringing off, she went to run herself a bath and sat on the side for a while, staring absently into the cascading water. She hated feeling this way, so torn and disloyal and wretched about keeping things from Connor, while knowing that she might be about to shatter his world. He deserved so much better, especially from her.
As she turned off the taps and went through to the bedroom to start undressing, she heard the tell-tale warble of a WhatsApp message dropping into her phone in the sitting room. It was probably Aiden confirming that he was at his father’s tonight or Hayley sharing some news that could easily wait. She got no further than stripping off her jumper before the phone began to ring.
When she went to retrieve it, she saw it was Connor and felt a horrible jolt of unease. Had he decided to challenge her away from the office? He’d almost certainly have discussed things with Jodi by now, and between them, they’d no doubt agreed that the air must be cleared. She was tempted to let the call go to voicemail, but detesting herself for such cowardice, she clicked on.
‘Hey, have you seen Honey’s WhatsApp?’ he asked right away.
‘No. Why?’ She was already scrolling to find it. ‘Oh shit,’ she murmured when she read it. ‘Oh my God. Wow! I definitely didn’t see this coming.’
‘Me neither,’ he admitted. ‘So, what do we do?’
‘We discuss it in the morning – hopefully with Honey. I’ll message her now to find out if she’s free.’
They met Honey the next morning in a small conference room adjacent to an empty office at the Hargreaves Blackwell premises. As it was still only eight o’clock, no one else was around, so no need to close the door or to speak quietly – and yet the door was closed, and their voices were low.
‘Why would she take the risk?’ Cristy was asking worriedly. ‘Obviously we want to talk to her, but she knows what it could mean …’
‘I haven’t spoken to her yet,’ Honey said. ‘I only got the message from Maeve last night that Nicole wants to speak to you in person. I should say right here that I will be strongly advising against it. I’ve already told Maeve as much, so by the time I’m in touch with them again, it’s possible Nicole will have changed her mind.’
Knowing how disappointed they’d be if she had – although they’d understand of course – Cristy said, ‘Do you knowwhyshe’s suddenly made this decision? Was it something we said in the podcast?’
