“Just a bit of an update on the cab thing,” Frank replied, and Gary straightened up in anticipation.
“Oh?”
“Good news and bad news. From our point of view, the CCTV footage looks good.” Gary recalled that his solicitor had requested footage of the area along Fifth Avenue from the relevant New York authorities, which would hopefully be able to show the incident in its entirety. “Looks straightforward enough and easy to see you on the side of the road trying to hail a cab. Then out of nowhere—bang, you’re on the ground.”
Yep, that was exactly the way it had happened. From what little recollection Gary had of it anyway.
“So what’s the bad news?”
“Seems the taxi company have a witness—a passenger in the cab. This guy reckons thatyouthe one were at fault.”
“What the hell?” Gary fumed. “How could I have been at fault? I was only walking down the street, minding my own bloody business.”
“Their witness is saying you were distracted when you stepped out onto the road. The way he sees it, the driver couldn’t have avoided you.”
“Frank, it all happened so fast, it’s hard to remember exactly how things went,” he told him quickly.
“Of course. Especially with the concussion and everything. That’s what I told the New York suits. Sure, how are you supposed to know what happened? All you remember is waking up in hospital.”
“Exactly.” Gary was pleased Frank seemed to understand completely.
“All right. I’ve requested a copy of the so-called witness report, and when I get that, pop into the office here and we can have a chat. Then we can take it from there.”
“Sounds good. Cheers.”
“And even if it does look like you were caught unawares, we should be able to nail the guy for speeding or reckless driving, something like that.”
“Perfect.” Witness or not, Gary was confident that Frank would interpret the situation in some way that would turn this to his advantage. Although if the issue of fault wasn’t as clear-cut as he’d thought, then maybe the payout wouldn’t be as lucrative.
Well, whatever it was, it would be better than a kick in the arse, and he was sure he’d get the price of a new bike out of it at least.
Gary grinned. The one good thing about Rachel being against all this meant that she wouldn’t be looking to get her hands on the money to spend on this wedding. Already he had it up to his neck in quotes for hotels and flowers, and she was already shopping for dresses that would no doubt cost half the national debt of a small country.
That was the problem with highfalutin engagement rings, Gary thought and grimaced as he returned to work. They set the bar for the rest of the circus.
Chapter 45
As she sat in the bridal studio and watched the delight on Rachel’s face as she tried on wedding dresses, Terri sorely wished she’d minded her own business.
This was supposed to be one of the happiest times in her best friend’s life, and if she thought about it properly, she’d been just as deceitful as Gary in hiding the truth from Rachel.
The poor thing had been distraught when she’d confessed to Terri and Justin that her beloved ring had gone astray.
“I can’t remember if I took it off here or at home. You know the way it’s always getting in the way while I’m baking.”
Terri still felt sick when she thought of how she’d lied bald-faced to her best friend.
“Can’t remember the last time I saw it on you. Are you sure you didn’t leave it at home?”
Rachel had shaken her head and with obvious distress confessed she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had it on. “Gary will kill me,” she gasped. “How am I supposed to tell him I can’t find it?”
“I’m sure he’ll understand,” Terri soothed, privately hoping that when Gary realized her anguish about losing the ring, he would finally come clean. That had been her ultimate intention in purloining it and returning it to its rightful owner.
How could she realistically tell her friend that her dream engagement was all a lie? And that the wedding she was so excited about was a complete and utter sham? So there was no point in feeling guilty at this point; what was done was done, and she just had to pray that all worked out in the end.
Gary would surely confess all once he knew how distraught Rachel was.
But it had been almost a week now, and still nothing had changed.
