Strikers Instinct (21 page)

After the police had left, Sandy gathered everyone together again in the changing room and announced that it looked like Jake Pryce was behind the offensive messages and that he had been arrested by the police. His words were met with a mixture of relief and anger. Sandy calmed them and urged them to try to put the incident to one side. Andy would be back tomorrow and they needed to concentrate on the start of the season which was only a few days away.

He sent the players out to continue training and he studied Luke intently as they left the room. His thoughts were interrupted by his phone. He smiled as he recognised who was calling.

“Mr. Chairman,” he said happily, “what can I do for you?”

Ed Tierney was not a happy man. He demanded to know what was going on and after speaking to Sandy for a few moments he announced that he would be returning to the training ground a.s.a.p. Sandy smiled and as he walked back to his office he was whistling cheerfully.

The rest of the day passed without incident as far as Luke was concerned. He kept his head down and was happy for once to be leaving at the end of the day. As he headed towards home Luke began to relax for the first time since Tom had broke the news to him earlier that day. He smiled at how easily he had slipped back into his former life. It felt good but he was glad he didn't have to regularly face problems like that anymore.

Tom was waiting as he walked through the front door.

“Well done dad!” Tom shouted as Luke entered. “I knew you would sort it out!”

Luke grinned but tried to act innocently, “No idea what you are talking about Tom – looks like the police caught the real criminal.”

Tom laughed but knew better than to press his dad further. Just then Sue came into the room.

“What's all the noise about?” she asked.

“We were just talking about Andy Tiler being cleared.” Tom said, “Isn't it great news?”

Sue nodded. “It is indeed – but I just need a quick word with your dad – go and finish your homework please.”

Tom grinned and shook his head. Maybe his dad could get away with playing dumb with him but he knew his mum would demand the truth – the next few minutes would be very interesting for his father!

But for once Sue just wanted to congratulate her husband.

“Luke – I don't want to know how you did it – I'm just glad you did.”

“How do you know it was anything to do with me?” Luke asked.

“Don't worry – your secret is safe with me.” Sue replied.

Just as Luke was about to reply, the intercom buzzed. Luke glanced at the camera.

“It's Harry.” he announced as he pressed the entry button.

A couple of minutes later the front door opened as Harry entered – followed by Sandy Dunbar and Andy Tiler. Luke was surprised but Sue seemed as though she was expecting them.

“Harry called me a few minutes ago.” Sue explained to Luke.

“Well – what can we do for you all?” Luke asked.

“I needed to come to see you as soon as possible to thank you.” Andy blurted out.

Sue held her hands up. “Let's at least get comfortable before we talk.” She said and lead them all through to the spacious conservatory. “What would you all like to drink?”

Minutes later they were all seated and they looked around as if unsure where to begin. Sandy decided to break the ice.

“Maybe I'd better start.” he said. “I remember Ed telling me that you were the owner of a large IT company so when the police said that they had a tip-off that Pryce was the real culprit then I did suspect that maybe you had something to do with fixing this mess. And then when the police were taking Pryce away I watched the Inspector and she nodded to you. Now that nod could have been because she knew you or because she wanted to tell you that you were right?”

Luke remained impassive so Sandy continued.

“Harry arrived soon after the police left and I asked him if he thought you could be the one who saved Andy and he didn't deny it – but he didn't know for sure. Ed arrived soon after so we didn't discuss it with him. We decided to go to see Andy and then come and talk to you.”

Luke scanned the room and then sighed. “Look – it's no big deal. I managed to get someone to look into this and they managed to clear Andy and find the real culprit – I really didn't have much to do with it.”

Everyone in the room broke into smiles and Sandy seemed the happiest.

“I knew it!” he said. “If it weren't for you then we would be in big trouble!”

“No.” Andy said quietly. “If it wasn't for Luke then I would be in big trouble. I haven't been able to move out of the house today. We have had death threats and my wife and kids have been in tears – all because that nutter wanted to get back at me. You have saved my life.”

Luke shifted uncomfortably. “It was nothing.” he said. “I'm sure you would have done the same for me.”

Sandy shook his head. “If you hadn't been there then Andy would be facing criminal charges now and his career would probably have been over. And Jake Pryce would have continued to cause havoc at Wishton. We all owe you a big debt for acting so quickly.”

Sue squeezed Luke's hand. “Well done darling.” she whispered.

Luke tried to change the subject. “It's not like you to be so quiet,” he aimed his comment at Harry, “have you lost your voice?”

“I'm overcome with emotion!” Harry joked and everyone laughed.

Luke stopped laughing. “OK – can I just say one final word on the subject please?”

Everyone nodded.

“I really didn't do much today to help but I did involve other people and it's important that these sources are protected.” Luke explained. “So if you are all really grateful then could I ask you to please not mention my involvement to anyone – it's very important?”

Sandy looked at Andy. “You have our absolute word that no-one will hear about your involvement from us.” he said solemnly.

Luke grinned. “Great.” he said. “Now I suggest we have a real drink to celebrate!”

Andy, Harry and Sandy stayed for another 30 minutes or so and Sue insisted that Andy and Sandy must return again with their families for a barbecue the following week. Andy gripped Luke's hand as they left.

“I'll never forget this,” he whispered, “anything you need in the future – just let me know.”

Luke just smiled and as Harry's car drove away Sue whispered in his ear.

“I think you've made a friend for life there……”

Back inside the house Sue became more serious.

“What's wrong?” Luke asked.

“I think we may still have a problem.” Sue replied. “How do you think that Ed will react to everything that has gone on today?”

Luke thought for a moment. “I'm not sure there is anything he can do. It all seems fairly cut and dried. If he tries to defend Pryce then he may as well resign because no one will ever take him seriously again.”

Sue nodded in agreement. “You're right but it would be nice if we had something that would push him over the edge.”

Luke grinned. “I think I may have just what you need.”

The following morning Ed had summoned a small group of people to an early meeting at Tierney Enterprises headquarters. He didn't want to meet at the stadium or the training ground because he knew that the media would be watching, in addition he asked for the meeting to begin at 6am in another attempt to cover his tracks.

Joining him around the table was Harry, Dave Bycroft and Sandy Dunbar. He had also asked Sue Linden to join them – although she was not officially a board member yet he wanted to spread the blame for this situation as far as he could.

“OK.” Ed began brusquely. “How do we get out of this mess?”

“Don't you mean – how do you get out of this mess?” Dave asked. “We know it's not exactly nice to gloat but we did warn you about this.”

“Yes of course,” Ed brushed the comments aside, “but that's in the past – we need to act now. I have to make a statement at 8am – what do I say?”

This time it was Sue who answered. “I'm sorry,” she said, “I know I haven't been involved in most of this but it seems perfectly straightforward to me. Jake Pryce is a loathsome animal who tried to implicate our club captain in a horrible incident but thankfully he was caught. We just need to publically wash our hands of him!”

Ed held his hands up. “I agree that on the face of it things aren't looking good for Jake but we don't want to rush into anything.”

The others just shook their heads in disbelief but refused to be drawn into an argument, they allowed Ed to continue.

“He hasn't actually been charged with anything yet – what happened to being innocent until proved guilty?”

Harry sighed. “Ed, you are grasping at straws – we all know that Jake is guilty – and not just because of his past record. The police have found all the evidence they need and the only reason they haven't charged him yet is because they are making sure they don't miss anything. The only reason you are reluctant to act is because this is all your fault. Why can't you just admit it and then we can move on!”

Ed flared up. “I hope you are not trying to blame all this on me!” he shouted.

“Of course we are.” Sandy said simply. “Now just be a man for once and just stand in front of the cameras and admit that you were wrong.”

Ed glared and blustered and then everyone realised that he was trying to get one of them to take his place in front of the media.

Sue decided to act. “Look Ed, it seems like this is rather more complex than you may think.”

“What do you mean?” he demanded.

“The Detective Inspector who arrested Pryce is an old friend of mine.” Sue said.

“And?” Ed glared.

“Well she spent yesterday afternoon trying to talk to you, Harry or Dave but conveniently you all seemed to have your phones turned off.” Sue said accusingly.

The three men looked slightly guilty but no-one spoke.

Sue continued. “So when she couldn't contact you three she spoke to me. She knew I was ready to join the board so felt that she could talk to me as she couldn't reach you. She shared some information with me that perhaps I should share with you now.”

Ed waited expectantly.

Sue reached into her bag and pulled out a slim folder. “In addition to the Twitter messages the police found other material on Pryce's phone. This is one of the images that they found.”

She hesitated before sliding the folder across to Ed. He moved it to where no-one else could see the contents and then opened the cover. He went white, then red and then slammed the folder down onto the table.

He glared at Sue before continuing. “Have you seen this?”

She nodded defiantly.

“OK.” he said. “This is what is going to happen. I will take the interview at 8am at which I will throw Jake Pryce to the lions. Then we will never mention his name or discuss the contents of this folder again.”

With that he stormed out of the office and hurried off to his car.

The three remaining men all turned to Sue. Harry spoke first.

“Come on Sue.” he begged. “Spill the beans – what was in that folder that got Ed so fired up?”

Sue shook her head. “Sorry boys,” she grinned “you heard our glorious leader…..”

As she headed out of the door Harry began to wonder which of the Lindens would cause Ed the most problems in the future!

Bang on 8am Ed walked into the large room at the stadium that had been allocated to the press conference. He looked completely calm and as he sat down he began to talk over the stream of questions being hurled at him.

“Quiet please everyone. I won't be taking any questions today – I will be reading a prepared statement and hopefully that will cover everything.”

Ed paused for effect then began to speak again. “On behalf of Wishton Clough FC I would like to begin by apologising to our club captain, Andy Tiler, for the atrocious attack on his character yesterday. For legal reasons I can't go into the details but I can say that Andy was the innocent victim of a vicious crime. Once again I can't say too much but following a police investigation I can confirm that Jake Pryce is no longer a player at this club. He has been fined the maximum amount by Wishton Clough for various internal offences and the police are continuing to interview him in regard to other matters. I would just like to add that it is a sad day when an act of kindness is thrown back in your face. We opened our home to Jake Pryce and tried to help with his rehabilitation but sadly he seems to be beyond help. I truly believe he needs to seek further professional help. Thank you.”

Ed rose from the table and walked quickly from the room – ignoring all questions as he left. He went straight to his office and picked up his phone.

“Send her in.” he said quietly.

The door opened and a fuming Jessica entered. “How dare you drag me here at this time of the morning and then keep me hanging around like a common employee.”

“Sit down and shut up.” Ed said menacingly. “And you are far lower than a common employee.”

Jessica glared but after seeing the look on Ed's face she did as she was told.

“First of all, I want to talk to you about the incident at the Charity Ball last week.” he said quietly.

“That cow Sue Linden attacked me!” Jessica shouted. “I'm going to sue her.”

“Sue Linden is a director of this company and I would believe her word before yours any day of the week.” Ed said.

Ed hesitated before he pulled a folder from his drawer. “You're a dangerous woman Jessica and I can't afford to have you continuing to make trouble.” he said thoughtfully. “I was going to sack you but ideally I need to keep you somewhere close where I can keep an eye on you.”

Jessica began to feel worried but she continued to act as if she couldn't care less – then Ed spoke again.

“I've decided to move you within the hospitality team,” he said, “instead of working with our clients I think it would be safer to put you in the kitchen.”

Jessica laughed scornfully. “Is this some kind of joke? I've had enough of being treated like this, I'm going to see mummy and tell her how awful you are. In fact I think I may even talk to some of those reporters outside – I'm sure they would love to hear the truth about this place.”

Jessica's eyes glistened triumphantly. Ed stared at her for a moment before he pushed the folder across to her.

“Take that with you when you go – I'm sure the reporters would love to take a look.”

She nervously opened the folder and gasped when the contents were revealed.

Ed smiled wickedly. “That photo was found on Pryce's phone. It seems like you and he were more than friends?”

Jessica began to cry.

“Shut up.” Ed growled. “Now here's what we are going to do. I'm going to take you down to the kitchens where you will meet your new colleagues. If you behave yourself then in a few months I will consider moving you somewhere else. If you misbehave or refuse to work in the kitchens then this photo will be released onto the internet. The choice is yours.”

Jessica shook with rage. “I hate you,” she said simply. “and one day it will be my turn.”

“Perhaps so,” murmured Ed, “but not today – today it's my turn.”