The Cornish Guest House (40 page)

‘I’m going to miss THE OLD BATTLEAXE OVER THERE,’ she shouted.

Liz glanced at the fierce, fat patient opposite, whose lips pursed threateningly.

‘What’s that you’re saying?’ she said, cupping her hand round an ear.

‘I SAID I’M GOING TO MISS YOU, YOU OLD FOOL!’ Pat replied, ‘YOU’LL HAVE TO COME AND VISIT.’

The woman grinned and blew Pat a kiss. She didn’t look as scary when she smiled.

‘She’s not all bad,’ sniffed Pat. ‘Tight as a duck’s arse, but I won’t hold it against her.’

She straightened up a little. ‘I say, that Hazel, Annie’s grandmother, she’s a nice woman. Said she’d come and see me at The Nook when I’m settled in. We’re going to launch a campaign to warn pensioners about telephone scams. Someone needs to stick up for us poor old things. Felipe will help with leaflets, I’m sure.’

‘Excellent idea,’ said Liz, thinking, with pleasure, that Pat looked considerably less like a poor old thing today than she had the last time they’d met. She was definitely on the mend.

When she arrived back in the village and drove slowly down Humble Hill, she was surprised to see four or five police cars parked at the end of the street, their doors open. Officers in fluorescent yellow tops and blue hats were speaking into walkie-talkies, gesticulating to the crowd that had gathered on the corner of Fore Street, telling them to keep back.

Jean and Tom were outside their house, toddlers balanced on their hips, talking to Jenny, who looked as if she’d left Gull Cottage in a hurry because she wasn’t wearing a jacket. Beside them, Felipe was chatting animatedly to Audrey, in her pea-green coat, and there were other villagers streaming down the hill towards them.

Liz abandoned the car and leaped out, her heart pounding.

‘What’s going on?’ she asked two young men jogging by, before realising that it was the boys from A Winkle In Time.

‘Dunno,’ Alex panted. ‘Something’s happening at The Stables. Boss asked us to find out.’

Liz’s mind started racing. The Stables? Was it something to do with Luke – or Loveday? And why so many cars and dogs? It must be serious, she thought, a knot of anxiety settling in the pit of her stomach. Had they found a body? Her head started to swim and she felt herself sway.

‘Liz!’ Jean cried, noticing, but her arms were full, so Audrey dashed forward to stop her from falling, but Liz pushed her gently aside.

‘I’m all right, honestly.’ She passed the others, rounding the bend at a wobbly trot, and almost crashed into a policewoman standing guard in front of a temporary barrier.

‘Stay there, please,’ the woman said firmly, forcing Liz to an abrupt halt. Glancing left and right, she could see that the barrier stretched all the way across Fore Street and more police officers were milling around behind. Liz craned her neck to try to get a proper view but it was no good, then two officers parted and, through the gap, she caught sight of a large white van, with a flashing blue light on the roof, parked outside The Stables, its doors flung wide. She stood on tiptoe to watch and within seconds two police officers emerged from the building with Alsatians on leashes.

‘It’s him!’ someone cried behind her, and she turned to see Esme, one eye partially obscured by strands of grey hair that had escaped from her bun, and a smudge of clay on her cheek.

Swinging round again to face the van, Liz gasped, for there, between two more officers, his hands behind his back and struggling furiously, was Luke. He was wearing a crisp red and white striped shirt and tan chinos, his blond hair still slicked back neatly off his face. He could have been an off-duty merchant banker or hedge-fund manager, his smart appearance strangely at odds with the scene unfolding.

‘Get your hands off me!’ he roared. ‘I want to speak to my solicitor!’ But the policemen had him in a firm grip and they were half pulling, half pushing him towards the van. Liz caught sight of a smooth arm, a gold Rolex glinting in the sunshine, and below it a pair of thick silver handcuffs. There was momentary silence from the crowd then someone with a strong Cornish accent yelled, ‘What have you done with her, you bastard?’

Luke must have heard because he turned in the direction of the noise and Liz’s stomach lurched, because for a moment he seemed to stare straight at her, his blue eyes fixed on her face, but if he registered who it was you couldn’t tell as his features were blank. Only his lips seemed to curl in a strange way, as if a stitch had been dropped, causing his mouth to slowly unravel.

He dragged his feet at the doors of the van, refusing to get in, but the policemen heaved him up, lowering his head as they entered, then the doors banged shut and he was gone.

The crowd was forced to move aside as the van backed up the street, reversing into Humble Hill before heading in the direction of the castle.

‘What’s happening?’ Liz asked Rick, on her left, in a bright red sweater. ‘Why have they taken him?’

‘Dunno,’ he replied, lurching slightly as he was jostled from behind. ‘We need some answers.’

There was a general hubbub: people murmuring, dogs barking, the odd shout, a child crying.

‘If he’s done something to her…’ said a woman whom Liz didn’t recognise. She felt herself sway again.

‘Where’s Loveday?’ someone screamed. ‘Have they found her?’ Liz was shocked to realise that it was her own voice. She felt her legs buckle and reached for a wall to support her, but the way was blocked with bodies and she couldn’t get through. Faces, some familiar, some not, faded in and out of her vision and she cried out – ‘Oh!’ – sensing herself fall. Then a strong arm was circling her, a firm hand gripping under her shoulder and hoisting her up before she could hit the ground.

‘It’s all right, Lizzie, I’m here,’ said a familiar voice. Glancing up, Liz perceived the blurred image of Robert, a deep frown cutting across his forehead like a fissure.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, trying to straighten, but her limbs were like rubber and she couldn’t stand on her own. The next thing she knew, he was picking her up like a baby and the crowd parted as she allowed herself to be carried, catching the faint, reassuring whiff of his soap and skin as they went.

‘Does she need an ambulance?’ someone asked, and she heard Robert say they were OK, they lived right here. The garden gate creaked and he wrestled a key from his pocket, taking her full weight with his other arm, before lifting her into the front room and laying her gently on the sofa.

‘Loveday?’ she said, her mouth dry and her brain still fuzzy. She could think of nothing else, but he didn’t reply.

Quickly, he propped her head on some cushions and put a blanket over her, before perching beside her and taking her hand.

‘You went completely white but the colour’s starting to come back now.’ He was examining her closely, like a forensic scientist. ‘Thank God I was there. Do you feel any better?’

She nodded, which made her head hurt, so she closed her eyes.

‘My darling,’ he said, with such infinite tenderness. ‘For a moment I thought…’ But his voice cracked and he couldn’t finish.

‘What’s happened to Loveday?’ she asked again, more urgently this time. ‘You’ve got to tell me.’

Robert stroked the hair off her face, still holding one hand in his. ‘They’ve arrested Luke,’ he said heavily. ‘I don’t know why.’

‘Have they found a body?’

‘Not as far as I know. Poor darling, is that why you—?’

The piercing ring of the phone made them both jump and he shot her a look. ‘Shall I—?’

‘Answer it,’ she insisted. ‘You must.’

He rose gingerly, being careful not to move her, and padded into the hall to pick up the receiver. The door was open and she pricked her ears, anxious not to miss a word.

‘Hello? What? Thank God, oh, thank God.’ His deep voice seemed to echo around the house, bouncing off the walls, the furniture, the floorboards and reverberating in her skull.

Without thinking, she jumped up, throwing off the blanket, and ran to join him, forgetting that she’d almost passed out and ignoring the weakness in her legs. He was standing up straight, running a hand through his brown wavy hair, and she stared at him while he spoke, picking up as much as she could and trying to piece together the scraps of information.

‘In Exeter... London, you say…? Tabitha… turned up at the station…’ He was repeating some of what he’d heard, as if only by doing so would it sink in.

He didn’t talk for long but it seemed like an eternity to Liz, who feared that at any moment she might spontaneously combust. When at last he hung up he turned to her with the widest smile on his face that she thought she’d ever seen, making his eyes light up and the corners crinkle.

‘They’ve found her.’ He took a step forward and pulled her to him, so that she was crushed against his body. ‘She was staying in London with that girl Demi, who used to work at the restaurant. Tabitha tracked her down and took her to the local police station, then they drove them to the headquarters in Exeter. Sarah and Andy have been with them but they weren’t allowed to say until now.’

‘But why did she go?’ Liz asked, trying to process what she’d heard. ‘And how did Tabitha realise where she was?’ Liz wanted to punch the air but at the same time there were so many unanswered questions and none of it seemed to make sense.

Robert rested his chin on the top of her head. ‘Sarah said Luke’s got some big criminal racket going on, some fraudulent scam. Loveday was helping him but she didn’t realise it was illegal, then when she found out she got scared and ran. Somehow Tabitha guessed where she was and, well, I suppose she decided to inform on her husband. The main thing is, Loveday’s alive and well.’ He took a deep breath. ‘I can hardly believe it.’

Liz hesitated. In all the excitement she’d forgotten about their argument and his doubts about Jesse and unkind words, but now they came rushing back.

‘So that means Jesse’s innocent?’ she said carefully, shrinking from her husband’s grasp and taking a step back.

Robert nodded. ‘I’ve made a massive mistake.’

‘And Tabitha rescued Loveday, and Luke was the cause of it all?’

‘It certainly seems so.’ He shook his head. ‘I can’t believe I was taken in by him.’

She pulled a face. ‘You and practically the whole of Tremarnock.’

He fixed her with steady hazel eyes. ‘I said some terrible things to you.’

‘You did.’

‘You were right all along. I should have listened to you.’

‘You should.’

I’m sorry, Lizzie,’ he said in a small voice. ‘I’ll have to try to make it up to Jesse and…’ He swallowed. ‘And I don’t suppose you can ever forgive me?’

He looked so sad and it was wrong to be unhappy on such a wonderful day. There’d be plenty of time to analyse they whys and wherefores in the days and weeks to come.

She took his big hands, which felt soft and strangely vulnerable, and smiled, watching the jagged lines across his brow smooth away.

‘We’ll have to see about that.’

It was enough, for now. He pulled her to him again and she basked in the warmth, as if she’d been lying, cold, wet and shivering, on the beach, until the bright sun emerged from behind a cloud to heat her through. She could have stayed there for ever but a sudden thought made her start and she drew back quickly.

‘Quick, we must go to the school.’ She turned to grab the car keys from the hall table and pass them to him. ‘Will you drive? I don’t think I should. We need to tell Rosie about Loveday. We’ll never hear the end of it if we make her wait a moment longer.’

*

Of course, Rosie was far too excited to return to lessons and the head teacher allowed her to go home. She’d only miss about half an hour anyway.

‘I should think you’ve got some celebrating to do,’ the head said kindly. She, too, had joined the search in her spare time and was smiling broadly. ‘I’m absolutely delighted for you all, it’s the best news I’ve heard in a long time.’

Sarah phoned again to explain that the police had more questions and they wouldn’t be home till late, so Robert dropped Liz and Rosie at Bag End and parked the car before setting off again. He’d told Alex that he wouldn’t be returning to A Winkle In Time until tomorrow and if they couldn’t manage they were to contact customers and close the restaurant, citing personal circumstances.

Alex, however, had assured his boss that they could cope. ‘Don’t worry, guv. It’s under control.’

Robert wasn’t looking forward to this but it had to be done – and quickly. He’d tuned in to the local radio station on the way back from collecting Rosie, and Loveday was the top story, along with the fact that Luke and nine other men, aged between 26 and 40, had been arrested at two different addresses on suspicion of fraud and money-laundering offences running to millions of pounds. The police had moved extraordinarily fast.

Robert guessed that Jesse would have heard by now, but he couldn’t be sure. It had all happened so quickly, and the young man had been living a bit like a hermit recently, shutting himself away at his mum’s and hardly speaking to a soul. He must have been under a tremendous amount of stress. There was no answer at the house and Robert hung around for a few minutes, repeatedly ringing the bell and calling through the letterbox, until an elderly woman, whom he vaguely recognised, came hurrying out of Audrey’s house next door to investigate.

‘I’ve just seen it on the telly!’ she exclaimed, as if continuing a conversation she’d been having in her head. She was Audrey’s mum, lived in Bude and sometimes came to stay with her daughter and help in the clothes shop. ‘They’ve found her!’ she went on, unable to hide her excitement. ‘And that man from The Stables? Who’d have thought it? Audrey always said he was a slippery customer.’

Robert winced, remembering Audrey batting her eyelashes at Luke, vying with Sylvia for his attention and singing his praises like the rest of them, himself included.

‘I’m looking for Jesse,’ he said abruptly. ‘There doesn’t seem to be anyone here.’

‘Poor young man,’ Audrey’s mum said slyly. ‘Everyone muttering about him behind his back. It’s shocking how folk jump to conclusions. Audrey always insisted—’

‘Have you seen him?’ Robert interrupted.

‘You just missed him,’ the old woman replied huffily. She’d clearly been hoping for more information, or at least a good gossip. ‘Went off that way.’ She pointed to her right. ‘No idea where he was off to. Had his walking boots on. Covered in mud they were.’