The One You Fear (10 page)

Photographs?
Emma wanted to speak to Adrian Spencer about that. What was he intending to do with them – use them with his feature story? That just wasn’t on. ‘Was he following me in Windsor yesterday?’

‘No,’ David Sherborn replied. ‘I didn’t see him at all yesterday.’

‘So you
were
in Windsor?’

He smiled. ‘Oh, yes. I had a lovely time. The security services are probably investigating me as I speak, given that I was waiting outside the castle for two hours with a telescopic lens while you were on your guided tour.’

‘I guess you had a quiet day then,’ Lizzy said, ‘if Adrian Spencer wasn’t around.’

‘Oh, I wouldn’t say that.’

Emma was intrigued. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, I didn’t see Adrian Spencer, but I did spot this guy.’ He placed a second photograph over the first. ‘I noticed him first of all at Waterloo Station. He was hanging back, but I spotted him. He caught the same train as you. Do you recognise him?’

Emma and Lizzy scrutinised the image. The man, probably in his mid-twenties, was quite good-looking, tallish, sandy brown hair. ‘No,’ they said in unison.

David brought out a third photograph. ‘He also followed you into the castle, and around the town. He ate in the same restaurant as you.’

Emma shuddered at the thought.

‘He then tailed you down to Eton College, but didn’t go in. That’s when he stopped following you. He caught the next train back to Waterloo.’

Emma was surprised. ‘You followed him to London?’

‘I know you said I only had to follow you, but I guess I got caught up in it all, so I thought I might as well see where he was going.’

Lizzy leant forward. ‘So where did he go?’

David Sherborn smiled. ‘That’s where it gets really interesting.’ He brought out a final photograph.

Emma couldn’t believe it. ‘Guy Roberts? He went to meet with Guy Roberts?’ The casting director who had caused so much trouble for them – how was he involved in all of this?

David nodded. ‘The mystery man went straight around to his house.’

***

‘So are we going to see him?’ Lizzy said, as David Sherborn left the café.

‘Sorry?’ Emma was lost in thought.

What did all this have to do with Guy Roberts?

‘Guy Roberts,’ Lizzy said. ‘I vote we go straight around to his house, and have it out with him.’

‘I’m not sure. I think we need to think about this, before rushing in making accusations.’

Lizzy looked unconvinced, and disappointed. ‘So, ’ she said, after a few moments of silence, ‘if we aren’t going to do that, then what should we do?’

‘First of all, I want to speak with Adrian Spencer’s bosses.’

Lizzy sparked to life. ‘The
Daily Post
?’

Emma nodded. ‘They’ve got to be told what he’s doing. It’s not right, following us around like that, taking photographs. If we get him off our backs, it will be one less thing to worry about.’

‘They might know about what he’s doing. They might have sanctioned it.’

‘Maybe. But whatever the case, I want to let them know that we’re not putting up with it any longer.’

***

The
Daily Post
headquarters was based in Stratford, East London. Emma and Lizzy took the Docklands Light Railway, which glided out of the city, past the towering, shimmering structures of Canary Wharf, and into London’s outskirts. Once a derelict, industrial wasteland, Stratford had in recent years been transformed by a massive regeneration programme in advance of the London Olympics.

As they were en route, both Will and Dan called to see how they were. Emma updated them about the revelations from David Sherborn. Dan made her promise they wouldn’t do anything that day regarding Guy Roberts; like Emma herself, he felt it was too risky to tackle Guy without careful thought. Plus, Dan wanted to be there. He wasn’t particularly happy about them taking issue with Adrian Spencer’s employers, although Emma persuaded him that they weren’t going to do anything risky – just go there and report what he had been doing.

‘So how are we going to play this?’ Lizzy said, as they neared the offices. ‘What if they call Adrian Spencer downstairs? He’ll probably be angry, don’t you think?’

‘I hadn’t thought that far,’ Emma admitted. ‘Maybe we should have just called the office to report it.’

‘Nah, it’ll be okay. It’s better to get there in person. At least we can make sure our complaint gets heard.’

They reached the building, a rather unimpressive concrete structure straight from the 1970s.

They waited for the receptionist to complete a telephone conversation. ‘Can I help you?’ she said, finally looking up at them.

‘We’re here to make a complaint,’ Emma began. ‘About one of your reporters – he’s been bothering me and my friends for the past few weeks, and we’ve just found out he’s also been taking photographs.’

‘Okay.’ The woman didn’t look surprised. She picked up the telephone again. ‘Just one moment, please, I’ll see if Dominic is here.’

‘Dominic?’

‘Our public relations manager. Oh, hello, Dominic? It’s Elizabeth here on reception. I was wondering if you’re free now. We’ve got two ladies down here who would like to make a complaint against one of our reporters… no, I didn’t ask that… okay, great, thanks.’ She replaced the handset and smiled. ‘If you could just wait over there, Dominic will be with you shortly.’ She gestured at the row of comfy chairs in the corner.

‘Public relations manager,’ Lizzy whispered, raising a mischievous eyebrow as they sat down.

Emma was glad that they hadn’t yet said whom they were complaining about; at least Adrian wouldn’t be tipped off. She didn’t really want to come face to face with him at this point.

A couple of minutes later a man appeared. He was in his early thirties, very smartly dressed in a dark suit and an open-collar pastel-blue shirt. He held out a hand. ‘Hi, I’m Dominic Carter, public relations manager for the
Daily Post
. I hear you’ve got a complaint?’

Emma nodded. ‘It’s about…’

He held up a hand. ‘If you don’t mind, we can continue in the side office. It’s best to maintain some privacy with these things, I find.’

They followed him into the nearby office and took a seat.

‘Would you like a drink?

‘We’re okay,’ Emma replied, not wanting to prolong the meeting any more than they had to.

‘So how can I help you?’

Emma glanced at Lizzy for support, then back at Dominic. Suddenly this all seemed very serious, and part of her now regretted taking this step. Even though Adrian Spencer had been very troublesome, and had refused to take no for an answer, she didn’t want him to lose his job over this. And by doing what they were doing, it was possible that he could be fired – especially with all the recent controversy about standards in journalism, and the need to demonstrate to the public that the press worked to an ethical code. Once they had made their complaint and left the building, who knew what might happen to Adrian. But still, something did need to be done; hopefully Adrian’s superiors would just warn him about his behaviour and that would be the end of it. ‘One of your journalists has been bothering us,’ she said.

‘Pestering us,’ Lizzy emphasised. ‘For weeks. Refusing to leave us alone when we said we didn’t want to talk to him.’ She looked at Emma by way of an apology for her impromptu interjection.

‘Okay,’ Dominic said, his brow furrowed. ‘Maybe I should start by taking your names.’

‘Emma Holden, and Lizzy Thomas.’

He looked up from his notepad, interested. ‘Emma Holden as in, the kidnapping case?’

Emma nodded.

‘I see. So, tell me more about what’s been happening.’

‘Well, as Lizzy said, the reporter, he started approaching us, at home and in the street, trying to get quotes for a feature he’s writing on what happened to us. We told him we weren’t interested, but he won’t leave us alone. And I’ve just found out that he’s been following me, taking photographs.’

Dominic frowned. ‘We’ve got very strict standards here at the
Daily Post
. Obviously our journalists have to work hard to get their stories, but there is a line, and from what you’ve just told me, on this occasion, we’ve crossed it. So first of all, I’d like to apologise on behalf of the newspaper for what has happened. And secondly, I want to promise you that we’ll speak to the journalist in question, and ensure that this doesn’t happen again.’

‘Thank you,’ Emma said. ‘We don’t want him to get into real trouble. We just want him to leave us alone. We’ve all been through so much, and we really don’t want to be part of another newspaper story. We want privacy, and time to get over it all.’

‘
It’s okay. I understand.
He’ll just get an informal warning, and like I said, it won’t happen again.’

‘Thanks.’

‘So, I guess I’d better take his name then.’

Emma looked across at Lizzy again, then back at Dominic. Once she said the name, there was no going back. ‘It’s Adrian Spencer.’

‘Adrian Spencer,’ he said. ‘Not familiar with him.’ He thought some more. ‘Nope, doesn’t ring any bells. That’s a good thing. It means he can’t have been in any trouble before now. Just a second.’ He dialled an extension number on the phone that was hung on the wall. ‘Veronica? Adrian Spencer, can you just check which team he’s based in. He’s leading on a feature about the Emma Holden case… thanks.’ He waited for a few moments. ‘Are you sure? You’re absolutely definite about that? Couldn’t be a mistake? Okay, thanks.’

He sat back down. ‘I’m really sorry, but the guy who’s been bothering you doesn’t work for this paper.’

Emma was taken aback. ‘Sorry?’

‘We don’t have anyone called Adrian Spencer working here.’

‘But he’s writing the article,’ Lizzy said. ‘The feature article for your paper.’

‘There is no feature article being written about you – my PA just checked. I’m sorry, but it looks like he’s working for someone else.’

12

Will Holden couldn’t concentrate at all. He sat back in his chair and stared out the window. His work as a human resources officer in the local council wasn’t the most stimulating job in the world. It had its moments (mostly when things went wrong), but it wasn’t what you might call an exciting environment. That hadn’t bothered him before, but now he felt like he wanted something more, something that was more of a challenge. It was amazing how one person could come into your life and shake things up so much, transforming your outlook and world view in a heartbeat, colouring the grey and opening your eyes to what was possible. He glanced at his watch. It would be lunch break in the school, but he resisted calling Amy. He didn’t want to bother her at work – no doubt she would be busy preparing for the afternoon’s lessons, or discussing issues with fellow teachers.

Will caught the eye of John, a colleague, who had clocked him daydreaming, so he turned his attention back to the screen and began typing out the job advert he had been halfway through for the past hour.

Then his phone rang. His heart leapt when he saw the caller ID. It was Amy.

‘Hey,’ she said, ‘thought I’d give you a quick call while I was free.’

‘Amy, it’s great to hear from you.’ John was looking interested, so Will moved away from his desk and out onto the stairwell. ‘I was just thinking about you.’

‘Good to hear it,’ she joked.

Will tapped his fingers absentmindedly against the bannister. ‘So, has your day been good?’

‘Ah, not bad, you know. Some of the kids were a bit naughty, but that’s nothing unusual. How about you?’

‘Pretty dull, to be honest. I’m supposed to be drafting a job pack, but I can’t concentrate. I keep thinking about the other day, you know, at the zoo and the London Eye. I’m still buzzing from it, and I guess everything else seems boring.’

‘I know what you need.’

‘What’s that?’

‘Something to look forward to. Which is why I’ve planned something amazing for tomorrow, if you can make it.’

‘Really?’

‘Do you know I mentioned about a parachute jump?’

‘Well… yeah.’

‘I forgot to mention that I’m a qualified instructor.’

‘O-k-a-y.’

‘Which means that I’m qualified to do tandem skydives.’

‘I’m not sure I like where this is going.’

‘And I’d like you to accompany me on a skydive tomorrow afternoon.’

Will could hear the smile in her voice, while he just felt sick. ‘But, don’t you have to train for weeks before doing something like that?’

‘Not with a tandem jump. You only have to do about fifteen minutes preparation.’

‘Right.’

‘It’s all very safe,’ Amy said. ‘You’d be strapped onto me, and I’d be the one doing everything. You’d just be there to enjoy the ride.’