Chapter 8
Tallulah read through the corrected report one last time, slipped it into a folder, and added it to the stack already on her desk. Aiden was out at a construction site but was due back any time. She was a lot happier working for him than she had been in the legal department. For one thing, the work was more varied, and there was a lot of it. She knew she thrived on deadlines and pressure—a character trait that was probably a leftover from her highly challenging childhood years. Aiden wasn’t as bad as she’d thought he would be either, and certainly not as bad as the human resources department had hinted. She’d worked for him for two weeks now, and while he’d been out of the office for a lot of that time, he appeared fairly easy going when he was present. He didn’t suffer fools gladly, but she knew she wasn’t a fool. As long as she didn’t allow herself to drool over him, everything would be fine.
The senior management team viewed him with suspicion and a general air of anxiety, but in Tallulah’s opinion, they’d probably been coasting for years and had been shaken out of their comfort zone. Aiden was rattling a lot of cages, checking a lot of the recent projects in much more detail than they really warranted. He had her gathering and collating old quotes, financial plans, and accounts. She wouldn’t have had him down as a micro-manager.
She picked up the phone as soon as it started to ring. The number was an internal one she didn’t recognise.
“Can I speak to Mr Marlowe?
“He’s not in the office at the moment. Can I take a message?”
“Do you know when he’ll be back?”
“Any time now I think.” She glanced at her watch.
“Could you ask him to give me a ring as soon as he gets in? It’s Paul Goodman from site security.”
Tallulah told him she’d pass the message on and wondered why he’d sounded so spooked.
Aiden strode into the office five minutes later, shirt sleeves rolled above his elbows and jacket hooked over one finger. She passed on the message.
“Site security?” He stopped in front of her desk and pulled a face. “I wonder what they want.” He left the door open while he made the call.
She listened unashamedly.
“What? Here?”
There was a moment of silence from Aiden’s end of the call.
“Bring them up then. I’ll talk to them in the office.” He put the phone down carefully.
“Is there a problem?” Tallulah was dying to know.
Aiden gave her a blank look. “It’s the police.”
“The police?” Her face must have shown her confusion.
“Something to do with drugs.”
“Drugs?” She knew she sounded stupid. “What sort of drugs?”
“Recreational drugs. Not the aspirin kind.” He paced to her window and looked out, his back rigid with tension.
Tallulah’s heart sank. When drugs were mentioned, she couldn’t help remembering what they’d done to her mother. Ellie Becks had had a troubled relationship with a whole selection of substances, from alcohol to heroin. Her addiction had made her lose all connection with reality, was responsible for her series of abusive relationships, and had led to her losing her youngest children who had been born with their own drug-related problems. In the end, it had led to her death.
She took a deep breath. That was the past. Ellie was dead; her children had escaped. None of them so far had inherited the fatal attraction, although Tallulah had worried about Mia for a while. She inspected Aiden as surreptitiously as she could. Why are the police here? Surely he’s not a user? It couldn’t be possible; his skin glowed with health, his energy levels were phenomenal, and he’d never even shown signs of a hangover.
There was a knock on the door, and a man she’d never seen before strode in without waiting for an invitation. He ignored her and made a beeline for Aiden who turned away from the window. Two uniformed policemen waited in the doorway.
“Mr Marlowe.” The man held out his hand. Aiden was a tall man, but his visitor towered over him and must have weighed twice as much. “I’m Paul Goodman, head of security.”
Aiden shook his hand. “I’m sorry I haven’t been round to your department yet.”
“No problem.” Paul gestured towards the policemen. “I think we might have an issue.”
Aiden beckoned to the policemen. “We can talk in my office.” He sounded pissed off but not nervous.
All four of the men disappeared into the office, and the door swung closed behind them.
Tallulah stared at it. In the six weeks she’d worked at Marlowe’s, she hadn’t noticed any evidence of drug use, or at least not at work. Everyone knew it happened all over the city, but she’d never seen it at Marlowe’s. She shook off her depression and returned to her work.
Half an hour later, the police came out of Aiden’s office, followed immediately by Paul Goodman. They walked past her desk without acknowledging her.
Aiden strolled out after them, his mouth tense. He folded his arms and watched them leave.
“Is everything all right?”
He glared at her. “Everything’s fine. We’ve been nurturing a trainee drug lord on the premises, but everything’s just peachy.”
“What?”
His scowl deepened. “The police raided a club. They had a tipoff. One of the people they caught worked here, and he told the police that his dealer did too.”
Tallulah’s mouth dropped open. “Who was it?”
“Bloody Davy Tollington-Rees. Your predecessor. My last admin assistant.”
“Are they going to arrest him?”
“I hope so. There’re a couple of girls in hospital—adverse reaction. One of them’s in intensive care. He’s not at work today though.”
“Holiday?”
“Off sick.”
Tallulah shook her head, betting he’d never come back. She hadn’t met him, but she’d seen the state of the microscopic amount of work he’d done while he worked for Aiden. He could easily be the sort of person who’d do something stupid like deal at work.
“They’ll pick him up at home,” Aiden said. “His family connections won’t help him there.”
“I bet they will,” Tallulah muttered. She couldn’t imagine someone with a name like Davy Tollington-Rees would get a custodial sentence.
Aiden gave her a doubtful look. “The police said that one of the girls they took into hospital worked here as well.” He rubbed his face with the heel of his hand. “I’m going to have to do something. No wonder the company’s in bad shape if people are using on the premises.”
“You don’t know they’re doing that,” Tallulah said. “I mean it does happen, and I’ve been in some places where there’s a queue in the toilets while the senior staff get their cocaine hits but I don’t think—”
“You think that’s a good thing?” Aiden glowered at her as though it was her fault.
She shrugged. It wasn’t something she’d ever been tempted to do.
“Have you used at work?” He stood in front of her desk, arms folded across his chest.
Tallulah leaned back in her chair, furious. What gives him the right to talk to me like that? She lost her hard-won calm for the first time in years. “I’ve never touched so much as a paracetamol. My mother died from an overdose, so I know where that path leads. Don’t you dare accuse me of being a junkie.” She shouted the last words at him.
“I wasn’t accusing. I was only—”
“I don’t want to hear.” She turned her eyes to her computer screen, shutting him out. He had no right to take his frustrations out on her. Rage boiled in her stomach, and she wasn’t sure why she was so upset.
Aiden hovered for a moment but returned to his own office without saying anything else. Tallulah pounded her keyboard ferociously.
Ten minutes later, a site-wide email went out.
The police have brought a serious problem to my attention. A member of staff has been caught selling banned substances. His employment will be terminated, as will the employment of any other individual caught indulging in illegal substances on company property or using company property for illegal activities. Anyone who wishes to discuss this may speak to me.
Aiden Marlowe
Tallulah deleted the message.
At four thirty, Aiden came out of his office, his briefcase in one hand and his jacket slung over his shoulder. “I’m going to visit my father. I’ll be in late tomorrow.”
Tallulah kept her head down, her focus on the keyboard.