Chapter Nineteen
There was a most annoying voice in Kit's ear. He kept trying to ignore it, but it persisted, whining at him in an irritating tone, repeating the same words, over and over again.
He opened one eye and blinked sleepily. Silence. All was darkness. Had he been dreaming?
Deciding he had, he closed his eye again and hugged the pillow, too tired to give the matter further thought.
"This is your brother calling. Warning, warning, this is your brother calling. Pick up the phone. It's your brother!"
"What the—?"
Both Kit's eyes snapped open, and his heart hammered in fear. That was his mobile, the ringtone he'd assigned to Jack. But why would Jack be calling at that time of night? Oh, God.
He sat up and scrabbled on the bedside table for the lamp. As light flooded the bedroom, he spotted his mobile phone lying face down on the floor. What the hell was it doing there? He must have knocked it off the table during the night. He'd not looked at it all day yesterday. He'd been so stressed about the meetings that he'd accidentally left it at home, and then he'd been too tired to check it when he finally went to bed.
He reached down and grabbed the phone. "Jack?" He was breathless with anxiety. "What is it? What's happened?"
There was a silence that seemed to stretch for eternity, then Jack's voice said, "It's okay, Kit. Everything's fine at this end. Sorry if I panicked you. I should have thought."
Kit took a deep breath and leaned back against the headboard. "For Christ's sake, Jack. You do know it's—" He glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table. "—just gone one in the morning. Bloody hell! What are you doing, ringing me at this time?"
"I've been trying all day. Where have you been?"
Kit rubbed his eyes. "I didn't have my phone with me. I was in meetings, then I fell asleep downstairs. Only woke up at half eleven, and my phone was upstairs the whole time. Sorry. What's so important if everyone's okay? Everyone is okay? I mean, nothing—"
"Everything's as it should be here, Kit. This is about you, and the factory."
Kit's mouth went dry. What had he heard? "Go on."
"I had an interesting phone call today."
Phone call? Had Colin been in touch with him? Their solicitor? Didn't accountants and solicitors have some sort of code of confidentiality? Or was it someone else? Had someone who knew Jack seen The Gazette? Someone in the know had obviously grassed him up. Damn. How was he going to reassure his brother?
"Don't you want to know who rang me?"
"I daresay you're going to tell me."
"I am. It was Marley."
Marley! Kit's eyes widened. "What the hell is she playing at? Ringing you up like that! She knows you're in America."
"On holiday."
"Yeah. On holiday. I'm sorry, Jack. What did she want?" And then he remembered. The argument the previous night. Her fury and disgust with him about the bonuses. But she wouldn't, would she? She wouldn't go behind his back like that, surely? "Oh. Let me guess. I'm the big bad boss who destroyed Christmas. Right?"
"Something like that. I really didn't like what she told me, and I couldn't get hold of you for an explanation, so I got in touch with Colin. I knew he'd know if there was a reason for your strange behaviour, and sure enough, he did."
"He told you?"
"Yep."
"Everything?"
"I'm really hoping so. Surely to God, there can't be any more. Or can there?"
Kit sighed. "I'm sorry. I'd really hoped to save you from all this. You've got enough going on."
"But, Kit, this is my problem, too! For God's sake, it's my fault. All of it."
"It's not your fault, don't be stupid. How could you know that Halliwell & Stephenson's were going to go bankrupt?"
"I should have been prepared. It's not as if I wasn't suspicious. They hadn't paid us for months. As soon as they started fobbing me off, I should have scaled down production and done some serious investigating, but I was so preoccupied with everything else. I really took my eye off the ball. I'm so sorry."
"It was my fault, not yours. You had enough to do, and I should have come home sooner and taken this place off your hands."
There was quiet for a moment, then Jack said, "How bad is this?"
Kit hesitated, wondering how much to reveal. He supposed the cat was out of the bag, anyway, thanks to bloody Marley and her big mouth. "Fairly bad. Colin doesn't think we'll be able to get anything back, and there's barely enough in the accounts now to cover the wages for January."
He heard the sharp intake of breath and wished, with all his heart, that he could have kept the news from Jack, but he couldn't lie to him. Not when he was aware of the demise of LuvRocks.
"Has Serafina been in touch, yet?"
"She'll be here in a few days. She seems really positive about the whole thing, so that's looking good."
"I should hope she is. She's been angling for this for years."
"Yeah, well. Looks like she'll get what she wants."
"I really am sorry, Kit."
"It doesn't matter. It doesn't mean anything to me, anyway. Never did. It's you and Amanda who'll suffer again."
"Oh, we can sort something out, no problem. It's hardly the most important thing we've had to deal with, is it?"
"I guess not."
"Nowhere near, in fact. What I don't get is, why haven't you just told the factory staff the truth? You've got them all hating you and blaming you, and thinking you're a real tightwad. Why haven't you explained the situation?"
"Because I'd rather they hated me and thought I was a miser, than worry all Christmas about not having a job in the new year, that's why. They're going to have to know soon enough, but for God's sake, let's let them enjoy their Christmas first. It's the least we can do."
"You're a good man, Kit. I wish Marley realised that. You should at least tell her what's going on."
Kit laughed. "Oh, yeah, because she's so trustworthy, isn't she? Can't believe she went behind my back like that and rang you."
"She was worried sick about the factory, and worried about your behaviour. Tell her the truth, Kit. Let her help you. You need someone on your side."
Kit didn't answer. He didn't actually trust himself to speak.
"If this thing with Serafina goes ahead, will that fix our problems?" Jack's voice was quiet, and Kit considered, for a moment, bluffing his way through the conversation and assuring his brother that of course it would. But only for a moment.
"It will pay off what we owe the suppliers and keep us going for a few months, but, unless we come up with some drastic solutions, we'll be in the same position this time next year, if not before. The truth is, we need to increase output drastically, and pull in some money from somewhere. Even the big names are struggling. What chance has a small company like Carroll's got these days?"
"I wish I could be with you to help."
"Don't be daft. I've been to some trade fairs and conferences. I've got some people interested. Something might come of it. And I had a promising meeting yesterday with a potential customer. Could be really lucrative, if it comes off. We'll just have to wait and see."
"We don't have time to wait and see, though, do we? That's what you're telling me. We have to get more people interested in the place, and in our products. We need a branding rethink and a marketing campaign. Have you been in touch with Clarke & Howell's? Gina usually works with us, and she's excellent."
"And very expensive," Kit pointed out. "Marley already suggested her, and she wasn't too impressed with me when I said I'd do it all myself."
"Well, you can't really blame her," Jack said, sounding far too reasonable for Kit's liking. "She hasn't a clue what we're dealing with, and she must think you're a complete Scrooge. You have to tell her, Kit. No way around it."
"I won't tell her anything," Kit insisted. "I don't trust her, and she's just proved I was right not to, by telephoning you and dropping all this on you."
"She was thinking of Carroll's," Jack said.
"She was thinking of her Christmas bonus and some pathetic designer dress she wanted, you mean," Kit growled. His anger towards Marley was growing by the minute. How could she have been so sneaky? And why was he so upset about it, anyway? He should have expected something like that from her. "Look, it's the middle of the night, and I'm knackered. I have to be at work at eight, so I'll get off now and call you tomorrow, okay?"
"Will you? Promise?"
"I just said so, didn't I?"
"I mean it, though, Kit. I have enough going on here."
"Which is why I didn't want you to know!"
"But now that I do, I'll only worry more if you don't keep me informed every step of the way. Don't make me play guessing games, okay? I want to know everything. Swear it."
Kit rolled his eyes. "Hell, Jack, you'll be asking me to make a pinky promise next."
"I'll make you cross your heart and hope to die if I have to. Now, promise."
Kit sighed. "I promise."
"And you haven't got your fingers crossed?"
In spite of himself, Kit couldn't help laughing. "How old are you?"
Jack chuckled. "Okay, I believe you. Night, 'bro."
"Night, Jack. Take care."
Putting his mobile on the bedside table, Kit switched off the lamp and lay back down, staring up into the darkness while his mind replayed the conversation.
It was no use. He needed to sleep. He was exhausted, and he had to be at the factory early. He had a long day ahead of him, and that awkward encounter with Marley to get over.
As if her overreacting so badly and storming out of the house hadn't been enough, he had to tackle her about her unbelievable lack of loyalty towards him, and her underhanded behaviour.
Great.
Sighing, Kit pulled the pillow over his head. He had a feeling he wouldn’t be getting much sleep at all that night.