‘Matthew’s on the warpath. I’m hoping you can give me some information that means I can take him back off it.’
Caroline thought, not for the first time, how alike the Carter brothers were as Jonathan strode straight to the coffee machine behind the bar and started to make two lattes. He had a kind of restless energy about him that suggested she wouldn’t be able to deflect him with anything other than the truth.
‘What’s the matter with him?’ Caroline asked, passing Jonathan a couple of cups from the rack above the bar. ‘Did he not like the sleepsuit I bought for the new baby? I can take it back.’
‘He’s been talking to the accounts clerk who does the books for this place,’ Jonathan said.
Caroline’s heart sank as Jonathan filled her in. Then her mind started to race. She’d have to brazen this out somehow. She hoped that the disorganised maître d’ approach might work. ‘You know how it is when you’re working all hours; things tend to get overlooked,’ she said.
‘A couple of invoices for a few hundred quid, perhaps, but Finance are saying there’s thousands unaccounted for.’ Jonathan took a quick sip of his latte and looked her square in the eye. ‘I think you’d better stop flannelling me, Caroline, and start telling me the truth. Or Matthew’s going to come round with the legal team and try to get the facts out of you.’
Caroline, seeing the determination in Jonathan’s eyes, was beaten. The pause seemed to stretch for an eternity. With a trembling hand, she picked up her own coffee cup, but had to put it down quickly again before she spilled it all over her lap. This was the moment, she realised. Fobbing off Gino after Scrumpy’s death was one thing, but she had a very clear choice now. Should she take a leap of faith and trust Jonathan with what she knew, or should she try to keep things under wraps? She’d never been good at knowing when to trust and confide in people, but her instincts were screaming at her loud and clear. She took a deep breath. ‘Your accountants are right to be concerned,’ she said. ‘There are a number of discrepancies. I thought I’d been subtle enough to keep things under the radar, but it’s got to the point where it’s becoming very difficult to hide.’
‘What’s been going on, Caroline?’ Jonathan’s voice was so gentle compared to his assertiveness when he’d entered the restaurant.
‘There’s someone after me.’
‘What?’
Caroline shuddered. ‘An old acquaintance called Paul Stone. A long time ago, in a different life, he supplied me with quite a lot of cocaine.’ She laughed bitterly. ‘Everyone was doing it back in the day, ten years ago when we were all less tied down and younger. A line after dinner was normal. That’s how it started, really. I was determined to get on in the hospitality business and he was a senior organiser. He handled the champagne accounts and he seemed so sure of himself, so confident. But he always had more money than even a generous commission could get him. It wasn’t long before I realised why. He offered me a quick snort here and there and before I knew it, I ended up in his world, handing over my own cash for what he supplied.’ She took a sip of her coffee, willing herself to go on. ‘When Mum and Dad died, that’s when I started upping my usage. Some people need booze, others turn to harder things. Both take the pain away. My brother James—’ she swallowed hard. ‘He worked out that I was using more than just a recreational line and he went ballistic. He’d just married Anna but he still managed to straighten me out. He was such a rock in my life.’
‘I can’t imagine how much you must miss him,’ Jonathan said gently.
‘Anna never knew about any of this. I swore James to secrecy and I’m guessing it was the only thing he ever kept from her. When they had Ellie, I was determined to kick it once and for all. I started working different accounts, got away from Paul and settled down a bit. James, Anna and Ellie lived a few miles down the road from me and for eighteen months I was clean.’ She laughed. ‘I even stopped drinking. It was too tempting to be dragged back into that world. I saved a lot of money and ended up buying my flat instead of snorting my salary up my nose.’
‘Then James was killed,’ Jonathan murmured.
Caroline nodded. ‘I’d never known anything like the pain. We’d lost Mum and Dad and now James was gone, too. Ellie was still a baby, barely walking, when she lost her dad, and Anna was in such a state of shock I couldn’t level with her. I found Paul’s number and the next thing I knew, he was supplying me again.’
‘So why is he after you now?’
‘The events management company had two offices, one in Farnham and one in Guildford. I moved to Farnham to get away from Paul, who was still working out of the bigger Guildford office. Earlier this year, the firm was taken over by a much bigger company and they decided to streamline things a bit. We were all given the opportunity to reapply for our jobs and set against each other for promotions. The competition got quite nasty. Relocation to the company’s Bristol office was also offered, as well as voluntary redundancy. After eleven years with the company, I decided to take the redundancy. I was fed up with being put into competition with people I’d worked with for so long. Also, I knew that I had to get out of the area if I was going to stay clean. Paul wanted the South East Regional Manager’s job, but got passed over. I guess they didn’t like his attitude. He blamed me for not supporting him in his bid for promotion, as I still had the ear of the then manager of the Guildford branch since I’d started my career there. He loathed the fact that I wanted to move on. The Farnham and Guildford branches were combined and any surplus staff were either made redundant or relocated. I thought Paul had taken the job he was offered in Guildford, but in the end, it seems, he opted to be relocated to the Bristol office. He had his ‘work’ on the side, too, but I’m guessing that he’s not got the connections in the West Country yet to really supplement his income like he used to.’
‘And now he’s here, keeping tabs on you.’ Jonathan put his coffee cup down on the saucer with a clatter. ‘Are you using again?’
Caroline jumped. ‘No.’ She shook her head so vigorously her cheeks flushed and clashed with her hair. ‘Absolutely not.’
‘Can I trust you?’
‘I have not touched a speck of cocaine for well over a year and I’ve no intention of doing so ever again.’
‘Then what does he want, if you’ve made it clear you’re not buying?’
‘Money. He sees this place is successful and wants a piece of it. And I should imagine he’s still pretty pissy that I didn’t go all out and support him for the Regional Manager’s job. Being transferred to Bristol gives him plenty of opportunity to intimidate me and he wants hush money to stop him from making my former habit public.’
‘How much has he had off you?’
Caroline took a deep breath. ‘About ten grand so far, which was most of the remaining redundancy money I had, topped up with some money from the business. I’ve promised him another ten, which I can get if I sell my flat in Farnham, plus the cash to put back into the business.’
‘Christ.’ Jonathan stood up and pushed his coffee cup away on the bar. ‘Why the fuck didn’t you level with me when all this started? You’ve been playing Russian Roulette with a drug dealer and using the restaurant’s takings as collateral. What the hell were you thinking?’
‘I was terrified,’ Caroline’s voice rose to match Jonathan’s. ‘I thought if I gave him what he wanted, he’d go away. If you’d seen the way he was looking at Meredith when he came in to eat here, you’d have given him anything he wanted.’
‘What?’ Jonathan’s voice had dropped to dangerously low levels. ‘I swear to you, Caroline, if he lays a finger on my niece I’ll finish him off myself.’
‘I know that,’ Caroline snapped, suddenly angry with herself for allowing things with Stone to get so far. ‘I can’t believe I’ve let him intimidate me like this.’
‘How would you feel about taking some leave?’ Jonathan said. ‘Getting out of this place for a week or two? If you’re not here, at least he can’t show up on the doorstep and intimidate you again.’
‘I can’t do that,’ Caroline said. ‘If I leave here, he’ll think he’s scared me away.’
‘If Matthew finds out you’ve used company money to pay off a drug dealer, he’s going to throw you out anyway, ties or no ties to Anna and Ellie,’ Jonathan countered. ‘You don’t have to tell anyone where you’re going – just say you’re off on a last minute holiday somewhere hot.’ He smiled briefly. ‘Sorry,’ he said, at Caroline’s quizzical look, ‘it’s the thought of you in a bikini. I got distracted.’ Then, all seriousness again, ‘have you got somewhere you can go?’
Caroline chose to ignore Jonathan’s bikini reference; now was not the time. ‘Well, I can’t exactly afford a winter sun holiday after giving Paul all that money, but my flat’s empty again as my friend has moved out, so I can go back there, pretend I’m redecorating or something for a week or two.’ She didn’t add that, if she was sacked from The Cider Kitchen, she’d be living back there again.
‘OK.’ Jonathan paused for a moment. ‘But don’t tell anyone else where you’re actually going. Paul might try to get back there if he finds out and then you’ll really be in trouble. Put Solly into a cattery to be on the safe side. I’ll speak to Matthew and make some excuse. Emma can step up and cover front of house, and I’ll come and work over here in the back office for a bit, just to keep an eye on things and make sure this guy doesn’t try anything. Your team runs so beautifully now that I’m sure they’ll manage for a week or two. We need some time to think about how we’re going to sort this out.’ He reached out and put a warm hand on Caroline’s shoulder. His thumb brushed her collar bone and she shivered at the contact. ‘You should have come to me when all this started. But we will sort it. I promise.’
Caroline, struggling to focus with Jonathan’s hand on her shoulder, swallowed hard. ‘How can you be so calm about it all?’
‘Because I’ve met scumbags like Paul Stone before, and it makes me angry that he thinks he can blackmail people like this, especially women. We’re going to make it stop.’
‘I appreciate the knight in shining armour routine, but you need to tell me what you’ve got in mind,’ Caroline said, regaining her equilibrium once more.
‘I’ve got an idea,’ Jonathan said. ‘But it’s probably best I keep it to myself for the moment. How can I contact this guy?’
‘I’ve got his mobile number,’ Caroline said. ‘But please, don’t meet him alone. Go to the police or something.’ She couldn’t bear the thought of Jonathan getting hurt.
‘I can’t exactly do that,’ Jonathan said wryly. ‘You’re the one who’s in trouble legally for slipping him the cash. We can’t prove he’s got it, but we’ve got a paper trail leading back to you. We’ll have to scare him off some other way.’
‘I need to get him off my back once and for all,’ Caroline replied. ‘He’s been scaring me for too long.’ She clanked her coffee cup forcibly down on the table again in irritation. ‘I can’t believe I’ve let him get this hold over me again. It has to end.’
‘It will end,’ Jonathan said. ‘Call me when you get to Farnham, or wherever it is you decide to go.’ He held up his hands as she started to protest. ‘If Emma needs a hand, I can always step in myself and run the place. How hard can it be?’ At Caroline’s mutinous look, he relented. ‘The important thing is you’re out of this for a bit.’
‘What are you going to say to your brother?’
‘Leave that to me,’ Jonathan said. ‘I can stall him for a few days until you’re out the way. I’ll tell him you’re knackered and you’ve taken a last minute holiday deal, and that I’ve seen the paperwork and I’m going to chase it up in your absence.’
‘Will he believe you?’
Jonathan laughed humourlessly. ‘Probably not. But he’s my problem, not yours. I can handle him.’
‘And I can make the arrangements to sell my flat when I’m back in Farnham,’ Caroline said quietly. ‘I need to put the money back that I took to pay Paul.’
‘Isn’t the flat your security in case things go tits up here?’
‘Well yes, but things have pretty much done that, haven’t they?’
‘Hang fire for a bit on that,’ Jonathan said. ‘I might be able to get the money back.’ Jonathan stood up. Gently, he reached forward and brushed a strand of hair from Caroline’s mouth where it had caught as she’d been speaking. ‘I want to be there for you, Caroline. Despite the fact that this is one monumental fuck up, I can’t let you do this alone.’ With that, he left. As he vanished into the darkness, Caroline let out a long breath. She’d never expected Jonathan to turn out to be on her side, under the circumstances. She’d thought he’d terminate her contract on the spot after finding out what she’d done. The fact that he hadn’t, and was clearly so motivated to get Paul Stone off her back filled her with hope that perhaps she did have a future with the restaurant. And maybe, she thought unguardedly, with Jonathan, too.