Just Business (22 page)

Yoshi's head moved ever so slightly to the side as he
considered what Niamh was saying.

‘Now, the immediate problem is that she wants Malcolm to mediate between us.'

‘Don't worry about Malcolm,' said Yoshi. ‘Leave him to me.'

‘Thanks.' Niamh gave him a big smile. ‘I'll leave Malcolm in your capable hands and I'll talk to the private investigator about Lucinda. Now, before I go, do you agree to offer Scott Morgan a six-month settlement?'

Yoshi gave a small smile in return. ‘You make it hard to say no.'

It had been a long week for Niamh. As she drove her car into the garage, she felt emotionally exhausted. When she opened the door she knew immediately that Chris had been and was now gone. Permanently gone. There were telling gaps in the CD rack and bookshelf, revealing spaces on the walls. She wandered from room to room, taking a mental inventory of what he had taken. She began to feel a dead weight lift from her. Chris, and all the negativity that went with him, was gone. And she was okay; more than okay. She was relieved.

He hadn't taken anything significant. The furniture was intact and would be split in a civilised manner at a later point. It was the personal things that were missing. Things he had brought from his single life into their married life to become theirs. Now they were his again.

Her mobile began to ring downstairs. Her first thought was that it was Chris. She ran down the stairs, pausing at the end as she tried to remember where she had put the phone. The
ringing seemed to be coming from the living room and there it was on the coffee table.

‘Hello,' it was Scott, ‘I'm just checking in. I wanted to make sure you're okay.'

She was so glad it was him and not Chris.

‘I'm fine,' she told him. ‘I've been kept busy with work.'

‘Is Chris there now?'

‘No, he's moved out. The house feels … naked.'

‘You'll feel better when you can't see what he has taken with him,' he said. ‘Find some old photos and put them up in the open spaces. Fill the bookshelf with textbooks.'

‘No, I'm fine with the spaces,' she said, looking around as she spoke. ‘I'm fine with him going. I feel … relieved.'

‘Are you sure?'

‘Yes. I think it was the thought of divorce that scared me more than anything. But now that he's gone, it's not as bad as I imagined. Anything would have to be better than how we were living … Maybe I'm more like my mother than my father after all.'

There was a brief silence. Jenny's babble could be heard in the background. Scott spoke first.

‘I'm happy to hear that you're okay. Remember, I'm close by if you need me to come over any time.'

‘Come over now,' she said suddenly.

‘What? Now?'

‘Yes, now.'

He was there in half an hour, Jenny in one arm, an enormous bag in the other. The toddler was in her pyjamas, disgruntled at the upheaval to her routine. ‘Do you have a bed she can sleep in?' he asked.

Niamh, somewhat bemused by his baggage, led the way to the guestroom.

‘Teddy,' Jenny said when she saw the bed.

Scott's face registered panic as he searched the contents of the bag. ‘Damn, I've forgotten Teddy. I always forget something.'

‘Teddy,' Jenny repeated, standing her ground.

‘There's no way she'll sleep without it,' he said. ‘I'll have to go back and get it. All right if I leave her with you?'

Niamh nodded and he was gone, bounding down the stairs, the door slamming in his wake. She and Jenny sized each other up. It was unclear who had the upper hand.

Seconds later the door opened again and he came back up the stairs. ‘It was in the car.'

She watched as he tucked in his daughter and cushioned her small body between two pillows. ‘So she won't roll off,' he explained.

Downstairs, they avoided eye contact.

‘I've –'

‘Do you –'

They both jumped in at the same time and stopped dead.

‘You go first.' Scott was chivalrous.

‘Thanks … Actually, I've got some good news for you. HDD will settle your claim. I have authorisation to offer you six months' pay.'

‘That's great!'

His smile enveloped her and made her feel warm all over. She was suddenly very conscious that it was just the two of them, standing in her relatively small kitchen, nothing more than a few steps between them.

‘Let's have a drink – to celebrate,' she suggested, feeling awkward and vulnerable and in need of something to hide behind.

There was chilled wine in the fridge and she went to get a bottle.

‘Thanks for arranging the settlement,' he said from behind. ‘And please thank Lucinda for me too.'

The mention of Lucinda's name jolted Niamh. She shut the door of the fridge with unnecessary force and turned on Scott. ‘Why do you want to thank Lucinda?'

‘Because she called me at home.' Scott was defensive. ‘She said she wanted to make sure I was treated fairly. I presume she helped you get authorisation for the settlement.'

Niamh's mind began to race, trying to figure out why Lucinda hadn't mentioned the key conversation with Scott, trying to figure out why she'd called him in the first place. Indiscriminate kindness was not part of her character.

‘I think you'd better tell me exactly what Lucinda said to you,' she said, looking up into the piercing blue of his eyes.

‘She called me – it was the night I got retrenched, before my solicitor was in the picture. As I said, she wanted to make sure I was treated fairly. I got the impression she would make things easy for me if I sued.'

Niamh felt close to a breakthrough. Something that would explain Lucinda's lies about Denis Greene's visa.

She was practically encouraging Scott to sue. There has to be a reason.

‘Did she mention anything about money?'

‘No, she just gave a vague show of support. Said she understood the financial pressures when you have a family.'

There has to be a reason … it's obvious that she was the motivation behind Denis Greene's lawsuit. But she also contacted Scott. Why would she want Scott to sue?

‘Have you talked to her since that night?'

‘Well, I saw her at Forbes – the night she was with you – but she barely spoke to me then and I haven't seen or heard from
her since.' His eyes stayed with Niamh as she walked back and forth.

She called Scott out of the blue and hasn't spoken to him since … It can only be that she got what she wanted from the call …

Scott put his hand on her shoulder, calling a stop to her pacing. ‘Tell me what's wrong … maybe I can help.'

‘I'm trying to understand why Lucinda encouraged you to sue – considering she's the company's legal counsel, it certainly wasn't very ethical of her.'

He nodded slowly. ‘It was a bizarre day and the phone call just added to it. Maybe I would have been more suspicious if I'd been thinking straight. I mean, I hardly knew her – she had no reason at all to be concerned about my welfare.'

‘Knowing Lucinda, she had some reason. I wish I knew what it was!'

She was hitting a brick wall, couldn't figure it out. She went back to the wine, uncorked it and poured two glasses. She was handing him his when it came to her. ‘You were a decoy!' she cried out. ‘That's it! You were just a decoy. She wanted to take the attention off Denis Greene. The more lawsuits we had, the less time we would have to think about them in detail.'

‘Denis who?' Scott was lost.

‘It's a long story.'

‘Jenny will be asleep until at least five am,' he grinned. ‘Is that enough time?'

It took a full bottle of wine to tell the Denis Greene story. She had just finished when the phone rang.

‘I should answer that,' she said with a grimace.

This time it was Chris and his voice was officious. ‘I've been around –' he began.

‘I couldn't help but notice!'

‘I hope you don't mind what I took – it was just my things before –'

‘You can have what you want, I really don't care,' she cut across him.

‘Do you want to do a settlement –'

‘I can't talk about that now – there's someone here.'

‘Who?'

‘You wouldn't know him,' she said, being deliberately cruel.

She hung up and went to get a second bottle of wine from the fridge.

‘Was that your husband?' Scott asked after a few moments.

‘Yes.'

‘Do you think it will be an amicable split?'

‘Probably,' she shrugged, filling their glasses. ‘Once I get over my rage about him screwing around with other women.' She sat down and made a start on her fresh glass of wine.

‘I can't understand that. I would never do –' Scott stopped short, his expression uncertain.

For the first time it occurred to Niamh that her attraction to him might be reciprocated. ‘You would never do what?' she prompted.

‘I would never do that to any woman but least of all to
you …
'

Their eyes met and she could see it. This wasn't just a friendship for Scott, it was something more. So she took the risk and leaned over to tentatively place her lips on his.

‘What is it with me kissing you all the time?' she joked, her face very close to his.

‘I don't want this to be on the rebound, Niamh,' Scott said seriously.

‘It's not,' she assured him. ‘It's something I've felt for a few months now.'

Her lips trailed along the golden stubble on his lower face. He lowered his head and his mouth covered hers, strong and sure. Their first real kiss, full of passion, full of promise. He loosened her hair from its knot and entwined his hands in the falling curls. The sensation of his big hands massaging her hair was incredibly sexy. She wanted to touch all of him and pulled him back against the couch so she could feel his full body on hers. His weight pushed her against the cushions and she heard him give a soft groan. Their kisses got deeper, more intense. His hands moved down to her shoulders, then her breasts, cupping them through her cotton shirt. Her fingers had started to open the buttons when he pulled back.

His voice husky, he said, ‘We can't do this, Niamh. Not when your husband has just moved out. Let's go back a few paces …'

Completely mortified, Niamh sat up and redid her buttons. She felt Scott watching her.

‘Don't go all funny on me.'

‘I'm not,' she denied, knowing she sounded prickly, but unable to help it.

‘All I'm suggesting is that we at least go on a few dates before jumping in.' He squeezed her hand and his rejection immediately lost its sting. ‘I know you've said this isn't on the rebound, but it has all the signs. I don't want to take advantage …'

She smiled, knowing he was trying to do the right thing, but also knowing he was wrong about the rebound business. ‘Okay. Let's go on a date. Tomorrow night. That's if you can find a babysitter.'

He grinned. ‘I'm sure Deb will do the honours.'

Denis had hardly left the house. He needed to be there when Lily came back to get her things. The exception had been
Westbank. He had gone there, just as the caller instructed him to. But he had been jumpy from the moment he left home. He could see a white Commodore in his rear-view mirror and was convinced it was following him. He made a few sudden turns; it followed. Then he ran a red light and left it behind. He knew it was probably all in his mind but he felt relieved anyway.

He had paused before entering the Westbank building in the CBD. The caller said it was the last installation; they were going to stop at eight sites instead of the initial target of ten. So far they had done the Australian Taxation Office, the Department of Health, the Department of Defence, the Australian Federal Police and three of the four major banks. Westbank was unlucky number eight.

There would be chaos across the country when the banks and major government departments were disabled with an unknown and deadly virus.

All Denis could see inside the glass doors of Westbank was a hole, deeper than the one he was already in. With a sudden moment of clarity, he realised he was the fall guy. The caller would be long gone when the systems came crashing down and he would be the one the police would go after. He didn't know the target date for the crash but it couldn't be far away if Westbank was going to be the last site. He started to walk away from the bank, his feet instinctively moving faster until he was close to running. He needed to get out of the line of fire. That meant getting out of the country as fast as he could.

Later in the day, at lunchtime, he heard Lily's key in the lock. He went out to the hall to greet her. She looked surprised to see him.

‘Oh … I thought you'd be out.'

‘I haven't been out much since you left,' he admitted
sheepishly. ‘I've been afraid I'd miss you and wouldn't get to talk to you, Lil.'

She looked around, approval on her face. ‘You've kept the place clean.' It told her more than words ever could. This was the man who hadn't lifted a hand to housework since the day they married.

‘I've tried hard, Lil,' he admitted with a catch in his voice. He was after spending fifteen long days alone, without the company of the woman he thought he despised. In her absence he had been the perfect husband, doing all the things she had nagged him about for years. The house was immaculately clean and the engineer had finally become acquainted with the washing machine, a piece of technology he wasn't previously familiar with.

‘You want some tea?' he asked her.

She nodded, walking ahead of him to the kitchen. He brewed the tea, pouring it black, too embarrassed to ask how she took it. She put one spoon of sugar in. He committed that to his memory. Lily took one sugar.

‘I've booked my flight,' she said, her hands cupping the mug. ‘I'm leaving next Friday.'

His heart lurched. ‘I'll come with you.'

‘What about your lawsuit … all the money?' she asked with a suspicious frown.

It wasn't the time to tell her about the banks, the government departments, the virus or the caller whose threat he had been living under for the last few months. ‘Damn all that. I don't want to be here without you.'

He meant what he said. He would tell her the full truth when they were safely back in Yorkshire. The phone rang and because Lily was closest to the hall, she went out to answer it.