Strikers Instinct (19 page)

As Luke and Harry hurriedly followed Sarah from the room she tried to explain what had happened.

“It seems that Jake has upset Andy's wife and now Andy is on the warpath – we have to get to him before he gets to Jake.”

At the far end of the ballroom were a number of smaller meeting rooms and Sarah led them to one of these rooms. Inside they found two women comforting a third girl who was quietly sobbing.

“Paige – are you OK?” Harry's medical training took over and he moved towards the distressed woman.

“I'm fine. He didn't touch me – just wouldn't leave me alone and then Andy came back into the room just as Pryce was leaving – I'm frightened that Andy will do something stupid.”

Luke left Harry with the group and headed off in the direction that Paige indicated. As he reached the end of the corridor he heard raised voices from within the men's toilet. He rushed inside to find Andy Tiler banging furiously on a cubicle door. From within the cubicle came the sound of laughter and this seemed to enrage Andy.

“I'll kill you – come out before I break down this door.” Andy yelled.

Luke studied the door and realised with relief that it was sturdily built so Andy wouldn't be knocking it down just yet. He also studied his surroundings until he was happy that there were no concealed CCTV cameras within the room.

“Andy,” Luke said, “Paige's fine – leave it – this is exactly what he wants.”

“Go away.” Andy growled. “This is nothing to do with you – he's gone too far this time!”

“If you carry on then you will be the one in trouble – and he will have won.” Luke said simply.

Andy seemed to calm a little until more laughter erupted from behind the toilet door. This enraged Andy again and he threw himself at the door. Luke let him take his anger out on the very stout piece of wood – happy in the knowledge that it would stand up to the battering.

After a few minutes the main toilet door opened and Harry stood in the doorway.

“Andy,” he said, “Paige wants to talk to you.”

Andy hesitated then took a massive breath and slowly walked to the door. Paige stood behind Harry and slowly the couple embraced.

“Take me home Andy,” she begged, “he's not worth it.”

Andy nodded and then with a backward glance at the locked door he walked away with his wife without another word. Luke moved Harry to the far end of the room and whispered in his ear.

“What happened?”

“Looks like Pryce deliberately set out to wind Andy up. He had been pestering Paige all night but was clever enough not to touch her. Andy found her crying in that room just as Pryce was going out of the other door. If he'd caught him he would have killed him.” Harry explained.

Luke nodded at Harry and then raised his voice.

“OK Pryce – he's gone – you can come out now.”

After a few seconds the door slowly opened and a familiar face peered out.

“Has that nutter finally gone?” Jake laughed.

When he noticed that neither Luke or Harry seemed particularly pleased to see him he shrugged his shoulders.

“Well I guess I better get back to the party.” Jake said smoothly.

“It doesn't bother you at all does it?” Harry asked.

“Don't know what you mean Dr. Green.” Pryce replied innocently.

“All the mayhem you leave behind you – it doesn't affect you at all.” Harry stated.

Pryce just stared.

“As you know Jake, I'm a doctor and I think I may be able to help you.” Harry said slowly.

Pryce reacted as if he had been stung. “Don't you dare suggest that there's something wrong with me!” He shouted as he moved aggressively towards Harry.

Instinctively Luke moved between the two men. Pryce made as if to push Luke to one side and then noticed the expression on his face and the way he had calmly folded his arms. As he backed off a step, Harry spoke again.

“I'm sorry Jake but it's my medical opinion that you have a problem and in my capacity as the Chief Medical Officer and Board Member of Wishton Clough I will be speaking to the Chairman at the first possible opportunity.”

Pryce looked as if he may throw himself at Harry but seemed to think better of it. He snatched open the door and as he left he threw out a parting comment.

“Do whatever you want but you had better be 100% sure of your facts.”

In the moments that followed, Harry shook his head and Luke once again wondered what the hell he had let himself in for. They wandered back out into the corridor.

“I need a drink.” Harry sighed.

“Me too.” Luke agreed.

They headed towards the nearest bar which was in another side room alongside a buffet table. The room was almost empty – most people were back in the main ballroom, dancing or listening to the band. Harry and Luke were just beginning to enjoy a well-earned beer when Harry's phone rang.

“I'm sorry,” he apologised, “but I have to take this.”

He moved off into the corridor and Luke was just about to follow him when he felt an arm around his shoulder.

“Well, well, if it isn't the hero of the hour,” a familiar voice whispered in his ear.

Luke groaned – this was the last thing he needed – Jessica Villiers.

“You are very brave – saving Jake Pryce from our noble captain.” Jessica gushed.

“I didn't do anything really.” Luke quietly replied.

“Oh I wouldn't say that – I just love a man of action!” Jessica continued to get closer.

Luke wasn't worried – over the years he was used to dealing with troublesome people of both sexes so he just politely smiled and looked for an escape route.

However, Jessica was not easily deterred. She leaned in close to Luke and continued to stroke his back. Luke leaned away and was just about to firmly put Jessica in her place when they both heard another familiar voice.

“Luke darling – there you are, I didn't realise you were so popular.” Sue sweetly remarked.

Luke grinned. “Hi darling. Jessica – this is my wife Sue.”

Jessica eyed Sue warily. “Pleased to meet you Sue – I have to say that I thought you would be much younger.”

Sue smiled again then leaned in close to Jessica and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Don't worry, I'm still young enough to rip your head off if I ever see you in the same room as my husband again!”

Jessica ignored the warning, she just sniffed. “It's a shame when older women still try to compete with the younger generation – it's embarrassing really.” She announced loudly to no-one in particular.

Sue continued to smile and moved to put her arm around Luke. As she did so she manoeuvred herself between Luke and Jessica. Suddenly – with a flick of her hips – she sent Jessica flying towards the buffet table. Jessica was completely off-balance and landed in the middle of the table in a crash of glass and crockery. Ms. Villiers was covered in cake, cream and other sticky substances.

As if by magic a number of young ladies appeared with Smartphones and the room was filled with flashes. As Sue walked slowly from the room with an satisfied smile on her face she received a round of applause from the mainly female audience.

“There seemed to be a lot of the players partners in that room.” Luke reflected.

“Was there dear?” Sue replied innocently. “I hadn't noticed.”

Luke smiled wearily. He had known that Sue was up to something but he hadn't imagined it would involve dumping her boss's cousin into the middle of a table full of food.

“How long had you been standing in the doorway?” he asked.

“I followed her into the room.” Sue replied. “Luckily for you I saw that you behaved like a perfect gentleman but it was time that someone taught her a lesson.”

“And you decided that someone would be you?” Luke laughed.

“That little display served two purposes.” Sue explained. “First of all it told the world that no-one messes with my man – and secondly it also sent out a message that the new CFO is not someone to trifle with.”

Luke pondered upon the choice of the word trifle then once again he just shook his head. Unbelievable. They walked into the ballroom and spent the next few minutes drifting around the room in a slow dance.

“Finally,” Luke said, “we can actually spend some time enjoying ourselves.”

Sue agreed but all too soon she noticed a small group of people in the doorway in a seemingly heated conversation. She sighed and pointed the scene out to Luke.

“Leave them alone,” he muttered, “I'm having a good time at last.”

Sue good-naturedly shoved him and reluctantly they both headed toward the argument. Sandy, Ed and Harry were trying to keep their voices down but there was obviously a problem. As Luke and Sue approached, Harry turned to face them.

“Luke was with me,” he said, “ask him how unbalanced Jake seemed to be.”

“I don't care what you two say,” Ed snarled, “I'm fed up with this constant sniping at Jake. It has to end.”

“But you don't understand,” hissed Sandy, “first thing Monday morning at training, Andy will be gunning for Jake and when he gets hold of him then most people will be cheering!”

“Well it's your job to make sure it doesn't happen.” Ed growled. “Speak to Andy and warn him of the consequences. This evening has turned into a disaster! First of all Luke upsets Basil Jeffers and then Andy Tiler tries to attack Jake. We had better wrap this up before something else goes wrong.”

“Too late.” Sue smiled.

Ed paled. “What do you mean?”

“Seems like your cousin may have had too much to drink and she has just collapsed in the middle of the buffet table!” Sue announced happily.

Ed visibly crumpled. “I don't believe this!” he moaned and sped off to find out what the hell was going on.

The remaining group looked at each other.

“On that note,” Harry announced, “I think we should all call it a night. Looks like the next few days could be interesting for all of us.”

Sandy exchanged worried glances with Harry as they all headed away to their waiting cars.

Luke felt as apprehensive about going in to training on Monday morning as he had about going to the charity function the previous week. He kept telling himself that he didn't need the hassle – he wasn't one of the players – he didn't get paid so he had no real need to keep getting involved with all the grief. However, he still pointed his car towards the training ground and set off on the now familiar journey.

On arrival nothing seemed out of place – just another Monday morning. He called into the canteen as usual and was greeted by Maud laughing and waving her tea-towel excitedly.

“Sounds like you had a fun night on Friday love!” she grinned.

“I have no idea what you mean.” Luke said innocently.

“Don't try to act like that,” she laughed, “I've seen the pictures of that snooty cow!”

“That was nothing to do with me.” Luke said seriously.

“Well what about Andy and Jake Pryce?” Maud asked.

“I was just trying to act as peacemaker,” explained Luke, “and anyway – this is all wrong – I normally get all the gossip from you – not the other way round!”

Maud continued to laugh. “Not much I can tell you today I'm afraid love,” she said, “all I know is that Mr. Dunbar has been locked in his office with Andy for the last 30 minutes.”

Luke digested that information as he drank his tea.

“Ah well,” he finally said, “looks like it's going to be just another boring day at the office!”

Luke finally went off to get changed and a few minutes later all the staff were assembled on the training ground to be addressed by Sandy.

“I just want a quick word lads,” he announced, “last Friday there was an unfortunate incident at the charity function and it caused some ill-feeling. Today I have spoken to both the players who were involved and they have agreed not to take the matter any further. Now I want them both to come forward and shake hands.”

Andy and Jake moved to the front of the group and Jake walked towards Andy with an outstretched arm and a big smile on his face. You could hear a pin drop as every eye seemed to be on Andy. After a few seconds he moved towards Jake – and then completely ignored him and walked away.

“I may not be able to hit him,” he called to Sandy, “but I'm not shaking his hand!”

Sandy shook his head in frustration but knew that there was little he could do about the situation.

“Make sure you keep them apart today.” Sandy muttered to Craig Sett – his assistant manager. “Hopefully this will blow itself out.”

The rest of the morning surprisingly passed off without incident and soon it was time for lunch. All the players assembled as usual but today there was little conversation in the canteen. All eyes were on Andy and Jake and they were seated as usual at opposite sides of the room. Something didn't seem right to Luke and then he realised that the number of people on Jake Pryce's table seemed to have seriously dwindled. There were now only a small number of players who seemed to be prepared to eat with him and even they were very quiet.

Maud started to serve the meals and she tried to lighten the atmosphere with a few jokes but even she went quiet as she approached Jake's table. She handed out the plates without a word and Luke noticed that Jake Pryce's usual calm exterior was beginning to crack. He wasn't smiling too much today and seemed to be itching for an argument. Just as Maud approached him with his cup of tea, Pryce moved suddenly, causing Maud to drip the tea across his shirt.

Pryce jumped up with a roar.

“You stupid old bag!” he screamed. “You could have scalded me – you useless old woman – I'll make sure that you won't be working here tomorrow!”

Maud stepped back in alarm – her face pale and frightened. Pryce glanced around the table at his friends for support only to realise that finally he may have gone too far. He quickly looked at the rest of the room and realised that no-one was left at his table. All the players – Luke included – had risen from their seats and were moving towards Pryce.

“Leave it!” A voice rang out. Andy pushed his way to the front of the crowd.

“We're not going to lower ourselves to his level – there'll be no mob justice here – I'll sort this out.”

He motioned to a couple of players to guard the front door and then he turned to face Pryce.

“OK. You've done this once too often and now it's over. No-one talks to Maud like that. Stand up and face me man to man – I promise that no-one else will interfere. If you win then you will just walk out of here.”

Pryce seemed to have regained his composure and sneered at Andy.

“Get lost you mug.” he laughed. “I'm not fighting anyone – you heard what the gaffer said this morning – you daren't touch me or you'll be the one in trouble – not me.”

Andy smiled and then quickly moved behind Pryce – gripping him in an arm lock.

“You're a coward.” he said triumphantly. “I didn't think you were enough of a man to fight so I'll treat you like the animal we all know you are.”

With that he forced Pryce's face down into his still warm food and rubbed it all around the table. Pryce tried to struggle but Andy was too strong. Then, with his free hand Andy began to pour the remainder of Pryce's mug of tea over his head. Then he released him and moved back.

Pryce sprang up and Andy readied himself for an attack – but nothing happened – Pryce just glared at them all.

“I'll make you pay for this.” he said quietly.

Suddenly the players began to point their phones toward him and started snapping photos showing the food clogged in his hair and running down his face.

“We all knew you were pathetic,” Andy said, “you're not fit to share the same space as real men – get out before I change my mind.”

Pryce slowly walked the length of the room with all the players laughing and mocking him. He burned with shame and as he passed through the open door he vowed vengeance. He stalked back to the changing room and as he unlocked his locker he was shaking with fury, scattering the contents on the floor as he searched for a towel to wipe his head and face. After a few minutes he had calmed down enough to take a shower and then as he slowly dressed he racked his brains to think what he could do next. He was deep in thought as he started to pick up his belongings from the floor and he absent-mindedly played with a piece of paper that had fallen out of his wallet.

He sat down and after a moment or two he glanced at the paper – it was the details of his official club twitter account. He was just about to screw it into a ball and hurl it across the room when he had a sudden thought. He looked again at the contents of the paper and realised that his password related to his squad number. He soon came to the same conclusion as Luke had a few weeks earlier – what if all the passwords were the same – the word “Clough” followed by the squad number?

Thinking hard he pulled out his Smartphone and brought up the Twitter logon screen. He entered what he knew would be Andy Tiler's username and then anxiously typed in what he hoped would be his initial password. Jake hoped that either Andy had never used the Twitter account or if he had used it then hopefully he had never changed the original password. He hit enter and then punched the air as he found that he was looking at Andy Tiler's Twitter page. He sat back down and quickly changed the password so that no-one else could get in – then he logged off and quickly packed his bag.

Pryce headed back to his car and he was almost there when he heard Sandy shouting. He reluctantly stopped and Sandy asked him what the hell was going on. Jake told him that he had been attacked by all the players in the canteen and he didn't feel safe at the club anymore – he was going home and his agent would be in touch. Sandy tried to stop him but then decided it would be better if Jake went home early, things seemed to be going from bad to worse.

Sandy headed back to his office to gather his thoughts and he had just sat down when his mobile rang. He sighed when he saw the name on the screen and as soon as he accepted the call the screaming began.

“What the hell is going on?” Ed demanded. “I told you to keep Andy and Jake apart but all I can see all over the internet are pictures of Jake – literally with egg on his face!”

Sandy explained that he had spoken to both players and they had agreed to take the matter no further but it seems like there had been an incident over lunch. He had only just found out about it and was going to investigate further. Sandy quickly switched off his phone before Ed could respond. He strode to his office door and looked around for someone to talk to. He noticed Luke walking towards the changing room and made a quick decision.

“Luke.” Sandy shouted. “A quick word please.”

Luke jogged across to Sandy and entered his office.

“I needed to change my boots boss,” he explained, “what can I do for you?”

Sandy studied Luke carefully. “OK – I know you're not officially one of them,” he nodded towards the players they could see out on the pitch, “and that might actually be better at the moment.”

“What do you mean?” Luke asked.

“I need to know what happened in the canteen,” asked Sandy, “and I'm fairly sure they won't say a word to me.”

“I'm sorry boss,” Luke replied, “but you won't get anything out of me either. I may not be a player but I'm not going to grass anyone up.”

Luke stood to leave but as he reached the door he appeared to come to a decision.

“But I will tell you what Pryce did to upset everyone.” Luke then went on to tell Sandy what happened between Jake Pryce and Maud.

Sandy's face hardened. “Thanks Luke. That's all I need to know.”

Luke wandered back outside and wondered when and how this was all going to end. The new season was only a week away and there seemed to be nothing but trouble everywhere.