The Vow (25 page)

A few minutes later he returned with a
good looking woman in her mid-forties wearing too tight a sweater and a little too much make-up. She introduced herself as Shirley. Bill went off to play the slot machine and she climbed onto the stool next to Culver showing a good deal of thigh as she did so. Trying not to stare at either her legs or cleavage, he bought her a drink.

She sipped it and said in a surprisingly soft voice,
‘Cheers! Steve says you’re interested in the Marquis de Sade Club.’

‘
Yes, can you tell me what it was like and what happened to close it down?’

‘
I only worked there for six months but I was there the night they had the trouble. I was only twenty-one then so it must have been in nineteen eighty-three.’ Culver missed his cue to tell her he couldn’t believe she was the age this suggested, so she continued, ‘It was a funny old place. People, men and women, used to come into the bar looking perfectly normal and then go off to private rooms for a bit of torture! When we were closed I used to sneak a look in the rooms, they were more like cells really, it used to give me the creeps. They were full of chains, handcuffs, whips, leather masks, all that sort of thing. Strange how some folk get their kicks, isn’t it?’

‘
It certainly is,’ he agreed wondering what she would think of his own sexual preferences. ‘So, it all went horribly wrong one night then?’

Shirley nodded.
‘It was a Thursday, I remember because that was the night, every fortnight, that this particular group always came. The manager used to let them in the back door, the rest of us never saw them. He would get the biggest room ready, put the drinks in there and I’m pretty sure he supplied them with drugs too but I can’t swear to it. They were some sort of secret society, a load of city whiz kids apparently. Too much money and jaded palates if you ask me, looking for new ways to get their thrills.’

This was sounding better and better to Culver; who knows who these extreme party goers might be now.

Shirley took a cigarette from his pack on the bar and he leaned close to give her a light. Crossing her legs and blowing smoke in a perfect ring she continued, ‘Anyway, this particular night they’d been holed up for a couple of hours when all hell let loose. This bloke in a black robe and not much else burst into the bar shouting for an ambulance and saying someone was going to bleed to death. One of the other bar staff rang 999 and the manager locked the doors. I suppose he didn’t want everyone disappearing and leaving him with a stiff. The ambulance turned up in double quick time with the cops not far behind. I saw them take the girl out. I remember she had lovely long red hair, but I couldn’t see what was wrong with her. The police carted everyone else off, including the manager. After they’d got some clothes on that is! Well, not the manager, of course! I don’t know much more about it except when, not long after, the club’s licence came up for renewal it was turned down and I was out of a job.’

Culver was riveted. He had to know more. Signalling to her husband, he ordered her another drink and asked,
‘Shirley, can you think of anyone who might be able to tell me more about all this?’

She thought for a moment.
‘Well, funnily enough I knew one of the coppers who turned up. Derek Watson’s his name, we grew up on the same estate. He’s a few years older than me and he’s retired from the force now. I could probably put you in touch with him.’

She looked at Culver expectantly and he got out his wallet.

~

Getting back to the flat just after six on Sunday evening Lucy felt at a bit of a loose end. Marcus was flying out to
Germany first thing the next morning and had needed time to look over some documents that evening, so they had returned from Graylings earlier than usual. It had been such a good weekend Lucy hadn’t wanted it to come to an end. Saturday afternoon she had taken to the golf course for the first time, playing nine holes with a very patient Marcus. She thought she’d been fairly hopeless, but he was encouraging and they laughed a lot about her less than reliable putting.

Everyone had seen the announcement in
The Times
and gave them a round of applause when they finally got back to the clubhouse. Marcus had ordered Champagne for everyone, and they had dinner with a group including Charles, Ginny and Greg which had been very celebratory.

Sunday had been a short day but they had swum together and relaxed in the seemingly never ending sunshine. Burt and his wife, accompanied by Damson, had walked down to offer their congratulations and a rose for the garden to mark the occasion. The beautiful Harkness floribunda, L’Aimant, with its frilly, fragrant blooms
, was perfect and such a lovely sentiment. Marcus had opened yet another bottle of Champagne. Lucy felt as if she would soon be awash with the stuff, and Dot was definitely a bit tipsy by the time she left.

There had been no further romantic overtures and Lucy had decided to bide her time
, not wanting to risk spoiling the harmonious atmosphere. Now, as she sat alone in the flat which didn’t yet feel like home, she had a sense of anti-climax. She brushed away the thought that she should have been with Amy, chatting and laughing about the party and the events of the weekend. She wandered aimlessly around the rather sterile rooms, turned on the television flipping through the channels, but nothing caught her interest. A long soak in the bath whiled away half an hour but she was still restless.

She decided to make a cup of tea and have a read of one of the many books on the shelves opposite her bed. Sitting cross-legged on the floor she scanned the titles which were an eclectic mix of classics, thrillers, historical novels and autobiographies. She wondered whose choice they had been, or if they had simply been bought by the metre to fill the space. Nothing much took her fancy, and then she noticed the title
Quantum Mechanics and its Philosophical Foundations
. Not exactly light bedtime reading she mused, and what was quantum mechanics anyway? Idle curiosity prompted her to slide the book out from its place towards the end of a shelf. There was something strange about it. It wouldn’t open and appeared to have no pages. Perhaps it wasn’t really a book. She pressed on the sides and it sprang open.

Staring at the contents of the dummy book she thought she knew what she was looking at, but didn’t want to believe it. No longer trusting the landline she found her mobile, scanned her list of numbers and dialled. It was answered on the third ring.

‘Hi, Alex Stone is out rolling at the moment. Leave a message after the tone and he’ll get back to you.’

‘
Alex, it’s Lucy. I hope you don’t mind my calling but I need your help. Could we meet tomorrow? There’s something I want to show you.’

‘
Yes, you’re quite right, Luce. It’s a concealed wireless video camera.’

They were sitting in Alex’s flat, the fake book open on the low coffee table with all its little secrets on display. Alex and Spyder were the two most technically minded people Lucy knew and somehow she hadn’t wanted the idealistic Spyder, and in turn Zoë, to know about what she had found. She had guessed that the more worldly Alex would be much less judgemental and unlikely to tell anyone else.

Leaning forward she poked the device suspiciously with one finger and asked, ‘So how does it work exactly?’

‘
Well, this bit is the camera. Look, here’s the lens.’ He turned the case on its side and pointed out the tiny lens set in the spine, barely noticeable amongst the lettering of the title. ‘There’s the transmitter which is how the images are sent. Basically, when you insert the battery in this space it starts to work.’

Lucy hadn’t told him that when she found it the battery was in place and she had immediately removed it. Now she asked,
‘Sorry to be dim, Alex, but how do you get to see what’s been recorded, and don’t they make any noise?’

He smiled.
‘It’s quite simple really. You’d have a receiver which would be attached to a television if you just wanted to view, or a DVD recorder or computer if you wanted to view and record. There’s no reason why they should make any noise. I’ve the right size battery somewhere, I can start it up and you’ll see.’

‘
No, no, I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ Lucy said hastily. ‘Where on earth do you get things like this and however much to they cost?’

‘
I think you’ll be surprised how readily available the technology is. Come over here and I’ll show you what I mean.’

They crossed to his desk where Alex turned on his computer and logging on to the Internet, he typed in Surveillance Equipment on one of the search engines. Lucy was stunned at the enormous number of sites offering anything from video and audio monitoring through to night sights and bullet-proof jackets. Not all the sites were American, there were plenty based in the
UK and she couldn’t believe how low the prices were. Fascinated, she asked, ‘But is it legal?’

‘
Well, as the warning says on this site, it isn’t illegal to buy this stuff but what you do with it may be! It’s been used for years to protect and steal business secrets, spy on your employees or catch out cheating husbands or wives. Another favourite these days is secretly monitoring your kids’ nanny to make sure she’s not abusing them, or hitting the drinks cabinet in your absence. They hide the equipment in all sorts of everyday objects, here look.’

He clicked on an icon and Lucy stared in disbelief at the huge array of seemingly innocuous items available. Wall clocks, smoke detectors, clock radios, air purifiers, even teddy bears were fitted with devices to spy on the unsuspecting. This company did not supply the book she had found, but it had another with an equally uninviting title.

Horrified, she turned to Alex, ‘Now I’ve seen all this I shall be paranoid about being watched! I think it’s all pretty sneaky and people shouldn’t be allowed to do it!’

‘
I know what you mean but it does have its place. The company I work for uses it to protect its prototype work and it has saved them a fortune in lost revenue. You say Marcus uses the flat for visiting business associates. He’s just trying to keep ahead of the game. It’s a big bad world out there, you know.’

Lucy decided not to mention that the camera had been in the bedroom and she wasn’t entirely sure what game Marcus was trying to keep ahead of. She needed time to think about what all of this could mean and for now she changed the subject.

‘Have you seen or spoken to Amy?’

Alex shut down the computer and answered gloomily,
‘Not since when you left last Tuesday.’

‘
I still can’t believe what she did. It seems so out of character. She’s always been such a good friend and she’d never let me down in all those years.’

‘
I know, and I’m sorry for the upset she’s caused you and your family.’

‘
It’s not your fault, Alex.’

‘
Maybe not, but when you love someone you do feel responsible for what they do.’

‘
And you do still love her, don’t you?’ asked Lucy softly.

‘
You don’t just stop loving someone overnight, even when they’ve disappointed you so badly.’

‘
I know, I still love her too. Do you understand why she did it? What is it about Marcus that made her feel so strongly?’

‘
I don’t think it really had anything to do with him, Lucy. It was more that you were doing what you wanted and not what she thought you should. You’ve gone to her for advice, which you’ve always taken, for so long she couldn’t bear to think she wasn’t an influence in your life anymore. She blamed him for driving a wedge between you, or that’s how she saw it anyway. But she was absolutely adamant that it wasn’t her who told Culver about the test tube baby thing and I know her well enough to believe her. She hadn’t spoken to him since Kit’s wedding and didn’t intend to again. She realised she had to let things take their course.’

‘
Well, I suppose it could have come from someone at the clinic but it doesn’t really matter now. Alex, I really hate to think I’m the cause of you and Amy breaking up. You’ve always been so happy together and I’m sure you can work this out. I know she was wrong in what she did, but losing both of us seems a bit hard on her. I’m not ready to make up yet, and I’m not sure that Marcus would be best pleased if I did, but you should contact her. She must be so miserable and you are too. It’s silly.’

Alex smiled.
‘You’re right of course. I hope Marcus appreciates your sweet nature, Luce.’

So much so, he has to spy on me in the privacy of my bedroom, she thought wryly.

‘I saw the engagement announcement,’ he went on. ‘Congratulations. When’s the big day?’

‘
Late October, apparently. No doubt he’ll let me know exactly when in his own good time!’

On her return Lucy systematically went through every room of the flat searching for any more hidden cameras. She checked every clock, every ornament, behind each picture and inside every lamp. Standing on a chair she inspected all the smoke alarms and she had every single book off the shelves. Confident she was no longer under surveillance she took a shower, and went to bed where she laid thinking about all she had learned that evening.

The one thing which had escaped her notice was the room temperature thermostat mounted on the bedroom wall.

She tried to make sense of what she had discovered, and thought of all the times she had dressed, undressed and walked around naked unaware she was being watched. All of those little personal things you did for which you certainly didn’t want an audience, like waxing your legs or doing yoga in just a g-string.

Furious at the invasion of her privacy, she felt violated too. It wouldn’t have just been Marcus who had watched her, Saule would have undoubtedly been involved, especially whilst his boss was out of the country. What sort of man films the woman who is to be his wife in her most private moments and then allows his chauffeur to watch as well? Not that it wasn’t becoming increasingly obvious that Saule was so much more than that. But why was Marcus doing it, what did he think he was going to catch her doing? She found it hard to believe that the camera had been installed just for her and had to wonder how many other unsuspecting guests had been filmed. Perhaps he was a voyeur, or perhaps the stories of blackmail were true.

She had so not wanted to believe that he was capable of the things Catherine accused him of, but it was becoming increasingly difficult.

~

Marcus was hot,
tired and bad-tempered. Negotiations were not going well, the German summer seemed even more airless than England and he was sleeping badly. The realisation that he was missing Lucy did nothing to improve his mood. He had never been in love and had no desire to start now; it involved a loss of control that was unacceptable to him.

There had been women before he married, lots of women, but none who mattered. Life had been simple with Helena who had asked for very little, and had given so much. What she had asked for had been fair under the circumstances, and he had learned to live with it over the years. He knew it was as much for his own protection as anything else and having given her his word he never broke it. He had kept out of temptation
’s way and immersed himself in the creation of a business empire, the cut and thrust of which became like a drug to him. Devoting his life to the amassing of wealth and power, he had learned not to dwell on the sacrifice involved.

His mobile rang and the deep voice of Saule told him,
‘There’s a small problem. Lucy developed a sudden interest in quantum mechanics.’

‘
Now why on earth would she do that?’ Marcus’s tone was exasperated.

‘
Why do women do anything? They are completely unpredictable, that’s the problem,’ replied Saule with resignation. ‘Anyway, she removed the battery and then took the camera with her when she went to see Alex Stone last night. I don’t know what he told her but when she came back she turned the place upside down looking for other devices. She didn’t find the second one, but there’s always the chance that she will. Do you want me to go in and remove it?’

‘
No, leave it in place and continue to monitor it. I was going to call her this evening but I’ll leave it until tomorrow now.’

‘
She lives a pretty harmless little life you know, Marcus. And with me keeping an eye on her I’m not sure the camera’s really necessary,’

‘
I’m making a big investment in this woman. I want to know everything about her.’ Marcus’s voice was hard and Saule knew it was pointless arguing with him.

‘
Fair enough, but I don’t feel good about watching her when she does yoga with next to nothing on, so I’m fast forwarding those bits.’

‘
You’re going soft, Saule.’ Marcus’s laugh was sardonic.

~

Ellen slid down the bath letting the scented water rise to just under her chin. She had flown back from Paris that afternoon with her copy of the signed contract which would earn her a great deal of money, for once her flight wasn’t delayed and Simon had shown his pleasure in having her back home in her favourite way. Finally leaving the crumpled bed she had come for a long soak and Simon was fetching her a glass of wine. Everything was well with her world.

Simon
passed her the glass and sitting on the edge of the tub, he asked, ‘Will you marry me?’

‘
Maybe, maybe not,’ she teased. It wasn’t the first time he had asked.

‘
You’re a hard woman,’ he chided.

‘
I’d expect a big diamond, you know.’

‘
And I would buy you one,’ he assured her. ‘But not quite as big as Lucy’s. I’m afraid I’m not in the same league as Marcus.’

She smiled her sweet smile.
‘Perhaps not, but at least I’m fairly confident
you
are not dallying with a brothel keeper!’

‘
I wish I’d never said anything about that,’ he sighed.

‘
Ah, but you did, and if you want me to think about marrying you then you have to tell me all you know,’ insisted Ellen.

‘
Well, it’s not really all that much. Her name is Cherry Red and…’

‘
Ooh, made-up name!’ she interrupted with a giggle.

‘
Very possibly,’ Simon agreed. ‘Anyway, she was a very high-class call girl, they say she didn’t even get naked for less than a thousand pounds. Now she’s the M.D. of a corporate entertainment company.’

‘
I can just imagine the sort of entertainment that’s on offer!’

‘
There’s a house, somewhere off Regents Park apparently, where she holds her parties. They’re very lavish, the best girls in town and anything goes.’

‘
Orgies do you mean?’

‘
Something like that I suppose, but I don’t know for sure, Ellen. I’ve never been to one and don’t know anyone else who has. This is all hearsay, you know.’

Sipping her wine, she considered what she’d heard.
‘So where does Marcus come into it?’

‘
Evidently they’ve been friends for years, don’t ask me how they met because I don’t know. The word is that two or three years ago he provided the finance for her to set up the business. He bought the house and paid for the refurb. It’s said to be enormous and beautifully done out with every luxury.’

‘
Why would he have done that?’ she asked curiously. ‘It sounds like a big investment.’

‘
Not to someone like Marcus, and I bet she’s been able to pay him back by now. As to why he did it, who knows? Perhaps he owed her a favour, or it just amused him to do it.’