Topspin (35 page)

Colin quickly looked away, and Joe could see him struggling to maintain a relaxed pose. Joe’s unexpected arrival had occurred too soon for Claire to have had the time to cover up the evidence of her activities, and he had to be wondering if Joe knew who’d been with her. Joe curled his lip disdainfully. Let the bastard sweat! He headed toward Trina, Karl, and the rest of their set who were seated together as far away from Ed as was geographically possible.

“Are you all right, Joe?” Trina frowned as she moved along to make space for him.

He shrugged. “I’ve had better days.”

“Anything we can do?”

“No, thanks, Trina.” He took a deep breath and turned toward Angie. “Okay, are you ready to do this?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

Joe patted her shoulder, impatiently shaking a lock of hair out of his eyes as he tapped a spoon against the side of his glass.

“If I could have your attention for a moment, please,” he said. But it was hardly necessary because every face was already turned toward him in voyeuristic expectation.

“Surely he isn’t going to announce to the entire bar that Jack and Claire have run off together,” Millie said to no one in particular, her eyes gleaming with spiteful anticipation.

“You’ve all been hearing about Ed’s ambitious plans for our little club, and I dare say some of you are tempted to get involved.” Some of the women exchanged disappointed glances. “Fifteen thousand pounds is a lot of money. I understand that. But have you considered why Mr. Brady is so keen to sell it to you all?”

“He explained that,” said a voice. “He’s bought a share in the freehold because he thinks it’s a great investment opportunity.”

“A share, is it?” Joe raised a brow. “Actually, I think you’ll find it’s a little more than just a
share
. Ed has a forty-nine percent shareholding in the new company that’s been set up in the Cayman Islands to manage the project.” A rumble of indignation rippled through the crowd.

“It’s no secret,” Ed said, bristling. “If anyone had asked me about my exact holding, I’d have told them. Don’t go all moody on me, Joe, just because I recognized a good deal when I saw it and had the balls to go for it.”

“I’m sure your testicles are of admirable proportions.” The ensuing laughter caused Ed’s face to turn an angry shade of crimson. “But if it’s no secret, why the offshore company?”

“Oh, that was my partner’s idea. Nothing to do with me.”

“Ah yes, I’m glad you’ve brought him into things. Ed’s partner, in case any of you were wondering, his
majority shareholding partner
, is one Paul Aston. Now, Mr. Aston is making himself scarce for reasons best known to himself, but he’s an old acquaintance of Angie’s and she can vouch for the fact that he made his money originally through illicitly peddling pornography.”

Angela nodded her head. “It’s true,” she said, raising her voice to make herself heard above a cacophony of shocked voices.

Joe knew what this was costing her emotionally and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, noticing that it was shaking badly. Before leaving Joe’s room, she’d said that she was determined to expose Paul for what he was, provided they kept Rod’s involvement out of it. Not for Rod’s sake, or her own, but for the sake of her children.

“Is that the sort of man you would want to take money from?” Joe asked.

More rumblings and head-shakings. He noticed that Ed wasn’t doing anything to try to recover ground. He was simply staring blankly at Joe, for once speechless.

“That’s an easy accusation to make, but probably not so easy to prove,” said someone.

“Oh, I can prove it,” Angela said. “Mr. Aston’s business premises were raided by the police on a regular basis—”

“An occupational hazard,” suggested some wit, to muted laughter.

“Quite. That’s precisely how he viewed the situation and he knew it was only a matter of time before he’d be shut down altogether. But he was saved in the end from doing time by his bare-faced cheek.”

“No pun intended, presumably?” called out a voice from the back.

“What saved him?” asked someone else.

“Well, trade was rather brisk because sex always sells, and he’d formed a legitimate company as cover for his main earner. It got to the stage where he needed to register for tax, and when filling in the forms he decided on a whim to test his theory that the porn side of his trade was, in fact, legal too.” When Angela paused to draw breath the silence was almost deafening. She had their complete attention. “And so,” Angela said casually, “he stated his occupation on the forms as
Pornographer.”

“You’re having a laugh,” someone said.

“If I was going to make something up, I think I could be more inventive than that.” Angela spread her hands and waited for the hubbub to subside. “You know what they say about truth being stranger than fiction. I promise you, it’s as true as I’m standing here. Not only that but it was responsible for keeping Mr. Aston out of jail when he was arrested for the fourth time.”

Joe looked at the rapt expressions on the members’ faces and knew she’d got them in the palm of her hand. At least for now.

“When the magistrate asked him if there was any reason why he shouldn’t be sent down, he explained that as the Treasury appeared happy to accept the tax he paid on his ill-gotten gains, he didn’t see that he was doing anything illegal. At least not anything they could prove.” She waited until the incredulous exclamations and isolated bouts of laughter had died down. “The magistrate had no choice but to agree with him, once he’d checked he was telling the truth, of course, and had to let him go.”

“Sorry, love,” said someone else, “but I just don’t buy it. It’s obvious that you passionately don’t want us to sell, so it’s easy to make up stories to try to put us off. But something like this…well, it’s just too surreal.”

Several people mumbled their agreement and Joe sensed the tide was turning against them. These people were so keen to get their hands on the money being offered that they didn’t give a toss how some bloke they’d never met had made his wedge.

“I think we know Angela too well to think she’d lie to us,” Joe said, the smooth voice of the distinguished consultant effortlessly restoring order. He was aware of Sheba and Malik staring open-mouthed at their mother and tried not to feel guilty about exposing them to such tawdriness. “But it should be easy enough to find out for sure. It must be a matter of public record.”

“Why would a bloke who’d never set foot in Porchfield put so much money into it, then, if it ain’t a good deal?” asked someone.

“No one said it wasn’t a potentially good deal,” countered Joe, “but good for
whom
, that’s what you need to ask yourselves. Ed and Paul stand to make millions out of the scheme, but only if you lot agree to sell up cheap. That’s the gamble they’ve taken and that’s why they’re putting you under so much pressure. But have you thought about what they’re offering you in return?”

“Fifteen thousand quid each,” said a voice from the back. “Put like that, it doesn’t seem like such a good deal.” Several others voiced their agreement.

“And by the way,” Joe said, “Aston has been to the club.”

“When?” asked one of the bar-flies who treated the country club as a second home and prided himself on knowing the background of just about everyone who set foot in the place. “I haven’t seen any strangers around recently.”

“Do you remember our tournament last month when one court was out of action for repairs?” Joe relegated to the back of his mind thoughts of how happy he’d been with Claire that day. “One of the crew doing the work, a tall black man who seemed more interested in what was happening elsewhere rather than in his work. One or two of you commented upon his strange behavior afterward, I recall.” A few people nodded. “Well, that was Mr. Aston.”

“Even if it’s true, I still don’t see what’s wrong with that,” Ed said truculently.

“Quite right,” said someone else. “If I was going to invest a load of dosh in a place, I’d want to get a good look at what was on offer first.”

“Sure, but why go undercover like that? He wasn’t trying to buy it as a going concern.” Joe paused. “Personally, I think he was trying to get a good look at the members, us being the key to the success of his plan. He knew most of us would be there on tournament day and wanted to size us up and decide if he was likely to be able to bring us round.”

“That makes sense, I suppose.”

“It might make sense, but I take exception to being looked over like goods on sale in a shop window.” Rumbles of agreement echoed through the room. “Sell if you want to,” Joe said, “but don’t say afterward that you weren’t warned you’re being ripped off. If I were you, given what they stand to make, I’d demand at least fifty thousand a share before even thinking about selling.”

“We couldn’t run to anything like that,” Ed protested. “It ain’t all profit, you know. We’ve got expenses and a heap of money to put up front.”

“Of course you have.” Joe cast Ed a scathing glance and cut to the chase. “But anyway, there’s more you should know about the motley collection of people attempting to get you to sell out at bargain basement prices
.
” He turned a contemptuous glance toward Colin. “Mr. Palmer has been a constant source of inspiration to us all since he joined the club less than a month ago.” Nods of agreement from a few men. More vigorous ones from most of the women. “You might wonder why he was so keen to support Ed’s failed EGM within a matter of days of his arrival, and I can reveal the answer to that one as well. Mr. Palmer is in Aston’s pay, too. But then, there’s nothing you wouldn’t do for money, is there, Colin?”

Joe turned to face him and had to bite back a laugh. He looked totally dumbfounded. Gone was the cockiness that had been prevalent when Joe had entered the room. Jack was right. This was a thousand times more satisfying than thumping the bastard and would also save him from having to make public what he’d done to Claire. “Or should I say
Calvin?
”

“What the…”

“Calvin Peters, ladies and gentleman, was the coach at a large club in France, until he had to leave in a hurry, that is. Calvin was one of two key holders to the safe, and when club funds started to go missing on a regular basis, questions were naturally asked. The other key holder was absolved from blame, which explains why Calvin had to get out in a hurry and was so anxious to accept a job on the Island, where he would be less visible. It also explains his sudden change of name.”

“Is it true, Palmer?” called out several voices together.

Colin appeared to have lost the power of speech and simply gaped at them.

“Well, is it?” demanded someone else. Joe could sense the mood turning ugly.

“Of course not!” Colin adopted a convincing expression of outrage. “Take that back, Joe, it’s slanderous.”

“So sue me.”

Colin’s eyes darted desperately around the room and came to rest on Sheila. Joe could have sworn he heard her say she’d catch him later. She winked at him before making a point of turning her back and walking away.

When Angela said Jack had all the proof they needed, it appeared to settle the matter. Colin stopped threatening Joe with legal action and retreated to a chair in the corner of the bar, looking as though he desperately wished he could fade into the woodwork.

“Well,” Joe said, knowing he’d done all he could. “If those are the sorts of people you want to do business with, then be my guest. Sell up and hand control of the club to the golfers on a plate, why don’t you? They’ve been trying to get rid of us for years, so they’ll be delighted that Ed’s done their dirty work for them.”

Joe, Angela, and Chris left the bar, with Malik and Sheba following close on their heels, bursting with questions. Joe reckoned he’d done enough when he glanced over his shoulder and noticed a trickle of people leaving Ed’s group and walking across to join Trina. A very public demonstration of their change of heart.

He was surprised to notice Stella Brady leading the way. She’d been unusually subdued all the evening and had sat apart from her husband throughout, as though she couldn’t face the prospect of any physical contact with him. Stranger still, when she reached the other side of the bar Joe could have sworn he heard her ask Trina if her offer of accommodation still stood.