Chapter Five
More than a week had passed since Daniel had made his demands and Joel had called with the papers. Sammy had expected to hear from either or both of them in the days that followed, but it seemed both were quiet. She was glad of the time to think, because she'd had far too much hassle, far too much drama than she wanted lately.
She was still angry with Daniel for his complete lack of regard for her situation, and then there was all the financial confusion that Joel was dealing with. It was way beyond what she was able to mentally digest at the moment. Since the day those police officers knocked her door a year earlier, she'd not had any structure to her days, her grief and then her daughter were the only things she had to deal with. The latter few months Eleanor had provided some form of day/night, but other than that she had been in some sort of bubble. Rather dramatically that seemed to be dissolving around her.
And it was a welcome return in some ways, she did miss some sort of purpose, all her life she'd worked, got up, left the house, come home. Not that she was looking for a job, she didn't want to leave Eleanor, but she had maybe been seeking for something more the last few months, something to give her a focus.
If she moved back to Cornwall she knew she'd find that, structure, life, that normality via her friends and her even mother. But that would mean moving away from all that was left of Marcus, and she just wasn't ready to do that. She wasn't sure she ever would be.
She was heading back to Cornwall the following morning, only her second trip since Marcus died...and she was actually looking forward to it, unlike the first time. But as she was packing a bag Joel had called and asked to meet her for lunch. He had more to discuss with her, she couldn't turn that down when he was doing so much for her.
So she was heading across the city when she had planned an afternoon of relaxing, to Joel's office to find out what new information he had for her, good or bad. Because she was having bad vibes.
The angel that was Eleanor was fast asleep, so she broke her own rule and set off across town with her in her pushchair, that meant staying above ground, the tube was far too difficult to negotiate with wheels. But it was a sunny day and Sammy was quite happy to walk along the river to the financial district. It was probably an hour's walk, maybe a little more. But she had time, that was something she had SO much of.
Joel's office suite was on the tenth floor of a tower block near Canary Wharf, a room with a view of the Thames. She'd loved sitting in the window watching the hustle and bustle of London from the reception, but today she was less calm.
Joel looked serious when he came out of the office and that wasn't a good sign. She didn't know why, but since he'd called her she'd had a sense of foreboding.
"I was hoping we'd get out somewhere, change of scenery...is that ok?"
She glanced at Eleanor; it was always hard work negotiating bars and restaurants with a baby, especially one in a pushchair. London venues were notoriously tiny.
Feeling a hand touch hers, she looked to see Janet, PA to Joel and once Marcus beside her, "leave her with me if you want. You know I have experience. Up to you. You'll not be long, and not far away."
Joel lifted an eyebrow, his eyes joining Janet's in watching her intently and she didn't know what to do. She'd not had a moment with Eleanor out of her sight in four months, the thought of leaving her here? She didn't know how that made her feel.
"Janet will call us, at the first sign."
Janet grinned, "I'm a granny you know? Plenty of practice."
It was WAY outside her comfort zone, but she had to let go at some point. She trusted Janet; the older woman had always been good to her. As she nodded a reluctant agreement, Joel squeezed her shoulder.
"You don't have to; it just might be a little easier for you."
Janet smiled, "video call me at any point, ok? My phone camera will be trained on her."
Sammy sighed, "do I sound like a right wimp?"
Joel shook his head, "nope, just like a caring mother, Eleanor's a very lucky girl."
Joel could feel the tension in Sammy as he led her from the building; three times he asked if she was sure about leaving her before they left the building. In response, she took a deep breath and shook her head.
"No, I'm fine. Honest. This is good; I should have left her somewhere a long time ago. This is just a little separation anxiety."
He smiled, "you are a very good person, remember that!"
Taking her arm he led her out into the sunshine and to his favourite wine bar tucked in the basement of one of the sky rises that peppered the financial district.
Sat at a booth in the corner he waved to the waiter and they ordered drinks, then sat in silence perusing the menu. He had been starving before he left the office, but he had some hard questions ahead and the thought was upsetting his stomach.
"So you're being very evasive," she offered once they'd ordered food.
He sighed, "not evasive...concerned."
"Should I be worried?"
Taking a sip of the beer he'd ordered he avoided answering for a moment, "you were never one to duck from hard work, hey?"
"Until I met Marcus it was all I knew."
Shit, why did she have to remind him of how hard things had been for her? He slugged at the beer again. He had to change tack; he couldn't throw it all at her, not until he really knew.
Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a piece of paper then laid it on the table in front of them, "do you recognise any of these names?"
He saw her eyes scan the paper several times, his heart sinking at the fact that he already knew she didn't.
But then he didn't.
Toby had been investigating Marcus for more than two weeks and several names kept cropping up. He himself didn't recognise the three; he had hoped that Sammy would. Andersen Finances had taken over control of the apartment, but they wouldn't take his call and their address was a PO Box, there was no way of getting hold of anyone. Then there was the rather ominous J. Painter, no search brought anything obvious and there was no concrete way of proving who this person was, neither was there with L. Smart or T. Smith, in fact, the latter produced two hundred million hits on Google.
He was coming to some conclusions in his head that he didn't like, and he wanted more than anything to be wrong. But large portions of HIS business had been distributed to accounts that later passed to these men or women.
If he took what he had to the police then Marcus could have been charged with fraud, embezzlement from his best friend. He couldn't, wouldn't believe that was what had happened, there had to be a key...a link somewhere, he just couldn't see it.
"Do you know where he went on his last business trip?"
Sammy looked up from the paper once more, "don't you know? You were partners."
He sighed, "he was doing a lot of stuff away from the office around then." It was awkward.
"What do you mean?"
Shrugging he reached for the beer and drank some more, "he was doing his own thing. He wanted to pursue some solo deals."
She digested that for a moment, he could see the muscles in her jaw twitch as she clenched her teeth, when she looked up at him again she looked broken, "so he was 'doing his own thing', and our home gets repossessed. He lost it all?"
He shook his head far too quickly and far too defensively, "no, it's just picking through things without knowing where we're going...it's been a challenge."
Sammy eyed him suspiciously for long enough that he started to squirm. "You're hiding something?"
Shaking his head he was grateful to see the waiter arrive with their meals and he waited until they were alone again before assuring her, "I'm just working things out, honest."
She rolled her eyes and they started to eat in silence for a while.
"It'll be fine," he finally offered, "I'll get to the bottom of it."
She sighed, "ok, I'll believe you."
Joel relaxed his relief evident, he may well have a serious conversation in the future, but he had a lot to do before he had to burst that bubble. "Good." He chewed thoughtfully for a moment, "you got your first money?"
"It went into my bank two days ago. But then you knew that."
Nodding, he reached for her beer and drained the bottle, "and I couldn't have organised that if he'd blown it all, hey?"
Her smile when it happened was traffic stopping and his body surged in response, he had to do that for her, he owed it to Marcus. "So relax and have a good weekend. You doing anything nice?"
She sipped at her sparkling water, "I'm going to Cornwall. Going back home."
He grinned, "that's great, I'll expect you'll be spoilt."
"You remember my mother, right?" She immediately countered.
Joel laughed at that, her mother Monica was legendary as the least maternal woman he'd ever met. How Sammy survived a childhood with her he had no idea. He'd met her a few times and be stunned each time. The last time had been her wedding, when Monica was dressed in a way aimed to outdo the bride, ridiculous heels, tight short dress...it had worked, in that she'd disappeared with an old college friend who was a friend of Nicolas, the youngest of the Turner family. Half her age, but she was uncaring, and she flaunted the fact at breakfast the next day. Fortunately he and another of the bridal party managed to clean up the mess before the bride and groom arrived, Sammy never needed to know that.
"Ah," he answered, "so it'll be dog eat dog."
Sammy giggled, "I'm going to stay with Corinne, I can't rely on her, Monica."
"You going early? To beat the traffic?"
When he looked up she was staring at him, "you think I'm driving? Ha, no. A - I haven't got a car, and B - the traffic will be horrendous. I catch the train, at seven thirty."
He had to hide his anger as the plot just continued to thicken. Marcus had a car, his pride and joy, an Audi, his first purchase from their first big pay check. He swore he'd never sell it.
"What happened to his Audi?"
She shrugged, "it's not in the garage, I've not seen it for a long time, Marcus said we didn't need a car, not living where we did."
So she was about to lumber across the country with bags, a baby...alone, on public transport. It was ridiculous, what the hell had Marcus done?
"I'll drive you, it'll be easier."
Shaking her head she stared up at him, "what are you talking about? It's like a four hour drive. We're taking the train, it's fine."
When they separated an hour later he only had more questions, no car, no home, no cash...what the hell had Marcus done with everything?
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