A Servant of the Company (31 page)

‘That would be brilliant Diane, are you sure we are not taking too much of your time?’ Once all their problems were solved Carol reminded herself that she must work on getting rid of her guilt complex.

‘Not at all, between now and then I have some thinking to do and with luck my idea might just work.’ During her overseas trips to trade shows she had been reading novels bought at the airport book stalls to pass the time on long journeys. The complexity of some of the mysteries had her practising her own skills at story telling. So far the ideas were in her mind, but she was sure she could write successfully. The proposal she would make to Carol and her friends were from an idea she would include in her first novel.

‘Give me a ring once you get there and I’ll come and pick you up. I’ll do a meal, it won’t be like the Lowry but it will be by my own fair hands.’ She checked that Diane had both her office and mobile telephone numbers. ‘Try the office first, if you drive as fast as you think, you will be early.’

Diane laughed at the comment and agreed to Carol’s suggestion. ‘I look forward to Wednesday. See you then.’

Returning to Anthea’s sitting room she sat down on the sofa. ‘I’m intrigued, as you will gather that was Diane, well she thinks she has the answer to our computer problem. We’re going to have to wait until Wednesday night to hear it but she sounded very upbeat.’ Before anyone could respond she continued, ‘You will be back from seeing Arif by then Steve won’t you?’ He nodded. ‘How about you Anthea, any chance you can come back to Manchester for Wednesday night?’ Carol knew it was doubtful as Anthea was still employed full time by her father but she had to include her. If she felt sidelined it could create bad feeling and so far relationships had been excellent.

‘Sorry Carol, I can’t make it, as much as I’d like to. Asking dad for Tuesday off will start a battle, and I don’t want to push my luck too far.’ She glanced at Steve wistfully knowing she was missing out on another night with him. ‘Steve and I will have had our meeting with Arif by then and maybe there will be something which could contribute towards Diane’s idea.’ At times she did feel like an outsider but only because Steve would be in Manchester while she was a hundred and twenty miles to the south.

The drive back to Manchester on Sunday evening was uneventful, conversation had jumped from Simon Colbourne to their itinerary for Monday when the office phone would start to ring. They decided to concentrate on the Agency. With the meetings arranged for Tuesday with Arif and Wednesday with Diane, there were many jobs to be done apart from staying alive. Between them they would cope with the usual booking dates for the girls, banking cheques which regularly appeared with the morning’s post and dealing with questions from various branches of the media. ‘Do you know Steve, I took this as a stop gap to pay my mortgage, now I love the job. It’s a pity it has to come with a poisoned chalice isn’t it?’

Nothing had happened while they had been away to indicate unwanted visitors. The hidden seals on doors and windows were as Steve had left them, no-one had tried to enter into their lives or to end them. Patting the table Steve said, ‘Touch wood that it stays safe. It would be quite something if you were left to run this forever wouldn’t it? I can see how you have taken to it, the girls are great and business is booming. Managing to get such high quality people must have been a challenge for you. How many did you have to interview to get your team?’ Carol had started this business from scratch and while it wouldn’t have been his choice of career, the basics would apply to any business. There was a lot he could learn here.

‘I can’t remember the numbers, but there were over two hundred and I had to whittle the pile down to manageable proportions. It was awful having to send out regret letters, but that’s life. I think we’ve both had that experience and getting that sort of letter doesn’t help confidence does it? At least I made some people happy and they have certainly done the same for me.’ The business was going to continue, she just knew it. If there was money in her account at the weekend she would feel safe.

The train arriving in London from Manchester was late and Anthea was waiting impatiently to meet Steve. In her usual way she had turned up half an hour early, just in case. She saw him getting off the train and ran towards him arms outstretched, longing to hold him close to her. ‘Oh! Steve I thought that train would never arrive. Now you’re here fifteen minutes late doesn’t seem too bad. Let’s have a coffee and chat before we do anything. I know it’s only been for a day but I have missed you.’ Gripping his hand she led him to the coffee shop. ‘Now you’re mine, well until early evening anyway.’

‘It’s good to be with you Anthea, leaving you on Sunday was terrible. This situation can’t last forever, we’ll get to the bottom of it then we can start to live.’ He didn’t add that he still worried about his own future in the world of work, it was something that came to the surface regularly and which he suppressed.

‘We are meeting with Arif at one o’clock. I know you’ll like Sumi, not only is she gorgeous but she’s very talented as well. You will be able to see the paintings I told you about. I’m not sure what time the children get home but you will like them too.’ The family she already saw as friends, rather than Arif being some sort of colleague in a business surrounded by mystery.

‘Now, that’s four hours to go, we will have to get our act together before then. How do we approach this, he already thinks you work for the Company. Do we tell him the truth?’ Too much negative information could put Arif off, while lying about Anthea’s involvement could also lead to trouble. ‘I think we can only play this by ear. If you introduce me I’ll give them a potted history of my experience of joining the Company, then if you broach the subject of the mail he receives and re-delivers, between us we‘ll try to get him to open some letters if he has any. What do you think?’ As a man he thought it right that he should take the lead, but deep down he knew that Anthea and also the other girls were probably as good as, if not better at taking value decisions. They were all multi-taskers, something he was unable to do unless it was related to Army life.

‘That’s fine by me Steve. Let’s have a wander around Oxford Street and Bond Street then it will be time. You don’t mind a bit of window shopping do you?’ She smiled as he made a face at her. With a bit of training he’d do.

It was five to one when they arrived at Arif’s, and Anthea showed Steve the list of Companies on the card in the window. ‘All of these belong to the Company. Arif gets letters from several but not all of them. We know Carol doesn’t send anything, she didn’t know the place existed.’

‘I’ve just counted the number of names, there are seventeen.’ They heard a lock being turned, the door opened and Arif welcomed them as he lead them inside.

‘That’s great time keeping Anthea, I thought I would come down and check the road in case you had forgotten where we are.’

‘Arif, this is Steve Henderson, he is paid by the Company but hasn’t done anything yet. He was supposed to get involved in the drugs business. You tell him Steve, it would be better if you did.’

‘Nice to meet you Arif, Anthea has told me all about you and your family. She’s already thinking of Sumi as a sister and the children as nephew and niece.’ Anthea nudged him, and they all laughed as he pretended to stagger.

‘What about me, don’t tell me I have been left out of this adoption?’ Arif had liked Anthea on their first meeting and now his first impression of Steve was good.

He believed the meeting might be productive but only if both he and his visitors contributed. As much as he liked them, he was not going to take down all his defences.

‘Can we go upstairs to see Sumi now? There are things I want to tell you which I hope you will understand.’ Anthea looked directly at Arif, he had to be told the truth, but only when Sumi was present.

They listened carefully while Anthea told them how she had met Steve and all the events leading up to her first visit to Arif’s address. From time to time she asked Steve to fill in certain details. ‘Now you know what we have been up against. It’s almost certain that this Simon Colbourne is the same person who does the recruiting, we don’t know if he is a one man band or if he really works, or should I say worked, for a big Company. Maybe we have all been taken in by him.’ Arif and Sumi did not interrupt and listened carefully to everything being said.

‘My God you have had a terrible time. I didn’t know anything about all this.’ His face was set, the muscles locked. If they were in trouble he was in trouble. What would happen to the flat? They could be homeless if the things he had been told were true. ‘Is there anything we can do? It’s turning into a nightmare.’ Turning to Sumi he took her hand. ‘I’m really sorry Sumi, I should have thought things through when I was first approached then we wouldn’t be in this position.’

Before she could reply, Anthea put her hands on Arif’s shoulders. ‘Lots of people have been taken in by this man. What you did was right at the time you joined, you couldn’t possibly have known how it might turn out.’ She shook him very gently. ‘None of us are to blame, we have all been fooled by someone with an extremely warped mind. We have to move on and pick up clues as we go. Now, have you any letters or packages waiting to be delivered?’ The time was right, now they should get what they came for.

‘Yes, there are several in the safe, I don’t deliver until Friday. Hang on a minute and I’ll get them.’ Arif went to the corner of the room and removed first a bowl of flowers then the cloth covering what turned out to be a safe. Taking a bunch of keys from his pocket he opened the safe.

‘Are all those Company letters Arif?’ Steve could see that the pile and this was for part of a week.’ He wanted to be sure he was not imposing on their private life and waited for Arif’s affirmation before touching them.

They carefully opened each package in turn, logging the contents before returning them back into the envelope. All contained a slip of paper bearing a Company name together with money or cheques. The cheques were made payable to one of the Companies on the list in Arif’s window. When Anthea completed her additions, the total in notes was just over fifty thousand pounds with another fifteen hundred pounds in cheques.

‘Now what do we do?’ Shock was affecting Arif, his hands shaking as he spoke. ‘Do you think we can seal them up without anyone knowing?’ The veiled threat from the Company was on his mind. What if his willingness to conspire against them was found out? He felt perspiration trickle down his back, what on earth was he thinking about. He had the flat and all the other benefits and no-one questioned what he did. Would all this just evaporate, and most of all how safe was his family?

‘Most of the envelopes will seal up with a touch of glue, some of the others have already been recycled so there’s no problem there. A bit of sellotape would solve it.’ When she had finished checking each envelope there was only one which had been damaged. ‘If you have a new envelope Arif I can remove this stamp and glue it on. It’s only partially franked so I don’t think it will be suspicious.’ Ten minutes later all the envelopes were resealed to Arif’s satisfaction.

‘It’s just a question of continuing with the deliveries Arif. In the meantime we’ll try to work something out. I have to get back to Manchester this evening so I’ll get down to some serious thinking on the train. If you can think of anything, you have Anthea’s number. If you can’t get her, here’s the Manchester office number, I’m usually there from nine until five thirty. After that it’s the answering machine.’ Steve was conscious of Arif’s fear and wanted to give moral support to help him through the difficult time ahead. They had to keep him busy otherwise he might crack, and he was needed on their side. ‘I’ll leave my phone with you Anthea, I’ll share with Carol once I get back. Would you give Arif a note of the number?’

‘That’s a good idea just in case there is somebody else in the Company trying to contact us. Are you O.K. with that Arif?’ Like Steve, she too had noticed Arif showing signs of nerves and they needed him. But it would take encouragement and support but she had already put her foot in it. Anthea could have kicked herself for mentioning the possibility of the Company making contact. It had made an impact on Arif who was becoming very restless.

Was he making a big mistake? The question was foremost on his mind. His shirt was sticking to him and perspiration was now trickling down the side of his face as he wrestled with the problem. ‘Yes, yes I’m O.K.’ The words were there but delivered with a distinct lack of conviction.

‘Continue as normal Arif, you’ll be alright. Once you make delivery, whatever happens let one of us know.’ Steve tried to appear casual and hoped he had succeeded.

‘If we all work as a team I’m sure things will work out for us.’ Sumi laid her hand on her husband’s arm. ‘We’ve got to trust and help each other to get to the bottom of this Company.’ She had not joined in the discussion before this but had listened carefully to what had been said while observing Arif’s growing discomfort. ‘We have to pursue this to the end my love. I’m with you all the way so cheer up and let us continue as we always have.’ Looking at her husband she smiled and gripped his arm.

Why was it she was always right? He knew Sumi was the strong one in the family. Her clear thinking had helped guide them this far although she had registered her doubts about the Company in the early days.

‘I’ll deliver on Friday as usual and let Steve or Anthea know the result, then we’ll just get on with our lives. How’s that?’ It was remarkable how Sumi could make him relax, without her he would be lost and he knew it.

‘That’s about as far as we can go today, I think we had better be on our way Anthea. You don’t mind if I have some time on my own with my future wife do you Arif?’ Steve grinned as he put his arm around Anthea’s waist. ‘Thanks for listening to us and being supportive. We’ll get to the bottom of this don’t worry.’ At that moment he knew the only way forward was to find and open the secrets locked in Simon Colbourne’s computer, and he had no idea how to do it.

Sumi stood up and laughing waved her arms at Steve. ‘Go on you love birds, you need time on your own before you get married. You don’t want to be stuck with an old married couple like us all afternoon. Isn’t that right Arif?’ She looked lovingly at her husband before reaching for his hand.

‘She’s right as always, off you go now. I’ll be in touch if anything happens.’ Why had he felt so upset earlier, he could look Steve and Anthea in the eye and know he was with friends. They were all under pressure, but an attempt had been made on Steve’s life. He had not been approached by anyone so far and he had to convince himself that this was a good sign.

‘We haven’t got all that much time together, I have to catch a train back to Manchester and Anthea promised her parents she would have dinner with them tonight.’

He shook hands with Arif and kissed Sumi on her cheek. ‘Thanks for everything, we’ll keep in touch no matter what happens. If we end up half as happy as you two I’ll be content.’