Diamonds Forever (22 page)

‘Is this for real?' she said. ‘It all happens to you, Jason Watson, doesn't it?'

‘Yes,' he replied gruffly. ‘It all fucking does. Can you help?'

‘I wish I could remember the bloke's name,' she said. ‘I really do. It'll come to me, I'm sure …'

‘Yeah, well, thanks for trying.' Jason pushed his coffee away and made to stand.

‘Don't!' cried Mia sharply. ‘I mean, don't go. Finish your coffee.'

‘Why?' He hovered, an inch off his seat. ‘I don't think you get it, Mia. Serious shit's going down. I can't hang around here talking about the good old days.'

‘I know but … I want to help you. Please. Just give me a minute.'

He sat back down, sighing.

‘Not as if you don't owe me,' he said heavily.

‘I know. I know I do. I want to make it up to you, Jase.'

‘Guilty conscience, eh?'

‘As it happens, yes.'

He snorted, drumming his fingertips on the table top as if to signal that it was time to finish the coffee and go.

‘Is that so hard to believe?' she pleaded. ‘I mean, there was a time when …'

‘Yeah, there was a time. And then you were happy to sit back and let me
do
time. When you
knew
I was set up. How do you think you can ever …?' He gave up, shaking his head.

‘I know. It was unforgivable. But …' There were tears in Mia's eyes. ‘I didn't know what else to do. I wanted to help you. I really did.'

There was a silence, hostile on Jason's side, while Mia looked bleakly out of the window at the now-streaming rain.

‘Ross!' said Mia suddenly.

‘You what?'

‘That's the guy who owned the cottage. Friend of Harville's. Ross something.'

‘Oh, Ross Something. That's helpful.'

‘No, he was at college with Kayley … His parents lived in the cottage but he had a flat down near the town centre while he was studying … God, I can picture it now … I went round there with her a couple of times …'

‘That was years ago though. I doubt he'd still be there.'

A pair of teenagers at the next table suddenly looked up from the phones they'd been glued to whilst picking at chocolate brownies in silence and stared at Jason, before making faces at each other.

‘Yeah,' said Jason, smiling tightly at them. ‘I'm the artist.'

‘The artist who took
that
photo?' said one of the teenagers.

‘Shit, I forgot about that.' He looked hard at Mia. ‘Take me to this guy's flat then. On the off-chance. Otherwise I can't see anything for it but to go back there myself.'

They got up and left the café abruptly, sniggers from behind accompanying them all the way to the door.

‘What photo?' said Mia.

‘You mean you haven't seen it yet?'

‘No, I've been at the cop shop, haven't I?'

Jason took a long breath.

‘Kind of X-rated,' he said shamefacedly. ‘Of Jen.'

‘Oh my God. That'll be
all over everywhere.
'

‘I think we'd thought of that, thanks,' said Jason stiffly. ‘Is it far from here?'

‘No, it's in the nice bit, up by the old town hall.'

They crossed the canal and entered a small area of handsome grey stone Georgian houses that constituted the pre-Industrial Revolution centre of Bledburn, when it was just a little coaching inn spot on the road between Nottingham and Sheffield.

The most imposing of these had been turned into a chain pub, but the rest were as they had always been during Jason's childhood – a small museum, the tourist information centre they had always laughed about, and ‘the posh shop', which sold tweed jackets and fishing tackle.

‘He lived over the posh shop,' said Mia. ‘It's worth a try, I suppose.'

They went into a side street, to find the back door of the strange little shop.

Mia rang the bell confidently, then stood back, grimacing at Jason.

It took a while, but eventually the door opened to reveal a very hairy and very unkempt man in a towelling dressing gown.

‘Christ!' said Mia.

‘What are you doing here?' He squinted, then made to shut the door.

‘No, Ross, don't!'

‘I've just worked three night shifts in a row. I don't need this,' he said.

‘But we really, really need to talk to you. Urgently. Please?'

‘Who's your friend?'

‘Don't you know? Jason Watson.'

‘Oh.' Ross blinked and looked slightly more alert, like a chimp suddenly faced with a banana. ‘The guy who …?'

‘Yeah,' said Jason. ‘That guy. Would you mind most awfully?'

Ross didn't seem to mind having his accent mimicked and mocked.

‘Oh … I suppose so …'

He opened the door wider, letting them in and up the narrow, dark stairs to the flat above.

Jason was surprised at how un-posh it was. It would be a decent enough place if it was better looked after, but Ross didn't seem to have the housekeeping gene. Piles of laundry covered the sofa and chairs and the floor was a minefield of ashtrays and half-empty bottles.

‘Excuse the mess,' he said, yawning. ‘I've basically been working and sleeping and not much else. Grabbing the odd beer and cigarette in between. Can I offer you anything?'

‘Maybe a place to sit?' suggested Mia, and Ross grabbed an armful of pants and socks and dumped them on an ironing board standing by the far wall.

‘Sure,' he said. ‘Go for it.
Mi casa es su casa
etcetera.'

‘You always had lovely manners,' said Mia, taking the one clear place and leaving Jason to lean against the mantelpiece, on which packs of Rizlas and dusty photographs lay together in chaos.

‘So, tea? Coffee? I've got wine, I think.'

‘It's OK,' said Jason. ‘We've just had coffee.'

‘Right.' He perched on the arm of the sofa next to Mia. ‘So, to what do I owe the pleasure?'

‘You've got a cottage,' said Jason without preamble.

‘Oh … well, yah. I inherited it from my parents but I don't really use it – as you can see. I was going to sell up when Mum died last year, but I'm renting it out at the moment. Was that what you wanted? To hire it? I'm afraid it's taken, for the time being.'

‘We know that,' said Jason. ‘And we know who by.'

Ross blinked.

‘Then …?'

‘It might surprise you to know what he gets up to down there,' said Jason. ‘Kidnap. Assault. Not your typical English country garden type of thing.'

‘Kidnap?' echoed Ross. ‘Who? What do you mean?'

‘I was taken there against my will, and it was pure luck that I got away. Somebody else wasn't so lucky. Last I saw of him, he had Harville's goons on top of him, laying right into him. We might even be able to add murder to that list.'

Jason had a feeling this was a bit over the top, but it certainly succeeded in making Ross sit up and take notice. He paled under his stubble and reached with shaky fingers for his cigarette papers.

‘Who was this? Who was getting attacked?'

‘You wouldn't believe me if I told you.'

‘Jase,' reproached Mia. ‘Why not tell him? Deano Diamond.'

The cigarette papers slipped from Ross's grasp.

‘What? The rock star? You're kidding me.'

‘Not kidding. I reckon he's in a pretty bad way right now,' said Jason. ‘And somebody needs to help him.'

‘Well … the police?' Ross held his palms upwards before diving to retrieve the cigarette papers from the floor.

‘They're a last resort for me,' said Jason. ‘Had a bit more to do with them than I'd like. But you could go up there. Pay a visit, like, as the friendly landlord, and see what's what.'

‘Me? What's it got to do with me?' Ross did not seem at all happy at the prospect.

‘It's your house, Ross!' cried Mia. ‘Where's your backbone?'

‘Smoked it away,' he muttered. He found a tobacco tin and began the process of rolling his cigarette. ‘I don't suppose you've got any …?' He looked hopefully first at Mia, then at Jason.

‘I'm clean,' said Mia firmly, somewhat to Jason's surprise. ‘Or trying to be,' she amended. ‘I have good days and bad days. Anyway. A man's in danger and you can help him. Why wouldn't you?'

‘What can
I
do?' whined Ross. ‘Harville's got no respect for me. He's the reason I'm in this state. I'm off the hard stuff now, but I still owe him thousands. He isn't even paying me rent for the cottage. Just bungs me the odd eighth now and then. I'm not his landlord, I'm his bitch.'

‘He's got you right where he wants you,' said Mia. ‘He's good at that. We all know it.'

‘Don't we?' said Jason dryly. ‘But you don't have to do anything. Just pay him a visit. We'll hang around the back while you're in there with him and see if we can find Deano. No need for anything heavy. Just turn up and say you wanted to, I don't know, get some book from the shelves or something. It's your house.' Jason threw up his hands. ‘You can think of a better excuse than I can.'

‘He won't buy it. It'll look weird,' moaned Ross, lighting his cigarette.

‘Weird is Harville's normal,' said Jason.

Ross managed a faintly amused grimace.

‘Yeah, you're not wrong,' he said. ‘I suppose I could go up and pretend I need some gear. He always enjoys a chance to make me beg.'

‘There you go, then,' said Jason approvingly. ‘Sorted. Let's go. You coming, Mia?'

‘Do you want me to?' She sounded breathless, almost honoured.

‘Why not? Maybe you can redeem yourself.'

Jenna swore under her breath as her phone rang for the umpteenth time.

She had been holed up with Linda for at least three hours now, and her marketing, PR and all the other people had been ringing frantically about the Facebook photo all afternoon. She was exhausted with the topic, and the embarrassment of it, and very angry at her continuing imprisonment.

‘Where the hell are the police?' she muttered to Linda, an often-repeated question.

‘They're busy, I expect,' said Linda vaguely, looking up from the reality show she was half-watching. ‘You know what it's like round here.'

‘Busy? I'm being held prisoner here! I suppose they're all hiding in their speed traps, looking for easy prey. Meanwhile, in the
real
world, women are being threatened.'

She could hear how spoilt she sounded, but she was too annoyed to care. This was really beyond the pale.

She glanced at her phone, expecting to see the same names that had been cropping up all afternoon, but to her surprise the number that came up was one of Deano's.

‘God,' she moaned, clutching her forehead at the thought of what Deano might have made of the photograph. ‘I don't need this.'

She didn't answer it.

But it kept on trying until, at the fifth attempt, she gave in.

‘Deano.'

‘No, sorry, this is Parker? His new agent?'

She made everything sound like a question, an intonation Jenna had become used to in LA but heard infrequently in Bledburn.

‘Oh, Parker. Hello. Er …'

So Deano couldn't even bring himself to speak directly to her! He had to get his agent to do it.

‘We met at the art show?' said Parker. ‘Briefly?'

‘Uh huh, I remember. So, how can I help you?'

‘I was just wondering … is Deano with you?'

‘With me? No. No, he isn't. I haven't seen him in days.'

‘Oh.' There was a slightly flappy silence at the other end, then a rush of words. ‘It's just that I can't get him on his phone, and I've tried everywhere else I can think of, but nobody's seen him.'

‘Who have you tried?'

‘All his favourite hotels, bars, the guys he's been hanging out with. I called that guy Harville but he said he hadn't seen him at all, even though they were supposed to meet today. I'm scared, Jenna. He's never gone right off the radar like this. I really assumed he must be with you … After you, I've got no one else to call.'

‘Oh my God,' said Jenna. ‘I'm really sorry. I wish I could tell you he was here, but … how long is it since you've seen him?'

‘This morning, at breakfast. He said he was going to the gym, then to meet with this Harville guy. Well, he made it to the gym – I checked – but after that, nada.'

‘Well, it isn't that long really. Perhaps he's just …'
with another woman.

Jenna didn't speak her innermost thought aloud. It would hardly help matters.

‘I don't know,' she finished lamely. ‘Decided to take a long walk in the countryside. Just wanted a bit of space. Or something.'

The horrible idea that he might be lurking around Harville Hall waiting to ambush her crossed her mind. Or he had seen the Facebook photograph and it had driven him mad so that he … no. For God's sake. Deano wasn't the kind to succumb to fits of despair.

All the same, Jenna was a little alarmed at the way her mind was leaping to the worst conclusions. It
was
a worry that Deano hadn't attended the meeting. For all his forays into rock 'n' roll living, he was usually pretty professional and reliable where work was concerned. He enjoyed his position at the top too much to ever seriously jeopardise it.

‘Where was he meeting Harville?' she asked, into Parker's whimpering.

‘Here, in the hotel lobby. But Harville says he didn't show.' Parker began to sob again.

‘OK, don't panic. Hold tight, Parker. I'm coming to you.'

‘Really? Are you at the Hall? I thought he might …'

‘No, I'm not at the Hall, but I'm going to drive over there and check. Then I'm coming to the hotel, OK?'

‘OK.'