If the Shoe Fits (17 page)

“Why? What's happened?”

“I think Charming's after my balls.”

“You wish,” snorted Eleanor.

“Figuratively speaking,” snapped Jake. “Seriously, he's on the warpath.”

“But why?” asked Eleanor patiently. “You haven't done anything wrong, have you?”

“Well, no, but that's not the point. As soon as you left yesterday, I tried to explain the situation. You know,
it wasn't my idea, Mr. Charming, I told Ella that she should have stayed at home, but she will insist on being stubborn,
that kind of thing.”

“Gee, thanks for that,” said Eleanor dryly.

“Sorry, sweetie, but he was furious, and a guy's got to watch his back.”

Eleanor rolled her eyes.

“Anyway, he just gave me a Look — that's a capital ‘L' for ‘look,' by the way — and walked away. He avoided me for the rest of the day.”

“I wouldn't worry too much, Jake. It's
me
he was angry with, not you.”

“Well, I know that, darling. The thing is, as soon as I got in this morning, he requested a meeting with me. And Derek said that Charming was looking even more irate this morning than what he was yesterday.”

“Oh. Well I'm sure his mood has nothing to do with you.”

“I can't risk it, darling. What if he fires me or something? No, I need to hide.”

“Jake, why would he fire you? And where are you hiding, anyway?”

“I'm in the stationary cupboard.”

“Ah. I should probably tell you that the cupboard isn't really a very good hiding place.”

“Not for you,” agreed Jake. “But I can be quiet, unlike some people.”

“You're not being very quiet right now, Jake. You're on the phone,” Eleanor pointed out.

“That's because there's nobody in the office. I've arranged a lovely flower pot just by the entrance, so as soon as anyone walks in, they're going to knock it over, therefore giving me warning that I am no longer alone.”

“That's a bit overdramatic, Jake, don't you think?”

“You didn't see Charming's face yesterday.”

“Jake, be reasonable. You're not going to be fired. Get out of the cupboard and get back to work.”

“No way. I'm staying right here until it's time to go home. And I'm phoning in sick tomorrow.”

Eleanor rolled her eyes. Honestly, the term “Drama Queen” could have been coined for her friend.

“You seriously can't spend all day in the stationary cupboard, Jake.”

“I've got muffins, a box of emergency Malteasers, and three bottles of water. I'll be fine.”

“You've also got spiders.”

“What?”

The only person Eleanor knew who was more afraid of spiders than she was, was Jake.

“Why do you think I screamed yesterday? I wasn't being attacked by a random stapler or anything. There was a great big … Jake? Jake?”

The line went dead, and Eleanor chuckled. Maybe Jake wouldn't be spending the entire day in a cupboard after all.

• • •

Eleanor re-read every last page from her stockpile of magazines, made herself an omelet for her evening meal, and was in bed by nine o'clock, utterly exhausted from her day of idleness.

When she woke up the following morning, she knew that she couldn't take another day of boredom. Her foot was a lot better, and the thought of reading about the lives of the rich and famous all over again for the next eight hours didn't really appeal. She decided to visit her father. She was still worried about what Christie might be up to anyway, so they needed to get their heads together before the meeting with the solicitors. She just hoped her father would take things seriously. So far, he was faring a lot better than he usually did, but Eleanor knew that Teddy could revert to his habitual doormat persona at any given second.

After deciding that a taxi might be prudent, Eleanor arrived at her father's house twenty minutes later with a smile and several bottles of stout. The smile remained fixed on her face as she knocked the door and waited for her father to open it. Two minutes later, the smile was slipping and the stout was beginning to feel heavy. Slightly perturbed by the lack of response, Eleanor quickly knocked at the neighbor's house. The door was opened almost immediately, and the kindly face of Marge Halloway smiled at her.

“Eleanor, what a surprise!”

“Hi, Mrs. H. You don't know where my dad is, do you?”

“Oh, he went out quite early this morning, lovey.”

“Really? That's odd.” Teddy was a homebody and usually only ventured out for short periods of time, primarily when the bookies were quiet. “What time did he go?”

“Oh, well, let me see. It was definitely after the eight o'clock news, because I remember watching all of it. I hope that weatherman was wrong because we certainly don't need any more rain, do we? Let's see now, the weather report comes on around half past, and then I usually make my Harry a nice cup of tea. It was after that, definitely.”

Eleanor resisted sighing. Mrs. Halloway was a lovely woman, but she tended to ramble.

“Would you say it was after nine, then?” she asked helpfully.

“Oh no, dear, it was before that, because Bob usually brings the post at about a quarter to, I set my clock by him. Nice lad, Bob. Always likes the cup of tea I make for him. Just right for drinking by the time he gets here. No, it must have been about ten to nine, dearie. I was just waving goodbye to Bob and was closing my door, and of course I couldn't help seeing Mr. Gibson getting into that car.”

“He left in a car?”

“Oh yes, dear, with that nice wife of his. Lovely lady, your step-mama, dear.”

“She's not my stepmother, Mrs. H; they got divorced, remember?”

“Oh, I don't hold with that kind of thing, dearie. Marriage is marriage in the eyes of the Lord. I'm sure they'll both see sense soon enough, and you'll be one nice happy family again, won't you?”

Eleanor silently counted to ten.

“Thanks for the help, Mrs. H. I really should be going now. Could you hang on to these for me? They were a present for my dad.”

“Of course, dear.”

Eleanor handed over the stout and waved a cheery goodbye. It was pointless trying to explain anything to Mrs. Halloway, she just didn't live in the real world. Everything was hunky dory as far as she was concerned, and little things like divorces went right over her head.

Frowning at her father's empty house, Eleanor pulled out her mobile phone and dialed Teddy's number. Almost immediately, the dialing tone was replaced by a pre-recorded message.

“Damn it,” cursed Eleanor. “What's the point of having a bloody mobile if you don't switch it on?”

Eleanor thrust the phone back in to her bag and scowled at the world in general. Where on earth could her father be?

• • •

When she arrived home a couple of hours later, Eleanor was still no closer to finding out where her father was. She'd scoured the town center, paying particular attention to Christie's old haunts — up market coffee bars and the like — but to no avail. She'd checked both Mr. Tandy's office
and
Christie's solicitor's office. The latter was a hard-nosed ice queen, with a cloned receptionist who was greatly put out at having to speak to someone who wasn't a client. Eleanor was well and truly stumped.

“Where have you been?”

Eleanor glared at her cat as she stepped into the kitchen. Muse was staring back with an equally annoyed expression.

“Out,” said Eleanor shortly.

“Don't be facetious, it isn't … ”

“BECOMING! I bloody know it isn't becoming. As well as about a thousand other things that I apparently do far too frequently. Just give me a break, will you?”

Muse blinked a few times and licked her paw nervously. Eleanor limped to the table and pulled out a chair.

“I'm having a bugger of a day, so I really don't need you lecturing me right now, okay?”

“Can I do anything to help?” asked Muse tentatively after a few moments.

“Only if you can locate my father,” replied Eleanor flatly. Feeling oddly deflated after her outburst, Eleanor decided that she wasn't angry with the cat any longer and proceeded to fill Muse in on the morning's events.

“And to top it off, my foot is throbbing like mad,” she finished morosely.

“Oh dear. Well, I could have a wander around, see if I can sniff your father out.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, cats have rather a good sense of smell, dear, and I've smelled your father enough times to be able to recognize the scent again. Humans usually have a very distinctive smell, and each person is subtly different.”

Eleanor had a sudden desire to sniff herself, hoping that she smelled of nothing more than
Giorgio Wings.

“Could you really recognize him that way? And find him?”

“I could certainly try,” said Muse briskly.

“I don't know,” said Eleanor. “I know we've been a little at odds with each other over the last few days, but I'd hate it if anything happened to you. You're not used to the streets around here, and the town center is definitely not the place for a cat to be wandering around in.”

“I'll be perfectly fine, Ella. I can look after myself. I'm not an ordinary cat, you know,” said Muse, winking reassuringly.

“No,
ordinary
is definitely not the word I'd use to describe you,” agreed Eleanor. “Still, you'll be careful, won't you?”

“Of course I will. If your father is still in Cardiff, I'll find him, don't you worry. Now, if you could perhaps fill my bowl for me? I should have a decent meal before I leave, just in case I'm away for a couple of days.”

“A couple of
days
?” spluttered Eleanor.

“Of course. Cardiff isn't a small area, Ella. It may take a while to find your father. I have every confidence that it won't take that long though. I can have him found by tomorrow, I would think. I can find drinking water almost anywhere, but as I have never been partial to mice and the like,” she shuddered delicately, “then I really should have something decent to eat before I leave.”

Eleanor filled Muse's bowl and offered a dish of milk instead of the usual water. Muse ate her fill and lapped at the milk for several minutes, then stretched out and shook her head.

“Do you have a map?” asked the cat.

Eleanor thought for a moment, and then smiled brightly. She gestured for the cat to follow her upstairs.

“I don't have a map as such,” said Eleanor as she limped over to her bed. She got down on bended knees and retrieved her laptop from under the bed. “But I
do
have the internet.”

For the next half an hour, Eleanor and Muse pored over various street maps of Cardiff. Eleanor pointed out the areas that she had already checked, and showed the cat where her father lived.

“I'll keep phoning Dad's house every half hour or so,” said Eleanor, “But I'd suggest that you go there first in any case. It could be that he's returned by now.”

Of course, it was unlikely that this was the case, because Christie would probably keep Teddy out for as long as possible. The longer she had him in her clutches, the better chance she had of persuading him to part with more money.

“The one place that they
won't
turn up is here,” continued Eleanor. “I'll take my mobile with me so that I can keep phoning Dad, but I'm going to Jake's place. He and Danny will definitely want to help, and their flat is nearer the town center, so I'll be better off waiting there. I have a feeling that Christie is hiding in town somewhere, so the closer I am, the better.”

Muse nodded throughout Eleanor's rambling and paid attention to the laptop screen.

“I'm ready to go now,” said the cat. “My meal's nicely settled, I've got a rough idea of the layout of the city, and you've given me a starting point.”

Eleanor, not quite believing that her cat was about to play detective, retrieved the pet carrier from under the stairs and phoned for a taxi.

“I'll drop you off at Dad's place, and save you the walk.”

• • •

Eleanor got the taxi driver to wait while she opened the side entrance to her father's back garden. She let Muse out of the carrier, and told her to be careful one last time before returning to the cab outside.

“Where to now, love?”

“Cathedral Road, number twenty-seven, please.”

Eleanor glanced at her watch. Thank goodness Jake and Danny would be home by now; it was well after six. Thinking about work made her think of Max, and she jumped.

“Crap!”

“Excuse me?” said the driver, who Eleanor belatedly noticed was an impeccably dressed male in his fifties. Oops, definitely not the type of person who condoned bad language, she suspected.

“Sorry, I just realized that I forgot something. It doesn't matter.”

The driver shrugged and continued to make his way towards their destination. Meanwhile, Eleanor was reciting every curse word in her vocabulary as she berated herself for forgetting all about her date with Max. After two postponed smooch sessions already, she wasn't sure if Max would still be interested after adding the insult of a missed date to their brief romantic history. She couldn't even phone him because she didn't have his mobile number. Cardiff Mode would be no use, seeing as all of the staff would have left for the day by now. She didn't even know where Max lived.

When she arrived at Jake's house, she was muttering under her breath and frowning darkly. She tipped the taxi driver well over the usual amount to make amends for her lapse into profanity, and was well on the way to Majorly-Pissed-Off-Land.

“ELLA!” cried Danny as he opened the door. He was wearing a novelty apron with inflatable boobs and a pair of pink frilly rubber gloves. Publicly, both Danny and Jake didn't like to conform to the stereotypical image of what a gay man of the twenty-first century should look like, but in private both men liked to make fun of themselves.