Public Property (30 page)

He nodded to a few people he
recognised
and made his way to the bar at the far end of the room. He didn’t like the place
.
I
t was all bright lights and wall
-
to
-
wall names from the American edition of
Who’s Who
. It wasn’t s
omewhere he felt comfortable.

He ordered a beer from the bartender and sat down
.

‘
Hello
,
Mr
Kaden
.
H
ow are you? We haven’t seen you here for some time
,’
the barman greeted with a smile.

‘
Try about five years
.’

‘
How
’
s everything with you?
’

‘
Good thanks
. L
isten, I’m meant to be meeting with Eric Lawson-Peck tonight. Has he arrived yet?
’

‘Sure.
H
e’s in his office
.
I
t’s on the fourth floor
.’

‘
His office?
’

‘
Yes
.’
The barman put a bottle of beer on the bar.

‘
His office?
’
Nicholas repeated.

‘
Yes
.
Mr
Lawson-Peck
owns the President’s Lounge
. Take the door at the end of this room and take the lift to the fourth floor
.’

Nicholas took a swig of his beer
then crossed the room.

He caught the lift and when
the doors opened there were two large black men
,
dressed in tuxedos
,
stood outside waiting for him.

‘
Mr
Kaden
,’
the
larger
of the two men greeted.

‘
H
ey
.’

‘
If you wouldn’t mind removing all the metal you
’
re carrying and hold
ing
your arms out
.
Just for a weapons check.’

‘
A weapons check
?’

‘
Yes
,
s
ir, it’s just
routine
.
I
f you wouldn’t mind
.’
The smaller man produced a scanning machine.

Nicholas took off his watch and removed his car keys from his pocket
. He handed them to the large man then
held his arms out
for
the smaller man
to run
the machine up, down and around him like a wand.

The machine let out a loud beep.

‘
A belt buckle
.
Sorry
, forgot.’

The smaller man parted the jacket of Nicholas’ suit and revealed the offending item. He then patted Nicholas down from shoulders to toe and even looked inside his socks.

‘
Thank you
,
Mr
Kaden
.
I
t’s this way
.’ T
he larger man gave Nicholas his valuables back.

The two me
n led
him
down the corridor and they stopped at a thick set of double doors. The larger man pressed a button and spoke into an intercom.

‘
Mr
Lawson-Peck, I have
M
r
Kaden
. Are you ready for him?’

There was silence for
a time and then the reply came.

‘
Show him in
,
Fraser
.’

There was a buz
z.
Fraser,
pushed open the door and the smaller man indicated for Nicholas to follow
,
while he brought up the rear.

He
stepped into
the
room
. There were glass windows at the far end
,
with a f
antastic view of the city below.
A
big desk
sat
just in front of that
,
with a chair either side and a bookcase
full of leather-
bound books
on one wall
. There was no one else there.

‘
Wait here
,’
Fraser ordered, pulling out the chair from the desk.

Nicholas did as he was told and sat down while the two men went back through the room and
left.

He
was just contemplating
standing back up again
when
a sudden movement to his right made him turn
.
T
he
bookcase rotated and Eric Lawson-Peck appeared in the room.

Nicholas
had only ever seen the man in photographs and there was nothing striking about his appearance. He was of average height, approximately
five foot ten.
H
e had receding
,
fair hair
that
was
greying
at the temples and he was slimly built. He was wearing a dark blue
designer
suit
, his shirt open at the neck and no tie.

Eric
paused momentarily and then walked swiftly towards his desk and sat down opposite Nicholas.

Eric
placed his hands on the desk and then suddenly stood up again and outstretched his hand in Nicholas’ direction.

‘
I don’t believe we
’v
e ever met
.’

‘
No, I don’t believe we have
.
I would
’
ve remembered
,’
Nicholas responded, unmoving.

Eric smiled and sat back down in his chair.

‘
So, to what do I owe the pleasure?
’ Eric opened a drawer of his desk and took out a box of cigars.

‘
I would have thought
that
was obvious
.’

‘
Not to me. Would you like one?
’ He offered the cigars across the table.

‘
No thank you
.
I don’t
.’

‘
Oh
,
that’s right
.
Y
ou had cancer didn’t you? How stupid of me! Someone who
’
s had cancer wouldn’t want to be taking an
y unnecessary risks would they?’
Eric lit his cigar and drew on it, producing a fog of smoke.

‘
Look, Eric, we both know why I’
m here
…’
Nicholas started.

‘
Thank you
.
I
’
d be delighted
,’ the older man interrupted.

‘
What?
’

‘
Your marriage to my daughter
.
I would be delighted to come. I take it you
have
brought an invitation
.’

N
icholas let out a sigh
.

‘
That isn’t why you’re here? Well then
,
I
’
m at a loss as to why you
are
here
.’

‘
You know why. Ever since the paper printed that article about Freya telling someone you were dead
,
everything
’s
started to go to shit for her again
.
J
ust like it did the last time you involved yourself in her life
,’
Nicholas snapped.

‘
I have absolutely no idea what you
’
re talking about
.’

‘Come on.
D
on’t play the innocent with me
. I’m an actor, remember?
I can smell an act and you don’t fool me. You can’t bear it that everyone
’s questioning you again.
S
nooping into your world, wanting to know why Freya doesn’t want to have you anywhere near her
. W
ondering again if the other article
you bullied her into changing was actually true.’

‘
I’ll tell you something shall I? I don’t much care for people getting the police around my property in the early hours of the morning, waking me up and asking pointless questions. I don’t much care for people who bandy my name around all over the place
and spout malicious lies about me. I do not care for people who
show me no respect
.’ Eric leaned forward in his chair, his arms on the desk.

‘
And I don’t much care for people who beat up my driver, break into my home and sen
d
my fiancée obscene letters
.’

Eric smiled and sat back in his chair.

‘
Do you know
,
Nick? May I call you Nick? Perhaps I should, seeing as how we’re almost
family
.
Do you know
I was actually surprised
Jane
managed to keep her anonymity for so
long.
At
the end of the day
though
,
it
’s
always
the same old story
with her
.
S
he just c
a
n’t keep her mouth shut
.’

‘
Her name isn’t Jane anymore
.
S
he hasn’t been Jane for a long time. Her name is
Freya
and the reason
Freya
can
’
t keep her mouth shut, as you so eloquently put it, is because she can
’
t
forget
what you put her through
.’

‘Have you ever considered, Nick
,
that
maybe
Jane
’s
been embellishing things?
I mean she does have a
habit of doing that
,
doesn’t she? Perhaps she
’
s still feeling a little aggrieved I sent her to
prison.
I mean that might just
give someone a
n
axe to grind
,
don’t you think?’

‘
What are you trying to say? That you didn’t beat Freya quite as hard as she tells people you did? That she hid in her wardrobe
less
times
than she claims? There
h
as to be truth at the beginning for it to be embellished
.’

‘
Your fiancée needs to learn some self restraint, particularly when the
press is
around. I was sure that
’d
be something y
ou
’
d have taught her by now.
I
’
ve seen you work the journalists, avoid the tricky questions, change the direction of conversation
.
I have no doubt
you know when to make no comment.’

‘
If you knew Freya at all then you
’
d know she
’
s her own person and no one tells her what to do, least of all me
.’

‘
Well, well, what is this? You
’
re admitting you
’
re not the master of your own household? I
’
m surprised at you
,
Nick
.’ H
e took a long, slow drag of his cigar.

‘
We share things
,
Eric
.
T
hat’s how a relationship should work. There shouldn’t be a tyrant handing out orders with a firm hand and a sharp tongue. That
behaviour
doesn’t make you a man, it make
s
you a bully
.’