The Tangled Web (39 page)

They watched him, waiting for him to guess so they could
knock him down.  He lifted one leg and started hopping towards them as he
played the first few chords of a famous song by The Proclaimers.  They shook
their heads and stared down at their drinks.  They heard him make a humourless
joke about their lack of response, to which nobody laughed.  He went on to ask
if anyone from Wales was in the bar and nobody replied, except for an English
voice a few seconds later shouting, ‘Pack up and go home.’

‘Why can’t he just pester someone else?’ Vicky groaned.

‘Because we’re an easy target tonight.  People out for a
drink, not enjoying themselves are always easy targets for muppets like him. 
We’re going to end up being the butt of his jokes all night,’ Flic seethed.

‘We need to look like we’re having fun then,’ Vicky
announced.  She grinned at Flic.  She showed as many teeth as possible. It was
an obviously fake grin.  Flic sniggered and scrunched her eyes closed.

‘You look creepy!  Like the Joker from Batman,’ she
tittered.

Vicky giggled.  ‘Just as well I’m thick skinned!’

Their laughter subsided and they stared down at their
drinks. 

‘How’s your lager?’ Flic asked.

‘Flat and warm.  How’s your cocktail?’ Vicky responded.

‘Making me feel nauseous.  I asked him for a cocktail,
something local, and do you know what he gave me?’

‘What?  Has it got ouzo in it?’ Vicky guffawed.

‘No.  It’s got champagne, Commandaria and honey in it.  He
called it a Cyprus Honey Trap,’ Flic snorted.

‘How ironic,’ Vicky sighed.

They listened to the singer drone along to the tune of a
Stereophonics' song then ask if there were any requests.

‘Do you know any Travis songs?’ Vicky asked.

‘Are you sure you don’t want this one?’ the singer smirked,
then hopped towards them playing the opening few chords of The Proclaimers’
song again.

Vicky ignored him and turned to Flic.  ‘What do you think
you’ll do when you get back to Inverness?’

‘I’m not sure if there’s any point staying there now,’ Flic
shrugged.

‘What do you mean?’ Vicky flustered.  ‘You’re going to
leave?  Why?’

Flic shrugged again.  ‘Inverness was my sanctuary.  Nobody
back at home knew where I was living and what I was doing.  Everyone will know
now.  George won’t keep it to himself.’  She bowed her head and appeared
solemn.

‘I can see your point,’ Vicky conceded.  ‘But you have a
life in Inverness now.’

‘Do I?’ Flic humphed.

‘Yes!  You’ve got friends, and a job, and your Gran!’

‘My friends are just drinking buddies.  They’re not the
kind of people I can share things with.’

‘You’ve got a job.  You’ve got that to fall back on.  And
once you’ve finished your training you’ll make a great plumber,’ Vicky
enthused. 

They both began to laugh at the idea of Flic being a
plumber, great or otherwise.

‘It was just to pass the time.  There’s no way I want to do
that for a living.  My nails are a nightmare.  I’m re-doing my Minx every night
these days.  It’s supposed to last a couple of weeks,’ Flic moaned.

‘So find something else to do.  And what about your Gran?’
Vicky worried. 

She knew Flic’s grandmother was spritely for her age.  She
caught the bus everywhere by herself, wore clothes from New Look and even had
the occasional night out at the pub according to her Tête-a-net page, but she was
old and wouldn’t be able to stay that active for much longer.  She would need
looking after, and the only family member who was in the area was Flic.

‘Gran has plenty of friends.  I’d visit all the time.  I
would just be a car journey away.  She’d be fine,’ Flic dismissed.

‘I don’t want you to leave,’ Vicky admitted.

‘Really?’ Flic seemed surprised.

‘We’ve been through a lot together in the last few months. 
You’re the only one who understands all this HunE-trap Investigations carry
on.  I’ve already lost one good friend in Christos.  I don’t want to lose
another,’ Vicky sniffed.  She was close to tears.

Flic’s heart softened a little and she patted Vicky’s arm
encouragingly.  ‘You’d be fine.  Like I said, I’d only be a car journey away. 
And I’d come back and visit you.  If you don’t mind getting visits from a
snooty unhelpful cow,’ she smirked.

‘You knew I’d called you that?’ Vicky gasped.

‘Of course I did.  That “hold” feature on your phone in the
office doesn’t work.  I could hear everything you said about me,’ Flic advised.

‘Oh God.  And you still wanted to be friends?’ Vicky asked
softly, almost whispering.

‘What can I say?  I’m a friendly kind of person behind the
snooty unhelpful exterior,’ Flic smiled.

‘I don’t think I’ve got any good friends left in Inverness
now.  You’re leaving.  Christos is out of the picture.  I have no idea what I’m
going to say to Scarlett next time I see her…’ Vicky trailed off.

They both involuntarily giggled again. 

‘I did think she was getting a bit chubby, but I didn’t
want to mention it.  Are we really surprised that she was having it off with
someone else?’ Flic asked.

Vicky shook her head.  ‘I’m definitely not surprised it was
Magnus.  When I think back now, they did seem to know a lot about each other. 
That must have been why she was so nervous at the hospital the night of Adam’s
crash when we were all there together.’

‘And how she knew exactly where he lived when I asked her. 
How long do you think it was going on?’ Flic wondered.

‘I have no idea.  Probably ages.  Nine months at least,’
Vicky surmised.

The singer finished his attempt at a Travis track and began
a Coldplay tune. 

‘This’ll be my last one.  The humidity has warped my guitar
and I don’t have an amp for my electric one.  Cyprus has destroyed my guitar,
as well as my self belief,’ the singer huffed.

Vicky threw her head down on the table and covered her
ears.  ‘I know how he feels.  But seriously, this guy needs to lay off the rock
ballads.  He’s depressing me!’ she whimpered.

‘I can’t complain.  I felt rubbish before he even started,’
Flic conceded.

Vicky lifted her head.  ‘I’ve just realised something. 
What are we going to tell Amy?’

Flic mocked tears and shook her head.  ‘I don’t know.  I
suppose by lying to us she was in breach of contract, so we can try to wriggle
out of it.  We could ask Magnus, I suppose.  We can’t ask Adam though.  He’ll
want no part of this.’

‘Talk of the devil,’ Vicky remarked and pointed towards the
window. 

They saw Adam walking past the bar as he appeared to stop
and look at the poster advertising free live music that night.  Flic thought he
looked sad.  His shoulders were slumped, his eyes had lost their twinkle and he
kept his hands in his pockets.  His swagger was gone.  It broke Flic’s heart to
think that before she had arrived in his life, he was so effervescent and
energetic. 

He walked up the steps and opened the door.  His eyes
seemed to be instinctively drawn to the two women.   As soon as he saw them he
turned and started to walk back out of the bar, but he hesitated and went back
in.  He walked straight to their table and sat down.

‘Alright?’ he began.

They nodded and muttered their own greetings, neither of
the women sure what to say to him or how to explain what had happened.

‘I’ve just come from your hotel.  I was there waiting for
Lumi to come back,’ he announced.

‘And did she?’ Vicky asked.

‘Yes.  I nicked her passport out of her bag earlier today
when she was at the shop so she couldn’t go anywhere without us,’ he stated
matter-of-factly, as if it were a perfectly normal occurrence to steal
someone’s passport.

‘She actually put her bag down?’ Flic asked.

‘Yeah.  She trusted me.  Didn’t notice that when she put it
down to pay for her shopping, I had bent down to tie my shoe lace.  And reached
into her bag.  She didn’t suspect me,’ he nodded.

‘What did she have to say for herself?  I mean, when you
saw her tonight,’ Vicky demanded.

‘Not much.  Just that she needed her passport because
George was waiting for her.  They were getting ready to fly home.  They
arranged the flight this afternoon apparently.  Got sick of being here and
wanted to leave the island,’ he explained.

‘I had wondered if they might stay here for good.  I
suppose I was wrong,’ Flic frowned.

‘Well, she said George had bought her a plane ticket a few
days ago to fly home with him.  They just changed the dates,’ Adam smiled
joylessly.

‘I might go back to the hotel.  Leave you two to talk,’
Vicky announced.

‘I should warn you that Christos turned up while I was
waiting,’ Adam cautioned her.

‘Is he still there?’ she fretted.

‘No.  He left a package at reception and left.  He said to
tell you he was sorry and also apologised about Pamela.  Said he had no idea it
was her and he’s learned his lesson.  He’s going to think twice now
before…doing that kind of thing with a stranger online.’

‘I should think so too,’ Vicky tutted.

‘Text me when you’re back at the hotel safely,’ Adam
commanded.

Vicky nodded and left the bar, ignoring jibes from the
singer about leaving so soon because of his singing.

Adam and Flic both stared down at the table for a few
minutes.  Adam played with the beer mats nervously and Flic racked her brain
for something to say to him which wouldn’t make her sound like an idiot or a
bitch.  She couldn’t come up with anything.

‘What are you going to do with your last day in Cyprus
tomorrow?’ he asked.

‘Shop.  I have tons of money from George for the divorce
settlement that’s been lying in my bank account untouched for a few years,’
Flic informed him.

‘Retail therapy?’

‘Yeah.  But I was planning to buy a new wardrobe anyway. 
That’s why I brought that big empty suitcase.’

Adam nodded, remembering the size of case Flic had brought
with her.  So she wasn’t some idiot who had packed her entire wardrobe for two
days away.  There was method in her madness.

‘There’s someone else waiting for Vicky back at the hotel,’
Adam announced.

‘Who?’ Flic asked.

‘She’ll tell you when you get back there yourself,’ he
replied, shaking his head.  He clearly wasn’t sure he should have said anything
at all.

‘Christos told me all the other stuff that happened today. 
About George and Amy not being together anymore.  And how he punched George.  I
know it wasn’t your fault, what happened today,’ Adam began.

Flic nodded.  ‘It must have been a bit of a shock to get
that photo though,’ she granted.

‘It was,’ he grimaced.  His face aged five years in five
seconds at the reminder of the photo.

‘I suppose not everything is what it seems and it’s easy to
make an innocent party look guilty sometimes,’ Flic concluded.

‘Makes you wonder how many other people are caught in those
situations,’ Adam nodded.

‘I know.  People we’ve investigated might have been victims
rather than perpetrators.  Technology makes it easy to misread things,’ Flic
sighed.

‘And when you mix that was good old fashioned dishonesty….’
Adam didn’t finish his sentence.  They both knew what he meant.

Flic pinched the bridge of her nose.  She relaxed her
shoulders and tried to feel less guilty than she did.  Yes, there had been
times when she had got it very wrong, but there were also times when she had
exposed cheaters and given people the information they needed to make an
informed decision.  She had to hang onto that thought.  She couldn’t let
herself feel guilty for other people’s dishonesty.

‘I think you’re doing the right thing quitting HunE-trap
Investigations,’ Adam advised.  ‘I’m out too.  Maybe Magnus could go it alone. 
Or Scarlett could help him,’ he sniggered.

‘You heard about the Roland Reading show?’ Flic guffawed.

‘Yeah, I read Pamela’s email.  What a mess!’ he whooped.

‘Did you know anything about it?  Or suspect anything?’
Flic asked.

‘Yeah, I knew they’d been involved.  I always suspect
Magnus of being up to no good.  That’s why I kept out of it completely when he
and Vicky got together.  I knew it wouldn’t last.  It’s funny though.  He hates
kids and now he’s going to have one!’ Adam grinned.

‘The poor baby,’ Flic scowled, the smile quickly
disappearing from her face when she realised someone was going to have Magnus
as a father.

‘Let’s just wait and see.  We shouldn’t make assumptions. 
He could be a good dad.  He might surprise us,’ Adam attempted to convince
himself and Flic.

‘I suppose,’ Flic nodded.

‘What about you?  Are you going to keep going with your
plumbing?’ he smirked.