Chapter 10

Inspector Davies noticed the lack of people in the suite of offices owned by Wainwright Enterprises. At reception, he gave his name and asked to speak to Mr Wainwright. He was shown into a large office with a large mahogany desk and big leather Chesterfield sofa. Will moved his wheelchair out from behind the desk and welcomed him.

‘Things a bit quiet around here today sir.’

‘Yes inspector, mine is not the sort of business where you do very well working from one of these.’ He said, thumping the wheelchair.

.

‘I’m sorry to hear that sir. I’ve got to admit I find that surprising, it’s not as if you have to be physically fit to buy and sell is it?’

‘You’re right, of course. The problem is some of my staff equate physical power with business drive. My competitors have poached them by convincing them that I can’t continue.’

‘Is Miss Fletcher one of the deserters sir?’

‘Good God, no. That is I hope not. She is working from home at present’

‘Well, that’s good to hear sir. I thought she was a very capable young lady.’

‘Quite so inspector. Now, what brings you to see me? Have you managed to apprehend my wife and young Betts?’

‘No not yet sir. Mr Betts managed to avoid arrest in Gibraltar, and so far, he has managed to stay in the territorial waters of African countries. Judging by his movements, he seems to be unaware of the fact that we are tracking him. At present, we are content to play a waiting game. He’ll need to go ashore somewhere and we’ll try to get the country he lands in to arrest him. Then we can extradite him.’

‘I see, sounds reasonable. –Is that it then inspector? Did you just come to give me a progress report?’

‘No sir, not exactly. –Tell me what do you think your yacht is worth?’

‘Well, first of all, she’s a ketch, and she set me back about six million and I’ve upgraded some of the facilities since then. Why do you ask? I can assure you everything was above board.’

‘Oh, I’m quite sure it was sir. I was trying to get a lead on how Betts hopes to get away with it. He’s got your boat and I thought that maybe he was planning to use it as a way of liberating enough cash to disappear. From what you say, sir, he could sell the vessel for twenty per cent of its value and still have enough to finance a decent life in a foreign country.’

‘That won’t be easy, Inspector. Every vessel has to be registered and to sell it you have to have those documents. Bee Jay’s documents are right here.’

‘I’m sure you are right sir, but criminals can be very devious. You must have come across people in the sailing world who bend the rules. If you could make five million on the deal, that leaves plenty of cash to generate false documents.’

‘Yes, I see your point. I don’t actually know anyone who would do that but I’m sure they exist. I’ve heard rumours of someone in Marbella and another in ... Mauritius ... or was it Seychelles. Well somewhere down there.’

‘Well if we’re lucky it will be Marbella, though I doubt that. Mr Betts seems to be avoiding places where we can easily get to him.’

‘Well, it sounds like you’ve got it under control inspector.’

‘Thank you, Sir, pass my regards on to the lovely Miss Fletcher’

‘I’ll do that. Thank you for keeping me up to date.’

‘No problem sir, I hope things turn around for you.’

‘Thank you, Inspector, I’m sure they will’

‘I’ll find my own way out sir.’

As he left Will thought about the situation. He had no need to work. He could just close the office and call it a day. Many people would at this point and he was sure that Samantha would be able to fill his days for him. No Samantha was no longer part of his life and her idea of a great lifestyle was not his. He was still Will Wainwright and he could still make them all sit up and take notice. Things would change, he wanted to change, but giving in was not in his nature.

Getting out of the wheelchair was his first priority, but there was no reason why he couldn’t be just as successful as before. He thought about Stephanie. God, he missed her. Over the years they had developed a relationship, she understood him. He realised that he actually missed her more than he missed his wife. Just the sight of her gave him a lift. Davies was right, she was a fine looking woman, but more than that, she was clever witty and extremely able. Of late, he found that she was the first person he thought of when he woke and the last one on his mind as he went to sleep.

I’d set up the holding company and purchased a large amount of Sir Georges shares leaving him with just 15% of his company. The initial approaches to the other shareholders had shown promise. I was looking for a new employer when the doorbell rang. Peeping through the spyhole, I saw a huge bunch of flowers. I opened the door.

‘Miss Stephanie Fletcher?’ asked a voice from behind the flowers.

‘Yes, that’s me.’

‘I need for you to sign for these Miss. Could you show me where I can put these so that we can do the paperwork.’

I took the clipboard from him, found the section for my delivery and signed it. I handed the clipboard back to him and took the bouquet from him. When he left, I took the flowers to the kitchen to put them in water. I pulled the card from the envelope and read the printed card.

‘I’m Sorry’

That was all it said, and it left me puzzled. The only person I wanted an apology from was Will, but I knew I’d wait a long time for that. After cutting back the stems and placing them in a vase, I put them on my desk. They really were beautiful, irises, bird of paradise flowers chrysanthemum, with some delicate freesias. I’d just started work again when the doorbell rang again. When I found another man with a huge bouquet, I was surprised and a little angry.

‘Can you tell me who sent these?’ I asked.

‘Sorry miss if it’s not on the card I can’t help you. Maybe if you called the shop, they could tell you, I just get delivery instructions.’

I signed his docket and took the flowers, this bouquet was even bigger than the first and I wasn’t sure if I had enough vases to put them in. This time the card had a different message but still printed.

‘Please forgive me’

Now I was very confused. I wanted them to be from Will but I couldn’t imagine him doing this. Maybe for his trophy wife but not for me. I started to put the flowers into the water when the doorbell rang again. This time I strode angrily to the door and opened it. I was confronted by a man holding a huge bunch of long-stemmed red roses. The bouquet was so big that I could only see the bottom half of the person holding it.

‘Look I’ve had enough of this. How am I supposed to get any work done when I’m spending all my time dealing with you?’

‘Have dinner with me tonight’ he said.

I recognised the voice immediately but still couldn’t believe it.

‘Will?’

He dropped the flowers enough to look at me over the top of them.

‘Do you think you can take these off me? It’s a bit difficult for me balancing on one leg like this.’

I took the flowers from him and he grabbed his crutches from either side of the door.

‘How did you manage to get up here with these lovely roses?’

‘I didn’t, I arranged to meet the delivery man here. He even rang the doorbell for me.’

‘But you got all the way up here on crutches?’

‘Yes, I’m getting better on them now. –So what’s it going to be? Are you going out with one of your entourage of eligible young men, or are you going to take pity on a poor handicapped chap who is desperate for the company of a beautiful woman?’

‘Mr Wainwright I don’t believe you’ve ever been desperate, but since you asked so nicely, yes I’d be delighted to have dinner with you tonight. I’ll have to ring Brad Pitt and put him off, but I’m sure he’ll understand. We must all do our bit to help the disabled.’

He gave me the biggest smile.

‘Well if you’re sure, I’ll pick you up at seven. I’ve got to go now, appointment at the hospital.’

I watched as he made his way slowly back towards the lift. He was dragging his left leg but he was actually moving it. He got into the lift then turned and smiled before the doors closed. As I took the roses back into my flat, I ran the conversation through in my mind

‘Desperate for the company of a beautiful woman’ he’d said. He’d actually called me beautiful. He’d given me red roses. I couldn’t believe that he didn’t know of their significance. I tortured myself all afternoon trying to decide what the invitation really meant. Was it just an invitation to dinner or was Will building up to something more?

That evening I put on my best dress and took extra care with my makeup. A beautiful woman was what he wanted and I was going to do my best to give him one.

At seven, `o’ clock sharp the doorbell rang. I grabbed a wrap and answered the door. I’d expected to find Thomas, Will’s chauffeur. Instead, I found Will himself.

‘When I get this damned leg to work properly I’ll offer you my arm until then I hope you’ll be content to walk beside me.’

‘I’ll gladly walk beside you. You could have sent Thomas up, I would have understood.’

‘I think my girl has every right to a personal appearance. I getting quite adept at using these crutches now. But the time will come when I don’t need them.’

I took hold of his arm and we went down to his car. Thomas gave me a big smile as we got into the car, before driving us to the restaurant.

I’d been to that restaurant many times. We’d frequently entertained clients there. This time it was me that was being entertained and it was so exciting. Will insisted that I wait while he got out of the car and came round to meet me. We walked into the restaurant together, and were warmly greeted by Oliver the maître d’.