Chapter 3

Samantha didn’t leave the cabin all day. She never felt hungry or even needed the toilet, all she could think about was that Will was dead. Murdered, just when everything was coming right again. Their whirlwind romance had been unbelievable. Will had pursued her relentlessly from the time he’d seen her in a TV advert. Flowers arrived daily and regular gifts of jewellery. He turned up at her door every night.

At first, she resisted his advances but she soon gave in and found that being wooed by Will Wainwright was a most pleasurable experience. There wasn’t a restaurant that couldn’t find a table for him, nor a theatre that would turn him away. They always had the best of everything. After their marriage, things had calmed down a bit, but for the first year Will neglected his business, in order to be with her but slowly he got back to business as usual. This meant foreign travel. At first, she’d gone with him but she soon got tired of spending her days in hotels or exploring new places on her own. At least if she stayed home, she’d have people she knew around her.

She’d thought about filling her time by returning to acting, but her agent hadn’t been that successful at finding work for her. The trips down to Brighton had started as days out for Sam and her girlfriends, and of course, she hahad to impress them by showing them around Bee Jay II. That was when she first met Ryan. He was permanently employed by Will to look after Bee Jay. It was after one of these girl’s days out that she found herself sitting on deck with Ryan sipping champagne in the late afternoon sunshine. Ryan had taken them out on a short excursion and they’d all been lying on deck in their swimsuits, Samantha was still wearing only her bikini. The alcohol had loosened their tongues and Samantha was bemoaning being left on her own for so long. Ryan looked at he

‘If you were my wife I’d never leave you on your own.’

‘Oh Ryan, that’s so sweet.’ She reached over to stroke his cheek but as she did so, she almost tipped the chair over.

‘Oh dear I’m feeling a bit squiffy I’d better not drive home.’ She got out her phone and started to look for a hotel.

‘There’s no need for that. You can sleep on-board She’s quite comfortable you know.’

‘I hadn’t thought of that, of course, I could.’

‘If we order dinner from the Pavilion restaurant I could go and pick it up. Mr Wainwright often does that if he spends the night aboard.’

‘Oh Ryan, you really are such a dear.’ She reached over and squeezed his hand.

They had dinner out on the deck and continued drinking. Ryan started to talk about Will in negative terms. He wasn’t a real sailor; the boat was all computerised to cover Will’s lack of ability. She should really have a crew of four, but Will wouldn’t pay for that. Samantha realised now that she should have slapped him down but she hadn’t.

Ryan produced an amplified iPod and they started to dance on the deck. The alcohol she’d consumed took away her inhibitions and she sank into Ryan’s arms.

‘Oh, Ryan I shouldn’t be doing this. I’m a married woman.’

‘If he cared about you he’d be here instead of me.’

As the evening and the drinking went on Samantha became less stable on her feet. After one too many stumbles she hugged Ryan and kissed his cheek.

‘I think it’s time for bed.’

He put his arm around her waist and held her close as he walked her down the gangway to the cabin. He turned her and sat her on the bed. She put both hands behind his head.

‘My hero.’ she said as she pulled his head down and kissed him.

Ryan didn’t need any more encouragement. He kissed her back a full open-mouthed passionate kiss. He pushed her back down onto the bed as his kisses moved down from her mouth to her neck then her shoulders. He untied her bikini top and revealed her perfect breasts. His kissed moved further down until he was sucking on her nipple. Samantha knew she should stop him but it felt so good and she really needed someone. With both hands on the back of his head, she pulled him hard onto her breast as she moaned with pleasure. By the time she got around to resisting, it was probably too late to stop him and she didn’t know that she wanted to.

‘Ryan this is wrong. We shouldn’t be doing this.’

‘No Sam, this is right. You want it and I want it. It’s you and him that’s wrong. He doesn’t appreciate you, he doesn’t deserve you.’ Standing between her legs, he reached down, eased the bikini bottom over her perfect bum, and revealed the fact that she was a natural blonde. As he got back to work on her breasts and nipples, Samantha writhed about beneath him. As he entered her, she wrapped her legs around him and hugged him to her. They rolled about on the bed and enjoyed each other until both exhausted they fell asleep.

Sam woke with a throat like sandpaper. Someone was swinging a hammer against the inside of her head and there was a wet patch on the bed beneath her. She struggled to get out of bed and made her way to the bathroom to get a glass of water. She found some paracetamol in the cabinet and swallowed two down with some more water. It wasn’t until she walked back into the bedroom that the full impact of the previous night hit her. She gasped as she saw Ryan still sleeping in the bed she’d just left. She stepped back into the bathroom, sat down and put her head in her hands.

‘Oh my god what have I done.’ She thought to herself.

She sat and thought. ‘This must never happen again.’ She decided. ‘I’ll tell Ryan it was all a terrible mistake and that it meant nothing and that he must try to forget it ever happened.’ She walked back into the bedroom and found Ryan sitting up in bed. He looked at her and his eyes lit up.

‘God you’re beautiful.’ he said, ‘Last night was absolutely fantastic. Where do we go from here?’

‘Ryan, darling, last night was a mistake and must never happen again.’

‘No, no, it wasn’t a mistake. I wanted it and you wanted it, I know you did we’ve done nothing wrong.’

‘Of course, we’ve done something wrong. I’m a married woman I shouldn’t be here with you and you shouldn’t be here with me. What would my husband, your boss, think if he knew?’

‘He doesn’t deserve you, he doesn’t love you like I do. He can’t, or he wouldn’t leave you alone for so long.’

Looking back on it, she knew that she should have responded differently. She should have told him that it was her own fault that she was left alone. That her husband did want her with him and that he did love her. However, it was that declaration of love that she focussed on.

‘Oh Ryan, you can’t really love me, you hardly know me. Last night we both had too much to drink and we made a mistake. You are a darling Ryan and I like you but I’m married and that’s important.’

‘I do love you. I’ve loved you since I first met you. I wasn’t drunk I wanted last night to happen and I want to be with you.’

‘I think you’d better get your clothes and leave while I get dressed. I’m going back to London.’

He gathered up his clothes and headed for the door when she called out to him.

‘Ryan, last night never happened. Are we clear on that?’

He nodded and left the cabin with his head down.

Now as she dwelt on the fact that she was alone on the boat with a murderer she wished she’d left it at that. That she’d never returned to Brighton without Will. She tried, she really did. For three weeks, she held out against her friends’ demands for another girl’s day out on Bee Jay

‘I know what it is.’ Said Samantha’s best friend Jane. ‘She just wants to keep that hunk Ryan all to herself.’

‘That’s not fair.’ Beverly chipped in. ‘She’s a married woman, and her Will is pretty dishy not to mention loaded. Having Ryan as well is just being greedy.’

She blushed, and tears came to her eyes.

Jane put her arm around her friend. ‘Oh don’t get upset. We were just having a little fun. You have to admit Ryan is a bit of a hunk. We’re just a little bit jealous that’s all.’

Sam dried her eyes. ‘I’m sorry it just brought home to me how much I miss Will.’

‘All the more reason for a girlie day out on that boat.’

‘Maybe, I’ll call Ryan and set it up’

She’d known it was a mistake but she just couldn’t help herself. The other girls had tried their luck with Ryan but got nowhere. Jane even suggested that he might be gay. It was all Sam could do to avoid jumping in to deny it. As usual, the champagne had flowed and Samantha had her fair share. The other girls got a taxi to the station leaving her alone with Ryan.

She’d booked a suite in The Grand for the night and had intended to get a taxi, but Ryan insisted on driving her. It seemed ungrateful not to invite him to dinner. From that point, there was only going to be one outcome.

It was a warm spring and the pressure from the girls, for days out on the boat was irresistible when Will was away. It didn’t take long before she was popping down to Brighton whenever she felt lonely or in need of a distraction. It had seemed like a harmless bit of fun she’d never imagined it would end up with her sharing a boat with a murderer.

She heard a knock on the door.

‘Sam, Sam speak to me. You can’t stay in there forever. We need to get things straight.’

She lay on the bed with the pillows over her head willing him to go away.

I’d never felt so grateful for spending my gap year in France. It had given me the chance to practice the French I’d learned in school. By the end of the year, I’d become very good and I certainly needed it now. Few of the hospital staff spoke good enough English to explain everything that had to be done, but in their native language, it was no problem.

It was twenty minutes before the doctor came to see me.

‘Madame Wainwright?’

‘Non.’ I told him. I explained that Samantha had been on the boat with Will and as far as I knew, still was.

‘I am Mr Wainwright’s Personal Assistant.’ I explained. ‘Is there a problem?’

‘Monsieur Wainwright is very ill. He has some damage to his skull and there has been some bleeding on the brain. We need to do a craniotomy. It is a dangerous operation I really need the authority of his next of kin to go ahead.’

‘What will happen if you don’t do this operation?’

The doctor shrugged holding his hands out palms upwards ‘It is difficult to say. He is a strong man. I don’t know why he isn’t dead already. He may survive but he will not be the man he was.’

‘And if you do it?’

‘He will probably survive and the brain damage would be small. In time he may make a full recovery.’

‘Well Doctor, I can’t get any family here in less than twelve hours. Do we have that much time?’

‘Non, every minute we delay increases the risk.’

‘Go ahead Doctor, I will support you all the way. Will Wainwright wouldn’t want to live if his brain wasn’t on top form. I will try to get his father here but go ahead and do what you have to do.’

The doctor walked away and I sat down and got out my phone. Will’s father Tom lived in Sheffield I’d spoken to him a few times when he’d tried to make contact with Will. He seemed like a nice man and I always felt sorry for him. Will never spoke about him but I knew something had happened between them. Tom seemed to want to build bridges but Will wanted nothing to do with him. He hadn’t even invited him to his wedding.

Unknown to Will I’d had a few conversations with his father and had his number in my contacts list. I punched in the number and waited for an answer. When he answered, I knew where Will got his directness from.

‘Tom Wainwright, what do you want?’

‘Tom, its Stephanie Fletcher. Will’s had an accident. He needs you.’

‘Stephanie, I’m sorry love, I didn’t recognise the number. What do you mean he needs me? That boy hasn’t needed me since he was a teenager. Is that what he said, that he needs me?’

‘No Tom, he’s not in a fit state to say anything. It’s really serious we could lose him. He needs you here, I need you here.’

Tom owned an engineering business in Sheffield, supplying components to the motor industry. It wouldn’t be easy for him to just drop everything and leave.

‘Okay lass, so where is here?’

‘The hospital in St Nazaire, it’s in... ‘

Tom cut me off in mid-flow. ‘Oh, I know where it is lass. My father took part in the raid there. I went with him to a memorial service when I were a lad. I’ll have to make a few calls first then I’ll be on my way. I’ll see you sometime tomorrow.’

We said our goodbyes and I looked up the next number I needed. Sir George McMahon was a prickly character. He built his construction business from nothing and was proud of the fact. Now in his late sixties, he was under pressure to make way for a younger man. That was certainly not Sir George’s way. While he could still cut it, he would stay at the top. He had no time for people like Will who made money out of other people’s misery. He answered the phone on the third ring.

‘Yes, what is it?’

‘Sir George, I’m Stephanie Fletcher, Will Wainwright’s P.A.’

‘I don’t want to be rude Miss Fletcher, but I doubt that Mr Wainwright and I have anything to talk about.’

‘Oh no sir, I didn’t think you would. I’m calling to tell you that your boat will be a day late arriving in Mahon. Your man Bruce Goddard did us a huge favour today and it’s going to make him late. I just wanted you to know and tell you that Mr Wainwright owes you a favour.’

‘Well, I’ll deal with young Goddard when he gets here. As for Wainwright what could he possibly do for me?’

‘Well sir, if he were here I’m sure he would start be suggesting you call your finance director, Mr Andrew Pemberley and tell him the emergency board meeting next Tuesday has been called off. Mr Wainwright can’t make it and all offers are off the table.’

‘Now wait a minute young lady. Are you telling me that Andy Pemberley, one of my oldest friends, was going to sell my company from under me?’

‘I think that is something you should take up with him sir. Mr Wainwright feels that he owes you a favour. He is willing to loan you some of our team to show you where you are vulnerable, and advise on what to do about it.’

There was a pause in the conversation before Sir George came back. ‘So just what was this favour that young Goddard did for your boss?’

‘I’m not at liberty to say that, sir, nor is Mr Goddard so please don’t ask him. It really was a huge favour and it has cost you nothing but the use of your yacht for a day. You’ll have my number now, so give me a call if you want to take up Mr Wainwright’s offer. There is just one other thing, we really would appreciate it if you could keep all this under your hat sir.’