Chapter 49

Annette looked at Deborah covertly the next morning. Her mother appeared happy and well rested. There was also a slight look of smug contentedness. "Oh well," thought Annette. "She can't have been hurt but it was odd she should scream."

Deborah noted Annette eying her and suddenly realised what was up. She and Richard had completely forgotten about Annette and had made a lot of noise last night. She turned back to the cooker to hide the blush and the grin on her face.

Richard breezed in obviously very pleased with life kissed Annette on the top of her head and said good morning to her before going up behind Deborah, hugging her and kissing the nape of her neck. He then goosed her and danced away before she could retaliate. He sat down at the table, picked up his knife and fork and held them vertically on the table.

"What's for breakfast, good wife?" he asked.

"Stale bread and water for you, Mr Hoddinot, if you go on behaving like that."

"What have I done wrong?" he asked plaintively.

"Blatant flirting with a married woman before her poor innocent daughter's very eyes and then sitting there at the table like a greedy Falstaff."

Annette started to get the giggles.

Richard put his knife and fork down with a clatter, folded his hands in his lap and stared down at the table in mock penitence. "I'm vewwy sowwy, Mummy," he said. "Pulease could I have a pwoper bweakfast."

"Oh you!" exclaimed Deborah plonking down two plates of bacon, eggs fried bread and tomatoes. "Not another word until your plate is clean."

Annette pealed with laughter and Deborah was unable to keep a straight face either. She put her arms round Richard's neck and kissed the top of his head softly. "Just as well you're sitting down or you might have got your bottom pinched."

"Never," said Richard smugly. "Lese majeste."

"Laze possibly but no majesty. You're just plain common or garden Mister."

"I know. I know," said Richard mournfully. "There's just no respect shown by you young people these days."

"Speak for yourself, old man. You haven't thanked me for your nice breakfast yet."

Richard leapt to his feet and grabbed her. He kissed her hard and then said, "Thank you, my darling, and I love you to bits."

Deborah kissed him gently back. "I love you too, you wretched man. More than I can say."

Annette blew her nose and wiped away the tears of laughter. "Please don't do that again," she hiccupped. "I laughed so much I've got indigestion."

Shortly afterwards she and Deborah left. In the car on the way to school she said to Deborah, "Mum, you woke me up with your screaming last night. You were all right weren't you?"

Deborah grinned at her. "Yes, darling. Very."

"Why did you scream then?"

"You know what I mean by an orgasm, don't you?"

"Yes" Annette did, sort of: the climax of sexual intercourse.

"Well there are orgasms and orgasms. Some are quite small and others are whoppers. You can even pass out from the really big ones."

Annette's eyes widened.

"Richard gave me several small ones, each getting bigger and ending with a whopper which made me scream with pleasure."

"Gosh!"

"That's what love can do, darling. It's not just sexual intercourse. When two people love each other like Richard and I do the whole business becomes special with each wanting to give the utmost love and pleasure to the other and that leads to whopping orgasms. I'm sorry we woke you though, darling. We'll have to try and be a bit quieter."

"Don't worry about it, Mum. It was just that I was worried that Richard had got carried away and hurt you, even though I know he'd never mean to. Now you've explained it you make as much noise as you like. I'll be thrilled for you."

"Oh God," thought Deborah. "She's done it again. I am so lucky to have such a daughter."

At home Richard was just about to telephone Neil when the phone rang.

"Hi, Richard," said Neil.

"Golly," replied Richard. "Great minds and all that. I was just about to ring you."

"Are you free later on this morning," Neil asked.

"Yes."

"Geoffrey and I are going to be in your area. Could we drop in and beg a cup of coffee off you?"

"Of course. I look forward to it. I'll expect you when I see you."

"Great."

Richard busied himself with his headhunting work. He had been going to ring Liz and tell her off Jeremy's appearance but decided to wait until he had talked to Geoffrey and Neil. He did not want to risk spiking their guns in any way.

The two of them turned up in a 1926 Lagonda. It was in pristine condition and Richard admired its sleek, sweeping lines. Geoffrey was clearly very proud of it.

Once they were all seated with their coffee Neil opened the discussion. "I imagine," he said, "you'd like to hear what happened in Edinburgh from our point of view."

Richard nodded. "I certainly would," he responded.

"Well, let me say first that Alison was most impressed with your Tig, as she called her. She said she is a first rate hockey player and that if she doesn't make the England side there will be something very wrong with the selection system. She also said she was extraordinarily brave. A lot of girls would have refused to attend the prize giving under the circumstances but Annette was determined to go through with it. Just as well with her winning the best player award."

"Thank you for telling me that," said Richard. "The more I have got to know her the more I'm very impressed with her myself. Deborah will be very proud of her."

"Well she might be," murmured Geoffrey.

Richard smiled at him gratefully.

"Moving on to friend Jeremy," continued Neil grimly, "the more we learn about him the less we like him. When he turned up at the hockey the semi-finals were in progress and he started by watching the game Annette wasn't in. He watched that for twenty minutes or so and then moved to Annette's game. Alison was quite close to him and noticed that he was watching individual girls rather than the hockey until he spotted Annette when he became totally fixated on her. He stayed where he was after the game was over and then in the second half of the final moved round the pitch so that he could intercept her as she ran off. That he managed to do so at all was due to a minor cock-up by Alison who was so caught up in Annette's hockey that she wasn't in the right position when Annette came off the field. However, going back to Jeremy's behaviour, it seems to us that he was talent spotting, and I don't mean for hockey, and had no idea originally that Annette was playing. Two reasons for saying this. Why else does a man drive from Perth to Edinburgh to watch schoolgirls' hockey when he is not involved in hockey or any of the girls? Why does he watch individual girls rather than the hockey?"

"OK, that's not all. Another female operative has made friends with Jeremy's PA. The PA can't stick him. She's his second one in less than eighteen months. The first left without giving any reasons but the current one says she can guess at them. At her interview she thought he was charming and when she was offered the job was thrilled with the thought of working with such a nice man. Within two days he was being familiar with her: coming round behind her chair and putting his hands on her shoulders, 'accidentally' brushing against her, staring at her breasts, telling her she ought to wear a shorter skirt with her nice legs. After a week he made an indecent proposal. She turned him down flat. He said he was sorry and that it would not happen again and she let it pass. Since then he has become rude, dominating and talking down to her."

"Fits," sighed Richard.

"How?" asked Geoffrey.

"That's how he treated Deborah once he'd married her. By the way, how tall is his PA?"

"Tiny," said Neil. "Why do you ask that?" Then his eyes widened. "Blimey," he said. "Just like Deborah or for that matter Annette or indeed many young teenagers."

Richard nodded.

Geoffrey took up the story. "We've hacked into his work computer and his home one. The work one is clean but his home one is foul. He's got a load of photos of pubescent girls that he's downloaded plus some of his own. He's also got a load of videos. The stupid bastard has shown his own face in some of the videos he's produced."

"God!" exploded Richard. He felt physically sick that the two females that were most precious to him had been associated with the man. "I hope none of them features Deborah or Annette," he growled.

"No," said Geoffrey with a lop-sided smile. "Thank God."

"So, what happens next?" asked Richard.

"Well," said Geoffrey, "we've passed the information to our contact with the police."

"Mark Tomlinson," said Richard.

The other two looked aghast.

"You're thick as thieves," Richard continued. "The friendship between you and Mark was completely understandable, Geoffrey but, at the barbecue, when you weren't sniffing round Sharon," he said to Neil with a grin, "you were surprisingly familiar with Mark."