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Alex kept tight hold of Sylvie’s hand, as they strolled up the street, dodging shoppers, tourists, and family groups. They were two more people in the crowd, and nobody paid them any attention.
He glanced at Sylvie. Her hair was tied back, raindrops sparkling in the loose strands on her face. Her jacket looked damp, too. He only had a vague idea of where they were. Harrods was across the road, and there were shops and cafes everywhere. They trudged on, hands entwined. He remembered the sensations of coming off drugs, some worse than others. Speed wasn’t so bad; she’d be back to normal in a few days. But it felt like hell at first. He’d warned Kate and Jordan she’d be irritable and moody, prone to flying off the handle and unsettled. They were fine, of course.
He thought about Jordan’s revelations as they walked. It was a surprise that Jordan had been a drinker, when he always seemed so controlled. The big one, though, was his headaches, and the very real possibility he had a serious problem. Alex hated the helplessness of being unable to do anything. He had few close friends, and Jordan had become one of them. He’d been a lifesaver to Alex, and now he was in pain and carrying a huge secret.
There were only two things Alex could do. One was to tell Kate. This would put their unborn child at risk, as well as risk his and Jordan’s friendship, but might save Jordan’s life. The other option was to do nothing.
Or was it?
He thought hard. Turned over a moral dilemma in his head. Jordan was in a lot of pain, and over-the-counter medication barely held it back. Alex knew where to get a stronger, more effective painkiller. Something that would help Jordan function normally for the next few weeks.
Alex hated that he was even considering it.
It was akin to making a deal with the devil.
He spotted a quiet café and tugged on Sylvie’s hand. She looked at him blankly but followed him in, and they queued together at the counter. He ordered two hot chocolates with whipped cream, and a slice of cheesecake to share. This drew a tired smile from her.
They draped their wet jackets over the backs of the chairs and looked at each other over the small wooden table top. A little colour had returned to her cheeks.
They picked at the cheesecake, and Sylvie spooned the cream from her hot chocolate. They’d arrived at the late afternoon lull in business, and the café was as good as empty.
Alex reached across the table to hold her hand. “Was it Frankie?”
Her face turned a dark and embarrassed red. She knew what he meant. She held his gaze and nodded. “Yes, but I asked him. I remembered you telling me he used to be your dealer.”
Anger surged, but he pushed it back. Sylvie watched him closely. He had to stay calm.
“What are you going to do?” Her voice was low and scared.
“I’m going to talk to him. You nearly died, Syl. Do you know that?”
Her eyes widened. “I’m never taking pills again. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
He nodded; he’d been there. He’d also sworn to stay off them and still slipped back. More than once.
****
Nick seemed distracted all day Saturday, and Lara figured it was the upset over Sylvie. They hoped to visit her on Sunday, but before that, they were going to Nick’s parents for lunch.
They only had a couple of miles to go before they arrived, and Lara had to say something.
“Are we telling them today?” she asked.
“Huh?” Nick glanced at her, and then resumed his focus on the motorway. “Telling them what?”
“Well, duh. The baby, of course.”
“Today?” There was an anxious note in his voice.
“We have to tell them sometime.” She shifted in her seat to look at him. “They’ll be so excited. Their first grandchild.”
Nick tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “Why today? Have you told your mum yet?”
“Not yet. I don’t want to tell her over the phone.” She looked at Nick. At the way his brows furrowed together. “Why not today?”
He grunted and fiddled with the controls for the music system, turning up the volume.
Lara reached out and flicked the music off. If he didn’t want to talk about it, she wanted to know why.
“I was listening to that,” he snapped.
“Why not today, Nick?”
“Hell. I’m not ready. I’ve not wrapped my head around this yet. I don’t see why it can’t wait a few months.”
“Months?” She couldn’t help laughing. “In a few months, I’ll be showing. It’ll be kinda hard to hide. And why so long?”
“I told you.” He grated the words out. “I’m not ready. Yes, they’ll be excited. Over the fucking moon. And they’ll expect me to be, and I’m not.” He cleared his throat. “Not yet.”
It felt like a slap in the face. Tears pricked at her eyes, and she breathed slowly while she calmed herself. Okay. This was no surprise. It still hurt, though. “You are coming to the scan, aren’t you?”
“Uh... when is it?”
“Three weeks on Monday. I’ve got a late appointment at the hospital, so I don’t have to go back to work afterwards.” She chewed on her lip. “I mailed you the details yesterday.”
“It’s busy. I won’t be able to get the time off work.”
She wanted to call bullshit, but by then they were approaching his parent’s house, and she had to swallow down her fury.
It made lunch stilted. His parents asked about their holiday plans for next year, and they had to pretend they were going abroad as normal. Then his dad asked about the BMW Z4 Nick had planned to buy.
Nick flashed Lara a filthy look and said he hadn’t quite decided about the model yet. She’d already pointed out there would be no room for a baby seat.
They were barely speaking as they drove back, and she sent Sylvie a text.
Hi. How are you today? We’ve been to N’s mum’s for lunch. On way home now. Fancy coffee? xx
Sylvie’s reply was quick.
Hi! Just out with Alex. Back at Jordan’s in 30 mins. Wanna meet there? xx
Lara asked Nick if he’d drop her at Jordan’s, which merited another glare. “Why don’t I come with you? Otherwise how are you going to get home?”
She shrugged. “You can come if you like. I’m not bothered either way.”
She replied to Sylvie.
Great. See you at J’s. We’ll be 30 mins anyway.
Nick bitched about finding a parking space near Jordan’s apartment. Lara snarled back that he could always leave her there.
Eventually he found a space, switched off the engine, and turned to her with a sigh. “I’m sorry. I didn’t sleep well last night. This business with Sylvie, and then Jason... It’s been playing on my mind. Shall we call a truce?”
How could she refuse?
Alex and Sylvie were walking into the building as Nick and Lara arrived. They were both soaking wet, and Alex explained they’d been for a walk in the rain. It was a huge relief to see Sylvie on her feet and looking normal again, and Lara gave her a hug.
Sylvie gave Nick a big hug too, oblivious to the doorman’s curious stares. “Thank you, Nick. I owe you one. Alex told me you dashed me to the hospital. I might not be here without your help. And you were so good at the service. I remember how you held me up while I was speaking.”
Pink lined his cheeks, but he gave her a grin. “What are old mates for?”
They were a cheerful group as they walked into Jordan’s, chattering and laughing together. It felt fleetingly like old times, but with Alex fitting into the foursome as a much better option than Sylvie’s long-ago ex, Chris.
Kate was lovely. She fed them homemade cookies and fresh coffee, and they sat around the kitchen table and gossiped, mainly about TM-Tech.
Jordan disappeared to take a phone call, returning a few minutes later with interesting news. “That was Aiden. He’s been looking through Farnley’s email accounts and discovered some deleted automated alerts Farnley’d set up to message him as soon as anyone accessed the invoice archives. He was notified about which invoices had been accessed and by whom. Aiden found them when he loaded a backup of Jason’s email from the day before he died. Or didn’t die, as the case may be.”
Lara gazed at him, grasping the significance straight away. “So when we logged into the invoices, he would have known who was looking at them. We used your login. It must have worried him.”
Jordan nodded. “So let’s assume it was Jason behind the fraud. He would know it was only a matter of time before we uncovered his role in it. This might have prompted his actions. Whatever those were.” He looked at the group. “Does anyone have any suggestion at all about the suicide note? I can’t get my head around it.”
Nick spoke first. “I’ve been assuming all along that it was the attack on Adele that made him run, but what if you’re right? What if that was incidental? And the fraud being uncovered was what scared him?”
“So,” said Alex, “the fraud was rumbled, and he was found out. How about he wrote the suicide note and tried to make it look as though he killed himself, pushing some poor fucker under the train in his place. He then did a runner with the money. He’d get away with it but for the CCTV footage.”
Sylvie slipped her hand into Alex’s, and he smiled at her.
Jordan frowned. “Sounds plausible. But why would he be hanging around, letting himself be seen by Lara and Adele?”
Cogs dropped into place in Lara’s mind. “What if he didn’t get the proceeds from the fraud? If he was using it to pay someone else? I told him a made-up story about my sister being in the Met and investigating date-rape attacks on women. He believed me. So maybe he wants to get his own back. Maybe he’s a psycho.” She shuddered.
Nick looked anxious. “Has anyone heard from Adele today?”
“Yeah.” Jordan nodded. “She’s helping Karl and Aiden trawl through the forums and chatrooms. They’re looking for women who might have been targeted by Farnley, to see his pattern.”
Lara was looking at Nick when Jordan replied. She saw his face darken at the mention of Adele and Karl. It was quickly masked, but she saw it. And she didn’t like it.
****
Adele’s weekend plans evaporated. Aiden asked Karl to help find other possible victims, and she volunteered too. It filled her with trepidation but was a better alternative to sitting at home on her own. Karl made her feel strong.
To her surprise, Aiden’s first suggestion was for them to trawl around the nightclubs Jason frequented and show his photographs again. She could do that, and it gave them a few more hours to chill out at Karl’s place.
They visited six clubs on Saturday night, staying just long enough to talk to the bar staff and bouncers of each, before moving on to the next.
Aiden was busy setting up laptops in the IT department at TM-Tech, when Adele and Karl arrived at the office.
“Good morning,” said Aiden. “Let’s sit down and talk this through.” They settled around a meeting table, and he sketched out his plan on the whiteboard. “We’ve got eight laptops hooked up to the internet, and all running on VPNs to cloak their location.”
He smiled at Adele. “That stands for Virtual Private Networks. Anyway, I’ve started a list of chatrooms and forums for victims of assault in London, but I’ve only scraped the surface. When you hear of others, note them on this board, so we don’t duplicate our efforts.”
The words victims of assault made her shiver. She tried to concentrate.
“What about logins?” asked Karl.
“I’ve set up a fake email account for each of us, and I suggest we use one ID each across all the sites. The idea is to talk to other women who’ve been assaulted in the area and see if Jason might have been responsible.” Aiden paused and gave Adele a serious look. “This will be uncomfortable for you. Intolerable, even. If you need to step away, do so. If you want to stop completely, that’s fine too.”
Adele nodded. Karl took her hand and tangled their fingers together. She could do this. Wow. That could be her mantra these days.
“Remember,” continued Aiden. “Don’t mention Jason by name or TM-Tech. Everything is anonymous. These are the IDs and email accounts I’ve created.” He wrote on the whiteboard. “Let’s see what we can find.”
Adele wanted to stay remote from the other victims, but she couldn’t help herself. She talked about her experience. Other women chimed in with similar stories. There were a depressing number of women reporting scenarios like Adele’s. Drugged in a nightclub or pub, and then raped in their own home. Adele sat at a laptop, tears rolling down her cheeks. If Jason was responsible for even a fraction of these, how many other women had he hurt?
She had to keep stopping for coffee and breaking off from various chats. Karl and Aiden were amazingly supportive. By the time they finished in the early evening, Adele felt traumatized all over again and increasingly depressed at the prospect of going back to her apartment.
Aiden logged out of his sessions and left for the night, leaving Karl and Adele to finish off. She didn’t know if they’d achieved anything here today, apart from upsetting her and showing her how many other women had suffered in silence. She gazed out the window at the darkness. What was the point of this? They were chasing shadows. It was a dumb idea.
Karl walked up behind her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Adele? You okay?”
She turned to him with a muffled sob and pressed her body against his.
“Poor you. Today must have been rough.” He tugged her into his arms.
“Karl, do you think it was worth it? Or was it all a pointless exercise?”
He thought about it for a moment. “I think we’re making headway. Aiden has a growing list of women with a similar story to yours. If he can make contact with them, we can see if Jason was responsible for any of the attacks.”
She raised a tear-lined face to look at him. “But we don’t know for sure if he’s even alive. And if he is, apart from the club, we have no idea where to find him. It’s hopeless.”
“It’s never hopeless. It just takes time.”
She wanted to believe him. God, how she wanted to. “I guess I’d better head home.”
He kissed the side of her face, sliding his hands up, to hold her cheeks. He dropped a kiss on her lips, then looked back at her. “Do you want to do that? You can always come back with me, if you want to.”
“Are you sure? I’d need to pick up some work clothes first, if you don’t mind.”
He held her close. “The last two nights have been amazing. Why would I possibly mind you staying longer?”
****
Alex felt a movement in bed and realised Sylvie was no longer cuddled next to him. He blinked in the darkness, reached out for her, and felt emptiness instead of her body. He waited a moment while his eyes adjusted. Was that her, standing by the window?
“Syl?” His voice was thick with sleep.
She didn’t reply.
“You okay, babe?” There was still no reply, so he slipped out of bed and went to her side.
She appeared to be staring out of the window, except that the thick curtains were closed.
He pulled one back a little way. The bright street lights of London flooded in. Although her eyes were open, she was still fast asleep.
Fuck. She was sleepwalking again.
“Syl?” He put his arm around her shoulders and gently guided her back into bed. She moved obediently, and lay down while he covered her with the duvet, and then rolled onto her side. She muttered something, but he couldn’t make it out.
Alex climbed in next to her and gathered her in his arms. She was sound asleep. In contrast, he was wide awake and filled with a deep sense of foreboding.
Sylvie had sleepwalked before, at the same time as having terrifying dreams of Rico dying. She was under immense mental strain at the time. Alex would only upset her if he told her about this in the morning.
He dozed off, Sylvie in his arms, only to wake rapidly a little later. She struggled against him in bed, sobbing, and shouting his name.
Alex was flustered and disoriented. He snapped on the bedside light and found her sitting up in bed. Was she awake this time?
“Oh my God.” She rubbed at her eyes. “I had the most awful nightmare. Hold me. Please.”
When she was calm, he kissed her softly. “Do you want to tell me about it?”
It took a few minutes, and her voice was hoarse from crying, but he caught the gist of her garbled words. There was a fire. She couldn’t get to him. They were trapped. There was smoke, and she could feel the heat from the flames. She stammered, as she told him she smelled burning flesh.
Alex felt sick. It sounded horrific.
He could only hope this was nothing more than a reaction to coming off the speed and the sleeping pills. If it was another of her premonitions, God help them.
****
Nick was confused.
He spent all Sunday night trying to wrap his head around the idea of Adele dating Karl. What did she see in him? Did she feel sorry for him, after accusing him of the attack? Or was she taking advantage of his good nature while the Jason business was going on? Karl seemed to have a major crush on her.
And why did Nick even care?
Some days he found himself looking at Adele and wondering what if?
He’d no right to think that way. He was married and in love with Lara, and having a baby with her.
The nights he spent with Adele in Paris continued to play on his mind. Part of him would always have feelings for Adele. Seeing her broken and vulnerable brought every protective instinct to the fore and made him want to chase every other man away from her. And what a fucked-up concept that was.
He sighed and refreshed the screen on his laptop. He couldn’t have Adele, but he could look out for her. That nerd, Karl, was more interested in online gaming than having a real relationship. His perfect woman was probably made up of pixels.
Nick tried to focus on the document in front of him but gave up. Instead, he called up Adele’s schedule and found a free slot mid-morning. Perfect for coffee. He sent her an invitation, and she accepted it seconds later.
He left early for the appointment and was waiting for her, lattes served, when she walked into the café. “Hi there.” He stood, hugged her, and kissed her briefly on the cheek. Her face was cold, but her eyes were dancing, and her hair shone in the sunlight. He remembered how well they fit when they snuggled in bed together, and pushed the memory away with difficulty.
She looked happy this morning, a brilliant smile in place, and his heart sank. This was the look of a woman who’d spent the night with her lover.
“Thanks for the latte,” she said. “My turn to buy next time.” She dug into the froth with a spoon, then sat back. “Good weekend? What did you get up to?”
“Oh, the usual. Went to my mum’s for lunch yesterday. Caught up with Sylvie at Jordan’s afterward. How about you?”
Her eyes sparkled, and she leaned forwards, wagging a finger at him. “I’ve a bone to pick with you, Nick Anderson. How long have you been hanging out with AJ and Sizzle? And you didn’t tell me? You know I adore Event Horizon. How dare you keep a secret like that from me?”
He shrugged. “They’re very private, and we’re sworn to secrecy. I haven’t even told my mum.” He took a sip of his drink, watching her lively face as she continued to spoon her froth. “So when did you realise it was them?”
“Karl recognised them. He told me when we went home from the hospital.”
Nick winced inside. He was right; they were sleeping together.
Adele chattered on. “I saw AJ at the service and thought he looked familiar, but didn’t guess for one minute that it was someone famous. You and Lara, best friends with rock stars indeed. I’m blown away.”
Time to do some fishing. “Are you okay at your apartment? Lara said she could find somewhere else for you to stay, so Jason can’t find you.”
She blushed prettily. “I’m staying at Karl’s at the moment.” She hesitated, then looked awkward. “I know I said there was nothing between us, but that’s changed. I was a bit embarrassed when you rang on Saturday. I know why you did it, and I’m touched you’re looking out for me, but I don’t want Karl getting the wrong idea about you and me.”
Nick stirred his drink and played for time as he decided what to say. “How do you mean, the wrong idea?”
“Well... you know. I told him we were friends.”
Nick kept his voice ultra-casual. “So he doesn’t know about Paris?”
“No.” Her voice was shocked. “I’m assuming Lara doesn’t either.”
“Of course not. It’s our secret.”
She nodded, her gaze fixed on his face.
“I can’t believe you’re with Karl.” It sounded bitchy, and Nick hurried to soften his outburst. “I wouldn’t have thought he was your type.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s such a nerd.”
She narrowed her eyes. “He’s lovely. And it’s not like you to be mean. What’s got into you?”
He didn’t know. Was it because Adele reminded him of more carefree days? A time when he didn’t have the looming responsibility of fatherhood? Discontent gnawed at him. “Do you ever think about us?” he blurted out and saw confusion on her face.
“Us?”
“If we missed out on something, back in Uni? If we should have stayed together?”
He’d gone too far. He saw it in her pursed lips and the way she sat back in her seat.
“Nick, I can’t tell you how much I value your friendship. How you looked after me in Paris. How you’ve always been in my corner.”
“But...?” He wasn’t sure he wanted her to finish.
“But that’s all. We’re friends. We had our moment, years ago, and we can’t turn the clock back. I have Karl now.” Her voice was gentle. “Even if it doesn’t work out with him, there’ll be someone else. We can’t ever be more than this, but we can be the best friends ever.”
She was right. Nick was being a giant ass, but it didn’t make it hurt any less.
****
Jordan made time on Monday evening to have his usual squash match with Nick and then catch up with Marcus, who’d only be in town a couple more days. While they’d had many meetings in and out of the office, all were about work. Jordan wanted the chance to kick back with his friend. There was also something he wanted to ask him.
They walked to what had been their regular pub, back in the day. As they sat over a couple of pints of German lager, Marcus opened the conversation. “This is good beer, but don’t you miss Houston sometimes, J?”
Tricky question. “Not so much these days, although the weather in Rhosneigr leaves a lot to be desired. Come to think of it, the weather in London isn’t much better.”
Marcus glanced outside, at the dark night beyond. “It always seems to be foggy here in winter. I’d never seen fog like this until I came to London.”
Time to bite the bullet. “I’m not planning on staying in London any longer than we need to. I’d like to get back to a freelance basis soon.” That was the story Jordan planned to use for his exit from the business. “Are you interested in running the Europe operation again?”
“I’d rather stay in Houston. Louisa and Ted are there, and Marianne is in a good position.” He sat back and frowned. “She’d probably love to come back, though. Maybe I should suggest it.”
Jordan leaned forwards. “Do that. You’re the only one I trust to manage Europe. How would you feel about leaving Ted?”
Marcus took a long drink of his beer, and then waved to the barman for two more. “It might be easier in some ways.” A look of pain flickered across his face. “You know Louisa is seeing someone? An investment banker she met through Ted’s kindergarten.”
Jordan nodded. “He’s a widower, isn’t he?”
“Yeah. His wife died of cancer, a couple of years ago. He’s got a little girl the same age as Ted. They play together, apparently.” He glanced at Jordan. “The girl and Ted play together, not Louisa and the banker. Well, not yet anyway.” He took another sip of beer. “He’s loaded, this guy. Old Houston family. They have a house on Cape Cod for the summer, and an apartment in Nice.”
“Are you dealing with that okay?”
Marcus looked surprised. “I’m pleased for her. If she finds someone else, I won’t feel so guilty about Marianne. It could make it harder to see Ted, but that was the gamble I took when I left Louisa. I knew what I was risking. And if she re-marries, Ted will have a full-time father figure in his life.” This last statement sounded hollow.
Jordan figured Marcus was putting on a brave face. “Why don’t you come over for dinner one night this week? You can see Poppy and spend some time with us. We’ve got Alex and Sylvie staying, but that shouldn’t stop you.”
“I might. Thanks. Sylvie’s okay now?”
“She’ll be fine. It was stress and exhaustion.” This was the public story behind Sylvie’s collapse at TM-Tech. Nobody needed to know any different.
“Let me know when it’s good for you guys.”
Jordan toasted him with his beer. There’d been such a rift between them, he was happy to be making small steps towards healing it.
Jordan’s head was banging again tonight, despite his now usual dose of Nurofen in the evening. He ended up wandering around the apartment in the middle of the night, looking for another dose of painkillers. His last packet was empty. To his despair, there were none in the bathroom cabinet or the kitchen where Kate normally stored the first-aid supplies. The pain made him feel sick, and it scared him how quickly it came on sometimes. Other nights were more settled—with a low level of pain he managed to tolerate. And so far, he’d managed to hide it from Kate.
He settled for a large glass of malt whisky and found a comfortable position at the kitchen table while he waited for the drink to kick in and dull the pain. He closed his eyes and focused on relaxing. He knew it hurt more when he was tense.
He heard another chair scraping on the floor and raised his head, momentarily disoriented. It was Sylvie, looking pale and anxious.
“Hey, Sylvie. Having trouble sleeping?” Jordan winced, as a shaft of pain darted across the side of his head.
“Yeah.” She huddled into her bathrobe and shivered. “How about you?” It looked as though she’d been crying.
He managed a smile. “Yeah. Do you want a drink?” He gestured towards the bottle of whisky.
After a moment’s hesitation she fetched a glass and poured herself a small measure. “I don’t normally drink whisky.”
The malt was starting to soothe Jordan’s pain, and he tried to focus on rational conversation. “Why aren’t you sleeping? Is it the dreams still?”
She looked down into her glass. She was about to speak when he heard a quiet footstep in the hallway. His heart sank. Please don’t let it be Kate. He couldn’t hide his pain from her in this moment.
He was spared. It was Alex, looking bleary eyed. He blinked as he walked into the kitchen. “Having a party?” He yawned, and then massaged Sylvie’s shoulders, staring at Jordan with ill-concealed worry.
Sylvie turned and stood, moving into the circle of his arms. “I dreamed of the fire again.” Her voice was croaky. “It was everywhere. All around us. We had no way out. And I could hear Rico yelling. He was telling me to get out.” She huddled closer to Alex. “It was too real.”
Alex held her, but his gaze was on Jordan. “Do you think you can go back to sleep again now?”
“Maybe. Are you coming as well?”
“Yeah. In a minute. I want to talk to Jordan first.” He picked up her glass. “Take this with you. I’ll be right there.” He kissed her, and she drifted back to the bedroom.
Jordan took a sip of his malt. The pain was bearable now. He could probably move and talk at the same time.
“Bad tonight, huh?” Alex’s voice was low.
“I’ve had better.”
“You’re still going to wait before you do anything about it?”
“I wish I hadn’t told you. I could do without you nagging at me.”
“I’m not going to, but if I can do anything, you must tell me. Anything.” He stressed the word.
Jordan was deathly tired, with no idea what Alex was talking about. “Go back to bed. I’ll go soon.”
Instead, Alex pulled out Sylvie’s chair, took a glass, and poured himself a small drink. “I’m awake now. I’ll stay here a little longer, if it’s all the same to you.”
Jordan resumed his semi-comfortable position. “Thanks, Alex.”
“For what? Drinking your best malt?”
“For being here.”
****
Alex was putting off the call to Frankie. There was a real risk he’d say things he’d later regret. He needed to be composed and ready for this conversation.
He contemplated it all day Monday, letting it sit at the back of his mind while he busied himself elsewhere. The visit to Callum was promising. Daisy was making great progress with him, and he allowed Sylvie to pick him up. Margie reminded Alex that Callum was nervous around men, so Alex didn’t get too close. Sylvie, while still grouchy and restless, was behaving more normally.
The day went well, but then Sylvie had her nightmare again, and Alex found Jordan struggling with his pain in the kitchen. Tomorrow. He’d make the call tomorrow—on Tuesday.
He needed to be somewhere private, so he went down to the underground car park, where their car was.
Frankie was angry at first. He yelled at Alex for not being in touch, and for messing up his schedule—he’d been forced to rearrange interviews and a press conference—and he was fretting about the video-shoot dates.
Alex let him rant, waited until he slowed down, and then went on the attack. “How long have you been supplying Sylvie? You know what I’m talking about.”
There was a pause. To his credit, Frankie didn’t try to deny it. “You should know Sylvie approached me.”
Alex waited and forced his anger back down. “Sylvie nearly died. She accidentally OD’d on speed. I don’t believe she appreciated what you gave her.”
“I warned her about the dose. One in the morning, and another in the afternoon, if she needed it. You can’t OD on two tabs.” He paused, then continued in a mild voice. “She was only doing what you’ve done before. Many times.”
Alex gripped the phone so hard, his knuckles turned white. He covered the mouthpiece, while he took a deep breath. “If we’re going to continue with the band as it stands now, I need three assurances from you.”
“Go on.”
“One, you never give anything to Sylvie again. Not even vitamins. Two, if she asks you for anything, you tell me immediately.” Alex took a moment. Was this the right thing to do? God only knew, but it was the only option. “And three, I need a short-term supply of morphine, enough for four weeks’ moderate use. If we agree on these, this conversation can end right here and never be referred to again.”
“How soon do you want the morphine? I’m assuming oral?”
It was as though he’d asked Frankie to buy a different brand of coffee. Perhaps in his world, that’s all the significance it had. “Saturday. Friday night if you can manage it.”
“That should be fine.”
Alex waited. He didn’t trust himself to speak straight away.
“So, on to work matters,” said Frankie. “When are you planning to return to the studio?”
“Thursday night or Friday. We’ll need a little settling-in time with Callum, so keep our schedule free until Monday.”
They talked more about business. The video shoot was planned for next week, and they’d keep to those dates. Sylvie was stressing about her first video, and the sooner it was over, the better.
Alex disconnected and dropped the phone onto his lap. He felt sickened. He should have sacked Frankie for this, terminated him as their manager and brought in someone else. But as things stood, Alex was condoning his actions and asking him to continue in the same manner. What had he done?