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I almost jumped out of my skin when the loud trill of the phone broke through my thoughts. Fumbling about, I picked it up and brought it to my ear.
"Good afternoon, you've reached Katie at Gans customer service, how can I help you?" I chirped down the line, hating every moment of the fake cheerfulness I needed to put on for my job. Just because I worked in a call centre didn't mean I was always in a good mood. Far from it. I hated this job but I needed it to save enough money to escape this life. I wasn't sure what I'd do after that.
I went through the motions with the customer on the other end of the phone, not needing to pay too much attention to it. It was just one of the many many calls we got. Most of them resulted in nothing and if there was a genuinely upset customer, we passed it along to someone else anyway.
A loud cough drew my attention and I looked up only to have dread fill me. A man leaned against the wall behind my cubicle. A man I recognised from a few nights ago and hoped I'd never see again. Wishful thinking had never seemed like a more appropriate term. I could tell from the way he was looking at me that he wasn't about to leave without talking to me about whatever serious thing he wanted. I'd be an idiot if I didn't think it was related to what I'd done to Walter.
"Is there anything else we can do for you?" I asked the customer, not taking my eyes off the man. It wasn't worth my life. Or more accurately, my freedom.
"No, thank you." The woman didn't say anything else and the dial tone came through the receiver. I rolled my eyes. It was unbelievable how many people just put the phone down rather than properly ending a conversation. I was used to it, and yet there was a still a part of me that resented them for it.
"Katrina Hendrix?" the man asked.
"Yes." I swallowed the lump in my throat, trying not to panic too much about him knowing my real name. That didn't mean anything.
He flashed me a badge and my eyes widened.
"Can I have a word?"
I nodded. "I just need to talk to my supervisor..." And hope she'd say no. Though somehow I doubted it with the police involved. No one would dare go up against them. Not even me.
"No need, I already cleared it with her. She said we could use conference room one. Would you show me the way?"
I nodded again and locked my computer screen, only then noticing my hands were shaking. I wanted to pretend I hadn't done anything wrong but I knew it was too late for that. Slowly, I made my way to conference room one, the man trailing behind me and only adding to the dread I was feeling. I didn't want to face the consequences of my actions. Getting away with it was half of the fun. Though that hadn't been my entire motivation.
"Would you like a drink?" I asked, suddenly remembering my manners. Even if he was here to arrest me, it didn't mean I couldn't be polite.
"I'm good, thank you. Why don't you take a seat and we'll get started."
I didn't respond, instead, I slipped into a chair on one side of the conference table and waited as he took one on the opposite side.
"I'm assuming there aren't any security cameras in here?" he asked.
I frowned. That was an odd question for the police to be asking, wasn't it?
"I don't think so," I responded truthfully. Wasn't that what they said? Keep as close to the truth as you could without implicating yourself and you'd be fine. I could go with that as a tactic.
"Good." He reached into a bag and pulled out a file, putting it on the table just like I'd seen them do in police shows whenever they were facing a suspect. Not a great start for me. "Do you recognise this man?" He pulled a photo out of the folder and pushed it toward me.
"That's Walter Shaw," I responded, trying to keep the shakiness out of my voice.
"And how do you know him?"
"He's my friend's ex-fiancé." Again, that was the truth. And one of my main motivators behind what I'd done. Renee had found him in bed with two other women, breaking her heart and ending their engagement. She'd thrown herself into her charity work as a result, hence why I'd donated Walter's money.
"Where were you on Saturday night?"
"I went to a movie, grabbed some fast food and went home to bed."
"What did you see?"
"The new rom-com with Lisa Sears in it." I shrugged as if I didn't know why he was asking. Luckily, I'd had the foresight to buy a ticket to that film to give myself an alibi. While grabbing a burger hadn't been part of my original plan, it was starting to seem like a stroke of good luck now.
"I'm not sure I believe you, Miss Hendrix." He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, stretching his stark white shirt over his muscles. I just about stopped myself from licking my lips. There was something delicious about the way he looked.
I shook my head. That wasn't appropriate to think about a police officer who was here to question me about the bad thing I'd actually done.
"I'm very sorry about that, Officer..." Was it odd that he hadn't given me his name? Surely that should have been the first thing he'd done.
"Carl," he responded.
"Officer Carl? Aren't you supposed to use your surnames?"
"I suspect that's the case for real police officers." A smirk began to curl at the corners of his lips.
"You're impersonating a police officer? Don't you know that's..."
"Illegal? Yes. Just like pretending to be someone you're not to illegally gain funds, Sabrina."
"Is that supposed to intimidate me?" I laughed lightly but inside I was still terrified. He knew what had happened, and while I was pretty sure he was telling the truth about only pretending to be a police officer, that was still dangerous.
"Maybe. But I'd be more worried about the fact your manager is convinced by a toy badge." He threw it at me and I opened it up, a sick feeling coming over me. I'd been fooled by this too. "I know what you're thinking, but you will have been easier to fool with it. You have something to feel guilty about after all."
"Maybe she does too," I retorted, thinking about gossiping Barbara and what she could have possibly done against the law. On second thought, it didn't seem likely she'd done anything. It was probably more of a case of her thinking in terms of the gossip she'd be able to do over my conversation with a police officer.
He scoffed. "She's not the type."
"You might be surprised who is and isn't the type to commit crime," I muttered. I wasn't a likely candidate either, though he had no proof of that.
"So why did you?"
"Revenge," I responded, not entirely sure why I was telling him that. Hopefully, he wasn't police double bluffing me for a confession. Somehow I doubted that though. If he was, he'd have arrested me in the alley when we'd first met while there'd still been evidence on me and a chance to catch me in the act.
"How would you like more revenge?"
"I think Walter will have learned his lesson, thank you," I responded. My plan had never been to take him for all the money he had, just teach him a lesson in humility.
"Not against Walter. I have my own enemy I'd like dealt with."
It was my turn to scoff. "And what makes you think I'll help you?"
He raised an eyebrow as if not expecting me to actually go there. "I have evidence connecting you to the theft and forgery. I think you will help me."
I scowled and leaned back in my chair, suddenly regretting that I wasn't wearing one of my low cut shirts. Distraction would have been a great technique given the circumstances.
While part of me was reeling at the idea of helping anyone else get their revenge, another part of me was intrigued by the idea. Whether I'd intended it to be or not, I'd enjoyed working out how to swindle Walter's money away from him. It didn't even matter that I didn't keep any of it. The process had been enough for me.
"This is the mark. Andrew Wellesley. Rumour has it he was recently part of a plot to usurp the queen."
I scoffed. "Really? What's that got to do with us?"
"Are you not a fan of the queen?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Of course I am. Who isn't?"
"This man." He tapped a photo he'd just placed down. "Though that's not why we're after him."
"I didn't think so."
He didn't seem like a for-the-greater-good kind. Whatever his problem with this Andrew was, it was personal.
"We want to take a million."
"We?" I leaned forward, eager to learn more and trying to ignore the suggestion that he wanted to swindle a million pounds from the man.
"You don't think I'm going it alone, do you?"
"I did," I muttered.
"And you were a fool to do so. You didn't cover your tracks well enough to stop me finding you," he pointed out.
"How did you..."
"It doesn't matter. All you need to know is that I covered up as I went along. Even if the police looked into it, they won't find you. Though I doubt they will. Walter has his own money crimes to cover up."
"Tax evasion?"
"Among other things." He shrugged and leaned back in his seat.
I wasn't surprised. He was that type all over. He didn't believe he owed anything to anyone, especially not the government. I wished Renee had seen the real him sooner.
"Are you in?" he prodded.
"I need to think about it." The words slipped out before I was ready for them. I'd intended to say no. I couldn't be part of anything like that. And yet...the mere idea of being a part of this scheme my pulse racing.
"You do that." He slid the folder over to me with a determined look on his face. "If you decide you want to join us, come by John's tomorrow night and we'll talk more."
I nodded as if I knew where he was talking about. I'd figure it out though. There was bound to be at least one clue in the folder he'd just given me.
"Thank you for your proposition," I blurted out.
"And thank you, Miss Hendrix. I'm sure I'll be seeing you shortly."
I didn't respond. I was almost as certain as he was about that, I just didn't want to admit it out loud. Not yet anyway.
I waited in the conference room until he was gone, doing my best not to give in to the urge of reading the folder here. That could wait until I was at home and safe from any intrusions. The last thing I needed was Barbara or one of her informants learning I had information on someone who was about to be conned.
The word came easier than it had before. Probably because I realised that was exactly what I planned to do. I was going to con someone. Potentially. I hadn't decided yet. At least, not outwardly. Inside, I was ready for the challenge.