As a private investigator, Vernon English mostly picked up a newspaper to hide behind. Reading them didn’t interest him much. He liked the TV at the end of a long day, and maybe some talk radio on long stake-outs in the van. On this occasion, sitting at the window of a café that smelled of bacon and bleach, he found himself paying more attention to a small article on the page he’d opened at random than to the figure in the steak house across the street.
‘Lulabelle Hart,’ he said to himself, on reading of her demise, and then set the paper down for a clear view of the man he was here to observe. ‘I wonder what tipped her over the edge?’
Vernon was well aware that the model’s last assignment had been at the Savage house. He had retrieved a copy of the call sheet from the bin outside. According to the report in the paper, her behaviour that day had been described by some crew members as ‘tense’ and then ‘erratic’. Sadly, nobody present on the shoot had realised quite what turmoil the poor soul was in. According to the police and a source from the coroner’s office, this was just a tragic event. Ms Hart’s death was not being treated as suspicious.
Having read the article twice, Vernon tightened his gaze on the diner opposite. Titus Savage was just finishing a business lunch. His companion, the mole from the company Titus planned to take over, was doing a lot of talking. This came as no surprise to Vernon, given that Titus had earlier handed him a small fold of cash under the table. The private investigator had been quick to snap a picture, but there was something more going on with Titus Savage, and he was determined to find out what. Take his disappearance on the drive out following the shoot. Vernon still bitterly regretted pulling in for a bite to eat, but just where had Titus been heading? There was no sign of his 4x4 in the airport car park, and Vernon didn’t need to look at a map to know that a turn off before the motorway would’ve taken him towards the coast. Was Lulabelle’s death connected to the Savage family in some way? Now he could take what he knew to the police, or he could find out for himself. The private investigator washed down the last of his coffee, including the dregs, before tearing the article from the newspaper. This was a case he could handle on his own, he decided. Because if he could prove there was a link then not only would it kill the takeover bid, but Vernon English would secure his reputation at last and the offers of work would come flooding in.
Watching Titus ask for the bill, he found himself looking at this case in a different light. Through Vernon’s eyes, the man had just become his meal ticket to success.
That lunch break, Sasha joined her friends on the skate park ramp. It was the first time that they’d had a chance to talk since her date with Jack. Naturally, everyone wanted to know details.
‘Did you sleep with him?’ asked Faria, who was tapping away on her BlackBerry at the same time.
‘Obviously that would be a no,’ said Sasha, who had just been leaning back on her elbows, enjoying the midday sun on her face. She sat up and rested her arms on the safety rail. ‘I’m not saying never. If things work out then maybe.’
‘But he tried, right?’
‘He isn’t like that.’ Sasha examined her nails, in case the others caught her eye and saw right through her. ‘Not really.’
‘Right.’ Faria looked up from her BlackBerry, smiling to herself. ‘So he went to all that effort cooking just for a kiss on the cheek?’
‘It was more than that.’
‘How much more?’ asked Maisy, who had been listening closely. ‘Did you get to see his cucumber?’
‘That’s none of your business!’ Sasha tried hard to sound outraged.
‘Does that mean it was more of a marrow?’
Faria’s question was met by silence, but only for a moment.
‘Let’s just say I had to deal with a lot of vegetables that evening.’
This time, all three girls laughed together.
‘So, really, what was supper like?’ Faria asked. ‘Apart from light on the chicken.’
‘Good,’ said Sasha, and then caught her eye. ‘Healthy.’
‘You mean boring,’ said Faria, nodding to herself.
Sasha chuckled and looked to her lap.
‘How about the conversation?’ asked Maisy.
This time, Sasha failed to muster even a smile. Maisy and Faria glanced at one another and grinned.
‘That was boring, too?’ asked Faria. ‘Don’t say that, Sasha. Jack is a babe. You’re killing the dream.’
‘In your shoes,’ said Maisy playfully, ‘I wouldn’t be that interested in his mind.’
‘But I’m not like you,’ said Sasha, thinking at the same time what an understatement that was. ‘Look, I was flattered by the effort he made to cook for me. Jack is genuinely into his vegetarianism, too. I do admire him for that.’
‘You admire him?’ Faria paused for a moment. ‘Is that the same as lust?’
‘No.’
‘You’re going red,’ Maisy pointed out. ‘So, if it isn’t lust then could it be love?’
Sensing that further protest would be pointless, Sasha told them both to grow up.
‘I like him, all right? Yes, he’s good looking, and the attention is great, but there has to be more to a boy than a pretty face. It can’t last otherwise, but obviously I’m hoping Jack will prove me wrong.’
‘When are you next seeing him?’ asked Maisy.
‘Any time now,’ said Sasha, and cast her gaze to the cut-through between the school and the field. ‘He’s made me a packed lunch.’
‘Really?’ Faria glanced at Maisy. ‘So, now he’s your mum?’
Sasha weathered the comment by smiling to herself.
‘I figured it would be rude to refuse,’ she told them.
‘Well, you didn’t have a problem saying no to the sex,’ said Maisy.
Sighing now, Sasha faced Maisy and Faria in turn before levelling with them both.
‘Had I just given in and gone for it,’ she said, ‘then right now I wouldn’t be feeling good about myself. Jack is my chance to prove that when it comes to my life I call all the shots. My dad has already marked him down as someone who could lead me astray. The last thing I want to do is make things difficult by acting like a sheep.’
‘You’re not a sheep,’ agreed Maisy with some certainty.
‘You’re a wolf,’ Faria finished for her. ‘A wolf in sheep’s clothing.’
Sasha stared at her shoes, nodding to herself.
‘As for lunch, here’s hoping you like carrot sticks.’
‘Listen, I’ll give it a go,’ said Sasha with a grin. ‘It’s all part of Jack’s challenge to turn me. I’m going veggie for a month.’
For a second, both girls looked lost for words.
‘You are kidding us,’ said Faria slowly. ‘You want his babies. Little vegetarian babies with names like Parsley and Basil.’
‘It must be love,’ Maisy agreed, and drew their attention to the cut-through. There, the young man in question had just appeared bearing a Tupperware box as if it was a bunch of roses.
Jack Greenway had a plan for Sasha. A meal plan. He’d been working on it since their supper together. The result was now folded inside his jeans pocket as he made his way out of the school to meet her. The corridors were swarming with kids. Ever since he’d started the year as a sixth former, it felt as if he were attending some kind of infant school. On the upside, the girls in their GCSE year looked up to him like he had collected an A star in maturity and cool.
‘Hey, Matilda … What’s up, Chrissie? Tess, is that a new ear piercing? What’s it called? A tragus! Wow. Looks good on you.’
As for the boys in the years below Jack, they might as well have been invisible. If they got in his way he would simply expect them to move. That lunchtime, it was Ivan who discovered this for himself. He’d just left the canteen, having collected a ham baguette, and was crossing the corridor on his way to chess club. Cutting across the flow of pupils was never easy, but Jack just made it harder for him.
‘Watch out, dumbass!’ he snapped, when Ivan walked right into him. ‘Have you any idea what you nearly made me drop just then?’
Ivan looked up at the young man clutching the Tupperware box. He knew full well this was the vegetarian guy dating his sister. Clearly Jack had no idea that he was giving Sasha’s kid brother a hard time here. Ivan glanced at the box and took a wild guess at the contents.
‘Looks like rabbit food to me.’
Jack Greenway heard him clearly. The kid was confident. He’d give him that. He was also shaping up for a kicking. Not that Jack was a fighter. Violence was something he opposed in every shape or form, from animal testing to any global conflict that resulted in a wrist band he could wear to put his views on display.
‘It’s got to be better than that muck,’ he said, and grabbed the baguette from Ivan’s hands. ‘What do we have here then?’
‘Give it back!’ the boy demanded.
Calmly, holding it from Ivan’s reach, Jack peeled the baguette apart and peered inside. A disapproving look crossed his face, which he shared with Ivan.
‘You know this ham is processed, don’t you? It contains saturated fat and all kinds of chemicals. In fact, it isn’t really ham at all.’
‘Well, I like it!’ protested Ivan, whose ears and cheeks had turned crimson with anger. ‘And you’ll be sorry.’
By now, the dispute had drawn a small crowd. Jack glanced around and grinned.
‘Kid, I’d be doing you a favour by binning this. If more people ditched meat completely this world would be a better place.’
Ivan had heard enough. Without warning, he leapt up with his all his might and snatched the baguette back into his possession. Then, before anyone could react, he swung it like a cricket bat directly into Jack’s groin. The impact caused the baguette to crumple between his legs and the breath in his lungs to exit in surprise. He looked down, utterly shocked, and then around at the crowd who had just begun to titter and smirk. The assault hadn’t really hurt him, but Jack’s pride had taken quite a hit. Ivan, meanwhile, appeared completely unrepentant.
‘Don’t mess with my lunch again,’ he said, before taking himself and his battered baguette away through the crowd.
Watching him go, Jack felt more sheepish now than stunned. He looked around, still clutching the Tupperware box, and attempted to dismiss the situation with a smile.
‘We’re just fooling around,’ he said. ‘Probably all the additives in that junk he thinks is ham.’
Turning quickly, Jack hurried on his way. He glanced down, just to check the assault hadn’t left him with margarine all over his trousers, and swore that he would get even with that jumped-up little toe rag. Just then, however, he wasn’t going to let it spoil this moment. For Sasha’s first vegetarian lunch, he’d prepared two pots of pineapple and cashew couscous with edamame beans, goat’s cheese and red pepper. With some fresh grapes to follow, he was quietly hoping she’d let him hand feed them to her in his car. The way to a girl’s heart was through her stomach, he believed. It had worked wonders on his previous dates. And once he had won them over, everything else would follow.
As soon as he saw Sasha, sitting on the skate ramp with her mates, Jack stopped and waved the lunchbox. He was pleased to see her climb off and make her way across the field. Sasha was his sole interest just then. Her friends were just a pain.
‘You’re going to love this,’ he said, having wrapped his arm around her and led her further from the skate ramp. ‘That’s if you haven’t changed your mind?’
‘I’m ready,’ she said. ‘I can see this is important to you—’
‘Not just to me,’ Jack cut in. ‘Think of the animals.’
‘Oh, OK! That, too!’
Smiling, Jack held her gaze for a moment. Sasha was engaging and smart, he thought to himself, and her willingness to give this a shot was flattering. It was just a shame that she hadn’t let him go all the way at the weekend. After all the work he had put into that meal, she’d hardly repaid the gesture. In the past, other girls had given in before he’d even served dessert. Jack hoped he wouldn’t get bored of her. He’d give it a month, he decided. At a push.
‘Promise me you won’t go back to your old ways over the next four weeks,’ he asked Sasha. ‘If you do, I’ll know.’
‘How?’ Sasha looked puzzled.
‘Your skin,’ he said, matter-of-factly. ‘A vegetarian diet is so cleansing, as you’re about to find out for yourself. Think of it as a detox.’
Sasha touched her fingers to her face. Her complexion had always been clear and trouble-free, which her mother put down to their diet, but Jack certainly sounded like he would recognise any change.
‘You don’t have to worry,’ she said. ‘Day one has already begun.’
A lock of hair had come loose from her grip. Jack brushed it behind her ear.
‘So, what did you have for breakfast?’ he asked.
‘A kind of last supper,’ said Sasha.’ Muesli. Toast. Steak.’ She waited for Jack to look truly horrified, before her earnest expression melted away. ‘I’m kidding,’ she said. ‘We carnivores know how to eat a balanced diet.’
Jack presented her with the Tupperware box.
‘This is what I call balanced and ethically sound,’ he said. ‘I hope it’s going to make a life-changing impression on you.’
‘That reminds me,’ she said, accepting the box. ‘All of a sudden my dad is really keen to meet you.’
‘Cool,’ said Jack. ‘I’m sure they want to know who’s showing their daughter the light when it comes to meat-free living.’
Sasha peered at the box, wincing slightly at what he’d just said.
‘I’m pleased you’d like to come round,’ she told him, ‘but it might be best to steer clear of the subject of food. My parents have strong views, too, and I’m keen that everyone gets along.’
Jack considered this for a moment, before gently clasping Sasha by the sides of her head and drawing her close to kiss her forehead.
‘I promise to be on my best behaviour,’ he said, and slipped her arm around her waist. ‘Now, why don’t we go find my car so you can start the transformation?’
‘You make it sound so permanent,’ said Sasha, as they turned and headed for the sixth form car park. ‘I only agreed to go veggie for a month.’
‘Let’s see how you feel then,’ said Jack. ‘I’m confident that you won’t look back.’