by Drew Black
Philippa's bedside clock ticked, she gazed out over the lawn, and sat up slightly in the process. Suddenly a squirrel shot across the garden. Then to Philippa's delight, she realised it was being chased by another one. They ascended an oak tree at the speed of light and were soon lost in its foliage. Philippa craned her neck in the hope that she could catch another glimpse of them, but her efforts were in vain. Davies certainly didn't take any chances with security, Philippa thought examining the garden walls which were equally as high as the ones at the front of the property, she bet that pleased the neighbours no end. However, Philippa didn't realise just how security conscious Jack was until ten pm that evening when the house became entombed by electronic steel shutters that covered every conceivable entry and exit point. Davies assured her that in the event of a fire the system automatically disabled itself, but it still took her quite a few nights before she got used to it. What the hell was he protecting himself against?
8
Philippa's big day finally arrived, and she got her cast removed. She'd just hoped she'd played it the right way. She'd intentionally kept out of Davies's way for the best part of the three weeks she'd spent at his house. She thought he'd appreciated this because he had seemed extremely busy, she just hoped she hadn't appeared too aloof because she didn't want him to think she was just using him until she got better. She felt uncertain as she sat in Jack's sitting room. What should she do she thought as Jack fixed them both a sandwich? She’d previously decided to try and hang in there as long as she could, but was that what she would actually do in reality? Maybe if this were a real situation, she would be eager to get back to her own house. She had to decide on a course of action and quickly.
Jack returned from the kitchen with a plate laden with four freshly cut sandwiches. He took one of them and sat down on his easy chair. He hadn't realised just how hungry he'd been until he'd started to prepare the food. He was going to miss her, she'd obviously want to get off back to her own house, now she was mobile again. He supposed he could invite her to stay another week which would give her time to build her leg up before she had to start fending for herself again. However, he was mindful not to embarrass her into staying. He felt a bit like a schoolboy who after nursing an injured falcon back to health was now reticent to release it back into the wild.
“How is it?” Jack asked.
"Oh, it’s very nice, thank you." Philippa replied
Jack laughed, "I meant your leg," he said, "how is it bearing up?"
Philippa laughed, ""Oh, I'm sorry Jack, I was miles away. It's not too bad thanks. It feels a bit strange, but that's probably because I'm so used to wearing the cast. It'll probably take a while before it gets back to its old self mind, but I'm not complaining."
Jack nodded, "I agree," he said through a mouthful of sandwich. You want to be careful with it for a while. Take it easy for the first couple of weeks."
Philippa nodded, "Well actually ... No, it doesn't matter ..."
"No, go on finish what you were going to say." Jack insisted.
"Well, I feel awful asking, you've been so kind to me, I honestly don't know what I would've done without you?"
"Someone else would've helped you out, that's what. People are like that round here."
Philippa nodded, "Yes, the people are great round here." she agreed.
"Anyway, what were you going to say?" I really hope she wants to stay longer he thought.
"I was wondering if I could stay a little longer?"
Jack smiled; "You're welcome to stay as long as you like."
He really means it, Philippa thought. The poor sod, he's probably lonely. "It's just that I think it's going to take a little while to get back to how I was, and if I'm honest, I don't want to be on my own again, not just right now. I know it sounds stupid, but since the accident I haven't felt quite the same. It's as if someone has drained all the confidence out of me."
Jack nodded; he remembered how badly Tom's accident at the cotton mill had affected him "No, it doesn't sound stupid Philippa, it sounds perfectly normal. Like I said, you're welcome to stay as long as you want to, and don't feel obliged to spend all your time in your room either. Not unless you want to that is. To be honest, I've enjoyed the company. In fact, it's probably done me some good. I suppose, in a way, your accident has taken my mind off the other one ..."
Philippa nodded, "You must miss them terribly." she ventured.
"Yes, I do, but it's been almost a year now and I think that maybe it's time to let go. I'll never forget them, but for one reason or another, I'm still here, and I think it's time to move on."
“I don't stay in my room to avoid you." Philippa said. "It's just I can see how busy you are, and I don’t want to impose ..."
"Yes, I have been busy, but I can just as easily work upstairs in the study, if I need to. I always used to when Jane was alive." Jack smiled a wry smile.
"What was she like?" Philippa asked.
Jack looked her and sighed; "She was my childhood sweetheart. I wasn’t hers mind. She was two years older than me. She ended up going to London when she was seventeen. I didn't see her for six years. In fact, I'd resigned myself to never seeing her again and then one day she just turned up out of the blue ... And we spent the last five years of her life together."
"She must've realised that you were the one for her, whilst she was in London."
Jack shrugged; "Knowing what I know now, I think you’re probably right. God, I used to worship her when I was a kid though, but by the time she came back I'd changed so much I think I was incapable of worshiping anything, apart from the job that is; that just consumes you. Sometimes I wish I'd been the one who'd gone to London, but you start work, and the next time you look round, wham you're twenty-seven! And you think where have the last ten years gone?"
Philippa smiled, "Tell me about it," she said, "look at me I'm thirty-three."
"You're not thirty-three, are you? jack said with astonishment.
"Yeah, I thought I'd told you."
"No way, I thought you were my age, maybe even a little younger."
Shit, Philippa thought, it must've been Jenkins I told my age to.
"I'll take that as a compliment Mr Davies then, kind sir."
Jack shook his head, "You don't look it. I'm not suggesting thirty-three is old mind." he said laughing. "I think I'd better quit whilst I'm ahead."
"Yes, I'd think you'd better, women can be very sensitive about their age, but thank you for saying I look younger." She thought that Jack was still in shock, and him thinking she was only twenty-seven kind of pleased her. "Could I take a bath." she said changing the subject. It had been the thing she'd been dying to do ever since she'd had the cast removed. "It's just, I've been looking forward to it all day."
"Yes, of course you can, I'll follow you upstairs to make sure you're okay, and promise me that you'll shout me when you're ready to come down again."
"Of course, I will dad." she said giving him a mischievous grin.
9
Quilter and Jenkins sat in Quilter's Jaguar which was parked in a layby three miles from Starman’s the factory where Philippa was working as a secretary.
"I'm having second thoughts about all this Dave." Quilter said reclining in his seat.
"Why, what's wrong, she's doing a great job, you were right about her Quilter, she's cool, calculating, and tough. She's ideal for what we want, and she has managed to get close to him quicker than we thought she would."
"Hmm, that's what worries me, I think this whole thing might've backfired on us."
"How do you mean?" Jenkins asked sounding puzzled. "You do trust her, don't you?"
"Oh, I trust her, I wouldn't've hired her otherwise." he said casting Jenkins a sharp glance, to which Jenkins quickly nodded his agreement. Quilter opened the window a little and breathed in deeply. "No, she's not the problem, well not directly, anyway, it's him. When was the last time you can remember seeing him so upbeat?"
Jenkins nodded again, more s
lowly this time.
"In fact, I can't ever remember seeing him so fuckin' chirpy.”
Jenkins laughed.
"You won't be laughing if we lose this election, that I can promise you." Quilter snapped.
"Lighten up Quilter, for God's sake. We simply get what we need from him, and then a few weeks before the election she dumps him. If he really is smitten by her, that will tear him apart just at the time we need it the most."
"Maybe you're right Dave, but I just can't help feeling we would’ve been better off just leaving things alone."
"I'm not so sure, but just say that was the case, and we decided to pull her out right now, it gives him a chance to recover. He could even rally and come back even more determined. No, she gets us what we need, and then dumps him on the run up to the election."
A car passed and they both looked to see if it was Philippa's, but it wasn't. Quilter lowered his window further. "Maybe you're right Dave, it's just we've waited so long for our chance. I should've been running the syndicate long before either of those two nonses. I'd earned it, what did either of them ever do to deserve it? Absolutely fuck all, that's what. Jessop didn't even trust me, after all the things I'd done for him. I lost count of the amount of times I put my ass on the line for that twat and look how he repaid me. Well, if they're not prepared to give it to me, fair and square, this time. I'm just going to take it any way I can." Quilter said staring out into space.
Jenkins did sympathise with him because in his opinion, Quilter did deserve it, but then again, people didn't always get what they deserved, did they?
10
Philippa opened the passenger-side rear door of Quilter's Jaguar and got in. "Ay-ah." she said feeling distinctly nervous. It had been over two months since she'd spoke to either of them, in person.
Jenkins turned and smiled at her.
"What have you got for us Philippa?" Quilter asked without turning around, preferring instead to toy with his pen, repeatedly engaging and disengaging its nib, a habit that Jenkins found infuriating, although he'd got used to it over the years.
Philippa found it very off-putting. "Would you mind not doing that David, you're making me nervous?" she asked him.
Quilter said nothing but placed the pen in the top pocket of his sports jacket. "That better?" he said turning and smiling at her.
"Thanks, I've copied some of his notes, everything's in here." she said handing Quilter a sealed manila envelope. "I honestly don't know the significance of most of what I've written, and it's not been easy, he keeps everything locked away in his safe, even most of the stuff he's working on. I've just had to sneak bits when I can."
Quilter tore the envelope open and sifted through the papers as Philippa spoke. "This is not bad Philippa, not bad at all." he said smiling at Jenkins. Jenkins resisted the urge to ask Quilter what it was that Philippa had uncovered.
"That Gerald fellow is still coming around every Monday evening. I've written up everything I can remember them saying to one another. It's all in there." Philippa paused, "I think he could be on the verge of really opening up to me. I could be wrong, but I just get that feeling."
Quilter turned around again, "Have you fucked him yet?" he asked coarsely.
"No, not yet. I don't want him to think I'm easy."
Quilter laughed loudly; "That's what I like about you Philippa," he said, "your sense of humour." Quilter's smile quickly disappeared to be replaced by an expression that sent a chill down Philippa's spine. "You're a prostitute for fuck sake, not a model for Miss Selfridge. Get him fucked, and then he'll open up to you." Quilter paused and then changed tack. "The safe, Dave reckons it's a Chubb six figure combination."
Philippa nodded; there'd been no need for him to humiliate her in such a fashion, even Jenkins looked embarrassed for her. She believed Quilter had done it deliberately. She was trying her best; she could do without this slime ball getting off on belittling her.
"I've got a man coming around tomorrow at noon," Quilter continued unfazed, "Davies is out to lunch with a client, so don't worry. It'll only take him twenty to thirty minutes to get the combination, and then you'll have access to it any time you want."
Philippa smiled thinly at Quilter, "That'll make things much easier for me David, thank you." she said.
Quilter returned her smile, and let his eyes wander over her body for a couple of seconds. "Okay Philippa, that'll be all for now, we'll be in touch.”
Philippa nodded and opened the door.
"How's the leg?” Jenkins enquired.
"It's still a bit weak, but it's much better than it was, thanks. I'll speak to you soon." she said before closing the car door.
Quilter watched her walk back to her triumph through his car's rear-view mirror. The way her hips swayed gave him a twinge. We're definitely going to have to get it together, sometime soon, me and you girl, he thought lustfully. I'm definitely entitled to a freebie after all the dough I've been putting your way.
"What do you think?" Jenkins asked. Quilter turned to him; "Maybe there is mileage in it, Dave, after all. Perhaps it's not such a bad thing that Davies is feeling on the up, for now anyway. She's good, I'll give her that. We're going to sink this fucker, once and for all Dave. Just when little Jack's tongue's hanging out begging for more of the delectable Ms Marsh, we're going to pull the plug - wham bam, thank you mam. You never know with all he's been through over the last few years, he might even top himself. Now that would be a bonus." Quilter said with a distant look in his eyes.
11
Philippa paced up and down Jack's lounge, five to twelve the clock on the mantlepiece said, her stomach was tied in knots. What the hell was wrong with her, she thought, just stay calm, nothing can go wrong Jack's out for the day. She made herself sit down. She realised she was drumming her fingers on the coffee table and stopped immediately. She was beginning to wonder if even the huge amount of money she was receiving for this assignment was really worth it. What with her leg, killing that poor little dog, not to mention the ramifications of her involvement with this crackpot group. The realisation was dawning on her that she'd been foolish or naive or even both to think that this was going to be a walk in the park. Come on Philippa; stick with it, she told herself. Fifteen grand; that's going to set you up for life. Five had already been deposited in her bank account, and she knew Quilter was good for the rest of it. He might be a slime ball but to his credit he had never welched on a deal with her, even on the odd occasion when things hadn't worked out to his liking. The intercom buzzer went and made Philippa jump; her heart began to hammer in her chest. Just calm down; she told herself again. Philippa went over to the intercom and lifted the receiver.
"Hello, this is Philippa Marsh, how may I help you? She said.
"Hello Philippa, it's John from work, could I have a quick word?"
John from work, Philippa thought crazily, who the hell's John? Then the penny dropped. However, she felt annoyed that neither Quilter nor Jenkins had bothered to inform her that this is what the safe-guy was going to say to her. Nevertheless, she let out a deep sigh. "Sorry John, I was just in the middle of something, I'll open the gates for you, and come down and let you in." Philippa pressed the gates’ release button. God, I bet he thinks I'm stupid, she thought as she descended the stairs to meet him. She opened the door to be met by a cheery looking fellow of about sixty. He was wearing a light blue overall and carrying a box of tools. "Hi, I've come to look at the safe, is the coast clear?" He said in a conspiratorial whisper.
"Yes, it is." she said. "Have you left your van outside the gates?"
"Yes, for a quick getaway, if the need arises." he said tapping the side of his nose with his index finger.
This guy's taking the piss Philippa thought, and suddenly laughed rather too loud. "Come in," she said, "Please excuse my demeanour, this whole safe-cracking thing has made me rather nervous.
"That's only natural, but I wouldn't worry unduly, the safe's upstairs in his office I believe."
Philippa nodded.
"No, don't worry love, I'll have it open in twenty minutes."
