'You're good at finding things.'
It wasn't as though she could have missed the seals and she almost didn't realise it was choughs she was looking at, but she accepted the compliment. 'You'll have to take me on all your trips then, so you don't miss anything.'
'Starting to look that way. You know, I was a bit worried you'd get bored.'
'How could I when there's so much here to keep me entertained?' She snuggled close to him and kissed his cheek.
He gave her a proper kiss in return, then they continued the journey. By the time they got back to the car, the chocolate supplies were long gone, Alice's feet and legs were aching and the light was fading. She didn't creak as she got out again but felt as though she did.
'You OK?' he asked.
'Nothing a warm bath and soothing massage won't fix.' Some more hot sex wouldn't go amiss either. She might not be used to so much fresh air and spending hours on her feet, but she wasn't as tired as all that.
'If you don't mind macaroni cheese, you could soak in the bath while I get started on that. I'll come and scrub your back once it's in the oven.'
'Macaroni cheese has never sounded so appealing.'
He was as good as his word. Just as the novelty of lying in the big bath on her own was starting to ease off, he got in with her. She got her massage too, even if he spent less time on her shoulders, feet and aching calves than on the area between.
After they'd eaten and made love in front of the fire again, they cuddled up on the sofa for a while. As she'd guessed he talked about spotting the choughs, telling her that although he'd caught glimpses of them before, or seen them from a much greater distance, that day had been the first chance he'd had to really watch them.
'I'm glad I was there to share it with you,' Alice said.
'Me too. Is there anything else you'd like to do while you're here? There are enough walks and things to keep us busy, but if you fancy a change we could visit St David's or something. Are you interested in history?'
'A bit, I suppose.' Looking round a big house or castle might be fun, but she didn't want to spend all day in a museum unless it rained and there wasn't anything else to do.
'There are probably shops around somewhere.'
'Are you interested in shopping?'
'Not especially,' he admitted.
Alice was pleased. If they were honest with each other from the start, they'd be happier in the end, wouldn't they? 'We'll give that a miss then. If I get a shopping urge, I usually go with Kate.'
'Ah, good. I'm sure she's much more help than I'd be.'
'She chose the red dress I wore when we went to Tangs with your watch.' Oh, Red Watch. That colour was becoming a bit of a theme.
'Then she has excellent taste. Was the orange jumper her idea too?'
'What do you think?'
'I'm guessing not.'
'Even though that too is very tasteful, stylish and sophisticated?'
'Even though.'
'As it happens you're right.'
They didn't talk for a while, which was nice. Life didn't need to be all about making plans and bettering yourself, did it? Sometimes it was nice to just enjoy the moment.
'Hamish, there is something I'd like to do this trip.'
'Hmmm?'
'Would you carry me upstairs?' All three of them, but in her mind they'd be a tall ladder and the fire he'd be taking her away from wouldn't be safely retained in a grate.
'Are you really that tired?'
'It's not that.' She told him about her fantasy of being lifted over the shoulder of a handsome fireman and carried away from a fire, making it clear he more than qualified.
'I offered to do that at the New Forest Show. You needn't have put up with all the mud and birdwatching.'
'I was with Tony then. It's not right to carry out a fantasy, however innocently, with one man whilst dating another.'
'True.' He nodded as though acknowledging she had behaved properly. '...and the mud and birds?'
'I enjoy it, honestly. I wouldn't have thought I would except as a novelty, but I really do.'
'Good, because I thought it'd be nice to go out at dawn and listen to them singing, then walk out to St David's Head to look for choughs silhouetted against the sunrise.'
'In that case you'd better carry me up those stairs right now and give me something to help me sleep.'
He did.
The rest of the week was just as blissful. Well, perhaps getting up before dawn wasn't blissful in itself, but it was romantic watching the sunrise with Hamish and it was a lovely feeling to know she'd still be by his side at sunset. On the days at the end of the week when it rained they bought and wrote postcards. Alice also taught Hamish to bake scones and coconut cookies and he quizzed her on her bird identification.
Because the phone signal had been as bad as Hamish had warned her it would be, Alice had switched her mobile off and hadn't bothered charging it until their last night. She'd told everyone she'd be out of reach anyway, so didn't expect there to be many missed calls. There weren't, but most of the ones she did have were from Tony. There were also two texts asking her to call him.
Hamish dropped Alice off at her parents' home to collect her mum's car as arranged before she went to Wales. Alice's parents were pleased to see her, but had plans to go out so she didn't stay long. When she got home she found two notes from Tony pushed under her door. She ripped them up, wondering who he'd got to buzz him into the building while she was away. It wasn't unease over that which meant she felt lonely for probably the first time in her life. She missed Hamish already. Fortunately her loneliness didn't last long as Kate was keen to come round and hear all the details of the trip to Wales.
Alice described the way he'd surprised her with the seals and how cute they were.
'That's sweet. Go on.'
Alice explained about the scenery and the miles they'd walked and how she was sure her thighs were slimmer.
'Bonus. Go on.'
Alice told her about the gannets, choughs and oyster catchers.
Kate interrupted before she'd mentioned a quarter of the species they'd seen. 'Fascinating. Go on.'
Alice tried to tell her about the lovely cottage.
'Alice! You know these aren't the details I want.'
She did know of course, and wasn't deliberately keeping anything from Kate. They'd always told each other pretty much everything, but come to think about it, although there was no doubting that Pete made Kate very happy, she only spoke about him in vague terms. 'Well they're all the ones you're going to get. You've got Pete, you can fill in the blanks.'
'Like that, is it?'
'Like what?'
'You're in lurve.'
Alice couldn't deny it.
'Alice? Is this it? The real thing?'
'Yes. Yes, I think it is.'
Back at work, as they made coffee, her colleagues asked Alice if she'd had a nice break. She'd barely begun giving them the details she'd shared with Kate when the phone rang. No one moved to answer it. It wasn't so surprising they'd rather catch up on her gossip than get to work dead on nine in the morning, but there seemed more to their reluctance than that.
'What's up with you lot?' Alice demanded.
They looked decidedly uncomfortable. Emma and Lucy looked at Kath as though willing her to answer.
'Oh no, the hoaxes haven't stopped?' Alice said.
'No they haven't.' Kath picked up the phone. 'Tatisuz, good morning. How can I help...? Hold on.' Those last two words were said with none of the cheery professionalism with which she'd answered the call. Kath pressed the mute button. 'It's Tony. I'm guessing you don't want to talk to him?'
Alice shook her head.
'She doesn't want to talk to you, so please stop calling here and stop calling the fire brigade!' She banged the phone down.
Kath explained that there had been two more hoax calls since the paramedic had come expecting to find Alice trapped under fallen shelving in the warehouse. 'Tony kept calling
too. We told him you were away for the week just to stop him.'
'Did it?'
'Yes and there haven't been any hoaxes since.'
Miles came out into the main office. 'Nice to see you back, Alice. Pop in for a chat will you, when you're ready.'
'I'll come now.'
Miles was very sweet, asking if she felt better after her ordeal and if she'd enjoyed her holiday. She answered yes to both.
'I'm sorry to have to tell you there have been a couple more hoax calls.'
'Yes, Kath said.'
'I want to assure you that I don't blame you in any way, but it does seem that this might all be more to do with you than with the company.'
She nodded.
'If there's anything you can think of which might help the police stop... whoever is responsible, then please let them know, or tell me if that's easier. And if you need time off to make a statement or anything...'
'Thanks, Miles. You don't have to be tactful, I know my ex-boyfriend seems to be the person responsible and I've already given the police one statement. If I think of anything else though, I'll pass it on. I want this person caught as much as anyone else.'
'I'm sure it will all be over soon and now there's some good news. I haven't told anyone else yet, but at last I can announce your pay rises.' He went back out with her and told the women they'd each be getting a fifteen per cent pay increase. 'The men are getting a raise too, but not quite the same amount, so I'd appreciate it if you were to be a bit discreet.'
'No problem,' Kath said.
Miles nodded and returned to his office.
Naturally that good news required a fair bit of talking about.
'Maybe we'll be able to get our kitchen sorted now,' Kath said. 'The units were getting ropey when we bought the place and that was so long ago I was skinny then!'
'I'll be able to pay off my credit card bill,' Emma said. 'And get some decent shoes.'
Lucy said she hoped to save most of her increase. 'What about you, Alice?'
'I think I'll get some binoculars.'
'Oh yeah? For the birds or the fire station?' Emma asked.
'From the smile on her face this morning, no binoculars are needed when it comes to firemen,' Kath said. 'She's not having any trouble getting up close and very personal, if you catch my drift.'
'I couldn't possibly comment,' Alice said.
Alice's phone beeped to tell her she had a text. It was from Tony asking to speak to her. She deleted it. For the rest of the day Alice found it hard to concentrate on work. None of the figures added up. Well they did; her maths didn't let her down but accurate as the results were they just didn't make sense.
Tony called her mobile at lunchtime and sent two more texts. She half expected to see him waiting when she got home, but there was no sign of him. He did try to call her again before she went out though. When Hamish picked her up she told him the hoaxes hadn't stopped and that Tony kept trying to speak to her.
'I knew about the hoaxes. Devon said so far there's nothing to prove who made any of them except that first one from Tony. The rest have all been made from public phones.'
'The same one?'
'No, different ones but all in this general area. The police are involved now too and they've even looked at CCTV footage from the times calls were made, but it's not been much help. They're not even positive they were all made by the same person, apparently in one the caller seems quite short.'
'Tony keeps ringing me. Trying to anyway, I haven't answered.'
'I thought he'd stopped that nonsense.'
'So did I. Actually this seems different. He was sending flowers and asking me to take him back. Now he just says he needs to talk to me.'
'What are you thinking?'
'I'm just not sure he's behind this. I know it looks like he must be, but it just doesn't seem like him. Not to keep on with it.'
'Were you surprised he made the first call?'
'I wouldn't have expected it, but he was upset and he'd been drinking, then to see us together... I'm not excusing him, obviously that's no excuse but I can sort of understand. He likes to get his own way, but he's logical. He'd have worked out by now I wasn't going to change my mind and this wasn't helping, wouldn't he?'
'You'd think so.'
'And that thing at work... that was really scary. You wouldn't frighten someone you cared about like that, would you?'
'I wouldn't and I don't think any sane person would.'
'And that call from the short person? He's not as tall as you, but I don't think he qualifies as short.'
'No.'
'If that was connected it couldn't be him and I just can't see him asking anyone to make a hoax call for him.'
'That bit is odd. You'd have to be really close to ask someone to do that, and for them to agree.'
'His friends are really colleagues and people he knows from the gym. Not the sort of person who'd commit a crime for him.' Rachel was the most likely, but it was impossible to imagine her getting involved and anyway, she wasn't short.
'A decent friend would try to stop him getting himself into trouble, not make it worse,' Hamish said.
Yes, that's what Rachel would do. 'Forget about her, Tony, ask me out instead,' was likely to be her line.
'Try not to worry, Alice. Proper investigations are going on, probably they're a lot further forward than what I've heard about.'
True, he'd only been back on duty for one shift. 'Perhaps you can take my mind off it?'
'I'll see what I can do.'
He didn't stay the night as he was on earlies the following day and didn't want to disturb her when he got up, but he managed to ensure she had an untroubled night's sleep.
The next day she thought about their discussion of Tony. If he'd not made the hoax calls and he wasn't still trying to get her back, then why was he so anxious to talk to her? Perhaps he thought he'd left something important at her place, or maybe he needed to get his name taken off the phone contract or something else he'd set up for her? There were several perfectly good reasons for him wanting to get in touch and one simple way to find out. The next time he texted to ask to speak to her she replied to say he could come round that evening.
If Tony was surprised to see Kate when he came, it was nothing to Alice's reaction at seeing Rachel with him.
'We'd better all sit down,' Alice said. She didn't offer tea.
'It's about all these hoaxes, Alice,' Tony said. 'The police are involved now and they think I'm responsible.'
'I'm not surprised,' Kate said.
Tony ignored her and spoke directly to Alice. 'I know the one I made looks bad, but I swear it's the only one. It was a dangerous, reckless thing to do as well as the worst possible way to try to get you back. Having a fireman in here in the middle of the night was exactly what I didn't want.' There was no humour in his voice or face.
'Alice,' Rachel said, 'This could cause serious trouble for Tony at work.'
'It's hardly my fault! You don't think I enjoy being scared by some crazed stalker, do you?'
Kate put an arm round Alice's shoulder.
When she was calmer Alice asked why he'd been going to her place of work.
'It was another mistake to go there, I realise that.'
'Why keep doing it then?'
Tony denied being there other than when he'd spoken to her in the car park.
'I don't know what you want from me, Tony. I couldn't stop the investigation even if I wanted to and I don't, because I want whoever is responsible caught and stopped.'
'Me too, and not just because it will clear my name. I see this is horrible for you. I just wanted you to know it's not me. Maybe it will help you think of who else it could be.'
'I believe him,' Kate said after he'd gone.
'I don't know. There was no point to all that, unless I was supposed to suddenly get jealous of Rachel. If I had any information I'd have reported it already and he was lying about coming to work. Miles saw him at least twice.'
&n
bsp; 'You don't know that. He said he saw an Audi, but Tony isn't the only person who owns one. Besides I don't trust your boss.'
'What? He's been brilliant over this.'
'Hmm, well if he has it's the only thing. What about the pay rises he promised?'
'I forgot to tell you, we're all getting fifteen per cent.'
'That just makes me more suspicious.'
'What's got into you? You used to like him and hate Tony, now it's the other way round.'
'I never hated Tony. He was always good to you in his way and he's obviously really upset now.'
'Yes you did! You were always trying to wind him up and make him jealous.'
'OK maybe I was a bit hard on him, but I don't want him getting in trouble for something he didn't do. Rachel's right, this could be serious.'
'That's right, poor little Tony. Everyone feels sorry for him and it's all my fault.'
'I never said it was your fault.'
Kate tried to put her arm around Alice, but she shrugged her off. 'You were thinking it.'
'I'm going,' Kate said. 'Call me when you're in a better mood.'
Alice sat with her head in her hands when Kate had gone. Her sister had a point, she had got herself into a bad mood and snapped and she knew why. Although she'd thought all along that this wasn't something Tony would do, she'd been half hoping it was because if it wasn't him it was someone else. She didn't know what they wanted or what they might do next. Until they were caught, she was going to be permanently frightened.
Alice went to bed, but wasn't asleep when Tony rang at three in the morning.
'Should there be anyone at your work?'
'No and you shouldn't be either.'
'I was hoping to see whoever it was your boss saw hanging about and get the registration to prove it wasn't me. As I drove down the track I'm sure there were lights on and a car passed me.'
'If you think there's something wrong call the police.'
'But if there's not it'll look like another hoax. Alice, I know it's not your problem, but I've made a few mistakes at work through not concentrating and what with the warnings about the hoaxes I could lose my job. Please help me.' He sounded desperate.
She had the key to work and wouldn't sleep anyway. 'OK.'
Firestarter Page 17
