The Burlington Manor Affair

by Saskia Walker

  “Nikhil, please.” He took off his shades and folded them into the top pocket on the jacket of his suit, then rested his hands on his hips. His eyes were intelligent, and he regarded Rex with a half smile. “I’ve met with two other teams.”

  Rex’s hopes waned.

  “Your designers are the best. You would be my top choice.” He stated the approval quite simply. “However, I have a proposition for you that you may need time to consider.”

  Rex lifted his brows. “Go on, we’re listening.”

  “I value loyalty, and I would like you to work solely with me and my team of drivers. I’m interested in more than buying your designs for parts, though. I think your men have talent. I’d like you to work directly with my engine designer. I want Slipstream as a partner.”

  Rex didn’t break eye contact with him. “That would be a big step for us. We already freelance parts design for one team.”

  Rex only stated that to gain time; it was a small-fry contract compared to this. It would be a big leap of faith, but this development could mean great things for his business. It was the sort of opportunity he’d hoped for maybe five years down the line. If Rashid’s team took off and they were involved in engine design, it was a whole new level of opportunity and growth.

  “Yes, but your contract with them will end in December. Following that you can focus your resources in a different way. We will unite and produce an exceptional team with an exceptional vehicle.”

  Rex laughed. “You’ve done your homework.”

  Rashid nodded. “As I’m sure you have, too.”

  “Indeed.” He’d found out that Rashid was a serious businessman with clout, and that he was pursuing his life dream.

  “Take some time to think about it,” Rashid offered.

  Rex glanced around at his team and wondered if he looked as starry-eyed as they did. It was a big surprise, way above and beyond what they’d been hoping for, and it would be a lot of work. But it was very tempting indeed. “At Slipstream we do everything as a team. We’ll discuss it and get back to you.”

  “I’ll email my investment profile and what I’m offering in terms of shares. I have high-profile sponsors lined up. I’m sure the information will help you make a decision.” Nikhil Rashid put out his hand, and Rex grasped it firmly.

  “Does this mean we get to crack open that bottle of champagne you stashed in the office fridge yesterday?” Lance asked when they were on their way back to their vehicles.

  Rex laughed and switched on his phone. “You’re like one of those kids who hunt down their Christmas presents in their parents’ wardrobe.”

  The screen on his phone flashed a text message from Carmen. The sight of her name alone made him smile. It felt good that she’d asked him to leave work early. Perhaps they were getting close to a comfortable routine.

  His smile faded when he read the message.

  Rex, it’s the anniversary of my mother’s death and I visit her grave site every year. I’ll get the train up to Beldover as usual and—if you’re willing—I’ll see you at Burlington this evening. I could tell you wanted us to stay in London, but the manor is important to me. I have so many plans and I don’t want to miss a single weekend there. I let Mrs. Amery know I’m coming and that you might be, too. I’ve abided by all your requests and demands this past week. This is what I’d like: meet me at the manor this evening. Carmen. x

  Rex looked at his watch. The meeting had gone on much longer than he’d expected and it was already past two. The message had been sent at eleven. He’d had his phone off for the duration of the meeting. Rashid’s track was based twenty miles south of Oxford, so he was already on the right side of London. If he went straight there he might be able to catch her before she got to the manor.

  He folded his phone into his pocket. “I’m going to have to postpone that champagne. Something has come up at the manor. Sorry, guys.”

  Lance lifted his hand. “No worries, we can make a session of it next week when you get back.”

  As soon as he drove the Maserati onto the main road, he instructed his hands-free to call Carmen. The call went straight to voice mail. Would she check that while she was traveling? He wasn’t sure. It annoyed him that he couldn’t gauge her behavior more readily. She might have turned her phone off because she needed some alone time as she visited her mother’s grave. Alternatively it could be a bad sign. He left a brief message, asking her to get back to him as soon as she switched on her phone.

  “I’m on my way,” he added before he ended the call.

  Then he put a call in to Burlington Manor.

  “Mrs. Amery, Rex here. I’m on my way to Beldover now. Has Carmen arrived at the manor?”

  “Not as yet, but we are expecting her. She didn’t know whether you’d be able to come this weekend, but I’ll tell Cook to expect you, as well.”

  “Thank you. If Carmen arrives there, could you ask her to phone me immediately?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Thank you. Tell me, has there been anything unusual about the manor this week? Have you seen anyone drifting around the place that concerned you?”

  A weighty silence emitted from the other end of the line. Eventually she replied. “Do you mean those two louts that you sent from London, or somebody else?” Her tone was overly austere and defensive.

  Rex grimaced. He hadn’t worded that very well. “I meant outside of them.”

  “In that case, no. However, that was disconcerting enough.”

  Rex clenched his jaw and his hands tightened on the wheel. “It wasn’t meant to be disconcerting. It was meant to bring support in the running of the manor.”

  “We’re well aware that things need doing, and we will get to them. We’re working at full capacity.”

  “Mrs. Amery, I asked for outside people to assess any urgent repairs in order to take the burden off you.”

  “Running Burlington Manor has never been a burden and it never will be.”

  Rex groaned internally. Apparently he’d sprung open a real can of worms here. “As I said, it wasn’t meant to undermine any of you. It was done in good faith. Two weeks ago, Bill told me more hands were needed.”

  “I expect he probably did, but he meant local people who we know we could trust, not some fly-by-night people up from the city.”

  That was her real grudge. Rex really didn’t need this now. However, he wanted to keep her on side. “I apologize unreservedly. That was not my intention. I promise I won’t dump anything on you again without discussing it first. I was in a panic because of Carmen’s fall.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry. I hadn’t realized that was why.”

  “Don’t worry. I know I didn’t handle it very well. We’ll chat about it when I get to the house.”

  When he hung up he asked himself how much he could really say to her. He couldn’t rule out anyone in his hunt for the amateurs who were trying to scare them off the manor. There was no reason why the Amerys should be under suspicion, because his father had provided for them well. But he wasn’t going to rule anyone out until he had some more solid information. He couldn’t afford to. Carmen’s safety was at stake.

  He put his foot down.

  By the time he reached the church in Beldover he was feeling frantic.

  The church was built on a hillside and the graveyard was beyond it. Rex scanned the area as he parked. There were no other cars around. He got out and jogged from his car to the row of thick, dark pines that lined the church boundary. The old wooden lych-gate creaked open and he passed under its canopy. Looking ahead, he saw and heard no sign of visitors. Praying that she was here and hadn’t been waylaid, he ran up the meandering path and skirted the perimeter of the church, his heart thumping in his chest.

  When he turned a corner and arrived at the spot where the rolling hill flattened o
ut beyond the church and the graveyard began, a flash of fabric moving in the breeze caught his eye.

  Relief flooded him.

  Carmen was there, standing with her back to him, her overnight bag sitting on the grass nearby as she stood at the grave. Rex stopped in his tracks. It was a poignant image, the sight of her standing there with her hair lifting on the afternoon breeze while she looked down at her mother’s grave.

  He recalled her saying that she’d done this each year since her mother had passed on. Up until this anniversary, his father had joined her. Rex didn’t want her to be standing there alone, so he walked to her side.

  “Rex, you startled me.” Her eyes were wide but she broke into a smile.

  That smile made him feel as if everything was right in the world, even though he knew it wasn’t, not yet. He put his arm around her shoulders and then drew her into his embrace. He kissed the top of her head. Her hands went against his chest and she rested her head on his shoulder.

  He wanted to hold her that way forever. He looked across the rolling downs toward the clouds shifting over the distant hills. Centuries of tradition stood behind them within the church. Generations of the local villagers and people from the surrounding countryside were buried here, their headstones testifying to the lives they’d led.

  The two of them had been here just weeks before for his father’s funeral. At that event he’d felt like an outsider. Then he’d looked up and seen Carmen standing there, her expression concerned and curious, and the whole world fell away. Finally meaning took hold, as if the very sight of her drew the jigsaw pieces of his life together. Studying her face, he acknowledged how much he cared. This is where I’m meant to be. He’d come home, but it was because of Carmen.

  He looked down at his father’s grave—turfed now but still awaiting its headstone—and he felt both grief and regret. How different it was to the last time he’d been there. Because of Carmen. Because we are together again. Staring at his father’s grave, Rex felt gratitude surge inside him. The old man had put this woman back in his arms, and Rex couldn’t have been more grateful.

  “You didn’t need to rush up here.”

  “I wish I’d known it was the anniversary today. You should’ve said.”

  “You had an important business meeting. It had to be, because I know you’d have taken time off if you could have.” She moved, and wrapped her hands on the back of his head, stroking his hair as she smiled at him.

  He wanted to see her smile that way forever.

  “I still wish you’d told me it was today.” He nodded his head at the grave.

  “Hey, I’m a businesswoman. Your pitch had to come first and I knew it.”

  “If I’d known, I could have rearranged things.” Why did he sound like he was making excuses? Because he felt as if he should have been there—should have at least driven her up and made sure she was okay and cared for. “I don’t want you to have to do stuff like this alone.”

  Carmen gazed up at him, and her utter serenity impacted on him somehow, making him feel clueless.

  “I’ve done just about everything on my own for a long time now, especially dealing with my mother’s death. Your father came on the anniversaries but it was an odd thing, barely rubbing shoulders with each other, all the regrets. It was a shared experience, yes, but...” She paused and shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe it’s me, maybe it’s ingrained in me to be alone.”

  That hit Rex like a punch to the gut.

  Was it true, was that what was stopping them being together?

  “You weren’t always that way.” He knew it sounded shallow and childish, as if he wanted her to be the way she had been before. He couldn’t help it. He loved the mature Carmen but it pained him to think of her alone, ever, let alone always.

  “I know.” She smiled up at him and the smile was there in her eyes, too, which was a huge relief to Rex. “I need to be more sociable outside the workplace again. I’m hoping the manor will be part of me getting that back again.”

  She wrapped her arm around his waist as she turned away from the grave. It was an indication she was ready to go.

  Rex grabbed her overnight bag from where it sat in the grass, slinging it over his shoulder before pausing a moment. There was something special about being here. They were alone with the glorious countryside and the sky, and what he felt for her seemed somehow more immense here. He kept his arm around her as they walked down the path, between the lush green borders and the lichen-covered gravestones that went back centuries.

  “Mrs. Amery will be so pleased when we arrive together. I wasn’t sure you’d come.”

  “You should have been sure,” he replied gruffly.

  “Well, I was rather demanding.”

  When he glanced down, her expression was mischievous. “I’m not sure I agree, about Mrs. Amery being pleased. I rang her on the way up here and I’m not in her good books.”

  “Why not?”

  The confession was overdue, and the rest of the story had to be shared. It was a good place to begin. “As I mentioned last night, I sent a couple of people to check out the state of repair on the place and see what might need to be done immediately. I mean, after that business with you slipping on the staircase, it made me wonder.”

  Carmen responded by chuckling. “Ah, yes. No wonder you’re in her bad books.”

  “I know,” he said, resigned to the fact. “I’ve got a lot to learn.” He scarcely withdrew his arm from around her as they passed under the lych-gate.

  “I like your car,” Carmen said as she settled into the passenger seat.

  “You do?”

  “Yes, it makes me feel safe.”

  “That’s good.”

  “The car, not you. I’m never safe with you, Rex.”

  It was meant to be a joke, he knew that, but it was too close to the bone.

  Rex turned the key in the ignition. He didn’t want to go to the manor, but he also didn’t want to talk to her in the car, where he couldn’t hold her and explain things properly. “We need to talk. If Mrs. Amery is expecting us for dinner, we’ll talk then.”

  Then I get you out of there.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  THEY WERE CLOSE to the manor when his phone rang. Rex looked at the display and saw it was Jacobson. “Sorry, I have to take this. It might be important.”

  Instead of putting it on speaker, he pulled over to the side of the road and brought the phone to his ear. “What have you got for me?”

  “First up, I’m afraid your staff were a royal pain in the arse to deal with. Apparently they did everything bar getting the wagons in a circle. The housekeeper actually asked my men to leave. They’d only been there two hours.”

  “Jesus, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s one level of security check, I suppose.” Jacobson gave a wry laugh. “However, my men said the house really isn’t very secure at all. You need to look into that.”

  Rex decided they definitely weren’t staying past dinner. “I will. Thank you. Anything they picked up among the staff at the manor?”

  He could feel Carmen’s scrutiny. It was difficult to talk without letting some of it slip.

  “They said it was hard to tell. The housekeeper turned into a rottweiler and stalked after them everywhere they went. Let’s just say the atmosphere wasn’t conducive to chatting. I’d recommend more overt tactics. They can go in again next week and question them directly, if you prepare the way.”

  “I’ll consider that. What else?”

  “Well, this was more worrying—your family solicitor was also very reluctant to share anything with me. I’d go so far as to say he deliberately avoided my calls and requests for access.”

  Rex’s suspicions lit. Chris Montague. Could he have anything to do with it? Rex found it unnerving that he mistruste
d everybody, but it was inevitable. Chris and his father had been old friends, university buddies. Had he known about Olivia Fordyce? Probably. What more did Chris know and what was he concealing? “Do you want me to speak to him?”

  “No, I got through in the end. I’m tenacious, but his reluctance did put him in the spotlight. My conclusion is that he knew there was something odd in the will and he possibly felt a little guilty because he hadn’t made more of an effort to draw your attention to it.” Jacobson paused. “I’ll leave you to take that up with him, because I think you’ll probably want to. In the meantime I can go over the clause now.”

  “Please do.” Rex glanced at Carmen. She was making no effort to hide her curiosity.

  “This charity that you mentioned, it’s a small affair. It provides support for people who are suffering from a rare form of cancer. It was named Wilmington’s after the founder. His wife had the condition but he’s passed on now, too, and the charity is run by a small team of volunteers.”

  “Right,” Rex responded, his mind working overtime. He’d never heard of the organization and as far as he knew his father died of a heart attack. If the charity had been supporting him in some way, the solicitor would have been aware of that.

  “The interesting part is that the chief financial officer for the charity is one of the names you gave me, this Olivia Fordyce.”

  So, there was a connection. Was the charity a front? “That’s very interesting indeed. I’ve located the woman in question already. I’ll email you her details.”

  “Your suspicions were grounded?” Jacobson asked.

  “I think so. Anything else?”

  “Not right now, but I’ll keep on it.”

  When he ended the call, Carmen was sitting with her arms folded, studying him. “You’re keeping things from me about the house and the staff?”

  “I have been, yes.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Just because I’ve been pliable in the sex department doesn’t mean I want to be treated like a helpless child. We both own that house.”