Play With Fire

by Solomon Carter

  “You worried about the job? Is that it?” said Toby. “Don’t worry. You’re going to be fantastic at it.”

  Joanne shook her head. “It’s not that.”

  “I know what it is. You need a wage. I understand. Then worry no more, Jo. You can hand your notice in at Civic Centre just as soon as you like. You’re hired.”

  “What? Er, no…” said Joanne quickly. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Not yet.”

  Toby Falk frowned. He stopped squeezing Joanne’s shoulder but his fingers lingered all the same “Why not? You’re not getting cold feet now are you?”

  “That’s not it. I just don’t want my place here – my job – to be defined by what happened between us.”

  Falk’s frown stayed in place. “Joanne?”

  “I think that might have happened a little too soon, don’t you?”

  “Joanne, you should know I wouldn’t employ you just because of… us… well, having a relationship.”

  Joanne was sure the man originally meant to say sex but had changed his mind. The change of words made Joanne’s blush deepen and she pursed her lips.

  “Joanne, I’m only hiring you before someone else does – before someone like Roberts and Bradley beat me to it. Besides, what you’re doing, trying to hold down two jobs at the same time, messing the council around all the time, building up your sick record there – that doesn’t suit anyone. Just be honest with yourself and take the job.”

  “But I am being honest, Toby. I want the job, I really do. But on my own terms. I’m still establishing myself here. I haven’t proven my skills yet.”

  “You’ve proved yourself to me already,” he said, with a hint of a chuckle.

  Joanne shot him a glance and his smile faltered. Falk’s hand slid away.

  “It’s only been the two nights, Jo. You don’t think that I’ve somehow taken advantage of you, do you?” said Toby.

  “Taken advantage of me? You couldn’t if you tried,” said Joanne. “And no, I don’t think it’s like that at all. I’d just rather things went this way – if you don’t mind.”

  “You want me to keep you on a wageless work trial? That hardly seems fair or proper. And in the meantime… what about us?”

  “Us, is a separate thing, isn’t it?”

  “Yes… of course…” His eyes flitted between hers, reading them closely.

  Joanne nodded, pleased to see his worry over losing her. “Nothing needs to alter there… but while all these changes keep coming, I think I just need to take it all bit slowly.”

  Falk nodded. “I had made us some plans for tonight, but if you’d prefer we could postpone…”

  “No,” she said. “Tonight will be fine. I just need to keep a little bit of independence while we work things out.”

  Falk sighed and shrugged his eyebrows. “I think I can understand that. But, Joanne, the job here is ready and waiting, as soon as you want it.”

  Joanne nodded. “I know and thanks.” She raised a beckoning finger to Falk, and the frosty, forlorn look in his blue eyes diminished by degrees. He leaned down towards her, and they shared a brief soft kiss, with the promise of more. When they parted, Toby walked out of the room and Joanne shook her head. “Boys, all the bloody same,” she said, shaking her head. They were vain and needy and mostly unsure of themselves, even someone as professional as Falk. Everything she’d told him was true. She had given in to him a little earlier than she had intended. The wine, his good looks, and charm had played their part in that. Guilty feelings about poor Mark had flooded in as soon as she had opened her eyes that first morning. And that wasn’t all she felt guilty about. Leaving Eva and Dan had felt like a true wrench, much more so than abandoning her post at the civic centre. She missed them, knew they were struggling, and knew Mark would be struggling worse still. She had imagined she was doing the right thing by all of them. But it hardly felt like it now. Still, she couldn’t go back. Going back would have been worse – worse for Mark, worse for her future. And leaving Toby at the start of whatever they had going would only make an even worse mess. She had to see it through, no matter where it led. But in the meantime, there were a few things she could do to mitigate her guilt. If Eva and Dan thrived, then so would Mark. And without her there, maybe he would even rise to reach his potential. Joanne had hopes for him. And who knew… when he was one day successful in the business, maybe they would end up together again, the true successors to Eva and Dan. It was a stupid, dumb idea, of course. Joanne smirked at herself. It was too late for that now. She was with Tobias Falk, on a different road with a similar destination in mind, even if the man was fifteen years older than she was. What did that matter…?

  She was sure Tobias had been too busy thinking of their romance to notice what was on her screen. Joanne took a breath, rubbed her hands together and brought her original work back to the forefront. She left her email minimised as she clicked back into a folder named ‘Jo’s Work Ongoing’. It was such an innocuous name. Deliberately so, because the folder contained a range of tasks. Some of them included chase-up call lists, pursuing Falk’s outstanding payments, or clients who had made inquiries but since gone cold. Then there were other elements to her daily routine. The ones which Toby didn’t know about. One folder was named ‘Reject inquiries’. Again, it seemed like a fair enough title. Except that Joanne was the one who decided which of the inquiries wasn’t good enough for Tobias Falk. Joanne knew Falk might not have been quite so picky. Joanne typed a new line into the name field of the reject file.

  Andrew Ronson… Address: Carberry Close, Basildon, Essex… Reason for job: Neighbourhood dispute. Alleges anti-social behaviour, threatening behaviour, intimidation and possible illegal activity. Wants assistance. Reason Rejected: Unsuitable client. Possible problem case.

  It was the third client name Joanne had listed in the reject file in the last forty-eight hours. There were good reasons Joanne wanted to retain her independence a little longer, and one of those was she couldn’t in good conscience take money from Falk, and then cheat him of case lead just because it was less than solid. At least Joanne knew these leads couldn’t have come from Miss Perry, because she had handled the calls herself. She saved the file and closed it. There on screen, right beside reject inquiries were two other little yellow folder icons. Each one had been titled with initials. One was called AP. One was LJ. AP for Alice Perry, and L.J. for Lauren Jaeger. And since she had started full-time working with Toby, a good few hours had been spent working on each one. One day soon, those files would be going elsewhere. But until then, they would stay hidden. Because there was plenty of work still to be done.

  Perry was a permanent threat.

  Jaeger was a drain… but from what Eva had told her, and from what she had seen, Joanne suspected she was worse than that.

  “Coffee or tea?” called Falk from somewhere beyond their blue and white office suite.

  Joanne jerked up right again and closed the file in reflex. “Erm., coffee would be good.”

  “Coming right up,” called Falk.

  Joanne swept her blonde fringe from her eyes and opened a new email message in a hurry.

  Her fingers raced across the keyboard.

  Dear Mr Ronson,

  Thank you for your inquiry.

  I’m afraid Tobias Falk are unable to help you at this time, but I can recommend the services of two superb private investigators who will be only too glad to help you.

  Roberts and Bradley. I have attached their contact details below.

  Yours faithfully

  Tobias Falk Investigations.

  She clicked send, and the email was gone. Immediately, Joanne went into the sent file and clicked delete, to get rid of the evidence. She breathed a sigh of relief. She knew Toby well enough after a few weeks. She knew he wouldn’t have wanted those jobs. True. But neither would he have wanted them given away to his competitors without his approval. Only a wage-free Miss Independent felt able to take that decision out of his hands. Kisses or no kiss
es, affair or none, her bond to Mark, Eva and Dan ran deep enough to want to help them – and help them in more ways than one. Joanne listened to the sounds of coffee being made, and guessed she had a couple of minutes to spare before Toby returned. Joanne opened the LJ file and scanned the start she’d made to the first document inside. The document – snappily titled LJ1 – was only three pages long, and so far mostly about her general impressions of the woman. Joanne scanned her notes.

  Needy… too assertive… acting dependent on Eva within a very short space of time. Frequent phone calls, always urgent. Clingy… aggressive at times… domineering… tendency to put herself above Eva’s needs…

  Everything came from observation, but the words might also have been a description of the majority of the clients Joanne had ever met. But there was something else about Lauren Jaeger that didn’t stack up, something deeper. How many kids stone-cold dropped their best friend without any prior warning? Yes, they had been young, at the tail end of the childhood years, but still, the behaviour was weird. Eva had given her the impression that Lauren had cut her off without any warning at all. For best friends of any age, that was seriously harsh. And from Eva’s reactions since, Joanne guessed the impact must have lasted years. Perhaps that was where Eva’s serious demeanour, her protective shell, had come from…

  Joanne added some more notes.

  Tendency to lie. Urged Eva to pursue actions well beyond the job, including harming her ex. Paranoid? Violent? Definitely, in my opinion.

  Joanne frowned at the notes and chewed her lip. Then she carried on typing.

  This woman appeared in Eva’s life after twenty years of total silence. Stopped being her friend suddenly and disappeared, just like that. Eva gave the impression she never saw the woman ever again in the intervening years. But how likely is that? She didn’t even see LJ in the street? Not once? Very odd.

  Jaeger worked in Fashion Media but know very little else about her. Her backstory ends there… why?

  Joanne heard Falk putting the coffee jar away and slamming the fridge. She was almost out of time. At the foot of the page, Joanne added one last note.

  Next task – Look into LJ’s career. Could provide informative about current situation.

  Joanne clicked the folder out of sight just as Toby walked back into the room holding two white mugs of his favourite instant. Toby was a tall, good-looking guy, and he had his finer points, but then he went and spoiled it all by drinking supermarket instant. Instant coffee was something Eva and Dan avoided whenever they could. Ah well, you couldn’t win them all. But, if their relationship was to last, then Joanne intended to teach the man about real coffee. The kind of coffee a PI should drink. Falk handed Joanne her cup and sat down at his own desk. Joanne peered at the black concoction with a look of doubt.

  “Jo, I’ll need you to make a few follow up calls. Just to check on a couple of clients, see if they’re okay, then ask them when they’ll settle their account. Nice and friendly, just drop in the cash question like it’s an afterthought. You know how it goes.”

  “Sure, no problem,” said Joanne. “Just allow me a minute or two…” she said, typing fast.

  Falk smiled.

  “See what I mean? You’re indispensable, already. What would I do without you?”

  Joanne smiled at him over the top of desktop screen. “Let’s hope you never have to find out,” she added.

  She opened the web browser and started a search…

  Lauren Jaeger Basildon Fashion Trade Press Media

  Within two minutes of web searching Joanne had learned more about Lauren Jaeger than she could have rightly expected. It wasn’t the kind of information anyone would have needed before meeting the woman. But since everything she said had proved so unreliable, it all mattered. And as a media person, her career really shouldn’t have been hard to track down. Any trade press or publication worth their salt would have had an online presence in the last fifteen to twenty years. And every article published on the web stayed there, cached into all eternity – unless the original publishing website died altogether, which was a rare occurrence in itself. But even then, the names, careers, and list of articles would have been left behind, like a trail, or the outline of a ghost. If Lauren Jaeger’s publication had folded and their website had been taken down, the proof would have been out there. But after trying a range of search term combinations and scanning the list of returned entries, including publications past and present, Joanne was confident of one more detail about the woman’s past. Lauren Jaeger had never worked as a fashion industry journalist. The woman’s past was still a question mark. The woman was a liar, possibly a compulsive one. Liars always had a reason… so what was she hiding? Joanne stared at the screen and sipped her coffee, frowned, and then clicked her notes away. She needed time to think. A few mindless office chores would give her the perfect opportunity to chew it over.

  “I’ll start those calls now, Toby,” she said.

  “Superb, Joanne. The girl who gets everything done.”

  Yeah, right. It was a patronising remark, but Joanne let him off… because it far was truer than Toby Falk had realised.

  Three

  “So what’s the secret?” said Eva.

  The Arches, Westcliff. The famous arches’ restaurants occupied a set of archways which ran along the side of the hill overlooking the Thames Estuary across the street. Most of the arches were large enough to hold a decent restaurant kitchen and several tables inside. All the restaurants had awnings to provide additional weatherproof seating but, at the very end of the hill, where the slope met the main drag of the Esplanade, the last couple of arches were only just about big enough for a small ice cream kiosk and a storage cupboard. Directly opposite the arches, was Westcliff’s sandy beach and the broad calm water of the estuary, with Kent’s industrial chimneys scattered on the far shore. On a hazy day they disappeared from view. Today was clear and dry. But the first bite of autumn was already in the air. Despite the cool breeze, they sat outside the Garden Café and watched the sunlight dapple the water, ignoring the passing cars which interrupted their view.

  “Secret?” said Joanne, blushing with a shake of her head.

  “Yes,” said Eva. “You’re looking really well. I could do with some of whatever you’re having.”

  Joanne’s mind went to Toby Falk – kisses tasting of wine in the office. As if fearing Eva could read her mind, Joanne shifted in her bistro chair and looked at the water.

  “You know what they say, a change is as good as a rest.”

  “That’s what I hear,” said Eva, her eyes sparkling at Joanne, trying to get past her obvious defences.

  Joanne winced but smiled. She was about to tell Eva she looked well too, but then she noticed the tension in her brow, the pinched look about her eyes. Eva still looked knockout, and her smile was bright and friendly. But it certainly wasn’t the best version of Eva she’d ever seen.

  “The office misses you,” said Eva. “But then, I bet Civic Centre probably misses you even more than we do.”

  Joanne tilted her head. “Yeah. They’ve probably forgotten who I am.”

  “Are they still paying you?”

  “For now, but not for much longer. I’ve already received a couple of so-called welfare calls, and another request for a doctor’s note. I supplied one of those a while back on account of stress, but I can’t do that again. I suppose it’s the end of the road for me and the council.”

  “It’s probably for the best. Your new employer… this Tobias Falk. Won’t he pay you?”

  “He will. But it’s awkward, Eva. I like being a freelancer, especially the free part.”

  “Free? So do we all, but the thing is, free and easy doesn’t pay the bills. It would be good for you to get away from the council office. Nobody wants to get messed around, and you don’t need that on your conscience. Falk should stump up and pay your wage. You know we would have done. If we could.”

  “Yes, I know. But the time wasn’t right. Besid
es, I didn’t want to be an added burden. You’ve already had a lot going on lately, right?”

  Eva flicked her hair and picked up her coffee cup. “You mean Lauren Jaeger?”

  “Who else?” said Joanne.

  Eva wasn’t keen to return to the subject. It was her turn to glance across the water. She changed the subject.

  “You know, I always thought you and Mark might have been the perfect match. An odd couple in some ways, yes, but still very complementary. I even thought you might have ended up like Dan and me. In for the long haul, as PIs too.”

  Joanne sighed. “Yeah, I thought that. But I was keen to get moving, to get started in the world. Mark’s always been so content to take a back seat.”

  “Actually, he’s seen a lot of action and helped time and again from that back seat. He was a great help in the Alma Poulter case.”

  Joanne nodded. “I know he was. So why is he always the last to see it? That self-doubt – that self-denigration thing. It’s not that pleasant to see or be around. I loved him for it, but I wanted him to get past it too. Maybe he can do that with me out of the way”

  “You think?” said Eva. “Or is that what you’re telling yourself?”