by Lucy Gordon;Sarah Morgan;Robyn Donald;Lucy Monroe;Lee Wilkinson;Kate Walker
As she opened her mouth to protest he added firmly, ‘No, I’m not just guessing. I’m one hundred per cent certain.’
Chapter Eight
‘HOW can you be so sure?’
Blaze spread expressive hands. ‘Start from the beginning and work it out for yourself. You saw Melinda and Varley together. How did they get on?’
‘Very well,’ Fran admitted. ‘Kirk was charming to her, and she responded, but I presumed that…’
‘That it was just a good business relationship?’
‘Yes.’
‘Obviously it was a great deal more. My guess is that from the word go there was an instant and powerful attraction between the pair of them. I was safely in the States, so they began seeing each other—which would explain why she stayed up in Manchester so much. I did wonder about that…
‘Then one or other of them must have had the bright idea of stealing the rubies, and they began to plan how best to do it without anyone finding out. The first thing would have been to have a set of fake stones made—only as you yourself pointed out, William Bailey—whom I believe to be an honest man—would almost certainly have spotted them. To get over that problem they decided to have two necklaces made.’
‘Two?’
‘It was the only thing that made sense. I rang William Bailey this morning and he confirmed that he had made two identical gold settings. As soon as he was given the design and the dimensions he made a trial one, so to speak, which was handed over to Melinda for her approval. He was told that Miss Ross was very happy with it, but she wanted to keep it to show me. Therefore, on Varley’s instructions, he made a second one, in which he set the real rubies.
‘In the meantime the fake stones were put into the first setting, probably by one of Varley’s shady friends, so all that was needed was for him to make a last-minute switch.
‘You yourself told me that before Varley “left for Amsterdam” he packed the necklace up himself and put it in the safe. Then the following day, just before your taxi arrived to take you to the airport, William Bailey opened the safe and gave you the package. At that stage neither of you had any reason to doubt that it contained the real necklace.
‘Melinda and Varley are both clever,’ Blaze went on, a hint of admiration in his tone, ‘and the whole thing was planned with the greatest care. She made certain that you and Varley were invited to the Hall, and he made certain that you were carrying the necklace. Your total innocence was to be their trump card.’
‘I don’t—’
‘You admitted that Varley showed no interest in you until you got the go-ahead to redesign the setting?’
Fran nodded.
‘But he’s a man of the world. He must have noticed your interest in him?’
She flushed uncomfortably. ‘I suppose so.’
‘When did he actually propose?’
Slowly, she said, ‘When he was outlining his plan for delivering the necklace and he first suggested that I should carry it. I considered it was much too big a responsibility for someone who was only an employee, and I told him so…
‘He said something like, “My darling girl, you must know that I don’t think of you as a mere employee. In fact I was about to ask you to become part of the firm…Yes, I really do mean marry me…”’
Blaze nodded grimly. ‘Everything depended on you carrying the necklace, so he’d have promised you the moon if he’d thought it necessary. And to add weight to his proposal, and allay any faint doubts you might have had, he asked you to move in with him.
‘Meanwhile he’d set up this trip to Amsterdam, and made arrangements for you to meet him at the airport on his return. That done, he fixed for one of his underworld associates to follow you to London, well clear of his home ground, before putting the rest of his plan into operation.
‘His message about being delayed was an essential part of the strategy. He needed you to be alone—but somewhere nice and public, like a taxi rank at an airport—when your bag was snatched. That way he would have an excellent alibi for himself, and the only thing the firm could have been accused of was some degree of negligence. Though the secrecy angle was quite a valid one.
‘His plans must have appeared to be working smoothly until, when he was about to board the plane for Amsterdam, he either discovered or strongly suspected that he was being followed.
‘Though he couldn’t have been sure who was following him, or why, afraid of things going wrong, he changed his mind about leaving for Amsterdam and set out to give his shadow the slip…
‘As you know, he succeeded, and once more his plans seemed all set to work. You were given the necklace, caught the plane to London, waited for him as instructed, and then when he was “delayed” went to get a taxi…
‘Everything had gone like clockwork until your bag was snatched, but then, instead of you having hysterics and reporting it, as he’d expected, you got quietly into a taxi and carried on to Balantyne Hall.
‘His plan was brilliant, in its way, and no doubt would have worked if you hadn’t made up your mind to wear the necklace instead of carrying it. That unexpected decision threw a spanner in the works.’
Bewildered, she said, ‘But if he’d gone to all the trouble to have a fake necklace made, why was it necessary to steal it?’
‘That was the whole purpose. He couldn’t afford to try and palm me off with a fake. He knew it wouldn’t be too long before someone spotted it, and then the fat would be in the fire.’
‘I still don’t follow…If the whole purpose was simply to steal it, why not leave just a weighted box?’
‘Too risky. William Bailey might possibly have made a last-minute check. If he had, without a close examination, the fake was good enough to pass muster.’
‘I see,’ she breathed.
‘Then, once it was safely stolen, in a manner of speaking, no one would know it had been a fake. Both you and William Bailey would have been convinced it was the real thing. And in the unlikely event of it ever being recovered, who’s to say that the criminal who stole it hadn’t made the switch?
‘All that Varley and Melinda needed to do was sit tight until the furore had died down. If things had gone according to plan Melinda would no doubt have come on to the Hall. But some time over the weekend, and certainly before the wedding, she would have found some pretext to back out of the agreement and end our engagement. Then, with all the worry and stress of having the necklace stolen, it would have been easy for Varley to pick a quarrel with you and break things off. When they eventually did get together, even if someone was suspicious, no blame could be attached to two people for simply falling in love.
‘Everything must have seemed cut and dried, and it no doubt came as a very nasty shock when the necklace wasn’t in your bag and the whole scheme fell apart…In fact I strongly suspect that at first they were thrown into a panic…’
‘Do you think that’s why they made the mistake of going to Kirk’s apartment?’
‘I’m fairly sure they must have had some pressing reason to risk going back there. Possibly it was to pick up his passport, or perhaps the real necklace…If it was either or both of those, it seems on the cards that they’re planning to make a run for it.
‘Of course they won’t know how long they’ve got before someone puts two and two together and the fake is discovered…Though it’s early days yet, so with a bit of luck they’ll still be feeling relatively secure.’
‘You don’t think they’ll realise that they’ve been picked up again?’
‘Though they must have been extremely wary, I doubt it.’ Grimly, he added, ‘After getting blasted for their previous poor showing, Ritters have got a team of top men and women following them.’
‘So you know where they are?’
‘The last I heard they appeared to be heading for London.’
‘What do you intend to do?’
‘Nothing, at the moment. I’m waiting to see which way they jump. If they are going to try and leave the country, then th
ey’ll almost certainly have the necklace with them. It’s a big risk, of course, but one they have to take…
‘On the other hand if they’re intending to lie low—and London is a good place to disappear in—the necklace may be stashed away somewhere. Which could make recovering it a great deal more difficult.’
Fran moistened her dry lips. ‘What if you don’t get it back? I suppose it’s insured?’
‘It’s insured up to the hilt, but in the circumstances I wouldn’t expect any insurance company to pay out. They’ll no doubt argue that insufficient care was taken.’
‘I’m sorry,’ she said helplessly.
‘Financially I’m well able to stand the loss.’ His voice steely, he added, ‘But I don’t want to lose a family heirloom, and I dislike being made a fool of.’
‘Who doesn’t?’
Hearing the bitterness, he remarked, ‘In your case they didn’t succeed. It was your resourcefulness that turned the tables.’
She could only be glad that he looked at it that way. At least it made things easier.
Bracing herself, she took the bull by the horns. ‘Now you’re happy that I’m not to blame in any way, I’d like to leave as soon as possible.’
‘Why?’
The question took her by surprise. ‘Well, I—’
‘What is there to hurry back for? You have no lover waiting for you, no job, not even a bedsitter to go back to.’
‘Well, that’s just it…I—I need to get my life sorted out. Once I’ve found somewhere to live and another job—’
‘In the circumstances that might not be easy.’
Hoping his words held no veiled threat, and striving to sound confident, she said, ‘Starting all over again isn’t so bad. I’ve done it before.’
His voice searing, he informed her, ‘You may find the idea of starting all over again reasonable. I don’t.’
‘But neither of us have much option,’ she pointed out shakily.
‘I’m not sure I agree there. In most situations there’s usually more than one course open. For instance, with regard to the theft of the Balantyne rubies, I have the choice of either dealing with it myself or calling in the police.’
‘The police?’ All the colour drained from her face.
‘Theft, or even attempted theft, is against the law,’ he pointed out.
‘But if you can get the necklace back, surely it won’t be necessary to involve the police?’
His eyes on her face, he asked curtly, ‘Can you give me one good reason why I shouldn’t?’
Stammering a little, she admitted, ‘I w-wouldn’t like either Melinda or Kirk to go to gaol because of me.’
‘It wouldn’t be because of you.’
‘Perhaps not, but I hate the idea of—’
‘So you think that when I catch up with them I should give them a pat on the head and say how clever they’ve been, and what a pity they didn’t quite pull it off?’
Flushing, she said, ‘No, of course not, but I—’
‘You still love Varley and you can’t bear to think of him in prison?’
Blaze sounded so angry that Fran bit her lip and wished she’d stayed silent.
‘Personally I think he deserves to be behind bars.’
‘What about Melinda?’
‘They were in this together. To reverse an old saying, “What’s sauce for the gander…”’
Fran shivered. ‘Then you do intend to tell the police?’
His shoulders moved in a slight shrug. ‘I may decide not to press charges. It all depends.’
‘On what?’
‘You.’
‘Me?’ Grey-green eyes cloudy and confused, she said, ‘I—I don’t understand. How can it depend on me?’
‘It’s a question of how co-operative you’re prepared to be. As I told you last night, I think you owe me.’
‘But I did as you asked…I did everything you asked…And you’ve just made it plain that you don’t blame me for what happened.’
‘I don’t blame you, but the fact remains that you were a party to it, and you are the only one available to make some reparation.’
‘But surely there’s a good chance you’ll get the necklace back?’
‘It isn’t the necklace that concerns me…’
As she stared at him, a sudden premonition making her heart start to beat with slow, heavy thuds, he added, ‘I have a wedding arranged for tomorrow, and I don’t like the idea of all my plans being wrecked.’
She fought against the knowledge. ‘You don’t mean…?’
‘That’s exactly what I mean.’
‘No, I won’t…I can’t…’ she cried wildly. ‘We don’t love each other—’
Brutally, he said, ‘You loved Varley, and where has that got you? And I thought I’d made it plain that I don’t regard love as a necessary ingredient of a good, stable marriage. As I told you previously, I want a partner who is compatible and basically good-tempered; someone warm and passionate, with enough spice to make life interesting. Don’t you want all those things?’
Yes, she did. But she also wanted love.
His eyes on her face, he continued, ‘You have all the qualities I’ve been looking for.’
‘I’m not beautiful, like Melinda.’
‘In your own way you’re even more beautiful. You have a kind of sweetness, an inner radiance she lacks.’
‘I’m not sexy, like her.’
‘I’ll be the judge of that.’
‘You might find me dull compared to her.’
‘Though Melinda rated high for fun and excitement, and was more…adventurous, I’ve no worries about finding you dull. I’m sure you’ll make an intelligent, stimulating companion, as well as a wife who will keep her wedding vows and help to make a happy home for our children. In fact in those respects I’m convinced you’re more suitable than Melinda.
‘In return, I’ll try my hardest to make you a good husband. I can give you every material thing you could wish for—’
‘I don’t care a jot about material things,’ she broke in hoarsely.
As if she hadn’t spoken, he went on, ‘You’ll have a chance to travel and do everything you’ve always wanted to do…And sexually we’re well-suited, to say the very least, so I’m sure I can keep you happy in bed.
‘Think about it. Isn’t it better than being alone? Better than trying to find a cheap bedsit and another job? Better than trying to start all over again, knowing the man you love is in prison and you’ve helped to put him there…?’
‘But you just said it wouldn’t be because of me.’
‘In that sense it won’t. But the fact that you could buy his immunity from prosecution by—’
Agitation brought her to her feet. ‘By marrying a man I loathe?’
She saw his jaw clench, and he too rose, seeming to tower over her.
With scorching derision, he said, ‘Of course, if the sacrifice is too great, you could always wait for Varley to come out of prison and beg him to take you back. Melinda won’t want a penniless gaolbird, so you may be lucky…’
Without conscious volition, Fran’s hand came up and gave that mocking face a stinging slap.
She had never struck anyone in her life before, had never thought of herself as a violent person, but her blow had been hard enough to jerk his head back and make him blink.
He stood quite still, while Fran, horrified by what she’d done, stared at the red mark that had appeared on his tanned cheek.
‘Well, well, well,’ he said softly. ‘I didn’t know you had it in you.’ Then, his hand going up to gingerly feel his face, he added ruefully, ‘For someone who looks so inoffensive, you certainly pack a wallop.’
‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered.
‘There’s no need to apologise,’ he told her. ‘You had plenty of provocation.’
Deeply ashamed, she said, ‘I still shouldn’t have done what I did,’ and, unable to help herself, began to tremble violently.
Blaze took her in
his arms and held her close, one hand moving soothingly up and down her spine. ‘It’s all right…I was asking for it. There’s no need to be upset.’
His ready forgiveness, his generosity of spirit, made her feel even more ashamed, and she had to fight to hold back the tears.
Lifting her head, she looked into his face, and, standing on tiptoe to touch her lips to his burning cheek, assured him shakily, ‘I promise I won’t do it again.’
‘You may need to from time to time, just to keep me in my place.’ Humorously, he added, ‘So long as you’re not going to turn into a husband-beater…’
She made a little sound, half-laugh, half-sob.
‘And you always kiss me better…
‘Now then,’ His hands closed lightly on her upper arms as he became suddenly businesslike. ‘I suggest we start for town more or less straight away and spend the night at the Empire Park. That way we’ll have time to do a little shopping before the wedding, which is scheduled for four o’clock…’
Though his manner held no trace of doubt, he was watching her narrowly. His dark eyes had a guarded, waiting look, and she knew he wasn’t anywhere near as confident as he’d sounded.
But she was emotionally drained, her opposition over, defeated.
It had nothing to do with Melinda and Kirk. She couldn’t believe that Blaze would deliberately put either of them behind bars. But suddenly she didn’t want to start all over again, alone and lonely. She didn’t want to lose the man she loved for the second time.
Marrying him, when he cared nothing for her, was taking an enormous risk. She recalled what he himself had said about one-sided loving. ‘To be steered clear of at all costs! It unbalances a relationship and can only cause trouble when one partner wants more than the other can give…’
But if she kept her love a secret—and while he thought she still loved Kirk that should be easy—surely between them they could make the marriage work?
Even if pain went hand in hand with pleasure, and despair sometimes swamped delight, loving him as she did, living with him had to be infinitely better than living without him.
Becoming aware that he was still waiting for a response, his lean face taut, she admitted her surrender by asking, ‘But won’t there be difficulties? Over the wedding, I mean?’
