Red Letter Day

by Colette Caddle

  He beamed like a schoolboy. 'I think I'm the lucky one. Good night, Celine, take care.'

  Celine walked back to the flat feeling like a total tart. As soon as she got inside she picked up the phone and dialled Kevin's mobile. 'We need to talk,' she said without preamble.

  'I'll be there as soon as I can,' he promised.

  She opened a bottle of wine and took down two glasses. They were both going to need a drink. The buzzer went and Celine froze. It was unlikely to be Kevin, it must be Richard. The buzzer went again and she went to answer it. 'Hello?'

  'Celine, it's Dominic.'

  Celine sighed with relief. 'Come on up.' She opened the door and watched him climb the stairs. 'Is everything okay?'

  'That's what I came to ask you. Cathy thought you might be upset.'

  'I'll survive.'

  Dominic noticed the two glasses and bottle of wine on the counter and smiled. 'Ah, you're expecting Richard I see.'

  Celine looked from the glasses back to Dominic. 'Er, well, actually—'

  'I'll leave you to it.' He turned to leave. 'Oh, by the way, Cathy said that now you've sorted out most of the costumes you don't have to come to all the rehearsals.'

  'She is so nice,' Celine said as she went downstairs with him.

  'She is, and between us, she's not Mary's greatest fan.'

  Celine laughed. 'I got that impression.' When she opened the door, Kevin was standing there, his finger poised in front of the buzzer.

  He smiled at her and then noticed Dominic hovering behind her. 'Oh, hello, again.'

  Dominic nodded curtly and barely looked at Celine as he stepped past her.

  'Dominic, let me explain—'

  He turned and gave her a cool smile. 'No need, good night.'

  Celine groaned as she turned to go back upstairs.

  'What was all that about?' Kevin asked as they went into the flat.

  'I hardly know where to begin.' Celine handed him a glass of wine and took hers over to sit on the window ledge. 'I had a visit from Eileen last week.'

  Kevin slopped some wine on his pale grey suit. 'Shit!' He took out an immaculate handkerchief and dabbed at the stain. 'I don't understand, what did she want?'

  'It seems she followed you the last time you came to see me.'

  'Followed me?' Kevin repeated. 'But why?'

  'Oh, Kevin, because she loves you and she's jealous, of course!'

  Kevin gave a short laugh. 'I don't think so.'

  'Kevin, she was crying.'

  'Crying?'

  'I wish you'd stop repeating everything I say.'

  'I can't remember the last time I saw her cry,' Kevin was saying, almost to himself.

  'She was devastated when she thought we were still seeing each other. I'm telling you, Kevin, she really loves you.'

  'Why doesn't she say so? Why doesn't she show me how she feels? She's never shown any interest in what I do.'

  'Go home, Kevin, talk to her. Maybe she'll surprise you.'

  Kevin put down his glass and stood up. 'Okay. I suppose I've nothing to lose. Thanks, Celine. I'll be in touch.'

  Celine smiled. 'I don't think that's a good idea, do you?'

  Chapter 33

  Celine felt she'd only just closed her eyes when a noise woke her. She sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. There it was again. It was the sound of breaking glass, not in the flat but very close. She peered out of the bedroom window but could see nothing. She went into the sitting room and looked out of the window. Nothing, although . . . she was sure something was different about the yard below. It took her a moment and then she realised that the table had been moved against the wall, under the window— 'Jesus, we've got burglars!' She groped behind her for the phone, afraid to take her eyes off the yard below and dialled 999. 'Police, please.' When she'd given her name and address, she rang off and phoned Richard. 'Come on,' she muttered as the phone rang and rang. Where the hell was he? She rang off and dialled his mobile but it was switched off. Damn, she'd have to call Rose. But what was the point in that? She couldn't do anything and why worry her unnecessarily? 'Damn, damn, damn.' She felt her way across the room in search of her handbag. After she'd found it and pulled out her address book, she took it and the phone into the bedroom and turned on the light. Hesitantly, she keyed the number into the phone and waited.

  'Hello?'

  'Fergus? It's Celine Moore.'

  'Celine? What's wrong?'

  'Someone is breaking into the shop. I've called the police but I thought you should know.'

  'I'm on my way.'

  'Are you sure—' she started but he'd already hung up. Celine hoped that the police would arrive before he did. She switched off the light and went back to her post by the window. She couldn't hear or see anything, maybe they'd left. She hurried back into the bedroom, pulled off her pyjamas and climbed into jeans and a sweatshirt. Then she went downstairs and opened the door a fraction. It felt like hours but it was only a few minutes before a police car pulled up outside. She opened the door wider. 'They got in through the back,' she whispered, as two policemen got out of the car.

  'How do we get out there?' one of them asked.

  'There's a fire escape from my flat down to the yard at the back.'

  'Have you got keys to the shop?' the other one asked.

  Celine handed them over as another police car pulled up. After a brief, whispered confab, two policemen went up to the flat with her while the other two positioned themselves at the front.

  'Stay here,' one of them told Celine — rather unnecessarily, she thought — before they climbed out of her window and onto the fire escape.

  'Be careful,' she whispered and then hurried back downstairs. She stepped out onto the street just in time to see one of the policemen reappear. 'All clear, love, but it's a bit of a mess in there. Is there anyone you can call?'

  'The owner's son is on his way.'

  'He's here.'

  Celine turned to see Fergus standing behind her, grim and white-faced.

  'What's the story?' he asked.

  'The shop has been done over. I'm afraid they got away. It looks like they left the way they came in. There's a deserted property at the back with a side entrance so they probably came in that way.'

  'Was there anything taken?' Celine asked as she followed the policeman and Fergus into the shop.

  'The till was broken into. Was there much in it?'

  Celine shook her head. 'Only change. I lodge the takings in the bank every evening.'

  Another policeman came over to join them. 'I'm Sergeant Jim Thomas, and you are?' He looked at Fergus.

  'Fergus Lynch. My Mother, Rose Lynch, owns this place. She's in Arklow staying with her sister at the moment. This is Celine Moore, the manager.'

  'And you live upstairs?'

  Celine could only nod as she looked around at the devastation. All the rails had been tipped over and it looked like they'd taken the contents of the kitchen cupboards and fridge and trampled them into the clothes.

  'It's a bit of a mess, isn't it?' the sergeant was saying. 'They must have been pissed off because there was no cash.'

  Fergus stood silently looking around him.

  'The window at the back has been smashed in,' the sergeant told him. 'You'd better get a glazier out first thing. It might be an idea to get bars put on that window too.'

  'I'll take care of it,' Fergus said.

  'And you'll need to talk to your insurance company. It's a clear-cut break-in so there shouldn't be a problem.'

  'But why didn't the alarm go off?' Celine asked. 'It was serviced only a few weeks ago.'

  'It was the smaller window they came through so it probably isn't alarmed.'

  'I don't understand,' Celine murmured. 'There's a newsagent's next door with cigarettes, sweets — why break into a boutique?'

  'The newsagent's may have been their target but coming in from the back they could have got disoriented. I'm afraid, love, it was probably just bad luck.'

  'The stock is
ruined,' Celine groaned. 'Oh, Fergus, what are we going to tell Rose?'

  'Don't worry about that now. Let's get this place sorted first.'

  After the police had taken a statement, they left, promising to return in the morning to check for fingerprints. 'Not that we have much hope of catching the little buggers,' the sergeant said cheerfully.

  When they were gone, Celine slumped against the counter. 'I don't know where to begin.'

  'Put on the kettle,' Fergus told her, 'and I'll get started here.'

  Celine obediently went into the back room, picked the kettle off the floor and filled it from the tap. But when she opened the cupboards she realised that everything had been thrown around the shop and the mugs were in smithereens on the floor. 'If we want a cuppa we'll have to go upstairs,' she said, coming back into the shop to stand beside Fergus. 'They've cleared everything out of the fridge and the cupboards.'

  'Tell me about it,' Fergus muttered, as he wrung milk out of a black silk shirt. He righted the rails and hung up clothes that were dry. The wet stuff he threw in a corner. 'I'll stay here tonight.'

  'You can't do that,' Celine protested. 'They're hardly going to come back.'

  'I don't like leaving you here alone. We could ask Richard to come over, I suppose.'

  'I called him first,' Celine admitted, 'but there was no answer.'

  'Then I'm staying.'

  Celine saw the determined look on his face and capitulated. 'Okay, then, but you're sleeping on my sofa. I wouldn't get a wink of sleep if you were down here alone.'

  Fergus glanced at his watch. 'It's nearly five. Why don't you go back to bed and I'll be up in a few minutes?'

  Celine, suddenly feeling very weary, agreed and handed Fergus her keys. 'Don't be long.'

  'I'll just mop out the floor and block up the window,' Fergus promised.

  Celine went back to bed fully clothed but couldn't sleep. When she heard Fergus come in nearly an hour later, she went out to join him. 'You said you wouldn't be long.'

  'I couldn't find anything to block up the window. I ended up using some of Ma's suit holders.'

  'That's fine. Want a beer, tea, or would you prefer to get some sleep?'

  'Beer, please.' Fergus sat up on a stool. 'I don't really feel like sleeping.'

  'Me neither.' Celine took a beer from the fridge and handed it to Fergus. 'God, what's your mother going to say?'

  'Once she knows no one was hurt she won't care,' Fergus assured her.

  Celine nodded, realising the truth of this. 'Thanks for coming over.'

  Fergus grinned suddenly. 'You'd never have asked me if Richard had been around.'

  'No,' she admitted.

  'You know, if I could change the past—'

  Celine held up a hand. 'I don't want to talk about it.'

  'Sorry.'

  Celine looked at his crestfallen expression and relented. 'In my heart, I do know that it wasn't your fault. But Dermot only went there to see you.'

  Fergus looked at her helplessly. 'If there was something I could do, I'd do it.'

  Celine nodded. 'Is he out of jail?'

  'He's dead,' Fergus replied, knowing immediately that she was talking about Dermot's killer. 'He managed to get drugs inside and took an overdose.'

  'No one told me,' she murmured.

  'He was lucky,' Fergus muttered. 'If I'd ever caught up with him when he got out he wouldn't have had such an easy escape.'

  'You wouldn't have gone after him?'

  'Damn right I would! Celine, you lost a husband and I lost the best friend I've ever had. Dermot saved my life long before that night.'

  'Then I'm glad the bastard died in prison. It would be awful if you were locked up because of him and it wouldn't bring Dermot back.'

  Fergus said nothing.

  'He was very proud of you.'

  'He was?'

  'Yeah, he talked about you all the time. That morning, at the funeral, I recognised you immediately from his description.'

  'Long and skinny.' A ghost of a smile played around Fergus's lips.

  Celine smiled too. 'Yeah. He told me that he used to smuggle burgers into rehab for you.'

  'The food in there was shite,' Fergus remembered. 'Not that I felt much like eating.'

  'That's what scared him. You were so thin he was afraid you wouldn't make it.'

  'With the pressure from him and Ma, I'd have been afraid not to!'

  'You and Rose are very close.'

  'We are now. When I was a teenager, though, we were always at each other's throats. I don't know how she put up with me for as long as she did.'

  'Why did you start taking drugs?'

  Fergus smiled slightly. 'You know, someone else asked me that question recently. I was shy, I wanted to fit in and I gave in to the pressure from kids in school. Then I realised that when I was high I was confident. I felt like one of the gang and everyone liked me. That's very hard to resist when you've been a loner.'

  Celine nodded. 'I can understand that. How long were you using before Rose found out?'

  'A couple of years.' Fergus saw her surprised look. 'You see, she was happy that I was finally mixing with other kids. She put down the changes in me to being part of a gang. She didn't really approve of them, they were too rough for her liking, but it was preferable to me spending all my spare time in front of the computer in my bedroom. When she finally realised what was going on she did everything she could to help me but I was too far gone. Finally she threw me out.'

  'Is that when you met Dermot?'

  He shook his head. 'No, he'd been on the scene for a while before that.'

  'But he couldn't help?'

  Fergus shrugged. 'I wasn't ready to be helped. It wasn't till I saw someone have a bad trip that I realised if I wanted to live I'd have to kick the habit. As soon as he knew I was serious, Dermot got me into rehab and that was that. Ma sold the house and by the time I got out she'd moved to Hopefield. Sometimes I think she decided to move here because of the name.'

  Celine smiled. 'Sounds like Rose.' Her thoughts returned to the devastation downstairs. 'When do you think we should tell her about the break-in?'

  'Let's wait until we've talked to the insurance people. There's no point in worrying her until we know what's happening.' He looked at his watch. 'I should get back down there and start the clean-up.'

  Celine shook her head. 'First let me buy you breakfast. Café Napoli should be open by now.'

  Fergus shot her a shy grin. 'That would be great.'

  Chapter 34

  He should have felt better after his conversation with Celine but Fergus actually felt worse. She had been so nice, so grateful for his help cleaning up the shop, but then she didn't know that he was responsible for the break-in. He had no doubt that this was the handiwork of one of Mick Garvey's gang. Mick obviously meant business and Fergus was going to have to deal with him. Although how he would do that he had no idea. He opened the door of the small house he and Rose had shared for the last six years and climbed the stairs. He felt tired now and couldn't wait to get his head down. Vincent Burke had been very understanding when he had phoned and told him about the break-in. He had arranged for someone to stand in for him today and tomorrow as well if he needed more time. And the way he felt now, he probably would, Fergus thought as he flopped on the bed and closed his eyes.

  Celine blinked at the apparition in the doorway.

  Marina, resplendent in old jeans, T-shirt, hair tied back in a scarf and rubber gloves under her arm smiled at Celine. 'I thought you could use some help.'

  'How did you know?' Celine asked, a lump in her throat.

  'Dominic called me first thing. He'll be in later to help, although,' Marina paused as she looked around, 'it doesn't look too bad.'

  'Fergus just left. He cleaned up most of it.'

  'Fergus?' Marina stared at her, wide-eyed.

  'I had to call him. It's his mum's shop, after all.'

  Marina picked her way around the shop. 'Oh no,' she groaned, pickin
g up a Chanel suit that was torn and filthy.

  'Heartbreaking, isn't it? Some of the stuff will be fine once it's cleaned but a lot of the stock is ruined. I'll have to close for a few days.'

  Marina touched a silk shift dress with reverential hands. 'Poor Rose, she must be devastated.'

  'She doesn't know yet. Fergus decided not to tell her until we'd figured out the extent of the damage and talked to the insurance people. Come on, let's go across the road for a coffee.' Celine took her keys and went to the door. 'I need a break.'

  Tracy smiled as they came through the door. 'Back again, Celine.'

  Celine nodded wearily. 'I'm not getting much done,' she admitted.

  'Once you've had your coffee you should lie down for a few hours.' Marina told her. 'It's been a very traumatic night.'

  'But I have to sort through the clothes—'

  'I can do that,' Marina retorted.

  Celine smiled and nodded. Marina could always be trusted when it came to handling clothes.

  'Where's Richard?'

  'No idea.' Celine's tone was clipped. 'I haven't been able to get hold of him. Thank goodness Fergus was around. I don't know what I'd have done without him.'

  Marina smiled. 'Did you ever think you would say those words?'

  'No, never,' Celine admitted with a sigh. 'He's a good kid, Marina. I've been very unfair to him.'

  'It's human nature, Celine, don't be too hard on yourself.'

  They sipped their coffee in silence for a moment.

  'Is Dominic disgusted with me?' Celine asked.

  Marina laughed. 'Don't be ridiculous, Dominic's your biggest fan.'

  'He hasn't told you then.'

  'Told me what?'

  'I got a bit upset at rehearsal the other night.' She held up a hand at Marina's questioning look. 'That's another story, but anyway, Dominic dropped by later to see if I was okay. He was just leaving when Kevin arrived.'

  'Kevin?' Marina looked shocked. 'You're still seeing Kevin?'

  'No, of course not! But Dominic obviously thought I was. God, Marina, the look he gave me.' Celine shivered.

  'He just jumped to the wrong conclusion. Tell me about Kevin.'