Next in Line (William Warwick, #5)(106)

Booth Watson also accepted he only had a couple of months to remove the rest of his client’s money from the safe-deposit boxes and have his art collection transported to Hong Kong before Miles was released. With that in mind, he turned and offered his client a congratulatory smile, accompanied by a thumbs up. After all, hadn’t he promised Miles that if he pleaded guilty, he would be released by Christmas? Though he still had every intention of celebrating the new year in his recently acquired apartment in Seattle.

As the two guards led the prisoner out of the dock, he stared down at Booth Watson, gave him a warm smile and shook his head.





CHAPTER 37





‘FOR YOU, MADAM,’ SAID LUCIO, ‘may I suggest the sole meunière, lightly fried in butter and served on a bed of portobello mushrooms, with just a hint of lemon sauce?’

‘Sounds perfect,’ said Beth as she handed back the menu.

‘And perhaps to complement it, a glass of chilled Pouilly-Fumé?’

‘An excellent choice.’

‘How about me?’ said William.

‘For you, sir, fish and chips with mushy peas, and more than a hint of vinegar and tomato ketchup?’

‘Served on a bed of—’

‘The News of the World.’

‘And complemented by?’

‘A pint of warm beer.’

‘Couldn’t be better,’ said William, looking pleased with himself.

‘You have to understand Lucio, that he’s a caveman,’ said Beth, taking William’s hand. ‘His only virtue being that he’s my caveman.’

Lucio uncorked a bottle of champagne, poured three glasses, raised his and said, ‘Happy anniversary!’ before placing the bottle back in an ice bucket and leaving them.

‘Before I open my present,’ said Beth, eyeing a small, neatly wrapped package on the table in front of her, ‘I can’t wait to hear how many years the judge added to Miles’s sentence.’

‘Zero,’ replied William. ‘In fact, he gave him a get-out-of-jail-free card.’

‘What! How can that be possible?’

‘Mitigating circumstances, was how the judge described it.’

‘Such as?’

‘You’ll have to ask my father.’

‘Who’s even less likely to tell me than you.’

William drank his champagne without commenting.

‘Booth Watson must have been overjoyed,’ said Beth.

‘You wouldn’t have thought so, judging from the look on his face,’ said William. ‘In fact, when I saw him in the corridor afterwards, my father told me that, for a moment, he thought BW might even appeal against the sentence. But he must have thought better of it, because in the end, surprise surprise, he tried to take the credit for it.’

‘Surely Miles didn’t fall for that,’ said Beth.

‘No, he did not. In fact, I suspect Booth Watson has just lost his most lucrative source of income.’

‘Don’t underestimate that man,’ said Beth. ‘He’s capable of switching sides faster than a weather vane in a high wind. He’d happily represent Christina without a second thought, and then it would be Miles who had to constantly look over his shoulder.’

‘Where no doubt he’d find her accomplice lurking in the shadows,’ declared William, then raised his glass and said, ‘Happy anniversary, my darling.’

‘Happy anniversary. I suppose we ought to raise a glass to Miles Faulkner.’

‘Why?’

‘Because if he’d pleaded not guilty, we might not be celebrating our anniversary this evening.’

‘It must have been a close-run thing,’ admitted William.

‘Could it have anything to do with you leaping out of bed before the sun had risen to attend another COBRA meeting?’ William took a sip of champagne. ‘I don’t even know what COBRA stands for,’ admitted Beth, still pushing at a closed door.

‘Cabinet Office Briefing Room,’ replied William, without any further explanation.

‘And the A?’

‘Legend has it that a civil servant added the A as an afterthought, thinking it made the committee sound more important, while others suggest it’s simply Committee Room A.’

After a long silence, Beth gave up and turned her attention back to the package in front of her.

‘What could this possibly be?’ she said as she began to unwrap it. ‘A diamond necklace, perhaps?’

‘I think you’ll have to wait for our tenth anniversary before you can hope for that.’

‘Pearls, rubies, or gold?’

‘Thirty, forty, and fifty years,’ teased William as she slowly removed the red wrapping paper before opening the box to reveal an eternity bracelet.

‘How did you know this was exactly what I was hoping for?’

‘Possibly because you’ve been unsubtly hinting about it for the past month,’ said William, slipping it onto her wrist, clicking the clasps shut and using the tiny gold screwdriver to lock the bracelet into place.

‘A life sentence,’ sighed Beth, ‘and no one to defend me.’

‘I’m sure Booth Watson will be only too happy to represent you, as he’s a bit short of clients at the moment.’