The First Mistake(94)

‘Of course,’ he booms. ‘It’s still very much a building site, so we have to be careful, but I’ll gladly show you around. When are you free?’

‘I was thinking in maybe half an hour or so, around six, if that works for you?’

‘I’m afraid the site is closed for the day now,’ he says.

Alice looks to Beth who spins her finger, intimating for her to wrap the conversation up.

‘Ah, that’s a shame as I’m literally coming past it. Never mind, perhaps another time.’

‘Well, if you’re passing, I suppose you could pop in. It’s all supposedly locked up – health and safety and all that.’ He laughs throatily. ‘But if you go around the back, there’s a loose hoarding that you can slide across. Don’t tell anyone I told you though, or they’ll come down on me like a ton of bricks. I’ve already been paid a visit because kids treat it like a playground, and if anything happens to one of them, apparently it’ll be on my head. How ridiculous is that?’

‘Crazy,’ says Alice, desperate to get off the phone as Beth gives her the thumbs-up.

‘Perhaps we could meet for dinner to discuss the way forward. I’d hate for you to miss out on this opportunity, just because—’

Alice cuts him off, unable to listen to this odious little man any longer.

‘Fine, I’ll give you a call tomorrow,’ she says before putting the phone down and turning to Beth. ‘Now what?’

‘Just ask Nathan to meet you there,’ says Beth authoritatively.

‘But what for?’

Beth turns to look at her and they share a momentary understanding. An unspoken agreement that everything will be all right.

‘Where the hell are you?’ barks Nathan through the loudspeaker. ‘What’s going on? We’ve got to complete on Japan.’

Alice feels bizarrely detached – as if she’s landed in a movie of someone else’s life.

‘Did you hear me?’ he goes on. ‘Time’s running out.’

‘Who for, Nathan?’

‘What do you mean, who for? Us. You. AT Designs . . .’ He sounds slightly hysterical. ‘If we don’t do it now, we’re going to miss this opportunity. I’ve worked so hard for this, Alice.’

‘You have,’ she agrees, though on the opposing side to her, it seems. ‘Meet me at the Temple Homes development on Bradbury Avenue.’

‘What? Why?’

‘We got the go-ahead on the job I pitched for.’

‘This isn’t the right time Alice – we need to get Japan done first.’

Alice looks at Beth, her eyes wide, her thoughts frantic.

‘Just get him there,’ hisses Beth, under her breath.

‘The only chance of getting “this done” is if you meet me at Bradbury Avenue.’

‘Jesus, I’m on my way,’ he says gruffly.

‘Wait here,’ says Beth, as they park up in one of the adjacent roads to the Temple Homes site.

‘What? No!’ says Alice as she wrestles to undo her seatbelt. ‘I’m coming with you.’

‘Just give me five minutes with him,’ says Beth, leaning back into the car. ‘He needs to know what he stands to lose if he doesn’t give me the money back.’

Alice leans her head back onto the headrest and laughs falsely.

‘Do you honestly believe that he’s going to pay you back?’ she asks.

‘If he knows he’s about to lose everything . . . you, the girls . . .’

‘Do you think he cares enough?’ says Alice impatiently. ‘What part of his behaviour in the last hour has made you think that he has mine and the children’s best interests at heart? He thinks he’s about to defraud me of a million pounds. He’ll be intending to leave immediately – he’d have to, before I found out that he’d sold me a worthless piece of shit. Do you honestly think that on his way to wherever he’s going to go and hide, he’ll suddenly develop a conscience and think, Oh, hang on – I’d better pay Beth back her mother’s life savings from ten years ago?

‘If what you’ve told me is true, we need to work together to make sure he never does this to anyone else, ever again. It’s the best we can hope for.’ She softens her tone. ‘I’ve done what you’ve asked me to do. Now let me go and speak to him.’

Beth considers this for a moment, as if sizing up the options. ‘I’ll give you five minutes, then I’m coming in.’

Alice walks around the back of the boarded-up site until she comes to a loose panel that she can just about squeeze through. She looks up at the four-storey building, its slab floors and ceilings being held in place by metal stilts. A dormant crane stands against the open-sided structure.

She climbs the concrete staircases up to the top floor and looks down to where Beth’s car is parked. Nathan’s BMW speeds down another adjacent street before coming to an abrupt stop as he bumps it up onto the pavement. Everything about him looks chaotic, whilst Alice feels strangely calm.

He finds the same loose panel as she did and jumps over the pipework laid out along the muddy trenches.

‘Alice!’ he calls out.

‘I’m up here,’ she replies, the whipping wind carrying her voice.