Stephen Leather - Take Two

‘And what if Warwick didn’t do it? What’s he going to think?’

‘He’ll think you’re crazy but he’ll get over it. If he has an alibi for the night Cohen was killed, and an alibi for when Dunbar died, then that’ll be the end of it. And if he doesn’t have an alibi, then you did the right thing by telling the cops.’

‘And then the papers get hold of it and they’ll ask why I was in the middle of nowhere after being given my lifetime achievement award and then my career will be pretty much over.’

Terry refilled their glasses. ‘So what are you going to do?’

‘I’m going to finish my wine. Then I’m going to bed. Then, tomorrow, I’m going for drinks on Warwick’s gin palace.’ She grinned at him. ‘Why don’t you tag along?’

‘Maybe I will,’ he said. ‘Do you think he’d be up for a threesome?’

‘I’m not sure whether I should be flattered or insulted by that,’ laughed Carolyn.

Carolyn heard a squeal of brakes as a car pulled up outside her house and, a minute later, her mobile rang. It was Richards. ‘Your chariot awaits,’ he said. It was Saturday morning and the sun was shining from a cloudless sky.

‘I’ll be right out,’ she said. She checked her make-up in the mirror above the fireplace. She was wearing a blue and white Karen Millen dress, one of half a dozen the designer had sent over for her to try. And a pair of blue Gucci shoes, also a freebie. She’d paid for her bag — a black Mulberry — and her coat, a long, dark-blue, lightweight Chanel that had been one of her favourites for years.

She set her burglar alarm, locked her front door and walked down the path to the waiting Porsche Cayenne. She breathed out slowly. She had been half expecting him to have turned up in the Bentley she’d seen outside Nicholas Cohen’s house. She saw that Warwick was smiling at her and she waved and walked faster. He didn’t get out of the car or open the door for her and she wondered if he was deliberately not being chivalrous. Not that she minded, she was old enough to open her own doors. She got in and slid onto the buttery leather seat. He leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek and she caught the scent of an expensive aftershave. ‘You look fabulous,’ he said. ‘And you’re wearing Coco Mademoiselle again. Nice.’

He looked good, too, but she decided as he hadn’t opened the door for her she’d forgo any compliments. But his Black Hugo Boss suit fitted him perfectly and she liked the fact he wasn’t wearing a tie but had buttoned his grey silk shirt up to the neck. He’d changed his wristwatch, this time he was wearing a gold Cartier on a black leather strap. ‘Thank you, kind sir.’ She looked around the car. ‘Now this is lovely.’

‘I’m a big fan of the Cayenne,’ he said. ‘It’s an SUV so it’s big, but you’ve got the kick of a Maserati when you put your foot down.’ He put the car in gear and pulled away from the pavement.

‘You don’t see many of them around.’

‘Oh, I don’t know, there’s a few. The Sloane Rangers have started using them on the school run.’

They made small talk as he drove to St Katherine’s Dock. A uniformed security guard waved them through to the parking area and they climbed out. The marina was small but packed with huge cruisers and yachts, and surrounded by multi-million pound flats. Richards locked the car and nodded towards one of the larger cruisers. ‘There she is,’ he said.

The boat was about sixty feet long, gleaming white with chrome rails around a seating area at the stern which was big enough to accommodate a small cocktail party. ‘My God, you weren’t joking, it is a gin palace,’ she said.

‘Yeah, she’s a bit over the top. But she’s a real boat. Took her to the Med last year. Took a group of pals scuba diving.’

‘I bet you don’t get much to the gallon.’

Richards laughed. ‘If you worry about the cost of the fuel then you can’t afford it in the first place,’ he said. ‘For me it’s a tax write-off. I’ve lost count of the number of contracts I’ve signed on board.’

He took her along a wooden pier to the boat. The name was emblazoned across the stern. ‘ALINA’. Carolyn pointed at the name. ‘Former girlfriend?’

‘The name’s nothing to do with me,’ said Richards. ‘It was built by a Russian guy and he named it after his mistress. I thought about changing it but apparently that’s unlucky so I’ve left it.’

‘You could always look out for a girl with that name,’ she said.

‘I’m on the case,’ he said. ‘Seriously, it’s not a bad name. It’s not some stupid play on words. Anyway, it’s sort of grown on me.’ They reached the stern and he helped her on board.

‘It’s huge,’ she said. He joined her on the deck and took a set of keys from his pocket. They walked across a seating area with black leather bench seats protected from the elements by a white canvas awning. There were racks of diving equipment including compressed air cylinders underneath the seats

‘There are plenty of bigger boats around,’ he said. ‘But this is fine for me. There are two large suites down below and another four berths so it can sleep eight. But, like I said, I mainly use it for entertaining. I’ll take you for a run down the Thames one day, if you like. See the sights.’

‘Do you sail it?’

‘Drive,’ he said. ‘You drive a boat like this. And no, I have a captain who does the driving. You’ve got to know what you’re doing on the Thames.’ He unlocked the sliding door that led to the main cabin and switched on the lights. ‘Come on, I’ll give you the tour.’

Richards showed her around the boat and Carolyn had to admit it was pretty impressive. The bathrooms wouldn’t be out of place in a five star hotel and the bedrooms were luxurious with polished teak floors and flat screen TVs. He took her coat from her when she got back to the main cabin and she dropped down onto a plush leather sofa. ‘I love it,’ she said. ‘It’s bigger than my first flat.’

Richards laughed. “I know what you mean,’ he said. ‘First place I lived in after I left home you couldn’t swing a cat in. I know because I tried.’ He went over to a built in bar. ‘Cocktail? Wine? What’s your poison?’

‘Wine would be great,’ said Carolyn. ‘Red, if you have it?’

Richards opened a cupboard and took out a bottle of claret. He showed it to her. Carolyn recognised the label. It was a very, very expensive bottle.

‘Are we celebrating?’

‘Maybe,’ he said. ‘Your first visit to the Alina. We can celebrate that.’

‘And you keep it in the fridge?’

Richards shrugged. ‘What can I say? I like chilled red wine. It’s not a capital offence, is it?’

Carolyn laughed. ‘I’d be interested to know your position on warm champagne.’

He used a chrome corkscrew and poured wine into two glasses. ‘So your first flat,’ he said. ‘Where was it?’

‘Clapham,’ she said. ‘I was trying to get started as an actress and I had to share with two other girls. There was only one bedroom so we took it in turns to sleep on the sofa.’ She patted the sofa she was sitting on. ‘And that was about half the size of this one.’

‘Funny how life works out,’ he said, carrying over the two glasses. ‘Back then, you’ve no idea how things are going to work out. It’s scary but at the same time it’s…’

‘Exhilarating?’

He nodded and handed her one of the glasses. ‘Yeah. It makes life worth living. Gives it that kick, you know?’ He sat down next to her and they clinked glasses. ‘To the good old days,’ he said.

They both drank. Carolyn looked around the boat. ‘When you were in that flat swinging cats around, you probably never dreamed you’d end up with a boat like this.’