Matt Whyman - The Savages

‘No stirring,’ warned Angelica, pointing a finger at him, which she then dropped when her husband strode into the kitchen. He was clutching a sheaf of papers, and seemed very pleased with himself.

‘Tomorrow is going to be a good day,’ declared Titus. ‘It looks like the deal is about to be done.’

‘The company takeover?’ asked Angelica, trying to sound interested.

‘According to my sources they’ve run out of options,’ he said, and clapped his son on the shoulder. ‘Nobody escapes from the Savages.’

‘Dad,’ said Sasha, having checked her mobile phone. ‘Jack has just texted me. He’s outside. You will be nice to him, won’t you? Promise me you won’t tell stories about me when I was younger, or bring up the subject of… meat.’

Titus smiled, but said nothing in reply as the sound of the doorbell rang through the house.

Jack Greenway had expected Sasha to greet him at the door, not the whole family. It was why he had dropped her a line, hoping she would answer alone so he could make a low-key entry. Instead, even her grandfather could be seen at the top of the stairs, peering down in his dressing gown.

‘Sorry,’ said Sasha, grimacing. ‘He probably doesn’t realise it’s untied.’

‘Now is not the time for apologies,’ said Titus, extending his hand from behind his daughter. ‘It’s great to put a face to the name.’

‘Likewise,’ said Jack, and did his best to match the strength of the handshake. ‘A pleasure to meet you.’

‘This is my wife, Angelica.’

‘Mrs Savage,’ said Jack, noting that her handshake was in complete contrast. It felt like he had just clasped a dead fish in his palm.

‘That’s my father upstairs,’ said Titus, before pushing his young son forward. ‘And here is Ivan.’

For a second, Jack’s smile faltered. Ivan, however, grinned at the sixth former who had tried to humiliate him earlier in the week.

‘So, this is your boyfriend?’ he said to Sasha. ‘You should invite him inside.’

‘Well, I would,’ said Sasha. ‘If everyone can stop being so nice and give him some space.’

‘Take Jack into the kitchen,’ said Titus, who continued to sound unnervingly welcoming. Angelica hadn’t seen him smiling this much since preparations for the last feast. She put this down to the business deal, and hoped that he and Jack would at least get along at some level.

Before the front door closed, Vernon English had already identified the Savages’ visitor. A call to an ex-colleague on the police force, which he paid for in pints of beer and a kebab whenever they met for a social, allowed him to trade the vehicle registration plate for a name and address. Vernon was surprised the car belonged to the kid. Jack Olivier Greenway was in his late teens, perhaps, but the motor was one of those sophisticated types that didn’t choke up the environment.

‘Spoiled by his parents, no doubt,’ he said down the line, before closing the call to his man on the inside.

Placing his mobile on the dashboard, Vernon turned up the volume on the bug receiver. By rights, having heard Titus boast of his takeover plans, he should’ve called the company straight away. Vernon had photographic evidence of all the secret meetings Titus had conducted with their mole. That money had changed hands in exchange for inside information was a breach of all manner of regulations. It could easily cause trouble for Titus, but Vernon had his sights on nailing the man for a far more serious crime. The longer he spent tailing the head of the Savage household, and learning about his life, the more convinced he became about his involvement in the death of Lulabelle Hart. The police might not have treated her demise as suspicious, but Vernon had carried out his own investigation. He had travelled to the coast and spoken to staff at the train station and the bus company. Lulabelle didn’t drive, and yet when he produced a photograph of the woman nobody had any recollection of seeing her on the night in question. It didn’t prove anything, of course, but it raised Vernon’s suspicions no end. Unless the model travelled by taxi, at great expense, then her only other likely means of transport involved being zipped inside a holdall in the boot of the Savages’ 4x4.

‘Come on, Titus,’ he said to himself. ‘Spill the beans to your friend, Vernon.’

Tweaking the transmitter dial to improve the reception, Vernon settled back in his seat and listened closely as the Savages welcomed their guest into the kitchen. He doubted very much that he would hear a full and frank confession. What interested him just then was how uptight the daughter had sounded about the way Titus might react to her boyfriend. Worrying that your dad might embarrass you was standard issue in households up and down the land. From what Vernon had picked up, however, Sasha made it sound like the man could spring a horrible surprise.

‘So, tell us,’ said Titus as he crossed the kitchen for the kettle, ‘what is that car of yours like to drive?’

‘A dream,’ said Jack, and plunged his hands inside his pockets. ‘It’s fuel efficient with low carbon emissions.’

‘That’s good to hear,’ said Titus, nodding his approval. ‘But what I mean is can you get it out of the slow lane on the motorway without the battery running flat?’

Sasha, who was standing close to Jack as if to shield him from bullets, felt herself dying on the inside.

‘The battery takes its charge from the engine,’ she told her father. ‘Even I know that. The technology has moved on massively.’

‘Like the times,’ Jack muttered under his breath, and flashed a grin at Sasha.

Titus had his back turned to the boy, filling the kettle with water, but he heard the comment clearly. It was amusing. The kid had quick wits. He didn’t like him one bit. If anything, thought Titus, Jack was asking to be tested.

‘I hope you like cupcakes,’ said Angelica, who had just popped upstairs to collect Katya from her crib. ‘Sasha made them herself.’

‘I used a special recipe,’ said Sasha.

‘Cool.’ Jack selected one from the plate. ‘What’s in them?’

‘ Mince! ’ cried Kat, just as Jack prepared to take a bite.

‘Ignore her,’ Angelica assured him. ‘It’s her only word.’

‘ Mince! ’

Jack looked from the toddler to Sasha and then to the cupcake. ‘Right,’ he said. ‘That’s unusual.’

‘The cupcake is vegan,’ said Sasha, under the sound of the kettle coming to the boil. ‘Try it.’

Jack inspected the cake one more time, aware that Ivan was watching him intently. Titus, meanwhile, was staring at the plate as if he couldn’t quite believe what was on offer here. Angelica shot him a look, reminding him to be on his best behaviour.

‘It smells good.’ Jack held his palm underneath the cupcake as it began to disintegrate, and quickly grabbed a nibble. ‘And it tastes… magnificent ! Isn’t anyone else going to try one?’

‘Count me in,’ said Angelica, who was keen to support her daughter. Setting Katya on the floor, she took a plate and helped herself. ‘How about you, Ivan?’

The boy shook his head and looked to his father. Titus turned his attention to the table.

‘Anything my daughter has made is good enough for me,’ he said, with a hint of a sigh.

Sasha watched her parents eating, and braced herself for the worst. Both of them were clearly struggling, but putting on polite faces for the sake of their visitor. Titus was the first to swallow, just as the kettle boiled.

‘Tea,’ he croaked. ‘I think we need a cup of tea.’

‘Do you have any herbal?’ Jack turned to Sasha. ‘I don’t do caffeine.’

Sasha’s face fell. It was something she just hadn’t considered.