Bluebell Castle - Sarah Bennett

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call it nothing more than a mistake? The word you are looking for is fraud.’

      The word struck her like a blow, spinning her back almost fifteen years as she watched a team of policemen root through the contents of her bedroom as her mother sobbed in a heap on the landing. ‘You…you can’t…’ Swallowing, she tried again. ‘You can’t possibly think I had anything to do with this?’ She turned from Carl to Piers, hands held out in appeal. ‘Why would I tell you it wasn’t the right painting if I was trying to pull off some kind of scam?’

      Piers glanced down at the carpet, clearly uncomfortable. ‘But you didn’t tell me, not until it was obvious I’d spotted there was something wrong with it.’

      ‘What? No! That’s not how it happened at all! As soon as Carl pulled off the cover I knew it wasn’t right, I told you.’ Frantic, she ran through the events in her head. As soon as she’d realised something was wrong, she’d…oh. She hadn’t said anything, had she? She’d backed away instead of immediately making Carl aware of it. And it had been Piers who’d approached her, not the other way around. ‘I swear to you both, I don’t know anything about this. I swear.’

      Piers flushed. ‘I’m not accusing you of anything, not at all, but none of this makes sense.’

      ‘I trusted you, Lucie.’ The accusation in Carl’s tone cut her to the quick. ‘I should have listened to my instincts when I found out about your background, about the kind of family you come from. Instead, I gave you the benefit of the doubt, and this is how you repay me!’

      A wave of nausea swept through her and she pressed a hand to her lips as though to hold it back. He couldn’t be implying… ‘You had my background investigated? Is that even legal?’ Even as she said it, the fight left her. It didn’t matter what she did, how diligently she worked to prove herself, she was never going to escape her name. Her past.

      Drawing himself up to his full height, Carl shot her a look of such contempt she knew it was true. ‘We are the premier auction house in the country for a reason, and protecting our reputation is tantamount!’ There was no denial in any of that, he really had looked into her background.

      ‘It was fifteen years ago! I was a child, I had nothing to do with anything my father did.’ She could hear the pitch in her voice climbing and forced herself back into silence. Like father, like daughter. The apple never falls far from the tree. All those sayings existed for a reason—because people actually believed them.

      Raising his hands to his face, Carl scrubbed at his eyes, tone quieter now, as though he was talking to himself. ‘Employing the daughter of a convicted fraudster? What was I thinking! It won’t be just you losing your bloody job over this.’ He pointed towards the door. ‘Get out of my sight!’

      Only the neat crescents of her nails digging deep into the palms of her clenched fists stopped the tears of frustration from spilling over. Crying wouldn’t do any good, it might even serve to demonstrate a guilty conscience. Lucie followed Piers with her eyes as he crossed the room to pull open the door. He muttered something to whoever was outside, then stepped back. To her horror, Mr Hazeltine, Witherby’s head of security stood in the corridor. God, this was some kind of terrible joke. She looked from Carl to Piers and back again. Grim-faced, neither of them spoke.

      ‘If you’ll come with me, Miss Kennington, I’ll take you to gather your belongings.’ The security chief held out his hand indicating he wanted her to go with him.

      With no fight left in her, Lucie did as he bade. To his credit, Mr Hazeltine took a slightly circuitous route to the restroom area which also contained staff lockers in an anteroom between the two sets of bathrooms and they only passed a couple of people she knew on the way. Neither spoke when it would be normal practice for both to say at least hello, and Lucie felt her insides cringe. The gossip mill was already churning, which was hardly surprising giving the volume of Carl’s earlier yelling.

      Mr Hazeltine checked the anteroom then nodded for her to enter. Lucie’s low heels sunk into the plush carpet as she crossed to her locker, then paused key in hand. ‘Did you want to search this?’

      ‘I’ll also require the keys to your office, and your access pass.’ His voice was so bland, like they were discussing something as neutral as whether he took his tea with milk, rather than whether she’d got a load of stolen contraband stuffed under her spare pair of tights. ‘Of course.’ Lucie unhooked the lanyard dangling around her neck then sank onto the velvet banquette lining the wall before catching her slumped posture and forcing herself into an upright position. Body language and appearance were everything. It was the Witherby’s way, after all.

      It took about ten minutes to go through the meagre contents of her locker, and though he hadn’t suggested it, Lucie took the opportunity to empty out the contents of the small rucksack she used to ferry her belongings back and forth to work. Laying out her trainers, a selection of old receipts, a spare pair of tights, two books—both of which were recent bestsellers—and a small cosmetic bag containing a few bits of make-up and a handful of tampons, she tried not to think about what it said about her life. It could be the contents of any woman’s bag. There was nothing amongst the items that said anything about her, who she was, what she thought, what she felt. She’d tried so hard to present the perfect front, and yet it seemed there was no escaping the past.

      ‘Right, I think I’ve got everything I need for the time being.’ Mr Hazeltine closed the door to her locker with a decisive click then pocketed the keys. ‘Now, before you go home, I should remind you about the non-disclosure clause in your employment contract.’

      Bewildered, she could only blink at him. ‘I’m sorry?’

      If the smile he gave her next was supposed to be reassuring, it was anything but. ‘When you signed your contract, you agreed not to discuss any matters which could harm or in any other way bring the reputation of Witherby’s into disrepute.’ The words tripped off his tongue in such a way she could tell it was a direct quotation. ‘Until this matter is satisfactorily resolved, you cannot discuss it with anyone—legal counsel permitting, of course—outside these four walls.’

      ‘L…legal counsel? Do you honestly think it might come to that?’ And how the hell was she going to be able to afford it, if it did? ‘I haven’t done anything wrong. This is all a horrible mistake!’

      There was that smile again, all teeth and no warmth. ‘We’ll be in touch in due course. Try to be patient, these things can take time.’

      Lucie found herself thanking him, when she wanted to throw herself at him and beat her fists against his chest in frustration. Not the Witherby’s way. Clenching the scraps of her pride together, she clamped her mouth tight against any further protests and gathered her belongings. As Mr Hazeltine escorted her out the rear entrance, Lucie knew she’d never be crossing the threshold of Witherby’s again. Not now they’d found out who she really was.

       CHAPTER THREE

      ‘Yes, yes, I understand.’ Arthur spoke into the phone as he stared across the wide oak desk in what was now his office and met his brother’s eyes. ‘And there’s no chance of recovering any of it?’

      ‘I’m sorry, Sir Arthur, we tracked the funds as far as the Cayman Islands, but they’re notorious for withholding cooperation.’ Inspector Dillon sighed. ‘Even if we could get them to let us inspect their records it’s highly unlikely the funds are still in situ. It’s taken us the best part of eighteen months to get Masterson’s case to a verdict. We assume he’s not acted alone, though he’s not said as much. Hasn’t said anything beyond “no comment” since his arrest, slippery sod.’

      The very last of his hopes sinking, Arthur shook his head at Tristan’s enquiring glance. ‘Well, I want to thank you, Inspector, for all your hard work and diligence in bringing him to justice. Please pass on our gratitude to your team, also.’

      ‘I will,

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