A Secret Schemer (29 page)

‘Definitely if you’re a fan of
MJ, Lucy’s been singing all night.’ Lucas laughed.

‘Well you certainly have a
smile on your face honey and that is great to see.’ Jena added.

‘Were you busy?’ I asked
casually.

‘Not bad for mid week, plus
Andy’s been serving.’

‘Fabulous, you do realise
you’ve made a rod for your own back now Andy, when we’re short
staffed.’ I remarked.

‘That’s cool, it was fun.’

‘I don’t want to be a party
pooper but all that singing has tired me out, thanks again Lucas
for putting up with me for the evening.’ I gave them all a peck on
the cheek as I left the bar.

‘How was she Lucas, did she
talk about the scumbag much?’ Jena asked cautiously.

‘She didn’t mention him once
and she really let her hair down and had fun.’

‘Brilliant she so needed that,
thanks mate.’ Jena added.

‘My pleasure she’s a lovely
girl, anyway time to hit the sack for me too.’ Lucas said as he
stood up.

‘Did you see that Andy?’ Jena
probed.

‘What babe?’

‘The way Lucas looks at her,
I’d say he’s smitten.’

‘Have you only just noticed
that, you’re a bit slow darling I could see it weeks ago.’ Andy
laughed.

‘Really, what a shame we can’t
put the right people together. Why the hell is she still stuck on
that asshole.’ Jena exclaimed.

When I got up to the flat I
noticed a bag on the floor outside of my bedroom, picking it up I
opened the bag to find a big box of chocolates, with a scribbled
note ‘sorry for upsetting you T’ x. Tonight I didn’t even want to
think about him or his chocolates, I’d had such a fun night and all
I wanted to do was sleep. As I undressed I had a go at a moon walk
which made me laugh, throwing my clothes on the chair I slid into
bed and within minutes I’d drifted into a dreamless sleep.

As I opened my eyes on Thursday
morning, the sun was poring in through the window like maple syrup
on a pancake. (That thought made me smile and also feel hungry), I
took a shower, pulled on a pair of knee highs and a t-shirt and
rushed down to the kitchen. I’d had a good sleep and felt happy, I
was going to make Mary and Lucas pancakes for breakfast.

‘Good morning guys, I hope
you’re hungry.’

‘Good morning Lucy.’ They said
in unison. ‘You sound chirpy this morning.’

‘Mary has Lucas told you about
our night at the theatre?’ I quizzed.

‘Yes love and it seems it’s
done you the world of good.’ Mary added.

‘Well as it’s a lovely day I’m
going to make maple syrup pancakes for breakfast.’ I explained why
and they both laughed, they probably think I’ve lost the plot.

Within half an hour I’d made a
plateful of pancakes and another pot of tea and the three of us
tucked in with relish.

‘You’ll have to take her out
more often Lucas if she’s going to cook us breakfast.’ Mary
teased.

‘I must say they are pretty
yummy Lucy, what are you cooking next?’ He laughed.

‘Pancakes and toast are about
my limit, sorry. I daresay I could improve if I tried, but what’s
the point when we have a clever Kate.’

Later I sent Tim a brief text
message saying thanks for the chocs; I felt that was sufficient for
now. Meeting up with Jena in the bar I mentioned the chocs I’d
found on the floor outside my bedroom last night.

‘Desperate measures Hun.’ Jena
remarked bluntly. ‘Sorry but the very hint of his name makes me see
red.’

‘I know love, anyway I just
wanted to thank you once again for last night, it was brilliant,
and to be honest it was just what I needed.’

‘Lucy Ross it was so good to
see you smile and looking happy for once.’ Jena expressed. ‘One day
things will come right for you; however you need to meet it half
way.’

‘What do you mean that sounds a
tad like a riddle?’

‘Look at it a different way
love; take notice of what’s right in front of you.’

‘Oh Jena I’m not up for
guessing games this morning there’s only two more days before his
birthday, so I’d best nip out and buy a card. As for a present I
haven’t made my mind up yet, I’ll think about it.’

‘I could give you a few ideas.’
Jena growled.

‘Yeah I can imagine.’ I
laughed.

The day went by quickly and no
further contact from Tim, I felt pleased as I was still in a happy
mood and I really didn’t want anyone to jeopardise this. When I
went up to bed I could hear Tim in his room, however I walked
straight passed and made my way into the kitchen to make a hot
chocolate. Taking my drink into the lounge I switched on the TV and
stretched out on the sofa to relax. Within minutes I’d dropped off
to sleep, the stunning eyes were there, concealed by the headwear.
This girl was very beautiful, she came close to me and was
struggling to speak….she was showing me her left hand, or was she
trying to touch me? I held my arms out, yet she moved backwards as
though she didn’t want me to get too close to her. She started to
shake her head and showing me her left hand…her left hand…then I
was awake. Rubbing my eyes I looked at my phone for the time it was
two o’clock, I must stop sleeping on the sofa, at least the dream
tonight was calm, who is this woman and what is she trying to tell
me? Is she saying she’s married to him; surely he can’t possibly be
married? I sat up, looked at my mug of hot chocolate, which was
obviously stone cold, and without another thought I headed into the
bedroom, undressed hastily and slipped under the cool sheet, to
hopefully drift into a dreamless sleep…as I was drifting off into
oblivion my mobile signalled a text message, groping around
sleepily for my phone I could see the message was from Tim…. ‘See
you in the bar on Sunday lunch time x’…what an odd time to send a
message, being a rather odd person why had that surprised me?

Friday turned out to be busier
than normal both in the bar and the restaurant, no one mentioned
Tim to me at all. After receiving his text message in the night, I
felt he had no further reason to contact me today. I’d bought him a
humorous card for his birthday, however I couldn’t decide on a
gift, maybe a luxurious meal out would be in order. The flat seemed
quiet as I went to bed, so I snuggled down for a restful night,
only one more day before my surprise…

Chapter 34

Lucas woke with a start; he
could hear movement in the room above, glancing sleepily at his
watch he could see it was only five o’clock. He’d deduced that the
room above his must be the one that Tim rents. As he was curious as
to what was going on upstairs Lucas decided to get dressed,
instinct told him something possibly untoward was going on. As he
was doing up his belt he heard a sound on the stairs, quietly
opening his door just a fraction he stood silently and waited. Tim
was coming down the stairs carrying a large case in one hand and a
bag in the other. When he was safely down the stairs he slinked
bare foot across to the landing window. Peering out he could see
Tim struggling to open the gate as the case he was carrying seemed
to be heavy. Suddenly he realised Tim didn’t have his laptop back
pack on, that was a first as that backpack was like a second skin
to him. Lucas ran up to Lucy’s flat and as he looked through the
top landing window he was just in time to see Tim striving to load
his luggage into a cab. He was unsure what to do first, although he
knew he had to inform Lucy what he’d seen this morning. Especially
the fact that he’d left without the laptop. Rushing back down to
his room Lucas picked up his mobile and fast dialled through to
Lucy, the fact it was early he felt was irrelevant, she’d want to
know.

I woke to the sound of my
mobile ringing, bleary eyed I could see it was Lucas calling.
‘Lucas is something wrong?’ I asked cautiously.

‘I need to speak to you Lucy as
soon as possible.’

‘Ok come up to my lounge and
I’ll join you there in a moment.’ Getting out of bed quickly and
donning a robe I made my way into the lounge, to find Lucas was
already there.

‘I’m sorry to get you up so
early Lucy.’

‘No problems throw it on
me.’

After Lucas had finished
telling me about the events of the morning, I found myself on an
emotional roller coaster, what the hell was going on. I knew we had
to go into the room straight away. ‘I’ll grab the master key Lucas
and we can see what’s going on.’ Lucas followed me into the room,
as I expected it was in total disarray, the covers on the bed were
heaped in a pile. As expected the case and clothes were missing.
Quickly checking I could see he’d removed the shoe box of cash,
however on top of the chest of drawers was the laptop which shocked
me, as he never went without it. He’d also left parts of his
computer, even the en suite was empty, apart from rubbish discarded
on the floor. ‘Surely there can’t be a reasonable explanation for
this, what a fool I’ve been.’ I was physically trembling; Lucas
opened his arms and not being able to take any more I let him hug
me, the tears trickling silently from my eyes….I had to pull myself
together I knew I was stronger than this. He was obviously coming
back, if only for his bloody laptop! I slowly pulled away from
Lucas. ‘I’m so sorry Lucas for making a complete fool of myself.’ I
sniffed.

‘Hey you have nothing to be
sorry for you’ve been betrayed and I know just how that feels.’

‘I know you do and thank you, I
think we’d better move the laptop before he returns, as there is no
way he’s getting it back until we get to the bottom of this bizarre
situation.’

I locked the laptop in my
lounge and went into the kitchen to make coffee. ‘I wish I was more
computer literate, I’m such a techno phobe.’ I said anxiously.

‘Don’t you worry Lucy I’m not
too bad at the techno stuff myself, I’ll have a go at hacking into
it. Our main problem will be his password, and that’s where I’ll
need your help.’

‘I’ll do my best to figure
something out while we drink our coffee. I’d better ring Jena about
seven and put her in the picture, when are you working today
Lucas.’

‘Don’t worry about that I’m not
on until tonight, I’ll nip down to the cellar to sort out the
barrels and pop out for my paper. It’s probably best to keep quiet
about what’s going on for the moment.’

‘You’re right the last thing I
need is gossip filtering through to the bar at this stage.’ I
agreed.

I rang Jena and gave her an
update on my weird saga, explained that Lucas was going to try and
hack into the laptop and could she cover for me downstairs this
morning. While I was waiting for Lucas to come back I had a shower
and made some toast for us both. I had an uncanny feeling that this
was going to take a while...Giving the state of affairs some
serious thought, obviously Tim would return at some time today for
his laptop, trusting that nobody was aware of his campaign. With
that in mind I believe me and Lucas should go back into Tim’s room
to attempt the hacking, so that when he returns he’ll have no
choice, if he wants his laptop then he’ll have to come in and ask
for it.

When Lucas came back to the
flat I explained my theory of working in Tim’s room. ‘He’s sure to
come back Lucas and this time I’m going to be ready for him.’ I
added angrily.’

‘You’re right Lucy, so have you
any ideas on the password?’

‘Well as you know his dream was
to become a millionaire by his fortieth, so let’s try
millionaire.’

‘You jot down anything that
comes to mind, date of birth, place of birth, parents names.’

After an hour of typing all
these potential passwords into the laptop we were still no further
forward, Lucas had tried them every which way he could, but no joy.
Then a thought struck me of the first evening I spent with Tim and
we were sharing our dreams. ‘The first time we went out Lucas we
spoke of our dreams, I was following mine with the pub and as you
know his was about being a millionaire. However his actual words
were, ‘by the time I’m forty,’ so let’s try ‘bythetimeim40,’ it has
to be worth a go.’

‘Lucy Ross you’re a genius!’
Lucas shouted. ‘We’re in.’

As we both watched the screen
with impatient expectancy the first image appeared, we both gaped
in amazement. A picture of me was on the screen, well the head was
mine, I couldn’t imagine what Lucas was thinking, as the photograph
could only be classed as risqué. ‘OMG Lucas what the hell has he
done.’ I mumbled shamefully. ‘That isn’t me, well it’s my face,
but.’

Lucas put a reassuring arm
around my shoulders. ‘He’s falsified an innocent picture, making a
fraudulent image.’ He said with concern.

‘Keep searching Lucas I have to
know how far he’s taken this.’ I uttered anxiously. Secretly
dreading what would pop up next.

As Lucas continued to search
loads of pictures of the same ilk appeared on the screen, he
reverted back to the desktop to further the investigation,
realising how awkward all of this was for Lucy. He was fortunate to
log into the email account with ease as there wasn’t a further
password required, probably as Tim was the only person using the
computer. In the saved file he found messages from the USA and
Scotland.

‘Stop there please Lucas we
have to read the messages.’

As we both read the typed
heading, it became abundantly clear that this email was from a man
by the name of Jorge Sanchez, connected to a dating site called
‘USA Sugar Daddy Dates.com.’ Wealthy retired business men who want
to pamper and support women who will treat them like a king. The
message read.