Take Two (A psychological thriller) (13 page)

‘A lifetime achievement award? I’m only forty.’ Day lowered his chin gave her an admonishing look. ‘Okay, forty-four,’ she said. ‘But that’s hardly a lifetime, is it?’

‘Was back in the Middle Ages,’ he said. ‘You’d have been riddled by syphilis and the lurgy by now.’  He released his grip on her and went back to his chair. ‘And how’s the new girl getting on?  What’s her name? Jaymee?’

‘A bit nervous, but who isn’t on their first day?’

‘She doesn’t have much experience, but she seems keen.’

‘You did hire her, didn’t you?’

Day pulled a face as if he had a bad taste in his mouth. ‘The network sent her, if you must know. Sally had seen her in some commercial and decided she’d be great for the show. Between you and me I think it’s about tinkering with the ethnic profile of the show, but she’s a pretty girl and, like I said, she seems keen.’ He sighed. ‘Anyway, how’s life?’

‘Bit of a curate’s egg,’ she said, sitting down opposite him.   ‘Look, I need to know what’s going on, Paul.’

‘In what way, darling?’

‘Am I being written out of the show?’

Day’s jaw dropped.  ‘Are you what?’

‘It’s a simple enough question, Paul. Do I have a future on the show or not?’

Day looked stunned but Carolyn recognised bad acting when she saw it.  ‘What’s put that idea in your head?’ he asked.

‘Waites for one.’

‘That prick? He’s a nobody, Carolyn.’

‘He works for the network. And he’s got the ear of Sally and Lisa.’

‘He’s their bitch, that’s what he is. He doesn’t make the decisions.’

‘No, but he’s there when the decisions are taken. And he as good as told me I was on the way out.’

‘Well he’s talking through his arse.’

‘Then what’s the writers’ meeting next week? What’s that about?’

Day’s smile hardened a little. ‘It’s a regular get together of the writers to talk through the storylines.’

‘And Sally and Lisa will be there?’

‘The network always sits in on the meetings. They sit in on the read-throughs, too. There’s nothing sinister about it.’

Carolyn nodded slowly.  She was sure he was lying, but she knew there was no point in pushing him. As Harrington had said to her, the power was gradually being taken away from Day, and even though he was credited as being the producer, most of the actual producing was done by the network executives. But that didn’t explain why he wasn’t being honest with her.

‘Darling, is there something wrong?’ asked Day.

‘I’m just feeling a bit insecure,’ said Carolyn. ‘I don’t want to pick up a script and find I’ve contracted a terminal illness or crashed my car into a canal.’

Day put his hand over his heart. ‘I swear to God that’s not going to happen,’ he said. ‘I wouldn’t allow it. I really wouldn’t. You’re the backbone of this show, Carolyn. You’ve been with it from the start and the viewers wouldn’t stand for anything happening to you.’

‘That makes me feel better.’  It did, a little, but there was still something wrong, something that he wasn’t telling her. ‘I’m just being silly.’

‘You are. But you’re a star, you’re allowed.’ He looked at his watch. ‘Darling, I hate to cut and run but I’ve got some rushes to look at and then I’ve got a lunch at Grouchos.’

‘No problem,’ said Carolyn.

He stood up and held out his arms. Carolyn got up and he wrapped his arms around her.  Carolyn closed her eyes and let him hug her.  Day had the knack of making people feel safe and loved and his physical presence alone was reassuring. He kissed her on the top of her head the way her father used to do when she was a child and she smiled despite herself and hugged him back.

Carolyn left Day’s office and went to see Terry. He was in his office tinkering with a spreadsheet on one of his computers. He looked up and smiled. ‘Okay, darling?’

‘Nose to the grindstone,’ she said. ‘Did you call the office? Cohen and Kawczynski?’

Terry pushed his keyboard to the side. ‘Yeah. Nicholas Cohen hasn’t come into the office today and they don’t know when he’ll be in.’

‘So the chances are it was Cohen I saw getting hit?’

‘If he doesn’t turn up for work in the next couple of days, I’d say that’s probably right. Carolyn, I think now’s the time you went to the police.’

Carolyn shook her head. ‘No can do, Terry. I’m not having my face plastered all over the papers as a witness to a killing.’

‘But that’s what you are, darling. And unless you say something, a man’s going to get away with murder.’

‘Not necessarily,’ said Carolyn. ‘Look, if this Nicholas Cohen is dead, eventually the police will be called. They’ll realise something has happened to him and when they do they’ll go looking for his enemies. That’s what detectives do. They detect.’

‘That’s what TV cops do. In the real world detectives spend most of their time filling out forms.’

‘How do you know that?’

‘I went out with a cop once.’ Terry grinned. ‘Well more than once, as it happens. We had a thing for a couple of months.’

‘No doubt it was the handcuffs you found attractive. Or was it his truncheon?’

‘Darling, they don’t have truncheons any more. They have batons. But my point is, it’s not like Morse or Frost or Silent Witness. There’s no guarantee they’ll find the killer. But you can give them a description and that’ll speed things up if nothing else.’

‘A description of what? A good-looking man in his forties with dark hair?’

‘You didn’t say he was good-looking.’

‘Well he was. But that doesn’t mean I can give them a detailed description.  My memory doesn’t work like that. I can memorise dialogue until the cows come home but I’m terrible with faces.’

‘At least you could give them something to go on. And you saw two cars, right? The Merc and the Bentley.’

‘They could have been Cohen’s cars.’

‘Maybe. But they weren’t there on Saturday when we went to the house. Which means somebody drove them away. And assuming Nicholas Cohen was taken out wrapped in a rug, it wasn’t him.’

Carolyn shuddered. ‘I can’t go to the police, Terry. They’ll tell the press and I really couldn’t cope with that. And, like I said before, once it’s leaked, the killer will know who I am but I won’t know who he is.’ She sighed. ‘And there’s another problem. A biggie.’

‘I’m all ears.’

‘That little shit Waites. The cops will want to know what I was doing in the middle of nowhere. Which means I’ll have to tell them why I got out of his car. Which means telling them about the cocaine.’

‘Ah…’ said Terry. ‘That’s not good.’

‘Even if I don’t mention the Colombian marching powder I’d have to tell them about the pass he made, which means they’ll question him and that means he’s going to be as mad as hell.’

‘He might lose his job, is that what you mean?’

She shook her head. ‘I think it’s more likely the network will rally around him and I’ll be the one left out in the cold.’

‘So what do you want to do, darling?’

‘I don’t know, Terry. I just don’t know.’

‘You’re going to carry on as if nothing’s happened?’

‘I need time to think. If I don’t handle this the right way, my career could be over.’

‘A man died, Carolyn.’

‘I know that. But me going to the police won’t change that. For all we know he…’ She tailed off.

‘’What?’ said Terry.

‘Well, maybe he deserved it. Maybe he did something really bad.’

‘He was an accountant.’

‘Accountants can do bad things,’ said Carolyn. ‘We don’t know what happened, and we don’t know why it happened. All I saw was one man hitting another. I need to think about this before I can decide what to do.’ She smiled ruefully. ‘I sound like a wimp, don’t I?’

Terry shook his head. ‘Darling, I was brought up in Brixton. People could be shot on the pavement and no one would see anything.  The cops would turn up and ask a hundred people and they’d all have miraculously been looking the other way.  Bad things have a habit of happening to witnesses in Brixton.  So I hear what you’re saying.  You take your time and whatever you decide is fine by me.’

Carolyn smiled at him. ‘Marry me, and bear my children,’ she said.

Terry laughed. ‘Darling, I thought you’d never ask.’

The door opened. It was one of the runners. ‘Terry, have you got a briefcase? Jake says a metal one, if you have it.’ The young man noticed Carolyn. ‘Oh, sorry, Miss Castle,’ he said.

‘Not a problem,’ she said. “I have to be in make-up anyway.’

‘What are you doing tonight?’ asked Terry. ‘Do you need company?’

Carolyn shook her head. ‘We’re filming until late and then I’m having dinner with my agent.’

‘Okay, but if you need me, call.’ He blew her a kiss and she pretended to catch it and press it to her heart. She waved goodbye and headed to the make-up department.

CHAPTER 26

Billy pulled up in front of the restaurant and twisted around in his seat. ‘I’m happy to wait for you, Miss Castle,’ he said.

‘No need, Billy,’ said Carolyn. ‘I’m a hop, skip and a jump from my house. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

Billy picked up a clipboard with the call sheet. ‘Seven-thirty pick-up,’ he said. He grinned. ‘You get a lie in.’

Carolyn laughed and climbed out of the Mercedes. She waved as Billy drove off. The restaurant was a small Italian place she’d used for more than ten years. Luigi the owner ran the front of house while his wife and son worked in the kitchen. The food was good home cooking, the wine was reasonably priced, and they had a table in a corner that was partly obscured by a supporting wall on which Luigi had hung a large poster of the leaning tower of Pisa.  It was the perfect table for when she wanted a quiet meal alone or if she had business to discuss. And most of the diners were regulars which meant she was rarely disturbed by a fan wanting an autograph or a mobile phone photograph.

Luigi spotted her as soon as she opened the door and he hurried over. He was a small man, an inch shorter than Carolyn when she was wearing heels, and he had a large stomach that suggested he was a big fan of his wife’s cooking. He air kissed her and took her coat. ‘Your guest is already here,’ he said, showing her over to the table. Peter Sessions was halfway through a bottle of Chianti and he got to his feet when he saw her.

‘I’m so sorry I’m late, I had some dubbing to do and it just had to be finished tonight,’ she said.

Peter kissed her on both cheeks. ‘Luigi has been taking good care of me,’ he said. ‘As always.’ Peter was her agent and had been since she’d first started working as an actress. During the twenty years they had been together, his hair had thinned and greyed and his crow’s feet had multiplied and deepened but he hadn’t gained a pound and was as stick-thin as the day they had first met.

They sat down and Luigi produced two leather-bound menus. ‘I have some wonderful sea bass, so fresh that it swam here this morning,’ he said. ‘My wife is cooking it with some garlic and tomato and it’s so good I’ll be having it later tonight.’

‘That’ll be fine,’ said Carolyn. She looked over at Peter and he nodded enthusiastically. ‘We’ll both have it,’ she said.

‘And your chicken Caesar salad to start?’

‘Perfect,’ said Carolyn, handing back the unopened menu.

‘Soup of the day for me,’ said Peter, giving back his menu. ‘Ask the chef if he could go easy on the salt. Doctor’s orders.’

Luigi headed to the kitchen. ‘So, congratulations on your award,’ said Peter.

Carolyn laughed. ‘It’s in the guest bathroom, with the rest of them,’ she said.

‘Best place for them,’ said Peter, ‘You can’t take them too seriously. But it was well-deserved, and it was the viewers who voted which makes it a real award.’

The waitress brought their starters over and Carolyn toyed with her salad. ‘Peter, how easy would it be to move to another show?’ she asked.

Peter’s spoon froze halfway to his mouth.  ‘Has something happened?’

‘Nothing really, I just feel like a change.’

Peter put down his spoon. ‘Come on, now, you’ve just won an award and now you want to jump ship. Something must have happened.’

Carolyn shrugged and sipped her wine.

‘Problems with one of the directors? I can speak to Paul.’

‘The directors are terrific. The new one, Jake Harrington, is a sweetheart.’ She leaned forward and lowered her voice.  ‘I’m just not sure how much of a future I have on the show.’

‘Has someone said anything?’

‘There’s a writers’ meeting next week and it’s all hush hush. The network are going to be there and I have a feeling my part is going to be cut back. But it’s just a feeling.’

‘I can put out a few feelers, see which way the wind is blowing.’

Carolyn shook her head. ‘If it happens, it happens,’ she said.  ‘And if they are planning to write me out, we’ll be the last to know. At this stage, I just want to know what my options are.’

Peter looked pained. ‘Things aren’t good in TV land these days, you know that,’ he said. ‘The internet, DVDs, cable, they’ve all hit the broadcasters for six. The big money isn’t there any more.’

‘I’m not saying I want a pay rise, Peter. I’ll work for the same money. It’s about the work.’

‘I hear what you’re saying, but the fact is you’re paid far more than most and if you move to Emmerdale, you’d put a lot of noses out of joint. If the producers hire you, they’ll have half a dozen of their stars demanding parity.’

Carolyn sighed and prodded a piece of chicken. She didn’t have much of an appetite. ‘Is Emmerdale a possibility?’ she asked.

‘I really don’t think so,’ he said. ‘They’ve just brought in another family with four new characters.’

‘What about Corrie?’

‘Corrie’s all about the kids these days,’ he said. ‘Buff studs and sunbed tans and cleavages. They’re chasing the younger market.’

‘The younger market isn’t inside watching TV,’ said Carolyn. ‘They’re either on the internet or outside getting drunk. Or high.’ She shook her head. ‘What happened to our industry, Peter? It used to be about the work. And the stories.’

‘Those days are gone,’ said Peter. ‘Now it’s about murder and rape and incest. And they want young, they really do.’

‘I’m forty four, Peter. Since when has that been old? Look at Ian McKellen. He did Corrie and he was what, seventy?  Look at Bill Roach, still going strong in his eighties.’