FORTY

‘I think I’d like a drink,’ Linnet said, once they had been seated in the library area of China Tang, the popular Chinese restaurant downstairs at the hotel.

‘What would you like?’ Simon asked, reaching out, placing his hand over hers on the table, filled with joy that he could actually touch her.

‘A glass of pink champagne, please.’

‘Champagne,’ he repeated, raising a blond brow.

‘Yes. To celebrate.’

‘Celebrate what?’

‘Kissing you,’ she murmured, looking at him flirtatiously out of the corner of her eye. ‘As far as I’m concerned, that was something special, and therefore something to celebrate. That’s what champagne is for.’

He laughed, enjoying her, as he always had in the past when there had been occasions for them to see each other on a social level with Jack, her parents and the rest of the family. He had known her for many years—forever, it seemed like to him—and had always found himself attracted to her. But she had only had eyes for Julian, her childhood sweetheart. It was different. At last. Now she was alone, and available, and she obviously had strong feelings for him, as he did for her. It was up to him now to make her well and truly his. For always. That was what he wanted.

When the waiter appeared at their table, Simon ordered two glasses of pink champagne, and once they were alone again, he leaned into her, kissed her neck, muttered against her ear, ‘Got to make the most of it before Jack gets here.’

‘Yes, we do,’ she replied and stared at him, her face turning serious. ‘We’re in danger, aren’t we, Simon? From Ainsley?’

‘Yes, and we have to pinpoint his whereabouts as fast as we can. I agree with Jack, though, who thinks it’ll be like looking for a needle in a haystack.’

‘These last few years have been so peaceful, not having to look over our shoulders all the time. Now it starts again.’

The waiter returned with their drinks, and Linnet lifted her flute, as did Simon. They touched glasses and Linnet said, ‘Here’s to that very special kiss I’ve waited so long to give you.’

He smiled at her, his eyes loving. ‘It was special for me too.’ After taking a swig of the champagne, Simon said, ‘Before Jack gets here, I would like to ask you something.’

Linnet nodded. ‘Yes, ask me.’

‘Did you mean it when you said you had serious intentions?’

‘I did. Why?’ She frowned, her auburn brows drawing together.

‘Because I know how I feel about you, and I have known for a very long time…I’m serious about you.’

‘I’m glad we feel the same. Aren’t we a couple of fools? Harbouring the same feelings for each other for so long and never saying a word.’

‘We’ve wasted a lot of time, Linnet.’

‘But we’ll make up for it, and then some…’ Linnet stopped abruptly, removed her hand, placed it in her lap, and murmured, ‘Here comes Jack.’

A second later he was being shown to the table, greeted them both, and sat down. ‘That looks good,’ Jack said, eyeing the champagne, ‘very refreshing. I think I’ll have a glass.’ Motioning to the waiter, he ordered, and then said to Linnet, ‘M got James Cardigan on his cell, told him about me, and yes, we did meet in Hong Kong. But this is the thing, when she was talking to him she said the Hartes had a serious problem and did he know any hackers? I couldn’t believe my ears—she’s very clever.’

Simon exclaimed, ‘That’s what I said to you this morning. I had the same idea as M. Let’s get some hackers working. Maybe it would be tough to hack into Ainsley’s computers, but they might be able to get into the computers of his partners, some of those chaps he does business with. Possibly we could get information about him through a few leads.’

‘That is exactly what I discussed with Zhèng in Hong Kong last week. However, it sounds a lot easier than it is and, remember one thing, the Hartes can never be involved in anything criminal.’

‘But we can break a few rules, don’t you think?’ Linnet said. ‘I bet Emma broke some, and what about my great-grandfather Blackie O’Neill? I’m sure he must have stretched things a bit at times. And David Kallinski, their willing partner, too. M is prepared to break the rules all the way, and so am I.’

Jack laughed. ‘But that was then, and this is now, and we’re going to toe the line. Understood?’

Linnet nodded and winked at him.

Smiling, Simon said, ‘For the time being anyway.’ He moved his leg closer to Linnet’s, slipped his hand under the table and found hers resting on his thigh. He removed it gently, since he felt the first signs of arousal, an unexpected reaction over a lunch table for him. He was usually in control of himself in every way.

‘Linnet, I want to discuss something,’ Jack began. ‘And it’s about the things we can do through Wen Li.’

‘What things? How can he help?’ she asked.

‘He has a grandson, Richie Zhèng—he’s a wonderful-looking young man, a Eurasian—aged about twenty-five. He went to the Wharton School of Business, and spent some time growing up in the States. Anyway, he’s very Americanized and a he’s a computer genius; also a brilliant banker, according to Wen Li. Extraordinarily talented with figures. Wen Li is going to propose to Ainsley that Richie Zhèng goes to work with Ainsley, as Wen Li’s representative.’

‘But why would Ainsley agree to have Richie Zhèng in his company?’

‘Because Wen Li is planning to invest a hundred million dollars—American dollars—with Ainsley. The proviso is that Richie is brought into the company. In a sense, he would be looking after Wen Li’s money, although Wen Li’s not saying that.’

‘Good God!’ Linnet sounded flabbergasted. ‘That’s a fortune.’

‘However, he won’t invest that amount if Ainsley says no deal, regarding Richie being part of the company. That’s a must.’

‘A piece of cheese to catch a rat, eh?’ Linnet laughed grimly.

‘You could call it that, Beauty. Anyway, Wen Li wants Richie to work at Belvedere, that’s Ainsley’s new company in Hong Kong, and it can’t do us any harm.’

‘I understand everything,’ Linnet said, ‘and it’s an awful lot of money to invest. Wen Li must believe he can double or treble it with Ainsley.’

‘I believe he does think that, although one of his chief motivations was finding a way to get Richie inside Ainsley’s organization as a mole. Belvedere is a holding company, and although it’s based in Hong Kong, it’s an umbrella for Ainsley’s worldwide investments. And there is another reason.’ Jack paused. ‘He wants to help us.’

Linnet stared at Jack in disbelief. ‘M is going to be really surprised when I tell her all this. Why would he risk all that money for us, Jack? That I don’t understand at all.’

‘He isn’t risking it, not really. Wen Li knows what he’s doing; he’s a shrewd banker. Anyway, let’s hope the rat eats the cheese, to borrow a phrase from you.’

Simon said to Linnet, ‘Shall we order?’ and, turning to Jack, he added, ‘Actually, Jack, I think it might be a good idea if we let you order lunch, since you’re such an old Hong Kong hand.’

Picking up the menu, Jack scanned it, and said to Linnet and Simon, ‘How about wonton soup to start with? Soup’s nice on a damp day—comforting, wouldn’t you say? Then I love their minced squab wrapped in lettuce leaves. They also make delicious shrimp dumplings—and another thing I enjoy are the spring rolls. Any preferences?’

‘Whatever you say, Jack,’ Linnet answered. ‘But I do happen to like wonton soup and minced squab. So those would be fine.’

Simon said he’d have the same, and that Jack should order whatever else he thought they would like. As Jack conversed with the waitress who had come to take their orders, Simon squeezed Linnet’s hand under the table, and gave her a long, loving look.

Paula O’Neill stared at herself in the mirror, straightened the skirt of her tailored, navy blue silk dress and adjusted the string of pearls around her neck. Satisfied with the way she looked, she stepped away from the cheval mirror and went over to her dressing table, where she picked up her pearl earrings and put them on.

She smiled to herself as she turned away from the dressing table, thinking that, as usual, she was dressed in what she termed one of her ‘uniforms’: today it was the simple dress in a dark colour.

When she had run Harte’s, she had always worn a well-cut black suit with a white shirt or blouse. Her daughters Linnet and M were the same, had followed in her footsteps, choosing similar ‘uniforms’ to wear during the day. Not Tessa, of course. She had her own inimitable style, favouring white mostly.

Her mind focused on M, her youngest daughter, and the one who looked the most like her in appearance. She was proud of her, the way she had gone off to New York and done it on her own, without their help. But then that was a Harte characteristic, wasn’t it? In many ways M had always been the most independent of her three daughters, sure of herself and what she wanted to do with her life. And to think the world’s new top supermodel, appearing on every magazine cover, had once protested about putting on makeup and washing her hair; said she had no desire to look smart, preferring instead to muck out the stables and care for the horses, like a stable lad.

Seating herself at the desk, Paula opened her appointment book and looked at the day’s engagements. Tea with Jack was the most important date. He was coming over at four o’clock. She hadn’t seen him for a few weeks, and was curious about the impending visit. Was he simply coming to tea to catch up with her on certain matters? Or was he about to impart bad news? After the bombing at the store she was certain he was not the bearer of good tidings. On the other hand, he had been in Hong Kong and perhaps he was bringing gossip and greetings from mutual friends whom he might have seen on the trip.

Well, whatever the reason for his visit, she was pleased she was going to see him. They had been friends for over forty years. She frowned. Where on earth had all that time gone? It just disappeared in the blink of an eyelash…it didn’t seem possible to her.

She had first met Jack Figg when she had gone to work for her grandmother at the store. Emma Harte had adored the young Jack, had seen such enormous potential in him; and as usual, Emma had been right. He had turned out to be a superlative head of security, as well as loyal and devoted. As it turned out, he had become her best friend over the years, and a member of the family as well, loved by all.

Sometimes Shane teased her a little bit about Jack and his extraordinary devotion to her, and hinted that Jack might well have been carrying a torch for her for many years. She always shrugged off that suggestion, because there had never been any indication of this. Not at all. Jack was always the perfect gentleman, had never taken one wrong step, ever.

Sitting back in the chair, Paula thought of what had happened in all those years which seemed to have passed with such speed: her marriage to Jim, the birth of the twins, Tessa and Lorne; and then the slow but terrible disintegration of her marriage to Jim Fairley. It was her recognition of her love for her childhood friend Shane O’Neill that had been a wondrous revelation. And then had come terrible sorrow and a mantle of guilt when Jim and her father had been killed in a fatal air crash in France. But this tragedy had been followed, eventually, by her marriage to Shane. From this she had drawn great peace as well as immense joy. The birth of their sons and daughters, Patrick, Linnet, Emma and Desmond had brought untold happiness.

She suddenly remembered the way she and Shane had ruefully admitted to each other that there could only be one Emma in the family. They belatedly had understood that her famous grandmother completely overshadowed the baby Emma, newly born. And so she had become Emsie, then Em, and finally M. Paula smiled in delight, thinking of her grubby little horse-loving child who had become this startlingly beautiful supermodel. And Larry. What a blessing he was—M was safe with him.

She sighed, and a sadness crept into Paula’s heart as memories of her darling Patrick rose to the surface…their beloved little boy, born with brain damage, who had been the sweetest and most loving child, adored by all. When he had unexpectedly died, and so suddenly, everyone in the family had been genuinely devastated and heartbroken.

Ah, yes, so many losses over these years, which she and Shane had shared…the death of his grandfather Blackie O’Neill, and of her grandmother Emma Harte; then Shane’s father Bryan had passed away, as had so many other family members…She thought of her great-aunt Edwina, Emma’s first-born child, and then laughed, remembering her. They had all likened her to a general, but they had truly loved her, the genuine eccentric in the family.

And what of the terrible mistakes she had made in business? Paula cringed at the thought. Once she had put the stores at risk. To think that she had almost lost them to her cousin…but she had outwitted and defeated Jonathan Ainsley. And so very cleverly, thanks to Ronnie Kallinski, the man she had always addressed as Uncle Ronnie, referred to as her wise rabbi. Ainsley was dead and buried, and she had survived those troubles and moved on.

Despite all the mistakes, the losses, the deaths and tragedies, there had also been marriages and births as well, and new beginnings…more children to carry the banner, in honour of the famous name of Harte…to run her grandmother’s empire. There had been so many blessings, as well as troubles.

The happiness she had shared with Shane all these years, and still shared: that was truly something to treasure and to enjoy. How lucky she had been to be part of this man’s world. Life had often punched her in the face, but never mind that now. It did not matter. She had so much to be thankful for, had had more than most.

Rising, Paula left the bedroom and went downstairs to wait for Jack, still thinking of all the happenings and events that had marked the years.

Sometimes she had wondered if the Hartes were cursed, but she had inevitably dismissed this idea as being ridiculous. They were truly a large family, and life had spared none of them, and that was all there was to it. She didn’t believe in curses. Like her grandmother, she was far too much of a pragmatist for that nonsense.

‘You’ve come to tell me we have more trouble, haven’t you, Jack?’ Paula announced as she walked across the sitting room to welcome him.

‘I’m afraid so,’ he replied. Coming to a standstill next to each other, they embraced; Jack kissed her on the cheek, held her away, his eyes searching her face. ‘No matter what’s happening, you always look wonderful, and you’re positively blooming today.’

‘Thanks, darling. I’m feeling very well, although Linnet fusses over me far too much. Well, never mind, she means well, and I must say I’m proud of the way she runs the store, takes everything in her stride.’ Sitting down on the sofa, giving him a questioning glance, Paula said, ‘So give me the bad news.’

Blowing out air, shaking his head, Jack took the chair opposite her. ‘Steel yourself for this…Jonathan Ainsley is not dead and buried as we believed. He’s alive.’

Jack was watching her carefully, worried about her as usual, and he saw her flinch, but otherwise there was no other visible reaction. Then a deep sigh escaped her and she gave him her full attention.

Leaning back against the cushions, Paula said, ‘I know you must be certain of the truth of this, but naturally I’m curious. How did you find out?’

‘Through your old friend and mine, Zhèng Wen Li. He contacted me, said he had something important to tell me, something vital, but that it must be face to face. That’s why I went to Hong Kong last week.’

‘I see. And how does Wen Li know about Ainsley coming back to life, so to speak?’

Jack told her everything, missing out nothing, and finally explained Wen Li’s idea of putting his grandson inside Belvedere, Ainsley’s holding company in Hong Kong. ‘The bait is the vast amount of money he’s going to invest with Ainsley,’ Jack finished. ‘A hundred million.’

‘I understand everything, Jack, and if Wen Li’s plan works we’ll have somebody on the inside, a spy in the house of Ainsley. Then at least we’ll have an idea of what’s going on.’

‘Correct, Paula, although Ainsley might not necessarily be in Hong Kong at the moment. Nevertheless, Richie Zhèng will have access to a great deal, and I just pray that Ainsley does take the bait.’

‘So do I. It’s good of Wen Li to do this for us.’

‘And also for himself, Paula. You know he hates Ainsley as much as we do, and he does stand to make a lot of money on his hundred million. But yes, he has proved to be very loyal, a good friend.’

‘When is all of this going to happen? When will Wen Li hear from Ainsley? Does he know?’

‘Imminently, I think. In the meantime, there’s not much we can do. Obviously, I’ve got to put a lot of security around you and Shane, M and Larry and Linnet, and Tessa and her brood in France. He’s a dangerous man. Also elusive.’ Jack frowned. ‘I’ve absolutely no idea where his base is.’

‘So it’s not Hong Kong?’ Paula raised a brow.

‘No. However, he still has an apartment there, and a business office, but that’s the same as before. It’s just a new name, that’s all.’

‘He could be living in Switzerland, you know, especially since you said he was treated at a clinic in Zurich.’

‘That’s true, he was, but somehow I doubt that he lives in Zurich. Geneva maybe.’

‘You mentioned security guards for my girls, Jack, but what about my sons? Shouldn’t Lorne and Desmond be protected?’

‘Absolutely, and I will talk to them both. Lorne has fought it in the past, but this time he’ll have to listen. How’s Desmond going to take it?’

‘Not too well, I’m afraid, but I’m sure you can persuade him…’ She gave him a small smile. ‘You’re very persuasive, you know.’ Leaning forward, she now asked, ‘Once Richie Zhèng is inside Belvedere, and gets information about Ainsley for his grandfather and you, what then?’

‘I am hoping we will be able to pinpoint Ainsley’s permanent location and keep track of him at all times. However, even as we speak, I have many of my European operatives hunting for him, trying to track him down. I’m leaving nothing to chance. I want to find him quickly and deal with him.’

‘But how will you deal with him? You can’t just take a gun and go out and shoot him.’

‘If I could I would, and I would have done it years ago, you know that. What will I do?’ Leaning forward, drawing closer, taking her hand in his, he said, ‘Wen Li and I must render him harmless to us, Paula. And we will. I promise you that. But I can’t tell you what it is we’re going to do because we haven’t finalized everything. Anyway, the less you know the better.’

‘I trust you, Jack.’

He half smiled, then went on, ‘I’m going to insist some other members of the family—some of your cousins—have security, and I think that should do it for the moment. You see, he’s mostly out to get you and your daughters—’

‘But why is he still persisting after all these years?’ she exclaimed, her voice rising an octave.

‘When a terrible illness is not treated it does not get better, nor does it simply go away. Actually, it gets much worse. Jonathan Ainsley is a very sick man…he’s mentally ill. And I believe he is a psychopath. Even his own father said that just before he died. Ainsley must be stopped.’

‘As soon as you can, Jack, please.’ Her voice sounded suddenly tense.

‘It will be done as fast as possible, I can guarantee that, and I will keep my promise to you,’ Jack responded in a reassuring tone.

‘Thank you. I don’t know what we’d do without you.’

‘About Tessa, Paula? Do you think her husband will object to having security guards?’ Jack now asked, his concern echoing.

‘I doubt it. Jean-Claude is rather brilliant, as you well know. Furthermore, he’s considered one of the foremost experts on terrorism. So he understands about bodyguards. Anyway, you can ask Tessa about it herself in a very short while. She’s here in London, just for the day, with Jean-Claude. She’s coming to have tea.’

A huge smile crossed Jack’s face, and he exclaimed, ‘I can’t wait to see her, it’s been ages.’

Paula cleared her throat, and threw Jack a knowing look. ‘You’re usually a few steps ahead of us all, so I’m assuming you’ve already thought about what I’m now going to say…that Ainsley might have had something to do with the bombing of Harte’s?’

‘I was just about to bring that up, Paula, and yes, I had thought of it, and I feel certain he arranged for it to be done. I also consider Larry’s poisoning on location very suspect, not really an accident. And then there’s the collapsing runway at the hotel in Paris. I can’t help thinking that this was another one of Ainsley’s attempts to kill or maim a Harte. This time, M.’

At this moment the door opened and Vesta, the housekeeper, came in, wheeling the tea trolley. ‘Here I am, Mrs O’Neill, and Miss Tessa just arrived a few minutes ago. She went up to her old room to freshen up. And she said she’ll be down very shortly.’

To Jack, Tessa Fairley Deléon was beautiful in a classical sense. She was tall, slender, willowy, with long silver-gilt hair, silvery eyes, and a perfect skin without blemish. Her chiselled features in an oval-shaped face were perfect, and she had an aura about her, perhaps because of her extraordinary taste and elegance, the way she held herself, and moved with such grace.

Now, as she walked in to the sitting room of her mother’s Belgravia house, he caught his breath in surprise. If anything, she was more beautiful than ever, ethereal, and it struck him suddenly that she didn’t walk, she floated. Or so it seemed to him.

She was wearing an outfit made of a fabric in different shades of greys and pale blues, and it drifted around her gorgeous legs like some sort of hazy mist. She wasn’t movie-star beautiful; in fact that would be a ridiculous analogy because she was beyond that: Tessa was like a being from another world. Almost unreal. And to think he had once detested her.

Jack had not been the only one to dislike Tessa. Her entire family, even though they loved her, had found her to be impossible at times. Because she was a Fairley, through her father Jim Fairley, her mother’s first husband, she was a monumental snob. The Fairleys had been the great aristocratic Yorkshire family in their heyday at the turn of the nineteenth century, and Tessa couldn’t stop boasting about that, them, and her remarkable heritage.

What annoyed everyone was the way she looked down on the Hartes, and was forever flinging the Fairley name in their faces. She constantly annoyed her mother and Linnet because she called herself the Dauphine, alluding to the fact that she was the eldest child, and therefore Paula’s heir to the Harte stores.

Tessa was the first-born of Paula’s children, that was true, since she was delivered a few minutes before her twin brother, Lorne. Fortunately, they got on well together, and he never stood in her way, because he had no interest in the family business. His aim was to become a great actor, and he had done that.

Jack suppressed a smile now as he thought of the way Linnet and M had mocked her behind her back by calling her by that awful nickname, the Dorf, short for Dauphine.

But they had also become her defenders and allies, once they discovered that she was an abused wife. Tessa’s first husband, Mark Longden, had beaten her up on a regular basis, and treated her so badly she had finally left him. None of them had ever known the true situation, because Tessa had managed to put on such a good face for years.

Jack realized what a bastard Mark was when Tessa’s daughter by Mark disappeared several years ago. Little Adele went missing from Pennistone Royal and was nowhere to be found, until Jack tracked down her father and discovered that Mark himself was the kidnapper of his own child.

Throughout this horrendous abduction, a genuine ordeal for Tessa, he had come to know her well, and had become her friend and admirer. She had displayed true grit, been tremendously brave, and had confided at one moment that she was glad she was a Harte woman with her great-grandmother’s indomitable spirit.

She had inevitably changed, and had eventually become the lovely woman she was today after meeting and falling in love with Jean-Claude Deléon. The renowned French writer and philosopher was twenty years older than she was, but they had quickly married and had had three children. Tessa lived in France. She had flourished, grown into her own skin.

After greeting her mother, and then Jack, Tessa exclaimed, ‘Shall I play Mum and pour the tea?’ and Paula laughed and said, ‘Please do, darling.’

Once Tessa had served her mother and Jack, and handed around the small tea sandwiches, she took a cup of tea for herself, and settled next to Jack on the sofa.

‘Why is it we never see you in Paris, old friend? I do wish you’d come and visit us.’

‘I will, I promise,’ Jack answered, and looked across at Paula, who nodded, smiled at him.

Jack continued, ‘As a matter of fact, I was thinking of popping over to see you tomorrow, but now that you’re here, there’s no reason…at least not at the moment.’

‘Why were you coming to see me?’ Tessa asked, looking suddenly intrigued.

‘I wanted to talk to you about a rather important matter, Tessa; something very serious. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but at this moment, you, Jean-Claude and your children are at great risk.’

Tessa drew back, staring at him uncomprehendingly for a moment, and then exclaimed, ‘What on earth do you mean?’

Jack told her. He went on to give her all of the details he had just enumerated to Paula, and she listened attentively.

Once he had finished, Tessa said, ‘Just tell me what you want us to do, and we’ll do it, Jack. I’ll do anything on this earth to protect my husband and my children.’

At this moment, the door swung open, and, as Paula turned around, her face lit up. She rose, exclaiming, ‘M! How wonderful to see you.’ She hurried across the room, embraced her youngest daughter.

‘Oh Mummy, you look absolutely fabulous,’ M said, and then when she spotted Tessa near the fireplace, she cried, ‘Beautiful One, what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in Paris.’

Laughing, tossing back her long, silver-gilt hair, Tessa hurried to M and the two of them hugged.

‘Have you grown taller, or am I shrinking?’ Tessa asked, frowning, and then grinned. ‘So you’re twenty inches taller because you’re wearing your Jimmy Choo shoes. That’s it!’

‘No it isn’t, because I’m not. See, I’m in flats.’ M showed her foot clad in a classic Chanel ballet-slipper-style shoe. ‘And, I’m only an inch taller than you.’

The two of them laughed, and M went on, ‘I just want you to know that I’ve talked Lorne into coming to stay with you. He’s a bit down in the dumps.’

‘Why is that?’

‘I think he’s really lonely, if you really want to know. No woman around.’ She moved across to the sofa, and gave Jack a big hug, whispered against his ear, ‘How did Mum take it—the news I mean?’

‘With resignation,’ Jack answered. ‘In her usual elegant manner.’

Paula joined them near the fireplace and asked M, ‘Do you want a cup of tea, darling? It’s still hot.’

‘I’d love it, and I’m so glad I came over…to see you, Mummy, but how nice that Tessa’s here and Jack. You’ve heard the bad news from Jack?’

‘Yes, indeed we have,’ Paula answered.

‘I’m all for having him demolished by a hit man,’ M announced. ‘And I’d be willing to foot the bill. Ainsley’s a menace.’

Paula and Tessa both stared at her in astonishment, and then Paula suddenly laughed. ‘Really, darling, we can’t go around killing people, or having them killed.’

‘Why not?’

‘Don’t be silly, M.’ Paula shook her head. ‘We’re not murderers, criminals—’

‘Ainsley is,’ M cut in, and said to Tessa, ‘You’d better agree to have bodyguards.’

‘I’ve agreed,’ Tessa answered. ‘I’ve always listened to Jack, you know.’

‘How long are you staying?’ M stared at her eldest sister.

‘I came in with Jean-Claude just for the day, darling. He was coming in on a private plane, so I just hitched a ride to see Mummy.’

‘I’m glad you thought about that, Tessa,’ Paula said and looked at M. ‘What were you saying about Lorne?’ She sounded anxious.