“Well.” Suze beams. “It starts with the spring. You know the famous balloon spring that launched Corey’s business all those years ago?”
“Well, I’ve heard of it….” says Cyndi doubtfully.
They’re off. It’s all under control.
I back out of the room, close the door quietly, and draw breath. OK. So far, so good. Mum’s up next.
But what’s happened to Janice? I look in slight bewilderment at the empty floor. She was lying here a moment ago. And what about Lori? Has the doctor been already? Have they taken Janice away? What on earth—
Oh my God, there they are.
Lori is about ten yards down the corridor, walking slowly along with Janice leaning heavily on her arm. As though she can sense me watching her, Lori turns round and scowls.
“Hey, you!” she calls. “I want to talk to you!”
“Don’t stop!” moans Janice at once. “I need the ladies’! I feel very ill!” She clutches Lori’s arm harder. “Please don’t leave me! You’re all I have!”
I can feel an almighty giggle rising inside me. Janice is amazing!
“You!” barks Lori again, but I pretend I can’t hear and hurry the other way.
“Mum!” I gasp breathlessly as I reach our little room and fling open the door. (I can’t be bothered with signals anymore.) “It’s all going to plan, except Janice got a bit diverted. You ready?”
“Oh, love.” Mum looks apprehensive. “I’m not sure about this.”
“Not you too!” I say in exasperation.
I gave Mum and Janice the simplest possible jobs. And they’ve both lost their nerve!
“Becky, come in with me,” Mum begs. “I can’t do it on my own.”
“But I’ve already been in once! Corey will notice!”
This was my whole reason for having all of us play different domestic staff—so Corey wouldn’t suspect anything.
“No, he won’t!” says Mum. “Did he even notice you before?”
I consider for a moment. Actually, he probably didn’t. Men like Corey don’t notice the staff.
“All right.” I roll my eyes. “I’ll come in with you. And I’ll text Dad.”
I was so paranoid about Dad being spotted by Corey that I made him wait on a separate floor. But it’s safe now. It’s his time.
Mum and I take up our positions outside Ben, and a few moments later Dad comes striding up the corridor.
“All set?” he says to me.
“All going to plan.” I nod at the door. “He’s in there.”
“I can’t believe we’re doing this.” Dad looks at Mum with a kind of wry, incredulous smile and gestures at the closed door. “Can you believe we’re doing this? Of all the mad things Becky’s talked us into doing over the years…”
“Oh, I’ve given up even thinking that way,” replies Mum. “I just go with the flow. Far easier.”
Honestly. What do they mean? I never talk people into doing things.
“But if it works…” Dad suddenly takes my hand and squeezes it. “Becky, you’ve achieved a lot in your life. But this will be your finest hour. I mean that, love.”
“Oh, well,” I say awkwardly. “If the plan works.”
“Of course it’ll work!” insists Mum.
Both my parents are looking at me proudly, as if I’m ten years old again and have raised the most money for the new school netball court. (How I did it, by the way: I wrote stories about all of my classmates and illustrated them with little paper dolls and made them cutout outfits, and all the mothers paid loads.)
“Don’t jinx it!” I say. “Mum, we need to go.”
As she’s smoothing down her jacket, I turn to Dad. “What are you going to say to Corey?” I ask curiously. “Where will you even start? I mean, he wouldn’t take your call, he wouldn’t speak to you—I’d want to slap him!”
But Dad shakes his head. “This isn’t about Corey and me. This is about Corey and Brent. Off you go now.” He steps away and I knock at the door, and before I know it, Mum and I are in the room.
Corey, Luke, Tarquin, and Elinor are all still sitting round the table; Tarquin is saying something about “equity,” and they look up with quite convincing surprise.
“Yes?” says Elinor.
“I’m so sorry,” says Mum, bustling in, looking exactly like a hotel manager. “I believe you ordered a double conference room.”
Her American accent is absolutely atrocious, but Corey doesn’t seem to notice. Or, if he does, he doesn’t make any comment.
“That’s right, we did,” says Luke with a frown. “I was going to complain about that.”
“My apologies, sir. I’ll open the double doors right now.”
I don’t know why Mum wanted moral support—she’s brilliant! She heads over to the right-hand wall—the wall separating Ben from Jerry’s—and my heart begins to thump in excitement. Here we go. Here we go.
All these conference rooms have magic doors. It’s why I chose this particular business center. The doors slide right into the walls, so you can have a big opening between rooms, join rooms up, close them off, do what you like.
Unhurriedly, looking for all the world like a bored hotel manager, Mum approaches the doors that open into Jerry’s and pushes them apart. It takes a moment for anyone to realize what’s happened, then suddenly—
“Corey?” Cyndi’s voice pipes up excitedly from the next room. She jumps up and hurries toward the opening. “Corey, is that you? Oh my God, babe! What a coincidence!”
I’ve been watching Corey all this time, and he jerked with shock when he heard Cyndi’s voice. But at once he regained control of himself. Now he gets to his feet, his eyes watchful and suspicious.
“Hi, sweetheart,” he says, his gaze roaming around and fixing on each face in turn, as though to find the answer to this now. “What are you doing here? Who are these people?”
“This is Danny Kovitz!” gushes Cyndi. “The famous fashion designer! He’s going to put on a fashion show, and he wants me to model for it. And this is Lady Cleath-Stuart….”
“Your wife.” Corey whips round to Tarquin.
“Ah, yes! So she is,” says Tarkie, in tones of surprise that make me want to giggle. “Hello, dear.”
“Peyton and I are going to open the show!” Cyndi bubbles over. “We’re going to wear matching dresses. Isn’t that fun?”
“Great,” says Corey shortly. His eyes are still darting around as though he’s trying to work out what’s happening. I mean, he’s not stupid. He must realize this can’t be a coincidence.
And all we need now is for Cyndi to play her part. She doesn’t know it, but she’s the star of the show. She’s like a peach hanging from a tree, I think. A big, ripe peach, all heavy and ready to fall…Go on…go on…
“Oh, Corey!” Cyndi exclaims. “I’ve just been hearing about Brent and all. You are such a sweet, sweet man.”
Thud. The peach has landed. Although, from the atmosphere in the room, it could have been a bomb. I risk a tiny glance at Corey, and my stomach lurches. His expression is absolutely livid.
“What, honey?” he says at last, in almost-pleasant tones. “What are you talking about?”
“Brent!” she says. “You know. The settlement.”
“Settlement?” Corey sounds like he can’t quite pronounce the word properly.
“Ah, yes,” says Luke cheerfully. “We were about to get to that. Another of our valued associates is Brent Lewis, who obviously was very instrumental in helping you in the early days of Firelight Innovations, Inc.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” says Corey tightly.
“Corey!” Luke gives an easy laugh. “Don’t be so modest!” He turns to Cyndi. “The wonderful news is, your generous husband is going to provide a settlement for Brent in recognition of his input to the success of Firelight Innovations. Isn’t that kind? The lawyers are waiting downstairs with the documents, so we can get this all wrapped up super-quick.”