A Chance Encounter by Rae Shaw (best ereader for academics .TXT) 📕

to have that control, that level of influence over another. Wasn't love about equality? ‘You need permission to sit down?’ he scoffed.

‘No!’ Hettie said firmly. ‘He would send me for a rest; up in our suite. He knows I’m not back up to strength yet. I've had tonsillitis. Evey is far more demanding than Noah ever was during the night. No, that would be it. For the whole night, so to speak, well probably.’ She lowered her head, and leaned toward the group. ‘The kids are with the nanny.’

‘Oh.’ Sophia's mouth stayed open.

Luke laughed, loudly. ‘Oh, Hettie, I'm sorry.’

‘Fuck. Me and my gob.’ Hettie groaned. ‘I'm not even bloody well drinking. And my tits are leaking. I’m going to need to express soon.’

Mark had filled his evening with regrettable misunderstandings. ‘You should rest. You do look tired,’ he said. ‘Julianna is hovering. She thinks you’ve passed your bedtime.’

Julianna's expression of boredom remained her chief definition.

‘She wants me to sit down,’ said Hettie. ‘Once I’m tucked upstairs she’s off duty and can hit the bar before it closes. Oh sorry, guys, I’m beat. Watch. See how long it takes him to notice my arse taking up residence on one of those comfortable chairs.’ She pointed to the corner of the room.

Her little audience watched with muted hilarity as she carefully nestled in the chosen chair. A few minutes later Jackson honed in on his wife. He bent down and whispered in her ear. Helping her up to her feet, he signalled to Julianna and she escorted Hettie to the lobby. As Hettie passed close to her amused admirers, she gave a small wave and a grin. She didn't seem that unhappy. Perhaps he had whispered something unexpected to her.

Luke agreed with Mark’s observation. ‘She’s got my big brother wrapped around her little finger. Nobody thinks it, but that’s the secret of their relationship.’

Julianna returned from the penthouse suite minus her radio device and headed straight for the bar. At the buffet table, she built a mountain of food on her plate. Mark continued to chat to Luke and Sophia. The initial frostiness he felt toward the couple had evaporated. He should stop firing his emotions from the hip and concentrate on using his brain before opening his mouth.

Julianna stabbed at the food with a fork. Nobody was talking to her. Mark caught her eye and gestured. She shook her head. He insisted with a stern stare of disapproval, then a smile of welcome. Reluctantly, she came over to join him.

‘Off duty?’ Mark asked.

‘Yes. She’s gone to bed. Had to prop her up in the lift.’ Julianna licked her lips. ‘Sorry, ravenous.’

‘Do you know Luke and Sophia?’

She didn’t and he introduced her to Jackson’s brother and partner.

‘So you work together?’ Sophia asked.

‘We’ve done some work together,’ Julianna said. ‘I've a background in criminal investigations.’ She turned to Mark. ‘Have the files on that case gone to the prosecution?’

‘Yep. The police will decide whether to charge the others involved.’

Luke raised an eyebrow. ‘You investigate fraud?’

‘This was a case of embezzlement. The company car fleet manager. Nothing original, he copied the scam after reading about it in the newspaper. Julianna did some covert surveillance and we caught him red-handed.’

‘Car pool manager? How does he commit fraud?’ Sophia asked.

‘With a little help from his friends.’ Julianna sipped on her wine before continuing. ‘We wanted to catch the guy in the act to prove it. So I parked close by the filling station and watched, waited. Another humdrum day in the life of me, rather like playing bodyguard.’

‘Complaining, Baptiste?’

Julianna cringed and edged sideways to allow Jackson to join the little circle.

‘No sir, wouldn’t dream of it. Talking about a surveillance job I did for Mark last month.’

Jackson shifted his attention from Julianna to Mark. ‘An internal case?’

‘The pool car manager.’

‘Ah yes. I saw the dismissal notice.’ Jackson nodded and tossed back a mouthful of spirits.

‘Please explain,’ said Sophia. ‘I don't understand what he did.’

‘It’s simple,’ Mark explained. ‘He fills the pool cars with fuel, ready for them to go out again. There are several fuelling stations near to the private garage where the cars are parked overnight. He takes a few a day. He has a company fuel card. He can only buy fuel or oil, nothing else. Now and again, he meets a mate in the forecourt. His mate fills his car with fuel and is given an excellent discount on the pump total. He hands over cash and our embezzler pays for his mate's fuel with the company card and pockets the cash. Turns out he had lots of mates.’

Julianna joined in. ‘Caught three on camera on separate days. Trouble was he was getting greedy. Mileage records and fuel consumption didn’t match up and the whole thing was exposed.’

‘Crafty,’ Sophia said.

‘Stupid,’ said Jackson. ‘Did he profess his innocence?’ he asked Mark.

‘God, yes. He went through quite a long list of explanations until we showed him the photos and then he caved in. Unfortunately, he won’t give the identities of his mates.’

‘He's afraid of them,’ said Julianna. ‘Not sure if “mates” is the correct definition. He's probably embroiled with some local villains and it got out of hand.’

Luke cleared his throat. ‘In any case, they could claim that they simply gave him the money to pay the cashier. They won't mention the fuel card. Plead ignorance. It's much harder to prosecute them.’

‘So you wouldn't prosecute them?’ Mark was disappointed. The real criminals never got caught.

Luke shook his head. ‘Waste of money.’

Mark lifted his glass. ‘The case was made by Julianna. So thank you, Mrs Baptiste, for your humdrum day in a car!’

‘Ms Baptiste,’ she said swiftly.

The curtness was marked, even Jackson's head turned. Mark understood bitterness, how it crept out of the shadows and