Like she was going to waltz out of the store wearing the clothes and not paying.
A few minutes later she was dressed in her new clothes and clutching her designer paper bag full of the old ones. She figured she had more than enough time to get out of the store before Jack returned. He was probably still looking for the lingerie department. As Davina paid her bill she caught sight of his unruly hair almost a head above the rest of the shopping crowd. She ducked and grabbed an orange wool hat from the display beside her.
“I’ll take this too,” she said.
She pulled on the hat, tucked the rest of her hair in the back of her new green coat and took her receipt from the saleswoman. With her head down, and holding her breath, she marched to the exit nearest the underground station. A little later she was in Victoria Station boarding the fast train to Brighton. She bought herself a coffee and a pain au chocolat. With a smile she boarded her train and relaxed into the seat. By her estimation she should beat Jack home by at least an hour, maybe more if he hit rush hour traffic. It almost made up for the fact she was wandering around without a bra. Almost.
All the changing rooms looked the same and it took Jack a full half hour to realise he couldn’t find Davina because Davina was gone.
“Do you want to purchase that, sir?” an older woman asked.
He looked down at the torn red bra and three other bras he’d been told to take to her for her to try.
“No. I don’t.”
He gave them to the sales assistant, who looked bewildered. Pure fury propelled him through London’s city centre and back to his car. He’d been played. She’d taken him as far as she could from the house then dumped him the first chance she got. She wanted him gone. And he’d fallen for it, distracted by her shrink wrap dress and her Marilyn Monroe pout. Not anymore. He wasn’t thinking with Mr Big now, he was using his brain. And the sooner he got back to Millie’s old house, the better. Whatever she was up to, he planned to catch her in the act.
The house was dark when he arrived at the end of the driveway. In the shadows he could see people chatting at the gate. Three kids and two scooters. Jack smiled mirthlessly. He’d been right. She’d been up to something.
He pulled up beside them, got out of the car and wandered over. Two of the boys shared a moped. They climbed onto it, waved to the other and took off.
“Hey,” he said to the remaining teen boy. “You been up at Davy’s house?”
“Yeah.” He seemed suspicious. He reached for his helmet and Jack saw a container full of brownies balanced on the scooter seat.
“She makes a helluva brownie, doesn’t she?”
The boy’s eyes lit up.
“Wicked,” he said.
“Can I have one of yours?” Jack said. “I ran out and Davy isn’t making any more until tomorrow.”
The boy took a step back.
“I don’t think so,” he said.
“I’ll pay you. Now that I’ve seen them, I really want one.”
“Fine,” said the boy. “Ten pounds.”
Jack baulked.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Hey, it’s fine with me if you don’t want to pay. I’ll keep them for myself. Guess you didn’t like them that much.”
Grumbling, Jack reached into his jeans for his wallet.
“This is daylight robbery,” he said.
The kid pointed to the sky.
“No it isn’t.”
“Give me the brownie, kid.”
The teen made a big deal over picking the right one for him. Jack clenched his teeth.