“You should care. You don’t deserve the shitstorm that’s coming. Listen. Don’t go back to the hotel. Go somewhere far away. Somewhere Cordwainer doesn’t know about and can’t trace you to.”
“If he wants to find me, he’ll find me. He’s got high-ranking police officers in his corner.”
“Okay. Look. This is what we’re going to do. I’m going to drive you to a caravan park my sister runs. It’s twenty miles down the coast, near Bridehaven. You can stay there while we try to work out something better. Or until Cordwainer is behind bars. Whichever works out quickest. You’ll have no need to leave the park—there’s a supermarket on site, and I’ll tell my sister to run you a tab there and charge it to me. Okay? It’s important, Michelle. You know how big this is, don’t you?”
Michelle simply stared, her breath coming in great gasps. “Is it really so bad?”
“Yes, it really is. Now I have these documents, I plan to run my story tomorrow or the day after. I will also contact the police. I have a lot of other information on Cordwainer, about bribery and corruption at the council, and about some of his other activities. But this is the hook I need, to really make it sink into the public awareness. The nature reserve, and his plans for it, are what will stop this wicked, evil man, Michelle. And he must be stopped. You know that, don’t you?”
She looked down at her hands twisting nervously in her lap.
“Yes,” she admitted. “That’s why I’m here.”
“Right. So we’ll go to the caravan park. You can buy clothes there too, albeit mainly sarongs and T-shirts with surfing logos. Needs must and all that. You can be stylish again when you’re safe.”
“This is kind of you,” Michelle said once the engine had revved and he was reversing out of the space.
“Kind? Eh, no. I need you—you’re my expert witness. Don’t worry. I won’t name you in the paper. But Cordwainer knows his maths. He’ll add two and two together. Is there anyone else he might suspect?”
Michelle considered. “Well, there are several people he’s working with. It could be any of them…but since they all stand to benefit from the casino plans, I suppose that wouldn’t make sense. Maybe Rocky. Rocky knows everything that’s going on.”
“Rocky. Yes. He does, doesn’t he?” Jeremy pondered this for a while, seeing a way to throw Cordwainer off the scent and please Laura into the bargain.
“Or Charles’s new piece. I wonder if she knows the score.”
“New piece? He has somebody else?”
“I’d be amazed if he hadn’t made his move by now. The new girl at the arcade—that’s who he’s had his eye on.”
“Flipp?”
“Whatever her name is. Blonde, young, punky-looking.”
“Rocky and Flipp. I’ve been meaning to pay them a visit,” murmured Jeremy, turning onto the coast road, high above the cobalt sea and sheep-dotted slopes, past the sign that said Goldsands Thanks You for Your Careful Driving. Come Again Soon.
The Blue Bay Holiday Park lay in a dip between cliff faces, its caravans and tents ranked around a natural lake that flowed in from the sea. Michelle looked around at her new habitat, noting the flat-roofed, dilapidated entertainment complex, the windswept open-air pool and the knots of squabbling families trudging up the hill in flip-flops. Shangri-La, she thought with a sigh. But it was safe, at least.
Jeremy parked by Reception and took Michelle inside, where a woman sat giggling over a text message behind the desk.
“Jez.” she proclaimed, looking up and beaming. “Long time no see, bro.”
“I know, I’m a bad brother. Listen, Lucy, I’m really sorry but I need a favour.”
“So do I. I need some free advertising in that rag you work for.”
“It shall be done. Can you put a friend of mine up for a little while? I’ll pay you, of course. Strictly hush-hush, no questions asked?”
“Bloody hell, Jeremy,” his sister grumbled. “You’re a cheeky bastard, aren’t you?”
“Cheeky, yeah, but I think we have the same parents, according to the birth certificates. Please, Lucy? It’s important. You’ll be doing your bit for the human race and all that.”
“Ugh, all right. Schools haven’t broken up yet so we aren’t booked up. I’ve got a few vans spare. Is this your friend, yeah?”
She looked sharply at Michelle, rummaging in a drawer beneath the desk for a set of keys.
“Yep, this is…Charlene.”
“Hi, Charlene. 23D. It’s a nice van. Two bedrooms, shower, awning, microwave. Enjoy your stay.”