Drowned Lives by Stephen Booth

Author:Stephen Booth
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780751576276
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2019-08-14T16:00:00+00:00

29

Finally, as the last job of the day, I had to ring Dan Hyde back. We exchanged guarded greetings. Our friendship didn’t look likely to survive a crisis facing our business venture, like a marriage falling apart on the death of a child. It was almost too easy to blame each other.

Dan sighed. ‘The thing is – there’s not much left to pay Poole House’s invoice with. The ad revenue won’t cover it.’

‘I know that. But that’s what the start-up loan is for – the twenty thousand from the bank. Pay them out of that.’

‘Well …’

‘We have enough left in the account, surely?’

‘Well … no, actually.’

I shivered, appalled at the significance of this latest blow. ‘There must be.’

‘There have been a lot of expenses, Chris. We had the lease to pay, and equipment to buy, not to mention the marketing consultants and the employment agency. There were legal fees. And the phone bills have been astronomical.’

‘Are you telling me there’s nothing left?’

‘A few hundred, that’s all.’

‘But, hang on, what about the investment from our anonymous backer?’

He mumbled something I couldn’t make out, as if he’d moved his mouth away from the phone.

‘I can’t hear what you’re saying, Dan. What about our backer?’

‘He pulled out.’

‘What?’

‘Our backer has pulled out, Chris.’

‘How can he do that, for God’s sake? Surely you had him tied down to some agreement? Didn’t you have it in writing?’

‘Not exactly.’

‘You mean someone can just pull the plug on us at the drop of a hat?’

‘I suppose he must have seen the way things were going.’

‘More than you did, then,’ I said angrily.

‘Come on, Chris. I know it’s a mess—’

‘A mess? If only we could have kept going a few more months. You always said that, didn’t you? Six months, and we’d be in the black. Didn’t you mention that?’

‘Of course I did. But once they think you’re a bad investment, these guys drop you as quick as hot coals. You know what it’s like, Chris.’

‘No. It’s perfectly obvious to me now that I’ve never known what it’s like. And I don’t think you ever did either, Dan.’

‘Chris, I’ve done my best. I’m sorry it hasn’t been a success. I was trying to help, you know?’

‘Help?’

‘I was worried about you, mate. You needed something to bring you out of your slump – everyone could see that. I thought this would be a great project to look forward to, something we could both get excited about. I’m really sorry. I was sure we had things worked out.’

‘You may have had things worked out.’

I could hear him breathing slowly down the line while he thought about that. ‘What exactly do you mean?’

‘How do I know you haven’t been lying to me all along? I reckon you could have been having me for a complete fool. Well, you can sort the mess out yourself, mate.’

His voice no longer sounded apologetic when he said: ‘Hold on, we’re partners in this. Fifty-fifty all the way. And that is in writing.’

‘Bastard.’

‘There’s no point in being like that.

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