Running Towards Danger by Tina Clough

Author:Tina Clough [Clough, Tina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

A week later Moira rang and asked if I would do a one-off job for a friend of hers who lived out in the country. She was giving a big party for her husband’s fiftieth birthday and needed some extra help.

A change from my usual house cleaning and gardening seemed like a good idea. “That sounds OK. Are you going to be there?”

“No, I had to say no -I am going to a concert with a bunch of friends and we’ve bought the tickets. You can borrow my car, because they live miles out of town. I’ll get a ride to the theatre.”

She gave me the phone number. “Call her soon - she needs to know if you can do it or if she has to find someone else really fast. Don’t hesitate to say no, if you don’t feel like it. I only said I would ask if you were free.”

So I rang up and asked for Jean, who sounded brisk and cheerful. “It’s going to be a marquee event - seated dinner, manned bar, tables cleared between courses. Nothing fancy but reasonably formal. We’re expecting about a hundred and twenty people and my usual helper has gone off to be with her daughter who’s had a premature baby. I’d like to meet you for a chat, where do you live?”

“Why don’t we have a coffee in town and you can tell me exactly what it is you want me to do?”

I knew she wanted to have a look at me before she gave me the job and I was fine with that, but I was not going to invite her to the shed. A meeting on neutral ground seemed like a better idea in case either of us decided not to go ahead. We agreed on a time and place in Napier two days later and that was that.

The day before our meeting I was biking towards Napier to do the cleaning at Helen’s place, when a grey Mercedes with tinted windows passed me. It was where the bike path runs right alongside the highway and seeing that car so close startled me. For the first time in my life I realised what ‘a heart-stopping moment’ means. My heart literally missed a beat as the car continued on ahead of me and disappeared from view. There was no sign of it as I rode through town and up the hill to Helen’s. I did half a day’s work, ate my lunchtime sandwiches in the tranquillity of the Waterfall Garden and set out for Clive.

As I passed the information centre I saw the Mercedes again. It had just parked in the angled parking area and the driver’s door was open. A rather busty blonde got out of the driver’s door and looked around as if deciding which way to go. I heaved a sigh of relief and continued on my way - obviously just another silver Mercedes with tinted windows.

Jean turned out to be a little sliver of a woman.

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