The offer was made with one proviso. When David and Maura Laing called him into the office, they explained that they trusted him implicitly, of course they did, but they did require his assurance that he would never at any time let the assistant manager’s set of keys out of his sight, either on or off the premises. It had been an awkward moment, but under the circumstances it needed to be said and they hoped he understood.
Shay did, and he gave them his word that the keys would never be left unattended.
For the next ten days he made himself indispensable, taking over Dominic’s duties and making sure the Wickham Hotel ran as smoothly as it ever had.
Until the night an intruder entered the hotel and emptied the safe in the office, getting away with wads of banknotes, several passports, and jewellery and watches worth almost fifty thousand pounds.
This was before CCTV had been installed. The police dusted for fingerprints and eliminated the staff one by one, concluding that the burglar, unsurprisingly, had been wearing gloves. The hotel was in uproar, a hotbed of whispering and accusations. Antonia, the pursed-lipped housekeeper, was the first to come out with it. ‘So is it up to me to say what everyone else is thinking? Just after Shay Mason gets his hands on the keys, this happens. I mean, it’s not rocket science.’
When Didi heard what was being said, she hit the roof, but rumours were rumours and there was nothing she could do to stop them spreading. To make matters worse, her mother had lost a significant item of jewellery in the burglary; David had bought her the fabulous emerald necklace the previous Christmas. Maura had been overcome with emotion when she’d opened it on Christmas morning; it was a stunning piece and by far the most extravagant gift he’d ever given her.
Now it was gone, and she was devastated. All they could do was hope and pray that at some stage the stolen items would be tracked down and returned. The fact that the necklace was insured was of no consolation to Maura; as far as sentimental value was concerned, nothing else could begin to compete with the original item chosen for her by her husband.
Whilst sympathetic to her mother’s loss, Didi had more important things to worry about. Her father was now paying extremely close attention to Shay, and not in a reassuring way. Much as he liked Shay as a person, he evidently still found the coincidence and the timing suspicious. As did the police. Shay was spoken to on several occasions, along with his father. Red Mason flatly denied any involvement in the burglary. His house was searched and friends who were known criminals were questioned too. Nothing was found, but Didi began to experience a creeping unease, because other people’s suspicions weren’t going away. And deep down, scarcely able to admit it even to herself, she found herself beginning to suspect that Shay wasn’t being entirely truthful either.
She wasn’t imagining it, that was the thing. She knew him so well by this time, it was agonisingly apparent that he was hiding something. And whilst at first she wouldn’t have dreamed of suspecting him of any involvement, the longer he refused to admit that he was concealing some small detail from her, the more she found herself worrying about what it might be.
Not that she thought for one second that he could have had any deliberate involvement, but there had to be something to explain his behaviour. Her number one suspicion was that despite his vehement denials, he’d taken the hotel keys home with him and accidentally left them out somewhere, long enough for copies to be made or for the originals to be used on the night of the burglary.
If this was what had happened and he would just come out and admit it, she wouldn’t tell anyone else and she wouldn’t blame him either, because obviously it wasn’t something he would ever have done on purpose. But his outright denial, coupled with the fact that she was categorically aware he was holding back something significant, made the sense of frustration almost unbearable. He knew who was behind the burglary, she was certain, but no way was he going to tell the police or even admit his suspicions. It was like honour among thieves, despite the fact that he wasn’t a thief.
The crack in the relationship deepened.
Didi’s father explained to Shay that he was sorry, but under the circumstances he’d be hiring a replacement assistant manager until Dominic was able to return to work.
That night, the police arrived at Hillcrest and arrested Red in connection with a smuggled shipment of whisky. Still on parole following his most recent stint inside for illegal handling of a Lamborghini, he was returned to prison to serve out the remainder of his sentence.
About to finish her shift at the hotel that evening, Didi overheard Antonia saying to her mother, ‘Don’t fret about the boy, he’ll find another job soon enough. And at least we know the culprit is out of the way now, back where he can’t do any more damage. Until the next time, that is.’
‘Maybe it wasn’t him. Red’s saying he had nothing to do with it.’ Maura still sounded concerned.
‘Well he would say that, wouldn’t he? That man’s spent his life lying to the police. And I’ll tell you who isn’t going to be happy about him being back inside.’ Antonia’s tone was both conspiratorial and disapproving. ‘I heard he’s been having a bit of a thing with Lena Barker for the last couple of weeks whilst her husband’s up in Dundee looking after his sick mother. Honestly, Red Mason has the morals of a—’
‘Mum? I’m off now.’ Didi had heard enough; she didn’t like the fact that Antonia, who was prim and endlessly judgemental, could never resist making digs at other people.
‘Oh hi, darling, yes, see you later. Will you be home tonight?’
‘Shouldn’t think so. I’ll probably stay over at Shay’s.’ She caught Antonia’s headmistressy arched brows and loud sniff of disapproval.
‘OK. Be here by seven tomorrow.’ Maura gave her hand a squeeze. ‘Busy day.’
‘I won’t be late. I never am.’
As she was leaving, she heard Antonia murmur, ‘Is that sensible, Maura, letting her spend the night in the house of a known criminal?’
Oh do give it a rest, you witch.
When she reached Hillcrest, she found Shay working in the garden and relayed Antonia’s words to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist. ‘Are you OK? Sorry about your dad.’
‘Hey. I’m used to it.’ He held her tight and she closed her eyes, wishing everything could go back to how it had been a week ago. She breathed in the scent of his sun-warmed skin and ran her hands over his back.
‘I love you,’ she said.
‘Love you too.’ But when she opened her eyes, Didi saw from the reflection in the living room window that he was gazing into the distance in that distracted way she’d seen far too often over the past few days.
She took a step back, forcing him to look at her. ‘What are you thinking?’
‘Nothing.’ He shook his head.
She hated that he was lying to her. ‘Something’s bothering you. If you love me, you’ll tell me what it is.’
He wasn’t budging. ‘There isn’t anything.’
‘But that’s not true,’ said Didi. ‘You shouldn’t be keeping secrets from me . . . not any kind of secret. You know something and you don’t trust me enough to tell me.’ Her breath quickened as frustration escalated. ‘You don’t trust me.’