‘I am… but everything makes sense now.’ Her grandfather’s money problems, the radiator that leaked no matter how many times Darren came to ‘fix’ it, Fluffy who kept coming in and his paw prints leading to the back door… Darren must have drugged her granddad and snooped through their personal papers for his bank details, for her cleaning logbook, as well as the code for the alarm to Tabitha Sweeney’s house which she had foolishly written down. He must also have kept a key when he fitted a new lock to sneak in and out of Bluebell Cottage when they weren’t there.
She gasped. What about Barbara? Darren had fitted a new lock to her back door too. He must have slipped back into her house too, taken her ring and stolen her money.
And what about the stuff that had gone missing from the holiday lets? Did Darren steal them after making copies of the keys to the holiday cottages?
She glanced around the room. ‘Where is Stefan?’ That was probably what he had wanted to talk to her about before she stormed off to the toilets.
‘He went to the campsite to talk to Darren,’ Rachel replied.
Cassie got up and grabbed her handbag. ‘Then I’ll go too.’
Tim scrambled to his feet. ‘I’m coming with you. It could be dangerous.’
Cassie’s grandfather shook his head. ‘Sit down, Tim, and finish your pint. Lambert won’t let anything happen to Cassie. He cares far too much about her.’
‘No he doesn’t!’ Cassie retorted.
Rachel chuckled. ‘Don’t be daft. It’s obvious he does, from the way he looks at you, and the way he talks about you.’
Both her grandfather and Tim gave her a knowing smile, and Cassie’s chest tightened. If only they knew… Whatever Stefan might have once felt for her was gone, replaced with scorn and anger.
She slipped her coat on and grabbed hold of her handbag. ‘I wish you were right. I’ll be in touch as soon as there is news.’
As she drove to the campsite, fingers clamped on the steering wheel, she recalled her last meeting with Darren. He had been writing his CV, and said he was thinking of leaving Red Moss. Perhaps he was already on his way to a new place where he could con people and play havoc with their health by mixing up their medication.
To think that she had defended him when Stefan accused him of fiddling with her tyres! Now she was sure he wasn’t stalking her or interested in her personally. He certainly wasn’t in love with her. He only wanted information about her clients. And when he drove to Belthorn to bring the bottle of wine he claimed she’d forgotten, insisted he wanted to help, and asked for a tour of the manor house, he probably only wanted to locate items worth stealing…
There were only a few cars at the campsite, but Darren’s white Fiesta wasn’t among them. She parked next to Stefan’s four-wheel drive and dashed into the manager’s office, which was lit up.
Stefan and Patrick were riffling through a stash of papers on the desk and both turned round as she came in. Stefan put the papers down and arched his eyebrows. ‘Cassie? What are you doing here?’
He looked so different now he had shaved his beard and with his brown hair shorter that she felt shy and awkward. ‘My granddad told me about Darren. Where is he? Have you spoken to him yet?’
Patrick’s shoulders sagged and he shook his head. ‘He’s done a runner. I left him in charge today and when I returned, the office was a complete mess. He took all the cash he could find, here and in the clubhouse. He even took the office laptop and printer. Stefan told me what he’s done, not only in Red Moss but in other places too. I can’t believe I never suspected anything.’
‘I didn’t either,’ Cassie said, ‘and he was at my house several times a week, pretending to help my granddad with DIY. So what happens now?’
Patrick sighed. ‘I phoned the police. They’re looking for him.’
Stefan put his hand on Patrick’s shoulder. ‘They’ll catch up with him. In the meantime, I’ll help you sort things out in here.’
‘I’ll help too,’ Cassie decided, taking her coat off and draping it on the back of a chair.
Patrick smiled weakly. ‘That’s kind of you. Thanks. While you two sort things out here, I’ll make a start on the clubhouse.’
He closed the door behind him, and they were alone in the office.
Cassie picked up a stash of pens and pencils from the floor and stuck them into a drawer at random whilst Stefan arranged papers in neat piles on the desk. Neither of them seemed eager to talk, and for a minute or two the silence fizzed with tension and awkwardness.
Stefan cleared his throat. ‘Big Jim said the police questioned you about the burglaries. At least now they’ll know you had nothing to do with them.’
She looked at him. ‘That’s thanks to you. What made you suspect Darren?’
‘The fact it took me ten minutes to fix the radiator in the room where you keep all your papers; that your neighbour’s cat kept sneaking into your house even though you were adamant you hadn’t let him in; and the fact most of your clients were getting burgled.’
‘The cat!’ she exclaimed suddenly. ‘Of course, Darren has been sporting nasty scratches on his hand for the past few days – the same as Doris. Perhaps Fluffy scratched him one day when he sneaked into Bluebell Cottage with him.’
She hesitated. ‘Actually, there’s something else I need to thank you for. I’m sorry I didn’t help you tidy up the clubhouse last Sunday. I did come but you had already left by the time I arrived.’
His eyes turned cold. ‘I suppose you were too busy finalising your job description with Hardman.’
Her breath caught in her throat. ‘Is that what you believe? That I was with Nathan and couldn’t be bothered to come here?’
He arched his eyebrows. ‘Isn’t that what happened?’
‘You really have a poor opinion of me, don’t you?’ Hurt made her voice tremble and clenched a cruel fist around her heart.
She swallowed hard and tilted her face. ‘If you must know, I stayed at Salomé’s with Cecilia. We cursed men, drank too much wine and ate cake all night… well, until I collapsed. I couldn’t get up in the morning, and by the time I made it here, it was too late and you had already packed everything up.’
He closed his eyes, let out a deep, long breath.
‘And for the record,’ she carried on, ‘I won’t be accepting Nathan’s job offer. If I’m ever to become a designer, I will do it on my own terms and not with someone who stole my ideas and blackmailed me into keeping quiet, and who insulted me by saying nobody would ever look at designs made by a lowly cleaner. Besides, it annoys me the way he thinks he’s irresistible and I’m stupid, and he can get me to agree to anything he wants… I may have had a crush on him years ago, but it’s over now.’
‘Are you saying that you won’t be leaving Red Moss to be with him, to work for him?’
‘That’s exactly what I’m saying.’ She tilted her head up defiantly. ‘I suppose you weren’t expecting that, were you? After all, you thought I would do anything for money.’
He shook his head. ‘No, I never believed that of you, and I regretted my stupid, nasty words the second I spoke them. It’s just that… Hardy got to me, played on all my insecurities – not that it makes it right, of course. And when I saw you with Hardman…’