Faye looked at him, confused. If this was the guy following Jake, he wasn’t at all what she had imagined when Marcus had mentioned his father hiring some protection.
‘Do you want to come in?’ She presumed he had been about to ring the doorbell. Faye stepped aside and glanced at Marcus.
He shrugged his shoulders as if to say it was out of his hands, and with a sigh, sat back down.
The man hovered in the doorway. He appeared unsure whether to enter or not.
‘Well?’ she said impatiently.
The sound of her voice seemed to snap him out of his indecision; he took three quick steps inside.
Faye closed the door behind him and looked him up and down. He was tall, slim, and immaculately turned out – from his polished black leather shoes to the crisply folded kerchief in the left breast pocket of his black suit. Gold cufflinks peeped out from the starched white shirt beneath his suit. And he was older than she’d expected; she guessed he was in his sixties, around her father’s age.
He clutched a brown leather briefcase to his chest, and when she spoke, he quickly side-stepped away from her like a frightened hen. Faye had to do her best to keep a straight face. She’d definitely had some preconceptions over whom the Rosses might have employed to follow Jake around. How exactly would this older man protect Jake? Her eyes roved to his briefcase. She wondered what was inside.
He looked more like a door-to-door bible salesman.You’re in the wrong job, mate, she felt like saying. Instead, Faye pointed at his precious briefcase and blurted, ‘Have you got bibles in there?’ Of course, she wasn’t being serious. She didn’t expect him to take her question literally.
He took a step back and hesitated. ‘No – not at all. Just some papers. Here …’ he stuttered, ‘Ta-ta-take a look.’ He hastily started to unclip the briefcase, as though she was being serious. He seemed to be having trouble with the clips – his hands were shaking badly.
Faye stared at this so-calledbodyguardwho didn’t look as though he could protect himself, let alone someone else. Faye turned to Marcus and said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me! Are you serious?’
Marcus smiled and replied, ‘You have no idea.’ He looked past her, and she turned to see something small and black, somethingthat looked like a toy gun, in the old man’s hand.
‘Deadly serious,’ the old man answered. No stutter.
Faye froze. The briefcase in his hand was open and empty.
‘You did ask what was in my briefcase. The answer is protection.’
Faye swallowed. ‘Is that real?’ Apart from visits to museums exhibiting old military items, like guns and rifles, she’d never seen what she assumed was a handgun in real life. Was it even legal?
‘Would I carry it around if it wasn’t?’
Faye pursed her lips and gave Marcus a sideways glance. The look on his face said,I told you not to interfere.
The old man stowed the gun away in his briefcase, closing the lid and flicking the catches in one deft movement. He walked towards Faye, who jumped out of his way, and hung his trilby on a hook by Jake’s front door. ‘Now,’ he said, placing the briefcase on the floor, by the chair that Faye had vacated. ‘I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.’ He held out his hand. ‘I’m Aubrey Jones.’
Faye reluctantly moved forward to take the proffered hand. She reluctantly told him her name, although she imagined he knew it already. He probably knew everything about her. ‘I’m Ms Ames.’
‘No hard feelings?’ Aubrey said, clasping her hand before taking a seat.
She wasn’t so sure – she still hadn’t recovered from the shock of seeing the gun. Aubrey hadn’t pointed it at her – thank god. He hadn’t even been holding the handle. He’d just picked it out of his briefcase. But he was clearly making a point – don’t make quick judgements, anddon’tunderestimate me.
He had obviously intended to teach her a lesson; appearances can be deceptive. He had known exactly what he was doing from the moment Faye had opened the front door. He had seen her atthe window, looking his way. He had anticipated her next move by making his own move first and surprising and confusing her at the front door. It didn’t make her feel any better to discover it wasn’t some bumbling fool following Jake around; strangely, it made her feel uneasy. She didn’t trust the man at all.
‘You’re a very good actor, Mr Jones.’
‘Acutely observed.’
Yeah, but a little late, thought Faye. Her eyes roved to his briefcase. She nodded.
‘I used to act,’ Aubrey said. ‘A long time ago – on the stage.’ He was smiling.
Faye believed it. She stared at the man, who had acted so convincingly that she had mistaken him for something as innocent as a door-to-door bible salesman.
Aubrey pointed at Marcus. ‘Be a gentleman.’ He motioned at Faye to come and join him.
Marcus got out of his seat.
