Diamonds Forever (28 page)

With the sound of the cars leaving and sirens fading into the distance, Jenna and the photographer made their way out of the Hall unseen by the firefighters who had just arrived in the wake of the police.

She wished them a silent
Good luck
but saving the Hall was far from high on her list of priorities right now.

‘The police got here quickly,' she remarked.

‘I called them as soon as I saw Harville and his friends breaking in.'

‘Thanks. Great work … sorry, I don't know your name.'

‘It's Greg.'

‘Right, great work, Greg. Well, you might as well come with me.'

She opened the car door.

‘Where are we going?' Greg looked more than a little bemused.

Jenna stood still for a moment, hopping from one foot to the other on the pavement beside the car.

‘You know, I'm not sure. I think I'm going to call somebody.'

She opted for Parker, her heart contracting with dread at the sound of the dial tone. She almost ended the call before it was picked up, thinking that she couldn't hear bad news here, on the pavement outside her burning house with no other company than an opportunistic paparazzo, but on the other hand, she had to know where she was heading.

Parker's phone went straight to voicemail.

Jenna climbed into the car and sat for a silent moment of anguish with her head bowed and her hands over her face.

‘Do you … can I … help?' said Greg.

‘No. I don't know. No,' said Jenna into her hands before removing them and looking at him with stricken eyes. ‘Before I came here,' she said, slowly and with consideration, ‘I was at another burning building.'

‘Oh my God!'

‘I had good reason to believe that Deano – my ex, you know – was in there. But I left when I saw Harville and thought he might get away with it …'

‘He set that one on fire too?' Greg was incredulous.

‘Almost certainly. So I followed him, because I couldn't bear the thought of him getting away, but now I have to go back … and Harville said … implied … No, he was pretty clear about it … that Jason and Kayley were in there too. And I ought to go back but, oh God, I'm so scared …'

She broke off, her breathing too hectic to continue.

Greg simply stared, shaking his head.

‘That's …' But he couldn't finish.

Her phone rang sharply and suddenly. Jenna, who still had it in her hand, dropped it, and had to fish it out from under the brake pedal.

Parker's name was flashing on the screen.

Jenna took the mother of all deep breaths, put the phone to her ear and pressed the button.

‘Parker, where are you?'

‘Where are
you
?' cried Parker. ‘Where did you go?'

‘It doesn't matter – I called you just now but you didn't pick up …'

‘No, I'm at the hospital. They don't let you use your phone. I came outside to get some air and saw you'd called, thank God.'

‘You're at the hospital? Is everyone OK?'

The pocket of silence between the question and the answer was momentary, minuscule, but it was the longest microsecond of Jenna's life.

‘Oh, they're going to be fine. Smoke inhalation. They're being treated. But the fire was mostly in the front part of the house and it would have taken a little while to get down those stairs. If they'd been in there much longer the fumes would've killed them though, the nurse told me.'

‘You say “them” – Deano wasn't alone down there?'

Parker sounded quite chirpy, as if the fear had turned to exhilaration.

‘Oh my God, no, the weirdest thing. Your Jason was with him, and your PA, that girl, I forget her name …'

‘Kayley. They were with Deano?'

‘Yeah, in some basement or cellar or whatever.'

‘So Harville meant to kill them? He meant for them to burn?'

‘I guess. He didn't show up to explain it all though.'

‘I've seen him since. The police have got him.'

‘Oh well,
that's
a relief. You know, I'm against capital punishment, but that's one guy I wouldn't mind seeing on Death Row.'

‘So you're all at the hospital? Bledburn A&E?'

‘We're in the emergency room. Well, I'm outside it now, but you get what I mean.' She laughed, the kind of high-pitched laugh Jenna recognised as being a step away from hysteria.

‘It's going to be all right, Parker,' said Jenna. ‘Everything is finally going to be all right.'

She ended the call and turned to Greg.

‘I need a few moments to get rid of this wobble in my hands,' she said. ‘Do you think you could drive us to the hospital? Fuck the insurance. I'm good for it.'

THE WINDOWS WERE
blank and boarded and every room was blackened and stinking – except the attic rooms, which had escaped the ravages of the fire and remained intact.

It was to these attic rooms that Jenna, in silver satin evening wear, led a group of journalists and art critics, three weeks after the blaze. They stepped inside the door and marvelled at the stunning murals covering the space from floor to ceiling, still as vibrant as ever, having miraculously escaped any trace of smoke damage.

‘So you see,' said Jenna. ‘Jason's portfolio might have been destroyed by the fire – but this lives on. And so does his talent. I am confident that he will build up another body of work, better than the first, and you will all be invited to the private view when it's ready to show.'

The critics and experts busied themselves photographing the walls while Jenna stood back in the doorway, watching them and smiling.

‘If you don't mind, I'd better go back to the party,' she said. ‘Do be careful on the way down. I shouldn't really have let you up here, but the back stairs are still perfectly safe. As long as you don't mind losing the banister halfway down.'

She took her own advice, walking slowly down the back stairs in her unsuitable silver heels. At the foot of the stairs, she was greeted by Linda, who raised a bottle of … oh, it looked like pink lemonade … and said, ‘Cheers, kid. Don't worry. It's lemonade.'

Jenna admired Linda's new hairstyle and the new dress they'd shopped for together at John Lewis. She looked years younger after her beauty counter makeover, and her eyes were clear and focused. If Jenna hadn't recognised the familiar voice, she might have wondered if this was even the same woman.

‘Lemonade?' said Jenna, smiling.

‘Yeah. So I'm not going to get plastered and make a show of our Jase. Those days are over.'

‘Are you saying you're on the wagon?'

‘Three weeks and counting,' said Linda proudly. ‘Ever since I saw our Jase in that hospital bed. It made me think, you see. I missed so much of his life through being out of it …' Her lip wobbled and she looked away to hide the mist of tears, but Jenna had seen it and she put a hand on Linda's. ‘The booze … it stole his mum away from him. I'll never be able to give him his childhood back, but I can be here for him now, and watch him make a go of his life.'

Now it was Jenna's turn to be misty-eyed.

‘Oh, Linda, that's so …' She swallowed. ‘Lovely. Really lovely. And you know, he
will
appreciate it. No matter what's happened in the past, he loves you, and I know you love him.'

The two women embraced, choking back their emotions.

‘Watch the dress,' said Linda with a self-conscious laugh, stepping back. ‘This cost about ten times more than owt I've ever had before.'

A woman in a pair of headphones carrying a clipboard waved at Jenna from the front door.

‘Are you ready for the speech yet?' she called. ‘Everything's set up out there.'

Jenna nodded briefly and followed the woman out into glorious late September sunshine, beneath which a good-natured crowd milled, looking at stalls and gravitating slowly towards a stage area festooned with bunting and piled with recording equipment.

A group of little majorettes were twirling batons to booming music beneath a banner reading: SEVENTY-EIGHTH BLEDBURN MINERS' GALA.

Jenna's eyes alighted naturally on Jason – she could pick him out from a crowd of millions – who stood watching near the front, pint in hand, exchanging the odd word with Parker at his side.

He certainly didn't look like a man who'd been recently treated in hospital for the effects of severe smoke inhalation. He didn't even look like the half-feral creature she'd found asleep in the attic a few months ago.

He looked tall, straight, clean, relaxed, confident and utterly, mesmerisingly desirable. Whilst she had, with hindsight, possibly overdressed for a fun community event, Jason had got the balance right. In smart jeans and a well-cut leather jacket over an open-necked white shirt, he looked ready to both party and make historic speeches.

Jenna cut through the crowd, smiling and nodding as people tried to make contact, on her way towards him, touching him on the shoulder when she was beside him.

‘Yeah? Oh, it's you, babe. Where were you?'

‘Showing off your genius to the leading lights of the art world,' she replied, linking her arm with his. ‘They want us to do the speech next.'

‘What do you mean, “us”?' he said, giving her a vivid, dark look. ‘I thought you were doing it.'

‘I was asked to do it,' she corrected him. ‘But I want you to speak too. It's your house, morally speaking. Harville never really had the right to sell it to me.'

‘Yeah, but … I don't do speeches! I've never done one before.'

‘You'll be perfect. Honestly, you're the man for the job. And I want Deano and Kayley up there with us too. Where are they? Have you seen them?'

Jason shrugged, shaking his head.

‘Not since the end of the talent contest.'

‘That was an hour ago. Where is he?'

‘Where is she?' said Jason.

They stared at each other.

‘Do you think they're …?'

‘You're such a dick,' said Kayley with a laugh, putting down her Bacardi Breezer on one of the collapsible tables. ‘Insisting on a VIP marquee, for God's sake. I thought you were supposed to be a man of the people.'

‘I am,' said Deano with mock affront. ‘I'm a Bledburn lad through and through. I just thought I might need a bit of privacy.'

His voice dropped to an intimate level on the final word, and Kayley gave him a hard look that didn't quite disguise her burgeoning blush.

‘Oh yeah?' she said softly. ‘What for?'

‘What do you think?' he replied in the same caressing tone. ‘To get you alone.'

Kayley's eyes met his. Yes, the look he gave her was cocky at first glance. It seemed to say ‘I know you want me'. But when she looked deeper, she saw something else behind it. Something that said, ‘I hope you want me'.

‘Why … would you want to do that?' she said, her tone still light and teasing, but her mouth suddenly dry.
What if he doesn't give me the answer I want? What if he doesn't mean it? What if he thinks I'm just some slut who's up for it with anyone? After seeing those photos …

The thought ruined the moment for her.

‘Get me alone?' she said, hearing how harsh her voice sounded, and cringing. ‘I suppose those photos of Harville's gave you ideas about me.'

His face fell. He looked utterly crestfallen.

‘God, Kayley, no. No, it's nothing to do with … don't be like that. Look at me. Come here.'

He held out his hands. She hesitated for a moment, then moved towards him.
You can't help yourself
, she scolded herself, but it was true. She couldn't.

He made a swift move, enclosing her hands in his. She was powerless to resist.

‘We've both got pasts,' he said softly. ‘Mine doesn't exactly cover me in glory either, believe me. But because I am who I am, I've been allowed to get away with it. But nobody forced me or tricked me into any of the bad things I did. I blame me for everything I've done, but I blame Harville for what you did. If I judged you for those photographs, I'd be the worst kind of hypocrite.'

Kayley took a breath then smiled crookedly.

‘So, what you're saying is, I'm a bad penny but you're a worse one? That's romantic.'

He shook his head, half-grinning, and looked down before facing her directly again.

‘No, Kayley. What I'm saying is, I don't think I deserve you. But if you want me …'

She hesitated, trying to take in what he was saying.

‘Do you mean … a shag? No strings? Or …'

‘Kayley, Kayley, do you really think that's what I mean?'

‘I don't know. I mean … you're
Deano Diamond
.'

‘Yeah, and sometimes I wish I wasn't. Sometimes, like when I'm with you, I just want to be any old guy. No, not just any old guy.
Your
guy.'

‘You're serious?'

‘I'm serious about you. It's so long since I really felt something and you've woken me up to myself. I've been fawned over and told I'm amazing for nearly twenty years. You're the first person – OK, apart from Jenna – who's been straight with me since I was a kid. I don't care about snorting coke off models' tits any more. I want you, that's all. Just you.'

Kayley laughed, a sudden, shocked kind of laugh.

‘I … don't know what to say.'

‘Say yes. And tell me you want this. Because I'll understand if you don't. I mean, I'll be gutted, but I'll understand. You've seen what this life is like – the madness and the spotlight on you twenty-four seven – with Jenna. If you want to walk away and live a normal life … yeah.' He swallowed. ‘Shit.'

Kayley laughed again, but there were tears in her eyes this time.

‘Normal?' she said. ‘What's normal?'