At this moment, your secretary is holding a letter for your immediate attention. It will probably alter the trend of your life. Destiny, one might say. Why don’t you call her in so that she can give it to you?’
I sat back in my chair, scanning his face, wondering where he had secured the information, then I pressed the intercom and called her. ‘Penny… I understand you have a letter for me.
‘Yes, Mr. Scott,’ she replied. ‘It arrived only a short while ago marked ‘Urgent’ but I didn’t want to interrupt your meeting.’
‘Please bring it in right away!’
There was a long silence as we waited for her to enter. ‘By the way,’ I ventured, stopping her in her tracks as she came in without having the decency to question her in private before making the accusation. ‘I think you have some explaining to do!’ I pushed the photographs across the desk for her to examine, never taking my eyes off her face.
As she glanced at the first print, her face turned a pale ashy colour and she almost fainted, her body sagging slightly against the desk on which she leaned for support. I tore open the envelope with a leaden feeling in my bones and removed a single sheet of paper. Primar was not a man who toyed with false threats or irresponsible bluffs. Everything was real and down-to-earth with him taking the advantage. The contents of the letter were bound to have a profound effect on my life and I knew it even before I read it. It was a letter written to me by my wife. I recognised the handwriting immediately.
Dear Jason,
I know this will come as a shock and I am sorry for the inconvenience but by the time you receive this letter I’ll be many miles away. Since our wedding I became more disappointed in you as the months went by. You seem to think that life is a constant round of changing jobs, moving house, ending commitments and then starting all over again.
It’s impossible to argue the facts with you, You were always away at evenings and weekends to play bridge. Although it went against the grain
I managed to endure it. But when I l earned of your infidelity with your secretary, that was the last straw. After all the mental stress in our marriage I was the one cast aside at the end. I don’t know what the future has in store. All
I know is that you won’t be sharing my life with me again. Oddly enough, once you’ve mended your pride, I don’t think my absence will mean much to you. But that’s how you are.
I allowed the letter to slip from my fingers and stared coldly at Primar. ‘You bastard!’ I swore angrily. ‘You didn’t have to tell her about Penny.’
‘Me?’ he exclaimed with innocence in his eyes, completely taken aback by the accusation. ‘I think you owe me an apology for that remark, old boy! I might have been forced in that direction for my next move if you turned me down flat but I hadn’t got that far.’
‘If that’s true,’ I countered, ‘how did you know about the letter?’
‘By accident,’ he related calmly. ‘When I arrived, your secretary was out of the office. A well-dressed lady entered with this envelope in one hand and a suitcase in the other. She seemed very distressed, threw the envelope on the desk and hurried out. I was curious. The enveloped hadn’t been sealed so I read the letter.’
‘God… you must be desperate!’ I accused him acidly. ‘What on earth is your motivation?’ He failed to reply so I turned on my secretary who pushed the photographs back to me with a pained expression on her face. ‘Someone’s set me up!’ I snarled. ‘What do you know about it?’
‘Nothing,’ she blurted out, almost in tears. ‘I know nothing about it.’ She turned to Primar, her bosom heaving with emotion. ‘Who are you? What do you want?’
‘None of this concerns you, my dear,’ Primar told her smoothly. ‘I suggest you get on with your duties and ignore what you’ve seen. In fact you’d be wise to forget you ever saw me.’
‘But this does concern her!’ I told him savagely. ‘We’re in these photographs together and you told me that we were involved in stealing company funds. How can she ignore complicity?’
He bridled for a moment. ‘Jason… she doesn’t have to get involved. She’s not part of the plan. Don’t you understand?’
‘No!’ I shouted, ‘you’re the one who doesn’t understand! Now that my wife’s left me, your threat of exposing me to her is doomed to failure. I have no fear of that any more.’
Primar issued a hollow laugh. ‘I wasn’t going to expose you but your employers will think differently when they examine the accounts. Think it through properly, man! Look… I’m here with a propostion. Okay… I’m beefing up my request in my own way to get what I want but it’s to benefit both of us. If you don’t come with me on the flight to Israel within the next two hours, you’ll be spending the night in a police cell… both you and Miss Smith. Listen to me carefully, Jason. I want you on my side not against me.’
I dismissed my secretary with a wave of my hand and moved over to the window again. The roar of the crowd below surged into the office drowning the noise made by the brass band as the monarch came into view. Everyone waved frantically as the raiments worn by royalty glowed with an aura of brilliant Technicolor, reflecting the light of a myriad of sparkling jewels which embellished them in majestic splendour.
I turned and place my hand on my wife’s letter as if to blot it out before turning to Primar. ‘What happens now?’
He tossed the old matchstick into the ash-tray, drew a fresh one from his pocket, and started to chew on it. ‘Let’s evaluate your current position, Jason. Your wife has left you. Your secretary will treat you like a leper because of the photograps. Your employers will call the police within the next twenty-four hours on the financial shortfall. In any case, you could be waiting ten or fifteen years for decent promotion all the time being promised greater rewards in the future.l It doesn’t sound very good, does it? Life is passing you by a rate of knots, old boy. But I’m offering you instant thrills and excitement. All I ask is that you trust me.’
‘Trust you!’ I challenged. ‘I meet a man by chance on the Costa del Sol. Some time later, he places me under surveillance and wants me to fly to the Middle East at two hours notice. Then he says ‘Trust me!’ You must be crazy!’
‘Don’t be naïve!’ he returned coldly. ‘I knew all about you long before we met in Spain. You were on my short list of recruits.’
‘Recruits!’ I guffawed. ‘For the 21st Century Crusaders… …whoever they might be!’
‘Everything will be revealed to you in good time., my friend,’ he insisted. ‘I suggest you tell your secretary you’re taking two weeks’ vacation. I’ll drive you to your house and you can pack a bag before flying with me to Israel.’
‘What’s so important about Israel?’
‘It’s the first stepping-stone. You’ll soon find out.’
‘The first stepping-stone of the 21st Century Crusaders?’
He shook his head sagely. ‘I told you… all in good time, my friend. You have a certain way with you, Jason. Positive, ruthless, definite.’ His face broke into a smile. ‘I like that in a man.’
‘And Penny Smith comes with me,’ I told him with determination in my voice. Wherever I go she comes with me.’ The thought of losing my wife and my mistress at the same time was too difficult to bear.
The smile disappeared from Primar’s face. ‘Not possible,’ he stated bluntly. ‘The faster you detach yourselves from each other the better. This is no adventure for a woman.’
‘Then the deal’s off,’ I responded equally firmly. If she doesn’t go I won’t. I’ll face the consequences whatever they may be!’
He chewed on the matchstick for almost ten seconds and then got to his feet. ‘Okay, We all have to make sacrifices. I suppose this one’s going to be mine.’ He reached the door and turned to face me. ‘I’ve changed my mind about flying today. Best make it nine o’clock tomorrow morning at Stanstead Airport. I’ll be there to meet you and brief you.’