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‘I’d better call Ziggy.’ Hope’s neutral expression hadn’t changed, but Cam didn’t miss the small tension lines around her eyes. He nodded down at where Willoughby was still crouched to indicate he’d deal with him, and she turned and walked away a few paces to make her call.
‘Let’s check the rest of your car, make sure there’s no other damage,’ Cam suggested. His personal feelings towards the man had no place here. He was clearly upset and had every right to be.
Willoughby pushed himself upright. ‘Don’t touch my car.’ He pulled out his keys. ‘I’m getting out of here before anything else happens, now get out of my way!’
Taking a step back, Cam raised his hands. ‘I’m just trying to help. I realise this must be very upsetting for you, but the Travers will need to take a record of the damage done.’ He pointed along the row to where Declan and the porter were half a dozen cars further down. ‘It’s not only your car that’s been targeted and they’ll need evidence to make a report to both their insurers and the police.’
Marching around to the back of his car, Willoughby picked up his abandoned bags and tossed them in the boot. ‘That’s their problem, not mine.’ He slammed the boot closed and swung around to face Hope, who had just come off the phone. ‘You’ll be hearing from my solicitors.’
‘You’ll need this then.’ Cool as a cucumber, Hope pulled a business card out of her pocket and handed it to him. ‘All my contact details are on there, including my email. Submit the invoice for the repairs and I’ll see it’s paid the same day. I wish you a safe journey home and I’m very sorry again that you’ve been caught up in this awful business. I trust you’ll be willing to give a statement to the police should they wish to speak to you about this?’
‘Well, yes, of course. I’m not one to obstruct a criminal investigation. And mind you do make sure the bill is paid.’ Apparently expecting her to put up a fight, Willoughby looked a bit disappointed at being robbed of the chance to yell at her some more.
‘If you can possibly bear with me a few moments longer, I’d like to take some photos for our records.’
Having just declared he wouldn’t be obstructive, there was little Willoughby could do. ‘Be quick about it.’
25
Hope watched Willoughby drive away. If he’d honked his horn, he couldn’t have reminded her more of Mr Toad in that moment. ‘Horrible man.’ She sighed.
‘I’m sorry I’ve brought all this trouble to your door,’ Cam said, coming to stand beside her. He reached for her hand, and she let him take it, grateful for the support.
She squeezed his fingers for a moment before releasing them. ‘It’s hardly your fault we’ve got a vandal on our hands, is it?’
‘You think it’s vandals, then, and not…’ Cam gestured towards the now empty driveway.
‘You’re not serious?’ She knew the man had come looking to disrupt things, but he struck her as too status conscious, too vain to consider damaging an ego extension like his big shiny car.
Cam sighed. ‘No, not really.’
Willoughby was the least of her problems, and she couldn’t afford to waste any more time worrying about him. They had a hotel full of guests and though she hadn’t got a final count yet from Justin, the porter, as to how many cars were affected, a fair number of them were about to have their weekends ruined. ‘If it was only his car, then I’d maybe be willing to entertain the idea he’d done it himself to cause trouble, but I think he’s just been caught up in something unrelated. He wasn’t around when someone tried to break into the site cabin, remember?’
Cam shoved his hands on his hips and sighed. ‘No, you’re right. I was just trying to tie everything up in a neat bundle. If it’s not him, then we’ve got a serious problem on our hands. This doesn’t strike me as kids messing about.’
Hope nodded. She’d struggled to accept that as the explanation for the earlier damage, but now she was convinced there was something more sinister going on. Someone was trying to cause trouble for her and her family. But who? The only person on her suspect list was Keith Riley, and he was safely shut up in rehab. Who else had they upset? It wasn’t a nice thing to have to think about, but she’d have to sit down later and try to come up with a list of unhappy customers, guests who’d complained about their previous stays. It felt like she was clutching at straws, but she didn’t know what else to do. Still, it would have to wait because there were more pressing problems, such as telling all the guests whose cars had been scratched.
When Cam put his arms around her, she leaned into him, taking strength from his unwavering support. ‘I’m sorry this is happening,’ he murmured before letting her go. ‘Right, what can I do to help?’
She appreciated the fact he was trying to shoulder some of the responsibility, but her family were practised in dealing with problems and having too many people involved would only lead to confusion. Raising a hand, she placed it on his chest. ‘I want you and Declan to go back to the site and focus on what you came here to do.’ She caught a movement out of her eye and saw both her mother and Ziggy approaching. Her uncle had swapped the jeans and sweatshirt she’d seen him in that morning for a smart suit, and Mum was holding a suit carrier, which Hope knew would contain a similar smarter outfit for her than her current jeans and polo shirt. ‘Look, I need to get changed and start speaking to the other guests.’
Cam looked reluctantly between them all. ‘It doesn’t feel right, leaving you to deal with all this.’
Hope didn’t have the bandwidth for an argument with him right then. She was already stretched wafer-thin, and she knew her mother wasn’t in any better a state than she was. It would take every ounce of their reserves to face the guests and deal with what was going to be an unpleasant few hours. She pressed her fingers into his chest, feeling the lean strength of him and wishing she could fold herself into it once more. There’d be time enough to seek the comfort she needed in his arms later, but for now, she had to squash it all down. ‘Just go, please,’ she whispered.
Cam raised his hand to cover hers. ‘Okay. You’ll come over later.’ It wasn’t a question and Hope nodded. With a quick reassuring squeeze of her fingers, he released her hand and stepped back. ‘Come on, Declan. Let’s get back to site and leave the family to deal with this.’
The site manager was already approaching with the porter. ‘It’s a bloody mess,’ he said to Hope. ‘Whoever did this needs catching before they do any more damage.’
She nodded. ‘I know, and we’ll do our best to make sure that happens. Can you email me the photos you’ve taken?’
‘I’ll do it the moment I’m back at the office.’
With one final, reluctant glance at the damaged cars, Cam and Declan headed for the vehicles and Hope could forget about them for a few minutes. She took the suit carrier from her mother and on impulse leaned forward and kissed her cheek.
‘It’s your grey trouser suit,’ her mum said. ‘I always loved the cut of it on you, so I told Ziggy to bring it.’
Hope returned her smile. ‘That’s perfect, thank you for thinking of it. We’re going to need all the power dressing we can get. Justin has been checking the cars, so I’ll leave him to update you on the tally while I go and change.’
