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‘What do you do, mate?’ the taxi driver asked.
‘I’m a lawyer.’
The taxi driver nodded as he pulled into a layby outside the bank.
Miles said, ‘Well, this is me.’ He squeezed her hand, and cupped her face in his hands to kiss her goodbye.
‘I’m going to miss you,’ said Thea, feeling the tears welling up.
‘And I you.’ He leaned over to open the car door.
‘When you’re next in town, I’d love to meet your sister.’ Thea caught the taxi driver staring at her in the rearview mirror. He quickly looked away when he realised she’d seen him.
‘Er, yeah, sure. I’ll, um … arrange it.’ Miles shuffled along the seat to get out. ‘Well, I’d better dash.’
Thea smiled ‘Bye.’
‘Yes, see you.’ And with that he shut the door and walked into the building.
‘Where to? Is it the address in Pimlico?’
‘Yes, please.’ Thea stared at the entrance to the bank.
The taxi driver put his indicator light on and was about to move out into the traffic when Thea suddenly leaned forward and tapped him on the shoulder. ‘Wait!’
The taxi driver slammed on the brake. He glanced over his shoulder. ‘Yes?’
‘I, er … I’ve forgotten to tell my boyfriend something. Will you wait while I pop into the bank?’
‘Sure. The meter will still be running though.’
‘That’s fine. Thank you.’ Thea stalled for a moment or two to see if Miles emerged from the building, but he didn’t. She got out of the taxi.
The multi-storey, ultra-modern building had huge floor-to-ceiling glass windows, so she could see inside the foyer even from the taxi. As she approached the revolving door, she saw a security guard sitting at a reception desk. There was nothing else in the reception foyer apart from the desk, a row of seating by the door, and two lifts past the security desk.
Thea was aware that this was nothing like a high street bank. You didn’t just walk in off the street to take out cash or make a deposit. This was an office building, the head office of a foreign bank.
She went inside and wasn’t surprised when the guard looked up, and said, ‘May I help you?’
‘Um, well, a guy, a … friend who works here just walked in, and I forgot to give him a message.’
‘Okay. Can you text him?’
‘Well, no.’ Thea had to think on her feet. ‘I think he has a meeting, so he must have switched off his phone.’
‘All right. The security guard got out a piece of paper. ‘What’s his name?’
‘Miles Bannon.’
The security guard looked up. ‘Oh, yeah – I’ve just seen him.’ He looked at the system. ‘I can’t see any meetings arranged for today.’ Not sure why they’d hold a meeting at the weekend.’
‘They work with clients all over the world,’ said Thea.
‘Okay, well that’s as may be, but there aren’t any meetings.’
‘Did he say why he was here, then?’
The security guard eyed her. ‘He was collecting some work from his desk to do this evening.’
