Too Many Words to Say

Chapter 12

Howard watched the car disappear around the corner from the hotel and then walked inside. He'd meant it when he said he'd miss her. He liked Allie and was already looking forward to spending some time with her again in Glasgow when she rejoined them for the rest of the tour with Norris.

He pushed the door open and began to walk across the lobby to the reception desk. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and took it out. He pressed the button to reveal the latest text.

"So where is this text then? See you've forgotten me already. Thanks again for all your help and kindness. A x"

He grinned as he read it and tapped in his reply, as he leaned against the reception desk.

"Don't mention it, couldn't let you struggle. Who is this? H"

He chuckled to himself as he pressed the send button, knowing that would make her smile when she read it.

"Morning! You look happy today!"

His thoughts interrupted, Howard looked up to see Clare at the desk beside him. She smiled as she took some envelopes from the girl on reception. He nodded to her, the smile becoming fixed on his face.

"Just collecting some mail that had come for me," she explained, holding up the envelopes so he could see them. "So Norris and Allie have gone back then?" she asked, slowly moving towards him.

"Yeah, Allie just left for home," Howard replied shortly. He didn't want to talk to her at the moment. There were other things on his mind that he wanted to check out and see if his ideas were possibly true.

"You missed a good night last night," she told him. "Pity you felt you had to stay with the invalid. You should have come with me. Oh well I suppose there'll be other nights eh?

"Suppose so," Howard replied shortly. "And I didn't feel I had to stay with her, I just wanted to make sure she was ok."

"So you did what you thought was the right thing to do, that was up to you." Clare smiled as a thought struck her. " It'll be great to have none of the bosses breathing down our necks for the next few days won't it?" she said. "They do tend to put a bit of a dampener on things I think. Can't relax and be yourself with them hanging around. We should be able to have some proper fun with them not with us." She smiled and moved a bit closer to him along the desk.

"To be honest, I liked having them around. Allie's eager to learn all about the business. She's a good hard worker," Howard told her, his face serious. "She cares about what she does."

"Oh," said Clare realising that she wasn't going to get him on her side that way. "Fancy joining me in having a coffee?" she asked him hopefully.

"No thanks, I need to talk to the hotel manager," Howard replied, turning her down. "I want to check something out with him. I'll see you later."

"Ok then, see you later," replied Clare as she picked up her mail and walked to the lifts. She turned around to see Howard talking to the manager who listened worriedly as he spoke. Then the two of them disappeared into the manager's office as she watched. Shrugging her shoulders, Clare got into the lift and went to her room to finish packing for the trip to Ireland.

"So I'll be able to look at the tapes of last night then will I?" Howard asked the manager. "I'm really concerned about my friend, she hurt herself quite badly when she fell and I've got a feeling that it wasn't a complete accident. Maybe I can spot something on the film that will either confirm what I think or get rid of this suspicion."

"That's understandable Mr Donald. No one likes to see their friends hurt especially if it's done on purpose."

He reached over to the video player and rewound the tape to the relevant time when the incident took place.