Page 90 of Behind Frenemy Lines

Shaw: “Call him ‘the boss,’ that’s what I do. He doesn’tappreciate having his name bandied around. Look, mate, you do what you have to, we understand that. But I need to talk to you. Won’t take two minutes. Hold on.”

Could hear Shaw conferring with someone else, before his voice came back on the line.

Shaw: “Rob says he’ll walk me down to your office.”

Looked around my office. One does less on paper now than twelve years ago when I started as a trainee. But I was still surrounded by stacks of files with clients’ names on them, papers crammed with confidential information, notes on my noticeboard with sensitive internal data.

What was Robert Anderson thinking? Hardly correct practice to agree to walk a client through the working areas of the firm. But then again, Shaw was hard to say no to.

CG: “There’s no need for that. I’ll come and meet you. Are you on fourteenth floor?”

Shaw: “I’m outside the building. We went for a coffee. You good to come out now?”

It was only Shaw waiting on the pavement outside the firm when I got out.

Shaw: “I sent Rob back to his desk to get on with things. Blackmount’s bid two hundred million for a major fashion brand”—told me the name. “All very hush hush till the deal’s announced, but I know you won’t say anything. We want to get it through ASAP, so Rob won’t be sleeping for the next few weeks.” Laughed. “But he’s all right. He made equity partner last year on the strength of our fees. Got to make him work for it, eh?”

He glanced around. “Mind if we walk? Trying to keep my steps up.” Held up his wrist to show me his fitness tracker.

Patek Philippe on his other wrist. I recognised it because Ba got me a fake for my twenty-first birthday. He was proud of it: “This dealer, he sources the best fakes for the foreigners to buy. I got this one for $5,000. If it was real, it would cost over $1 million.”

Had to stop wearing the watch: it kept losing time. A year after Ba gave it to me, I took it out of a drawer and found the fake leather coming off the strap in flakes. Didn’t tell him.

Shaw’s watch probably cost over a hundred grand pound sterling. No fakes for him.

Shaw: “We could go along the river. It’s not too far from here, is it?”

We walked along the curve of Victoria Embankment, dodging City workers and the occasional tourist. Bikes whizzed past us. Cars, taxis, and vans queued on the far side of the cycle lane, inching along as the traffic lights changed.

Shaw wanted to be by the water, but there were construction hoardings up along the river. We stayed on our side of the road, looking for a gap.

It was muggy, the sky greyish white. Shaw took off his jacket and slung it over his arm.

I kept mine on. Felt the need for protection, somehow.

CG: “You said there’s a problem with the case?”

Shaw: “I’d say so, yeah. I had a surprise call late last night. Got rung up by the old bat herself, Helen Daley.”

My face went rigid. Could feel Shaw’s eyes on me.

Shaw: “She said she’s received a tip-off, heard I’m instructing a major London law firm to sue her. Wanted to give me the chance to comment before posting about it on her blog.”

Could only hope the fact I’m bad at emotions was helping me now: often other people can’t seem to tell what I’m feeling, any more than I can guess what they’re feeling.

Couldn’t fault them. I can’t always guess what I’m feeling myself. On this occasion, though, I knew. Main thing I felt was guilt, that I hadn’t tried harder to reassure Kriya. There must have been something I could have said, so she wouldn’t have felt she needed to do this.

CG: “What did you say?”

Shaw: “I told her she’d hear from my lawyers. Then I hung up and blocked her.”

CG: “That seems sensible.”

Shaw: “What I can’t work out is, how’d she get my number? I’m not one for the limelight. I stay behind the scenes. That’s where I’m most useful to the boss. So I’m asking myself, who put Helen Daley on to me?” Gave me a sidelong look. “You got any ideas, Charlie?”

CG: “You don’t have any mutual contacts?”

Shaw: “That’s what I’m wondering.” Eyed me in a pointed way.

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