Page 69 of New Beginnings at the Little Christmas Inn
The silence in the bar was profound. Jason was tolerated by most and disliked by many, but this still came as a shock.
Livvy was bewildered. ‘Why?’ She turned to Jason. ‘Why would you do that to me?’
‘I can tell you why,’ Mark put in, his voice terse.
‘Yes, Mark, pray enlighten us.’ Jason spread his hands to the room, his light eyes glittering. He was now stone-cold sober and seemed all the more dangerous. ‘If you’re going to fire accusations that serious then you better have the evidence to back up your claim. Even a man as wealthy as you may find a lawsuit a tad expensive.’ Taking off his Father Christmas jacket, he folded it with careful precision and laid it over the back of the chair. In his white polo neck, he resembled a Bond villain.
‘You put in a bid at the auction to buy The George, didn’t you? You’ve also shown interest in buying the office block next door.’
‘So?’
‘With the intent of redeveloping the site. I should imagine luxury apartments with sea views would make you millions.’
‘Dear boy, I’m a property developer, that’s what I do. Making a healthy profit isn’t against the law.’ Jason’s voice dripped scorn.
‘You should build affordable houses for local people,’ Aggie yelled. Jason ignored her.
‘No,’ Mark continued, fury making white lines appear around his mouth and his words clipped. ‘It isn’t against the law, but your plans were partially thwarted when Livvy was successful in purchasing the pub. The George has a massive footprint. Added to the office block, it would have enormous development potential. But you missed out on buying it, didn’t you, so the first part of your plan was foiled.’
He shifted nearer and his icy rage surfaced from beneath the calm surface. ‘But if you could get Livvy out, she’d sell up and you could proceed.’ Mark bit the words out. ‘You didn’t have much hope of Livvy making a success of this place, did you?Except she has. Look at all these people here, supporting her. The last thing you wanted was for her to make a go of it. It’s been done many times before. Run down a pub so it can be sold cheaply, then the council agrees on a planning change from business to residential as it can be proved the pub isn’t a viable business. You lost the first chance to redevelop the site when Livvy bought the pub and so you thought you’d intimidate her enough to drive her out, then you could have a second chance to buy it. And at a rock-bottom price.’
Angel had crept to Livvy’s side, snuggling into her knee and giving her courage. She found her voice. ‘It wasyourattling the kitchen door in the middle of the night. You slashed the tyres. It was you who painted the word “bitch” on my van? I thought… I thought if we weren’t exactly friends then at least you liked coming here.’ She put a hand to her mouth. ‘And you kept giving me unwanted advice. Confusing me. And I listened because you were a local business owner. A bloody man who knew everything. Oh,’ she spat, in furious indignation. ‘You wanted me to close the skittles alley!’
Angry and astonished murmurings rippled through the party crowd.
‘Old Pete wouldn’t be happy about the alley closing down,’ Austin huffed.
‘He wouldn’t be alone there,’ one of the Ds added. ‘It’s the only one round here for miles.’
‘I can’t believe it was Jason who was scaring our lovely Livvy,’ said an appalled Daisy. ‘What an absolute arse!’
A slightly drunk Tinkerbell stood up and pointed her wand. ‘You stuffed that cat up the chimmley, didn’t you?’ Jonquil shook her head in disbelief, dislodging her sparkly tiara. ‘I knew it! I knew there weren’t summat right about it when I came and swept this old chimmley here. It weren’t nearly far enough up there. Youkilleda cat to shove up a chimmley?’
There were horrified gasps.
Jason laughed derisively. ‘It was roadkill, dear woman. Long since dead.’
‘It was someone’s pet,’ Jonquil roared, she was being held back by her husband. ‘Decent folk would have taken it to the vet to have the chip checked. You bollocking bastard!’
‘That really upset me, Jason.’ Livvy reached for Angel, taking comfort in the dog’s nose nuzzling into her hand. ‘That poor, poor cat. It preyed on my mind for ages.’
‘As it was meant to,’ Jason snorted.
Mark swallowed his anger, his fists balled. He shot her a concerned look. ‘It’s worse than that, I’m afraid. As well as the vandalism and the campaign to unnerve you, I suspect Jason’s been orchestrating other things.’ He wheeled round to Gerry who was swaying slightly, pint in hand. Mark fixed his gaze on a red-faced Eli. ‘It’s only a hunch but I think Jason has been encouraging Gerry’s lot to come in here. And, Eli, they’ve been extorting you to give them drinks on the house, haven’t they? It’s only a guess but that looked to be the case. It’s why your profits haven’t matched up, Livvy.’
‘I’m so sorry, Livvy,’ Eli began to shake, tears not far off. Lucie went to him and put an arm round his shoulders. ‘They threatened to do me over if I didn’t give them what they wanted.’ His face crumpled. ‘I didn’t know Jason was behind it, I swear.’
‘You got a bunch of middle-aged men to bully a teenaged boy?’ Lucie hissed at Jason. ‘And you, Gerry. How could you?’
Gerry shrugged drunkenly. ‘Didn’t mean no harm. Put in a few shifts on Jason’s building site and he said was I interested in another little earner on the side. Paid to drink for free in a pub? No brainer.’
‘It’s stealing, Gerry,’ Livvy said quietly. ‘You were not only intimidating a member of my staff, but you were also stealing from me.’
‘Ah, Livvy, babe. Wouldn’t have done anything to the boy. He’s me own flesh and blood.’
‘I’d like you and your friends to leave my pub now,’ Livvy hissed. ‘I will tolerate no one,no oneyou understand, intimidating and bullying any member of my staff. You’re barred. For life.’
‘Get out,’ Karl roared. ‘Get out now.’
