Page 10 of For Love or Money
‘No, they’re divorced. Have been for years.’
‘Okay, so ...’
‘The thing is we know nothing about this woman – Stella. She moved in with Peter right after his heart attack, and looked after him while he was recuperating. And now suddenly they’re engaged. She’s twenty-six and he’s an old man with a dodgy heart. He’s okay now, but he hasn’t exactly looked after himself. He’s ... lived life to the full.’
That was putting it mildly. Peter Bradshaw was a notorious hell-raiser and womaniser, almost more renowned for his legendary drinking binges and wild partying than for his acting.
‘So he’s not in the best of health,’ Al said. ‘And my family is very wealthy.’
‘That’s nice. Not about your uncle’s health,’ Lesley added hastily. ‘But it’s nice to have money, isn’t it? Not that I can speak from experience.’ Damn, she was babbling. Focus, Lesley! ‘So you think the fiancée is a gold-digger,’ she said, to make it clear she wasn’t slow on the uptake.
‘It seems obvious, doesn’t it? They got engaged right after his heart attack. For a while there it didn’t look like he was going to make it.’
‘And you think this Stella has her sights set on being a merry widow.’
‘That’s certainly what my cousins think.’
‘You don’t think she could be in love with him? I mean, I know he’s old and everything, but he’s still quite attractive for a crumbly. And he seems like a real laugh. I’d say he’d be great fun to hang around with.’
‘He is,’ Al said with a fond smile. ‘But we’re not talking about just hanging around with him, are we? Would you sleep with him?’
‘Ew, no!’ Lesley wrinkled her nose. ‘But that’s just me,’ she amended hastily. ‘Everyone’s different, aren’t they? I mean, I don’t even fancy Ryan Gosling.’
‘I bet you wouldn’t turn your nose up like that at the thought of sleeping with him, though.’
Lesley considered. Ryan Goslingwasvery fit. ‘Yeah, okay. I take your point.’
‘So you would?’
‘I wouldn’t kick him out of bed for eating biscuits, no.’
‘Like you said, there’s hope for us all,’ Al murmured under his breath.
‘Look, you don’t really need an investigator at all, do you?’ All it would take was someone with a Wi-Fi connection and a few hours to spare. An eight-year-old child armed with a laptop could easily handle it. Still, it beat SEO into a cocked hat, and if he wanted to pay her, she wasn’t going to argue. ‘But if you really want me to help out with this, I can do a bit of poking around on the internet. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of days.’
‘Well, there’s a little more to it than that,’ Al said, looking uncomfortable. ‘I want something a bit more ... above and beyond. Stuff that doesn’t really come within the remit of a regular investigator.’
‘I’ll tell you right now I won’t do anything dodgy,’ Lesley warned him.
‘No, I wouldn’t ask you to. But we need a more personal sort of investigation – not just background stuff that anyone could dig up on the internet. We want to know who this Stella is, how she genuinely feels about Peter, why she wants to marry him. Which makes you ideal for the job – that and the fact that you’re single.’
This was starting to soundverydodgy, Lesley thought. She hoped she wouldn’t have to turn it down. ‘I don’t see what my being single has to do with anything. And what’s this “above and beyond” stuff you want me to do?’
‘Well, those two things are related, actually.’
‘I can’t say I like the sound of that.’
‘The thing is, as a woman, you could get close to Stella – maybe become her friend, someone she confides in. In order to do that, you’d need a reason to spend a lot of time around my family.’
‘Okay ...’ Lesley tried to play it cool, but the idea of hanging out with the Bradshaws was thrilling. She might get to meet Peter and Jane’s two sons, who were both well-known actors in their own right. Rafe had caused a sensation the previous year when he’d played Mr Darcy in a very sexed-up TV adaptation ofPride and Prejudice.
‘So you’re related to Rafe and Scott Bradshaw?’
‘Yes, they’re my cousins,’ Al said wearily.
‘Wow! That must be really exciting.’
‘I try to take it in my stride.’
