When they went back into the office, the place was crawling with police, but they were both relieved to see no signs of Benton. Brick turned from the officer he had been talking to and approached Stephanie and Tom.
“Was it a hoax?” Tom asked.
“No, the explosives were real, but they didn’t go off. Whether that was intentional or not, we aren’t sure at the moment,” Brick replied. “Tom, talk to the others will you? And calm them down. I don’t want mass panic on my hands. I’m going to speak to Hamilton-Brown. God knows what he’ll make of all this!” he said, strolling away.
Brick was in his office with the door shut for a good fifteen minutes, and no less than ten minutes after that, Hamilton-brown, owner of the City Daily, had arrived with more officers in tow. The moment he walked in the door, he seemed to possess the room. He was tall and broad shouldered, with silvering hair and piercing eyes, which seemed to take in everything. He strolled around the room, assessing every detail, but saying nothing and leaving the reporters in no doubt as to who would now be calling the shots. He spoke briefly to one of the police officers, who he had brought with him, and then headed for Brick’s office.
Tom leant across Stephanie’s desk to talk to her in a hushed voice. “Looks like he means business. Hopefully he’ll deal with the whole Benton thing.”
Stephanie wasn’t sure if she was pleased about that or not. Okay, so she had to admit that someone with his connections would definitely be a bonus, but she didn’t want this story taken out of their hands. They had done all the hard work up to now, and they should get the credit for that.
“Hmm, he’s always annoyed me intensely though,” she admitted.
Tom looked surprised by her comment. “Yeah? Why’s that?”
“Well, he never usually gets very involved in what goes on in here, and now suddenly he strolls in and acts as if he owns the place!
Tom laughed. “Steph, he does own the place!”
She tutted. “Yes well, he seems extremely arrogant to me.”
“You know that can be a good thing sometimes in situations like these,” he pointed out.
“I suppose. But we still have to find evidence of Hugh’s involvement in all of this, so it’s not over yet,” she replied. “We can’t print the story until we know for sure, and we’ve got to be the ones to find out first.”
“I know, I know! But slow down a bit Steph, lets see where we stand with Benton first,” he warned.
Stephanie and Tom spent the rest of the day answering a barrage of questions from the police, Hamilton-Brown and Brick. Finally, the former left the building and Tom and Stephanie could do likewise.
When they reached Tom’s car Stephanie turned to talk to Tom. “Listen, I spoke to my father earlier on the phone, and I’ve decided to stay with him for a few days. He’s concerned about me, and I wasn’t really in the mood for arguing,” she explained.
Tom’s face was expressionless as he stared back at her in silence for a while. Then he nodded and shrugged.
“Fair enough,” he said simply. “Let me just get some food in, shower and change my clothes, and then I’ll drop you back at your house.”
She frowned at him. “Why can’t you just drop me at my house beforehand?”
“Because I’m not leaving you until you’re ready to go to your father’s. I’m not taking any risks after what happened today,” he said firmly.
"Tom...” she began.
“I’m not arguing with you Stephanie,” he cut in, getting into the car.
They stopped off at a supermarket on the way to Tom’s apartment and he bought some food to fill his cupboards. As soon as he let them in, he headed for the bathroom, leaving Stephanie in the lounge.
“If you want me to be extra quick for you Steph, you could be an angel and put all the shopping away for me,” he shouted out. “Oh and there may be one or two dishes in the sink if you have nothing else to do.”
She frowned. “Do I look like your maid?”
Loud laughter could be heard over the sound of the shower as he turned it on in the bathroom. “I’d love to see you in a maid’s outfit Stephie, but it will save us some time if you help me out!”
She tutted and walked into the kitchen to face a sink full of cups and glasses, and the bags full of shopping which were spilt out over the kitchen table.
“I don’t know why I’m doing this for him,” she mumbled to herself as she filled the sink with water and emptied the rest of the shopping out of the bags.
Running back to the sink before the water overflowed, she proceeded to place all the cups and glasses in the soapy water and wash them up. She was just drying them, a cup and tea towel in hand, when the telephone rang.
“Will you get that for me Stephie?” Tom shouted.
She sighed and wandered out into the hallway. “Thinks I’m his bloody secretary now too.”
She answered the phone. “Hello.”
“Well hello there. He never told me he had a new girl in his life,” came the broad Irish accented reply.
“Oh, I’m not his girl friend, I’m just his maid,” she said sarcastically.
“Well you sound very bonny. Don’t let him be getting to you sweetheart. You have to be strict with that one, so you do.”
“I’ll bear that in mind. I’m not sure he can come to the phone right now, can I take a message?”
“Oh my bejesus! I’m interrupting. Don’t tell me he’s got you dressing up for him already!” she laughed. “Well you can pass on a message to that son of mine that his mother called and she wants to know where he’s been for the last few weeks.”
Stephanie nearly dropped the receiver. “Oh yes. I didn’t realise…err, who it was. He’s just in the shower. I can get him out if you want.” She bit her lip. That didn’t sound any better!
“No, don’t be bothering him now. He’ll not be wanting to talk to his old mother with you around.”
“No, I don’t think you unders…” Stephanie tried to interrupt.
“Speak soon sweetheart.” And with that she hung up.
Stephanie cringed. It wasn’t the best first conversation to have with his mother!
“Whoever it is, tell them I'll ring them later,” Tom called out.
Stephanie moved towards the bathroom. “It was your mother Tom, but she said she’d ring you another time.”
“No problem,” came the reply.
Stephanie leant against the wall in the hallway and absentmindedly wiped the cup in her hand with the tea towel. She had a distant far away look on her face for a while, and then she shrugged and went to move away. As she looked up however, she noticed that the bathroom door was ajar, and she instinctively averted her gaze. She stood staring at the opposite wall for a moment, but then her eyes flicked back towards the bathroom. She abruptly shook her head and moved her eyes away again. Then in spite of herself, a smile crept across her face and her gaze moved once more, her eyes searching through the steam. He was standing with his back to her, his head tilted to the side as he enjoyed the feel of the hot water flowing over him. Her eyes softened as she watched him. Then her gaze moved slowly down his body and her eyes widened. Wow! He had one hell of a body!
She sighed and went to walk away, but to her utter horror, when she looked up, he had turned his head and was staring straight at her. She abruptly pushed herself away from the wall and disappeared back into the kitchen.
After she’d finished drying the dishes, she went to the task of putting the shopping away with a fierce determination to put Tom out of her mind. Or at least, the disturbing picture of him in the shower anyway! She had to get a grip!
When Tom walked into the kitchen, there was still shopping left on the table. She reached out to pick up some cartons of milk.
“Thanks for doing that Stephie.” He looked towards the empty sink.
“You owe me one,” she replied, following his gaze and then turning back to him.
He was staring at her with a huge grin on his face, and her heart jolted nervously. She pushed the cartons of milk into his hands.
“Here, you do the rest. And hurry up about it, I haven’t got all day,” she said, striding out into the hall.
She opened the front door and waited impatiently for him to join her. When he walked out of the kitchen and approached her, he was still grinning. He picked up his keys from off the hall table and moved over to the door, blocking her way before she could move out of it.
“Were you enjoying yourself there Stephie?”
She glared at him. “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean, there’s no need to be defensive about it.”
“Will you move out of the way please?” she said, looking purposely at his arm, which was blocking her way. “We need to be going.”
“No problem, but I’ve no idea why you’re getting so flustered,” he grinned.
“I think you’re letting your imagination run away with you Tom; I’m not at all flustered,” she came back.
“Well, something was distracting that mind of yours Stephie.” He lifted an eyebrow.
“Oh yes, and what makes you say that?”
“You put every single item of shopping in the fridge!” he laughed. “Including the tea bags!”
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