Dark Avenging Angel by Catherine Cavendish Read Free Book Online Page B

advertisement industry magazine— Campaign . I must have been up against tough competition. He’d never congratulated me, of course. That could never happen.
    Right now, though, I wished Stuart had offered the job to someone else. Anyone but me.
    “Jane? Do you understand? I’m serious about this. You have to change your name.”
    I couldn’t speak. I nodded.
    “Good. Let’s meet the team.”
    Jane Marshall was welcoming, possessed a firm handshake and a no-nonsense attitude. I liked her.
    “Jane’s agreed to change her name,” Stuart said.
    Jane’s eyebrows shot upwards. “Oh, is that really necessary?”
    “Sure. Don’t want any confusion, do we, Jane?” He looked at me.
    I shook my head. “No.”
    The monocle caught the sun and dazzled me. I turned away and caught a look of pity from Jane Marshall. My confidence ebbed and finally drained altogether when I was introduced to Rick and Steve.
    Rick blinked at me from behind tinted glasses. He didn’t extend his hand to shake mine. Neither did Steve, whose black hair told me Grecian 2000’s profits would be up this year.
    “Rick looks after clients in the eastern part of the city and county, and Steve looks after the south,” Stuart said. “Jane will be spending time with each of you. She’ll go out on calls with you and I’m sure will provide you with some valuable input. Coming from a much larger newspaper, her contribution will be just what we need here.”
    Rick took his glasses off and his cold stare chilled me. “How long did you work in display?”
    I hadn’t a clue what to say. I was never good at lying and this wasn’t even my lie!
    Stuart stepped in. “Plenty of time to get to know each other later. I need to take Jane to meet Maurice.”
    Halfway down the corridor and out of earshot, Stuart said, “You’ll need to work out a story for that. Make sure you have it in place by tomorrow morning. You nearly landed me in it then.”
    The far end of the corridor was shadowy. A fluorescent striplight twitched, then went off. We paused outside Maurice Driffield’s office. General manager and Stuart’s boss. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a movement.
    Why was she here? Why now? I stared at her and she stared back. My angel.
    Stuart seemed about to knock on Maurice’s door when he too appeared momentarily distracted by something. Surely he couldn’t see her? No. She was my angel. I had long believed I was the only one who could see her, unless she decided otherwise, as she had with my schoolfriends.
    There was no reason for her to reveal herself to Stuart. But he did seem to grow pale, just for a second. And I realized he was following my gaze down to the dark end of the corridor. He said nothing. Then he looked back at the door and gave a sharp rap.
    I glanced back. The corridor was empty. The light flickered back on.
    I had plenty to think about that evening as I sat alone in my new flat. I also had the strongest desire to pack my bags and leave. Would they take me back at the Chronicle? It would mean admitting defeat and give my father plenty of ammunition to taunt me with. Why did that matter? After all, he was a couple of hundred miles away.
    But then I thought of Mum. She still had to live with him.
    I poured myself a glass of red wine and sat on the edge of my chair. Too tense to relax. Whichever way I looked at it, I was stuck here for a while. I couldn’t leave without another job and I didn’t know my way around Baileyborough enough to know where the jobs might be. Then there was the problem of Stuart’s ridiculous lie and his insistence that I change my name.
    The phone rang.
    “Hello, dear.” My mother’s voice brought tears to my eyes. I must fight them back. Couldn’t have her knowing anything was wrong. “How was your first day then?”
    I pasted a smile on my face. “Oh, you know first days. Met loads of people and can’t remember who anyone is.”
    “You’ll soon get the hang of it.”
    “Yes, I’m sure I