Take Two

CHAPTER 31

Richards could see Carolyn was looking right at him. He waved his hand, taking the bidding to twenty-six thousand pounds. His last remaining rival was hesitating and Richards knew he was going to win. Richards kept his hand in the air, showing he was going to bid no matter what the other man did. The rival shook his head and flopped back in his chair.

‘The winner at the back with a bid of twenty-six thousand pounds!’ shouted the comedian. The audience went wild, applauding and cheering, and Richards stood up to acknowledge the applause.

Richards knew all the people at his table — three were employees of his and six were VIP regulars at the club who’d been invited to join him. Halpin was outside minding the Porsche. Richards figured it would be better to keep Halpin away from Carolyn until he’d worked out whether or not she’d seen him at Cohen’s house.

She was shading her eyes against the lights as she looked in his direction and he waved at her and flashed her a beaming smile. Including the two actors in the auction had been Halpin’s idea and it had been a good one. She’d get to see him in a public situation and he’d get to judge her reaction. If he felt she hadn’t recognized him, he’d do the one-on-one lunch and then he’d know for sure. As he looked at her on the stage, she seemed totally at ease.

A pretty blonde appeared next to Richards holding a clipboard. Richards took out his cheque book, wrote out a cheque for twenty-six thousand pounds to the charity, signed it with a flourish and handed it to her. ‘You could take me to lunch for a lot less than this,’ she said.

‘Really?’ said Richards.

She pressed a card into his hand. ‘Really,’ she said.

‘I might take you up on that,’ he said.