Act Of Betrayal – Sara Craven

THE traffic was heavy all the way, but that was how it always turned out when you were in a hurry, Laura thought, drumming her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel. She was running late already, but perhaps the meeting at the works would go over time. It was certainly important enough to do so. She glanced at her watch, with a brief sigh.

She wished Uncle Martin had given her more notice, but from his secretary’s agitated call, she’d gathered he*d had very little warning himself. And supplying delicious lunches for important clients at the works was part of her job, as well as a challenge, so she couldn’t complain. Besides, she remembered herself drily, clients rarely came quite as important as Tristan Construction.

The traffic lights changed, and she let in the clutch and drove on towards the industrial estate where Caswell Carpets had their main works and offices. She ran through the menu in her mind as she drove. Watercress soup to start, followed by pheasant in a red wine sauce, all plucked from the freezer and packed in cartons in the boot. To follow, the strawberries she’d just collected from the local market garden served with creme Chantilly. She hoped the Tristan directors wbuld be suitably impressed.

She also wished they’d chosen some other day for their visit. She’d had plans of her own, including a visit to the hairdressers, she thought, giving herself a swift disparaging glance in the driving mirror. She could probably have managed it too if Celia had only agreed to give her a hand with the lunch, but she had learned a long time ago that her cousin’s model-girl prettiness concealed a selfishness which more than matched the charm she worked at so determinedly.

Clad in brief shorts and a minimal suntop, Celia had been bound for the garden to sunbathe, and she’d refused, smilingly but totally, to accompany Laura to the works instead. ‘Honestly, sweetie, I’d be less than useless,’ she’d protested. ‘That microwave oven you persuaded Daddy to install frightens me to death.

Anyway, you were only going to have your hair trimmed, and you can do that any time.’ ‘Of course,’ Laura said without irony. ‘ I just thought you might want to help, as there’s a panic on.’ Celia waved a languid hand. ‘There’s always a panic on.’ ‘Perhaps,’ Laura said rather drily. ‘But this time it’s Tristan Construction.’

‘Am I supposed to know who they are?’ Laura gave her a resigned look. T think you should,’ she said crisply. ‘They’re only the customers who could stop Caswells sliding any further into the red this year. They’ve got two major building projects in this area offices and flats and the carpeting contracts are up for grabs. Naturally, your father wants first grab.’

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: cfc9f8c2a0b59dad
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 634,962 bytes (0.606 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 149
• Language: English (en)

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• Estimated Reading Time: 280.88 minutes
• Total Words: 56,176
• Total Characters: 311,150
• Average Words per Page: 377.02
• Average Characters per Page: 2088.26

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