Mallorcan Magic – Episode 30
Mallorcan Magic
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- 32. Mallorcan Magic – Episode 31
- 33. Mallorcan Magic – Episode 32
- 34. Mallorcan Magic – Episode 33
AT the villa, Raoul was still out, so the gates remained open. Eira saw the children safely into the rear seat and was getting behind the steering wheel when she heard what sounded like a motorbike. The machine slowed and came up the drive towards her and the rider dismounted.
Eira beckoned to Isabella, standing on the front doorstep. The housekeeper addressed the courier as he withdrew a package from one of the bike’s panniers.
Isabella repeated Danny’s name and then pointed Eira’s way. The courier held out a clipboard and pen.
“You sign for Señor Carpenter’s parcel?”
She wrote her name on the page. The driver thanked her, handed over the package and climbed back on his machine.
“I take indoors?” Isabella asked.
“Thanks, Isabella. The study’s unlocked so you can put it on his desk. I’m sure it’ll be fine. See you later!”
Eira set off singing a song the children liked and trying to put Danny from her mind. She had a full timetable arranged for Louise and Richard, luckily for her, because this way she’d have no time to wonder how their father was getting on in London.
She remembered Manolo. If Antonio had got the wrong end of the stick, and if Manolo had no girlfriend and rang the villa, would she go out with him?
Yes, she decided, she would, but not, of course, until after her employer returned.
****
Raoul steered the limo round to the rear of the villa, noticing Eira must have taken the little car, as scheduled. His throat dried as he contemplated the action necessary to get his hands on the money he’d been promised.
When the stranger approached him in the café where he was meeting a mate, he’d been stinging with resentment at the way he’d been treated. Now he felt uncertain about the consequences of a seemingly harmless prank, but was unable to stop himself from going through with it.
He recalled how the English girl slapped him, when all he wanted was a kiss.
He had plenty of time to wash and polish his beautiful limo before he collected his boss later that week, even though he’d been handed a list of tasks. But he must choose his moment and wait until Isabella set off to visit an old school friend who occupied a cottage in the grounds of another villa, a woman also employed as a cook housekeeper.
Only then could Raoul discover where Eira had left the package he knew had been delivered. Once located, he knew what to do next.
He didn’t waste time wondering what lay behind this odd hoax. Someone must want to inconvenience Danny Carpenter. Must have known a package was on its way and decided to intercept it.
So why not waylay the motorbike courier?
Raoul’s mind wasn’t devious enough to work that one out. Anyway, this wasn’t stealing. If his boss returned and asked whether a parcel had been delivered, Eira would be the one who had signed for it. She’d opted to become the boss’s right-hand woman, so let her get on with it!
Raoul stamped out his cigarette, pushing it into the nearest flowerbed. If he spoke nicely to Isabella, she’d make him a coffee.
He shuddered at the thought of the tongue-flaying he’d get if she suspected he was involved in any scheme designed to cause Señor Carpenter inconvenience.
Isabella seemed in no hurry to leave. She sat with Raoul, asking him about his local football team and enquiring about his sister’s wedding preparations. He thought she would never make a move and was about to go outside and check round the limo when the housekeeper got to her feet.
He left the coffee things to wash up after he’d eaten lunch. Now to find the parcel! He’d try the study first, on the basis that it wouldn’t be used until the boss returned and things could be left in there with safety.
What if goody-goody Eira had locked the door before leaving? Raoul had a way with locks but life would be easier if he didn’t need to fiddle with this one.
A flash of panic hit him. What if the package’s contents were so important that Danny called the police to report its theft? But Raoul’s fingerprints would be expected around the villa’s ground floor and recently he’d also been upstairs when unpacking his boss’s personal effects.
He relaxed and turned the handle.
On the desk, a square package, wrapped in brown paper, stood on the blotting paper holder. Everything was tidy. The boss had become more organised since Eira’s arrival.
Raoul picked up the parcel and left the room, closing the door behind him. He loped upstairs, sped along the landing and headed down the narrow corridor past the children’s rooms and on to the nanny’s quarters.
Raoul found the door ajar and stepped inside. He took a reel of heavy-duty tape from his pocket and walked round to the far side of the bed, where he got down on all fours and hiked the counterpane up.
By squirming on his front, he could attach the package to the base of the bed, though the object wasn’t exactly light. But when he’d finished, he knew it wouldn’t be budged without using a sharp blade.
