Dysart Dynasty 2 - Lorenzo's Reward.pdf

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Lorenzo's Reward
Catherine George
CHAPTER ONE
THE crowded pub was hot, smoke-filled, and full of men
in suits talking business over lunch. Jess eyed her watch
impatiently, willing Simon to hurry, then looked up to
find a complete stranger watching her intently from the
far end of the bar. Jess felt an odd plummeting sensation
in the pit of her stomach when dark, heavy-lidded eyes
lit with incredulous recognition as they met hers. She
glanced over her shoulder, sure he must be looking at
some other woman, but there was no other female in
sight.
Jess looked back again, which was a mistake. This
time she couldn't look away. Heat rose in her face.
Irritably she ordered herself to stop sitting there like a
hypnotised rabbit, her pulse suddenly erratic as the man
put down his drink and with purpose began to push his
way through the crowd towards her. But before he could
reach her two other men joined him, barring his way.
The stranger shrugged expressively, signalling regret, and
Jess finally broke eye contact. Then it dawned on her that
one of his companions was Mr Jeremy Lonsdale, unrec-
ognisable for a moment minus his barristers wig and
gown. But when the third member of the trio turned his
head she gasped in utter consternation. He was all too
familiar, with eyes which blazed in incredulous affront
when Jess panicked at the sight of him, spun around and
fled from the pub, with Simon Hollister, her astonished
lunch companion, in hot pursuit.
Jess dodged through honking traffic, and ran like a deer
up the road to the courthouse, to subject herself to the
usual security process inside. She was still gasping for
breath when Simon caught up with her in the jury res-
taurant. •.'•
"What the hell was all that about?" he panted.
"Prosecuting—Counsel—was there. With chums."
Jess heaved in a lungful of air. "One of them was
Roberto Forii, my sister's ex-boyfriend," she finished in
a rush.
Simon whistled. "And we jurors are forbidden con-
nection to anyone at all on the case."
"Exactlyl"
"How well do you know the man?"
"I've only met him once."
"Did Lonsdale see you?"
 
"I don't think so. He had his back to me."
Simon smiled reassuringly. "Then it's probably all
right Anyway, we'll soon know if your friend grassed
on you. Let's grab something to eat before we're called.
I left our lunch on the bar when you took off."
But after her mad dash in the midday heat Jess couldn't
face the thought of food. Her mind was too full of the
unexpected meeting with Roberto Forli. And with the
stranger in his company. The memory of those dark, in-
tent eyes sent shivers down her spine. The man had ob-
viously recognised her from somewhere. But where? And
when? Jess forced herself back to the present with an
effort, and gulped down the rest of her mineral water as
the jury was called back into the court.
As she took her seat in the jury box Jess buttoned her
jacket against the cold of the courtroom, which was arctic
compared with the summer day outside. According to bus
driver Phil, the comedian in their group, the courtroom
was kept cool to keep the jury awake during the longer
discourses, and at the same time prevent heatstroke for
the judge and barristers in their archaic horsehair wigs
and black gowns.
While they waited for the judge Jess firmly blanked
the lunchtime incident from her mind by thinking back
over her two weeks of jury service. She was glad, now,
of the experience, but the first day had been daunting.
After waiting in line to pass through an airport-style
metal detector she had been directed to the jury restau-
rant, an airport-style cafeteria packed with people queu-
ing for coffee, reading newspapers, or just sitting staring
into space if they'd managed to find a chair. Later, in an
empty courtroom with the other newcomers, she had
watched a video which set out the rules, but a wait of
two days had elapsed before she was called into service.
The clerk of the court had shuffled cards and read out
names as usual, but this time Jessamy Dysart was among
the chosen. She had been led off to a courtroom, and
with eleven of her peers sworn in as a member of the
jury. At first glance the dark wood and leather of the
courtroom, though impressive enough, had seemed a lot
smaller than on television. Jess had been rather discon-
certed to find herself at such close quarters not only with
the prisoner in the dock, but with the barristers and so-
licitors facing the judge in the well of the court.
Now there was only another day of a different trial to
go, with a different batch of jurors. This time Jess was
seated in the front of the jury box next to Simon Hollister.
He had made a beeline for her from the first day, and
frankly admitted that his original intention had been to
avoid jury duty by pleading pressure of work in his mar-
keting job in the City. But once actually there in the
courthouse an unexpected sense of civic duty had made
 
him stay.
"Added to the prospect of a fortnight coming into
close contact with you, Jess," he'd added, with a grin.
Jess had taken this with a pinch of salt. Simon was a
charmer, and she liked him, but she also liked Edward,
- the ex-headmaster, and June, the office cleaner, and most
of her fellow jurors. However, she longed for this partic-
ular trial to be over. The young woman in the dock. Pros-
ecuting Counsel alleged, had knowingly smuggled drugs
into the country in her luggage. Like Jess she was in her
mid-twenties, but with eyes dark-ringed in a pale,
strained face, and from the evidence there seemed little
doubt that she was guilty.
Previously Jess had preferred to eat a sandwich lunch
in the jury restaurant with the others. But today she had
given in to Simon's coaxing, glad to escape from the
memory of the defendant's hopeless eyes. Now Jess
wished she'd stayed put as usual. The fascinating
stranger's interest had intrigued her, and in other circum-
stances she would have liked to meet him. But not when
he came as one of a package with Roberto Forii and
Prosecuting Counsel.
Jess waited in trepidation as the afternoon session be-
gan, fully expecting the judge to stop the proceedings.
But to her vast relief everything went on as usual, and
instead of pointing a dramatic finger at her Mr Jeremy
Lonsdale merely got to his feet to make his closing
speech for the prosecution. When the barrister sat down
at last Simon gave a discreet thumbs-up sign. Afterwards
Defence Counsel's speech proved to be mainly a criti-
cism of Prosecution's case, with interminable reminders
to the jury about burden of proof and miscarriages of
justice. Long before he finished Jess bitterly regretted the
reckless volume of water downed before coming into
court. Hot with embarrassment, she was forced to raise a
hand at last when the banister paused for breath. With
the judge's permission the usher escorted all members of
the jury from the box to lock them in the jury room where
eleven of them waited while Jess, crimson-faced, retired
to their private cloakroom. Afterwards they all filed back
into the court again to hear Defence Counsel come to a
conclusion. When he achieved this at long last the judge
ruled that it was time to finish for the day. He would
leave his summing up for the morning.
"Not to worry, love," whispered June afterwards.
"Don't be embarrassed. Nature calls everyone—even the
judge."
The June sunshine was warm as Jess drove home
through rush hour. Moving from one set of traffic lights
to the next in slow progression, she was so preoccupied
with the thoughts of the fascinating stranger she almost
shot a red light at one point, and glued her attention to
the traffic afterwards instead. The hot, crowded city
 
streets filled Jess with sudden longing for Friars Wood,
the cool house perched on the cliffs overlooking the Wye
Valley, and the meal her mother would be concocting for
the family at that very moment. Just one more day to go,
she consoled herself, then she could go home for a break.
Jess managed to park near her flat in Bayswater, then
trudged along the terrace of tall white houses, glad to get
back to a home far more peaceful these days, since Fiona
Todd had moved out to live with her man. Jess and her
remaining flatmate, Emily Shaw, were now the only ten-
ants, an arrangement which worked very amicably.
When Jess got in Emily was lying on the sofa, watch-
ing television. "Hi," she said, turning the set off. "My
word, you look done in. What's up?"
Jess groaned. "Have I had a fraught day!"
"Is it desperately hush-hush, or are you allowed to tell
me?"
"This bit I can! I ran into Roberto Forii in a pub at
lunchtime."
Emily's big eyes widened. "Really? Your sister's ex
from Florence? What's he doing here in London?"
"No idea. Whatever it was I wish he'd been doing it
somewhere else," said Jess irritably.
"Why?" said Emily, astonished.
"It's a long story."
"But jolly interesting, by the sound of it"
Jess took a deep breath. "Simon Hollister, the mar-
keting bloke on the jury with me, asked me out for a
swift lunch. By sheer bad luck we hit on the same pub
as Prosecuting Counsel."
"No!"
Jess described the incident with Roberto Forii to her
riveted friend. But, for reasons she wasn't quite sure of,
made no mention of the stranger. "We're forbidden con-
tact with anyone connected to the court, of course, so
when I saw Roberto all chummy with Prosecuting
Counsel I shot out of the pub like greased lightning and
did a runner back to the courthouse."
"Did Roberto see you?"
"You bet he did." Jess collapsed into a chair, grateful
for the fruit juice her friend handed over. "Wonderful. I
needed this. Thank goodness you were home early to-
day."
Emily Shaw worked for an executive in a credit card
 
company, and it was rare that she was home at this hour.
"Mr Boss Man's away, and I've been slaving like mad
to get everything shipshape before I take off on my hols.
I developed a nasty little headache after lunch, so I
knocked off early for once."
"I should think so." Jess eyed her closely. "You look
horribly peaky. Have you taken any painkillers?"
"Yes, Nurse. And I'm going to bed early." Emily
grinned. "You should do the same for once."
"I probably will." Jess smiled ruefully. "Pity I had to
offend Roberto like that. You should have seen his face
when I bolted!"
"Well, don't keep me in suspense—what happened
when you went back into the jury box? Did the judge
excommunicate you, "or whatever?"
"No, thank goodness. But while Defence Counsel was
droning on I realised I shouldn't have drunk so much
water." Jess giggled as she described the trooping out of
the entire jury on her account. "There's only one loo in
the jury room, and it's not exactly soundproof. I think
I'm still blushing."
"Oh, bad luck!" Emily laughed, then eyed Jess spec-
ulatively. "I wonder why Leonie's ex is in London?"
"No idea." Jess sighed. "Pity he was with Prosecuting
Counsel. In any other circumstances I'd have enjoyed a
chat with him very much." And, more to the point,
achieved an introduction to the interesting stranger at the
same time.
"Never mind," consoled Emily. "Perhaps Leo will
know when you go home for the wedding."
Jess brightened. "Which now seems plain sailing,
thank goodness. I was getting a bit tense about the way
things were dragging on, in case I had to dash straight
back after the wedding to go to court on Monday, but
with a bit of luck the case will finish tomorrow. Lucky
for me, anyway," she added, sobering.
"Cheer up—the weekend forecast looks good." Emily
grinned. "The sun is sure to shine for Leonie on Sunday,
anyway. The 'minute I set foot in a plane to fly away
from it Britain always swelters in a heatwave."
"Since you're off to sunny Italy it doesn't matter."
Jess sighed. "I wish I was going with you. After seven
years apart Jonah and Leo were all for dashing off to a
register office right away, of course, but when they were
persuaded to wait for a conventional June wedding I
hadn't the heart to say the date clashed with my holi-
day."
 

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