She straightened. Enough of this nonsense. She had just had a very successful few days, turning the agency into an international proposition, and she was heading straight into another job. Success, security, everything she was working towards was within reach. That was where she needed to focus.
With a jolt of relief, she spotted the sign with her name on it and headed towards it. The sooner she was out of the airport the better.
Ten minutes later Alex found herself ensconced in the back of a comfortable saloon car, her laptop purring to life beside her, a notebook on the folded-out tray table, a chilled bottle of water and a pot of fruit beside it. She read through her emails again quickly, but there was nothing from Amber to indicate where she was going and what she would be doing once she was there.
The driver had volunteered the information that the journey would take around an hour and a half, depending on traffic, but hadn’t mentioned the destination. No matter. Amber would fill her in.
Despite the earliness of the hour the roads were busy and the car crawled along. Looking out of the darkened windows into the pre-dawn winter gloom, Alex noted how low and heavy the skies were. The temperature had dropped as well, now closer to the New York chill she’d just left than the autumnal mildness she’d flown away from just a week ago.
It was easy to believe that Christmas was less than three weeks away and winter was well and truly settling in.
A sign caught her eye and she winced at the realisation that they were heading out to the M40. Hopefully they’d turn off soon. She normally avoided the area around the Chilterns. It was far too full of memories.
She checked her phone and decided that it was late enough to call Amber. Barely had she pressed the call button when her friend answered, sounding, as always, far too chipper for first thing in the morning.
‘Hi, Alex! You got my message?’
‘I did. Which is why I am in the back of a car heading out of London and not into it. Who’s the client and what’s so urgent that I’m needed on site straight away? A threatened exposé? PR disaster?’ Her mind whirled. The thornier the problem the more she loved it.
‘Nothing so exciting. I’m sorry. But hopefully you’ll still enjoy the brief. Have you heard of Hawk?’
Alex thought for a moment, the name niggling at her. ‘It sounds familiar.’
‘It’s an outdoor lifestyle brand, all rugged clothing, popular with those people who like to leave their city pad in their four-by-four to go for a ten-minute walk on the beach, but the clothes are the real deal as well, you know? They’re worn by loads of serious climbers and explorer types. They have that cute hawk symbol on all their clothes. Like my winter coat?’
‘Yes. I know who you mean.’ She didn’t own any of their clothing personally, but she was aware of the company’s stellar reputation. ‘What’s happened? Why do they need me?’
‘A broken leg.’
Alex blinked. Maybe she wasn’t as refreshed as she thought. ‘A broken leg?’
‘Their PR manager has managed to break her leg in several places. She’s confined to bed with her leg in a cage.’
That made more sense. ‘I see.’
‘They’ve just moved their headquarters to some kind of stately home out towards Swindon, I think. That’s where you’re headed.’
Alex let out a breath she hadn’t quite realised she was holding. Swindon was past the danger area. ‘Okay...’
‘The owner is opening up the whole estate as an outdoor activity and nature destination. You know the kind of thing: adventure playgrounds and forest trails, all in line with the whole Hawk brand. They’re running the business out of converted barns, or stables, or something suitably rustic. They’re officially opening at the end of the week, with a ton of Christmas-themed events. Apparently the house and grounds were all neglected and it’s the kind of area where jobs are sparse, house prices sky-high and lots of incomers are buying second homes, so there’s a whole rejuvenating-the-village and local-jobs-for-local-people thing going on as well.’
‘Very worthy,’ Alex said drily. ‘But any Communications and PR plan for all that will have been agreed months ago. What do they need me for?’
‘To look after things while the PR manager is on bed-rest.’
Alex shifted, staring out of the window at the pinkening sky. ‘Amber, that’s not a difficult job. Any of our temps could take a plan and implement it. They don’t need me for anything so simple. It’s not like I’m cheap.’
‘They were adamant they wanted you. It’s a big deal, Alex. Opening up the house after all this time is a huge undertaking, and it’s very different to anything they’ve done before. They see the estate as the embodiment of their brand. They’re really big on sustainability and corporate responsibility, which fits in with the job creation and community stuff. They need a safe pair of hands to make sure it’s properly publicised. Besides, they hinted that there might be bigger work coming our way if they were happy. Maybe this is some kind of test.’
‘Maybe...’ But Alex had entered PR for a reason. She knew when someone was spinning a story and this situation just didn’t ring true. ‘Send me the brief, will you?’
‘I don’t have it. They wanted to talk you through it all in person. But, honestly, they are opening with a whole Christmassy bang. You’ll be kept suitably busy, I promise.’
All Alex’s senses tingled. As soon as she finished the call she planned to find out every last bit of knowledge she could about Hawk and its owner. If it was in the public domain—or semi-public—then she would find it. Maybe she was wrong, and this situation was all absolutely legitimate, but she needed to be prepared for any and every eventuality.
‘Alex, before you go... Dalstone sent over their press release for you to work your magic on and they want it back before nine this morning. Can you take a look now?’
‘Of course. I’ll send it right back. Is everything else okay?’
‘All’s good. Harriet’s working from home today. Deangelo just got back from an oversea trip so she wants to see him. Emilia’s event went really well, but she didn’t get in until after two so I think she’ll be sleeping in.’
Amber sounded wistful. She thrived on the company of others and was happiest when they were all together. It didn’t help that Christmas was so close. For the last few years the four of them had spent Christmas together, but this year Deangelo was taking Harriet back to his native Rio De Janeiro for the holiday, and Emilia would be spending two weeks in Armaria. All three of them expected their friend to come back sporting an engagement ring.
‘I was thinking,’ Alex said with an impulsiveness that surprised her. ‘You and I should do something this Christmas. Skiing, maybe? Or we could have a city break somewhere wintry, like Vienna?’
‘Really?’
‘Absolutely. Why don’t you look into it? After all the hard work we’ve had over the last few months we deserve a short break.’
‘It will have to be short,’ Amber reminded her. ‘Your contract with Hawk lasts until Christmas
