Chapter one

The body had been waiting there for Kay Christie. Loosely
wrapped in slimy black plastic it had lain flaccid, puddling the
dockside before police covered it with a white tent. It was the
most exciting event ever to have happened at London’s Excel
Centre.

It had all started early that morning at what time? Kay
supposed five o’clock. She had been lying in bed dreaming
about owning a soft black dog. She heard the shrill ring and
searched frantically for her phone in the dark, well used to bad
news coming either early or late.

Simon Bell, Excel’s Marketing Director and Kay’s biggest
client, had hauled her in to deal with the press while they figured
out what was going to happen with the boat show. Kay had sent
ahead her deputy and right-hand woman, Jacquie McCoy. She
lived closer and would get there quicker. But when Kay arrived
at the back stairs of Excel, Jacquie was there with swollen red
eyes and black mascara seeping down her cheekbones.

“You’re doing great Jacqs, you really are,” Kay said while
rubbing her back, wanting to encourage and comfort. Kay was
like a mother to her team even though Kay and Jacquie were
the same age.

“I don’t think I am.” Jacquie sniffed.

They went up to the press office, S17, which looked out
directly over the Royal Albert Dock. Across the river Thames,
the Millennium Dome loomed like an albino turtle in traction.
Excel’s central hall had been eerie. A cleaner’s trolley had lain
abandoned and a black plastic refuse bag tied to its handle
ballooned in an invisible breeze. It smelled of cleaning fluid and
delicious ship diesel.

This was where it started to get weird.
The door of S17 crashed open and there stood Simon Bell. He
had arrived in his cycling shorts. Couldn’t he have just pulled
on a pair of jeans? The world didn’t have his size; everything he
wore was either too big or too tight.

Outside, an ambulance had pulled up on the pontoon and it
cast a flickering blue light across the back wall of S17. Simon
had got up to look and while he stood at the window, he had
bent a knee to rearrange himself using his finger and thumb.

“It’s a bit late for that!” he shouted at the ambulance. Then
on the way back to his seat, seeing Jacquie’s upset, he had
inappropriately rubbed her back too. His thumb lingered on
Jacquie’s neck a second too long.

Being an external agency meant that sometimes you or a
member of your team got felt up by a client. A loophole where
there was no real comeback. It was eight o’clock by then so Kay
had dialled in to the secure crisis conference line as planned and
the automated call system requested their names.

“Simon, Kay, Jacquie,” Kay said, then there was a long beep
followed by a burst of classical music. Kay dreamt away for a
moment trying to place it, but she knew nothing about classical
music. Common as muck really underneath her business suit.
Click. The CEO and the Operations Director had clunked into
the call. Kay heard the engine of the ambulance power down
outside.

“Your dad wasn’t working Kay,” the Operations Manager
reassured her. Kay had wangled a job for her father on the
perimeter security gate checking car passes. He sat there day
after day reading the newspaper and listening to sport on a
crackling radio.

“Oh, thank God, I was worried and he’s not answering his
phone,” Kay said, but she knew he was probably still drunk. If
he wasn’t working, he wouldn’t get up until lunchtime. As it
turned out, it was the new security guard who had found the
body on only his third day of employment. He had done a last
sweep just after three o’clock and saw a black arc in the water
and knew straight away it wasn’t right.

“Jesus Christ,” Simon said, his lip curling back. Jacquie
held her hand up over her mouth, flashing her neat and efficient
engagement ring. The level of melodrama was extreme. To be
fair they were marketing people and not adept at dealing with
dead bodies but still. “He won’t be back. I tell you. He’ll be
claiming psychological disability benefit from us for the next 50
years. I wish I’d bloody found the body!”

There had been discussion about the tide and the weather.
As the Operations Director talked about the overnight storm,
a gust of wind had lashed the window and they had all pulled
away. A banshee-like whistle of wind swooshed its clawed wings
around the building.

It was mundane and boring doing the PR for Excel, as you
might expect, but such was the size of the site that now and
again, things did get washed up or crimes committed. Never
anything of this magnitude.

The CEO had charged Simon with telephoning the owners
of Excel, the office of Qatari businessman Abdul Bin Harashi,
for damage limitation. There was an immediate need to explain,
because after all, the body had been found trussed up underneath
their luxury boat, The Lusciousness.

Kay had a persistent negative feeling in her gut that using
The Lusciousness as the face of the boat show might have been
a bad idea. This was about to be proved right.
A white tent had been put up outside on the southern
embankment, and it was here that the ambulance was parked.
Kay had assumed that the body must be inside that tent. A
floating pontoon had been erected temporarily for the boat
show and The Lusciousness was moored to it. Blue and white
police tape extended from the tent and cordoned off access to
the pontoon.

At least there was a dog. A cute – and only a real dog lover
would ever call one cute – Alsatian had been led around sniffing
at a pile of rope and ten or so crates which had been piled up.
A diver’s head had popped up in the blue-black water between
The Lusciousness and the pontoon. The water looked like
poured ink.

It was dizzying. No wonder Jacquie was crying. It was a
million miles away from sending out a press release about The
Lusciousness being the World’s Most Expensive Boat.
“Christ Jacquie, this is –” Kay had begun to say, but she
stopped short. The wind had picked up and rattled the glass
again. The side of the tent had been sucked completely insideout
revealing solidly planted feet. It must have been the forensic
team examining the body.

Kay had watched, eyes glued to the tent like a motorway rubbernecker.
The wind had come again, angrier than before, turning the
inky water into white tipped wisps. In an instant, it hoisted
up the tent, threw it over, and flung it onto its side where it
bounced against the side of the ambulance. White gloved hands
had reached out frantically from inside to grab it back. Three
police officers had sprinted over to secure it.
But it was too late. Kay had seen the body.

Bloated yes, swollen certainly, but the face with a black curl
of hair pressed tightly to the fleshy forehead was clear. A dilute
orange froth formed around the mouth, but the face was plain
to see. The eyes were fixed open. Kay had gasped.
Her knees had buckled. A high-pitched tone had started up
in her ears. She collapsed down into a chair, suddenly burning
hot and sweating. Good old Jacquie stood up and ran over.

“Are you alright, Kay?”

Kay shook her head, pulling at the neckline of her shirt and
had waved Jacquie away.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.”

But Kay was not fine. A vein in her temple was twitching
violently. The dead body in the water.
Kay recognised the face.
She knew him.

CONFIDENTIAL: FOR REACTIVE ISSUE ONLY

Position Statement
A discovery was made this morning at the royal
Albert Dock. we are working closely with the relevant
authorities to establish the facts of the situation and
provide any assistance required.

Simon Bell, Director, excel Conference and exhibition
Centre said, “the safety of our guests and
exhibitors is extremely important to us. As soon as
the discovery came to light, we acted promptly in
assisting the relevant authorities. we have currently
suspended all activity on site.”

For further information please contact Kay Christie
or Jacquie McCoy at Christie Dean Pr on
0794 400 4000 or email jacquie@christiedeanpr.co.uk

In The Wake is published by Urbane Publicaions and can be ordered here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wake-Secrets-always-rise-surface-ebook/dp/B07CR9RG5K/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1545168397&sr=1-1

Here is the blurb:

When a body is found floating in London’s Royal Albert Dock, successful public relations expert Kay Christie is sent to quiet the media, but things get complicated when it emerges that she knew the victim.

As events spiral out of control, Kay discovers that those close to her may be harbouring another secret – the story of a missing girl. Can Kay discover the truth before her life unravels and she risks losing everything?

In the Wake questions whether we can ever truly leave our pasts behind and explores the lengths that we will go to protect the people that we love.