Agent Provocateur by Faith Bleasdale Page A

overanalyses her behaviour and stops herself from doing things that she sometimes wants to do.
    The job tonight is unusual for her. A wife suspects her husband of cheating and has overheard him on the phone making an arrangement to meet someone. When she questioned him he said it was one of his old friends, but she didn’t believe him. Nicole doesn’t normally use Grace for these jobs, but for some reason she seemed keen that she should do it. Grace agreed, without questioning Nicole’s motives. She didn’t have to talk to him and she would be well paid. A thought that appeals.
    After finishing her work, she picks up Modern Woman’s proposal again. Then she puts it back down. She will call Betty the following day and not before. Unsure exactly why she wants to make her wait, she does, because she knows that when they start, the confident journalist will probably run rings around her.
     
    Betty knows that Grace will have the proposal and she wonders what she is thinking. When she ran it by Fiona, Fiona was overexcited about the whole thing, so Grace has to agree. Betty’s career is relying on it. She knows that it is Grace’s boss who wanted her to do the feature, so she is trying to be relaxed about it, but there is a niggle in the back of her mind. Betty thinks Grace is the type of woman to play games, and this worries her. What if Grace does that to her? Although Betty can handle most things, and most people, this slightly worries her. She has a feeling that whatever the outcome, this woman could cause serious problems and she cannot rationalise the feeling, or shake off the fact that she doesn’t like it. She wills Grace to hurry up and put her out of her misery, then she can get on with things, including organising the party that Johnny has roped her into helping him with.
    Johnny is like a child with a new toy. He has found a venue, Vermin, a new club with a private bar downstairs, which he hired for a sum of money that Betty doesn’t want to think about. Johnny seems to be more than happy to throw money at the party. More money than Betty thinks is healthy. He is using their savings, and although they both earn good money, they are not exactly flush. She shakes her head and tries to stop being so sensible. She never used to be so boring, she tells herself. Johnny wants fun and she should want it too. It is just that she doesn’t see fun in that way anymore.
    As well as the venue, he has secured a DJ. Where Johnny found a dance music DJ from is a mystery, but he did and the man is booked. The drinks are going to be free up to a certain amount (Betty balked at this), and then after that people will have to pay for their own. Betty is in charge of invitations (that is all she is in charge of).
    She calls the printers that they use at the magazine and does a deal. At least the invitations (all two hundred of them) are going to be relatively cheap. The venue takes one hundred to a hundred and fifty people, so Johnny wants to invite two hundred because not everyone will come. Betty hopes that not everyone will come.
    She stares at the phone, willing it to ring. She wants Grace to say yes, she wants to get on with the story, she wants it to be over. She wants to go back to making up embarrassing sex stories, which she mentally promises she will never complain about again.
     
    Grace pulls off her shoes while leaning against the wall. She made a mistake wearing high heels to her job, because when she got there she realised she would have to stand all night. The seats (and there weren’t very many) were all taken, she had to find a space near the man she was targeting and stand.
    She spotted him straight away. Although he looked older than he did in the photo, he was unmistakable. Grace often wonders why wives send in photos that make their husbands look better than they do. Nicole always emphasises the importance of an accurate photo – after all, it is the only thing they have by which to identify the man – yet