Clouds Below the Mountains by Vivienne Dockerty

quiet bar away from prying eyes. Miguel had got to his feet by the time she had left him, so she thought he’d probably be boasting of the incident in the morning, as he had been mistakenly accused by Simon of trying it on with Jen’.
    For that was what it was, mused Lucy. Miguel had only put his arm around Jenni’s shoulder in a gesture of friendliness, he was like that with everyone. It was the Spanish way. He had felt sorry for Jenni being virtually dumped by her boyfriend in a foreign country, a quick tale told by Lucy, as he was being introduced to her.
    As two Spanish policemen came into the foyer, Simon struggled up from the sofa, causing the security guard to grab him quickly and put him back into an arm lock, whilst over at Reception the night porter had begun to explain what was going on.
    â€œThey can’t do nothing, can they?”, Simon appealed to Greg’, as the truth hit home of what might be happening to him.
    â€œI suppose they can,” Greg said, shrugging his shoulders. “If the waiter or the young girl wants to press charges, you’ll be in a spot of trouble, I’ll be bound.”
    â€œBut I’m British,” he shouted, after the two policemen suddenly turned from speaking to the night porter, walked over to say something to the security guard and found himself being gripped by each arm and taken through the automatic doors.
    His cries of alarm were silenced, as he was flung into the back of a waiting car, while Greg and Lucy stood on the hotel steps wondering what to do?
    â€œThat’s going a bit too far,” Greg voiced his objection to Lucy, as the police car was driven out of the hotel grounds, with Simon looking as if his world had caved in. But as neither of them spoke Spanish, they were helpless to interfere.
    â€œ I’ll do something about it in the morning,” Lucy promised. “ There’s no point now, there will only be an Ansa machine on at the office. I’ll speak to Kath. Yes, I’ll speak to her about it, Kath always knows what to do.”
    They walked in silence from the foyer together, then Lucy complimented Greg on his swift intervention.
    â€œHave you had much experience in this sort of thing, Mr Lewis?”, she asked, thinking that perhaps he was in the police force or he’d had army training.
    â€œWhen you’ve got a factory with young apprentices in it like I have,” he grinned. “You’d be surprised how many skirmishes break out. There would be murder done if someone didn’t jump in and stop them.”
    â€œWell, thanks for helping, shall we go back and see how Jenni and Miguel are? I’ll probably take Jenni back to my apartment for the night, she won’t want to be on her own.”
    â€œThat’s a thought. What is going to happen to her if her boyfriend ends up in clink here?”
    â€œWe’ll worry about that in the morning, shall we? See if the police want to prosecute.”
    By the time Greg and Lucy had got back to the Sunlight Bar, the entertainment was in full swing, with the girl singer belting out a song by Whitney Houston and her male partner accompanying her on his Yamaha.
    Greg and Lucy said goodnight at the door, as Lucy was heading for the quiet bar. It seemed to Greg that all eyes in the room were staring at him, as he took his place next to his wife.
    â€œI’ll tell you later,” he said, when she started to question him and with that she had to be content.
    ***
    â€œWhat’s going to happen to Simon?,” asked Jenni in concern, as soon as Lucy found her sitting next to Tina and Anna, sipping a glass of brandy which seemed to have calmed her down, though her hand shook a little as she held the glass.
    â€œThrown into prison and the keys flushed down the toilet,” said Anna unhelpfully, feeling quite annoyed on behalf of Miguel, who she had developed a soft spot for.
    â€œThere was nothing I could do, Jenni,” said Lucy.