Chapter 21: Chapter 21

“I wouldn’t say a fright,” he said, “But you might want to give it a while before dealing with customers face to face.”

Fran sighed. “Good point.” He yawned and winced, holding his bruised face. “Excuse me one second.” He got up, then returned to the table with an iPad and started tapping away. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be anti-social, but I need to send cancellation notices for bookings. And message the staff not to come in.”

“Have a couple of them come in to take care of the cats. So you can rest.” Dez realized he sounded a bit too authoritarian when Fran looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Just a suggestion.”

Fran smiled. “A good one. I will. I had no sleep at all. I mean, after I got woken up. And I think a night in A&E unwound all the benefits of whatever sleep I did get before the break-in.”

“Well, if you’d just stayed in your bedroom and called the police instead of getting into a fight with the intruder—”