Chapter 45
AMBER
For a moment, everyone stares at Dominic. Then Willow surges forwards, tugging his arm.
‘No, no, no. You’ve got it wrong. It can’t be Dad down there. It can’t be!’
He wraps his arms around her trembling frame and holds her tightly. ‘I’m so sorry, angel. I’m so, so sorry.’
Simone, always so controlled, so together, is shaking too and her eyes are huge in her face. ‘Are you sure it was him, Dominic?’
Dominic nods. ‘I’m sure.’
Willow lets out a howl so anguished my own eyes fill with tears. She starts to sob, her shoulders heaving. Maria appears by my side and gently prises Willow away from Dominic, her voice low and tender.
‘Come with me, little one. Come back inside. I’ll look after you.’
The housekeeper nods curtly at Simone, then leads Willow back towards the villa, propping her up as if her legs are made of jelly.
‘I want to see him,’ Simone says once they’ve gone.
Victoria catches Dom’s eye. ‘I’m not sure that’s a good idea, darling.’
‘I don’t care. I want to see my husband.’ She sounds calm and in control but the tremor in her hands and the vein throbbing at her temple betray her.
A flicker of indecision crosses Dom’s face, and I can guess at the battle raging inside him: one half understanding that seeing Felix’s body might help Simone accept what’s happened, the other half wanting to protect her from the shock of it.
Eventually, he runs his hands through his already messy hair. ‘OK. I’ll take you. But they might not let you very close. The foreman told me he’s been asked to secure the site until the police arrive.’
‘When will that be?’ Victoria asks.
‘As long as it takes them to get here from Thalassia. An hour? Maybe two?’ Dom turns to Simone. ‘Are you sure about this?’
She nods and he guides her around the side of the villa, a hand in the small of her back. The moment they’re gone, Victoria starts theorising.
‘What d’you think happened? I reckon he broke into the building site on his way back from the jetty last night and tripped and fell while he was having a nose around.
’ She looks scandalised. ‘Maybe it happened yesterday when he went for a walk to clear his head, and he’s been lying there ever since. In this heat.’ Her nose wrinkles.
Something is niggling me, but I can’t think what it is. I mutter, ‘I don’t know,’ when what I really want to say is, ‘Perhaps if you’d shown more concern when Felix first went AWOL he’d have already been found by now.’
Barney’s face is grey and his hands are plunged deep into his pockets. ‘What d’you think’ll happen to the Wapping development now?’
Victoria gapes at him. ‘Too soon, Barney! For goodness’ sake, the man’s barely cold. Show some respect!’
‘I’m being pragmatic, Vic. He has two and a half million pounds of our money tied up in that place. Who’s going to drive the project now he isn’t here?’
‘I don’t know. But now is not the time to worry about that. And don’t mention the money when the police get here, for Christ’s sake.’
‘Why not? He fell, didn’t he? It was an accident.’
‘I only said that’s what might have happened, but we don’t know for sure, do we?
Not until they’ve done a post-mortem, and God only knows how long that’ll take in a backwater like this.
So don’t tell them all our money is tied up in one of Felix’s dodgy property investments just in case it wasn’t an accident, OK? ’
Barney nods. I can see why Victoria is so good at her job. Astute, composed, already thinking three steps ahead when the rest of us are still trying to catch up. Because if Felix’s death wasn’t accidental, it can only mean one thing. Someone killed him…
Victoria must notice my shocked expression, because she is quick to clarify.
‘I’m not saying it wasn’t an accident, I’m just saying we don’t know how he died yet. And until we do, anyone with a reason to resent Felix needs to be careful how they spin things.’
She holds my gaze as she says it, and a frisson of fear runs through me. Because after the night of Simone’s birthday meal, I have a reason to resent Felix, don’t I? And, I remember with growing horror, so does Dominic.
The air on the terrace suddenly feels suffocating. I need to get away.
‘I’m going to check on Willow,’ I announce.
Victoria frowns. ‘There’s really no need. She’s known Maria since she was little. She’ll look after her.’
‘The girl has just lost a parent.’ I try to keep the edge out of my voice, but it’s hard. So hard. ‘I know how that feels. So when Dom gets back, you can tell him I’m with Willow.’ And before she can answer, I turn on my heel and head for the villa.
* * *
I find Willow and Maria in the living room, the teenager on the floor in front of the huge L-shaped sofa, hugging her knees, her head bowed. Maria is sitting beside her, one arm round her slender shoulders, a box of tissues in the other hand.
Willow is talking, though it’s hard to make out what she’s saying between sobs. Neither she nor Maria has heard me come in, and I loiter by the door for a minute or two wondering whether I should intrude on their grief.
‘…just don’t understand why he would have gone down there. The gates were always locked.’
Maria’s voice, low and reassuring. ‘Don’t upset yourself, agapi mou. The police will be here soon. They will discover what has happened to your father. In the meantime, let me call your mother. Will you be all right here on your own?’
‘I’ll stay with her,’ I say.
Maria looks up and, seeing me, nods. ‘I won’t be long,’ she says, handing me the tissues.
I plonk down on the ground next to Willow. My instinct is to give her a hug but I’m not sure how she’d react, so I squeeze her knee instead.
‘Are you OK?’
Her head jerks up, her swollen eyes blazing. ‘What d’you think? My dad’s dead. Of course I’m not OK!’
‘Sorry, it was a stupid thing to say.’ I try again. ‘Can I get you anything? A glass of water, a blanket?’
She shakes her head and we sit like that for a moment: Willow sniffing, me searching for something to say that isn’t a meaningless platitude, because ‘I’m sorry for your loss’ just doesn’t cut it.
It’s been years since Gran died, but I still remember the impotent rage I felt whenever someone told me ‘everything happens for a reason’ and ‘she’s in a better place’, or any sentence that began with ‘At least…’
In the end it’s Willow who breaks the silence.
‘You were the only one who was worried about him, weren’t you? We all thought he’d just disappeared for a bit, situation normal. If only we’d listened to you.’
‘Oh, Willow.’ This time I do put my arm around her and she doesn’t protest. ‘You mustn’t blame yourself. I could have insisted we go and look for him, but I didn’t.’
She turns her tear-streaked face to mine. ‘What if he collapsed in the heat? It could have taken him hours to die. I can’t stop thinking what it must have been like for him, all alone down there while we were eating and drinking up here like everything was fine.’
I pluck a tissue from the box and press it into her hand. ‘I know it’s hard, but try not to think like that. We don’t know what happened yet, do we? Not for sure.’
We both jump at the sound of a door slamming somewhere in the villa. Moments later, Maria appears, twisting a dishcloth between her fingers.
Dread solidifies in my stomach.
‘What is it, Maria? What’s wrong?’
‘The police are on their way.’