Chapter 66
AMBER
‘Simone!’ I yell, skidding to a halt on the dusty ground.
She’s standing on a flat rock a couple of feet from the cliff edge, her hands on her hips, staring out to sea. She doesn’t turn round and dread oozes down my spine like a lump of ice.
I step forwards cautiously, as if I’m approaching a feral cat, and start speaking in a low voice.
‘Please, Simone, come back from the edge.’ I clear my throat, trying not to look at the rolling waves battering the cliffs below. She doesn’t move, doesn’t even seem to register my presence. I take another couple of steps towards her, my arm outstretched.
‘I know it’s a mess, but we can sort it out.’
Finally, she turns to me, her features sharp with irritation. ‘What?’
‘Please, don’t jump. Everything’s going to be all right.’
She starts laughing like a drain, and I force myself to smile, as if I’m privy to the joke even though I have no idea what’s so funny. But just as suddenly as she started, she stops, her features scrunching into a dark scowl.
‘You’re as bad as Dom. Such a fucking sycophant. Grow some balls, for God’s sake. I’m not going to jump.’
‘Well, what are you—’
‘When Demetriou told me your prints were on the marble bust I couldn’t believe my luck,’ she says, as if I haven’t spoken. ‘It was serendipity.’ That supercilious look again. ‘It was meant to be.’
‘I know what serendipity means!’ I growl, losing patience.
‘At last, some spark. You might not want to hear it, but we’re more alike than you think, Amber.’
‘I am nothing like you. You’re… you’re mad!’
‘Maybe I am.’ She shrugs. ‘But I’m not losing everything, not after all I’ve sacrificed to be here.’
‘You?’ I splutter.
Her eyes flash. ‘You have no idea how hard I’ve worked to get to where I am. No fucking idea.’
‘Don’t make me laugh. You’re a poor little rich girl born with a silver spoon in your mouth. You’ve never wanted for anything in your life.’
‘And you’re so fucking earnest. I really can’t see what Dom sees in you,’ she drawls.
‘Dominic and I are over.’
The words have a dramatic effect on Simone, who spins round to face me. As she does, her foot dislodges a stone, which skitters down the cliff and into the sea with a splash. She doesn’t seem to notice.
‘He broke up with you?’
‘I broke up with him, actually,’ I say, folding my arms.
Her lips purse in disbelief. I don’t know why but this is the final straw. I’ve had it with Simone thinking she’s so utterly superior to me in every way. Little does she know I’m about to have the last laugh. I pull my phone out of my back pocket and check it’s still recording.
‘What are you doing?’ she demands.
‘Calling Demetriou to tell him what really happened the night Felix died.’
‘You think he’s going to believe you over me?’ she jeers.
‘He will when I send him the voice note of your confession. I recorded everything.’
Her smile freezes. ‘You expect me to believe you?’
‘Believe what you like, I don’t care.’
She lunges forwards, snatching at the phone.
We grapple, her nails tearing at my wrist as I hold the iPhone above my head.
Her strength catches me by surprise and I feel myself losing balance as she tugs at my arm.
Fingers pinch my skin and the phone slips from my grip and clatters to the ground inches from the cliff edge.
I dive towards it, the bare earth skinning my knees as my hand closes around it. But my relief is premature. With a roar of rage, Simone stamps on my wrist. Something snaps, a crack like a gunshot over the sound of the sea, and a searing pain shoots up my arm.
‘Give me the phone!’ she yells.
‘Over my dead body!’
I just hope I’m not tempting fate.
My arm is throbbing so much I’m seeing stars, but I half crawl, half roll towards the phone, my right hand hanging uselessly. I take a deep breath and reach out with my left hand, sensing rather than seeing Simone’s shadow blocking out the sun.
‘Simone!’
We both turn. Dominic is sprinting towards us, his eyes wide with fear.
‘What the hell’s going on?’
Simone’s hair whips across her face. ‘The little bitch was recording me. Get her phone!’
‘What? No, Simone.’ Dominic stops, his gaze tracking between us and my iPhone.
Sweat beads his brow and darkens his T-shirt.
He must have run from the villa when he realised we were both missing.
But how did he know we’d be here? Unless…
unless he and Simone have been colluding from the start.
My mind buzzes with possibilities. Did Dominic ask me out because I reminded him of Simone, his first love?
Did he invite me to Pelagia because they’d planned to frame me for Felix’s murder from the get-go?
Dominic drops to his knees beside me. ‘What’s happened to your wrist?’
‘She s-stamped on it,’ I splutter, nodding towards Simone.
‘Jesus Christ, Simone. What the fuck?’
‘Spare me the lecture, Dom. Just grab the phone and we can get out of here.’
‘No, I’m calling Demetriou. Amber needs a doctor.’
‘There are no doctors on Pelagia. She’ll be fine. It’s only a broken wrist. Get the bloody phone so I can delete the voice note.’
‘No, I—’
‘Fuck’s sake. I’ll get it myself, shall I? Mind out of the way.’
She barges past Dom and stoops down to scoop up the phone. I grab her arm with my good hand, digging my nails into the soft skin on the inside of her wrist as hard as I can.
‘Bitch!’ she shrieks, pulling her hand back.
She loses her balance and we roll around on the ground, grappling like brawling teenagers. For a moment I think I can wriggle free. But then, as the rocky edge digs into my ribs, Simone gives a final shove and suddenly there is nothing beneath me but empty air.