Chapter Thirty-Six
TED FINDS HIMSELF studying Lara and Ben, Lara especially, trying to figure out what’s going on.
What are they doing here, really? Could Jill be right?
Are Lara and Ben possibly behind the hidden cameras and the threatening texts?
They seem so civil, but what are they playing at?
Why would they pretend to believe he and Jill are innocent, if they already have the camera footage?
But of course, he knows why – it’s to throw them off, to make them think they know nothing and are on their side, because they intend to get the money without ever revealing themselves as the blackmailers.
They don’t want to risk going to jail. Maybe they intend to maintain their friendship indefinitely, while laughing at them behind their backs.
And surprising them in Venice is simply them maintaining the facade of friendship and support.
Well, he’s not going to let that happen.
He’s not going to pay some anonymous blackmailer and live in fear for the rest of his life.
He’s not going to pay anyone until they reveal themselves first.
If only Lara and Ben would cut the bullshit.
But they’re not going to put their cards on the table.
Why would they? There’s nothing to be gained by it for them.
If they have the digital files, then they hold all the cards and he and Jill hold none.
Ted hates this feeling, the feeling of being out of control, of other people knowing more than he does, laughing at him.
Stealing from him. And that’s what terrifies him, he realizes.
That they may never know who is doing this, and that it might be someone in their own circle.
They can’t get rid of the blackmailer if they don’t know who it is.
He and Jill are entirely at their mercy.
It’s a terrible feeling, like a trap door giving way beneath your feet. Like when they hang you.
Somehow, they get through the meal and begin walking back to the hotel.
On the way, in the chilly mist, Ted imagines how he would do it, if he knew for certain it was Lara and Ben behind the cameras and the blackmail.
He could do it right now. There’s no one around on these dark cobblestone streets this late at night.
It isn’t tourist season; it’s November, and Venice has emptied out.
It’s very dark, and the canal is right beside them.
He could stick this knife in Ben’s back, let him drop silently to the ground.
When Lara turns back to look for him, he could shove the knife deep into her stomach.
His fingers curl around the handle of the sharp steak knife hidden in his pocket.
He’d managed to slip it into his trouser pocket on his way back from the men’s room during dinner.
He stole it from a place setting at an empty table.
Now he feels the handle, gripping it tightly.
He and Jill could take their wallets, slip their bodies quietly into the black, oily water of the canal.
He could toss the knife into the water further along, with the purse and the emptied wallets. It would look like a robbery.
But as he thinks about this, he realizes that the waiter will remember them.
Remember that the four of them had dinner together.
That they left together. The police will learn that they were all staying at the same hotel – of course they would walk back together – no use to say they’d become separated, no one would believe it.
They might even miss one of the knives from the empty place setting – he imagines a quick-witted young waiter piping up to tell the police that a knife is missing.
The police will study the placement of the table they sat at, the table with the missing knife, and ask who visited the restrooms. It’s impossible!
Murder is so much harder in real life than he ever imagined. Not doing it, but getting away with it.
‘Are you okay?’ Jill asks him in a low voice.
He realizes he’s sweating, even in the cold, and he’s breathing rapidly – too rapidly for the leisurely pace they’re walking. He focuses on the backs of Lara and Ben in front of them, and says curtly, ‘I’m fine.’
Once they are back in their hotel room, Jill hisses at Ted, ‘Do you see what I mean? She can’t stop bringing it up. Why the hell are they even here?’ Lara and Ben’s sudden appearance in Venice feels like a threat.
‘Yes, I see what you mean,’ Ted says. ‘But how the fuck can we find out if it’s them? If it is, they’re never going to admit it.’
Jill is more frightened than ever since they realized that John Burnley isn’t the one behind their torment. It could be Lara and Ben. It could be Ramirez. It could even be Nadya. Or Min. It could be anyone, she thinks, fighting panic. ‘We need help,’ Jill says.
‘What do you mean?’ Ted asks sharply.
‘We’re not going to be able to find out who this is on our own.
’ She approaches him. ‘We need to hire a professional – a private investigator. To find out who is behind this.’ Ted looks at her doubtfully.
She presses her point. ‘We don’t have to let them know what this person has on us. We just get him to find out who it is.’
‘Right,’ Ted says, slightly sarcastic. ‘And then when they turn up dead, the investigator has no inkling of who might have done it? And doesn’t feel a need to report it? I don’t think so.’
She deflates. He’s right. She’s not thinking clearly.
She’s barely slept since they found the cameras – was it only five days ago?
This has got inside her head, has changed her.
It’s changed Ted too. She sinks down weakly onto the bed and covers her face with her hands.
‘What are we going to do?’ She begins to cry.
She feels Ted pull her into his arms and hold her.
She doesn’t resist, but she doesn’t feel the peace she used to feel when in his arms.
How has it all come to this? They thought their plan was foolproof.
They thought they’d gotten away with it.
But someone knows what they’ve done, and it feels like the walls are closing in on them from all sides.
They could end up in prison. She can’t bear the thought.
A small cell, a cage. Trapped with a bunch of animals, for the rest of her life.
Prison clothes and terrible food, the smells, the lack of privacy.
The shame and monotony. Nothing beautiful around her.
She’ll kill herself first. But if she and Ted go down for this, she silently vows that they will bring their blackmailer down with them.
Whoever it is isn’t going to get away with it. They have to find out who it is.
They hear the ping of a text on Jill’s phone. They look at each other in fear. Jill grabs the phone and reads the text. It’s Lara, and she wants to meet Jill for coffee the next morning at Florian’s, just the two of them.