Chapter 43
“Did you learn anything from her that you didn’t already know?” Tony asked as they got back into the car.
“Only one thing, that she suspected Lily’s brother. How strange. That would account for his behaviour when I asked about her. He got very upset and said, ‘Do you think I haven’t paid?’”
“If he was so possessive of her, could he also have killed Alistair Graham?”
Their eyes met. “Perhaps the old man had kept the secret all his life, and my questions made him tell his family the truth. And that’s why they were so keen to get rid of me.” She hesitated, thinking this through. “So what do we do? Tell the police what we suspect? Say nothing?”
“It’s Iris’s story,” Tony said. “We report to her and she decides what to do from now on. We’re paid employees, Emma. It shouldn’t be your worry. In fact I’m rather angry with Iris for sending you up here. She must have known it could be dangerous.”
“I still wonder whether she really knew any more than the newspaper story,” Emma said. “Whether the buried body was her creation.”
“We’ll ask her when we get back,” Tony said. “Who knows if she’ll still remember.”
He let out the clutch and they drove off. “It’s already getting dark, this far north,” he said. “No point in lingering around here any longer. Since I can’t turn in the hired car until morning, we should probably spend the night in Inverness. It’s a big town, plenty of hotels.”
“How long is the drive?”
“It took me a little over two hours, but I drove rather fast. I was worried about you.”
Emma turned to him. “That was so sweet of you. You’ve been really kind.”
Tony blushed with the normal English embarrassment after a compliment. “Not at all. I’m glad I came, even though I would have enjoyed to see a bit of Skye first, had the situation been different.”
“Oh Tony, I’m sorry, you missed your chance to see it. It really was a lovely island. But I can’t imagine having stayed. Who knows what the Pattersons might have done?”
“You’re right. Best to get away and put this behind you. Do you think we should grab a bite to eat here, in case there is nothing open along the way?”
“Actually I’m starving, and you probably are, too,” Emma said.
He gave her a quick grin. “All right. I saw fish and chips on the quayside. Not elegant but it’s probably the freshest fish we’ll ever get.”
They picked up two portions of haddock and chips, wrapped in newspaper and well salted and vinegared.
Then they sat in the car eating, staring out as Skye faded to blackness across the strait.
One by one lights twinkled on, reflecting in the calm water.
So beautiful, Emma thought. I’m glad I came, even though it turned out the way it did.
They rounded off the meal with a pint in the pub, then set out, heading east. Immediately they left all signs of human habitation behind, driving first along the edge of a sea loch then into wild, mountainous country.
Their headlights strafed the darkness as they swung around bends and climbed over crests. It seemed to go on forever.
“Are there any towns along the way?” she asked.
“Nothing really,” Tony said. “I remember passing the odd cottage, but there’s not much before Inverness. There was one town but don’t ask me to pronounce it. It was on Loch Ness.”
“Loch Ness?” Emma perked up. “Where the monster lives?”
“The very same. It’s very long. Goes on forever.”
“Gosh, I’d love to see it,” Emma said. “I’d like to get a glimpse of the monster—take a photo, sell it and make my fortune.”
Tony chuckled. “So would half the world.” He was silent but then said, “Does it matter to you? Making a fortune?”
“My word, yes,” Emma said. “I’m tired of living hand-to-mouth, making just enough to get by.”
“But I thought your family was well off. Owned a winery?”
“They did.” She sighed. “I told you my father was killed. It turned out that he’d invested in a lot of new equipment, made some bad decisions, and we were in debt.
It took all his savings to pay off the debt and wiped us out.
Then his cousin inherited the property, and I had to support my mother instead of going to university. ”
“You’re bitter about that.”
“Too right,” she said. “My mother grew up rather spoiled and used to luxury. She did nothing but complain about the way we were forced to live, as if it was my fault. I tried my hardest and she didn’t seem to realize that I was giving up my own life for her.
I didn’t get a chance to make friends in Sydney, or to date, or to do any of the things you should do at eighteen.
Then she found a new husband, and off she went without a second thought. ”
“That’s rough on you,” Tony said. “I’d say you’ve done remarkably well, considering. And you’ve a bright future ahead of you. Your second book will be a hit. You’ve a good future in publishing . . .”
“I’m not staying here, Tony,” she said. “I’m going back to Australia.
I don’t think London is for me. If writing with Iris had worked out, then I’d have stayed at least for a while.
But now this book can’t be written, so I want to find somewhere where I belong.
I don’t really have anybody these days.”
He took a hand off the wheel, reached across and squeezed hers. “It will all work out, I’m sure. And you should write that second book. The first one was really good.”
“You finally read it?”
“I did. I have to be up to date with my clients, you know.”
“And you liked it?”
“Liked it? It was brilliant. Such a fresh voice and sympathetic characters. Don’t tell anyone, but I cried at one point.”
“Crikey. I didn’t think Englishmen ever cried.”
“Only in secret,” he said.
They lapsed back into silence. Why can’t I meet someone like him, Emma thought. Will there be someone like him waiting for me in Sydney?
Emma was beginning to feel a little carsick; the greasy fish and chips was not agreeing with her. She was about to ask Tony to stop for a while when he said, “Ah, here we are. The famous Loch Ness.”
The headlights picked out black water ahead of them.
Emma sat forward in her seat. “Can we stop somewhere so I can get out and see it?” she asked, not wanting to admit to the weakness of feeling sick.
“Of course.” He pulled into a lay-by at the edge of the lake.
Emma got out, buffeted immediately by the strong wind coming in from the west. She walked to the rocky shoreline and stepped up onto a flat boulder. As her eyes accustomed themselves to the darkness, she picked out whitecaps on the black waters and waves splashing against the rocks.
“Too dark to spot a monster.” Tony came up behind her. “There could be one looking at you right now, wondering if you’d make a good dinner.”
“Don’t.” She shivered, sensing the cold menace of the place, the complete isolation, the moan of wind through pine trees. Then as she looked at the dark waters something long and black rose up in front of her, coming towards her.
“Oh.” She gave a startled cry, stepped back, teetered, flailed, about to lose her footing on the slippery rock.
“Careful.” Tony pulled her back, steadying her. “I’ve got you. Iris wouldn’t forgive me if I let you fall into the loch.”
“I thought I saw the monster,” she said, conscious now that he was holding her.
“It was a big log that the wind drove against the rocks. See, there it goes.”
“Oh yes. How silly of me. I guess I’m still shaken up by what happened today.”
“You’re quite safe now,” he said gently. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Then he pulled her towards him and kissed her. It was so unexpected that it took her breath away, but then she found herself responding to him as his arms came around her, pressing her to him.
“I’m sorry,” he said when they eventually broke apart. “I don’t know what got into me. I’m not in the habit of grabbing girls and kissing them. I think I got carried away. I hope you’re not offended.”
She had to laugh. “Tony, you’re so British. Of course I wasn’t offended. It was wonderful. But now I’m going to feel guilty. What will Isobel think?”
“Oh yes. Isobel,” he said. “I’d rather forgotten about her.”
“Don’t worry. We won’t tell her. I’m sure it was only a spur of the moment reaction,” Emma said, still a little breathless. “You saved the lady and got your reward.”
“No,” he said. “It wasn’t a spur of the moment thing. I’ve wanted to do that for a while. In fact I felt an attraction to you when I first met you.”
“You did?”
His arm was still around her. “I tried not to show it. You know how it’s drummed into us that we have to keep emotionally distant from a client. But chatting with you felt so natural. I didn’t have to think what to say in advance. It was as if we’d known each other for ages.”
Emma nodded, gazing up at him.
“And when I felt you might be in trouble up here, I couldn’t get to you fast enough.”
“But what about Isobel?”
“We’re not engaged or anything. I suppose we just fell into the relationship because it’s what our families want. Nice, steady girl, good family, also in law. Perfect choice. It’s pleasant, comfortable.”
“Then I shouldn’t get in the way,” Emma said, regretting the words as she said them. Shut up, you dope. The comparison to what had happened with Simon was too strong. Was the nice girl from a good family always going to win in the end, and she couldn’t bear it if . . .
Tony’s arm tightened around her. His breath was warm on her cheek. “But she’s never made me feel what I felt just now, Emma. When I kiss her she stands there, as if she’s doing it for England.” He laughed. “Then she starts talking about horses again.”
“You’ll never hear the end of it from your father if you try to break up with her.”
“Probably not. But I’m not going to live my life to please him. I don’t really want to be a country solicitor, doing wills and conveyancing. It’s just his physical condition makes me feel beholden.”
“Just like the lady teacher we met who wasted her whole life looking after her father.”
“I suppose so,” Tony said. “I sort of feel responsible for him, even though he can still take care of himself, and we do have a housekeeper who watches over him like a hawk.”
“You shouldn’t give up your own life for someone else, Tony. I did and I wasn’t even thanked for it.”
He nodded with understanding. “Well, let’s not think about it now. It feels like it’s starting to rain and that wind is picking up. Let’s get going before it’s worse.”
With his arm still around her shoulder he steered her back to the car.