Jill tells herself if it’s Lara behind the cameras, she doesn’t really know what she’s dealing with here. She doesn’t know what Jill and Ted are prepared to do. How terribly naïve of her, considering.
Lara had planned to text Jill in the morning and let them know she and Ben were here, but she’s pleased that they ran into Jill and Ted just now. She’d seen their cleaning lady, Nadya, letting herself into the house on Friday morning, which was not her regular day. Nadya had told her that the Westcotts had gone to Venice for a few days, and she was cleaning to make up for missing Wednesday.
It wasn’t hard to convince Ben to take a few days off for a quick mini holiday. She’d whispered to him that she was going to be ovulating, and she suggested a romantic getaway. He’d promptly booked the time off work, while she booked the flights and hotel. And now here they are, sitting across from Ted and Jill in a charming and intimate little restaurant. They have ordered a bottle of red wine. Lara won’t be drinking, because she is trying to get pregnant. But that doesn’t have to stop anyone else. She puts her fingers over the top of her glass when the waiter begins to pour the wine.
‘Not drinking?’ Ted asks. They all know she loves her wine.
She flushes. Jill speaks up. ‘I think I know why.’
Lara looks at Ted, and says, ‘As I told Jill, Ben and I are trying for a baby. So, no wine for me.’
‘Yes, she did mention that,’ Ted says. ‘Congratulations.’
‘I don’t think congratulations are in order just yet,’ Lara smiles. ‘But that’s why we’re here.’ She turns to look at her husband. ‘A little romantic getaway.’
They begin to talk of other things– what to see in Venice, where to eat, what they’ve done. Jill, who seems very tense, begins to relax.
After a while, Lara says, ‘Why did you decide to come to Venice, anyway?’
‘Just a little holiday,’ Jill replies.
‘I imagine you wanted to get away, with what’s going on at home,’ she says sympathetically. And there it is, the fear in Jill’s eyes. It flares and fades. She wonders if Ben noticed. ‘It must be stressful,’ Lara adds haltingly, glancing back and forth between Jill and Ted.
‘What do you mean?’ Ted asks bluntly.
Lara glances at Ben and says, ‘Never mind. Let’s not talk about it. We’re on holiday, we should all enjoy ourselves.’
‘No, speak your mind, Lara,’ Ted says.
She shrugs her shoulders apologetically. ‘I just mean, like I’ve said to Jill before, that it must be stressful– the gossip, all the muckraking in the press, and online, having that investigator around, insinuating things.’ She adds hastily, ‘But no one believes any of it.’
‘Insinuating what?’ Ted asks.
Lara finds herself flushing.
‘What Lara is trying to say,’ Ben chimes in, ‘and rather clumsily, is that you have our full support. People will always say awful, untrue things online. You have to ignore it. And thatinvestigator from the Coast Guard has no right to go around telling people that he thinks what happened to Greg wasn’t an accident. I mean, the very idea! We set him straight, didn’t we, Lara. We told him he was as wrong as he could be.’
Lara smiles gratefully at her husband. ‘We did.’ She adds, ‘I don’t know where he got his information.’
‘What information?’ Ted asks.
Lara’s told Jill this before, but she repeats it now for Ted, feeling increasingly uncomfortable. ‘You know, what I told you before, Jill– he told us you were having financial problems and that you knew that you were Greg’s heir before he died.’
‘I told you that’s not true,’ Jill says tightly. ‘We didn’t know.’
‘I know! But he’s going around saying that,’ Lara continues, ‘as if it’s fact. I mean, how would he even know? He’s obviously just making it up.’
Chapter Thirty-Six
TED FINDS HIMSELFstudying 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 façade 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.
