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‘It won’t turn up, it went into the sea from Dad’s plane. If it goes anywhere it will be to Ireland, the Irish coasts were nearest.’ Sean looked sulkily at her. ‘I know it was a mistake. I lost my head, right? She was blackmailing me, the bitch. She got herself pregnant, then tried to ruin my life. What was I supposed to do? Just give her what she wanted, even if it made my life hell?’
Sandra looked at her ex-husband. ‘Couldn’t you have paid her off, Terry?’
‘I didn’t know about her.’
Sean made an angry face. ‘And she wasn’t after money. Do you think I didn’t try to buy her off? No, she wanted me. She wanted marriage, nothing else.’
‘Cunning little bitch. So, who was this witness?’
‘Dad’s PR girl. You’ve seen her in the office, must have done. She worked for him for three years. Mousy girl. Goody-goody. That’s why she was working on a Sunday. I thought the offices were empty, but no, she was there, spying on me. She shopped me and the police have stuck her in a witness protection scheme.’
Sandra frowned. ‘I think I remember her. Milly Molly Mandy, I called her; a milk-faced nobody. Butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. And she’s the only evidence against you?’
He nodded. ‘The police haven’t got anything else.’
Sandra looked at Terry, her eyes wide and fierce. ‘Then you must find her and make sure she never gets into the witness box. You can’t let Sean down. However silly he’s been, he’s our boy. We have to stand by him.’
‘You’re a bit late with your mother love,’ Terry angrily told her. ‘I’ve taken care of the boy since you walked out on him. I’ll take care of this. Bernie’s working on it. As soon as he comes up with an address I’ll deal with her, don’t worry.’
‘Jack has friends in the force, he can ask around, too,’ Sandra said. ‘And sooner or later this girl has to surface, whether they find the body or not. Then you’ll have a chance at her. Just make sure that this time there are no witnesses.’
Terry walked out of the room. He had tried so hard to build a good, decent life for himself and Sean, but here he was, being dragged back into the world he had escaped from, and he couldn’t see a way out, except by allowing Sean’s life to be ruined, and he could not do that.
He couldn’t let his boy go to prison for life, Sandra was right. He had to save him. Children were hostages to fortune. Once you had them you went on paying for the rest of your life. Even if he had to sacrifice his business, or his own life, he had to save Sean.
Alex insisted on walking Miranda back to her bungalow after lunch. ‘I hope you’re comfortable? The staff bungalows were furnished to a high standard. In the hotel there are hundreds of videos, by the way. If you want to borrow one, ask Milo. And before you start work you ought to take a couple of trips to other islands. It only takes three hours to Delos or Mykonos, you can do both in one day, and another day you should take a trip back to the mainland to see Athens.’
‘I’d love to do both – are there boats from here? Does the ferry go to Delos?’
‘Yes, but you don’t want to take the public ferry, it is always very crowded. The hotel boat can take you. Look, I’ll take you myself, I haven’t been to Delos for quite a while, I love it, there’s a very special feeling there.’
Miranda felt a confused mix of emotions – excitement, alarm, resentment. He was like so many men, who feel they can order a woman around as if she were a housemaid, or something – it must be their testosterone. She wished he did not make her senses riot, her blood run faster, excitement burning through her veins.
Chapter Ten
Pandora anxiously apologised next day when Miranda went to see her. ‘Alex asked me not to mention him, and I knew you had no need to worry, he only wants to help you, he wouldn’t hurt you, but I was afraid you would be upset if you knew he was my brother and owned the hotel.’
‘I would have been. Did he tell you anything about me?’
‘He said you used to work for Terry Finnigan and you had seen a murder and needed to get away for a while.’
‘He didn’t tell you about my husband’s death?’
‘No. Oh, how terrible – was it your husband who was murdered?’
‘No. He drowned at sea.’ Miranda took a deep breath and went on huskily, ‘On one of your brother’s ships.’
‘Oh.’ Pandora stared at her, mouth open. ‘Not that one? A few years ago? I remember somebody drowned – was that . . .?’
‘Yes. And that’s why I wouldn’t have wanted your brother anywhere near me, that’s why he didn’t want you to tell me you were his sister.’
Tears welled up in Pandora’s wide eyes, slid slowly down her pale cheeks. ‘Oh, I’m so sorry, so very sorry, how dreadful, but it really wasn’t Alex’s fault, you know. The captain got drunk, he steered on to some rocks, that was what caused the wreck. Alex was very upset about it at the time. I remember how he changed, he wasn’t himself for months. Very moody, always flying into tempers. But he’s come out of that now, thank heavens. Please . . .’ She laid a hand on Miranda’s arm. ‘Please, don’t go on blaming Alex. I know you’re unhappy about your husband’s death, but it isn’t fair to hate Alex for it.’
Watching her anxious, colourless face Miranda quickly said, ‘I don’t any more. Don’t worry.’ Pandora was so frail, so vulnerable; she did not want to lay any more burdens on those slender shoulders.
Face lighting up, Pandora said, ‘Really? Oh, good, I’m so glad. I realise it must remind you, seeing
him, but he will be going back to Piraeus next week, so you won’t have to see too much of him.’
