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Chapter 33
Lili walked into her hotel room after speaking to the concierge. She had also checked her mobile phone for messages yet again. She sat down on her bed and sighed heavily. Despite leaving numerous messages and sending texts during the week, she hadn’t received a single call or text back from either Hannah or Ray.
Before she packed for her flight the next day, she decided to make one last call. She resorted to phoning Nate. He picked up straight away.
‘God, you’ve got some nerve getting in touch after what you did.’
Lili swallowed. This was just what she had expected. Ray had been wrong; all was not forgiven. Lili wished she’d told him about Maisie before Hannah turned up unexpectedly, but there was nothing she could do about it now. ‘Look, I need to speak to Joseph.’
‘Where are you?’
‘I’m in Corfu, but I’m coming home tomorrow.’
‘What’s your flight number?’
Lili thought it an odd question, unless he was planning to meet her at the airport. She smiled, convinced that was it. ‘Hold on, I’ll give it to you.’ Sitting on her bed in the hotel room, Lili reached for her bag and found the return ticket. She reeled off the number. ‘Are you going to pick me up?’
There was a pause. ‘I’m sending a welcoming committee.’
Lili was about to ask what he’d meant by that, although she guessed he had a shift at work and wouldn’t be able to make it himself. She didn’t get a chance to find out if Ray would meet her instead, because Nate abruptly rang off. Or was she cut off? She tried calling him back, but it went straight to voicemail. Lili didn’t bother leaving a message and started packing.
Lili stayed in her seat, waiting for the seatbelt sign to switch off. They had mentioned the weather in England as they came in to land. Lili glanced out of the window. It was raining, and she didn’t have an umbrella. She was just thinking that she’d have to make a dash for it to the airport terminal when the captain told everyone to remain seated. There were murmurs of disapproval amongst the passengers, who were being forced to wait longer than usual before disembarking. Lili switched on her phone and see if she had any messages. Nothing.
When she looked up, she spotted two uniformed police officers making their way down the cabin. A middle-aged woman seated next to Lili turned to her and whispered, ‘I wonder what’s going on?’
Lili’s first thought was that there was a terrorist on board. She didn’t tell the woman sitting next to her what she was thinking. Like everybody else who had spotted the officers boarding the plane, she was waiting to see which passenger they were there for.
The police passed Lili’s seat. They appeared to be looking at the seat numbers. ‘Seat number 23,’ she heard one say. ‘We’ve passed it.’ They turned around.
Lili stared at them as they approached. That was her number.
One officer said, ‘Lili Rose Skye?’
The woman sitting next to Lili looked at her wide-eyed and then got out of her seat so quickly that she dropped her handbag. The other officer picked it up for her and helped her into the aisle.
Lili nodded. ‘Yes, that’s me.’
‘Can you come with us, please?’
Lili stood up, gathering her coat and bag. She didn’t know what this was about, but she understood the police officer wasn’t asking. ‘Yes, of course.’
As Lili moved down the aisle, there was a hushed silence in the cabin. She glanced around, not surprised that the other passengers were staring at her. ‘Let me take those.’ The officer took her coat and bag.
‘I don’t understand … what’s going on?’ She hadn’t broken any rules on the flight. She’d stowed her bag under the seat and not been drunk or rude to the other passengers.
Lili felt something cold envelope her wrists. She looked down to find an officer had handcuffed her. Lili stared at the handcuffs in shock. ‘Am I being arrested?’
One officer led the way and the other brought up the rear as Lili moved down the narrow cabin aisle towards the exit.
Lili could feel her face glowing red in embarrassment. ‘I don’t understand …’ she repeated as she walked down the flight of stairs to the runway to a police car was waiting.
Lili stopped in front of the car. She turned to the officers. ‘There has been some mistake. Abigmistake.’ Lili recalled the last phone conversation with Nate, when he made that that odd comment about sending a welcoming committee. Lili looked at the police car, which was surrounded by officers.Is this what he meant?she thought.Was this her welcoming committee?His dad had been a cop, and probably had friends in high places. Lili grimaced. She’d thought she was on good terms with Ray.
‘Look, this is ridiculous. Tell Nate I’m sorry about Maisie, truly I am.’ He was doing this to get back at her, embarrass her. ‘If I can just have my mobile phone to call Nate or Ray. Actually, I’ll speak to Ray, he’d be the best person to clear all this up.’ Lili looked at the officer standing in front of her. ‘Do you know Ray?’
‘Gawd, can someone shut her up!’ the officer blurted.
Another police officer stepped forward.
