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I added Carolyn as a contact in Ned’s phone, selected WhatsApp from his menu, and typed:
Hi Carolyn, it’s Amelie, on Ned’s phone. Just wanted to let you know I’m back from LV, safe and sound.I wanted to add that if she’d heard that Ned and I were married, I would explain everything when we met. But how could I, when Ned might check what I wrote? I thought for a moment, then typed,I can’t wait to tell you all about it, maybe you can come and see me at Ned’s?I added two kisses and handed the phone back to him.
“Anything else?” he inquired, when I stayed where I was.
“Yes. It’s about my apartment.”
“What about it?”
“Everything that was in it is here. You didn’t give notice on it, did you?”
“No, of course not.”
“So I can move back into it, once we’ve said that we’re separating?”
“Yes. Now, is that all? I have work to do.”
“No, that’s not all.” He looked up at me, surprised by my tone. “What about my job?”
“You work for me, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Then, until we separate, you’ll work for me from here.”
“I don’t have a laptop, it broke, remember?”
“I’ll sort it out.”
“Can I go and pick up my phone? Maybe Hunter can take me.”
He turned his attention back to his computer screen. “No, I’m afraid not, I need him to run some errands for me.”
I flushed at his dismissive tone, and at the use of the worderrands.
“I’d like to go out anyway.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible, not today. The press is already camped outside the gates. The minute you walk through them, they’ll be on you like a pack of vultures. We agreed we’d meet the press together, so that’s what we’ll do. But not today. Now, go and rest, have a swim, do whatever it takes to get over the jet lag. It’s a nice house, it has a swimming pool and a gym. Think of it as an extended vacation. I’ll see you later for dinner. My housekeeper has gone to see her family in Hungary for a few weeks so perhaps you could prepare something. Or I can order in. Seven-thirty, in the dining room, in the left wing.” He raised his head, and for the first time, I saw steel in his gray eyes. “And by the way, Amelie, don’t come down here again. You have the run of the rest of the house and the gardens, but the rooms in the right wing are my private quarters.” He paused. “I trust you understand.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
PRESENT
There are voices in the basement. I move the mattress and lie on my stomach to listen.
“… wasn’t a clever move on your part.”
“She deserved it. Stupid bitch.” Ned’s voice.
“It’s set us back several days. We needed that recording.” A pause. “So, what are we going to do, Ned? Your dad’s not paying up and your wife won’t beg for your life. Seems nobody cares if you live or die.”
“Kill her.”
“Your wife?”
“Yes. Kill her and deliver the body to my father. He’ll pay up then.”
“I’m not so sure. After all, what is she to him? Better to send him something of yours, an ear or a finger.”
