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My thoughts flew to Lina, and maybe Ned’s did too because I immediately felt his unease.
“I understood you were from the States,” he said.
“I live there some of the time, in Los Angeles, which is why I can be of interest to you,” Lukas said smoothly. “But I also have a home in Vilnius; in fact, I am going there tomorrow. This house”—he swept hisarm around—“does not belong to me. I rent it whenever I have business in the UK. I think of it as my home away from home.”
“It’s beautiful,” I said, looking around the terrace, where sun loungers were grouped around a stunning infinity pool.
He nodded, pleased. “Yes, I love it here, it is very different from both Los Angeles and Vilnius.”
Over lunch, served by Lukas, Ned told him about our trip to Las Vegas and our wedding. It was less than two weeks since that fateful day, but it seemed a lifetime ago. It was excruciating to have to pretend that everything was fine, to smile, to let Ned take my hand across the table.
Ned pushed his chair back and stood up. “Could I use the bathroom, please?”
“Of course. There is one in the pool house,” Lukas replied, pointing to it.
“Please excuse me.”
As Ned began to walk across the terrace, I reached for a bottle of water; was this my chance, could I say something to Lukas? I wasn’t sure. He seemed nice but how would he react if I blurted out that my brand-new husband had killed my friend? I looked toward the pool house. Ned had stopped in front of it and was looking back at me and as I watched, he took his phone from his pocket and held it in his hand. It was a warning, a warning that Carolyn’s fate was just a phone call away.
“Please, let me.”
Startled, I pulled my eyes away from Ned. Lukas took the bottle from my hand and filled my glass. In moments Ned was back, and I realized he hadn’t even gone into the pool house long enough to use the bathroom. He had been testing me, a warning not to say anything.
“Now,” Lukas said when lunch was over. “Your husband and I have something to discuss, so perhaps you would like to use the pool while we speak.”
The burst of hope, that it might be my chance to escape, was quickly extinguished when he and Ned came with me. They sat at the poolside bar on high stools, watching me as I swam up and down, and I wishedI’d had something other to wear than my red bikini. Self-conscious, I got out of the pool, wrapped a towel around me, and moved to one of the gray-and-yellow-striped sun loungers. I was desperate to find a phone, but I had no excuse for going into the house as there was a toilet in the pool house. But no phone; I had already checked when I went in to change.
I listened as Lukas told Ned about a famous actor, who lived next-door to him in Los Angeles, and who was willing to be interviewed forExclusivesalong with her actor husband, almost as famous as she was. Ned was excited about the possibility of a double interview, somethingExclusiveshadn’t yet had. Lukas also mentioned a politician he knew well.
I closed my eyes, as if I were asleep. My head was turned away from them but I was listening to every word, waiting for my moment, because there was no way I was getting back in the car with Ned.
“So, what happened with Lina?” I heard Lukas say.
My eyes snapped open. Despite my heart hammering in my chest, I kept very still, made my breathing deep and even.
“Lina?” Ned said, a frown in his voice. “She went back to Lithuania. But—how do you know Lina?”
“We have mutual acquaintances,” Lukas replied smoothly. “And I know that she went back to Lithuania, because one of those acquaintances works at your magazine and she received a text from Lina saying that she was happy to be back in her country.”
“That’ll be Vicky, my PA,” Ned said. “She mentioned that Lina had messaged her. But—you also know Vicky?”
“What I would like to know,” Lukas said, ignoring Ned’s question, “is why Lina decided to go back to a country she left many years ago, just like that.” There was a snap of finger and thumb. “Rumor has it that she went to see you at your house the day she left so suddenly.”
“You’re right, she did,” Ned said, and I marveled at his ability to keep his voice even when he had to be wondering how Lukas knew about Lina’s visit. “She wanted to see me because I had recently fired one of her friends.”
“That friend would be Justine Elland, I think,” Lukas interjected.
My fingers curled into my palms, my nails pressing so hard into the skin that pain sparked.
“Yes. Lina wanted to know why I’d had to let Justine go, so I told her the sad truth, that I’d discovered Justine was using drugs. And that is something I can’t tolerate because my brother died from a drug overdose. We have a zero-tolerance policy at the magazine, it’s in everyone’s contract, my staff know the consequences if they abuse it.”
“That is very sad about your brother,” Lukas said. “And it is perfectly understandable that you responded this way.” He paused. “It seems that Justine is also in Lithuania,” Lukas went on. “I know this because your assistant—Vicky—received a second message from Lina, and in that message, Lina told Vicky that she was very happy, because Justine had flown from France to see her.”
“Yes, Vicky mentioned that to me too,” Ned said. “Lina and Justine are good friends, it’s nice that they are staying in touch.”
“So why did you terminate Lina’s contract?” Lukas asked. “Was she also using drugs?”
“Not that I know of.” I couldn’t believe how calm Ned sounded. “Although, as she was friends with Justine, she may have been influenced by her. But that wasn’t the reason I let her go.” He paused. “Perhaps you know, Lina was my accountant, and I had recently discovered, after an audit, that she had been putting in false claims for expenses. They were small amounts and I decided to say nothing; I preferred to wait and see if the amounts would become more substantial if she thought she’d gotten away with it. But when she came to the house—which in itself is a fireable offense, she had no right to turn up uninvited at my private residence—she was extremely rude to me, demanding that I reinstate Justine. So, I told her that I knew she’d been stealing money from the company and that I was terminating her contract with immediate effect.” Another pause. “I also told her that I would tell everyone exactly why I was letting her go.”
