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“If she was stealing money, you did the right thing,” Lukas said.“But do you know what? Despite those messages to Vicky, there are some who don’t believe that Lina is in Lithuania, because she left so suddenly, without saying goodbye to anyone, not even her friends, and without collecting her belongings. So, to put an end to those rumors, I called a friend in Immigration at Vilnius Airport. And he confirmed that Lina did indeed arrive there, three days ago now.”
“There you are, then,” Ned said coolly. “I admit, she was very upset when I fired her, because she knew she would never be able to get another job here once it became public knowledge that she was a thief. She begged me to reconsider and when I refused, she said she had no choice but to return to Lithuania. She wanted to leave at once, she said that she didn’t want to see anyone, because she’d be too embarrassed to tell them why I had fired her. She asked me if I could book a flight for her and although it wasn’t my job to do so, she was so distraught that I felt sorry for her. I found a flight leaving a few hours later and booked her a ticket.”
“That was very generous of you. May I ask how she got to the airport? Did she take a taxi?”
“No, I asked Hunter to take her.”
“Hunter?”
“My driver.”
“The one who brought you here today?”
“Yes,” Ned said.
“Hmm. So, your driver was the last person to see Lina before she left?”
“That’s right.”
“And he dropped her off at the airport?”
“I believe so. That is what I asked him to do.”
I heard someone come onto the terrace and for a wild moment, I thought that Lukas was an undercover policeman, and someone had come to arrest Ned.
“My apologies for interrupting.” I heard Hunter’s voice and came crashing back to reality. “I have a call for Mr. Hawthorpe.”
I heard Ned leave the pool area with Hunter. My mind was spinning with what I’d heard. How could Lina have gone through Immigration at Vilnius Airport when she was already dead? I turned on my sun lounger so that I was facing the pool bar where Lukas was sitting. I needed to tell him that Ned had murdered her.
I wrapped my towel around myself and quickly made my way over. Lukas had his head bent over his phone, messaging someone. As I approached, he looked up. He was wearing dark sunglasses and I wished that he wasn’t because if I could have seen his eyes, they might have told me if I could trust him or not.
“Please,” I said hurriedly, noticing the gray flecks in his hair. He was older than Ned, mid-forties perhaps. “I need to tell you something.”
“Of course.” He put his phone down on the table. “What is it that you want to tell me?”
I was so close to him that I could smell a lovely grassy scent, his aftershave perhaps. My eyes fell on his phone.
“Could I use your phone, please? It’s urgent. I need to call the police.”
“The police?”
My heart sank. I shouldn’t have mentioned the police.
“Yes,” I said quickly. “It’s about Lina—”
“What are you two talking about?”
I spun around. Ned was standing behind me.
“This and that,” Lukas said.
Ned held my gaze, waiting for my answer. My heart thumped—how much had he heard?
“I was telling Lukas what a beautiful house this is,” I said.
“Again?” Ned said, and Lukas laughed.
“Go and get dressed,” Ned barked to me. “We’re leaving.”
