Until Death (31 page)

Fear overtook her. ‘What are you doing? What do you want? You left your daughter. She loved you and you abandoned her—’

‘Please, Kel, you need to listen to a story.’

‘I’ve had enough of lies and stories. You have no idea what I’ve been through.’

‘I did a terrible thing, but that doesn’t mean I can’t atone for it. If you love your husband, then I’ll walk away right now, leave you to your life.’

She didn’t answer.

‘But sometimes we need to be told how bad the people close to us are.’

She cried out, ‘I do know how bad he is. I do!’

The Wolf shook his head. ‘No you don’t, Kel. You have no idea at all.’ He jammed the plastic keycard in the door and it swung inwards with a squeak.

T
he room was bigger than Kelly had been expecting; she saw doors leading off on either side and realised it was a suite. She saw a big bowl of fruit and too many table lamps, and floor-length net curtains blocking the view. A man with pockmarked skin was watching telly, feet up on the coffee table, a hole visible in one sock. A beautiful young woman in hot pants and a white T-shirt was doing the downward dog by the window, her hair swishing on the carpet and flying back over her head like a Mohican halo.

The man jumped up, startled and nervous; the woman carried on obliviously.

Kelly followed Michael to a far door and through it to a bedroom. Another young woman lay on the bed, reading a magazine. She sat up as they entered, the swell of her belly visible under the fluffy hotel robe. ‘Isabella, this is Kelsey.’

Isabella smiled weakly. ‘Is she your twin?’ she asked Kelly. ‘You look so alike.’

‘I’m sorry?’

Michael interrupted. ‘Isabella, you know I told you on the ship that there would be a woman you would meet, and that you needed to tell your story to her, just like you told me? This is the woman.’

Isabella smiled but she looked worried. ‘This is all very well, but when am I going to see them? They insisted they would meet me off the ship, I want to make sure everything’s clear.’

Michael nodded. ‘It will be, very soon. You met Christos in Brazil, didn’t you?’

Isabella stretched her legs, banged her feet together on the bed. ‘This is my first time in London. I love experiencing new places. Christos and his wife said they would pay for me to stay on for a while once the baby’s born and the legal papers are signed. I’m studying art, so of course there’s so much to see in London. I can’t wait.’

‘Christos and his
wife
?’ Kelly exclaimed.

She nodded. ‘They came and met me in Brazil, we talked it over. They were very clear about what they wanted. I need couples to be clear. I’ve done this once before, and it was great, a really life-affirming experience. I always say so. So I decided I could do it again. I met them again later at the clinic and we went through the procedures, and then a few weeks later it was all inserted and done.’

‘What clinic, what procedures?’

‘The fertility clinic. Unfortunately they can’t have a baby. Lots of couples from Europe and America come to Brazil to find surrogates. I’m proud that I can give childless couples the baby they’ve always wanted. The money pays for me and my younger sister to go to college. One day I’ll have my own family, but for now I’m happy to give other people a baby to love.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Kelly said helplessly.

‘With a couple normally only one person has a fertility problem, but occasionally both do. So the egg is fertilised outside the body and then inserted in the surrogate’s womb.’ She patted her stomach. ‘So he’s not mine at all, really. But he’s still a miracle boy; the odds were very low, apparently.’

‘This
wife
– what’s her name?’

‘Kelly. She’s a very nice woman, but so desperate for a baby. Maybe she left it too late, maybe that was her problem.’ Isabella shrugged. ‘Here you have lots of money but no children. I can have the children and use the money. It’s a balance that’s good for everybody.’

‘What did she look like, this wife?’

‘Like I said: like you. Long dark hair, slim, the same age as you.’

‘Why didn’t they meet you off the ship?’

‘They said they would, but Jonas out there’ – she indicated the man watching telly – ‘said they were held up and that I should wait here.’ A look of worry crossed her face. ‘Where are they, anyway?’

Kelly stared at Michael, realising at least some of what he had done. ‘Who came with you on the
Saracen
? It’s a long way to travel all on your own.’

‘I had to come by ship. The airlines wouldn’t take me as I was too far gone. But then we hit this awful storm and I got so sick and worried. Seasickness can bring on premature labour. The man with me was very sweet, he had medical training, but he … the storm … he went overboard.’ Isabella teared up. ‘It’s so awful.’

Kelly stood up from the bed and reeled out of the room to the suite door, crashing into the coffee table as she went. Michael grabbed her arm when she reached the corridor.

‘Kel, wait, hear me out—’

‘You threw him over. Didn’t you? You killed a man so you could get her, to get at him. This isn’t about me, or Florence, this is about your revenge on Christos.’

He pushed her up against the wall. ‘It was me or him on that ship in the storm. Remember, he was working for your husband, who thinks nothing of killing to get what he wants. That’s the man you married, Kelsey.’

She pushed him away, exasperated. ‘You were working for Christos in Southampton, weren’t you? Christos is the man you ran from. What did he make you do, Michael? What was so bad that it was worth faking your own death for?’ She pointed a finger at him, thinking she was beginning to piece some things together. ‘Did you kill that old guy in Southampton? Did you make me bring that sandwich down to the docks so I would see
you
and think it was Ricky?’

‘I didn’t kill him, but I helped. There, I’ve said it, the decision that ruined my life. Christos wanted Ricky out of the way so he could take over clandestine operations at the dock, he wanted me on board. I was attracted to the idea at first, it seemed like easy money, I had a young family, mouths to feed—’

‘Don’t blame me for this!’

He looked pained. ‘I’m not. I blame myself. But Christos was offering me opportunities I thought I couldn’t get otherwise. You know I dreamed of getting out, I trained as a tree surgeon, remember, I wanted to travel … So it started small, and then escalated. I started hurting people, buying people off, he was testing me, seeing how far I would go.’

‘But we were so happy—’

‘You were happy. I couldn’t tell you what was going on, it didn’t fit with your image of me as a perfect husband and father. And then Christos got you involved. You came to the docks at that time, I didn’t realise it was so the old guy could be got rid of and you’d see it. I was suddenly left at the back of the warehouse having to get rid of a murder weapon.’ He shook his head. ‘That was a step too far, way too far. Christos must have sensed my hesitation at the things he was making me do because he’d now got me to drag you into being a witness to murder and I was an accessory.

‘And that’s when I made my decision – the only way out was to go overboard.’ He sighed. ‘But Amber coming in after me’ – he wiped his hand through his hair – ‘that was … awful.’

‘Who killed the old man?’

‘Another of Christos’s men—’

‘You piece of shit.’ She grabbed his T-shirt in her fists and yanked.

‘Listen to me. Please. Maybe it sounds hollow but I didn’t realise how Ricky would react to you as the witness at the trial, that he would make threats that caused such upheaval in your life. After I’d run, I couldn’t help it, I kept tabs on you. Then you disappeared into witness protection and I lost you. I lost you for years. That was the hardest, Kel, not knowing where you were, how you were coping. And then you reappeared, married to him. And then I understood. He was being clever and strategic. He wasn’t quite sure I’d really died, so keeping you and Florence close was insurance in case I ever came back. But also it was his way of showing his power – he was marrying my widow, living with my kid. People don’t walk away from Christos, we both know that. And so I waited, because I feared that in the end you would need my help, and I could right some of the wrongs.’

‘My mum always said you were bad, that no good would come of it.’ Her eyes misted with tears. She felt empty. She had yearned for so many years for reconciliation with her lost family, and it had come like this. ‘You owe me.’

‘I do. You didn’t deserve what happened in the Solent that afternoon in the fog. You’ve suffered so much and I’m truly sorry.’ He took her fists in his big hands and massaged them until they relaxed. ‘You’re a great mother, Kel, the best. Never forget that, yeah? I know because the life of being a father, a family man, in the end, that wasn’t me. Some of us are born to be parents, Kel, like you. And some of us find it harder to make the sacrifices and put in the hard work. Be proud, Kel.’

She found it within herself to nod.

‘What’s this story with the kid?’ He motioned back at the bedroom door.

She drew herself up. ‘You’ve got something Christos wants, and I need to get away, away from a controlling, lying piece of shit.’

He smiled, the cheeky grin lighting his face for a flash before it was gone. ‘I’ll be happy to help.’

‘He’s looking hard for you. It won’t be long until he gets photos of all the crew and makes the connection.’

‘He can stop searching, I’m contacting him today. Where are you supposed to be?’

‘When I’m not kept prisoner by him? There’s a Halloween party this afternoon being hosted by his charity. It’s at a play centre next to the docks.’

‘Have you been there before?’

She nodded.

‘Describe it in detail.’

Ten minutes later they had come up with a plan. Kelly turned to leave but he caught her arm. ‘We can travel far, round the world and up the social strata, but sometimes only those you’ve known from home speak the language you do.’

She looked up at the man she had once loved, and then walked away.

She used a payphone in the lobby to phone Georgie and cursed that it went to voicemail. ‘I know what’s on the
Saracen
. It’s not what you think. It’s something that will destroy my family.’ She hung up and left.

T
he Wolf was short and to the point. ‘I’ve got your girl.’

There was a long pause and the outbreath of someone who is deciding to take the call sitting down. ‘Who are you?’ The voice was the same, hard and without emotion.

‘The one you always feared would come back and fuck things up for you.’

‘Michael, the not-dead ex-husband. Is Isabella harmed at all?’

‘She’s fine.’

‘How much do you want?’

‘What value do you put on a man’s life? Each missing hour of it, each missing day. I’ve spent time trying to find a figure for all those lost years.’

Christos puffed with annoyance down the phone. ‘Spare me the violins. I’m a businessman, not a counsellor. How much to get her back?’

‘This isn’t just about money.’

‘Yes, it is. It’s only ever about that.’

‘Kelsey wasn’t.’ Might as well kick the elephant in the room.

‘If you want a pound of flesh, you’re not going to get it. But you’re right, Kelly wasn’t about the money. There’s a pleasure in taking what others value. Your daughter calls me Daddy, hugs me every night. One day I’ll walk her down the aisle, tears in my eyes. That’s not going to change. Let’s do this deal and you can fuck off back to your hole.’

The Wolf smiled. He was enjoying this. ‘You always did have a problem with women, Christos. You tended to get obsessed, you always wanted the women other men had, like you needed their validation. But I doubt it’s going to be so easy to make Kelly play happy families when the mistress has a new baby in tow.’

‘You don’t have a family, so you wouldn’t know.’

‘You have no idea if I have a family or not.’

‘Yes, I do. This takes careful planning. You have no space for anything but revenge. It’s all you have, and even that won’t work. I assume you’ve told Kelly all about our dealings back in Southampton. She’s done a runner today. I suppose she came to you. Her heart will be all fired up with revenge now, I imagine.’

‘I want five million.’

‘I don’t have that kind of money. I’ll give you half.’

The Wolf cut the call immediately and stretched back in his chair. Eight minutes later he rang again. Christos answered at the first ring. ‘That was a minute for every year. You’ve got some idea how it feels now. I’ll meet you at five today at your Halloween party. I want the money in a rucksack, the rest you can figure out.’

‘No one has that kind of money just lying around. It takes days to get—’

‘You’ve had a day. You knew as soon as she went missing that you’d need money. You’ve got it, and we’re doing this today.’

There was silence for a few moments before Christos agreed. ‘You think you need to worry about me, and you would be right. But there’s something you haven’t considered. You need to be very, very careful around Sylvie. No one comes between a mother and her child and lives to tell the tale.’

The Wolf laughed. ‘Five o’clock.’ He hung up and jumped to his feet, in the room at the Savoy. ‘Right, everyone. We’ve got a lot to do, so listen carefully.’

Sylvie stood behind her lover in the basement of the Malamatos Shipping offices, listening to the conversation and forced herself to stay quiet. There was no point having a three-way conversation – she had to let Christos deal with this.

She studied Christos’s neck, the small bulge of skin that edged up over his collar as he held the phone to his ear. The problem was her frustration was keeping pace with her anguish. Christos hadn’t tied this off. He had not been clinical enough years ago. This ex-husband of the mouse had proved to be persistent and ballsy and had exploded back into their lives with potentially devastating consequences. Christos had been weak when he needed to be strong. She watched the skin on his neck wobble. Fifty years of sun and wind had weakened its structure and made it stretch. She didn’t like it.