by Susan Lewis
What had surprised her most about that night though, looking back on it, was the incredible way that even at the height of his passion and considering how exhausted he was after all that had happened, he had still not only managed to make her come first, something Colin had never achieved whether first, last or together, but had actually, at the peak of her frenzy, made her, an erstwhile silent and on the whole passive partner, cry out for him never to stop while meeting each pounding thrust of his hips with her own. And what was more, she had then proceeded to roll him on to his back and sat astride him so that she could take over and bring him to his climax. So if anything was going to make her ashamed the next day it was that brazen act, but far from feeling ashamed she had felt proud enough of it and the amazing effect it had had on him to do it again in the morning. Of course, he was a much more experienced lover than she was, but not once had he made her feel inadequate or awkward, to the contrary he had made her feel like the raunchiest, sexiest and most precious lover he’d ever had. And he was still making her feel like that now, several times a day.
‘Oh, how easy life is when you just meet the right man,’ she sighed, taking the frosted glass Louisa was handing her. ‘No hang-ups, no inhibitions, no fears of making a fool of yourself, just bliss. He’s a wonderful man, Louisa, truly, truly wonderful. And you really should see his paintings, they’re … they’re … quite simply brilliant,’ she finished in a rapturous burst.
‘I’m surprised you could tear yourself away,’ Louisa laughed.
‘He’s coming here later,’ Sarah said, taking a mouthful of the deliciously dry sparkling wine. ‘We thought you might like to come out with us tonight.’
‘Well as a matter of fact I would,’ Louisa said, delighted to be asked. ‘I’m getting a bit fed up sitting around here on my own with all this romance going on. But you’ve got to promise me you won’t keep staring into each other’s eyes and coming over all gooey on each other the way Danny and Erik do, because I just couldn’t stand it.’
‘I promise,’ Sarah laughed and then was serious for a moment as she said, ‘Any word from Jake yet?’
‘No, nothing,’ Louisa said, shaking her head. ‘He’s been gone for nine days now, but he didn’t say when he was coming back so …’
‘Actually,’ Sarah said, pulling the corners of her mouth down in awkwardness, ‘he’s back. He came back the day before yesterday.’
Louisa looked away as the words wrenched at her heart. ‘How do you know?’ she whispered.
‘Morandi told me. I thought maybe he would have called you by now.’
Again Louisa shook her head.
‘Then why don’t you call him?’
‘No.’
‘But why?’
‘I just can’t. Besides, if he wanted to see me he’d have called, wouldn’t he?’ Dear God, she was thinking as the pain dragged through her heart, I had no idea it would hurt this much.
‘He’s probably got a lot on his mind,’ Sarah said, making an attempt to comfort her.
‘Well I don’t think we can be in any doubt of that, can we?’ Louisa remarked with a bitterness she instantly regretted. ‘Oh God, Sarah, why did we have to have that row before he went? Why did I have to make him think I don’t trust him when I do? Deep down in my heart I know he’s not lying to me. OK, I know what Morandi said, but even he’s not sure whether it’s Jake or Consuela and it’s Consuela, Sarah, I’m telling you, it’s she who’s behind all that’s going on, I just know it.’
‘I’m sure you’re right,’ Sarah said softly, not necessarily because she believed it, but because right at that moment it was what Louisa needed to hear.
‘Thank you,’ Danny said, crossing one smooth, bronzed leg over the other as she helped herself to ice from the silver dish Consuela was offering. ‘So let me get this straight,’ she said as Consuela moved back to her own chair and sat down again. ‘You’re not talking to me now because my parents have asked you to, more because you think they would like you to. Have I got that right?’
‘Absolutely,’ Consuela laughed, ‘and so much more succinctly put. But it’s also because I feel a certain friendship has developed between us these past few weeks that allows me to take you into my confidence.’
Danny smiled and sipped her gin and tonic. She didn’t usually drink this early in the day, but when it was so hot and so unbearably sticky a gin and tonic, with lots of ice and a thick juicy wedge of lemon, slipped down rather well, she found. Consuela, as usual, was drinking fruit punch. Danny had never known her to drink anything else, neither had she ever known her to look anything other than perfect, as she did now, with her thick, blonde hair held in a navy velvet slide at the nape of her neck and a plain, pale violet short-sleeved cotton dress with matching pumps.
Danny turned to make an idle study of the sloping gardens and the small, private beach at the end, allowing Consuela to look at her, unabashed. They were in Consuela’s private sitting room where the cool, refreshing air coming in from the sea and the pastel colours were as serene and relaxing as Consuela herself.
‘You really are quite exceptionally beautiful,’ Consuela murmured after a while.
Danny’s head came round in surprise for she was certain there had been a catch in Consuela’s voice that suggested she was very near to tears.
‘I’m sorry,’ Consuela said, moving a hand to her hair, which she didn’t quite touch, then lowering it back to her lap. ‘It’s just … No, it’s nothing, please, forgive me.’
Danny watched, fascinated, as Consuela composed herself then gave her a bright, generous smile.
‘We have talked before about Jake,’ Consuela said, seeming to Danny’s mind to be a lot more nervous than she sounded. ‘And I think, my dear, that it is time we spoke of him again. No, no,’ she said, lifting a hand as Danny made to interrupt, ‘I am not going to try to persuade you to stop seeing him, but what I am going to do is tell you the whole truth about him and then you must make up your mind whether you wish your association with him to continue.’
‘OK,’ Danny said, feeling gloriously smug that she was going to have this handed to her on a plate when Sarah and Louisa were tying themselves up in knots trying to work out was what going on.
‘As I’m sure you know,’ Consuela said, ‘Jake arrived back in this country five days ago from Mexico, so I think we should begin with why he was there.’ For a moment it seemed that she was going to lose it again, but after taking a deep breath and forcing her wide mouth into a shaky smile, she said, ‘He was there looking for his wife.’
‘Why, has he lost her?’ Danny quipped, and could have instantly bitten out her tongue on seeing the pain that crossed Consuela’s face.
‘Yes, you could say that,’ Consuela said, then after a pause, she added, ‘Jake’s wife, Martina, is my daughter. I’m sorry, was my daughter. She is dead now, she died three years ago. Jake killed her.’
Danny’s eyes were wide. ‘He killed her,’ she repeated on an incredulous breath.
‘Yes,’ Consuela said, lifting a trembling hand to her face. As she closed her eyes a single tear rolled down her cheek and she used her fingers to wipe it away. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, her voice high-pitched with emotion. ‘It is still very hard for me to speak of. But yes, Jake killed her. He murdered my baby. He took her out in his boat and he … She drowned, but he had beaten her so badly they tell me that she was dead before she went into the sea.’
‘Oh my God,’ Danny murmured, unable to think of anything else to say.
‘But it is even worse than that,’ Consuela said, and Danny could see what a very real effort she was putting into making herself go on. ‘When Martina went into the sea she was carrying Jake’s baby. She had only two months to go and he killed them both. His wife and his own child.’
‘Oh no,’ Danny breathed, even more bereft of words than before. ‘But why?’ she said pulling herself out of the soporific shock. ‘Why would he do that to his own wife?’
Consuela’s answering smile
was the saddest Danny had ever seen. ‘You have not lived in America,’ she said. ‘You will not have heard about Jake before you met him here. But always there have been rumours about him and his cruelty to women. He is a sadist of the very worst kind. I begged Martina not to marry him, but she wouldn’t believe what she’d heard. He was so kind to her then, so gentle and loving and she adored him. When it started, when the real violence began, I took her away from him. It wasn’t easy, because he used to keep her locked up, but we managed it, eventually, and I had her taken to Argentina where my friends looked after her. But he found her and then … Then he took her onto his boat and he beat her until she was … dead.’
By now Danny could feel tears starting in her own eyes.
‘And now,’ Consuela continued, ‘I am punishing him. I know it is a wicked thing to do, but I have to avenge the life of my only child. So I have arranged for rumours to reach him that Martina is still alive, that she is hiding somewhere in Mexico and now he goes there to look for her. He is afraid, if she is alive, that she will tell everyone what he did to her, how he tried to kill her and then he will go to prison. So he only looks for her now to kill her, to make certain she is dead. He has heard recently of a woman with a small child. It is I who pay people to tell him these things. I want him to suffer, I want him to know what it is like to be so afraid, the way Martina was so afraid. He should be in jail for what he has done. He was arrested, but his father paid a great deal of money to hush it all up and buy his son’s freedom. They all say it was an accident now, but I know it was not.’ Reaching for the box of tissues beside her she pulled one free and quietly blew her nose. ‘So maybe now, Danny, you understand why it is that I fear for you and for whatever relationship you have with him. He is a wicked, evil man and you are as innocent and beautiful as Martina.’
‘But I don’t understand why you still let him come here,’ Danny said, frowning her confusion.
Consuela’s slim hand was clenched at her throat, her distress showing in the way she was rubbing her thumb between her fingers. ‘I have no choice,’ she said. ‘There are things in my life that I have done that I am not proud of, things that were the foolishness of a young woman, but are now being used to torment me. I have no idea how Jake found out about them, but that isn’t really important, what is is the fact that he knows. And now, if I do not allow him to use the bathhouse for his extortion, he threatens to expose what I have done. It is not such a great thing, but Jake, he will make certain that it ruins me. I don’t care for myself, but I care for Martina. If I am not in the position I am now in then there will be nothing I can do to avenge her death.’ Taking a deep breath she sipped shakily on her punch. ‘You understand,’ she continued, ‘it is why I so rarely leave the house now. I do not wish to make any new friends only for Jake to exploit them. And with the friends that I still have from when my husband was alive I do all that I can to try to warn them of what is happening. It isn’t easy, for if Jake were ever to learn of the way that I try to inform them he would expose everything that goes on here and very likely, with the cleverness of his lawyers and the influence of his father, I would be the one to finish up in jail.’
‘My God,’ Danny said in a hushed voice. ‘It’s so horrible I just don’t know what to say.’
‘There is nothing to say,’ Consuela smiled. ‘It is a burden I must carry, but I am hoping that very soon now it will all be over. I am receiving a lot of help from lawyers that Jake knows nothing about, but …’ Her voice trembled on a sudden surge of emotion and she bit her lips as she twisted the pendant around her neck. Danny saw the way her large, gentle eyes filled with desperation. ‘I need so much help,’ she said, hardly able to get her voice through the choking anguish in her throat, ‘and I know I have no right to ask you this,’ she went on, swallowing hard, ‘and please, if you wish to walk out of this house and never come here again you must feel free to do so for I, of all people, will understand … But I was thinking, that with your skills as an actress, that maybe there is something we could do that would see him in jail where he belongs.’
Danny’s curiosity was piqued, but more importantly she was thinking of Louisa and how there was no question that she must do whatever it took to get him out of Louisa’s life. This was no longer a contest between two friends as to who won the man, this was, as Consuela had just put herself through great pain to illustrate, a matter of life and death.
‘Just tell me what you want me to do,’ Danny said.
Consuela smiled as tears of relief and gratitude flooded her eyes. ‘It is not a good thing I am asking of you,’ she said, ‘and if you wish to say no then please say no. I would not hold it against you, I would never do that, because what I am asking you to do is stage your own murder.’
Danny’s mouth dropped open even as a tremendous thrill of excitement reverberated through her. ‘Are you serious?’ she said. ‘You mean stage my own murder and make it look like Jake did it?’
Consuela nodded. ‘That is what I mean.’
‘But how on earth would we get away with it, given that I’m not really going to die?’
‘I have friends who would help us,’ Consuela answered. ‘Friends who have known what it is to have Jake Mallory try to ruin them. Together they have a great deal of influence, especially here in Europe, and though it is doubtful we will see him in jail, if I could just make sure that he never came to Europe again then maybe I could pick up the pieces of my life and start over.’
Danny’s mind was racing. ‘But it’s going to take one heck of a lot of setting up,’ she said.
Consuela smiled. ‘The technicalities of it are much simpler to organize than you might think. But so much is dependent on you and your ability to manipulate the people around you, especially him.’
She was watching Danny closely, sensing that the enormity of what she was asking her to do was going to take some time to sink in. But it would, sooner or later, and Consuela was prepared for the barrage of questions when they finally came. In the meantime, she smiled fondly. ‘Sadly there is no script for you to follow,’ she said, ‘and it is I, mainly, who will direct you, but I’m sure that between us we can make this work.’
‘I’ve had a great deal more experience working without a script than you might imagine,’ Danny said, eyebrows raised as she smiled back at Consuela. For the moment she really couldn’t see how they could possibly pull this off, but she certainly didn’t want Consuela to doubt her skills as an actress.
‘Good,’ Consuela said getting to her feet. ‘And now, before we start going into the details of how to carry this out I have something for you.’
Intrigued, Danny’s eyes followed her across the room to where she stopped in front of a painting and pulled it out from the wall like a cupboard door to reveal a small safe behind it. ‘This,’ she said, handing a small package to Danny, ‘is a video of your mother and one of the boys in the bathhouse.’
‘What!’ Danny gasped. ‘My mother! But she said she knew nothing about the bathhouse.’
‘Of course she did,’ Consuela smiled. ‘You’re her daughter, she wouldn’t want you to know that she’d ever slept with anyone other than your father.’
‘No, I suppose not,’ Danny muttered, taking the video and looking at it as though it were something completely alien.
‘But why are you giving it to me?’
‘Because I had it on good authority that Jake was about to put it to use, which was why I arranged for Morandi’s office to be burgled. I knew I had to get that video out of there, but then it occurred to me that there might be more copies, which was why the person who carried out the burglary went back and set fire to the place. It is yours now to do with as you wish. Maybe you would like to keep it to remind yourself, should you ever need reminding, what kind of man Jake is, but if I were you I would destroy it.’
‘Can I take a quick look?’ Danny said, suddenly strangely excited by the idea of watching her mother have sex.
‘By all means,’ Consuela answe
red, obviously surprised, but waving her towards the TV nevertheless.
Danny only watched the first two minutes before feeling horribly ashamed at the way she was prying into her mother’s life. ‘That’s enough,’ she said, pushing the stop button. ‘I won’t need any reminding, let’s burn it.’
Consuela took the video from her and carried it over to the hearth where she began screwing up a newspaper to build a fire. ‘When this is done,’ she said, ‘perhaps it would be a good idea for us to refresh our drinks and sit down to discuss how we are going to put this plan into motion. And Danny,’ she said, stopping to look up at her with eyes steeped in gratitude, ‘I just don’t know how to thank you for agreeing so readily to help. I have come so close to asking other friends so many times but I have never quite had the courage. Of course, they are prepared to do things that don’t involve them personally, they are happy to use what influence they have to help me, but until I met you there was no one I could ask to do such a terrible thing as we are going to do. I pray that God in His mercy will forgive me for taking vengeance into my own hands, but please, if at any time you wish to stop, if you feel that things are moving beyond your control and you are afraid, then you must tell me and we will call it all to a halt. Jake is a very clever and a very suspicious man. He won’t be easy to fool and you must be aware of the danger you face should he ever learn of what we are doing.’
Danny nodded soberly.
‘There is just one other thing,’ Consuela added. ‘Jake has no idea that I am aware of who Morandi really is and probably it’s better it stays that way.’
‘Oh God, yes, Morandi,’ Danny murmured to herself. Sarah had been seeing a lot of him lately and, if Danny had overheard correctly, he’d spun Sarah some sob story about his little brother which Sarah had swallowed. God, women could be so gullible when it came to men. Not that Danny judged herself to be an exception, because, God knows, she’d made her share of mistakes. Take her infatuation with Jake for example. She’d always known he was rotten, that he had sides to him that were as well concealed and insidious as the many sides to her own character. But never, not ever, would she kill any one, least of all her own child the way Jake had. And really she was surprised at Sarah, for anyone could see that Morandi was a fraud with that phoney Italian accent and little boy lost look he’d so cleverly cultivated. However, she didn’t imagine that Sarah was in the kind of danger Louisa was in, which was why Danny had to make Louisa her priority.
