True (2004)

by Cordy, Michael

  Phoebe hugged herself and smiled. 'Almost as cold as when we went to Mickey Tork's party all diose years ago. Remember?'

  'How could I forget?' said Isabella. 'It was minus ten, but we wanted to look sophisticated so we wore our skimpiest dresses.'

  Phoebe laughed. 'Only we didn't know the house had no heating and everyone else had turned up in ski gear.' She walked to the dais. 'It seems so long ago. And now I'm getting married.'

  Phoebe's back was towards her, so Isabella dropped the pill into her friend's glass and poured in the Amaretto. It dissolved instantly. She felt guilty about spiking her friend's drink, but it was the only way she knew to break Helmut's hold over her.

  'I don't care what my mother says,' Phoebe declared suddenly, with heat in her voice. 'I'm glad I'm getting married.' She was pacing the chapel now. Isabella followed her with the glass but Phoebe was just getting into her stride, venting her anger. 'As for the press, I don't care how old Helmut is. To me he's perfect. I've never looked at anyone else and felt such love.' She twirled round to face Isabella. 'Only you've understood, Izzy.' As Phoebe turned, her arm knocked the glass out of Isabella's hand and sent it crashing to the floor.

  Isabella watching the liquid seep into the red rug. She'd have to fetch another tablet from her room. 'I'll get another glass.'

  'Don't bother,' Phoebe said, reached for the bottle and swigged. 'As you said, there's time enough for me to be the sensible Mrs Kappel.'

  Isabella quelled her rising panic.

  'Thanks for being so supportive, Izzy -- you understand why I'm marrying Helmut, don't you?'

  When Isabella hesitated, Phoebe's smile faded. 'You do approve, don't you?'

  Isabella had a choice. She could lie and try to administer the drug later - although it might not work in time to make Phoebe see sense - or she could speak now and hope to get through to her. We're friends, aren't we, Phoebe?'

  'Of course we are. Best friends. Always have been, always will be.'

  'There's something I need to tell you, something you won't want to hear. It's not what I feel. It's a fact.'

  Suddenly Phoebe's beautiful blue eyes were as hard and cold as glass. 'About my wedding?'

  'About Helmut.'

  Phoebe didn't move or say anything.

  'Your love for Helmut isn't real, Phoebe. He's given you a drug, which makes you think you love him. I know this because my father created it. But that's not all--'

  'Oh, yes, it is,' Phoebe said tightly. Her voice quivered as if she could barely control her anger. 'At any rate, that's all I'm going to listen to.'

  'Phoebe, this is important. I'm trying to help you - help all of us!'

  But Phoebe was running down the aisle to the door, leaving Isabella alone in the freezing chapel, her warm breath misting the icy air.

  HELMUT KAPPELSTOOD ON THE LANDING BETWEEN HIS ROOM AND Phoebe's, studying his reflection in the window. The evening had been a resounding success, and everything was in place. Phoebe's lace might have attracted everyone here, but soon the world would look for guidance to him.

  He looked down at the lake, and in the arc lights he saw a figure running from the ice chapel to Valhalla. When Phoebe arrived at her door, she looked as if she had been crying.

  'Are you all right, darling?'

  'I'm fine,' she said, placing her hand on the scanner, then opening her door.

  Helmut followed Phoebe into her room, then glanced out of the window and saw Isabella hurrying out of the ice chapel. He took Phoebe into his arms. "What's wrong?'

  'I can't believe it. First my mother, now Izzy. I thought she of all people would be happy for us.'

  He held her close. 'Is this about you being younger than me and able to marry someone far more suitable? Both of which are true, by the way.'

  'But I want you.'

  'I know. I'm sure Isabella's just being a good friend, looking out for you.'

  'It's more than that. She said you drugged me to make me love you.'

  Helmut allowed only the slightest beat before he laughed. 'Perhaps I did.'

  'I'm being serious! She said her father created the drug. She's supposed to be my best friend!'

  'Don't be too hard on her, darling. She's not herself at the moment. She's just lost her father and now she's about to lose her best friend.'

  Knock, knock.

  Joachim stood in the open doorway, holding his aluminium case. 'Excuse me, Vati, we need to talk.'

  'it was my shoes, vati.'

  Helmut Kappel walked over to the table at the far end of his suite. He was still thinking about Phoebe's conversation with Isabella. 'What are you talking about, Joachim?'

  'After the party Anna and I went back to our room, and she went to bed. When I hung up my suit I noticed my brogues had moved. The left shoe was no longer parallel with the right. Its toe pointed inwards.'Joachim raised the aluminium case in his right hand. 'This was next to the shoes at the back of the wardrobe.'

  Helmut narrowed his eyes. 'And?'

  Joachim put the case on the table and opened it. 'Someone got into the case and gained access to my laptop.'

  'How do you know?'

  He reached into the case and retrieved a glossy dark hair. When Ilooked inside I found this. And that's not all.' He took a small bottle from his pocket, squeezed a drop on to the hair follicle, then placed it on the penny-sized facial DNA reader by the laptop keyboard. Seconds later Isabella'sface appeared on the screen followed by a message: 'Access Denied'.

  Helmut took a cigar from the box on the table, reached down for the assassin's knife in his ankle sheath and cut off the tip. He lit it, thinking hard. 'You travelled with Isabella Bacci from Bergen. One of her hairs could have attached itself to you, then fallen into the case.

  'I thought of that. But I checked when the system was last accessed and it was at twenty fifty-six this evening. At that time I was nowhere near my room, let alone the laptop. And only I can access it -- or someone using my DNA profile and password. Vati, Isabella Bacci somehow got into the computer. I don't know which files she saw, but we have to assume she's seen Ilium and Venus.'

  Helmut thought of what Isabella had told Phoebe about the drug. Why would she be snooping around?'

  'Perhaps she suspects we had something to do with her father's death. Perhaps Max said something.'

  'He would have told us if he had. Especially after you gave him the drug.'

  'All I'm saying is she must be dealt with.'

  Helmut sighed. He would prefer to wait until after the wedding. There was the Hudsucker deal -- the senator was hardly likely to pay for the love of a corpse -- and Phoebe wouldn't react well to the death of her best friend. He reached for the internal phone, but before he dialled he turned to Joachim. 'What about the serums?'

  'The canisters are in the safe, seals intact.'

  'Good.' Helmut made two internal calls.

  WITHIN MINUTES KLAUS AND MAX HAD ARRIVED. THE FORMER WORE pyjamas and a dressing-gown and looked as if he'd just woken up. Max had clearly been nowhere near his bed. He was still dressed, although his bow-tie was undone.

  'You sure it was Isabella Bacci?' Klaus asked.

  'Yes.'

  'And that she's seen your files?'

  "We must assume she has.'

  Helmut told them about Phoebe's conversation with Isabella.

  What was Phoebe's reaction?'

  'She thinks Isabella's making it up out of jealousy and fear of losing her. We can use that to our advantage.'

  'So she knows about Ilium,' said Klaus. What can she do about it until after the wedding?'

  'She can warn the others,' said Joachim.

  'Phoebe didn't believe her. Why should they? Anyway, perhaps Hudsucker will distract her. Disposing of her might cause more problems than it solves. I say we watch her closely, take the money from Hudsucker and dispose of her later, if necessary. Once we give her the modified permanent NiL Seventy-two she'll die in a few months anyway.'

  'Klaus, we can't rely on Hudsucker
distracting her,' Joachim told him. 'The drug didn't distract her from geting into my laptop or trying to warn Phoebe. And maybe she knows about our plan to give her and the others the lethal permanent version. She could jeopardize everything. We must get rid of her. We can tell Phoebe she was injured and had to fly home.'

  'Or we'll say Isabella left because she felt so strongly against the wedding that she wanted no part in it,' Helmut suggested.

  'Exactly,' said Joachim. 'If we lose the Hudsucker contract we at least get the other three -- we can find another woman for Hudsucker and sting him later.'

  Klaus scratched his beard. 'After the time when you say Isabella Bacci got into your laptop I didn't see her talking with the other bridesmaids. She had her hands full with Hudsucker, and the others were pretty preoccupied with their partners.'

  Helmut nodded slowly. 'After her futile attempt to warn Phoebe, it's unlikely that Isabella will tell anyone else tonight, but I'll get Stein and some of his men to watch her room. The question is, what do we do tomorrow?' He looked at his elder son, who was standing silently in the corner. 'Max, you've been very quiet,' Helmut said. What do you think we should do about your friend?'

  Joachim frowned. 'Why ask him? We know what he'll say.'

  Helmut raised his hand to silence him. 'Max, what do you suggest? How do we handle this?'

  Max looked up slowly. We have no choice. For once I agree with Joachim. We have to silence her.'

  'Really?' Helmut could barely contain his surprise.

  Max didn't hesitate. 'I'll do it tomorrow during the sleigh rides. Give me one man.'

  Helmut smiled. His son had never killed a woman before. 'Take Stein with you.'

  'How can we be sure you'll carry it out, Max?' said Joachim.

  'That'senough, Joachim.' Helmutturned to his elder son, savouring the power he held over him. 'We can trust you, Max, can't we?'

  Max's face was an expressionless mask. 'Yes,' he said. He looked at Joachim, then Klaus. Finally, he turned back to his father. Til prove it to you.'

  THE NEXT MORNING: 31 DECEMBER

  WHENEVER ISABELLA HAD HAD NIGHTMARES AS A CHILD HER father would sit by her bed and stroke her cheek till she was calm again. In the morning she had always been unable to understand the fear that had kept her awake, shivering, in the dark. But this morning the nightmare didn't evaporate and her father could no longer comfort her.

  After her disastrous meeting with Phoebe she had considered going to the other bridesmaids, but they, too, were under the spell of the drug and she had been too discouraged to approach them. Instead she had tried to rest. When sleep had come, though, it had been short and troubled. She had woken in a cold sweat. In her mind's eye she had seen the Kappels kill her father because of what he knew. Max, the man she had thought she loved, had raised a gun and shot him.

  Isabella carried the portable hard drive with her when she went to breakfast in the dining room. She sat with the other guests and listened to them discuss the day's excursions. The weather promised to be crisp and clear, and most were going on helicopter trips to the Arctic Circle to see the Northern Lights if they were lucky. Others were happy to take sleigh rides round the eastern side of the lake.

  After breakfast she put on her fur coat and walked outside. Her friends were cavorting with their partners from last night. They greeted her, but were preoccupied. She saw no sign of Phoebe.

  She walked to one of the sleighs to take a ride in the head-clearing cold air. Then she would seek out a German dictionary and discover exactly what the Kappels had planned. As she neared the sleigh Hudsucker appeared on her left.

  'You promised to ride with me,' he said, helping her up. Then, before the driver could galvanize the dogs into action, a voice called Hudsucker's name and a figure by the main door beckoned to him. He frowned, then patted Isabella's knee. 'Back soon.'

  She watched him walk back to Valhalla, then Max was climbing on to the sleigh beside her. The driver stepped off and Stein took his place. Before she could react, he glanced at her, cracked the whip and the barking dogs set off.

  Anxious suddenly, she tried to get off the sleigh.

  Max took her hand. 'Please, Isabella, just a quick ride. I've been wanting to talk to you ever since you got here,' he gestured over his shoulder at Hudsucker and Delphine who were now waving frantically to attract their attention, 'but someone's been monopolizing you.'

  Her palms felt clammy, but she remained calm. 'You haven't exactly been at a loose end yourself, Max.' She glanced back. 'Perhaps your fiancee would like to join us?'

  He smiled. 'I'm sure she and Hudsucker will get along famously. I want some time alone with you.'

  Fear rose in her. Then she reminded herself that the Kappels needed her alive: according to Joachim's document, she wasn't supposed to die for at least six months. She glanced back at Valhalla, gleaming in the early sunlight, and noticed that the other sleighs were heading in the opposite direction, inland towards the river. Where are we going?' She looked down at the water flowing beneath the ice. 'I thought we were supposed to stay on the other side of the lake. Joachim said the ice was thin by the fjord. Something about the river flowing into the sea and the Gulf Stream.'

  'We know the safe areas -- and I want to show you something.'

  'What?'

  'You'll see.'

  As the dogs pulled the sleigh over the ice, she realized that the high sides of the vast lake were riddled with long, narrow inlets, and the scale of everything around her made her feel small and vulnerable.

  As they neared the narrow fjord the ice became visibly thinner and more watery: she could see where the mantle of ice on the lake gave way to the river, which flowed to the sea.

  'Max, the ice looks so thin.'

  'Relax, it's fine.'

  The sleigh turned into one of the narrow inlets.

  The towering mountains on either side of the canyon were so close and high that sounds echoed in the cold air, as though they were in a cathedral. Apart from the dogs and the sleigh's runners on the ice there was silence. She saw a solitary majestic eagle flying high above, but not another living creature seemed to inhabit this frozen world.

  She looked behind her but could no longer see Valhalla, or even the lake. The canyon was tall and narrow, but it twisted and turned so she was hemmed in on all sides by icy rock. The sun failed to reach the bottom of the deep inlet and it was colder than it had been on the lake.

  'Max, what do you want to show me?'

  He tapped Stein's shoulder and pointed to a beach of snow and rock beneath a high overhang. The dogs pulled the sleigh off the ice and on to the ground. The sleigh stopped and Isabella was glad to be back on terra firma.

  Her relief evaporated when Stein turned from the dogs and stared at her. There was a sadistic gleam in his eye and he held a curved Kukri knife in his right hand. 'I'll do it, Max.'

  A hard, cold lump formed in Isabella's belly. 'Max, what the hell's going on?'

  'I'll do it,' Stein said again. 'It'll be like old times. Remember Hawaii, Max?' He tapped his eyepatch and grinned. 'You were just a pup when you gave me this on the night I drowned your mother. If you haven't the stomach for it, it'll be my pleasure.'

  'Put the knife away,' Max said, and pulled a pistol out of his coat. There was a silencer on the barrel. His eyes were as cold and hard as the surrounding rock.

  'A bullet's too quick,' Stein said. 'Let me use the knife on her.'

  Max kept his eyes locked on hers. 'I know you got into Joachim's computer, Isabella.'

  Isabella's left knee was shaking as it had on that night in Antibes. Max had saved her then, but now he was going to kill her. 'Not you, Max,' she said, hating the quaver in her voice. She remembered last night's dream. 'Tell me one thing. Did you kill my father?'

  'No. For what it's worth I tried to save him. My father killed him.' Max raised the pistol. 'I don't expect you to believe me, Isabella, but I'm truly sorry about this. I wish there was another way.'

  She wanted to l
ook into his face when he killed her, but she couldn't. She held her breath, squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the explosion. The gunshot, when it came, was little more than a metallic spit that barely bruised the frozen silence. Her knees buckled, and as she crumpled forward she opened her eyes to see Stein keel over with a neat red hole in his forehead. The bullet had severed the strap of his eyepatch, and the empty socket was revealed.

  She turned back to Max, uncomprehending. He put the gun away. 'Give me your hand, Isabella,' he said. 'We've got a lot to do.'