By the time Tess got back to the party, most guests had left the tables. Some were laughing and drinking champagne in the garden, others had begun to drift back to their hotel rooms. Looking around for Sean, she saw a glint of rich red hair. Paula Asgill was sitting alone at a side table, staring down into her coffee.
‘Paula,’ she smiled, walking over. ‘I haven’t seen you in two weeks.’
Paula looked up and smiled. ‘No, there’s been lots to do. Lots to think about,’ she said with unexpected warmth.
Tess was pleasantly surprised; Paula’s demeanour had always been so prim and icy, but there was a softness around the eyes that hadn’t been there a few weeks ago. Perhaps not every crisis was a bad thing, she thought.
‘Did you get my interview with Metropolitan magazine arranged?’ asked Paula.
Tess nodded. ‘Next week, it’s all set. Full copy approval.’
Alongside everything else she’d had to do over the last few weeks, Tess had set up an interview for Paula with Metropolitan, a smart society read that ran puff-pieces alongside glossy photo-shoots of all the Park Avenue Princesses who mattered. Tess had struck a bargain with Shelley Vine, the editor; she would get a scoop that would reverberate all around Manhattan, as long as she promised to treat Paula and her family in the most sympathetic manner possible. Tess could tell that Paula just wanted to get her story out there, to finally be free of the burden, but, having talked to Shelley, Tess genuinely believed that Paula could come out of it unscathed.
‘Well, thanks for everything, Tess.’
Paula shook her head, meeting Tess’s gaze. ‘No, it was more than that.’
‘So what happens now?’ said Tess, a little embarrassed. ‘I hear that William is stepping down from the company.’
‘Yes, from the CEO job at least. Leonard wants to retire in the new year, so William might take on his international development role, but we’ll see,’ she smiled again. ‘The emphasis is on our own little family for the moment. We’re buying a house in North Carolina, maybe somewhere near the mountains. I think it will be good for both of us to spend more time out of the city. I’m not sure that fierce competition and stress is particularly good for you, especially when we want to try for another baby.’
Tess was amazed to see Paula’s face glow at the thought of it. Tess had always thought of Paula as a particularly hard creature but, in the end, it turned out she was just running away from her demons. It wasn’t difficult to see what the trauma of having to deal with a disabled daughter would do to a young girl with no support network, but the endless acidic guilt of having abandoned her must have eaten away at her year after year. Perhaps Paula was harder than she had given her credit for, thought Tess as she excused herself and went to the bar for a martini. She took out the olives and knocked the drink back in one, steeling herself for what she had to do next.
‘Ah, there you are.’
Turning, she saw Sean. ‘What’s up?’ he said, his big green eyes searching hers.
Dammit, am I that transparent? Tess thought.
‘Oh, nothing,’ she replied dismissively. ‘I just needed to speak to Leonard. Have you seen him?’
‘He went back to Jewel Cay on the boat with my mom about ten minutes ago,’ said Sean. ‘Honey, are you okay?’
No, I’m not okay, she thought, averting her eyes. She had been unable to settle all day, debating over and over in her head whether to act on the information she had pieced together about Olivia Martin’s disappearance. Her first instinct was to tell Meredith and let her sort it out; after all, that was her job, wasn’t it? But then how would Meredith feel about her publicist accusing her brother of killing Olivia? And, assuming it was true, would she really want to know after all these years? More importantly, how would Sean feel about it? At best it would create a family rift, at worst … well, she didn’t want to think about that. Anyway, it wasn’t as if Tess had any real proof about what happened on the night of Meredith and Howard’s wedding and, even if she did, what real purpose would it serve to dredge up old secrets that would cause the family so much pain? Certainly it would not help Brooke and David, whose private lives she was being paid to protect. But – and this was what Tess kept coming back to again and again – what if this was murder? If Leonard had killed Olivia, how could she keep that secret to herself: just file it away under ‘unpleasant truths’? She didn’t know Olivia or her family, but she did know that if she had been in a similar situation, she would want to know the truth about her loved ones, even if it was difficult to bear. And that was the final twist, of course: Meredith had married Howard for social convention and companionship, but her heart had belonged to Olivia. Surely she would want to know what had really happened? But at what cost?
Tess forced a smile onto her face. ‘Don’t worry, I won’t be long.’
She leant forward and kissed him on the lips. For one second, she wanted to wrap herself in his arms, tell him everything, let him help her. But that was a cop-out. This was something she had to do herself.
‘Can I come to your room later?’ he smiled lazily.
‘I’ll be waiting,’ she said, hoping against hope that, by then, things would not have changed irrevocably.
Tess was the only person on the small boat ferrying guests to and from Jewel Cay. Sitting in the darkness, she watched the lights strung from the masts of the million-dollar yachts moored at the hotel’s dock get smaller and smaller. The short journey across smooth waters still made her stomach churn; maybe that martini was not such a good idea after all, she thought, hopping onto the jetty. The house in front of her looked like a huge ghostly face-the glowing windows its eyes and nose, the double-fronted oak doors a gaping mouth, and suddenly Tess thought about taking the boat straight back to the hotel and climbing into bed with Sean.
Be brave, she scolded herself. You’re almost there. A maid smiled as she opened the front door and pointed towards the east wing of the house. Tess could hear gentle classical music coming from the drawing room and, through the open doorway, could see Meredith and Rose and Robert Billington laughing over champagne. She moved away before anyone saw her: Leonard wasn’t with them. Over the past twenty-four hours she had got to know the layout of Jewel Cay well, so she walked across to the other wing of the house. The corridors were dark, but light was spilling from the far room that Tess knew was Leonard’s study. Quietly approaching, she peered around the door of the room, a hexagonal space with long windows and wood-panelled walls decorated with maps and nautical paintings. Her pulse jumped as she saw Leonard sitting behind a huge sea-captain’s desk.
‘Good heavens Tess,’ he laughed. ‘You did give me a fright!’ He stood up to beckon her in. ‘Come in, come in. Shouldn’t you still be at the party? I thought we’d leave you youngsters to it.’
Tess smiled weakly, suddenly finding that she couldn’t swallow as she looked at him. What made this worse was that she liked Leonard Carter.
‘I have to ask you something, Leonard,’ she said with more resolve than she felt. She moved a few feet further into the room but remained standing, still not wanting to get too close.
‘I have to know what happened on the night of Meredith’s wedding. I have to know what happened to Olivia Martin.’
His smile was rigid, but his tone remained light.
‘Surely that’s all water under the bridge,’ he said. ‘We all read the Washington Spy story, but it didn’t have any impact – old news. Certainly the wedding is still going ahead tomorrow, which it wouldn’t be if Wendell Billington believed a word of what was being alleged.’
‘I know what happened, Leonard,’ she said softly, forcing herself to meet his gaze.
His smile relaxed until his mouth was a thin line. ‘No one knows, Tess,’ he said. ‘No one will ever know.’
‘No one except you.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he replied airily.
‘I think you do, Leonard,’ insisted Tess. ‘You’d do anything for family, isn’t that what you told me once? Support them, protect them? Does that extend to killing for them?’
He put down his pen. The genial smile had now completely left his face.
‘Do what?’ he said, his eyes narrowing. ‘How can you say such a thing, Tess? After everything this family has done for you.’
Tess could feel her fingernails pressing into her palms. Her resolve was wavering, but she had to go on.
‘You were in the rose garden the night of Meredith’s wedding, weren’t you, Leonard?’ she persisted. ‘You had just had sex with Mary-Ann Henner and, when she left, you saw your sister and Olivia come into the rose garden. You overheard Olivia blackmailing Meredith.’
‘This is nonsense!’ he said, his voice angry and raised.
Tess heard a noise behind her and turned to see Meredith standing in the doorway, her face still. For a long moment, her eyes locked with Leonard’s, then he looked away.
‘Well, Leonard?’ she said. ‘Is she correct?’ Meredith’s voice was taut yet even, her eyes hard as flint.
‘Of course she’s not right. This is fantasy, supposition.’
Meredith closed the door to the study, the satin of her Valentino couture rustling as she walked slowly into the room. ‘I want the truth, Leonard.’
Leonard sank back into his chair. ‘It is the truth.’
His sister walked up to the desk and placed both hands on the dark wood.
‘Tell me!’ she hissed. ‘Tell me now.’
For several long, painful moments, he just stared back at her. Finally he gave a tiny shrug and nodded.
‘Yes, Mary-Ann and I were in the rose garden. She returned to the party but I stayed back to have a cigarette. You and Olivia came in, but I was sitting on the ground so you didn’t see me. I heard you talking, and I heard how much money she wanted.’
His expression darkened. It was a few seconds before he continued.
‘Olivia was a slut, Meredith,’ he whispered. ‘A few weeks earlier I found out that she had been sleeping with Howard. I tried to warn her off, but she just laughed at me. Then I saw her chatting up everything that moved at the wedding.’
‘What happened, Leonard?’
He stood up and paced to the window, staring out at the blackness.
‘I went to her cottage to talk to her, maybe even threaten her a little. I’d tried the softly, softly approach and where did that get me? So I told her she was a two-bit whore and she wouldn’t get a penny out of us. But she was as high as a kite – she patted the bed and told me she wouldn’t mind fucking me too.’ He turned to look at Meredith. ‘She said it turned her onto keep it in the family.’
‘What did you do to her?’ breathed Meredith heavily.
Leonard turned back to the window, staring at his own reflection in the black glass.
‘I grabbed her. It was easy; I was so much bigger than her. Bitch tried to scratch me with her nails, so I held her down on the bed, my hands on her shoulders. Before I knew it they were around her neck. My two hands could wrap all the way around her neck. I kept squeezing, telling her to leave my sister alone. She was nodding or struggling, I couldn’t tell which. Then she stopped.’
He turned back and looked from Meredith to Tess and back again. ‘I only meant to scare her,’ he said blankly.
Meredith’s body was rigid as she leant on the desk. ‘I loved her, Leonard,’ she whispered.
Leonard spun round angrily. ‘You loved her?’ he sneered. ‘You loved a slut who was blackmailing you?’
‘Don’t you dare!’ screamed Meredith, sweeping a glass off the desk. ‘Don’t you dare try to justify this. You killed the woman I loved!’
Leonard looked his sister in the eye. ‘I didn’t want you to be … like that. You’d never have stopped paying her. With your money and with your heart, I was saving you from that. I was looking after you.’
‘Looking after me?’ said Meredith incredulously. ‘When have I ever needed that?’
Leonard laughed mockingly. ‘Oh, and you’re always so careful, always so in control? Well, what about all those grubby little relationships you’ve had since, all those companions? Why do you think they have never come out? The inherent decency of dykes?’ he spat. ‘No, Meredith, I paid them all off.’
She glared at him and a single tear trickled down Meredith’s cheek.
‘Where did you put her body?’ she asked, her fury and bitterness barely concealed. ‘Where?’
Leonard sat down heavily in his chair.
‘I took her down to the river,’ he said in a low, controlled voice. ‘I threw her in. I did it for you, Meredith. I was protecting you.’
‘You murdered her!’ she howled, slamming her fist onto the leather top of the desk.
‘I’m your brother. I just wanted to fix it.’
‘Fix it? You ruined everything!’
Tess was frozen to the spot, wishing more than anything she was back in the safe, secure newsroom of the Globe, writing up this story, not witnessing it. She had come here to confront Leonard, to get the truth, but now she was intruding on some horrendous private tragedy. Just then Leonard pitched forward and she saw his hand grip the desk. Instantly she knew something was wrong. Even in the soft light of the study, Tess could see that the colour had bleached completely out of his face. He let out a strangled cry, his right-hand side shuddered, and his features contorted in agony. His body was beginning to slide down the leather of the chair. Tess jumped forward, trying to help him back up.
‘Meredith, help me,’ she grunted, but the older woman simply turned and walked out of the room, leaving Tess to pull Leonard’s heavy body back into the chair as best she could. Leonard’s mouth had drooped open, his limbs dangling at the sides of the chair, but his eyes looked alive and frightened. He tried to cry out but his voice sounded as if it had been filtered through a muffler.
Tess ran to the door. ‘Help!’ she screamed. ‘Someone, please!’
Then she snatched up the desk phone and called 911, praying it was not too late.
Throughout the night, word spread quickly through the hotels and houses around Jewel Cay that the wedding between Brooke Asgill and David Billington had been called off. The area was packed with media who were there to cover the nuptials and, although the Billington security team had managed to cordon off the area opposite the Cay, few of the press missed the medical helicopter swooping down to the Carter house at around eleven p.m.
When news reports started circulating that Brooke Asgill had been taken seriously ill, Tess hastily arranged a press conference for seven a.m. the next morning to clear up the error.
By six thirty, there were at least one hundred and fifty journalists in the gardens of the Pelicano hotel, gathered around a hastily erected podium.
Tess rubbed her eyes and threw a petrol-strong espresso down her throat. After everything that had happened over the last eight hours, she should have been running off pure adrenaline, especially as she had uncovered the biggest story of her life; but sadness and concern for the family were weighing her down.
She watched the ripple of activity as Liz Asgill stepped up to the podium and pulled out a single sheet of paper from her pocket. She was so calm and composed, it was as if she was unaware of the scores of jostling, shouting reporters and film crews in front of her. With everyone in the family rattled, Liz was the perfect choice for reading the statement. An earthquake couldn’t unsettle her, Tess thought. She’d heard the rumour that Liz was taking over from William as CEO of Asgill’s and that seemed eminently fitting. Wasn’t it John Donne who had written that ‘No man is an island’? But not everyone needed someone, mused Tess, watching her. Some men – or women – just needed something, and Liz had the business. I hope you’ll both be very happy together, she thought with a smile.
‘Thank you all for coming, ladies and gentlemen,’ began Liz, with the sincere tone of a seasoned politician. ‘As you all probably know by now, the wedding between Brooke Asgill and David Billington has been postponed. I will now read a short statement from my sister and her fiancé: “Due to the hospitalization of Brooke’s uncle, Leonard Carter, a few hours ago, we have decided that it is not appropriate for the wedding to proceed as scheduled. We thank you for your good wishes and wish Leonard a speedy recovery.”’
Liz looked out at the sea of expectant faces. ‘Questions?’ she said.
A pushy blonde with a microphone stood up. ‘Is the wedding postponed or off altogether?’
Liz shot her a withering look. ‘Postponed.’
A tall man in a loud tie waved a notebook. ‘Is the rumour true that Leonard Carter was attacked by a member of his family?’
Tess laughed quietly.
‘Absolutely not,’ said Liz with the right note of surprise and disapproval. ‘Unfortunately my uncle has not been in the best of health lately. I can’t say anything more at the present, but his condition is stable.’
Suddenly a dozen questions were being shouted out at once. Liz calmly raised a hand. ‘No more questions, please. Both the Asgill and Billington families would be grateful if you’d respect their privacy at this time.’
Tess slipped off as quietly as she could. There was little point staying at the Pelicano, where journalists would persist in asking questions she could not answer. She caught the ferry back across to Jewel Cay and was shown up to the master bedroom. There Tess found Brooke on the balcony, gazing out onto the azure ocean. When she heard Tess approach, she turned, and Tess could see that her eyes were red-rimmed from crying. She walked back into the bedroom and began packing her beautiful clothes into brown Louis Vuitton trunks.
‘Is it done?’
Tess nodded, then looked around. ‘Where’s David?’
‘He’s at the house where his brother is staying,’ she said, not looking up.
Tess examined Brooke’s face. ‘The wedding’s not postponed, is it?’ she said quietly.
Brooke shook her head, then glanced up at Tess. ‘I told him. About Matt.’
‘Oh Brooke …’
‘It’s over,’ she continued, ‘but we’ll let people know that when the dust settles.’
‘I’m sorry. Sorry about David. Sorry that Matt didn’t turn out to be the person you thought he was.’
Brooke finally met Tess’s gaze. ‘I didn’t break up with David because of Matt,’ she said. ‘I broke up because of me.’
Tess frowned. ‘Hang on, you broke up with him?’
‘I suddenly realized that I’m not going to be happy with David, or Matt, or anyone, before I’m happy with myself,’ she said, sitting down on the bed. ‘With David, I was smothered, forced into a role I didn’t want to play. Everyone expected so much from David, but no one expected anything from me – except to be the wife, seen and not heard.’
‘Thousands of girls would swap with you, Brooke,’ said Tess with a wry smile.
‘Why does everyone keep telling me that?’ she laughed. ‘And maybe in the past I would have been happy with that too. But things have changed this year; I’ve changed this year. Discovering Eileen Dunne’s book, seeing it at the top of the New York Times best-seller list, flying to Hollywood: Tess, I think this is just the start of things. I’m not ready to be a part of someone else, I’m just beginning to be me.’
‘But I really thought you loved each other,’ said Tess sadly.
Brooke smiled at the thought. ‘I think what I had with David was like winning the lottery and finding out your numbers had been for the wrong week. Love isn’t enough to make the relationship work – there’re too many other factors. Family, ambition—’
They both laughed. Brooke reached over and took Tess’s hands. ‘You’ve been a good friend to me, Tess, so thank you, thanks for everything,’ she said, her eyes sparkling with tears.
‘It’ll all work out,’ said Tess quietly, realizing how much she was going to miss her.
Brooke nodded. ‘I know. I feel free, Tess. I feel free. And that’s all the happy ending I need.’
Tess walked out barefoot onto the beach, passing the empty marquee, the canvas flapping disconsolately in the gentle breeze. As she walked, she let her mind run back over the last ten months; all that excitement, all that drama and glamour – and it had all come to this. She had no job, no secure home, and – as the wedding hadn’t happened – no bonus. Meredith had merely whispered ‘thank you’ before retreating back to her room before the press conference that morning. Tess hadn’t been sure if it was heartfelt or loaded with irony. Either way, it didn’t really matter. She couldn’t stay working for the Asgills. And the reason for that was right in front of her, sitting on the sand near where the waves lapped onto the shore. Sean. Her heart leapt just a little when she saw him and she thought of his words just twenty-four hours earlier: ‘Come back with me.’
She doubted the offer still stood. She wondered whether he would hate her for the damage she had caused to his family. Well, she would return to London anyway, she decided suddenly. If Sean Asgill was one of the pieces of her life that had been missing, then she knew that her home – and maybe even her own family, her mother – was part of the rest. She walked slowly over to where he was sitting, holding a drink that looked suspiciously alcoholic.
‘Hi, how was the hospital?’ she asked nervously.
He squinted up at her. ‘I think they categorized Leonard’s stroke as massive.’
Tess’s heart sank. ‘What does that mean?’ she asked.
‘I think it will be a few hours before the doctors work out how extensive the damage is. They’re doing tests to see if there is permanent brain damage. He’s certainly paralysed down his right-hand side, but there’s some signs of speech and they think there’s a chance he may walk again.’
‘Oh God, Sean, I’m so sorry.’
Sean nodded, his eyes fixed on the horizon. ‘Yeah, my mom told me what happened in the study.’
He took a slug of his drink and looked at her. ‘My mother is going to tell the Louisiana police what he said, but who knows what will happen then. I guess it depends whether Leonard wants to confess again – whether he can confess again. I expect the police will want to speak to you about that, anyway.’
Tess rubbed her eyes. ‘Perhaps he’s had punishment enough.’
Sean looked into her eyes. ‘You know, back in the hospital, there were some moments when I hated you.’
Tess held her breath. She could feel the sun burning her skin, but she dared not move. Sean picked up a pebble and threw it towards the waves.
‘I kept asking myself what I would have done if I’d been in your shoes.’
Her heart was pounding now.
‘And the truth is, I would have done the same,’ said Sean slowly. ‘As much as I care for my uncle, however much you wish something wasn’t true, Leonard killed someone. Sure, it was all those years ago and I think I can understand his motivation – wanting to protect Mom, I guess – but it was still wrong. And whatever has happened, you’re not to blame for any of it.’
He took a sip of his drink, which Tess took out of his hand. ‘You don’t need that,’ she whispered.
‘No, I need you,’ he said, pulling her close and stroking her lips with a kiss.
Tess squeezed him as tightly as she could, happiness mixed with relief. He stroked her neck and she winced.
‘Shit, you’re as red as a lobster,’ he said, looking at her burning skin. ‘Come on, let’s get you in the shade. I’m not sure you limeys are built for this climate.’
They walked slowly along the shore. ‘Talking of which, are you going to stay in New York? I mean, I guess your job is done, isn’t it?’
Tess smiled. ‘Well, when I thought you were going to dump me, I had decided I was going home, but I think I’m officially homeless,’ she said with a slow grin. ‘I’ve no job. I’ve got two journalists on a year-long tenancy in my Battersea apartment and no family to speak of … well, not yet, anyway.’
‘It just so happens there’s a hot new PR consultancy starting in London very shortly,’ said Sean. ‘I think you know the CEO. I hear he needs an assistant.’
‘Assistant,’ she scoffed with a laugh. ‘We’ll be talking director of PR at the very least. Although have you seen my CV lately? Disaster follows me wherever I go.’
‘I know,’ he sighed dramatically, ‘but you’ve got to start somewhere in the big, bad city. The pay’s awful but there’s a rent-free flat thrown in. You’ll have a roommate, but I hear he’s a devilishly handsome young fellow.’
The peach morning sun emerged from behind a bubble of brilliant white cloud, and suddenly Tess felt the warmth and light wash over her. ‘In that case, I’ll think about it,’ she smiled, and they walked hand in hand back towards the house.