‘Your name, sir? It’s Elias Norman Badington, yes? You are the owner, am I correct?’
Elias looks at me and nods. What on earth is going on? It’s not stolen if he owns the boat, but why in the world would someone with an impressive yacht deny owning it? Why all the stuff about his boss?
‘I don’t get any of this,’ I say to Elias.
‘I promise I’ll explain later. Let’s just deal with this first.’
My mind conjures up scenarios as to why Elias would pretend just to be the skipper. Is he on the run? What if he killed his wife? Maybe he made up a story about her being ill. He could have even thrown her overboard for all I know. Sometimes, I do wish I didn’t have that over-active author’s imagination. I feel sick as the cold realisation dawns that my family was right all along. I really knew nothing about him.
I hang around waiting for Elias to finish with the police, listening to every word he says as he retells his account of what has just happened. The police don’t cart him away, so maybe him being wanted isn’t anything I need to worry about.
When he is finally done, I look at him, my hands on my hips, and wait for his explanation.
‘Not here. Look, we’re going to need to check into a hotel. The only saving grace is that my wallet’s in my pocket, and I’ve got all my cards with me.’
I think of the laptop that I’ve left onboard, not to mention all my stuff for the holiday. How could I have such a mishap with my laptop twice on the same break? I am beginning to wonder if this book is meant to be written. I’ve now lost everything, including Elias. He is obviously some kind of fraudster that I can’t trust. However, as much as I don’t want to get a hotel room with him, I don’t know anybody here and have no money. I am not sure what choice I have. I decide that I will go with him so that I can shower and dry myself off and then I suppose I’ll have to admit to my friends and family that I was wrong about Elias.
We look scruffy and out of place as we check into a posh hotel, and I notice a customer look me up and down. I have to bite my tongue to stop myself from telling her that she would look like this, too, if she had just been shipwrecked!
Elias tries to talk to me as we head upstairs to our room, but I have nothing to say to him at this point. I want to shower and dry off before I hear why he would lie about who he is. I rush straight into the bathroom and lock the door in fear of who the real person is on the other side.
As I close my eyes to the warm water that soothes my skin and washes away the tightness of the salty seawater, I have a flashback of the boat heading towards us. One thing I know is that, from now on, I am staying well clear of boats.
I dry myself off and prepare to face Elias. He has made me a coffee from the kettle in the room and it is waiting for me by the time I walk out wearing one of the hotel’s luxurious white bathrobes.
‘I’m sorry it’s been such a tough day for you. You’ve had a few nasty surprises.’
‘I’m not sure what’s worse. Crashing the yacht or finding out you’ve been lying to me.’
‘I have very good reason. I promise. I hope you’ll forgive me.’
‘You’d better start talking then.’
Elias sits on the edge of the bed and bites at his cheek.
‘It’s going to sound awful because it’s not you that I did this for. I didn’t know you’d be a lovely, genuine woman…’
‘What are you on about? Tell me what you want to say!’
‘Okay. I’ll tell you everything right from the start.’
‘Please do. I need to know everything if I am to ever speak to you again. Why would you pretend the boat wasn’t yours? This is just so shifty. Are you smuggling fine arts? Some kind of drug dealer? An arms dealer on the run? Just tell me.’
‘I won the lottery.’
‘What?’
‘Yeah, it was a rollover. Just over nine million.’
‘Well, why on earth would you say you’re a skipper and that it isn’t your yacht?’
‘Because money does strange things to people. Do you know how many people you can trust when you win money like that? Not many.’
‘Well, I’ve certainly had my fair share of surprises today. I don’t know what to say to you. I mean… Wow… is that really the truth about why you lied? The whole truth?’
I shake my head in disbelief.
‘Yes, of course it is. I should’ve been straight with you from the start.’
