He stands from his chair and starts to pace the floor behind me. I watch him move in the mirror, my body tense, waiting for a blow.
‘My wife left me.’ His face contorts in a strange mix of, I think, anger and tears. He swipes the back of his hand under his nose as he snorts. ‘She’s the only fucking reason I signed your letter. That bastard used her against me and she fucking left me anyway.’
‘Maybe you should have thought about that before you fucked someone behind her back,’ I snipe.
‘Maybe you should have thought about that before you fucked someone behind her back.’ He mimics my words like a puppet, then grabs my hair and yanks my head up so I’m staring at the scene in the mirror. ‘So fucking clever.’ The veins in his neck and temples are fat. His face red with rage.
‘Third!’ He releases my hair and his reflection holds up three fingers on a sadistic smile. ‘Third, you ruin my plan. AGAIN!’
‘Black Diamonds,’ I say, watching him move so his back is leaning against the mirror and he’s staring right at me.
‘FuckingBlack Diamonds. I was supposed to get a payout. The game for three million.’ He folds his arms across his chest. ‘Poof! Like magic, there you were again, fucking up my plan. First, you convince Gregory not to pay what the game’s worth. But he screws up, he offers us an in, lets Stuart take a position on the inside where he can see your next move. And I know the market, so I start registering the game thatIown. But there you were again.’
Finally, all the pieces fit together. ‘This is your new plan. You want a ransom.’
‘Ding! Ding! Ding!’ He rattles his hands in the air with an enormous fake smile. ‘Jackpot! And from where I’m standing, it looks like you can’t fuck this one up.’
‘I’ve got to hand it to you, Nick, you’ve played a good game.’
He takes a theatrical bow. ‘Why thank you, although, I already knew that.’
‘So call him, tell him where you are, ask him for what you want.’
He smiles, leaning his head to one side and pointing a swirling finger at me. ‘Oh, I’m going to, princess. But for now, I’m going to let him sweat. He can wonder whether he’s going to get you back, whether he’s going to get whathewants. You’ve been gone all night. He’ll be frantic by now.’ He sniggers, his eyes rising to the sky, his hands forming prayer. ‘Then I win two times.’
He lunges towards me, grabbing my throat, digging his fingers and thumb into my flesh, hard. I try to breathe but I can’t draw air. My legs kick, desperate for oxygen.
He releases me and my head droops forward as I gasp.
‘Don’t get up,’ he says, laughing as he leaves me in the room alone.
26
I squeeze my eyes shut, telling myself repeatedly that I don’t need to cry.
Why haven’t you found me?
A sob leaves my chest as a tremor runs the length of my body.
‘Dad, if you’re there, please help me.’
Dawn descends outside, the sky now a lighter shade of grey. It’s the only guide I have as to how long I’ve been here. My guess is twelve, maybe thirteen hours. I’m freezing. It’s hard to tell which part is producing the most pain. My head throbs. My arms and back are ablaze. Even my fingertips and my toes are stinging. I try to rotate my wrists in the cuffs but there’s no give and being chained to the table stops me from sitting upright.
When Nick grabbed my throat, I lost Stuart’s coat and I’m back to my black skirt and cream blouse: the clothes I wore expecting a day in my office.
I need a way out.Gregory hasn’t found me yet, which means there aren’t enough clues. If there were, he’d have found them. He’d be here, with Jackson, saving me.
Nick wants money and Gregory will give it to him.
But when? At what cost? His life?I have to get to him first. I could confess to Trina.Then what would happen? Would she let me go?
My best chance, my only chance, is Stuart.
He feels alone. He never met his parents. I can empathise. My mother left.
I wait. Hoping he’ll come. Willing him to come. If nothing else, I need a drink. My body is weak and if I weren’t sitting, I don’t think I’d be conscious. I need water.
I watch the sky turn lighter still, grey in the dull winter weather, but day. There’s something about the new day that makes me hope, lets me find the faith I lost in the dark.
