‘Even here?’ I asked, looking around.
‘Yes.’
‘Oh. Wait – how do you know that?’
He sighed, exasperated. ‘Where do you think I was all day?’
‘Well, I don’t know, Tommy,’ I snapped. ‘This may come as a surprise, but I wasn’t sitting about pining over you. I wasbusy.’
The part about being busy was a lie. I’d spent most of the day inventing ways to distract myself so I wouldn’t spiral over Julian’s predicament.
‘Regardless,’ he said, clearly having lost his last shred of patience with me (if he had any to begin with), ‘there’s no need for you to get involved.Moreinvolved.’
I frowned at him, starting to feel the true futility of my situation.
‘In fact,’ he said, ‘you need to promise me that when Dale, Julian, and Kovalec go inside after dinner, you’ll steer clear.’
‘Why, what happens then?’
He sighed, clearly weighing up how much he could tell me. ‘That’s when they’re making the deal. Julian’s tech in exchange for alotof money.’
‘Oh god.’
‘So, stay out of it, all right?’
I gulped. ‘All right,’ I said, my voice small. But I couldn’t let that be that. I had to make one last-ditch effort to help Julian. ‘As long asyoupromise to ask about immunity for Julian – or at least clemency.Please, Tommy.’
His eyes held mine, his expression troubled. ‘I’ll see what I can do.’
I nodded, my throat too dry to speak.
‘Now, you’d better get back or it will start to look suspicious,’ he added.
Heart pounding, I left Tommy to rejoin the others. We hadn’t even sat down to eat and it was already the most bizarre dinner I’d ever attended.
21
Thought of the day…
If you’re caught up in chaos of someone else’s making,it’s not your job to untangle the mess.
(Repeat after me: Not my circus, not my monkeys.)
In another life, I could have been an actress – a decent one if my performance at dinner was anything to go by.
I convincingly held up my end of the conversation, but my stomach was so tied up in knots, I could only pick at my food. A pity because Dimitra’s Cyclades-inspired menu was extraordinary – every morsel I did manage to swallow was delicious.
As the crew cleared the dessert plates – my volcanic lemon soufflé barely touched – Julian suggested that he, Dale, and Kovalec retire to the lounge two decks below for Metaxa and cigars – almost verbatim what I’d said to Trudy earlier.
Andwhat Tommy had warned me about. This was it – whatever was going down was about to happen.
As Julian and the other men descended the main staircase, I looked about for Tommy, catching sight of his retreating head and shoulders on the companionway near the bow.
‘Um, sorry, Trudy, nature’s calling again,’ I said, standing and picking up my clutch. Without waiting for a response, I scurried across the deck and ran down the staircase. Julian had already led the other men to the deck below – I could hear him talking about the cigars he’d imported – but had Tommy followed them?
The deck was clear in both directions. No crew about and no Tommy either.Fuck.
‘Psst, Ally.’
