Ten minutes’ walk seemed a bit of an understatement on Elena’s part; she’d been going for at least fifteen already. Near the bottom, she was tempted to break into a run, or a gentle jog if she was being honest with herself. There seemed to be two paths to the beach, one winding and long, while the other cut through a garden with a wall.
Surely that would be fine? There was no one about. Grace climbed over the wall, and kept to the perimeter of the property, not looking up at the enormous house to her left. She was nearly there. A couple more steps and she’d be able to hop over and directly onto the beach.
‘Hey!’
A male voice stopped her in her tracks.
‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’
Grace turned to see a tall, tanned man, dressed all in black, bearing down on her. His brown eyes were full of fury.
He was now so near she could smell his lemony aftershave. He was obviously British by the accent. Grace couldn’t miss the broad shoulders and the tensed muscles that bulged out of the sleeves of his polo shirt.
Up close he was even taller than she’d thought, long legs encased in black chinos, his close-shaven face looming at least half a foot above her.
Grace prepared to stand her ground. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of appearing frightened. They squared up to each other, just inches apart.
ChapterThree
The man, who Grace noticed had incredibly shiny shoes, spoke first.
‘I repeat, what is it that you think you’re doing?’
Grace decided to brazen it out.
‘Going to the beach…’ She pointed at her bag with the towel sticking out of the top. ‘Obviously. Just what is your problem?’
‘My problem is that this is private property that you’re trespassing on. Did you not see the signs?’
He pointed into the distance where Grace could see something in red written on a white background fixed to the wall.
‘That’s miles away. How am I supposed to see that?’
‘There are several on the outside of the wall too. Do you have problems with your vision?’
‘No. Do you?’
The man was insufferably rude. He wasn’t going to get away with it.
‘I was told that all beaches in Greece were public. That they’re not allowed to be private, which seems an incredibly sensible idea.’
‘Yes, you’ve hit the nail on the head there. The beaches are public…’ The man spoke the word ‘beaches’ very very slowly. What an arse.
‘But the gardens of this villa are absolutely not public. I think most people would realise that.’
‘Well, I’m not most people.’
‘Clearly.’
Deep down Grace knew she was a teensy bit in the wrong. But he needn’t be so nasty about it.
‘The public path is quite obviously over there…’ This time he emphasised the word ‘public’.
‘It’s not that obvious to me.’
Grumpy man pointed back towards the house.
‘I’ve been watching you for quite a while on the CCTV cameras inside the villa, from the moment you attempted to climb over that wall.’
