Public Property (24 page)

‘
Exactly.
I’ll
ring
you tomorrow
.’

‘
Oh
, hang on,
while you’re on the phone
…
just
tell
Nick someone came round today to check the alarm system
. I
t’s all working fine
.’

‘
Oh that’s good
.
Y
es
,
he said it was due to be checke
d.
I’ll tell him
.’

Hearing that
news
made her slightly calmer about the situation.
Emma,
Yiannis
and now
Melly
, were her family. They meant more to her than anything.

‘
OK, bye
,
’
Emma ended
.

Freya
put her mobile
back
into her handbag and took the chance to look at herself in the mirror. Seeing herself with brown hair surprised her for a second
. She’d
almost forgotten she
’
d dyed it.
She
pushed her hair behind her ears and adjusted her glasses. It was a different look and that was the main thing.

She left the ladies room and made her way back into the main room of the casino
.
Nicholas wasn
’t sat where she’d left him
.

There were two new players,
a man and a woman and
Sammy was taking bets for the next spin.

‘
Hey
,
Sammy
.
W
here did Nick go? Please don’t tell me he lost everything already
.
I was only gone ten minutes
.’ She took a swig from he
r bottle of beer.

‘
He got a call from your driver and
left.
I think he tried to call you
.’

‘
Oh
.’ S
he
got back off her chair and
walked
towards the exit
.

As she reached the door,
Nicholas came back into the room
. He had a
serious
expression on his face and straight away
took Freya by the arm.

‘
We’ve got to go
.’ He urged her towards the door.

‘
What? What’s going on?
’
He led her into the lobby.

‘
We’ve got to wait for the cops to get here
.’ He pressed a button for the elevator.

‘
Police?
What for? What’s happ
ened? Why did
M
ikey
call you?’

‘
The manager wants us to wait in his office
.’ He ran a hand through his hair.

‘
Nick
,
w
hat’s going on? For God’s sake tell me
.’
T
he lift bell rang and the doors opened.

‘
Mikey’s
be
en
taken to hospital
.
H
e was attacked
.’

‘
What?!
Oh my God! Is h
e going to be OK?’
She put her hand to her mouth trying to take in what was being said
.

‘
Freya
,
let’s just get in the lift and get up to the manager’s office
.’ He grabbed her hand.

‘
I
s there more?
I
s there something you’re not telling me?
’

She wasn’t sure she wanted to know. She felt sick.

‘
Let’s get in
the elevator.
P
lease
.’ There was real concern in his tone.

‘
Nick
,
you’re scaring me
.
P
lease tell me
.’

Whatever it was she needed to hear it. She followed him into the lift and the doors closed.

‘
I don’t exactly know what happened
,
but
Mikey’s
been beat up pretty bad and the car is a mess
.
I mean a real mess. It
looks like
someone took an
iron bar
to it
and just smashed it to pieces
.’

Freya put her hands to her face and felt a surge of fear run through her. She began to feel like her chest was going to burst and the grip of terror rose up into her throat. Before she knew it she was struggling to breathe.

‘
Freya, come on, calm down
.
Take a deep breath.
S
low breaths
and
look at me
.’ He took both of her hands and tried to turn her towards him.

‘
I
…n
eed to get
…
out of here
.’

Her breathing was rapid now and she wasn’t inhaling properly. Short, shallow bursts were all she could manage.

‘
It’s three more floors
,
OK
?
J
ust keep tak
ing deep breaths and look at me.
E
verything is going to be fine
.’

Her
chest was burning and she still couldn’t get her breath. She felt out of control and dizzy.

The lift bell rang and the doors opened.

‘
We’re here OK
?
C
ome
on,
let’s get you sat down with a glass of water
.’

‘
It’s
…
my father
…
he’s going to
…’
Freya tried to speak as Nicholas hurri
ed them both along the corridor
.
Why was talking difficult? It came so naturally to her. Now it was exhausting.

‘
Don’t try to speak, just breathe
.’

She leaned into him for support.

‘
I
…’ she began.

She felt really lightheaded now. As if she’d sucked in the gas from a helium balloon. Walking wasn’t so easy. In fact
lying
down seemed really appealing.
She slumped to the floor.

‘
Freya?
Oh God!
Martin!
Call an ambulance!’ Nicholas yelled.

Freya opened her eyes and immediately shut them again. There was a bright white light positioned directly over her head
.
It
could only mean one thing
. S
he was in hospital where nice subtle lighting didn
’
t exist. She felt sick and her mouth was dry.

‘
Freya
,’ Nicholas whispered.

She felt his fingers running softly through her hair and she really wanted to go back to sleep.

‘
Freya, are you awake?
’

She
lifted her eyelids open again and this time turned her head slightly and looked at Nicholas
. He was sat in the chair next to her, an anxious expression on his face. He took hold of her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it.

‘
How’s Mike?
’
Freya croaked
. She tried
to sit up but
found she was attached to a drip and the tube tightened with every movement.

‘
He’s going to be fine
.
L
ie down
,
babe
.’

‘Is he still here?’

‘
He’s going to be fine
,
Freya, honestly. Roger’s here with him and he
’
s called his wife. He has a couple of stitches and some bruising
.
T
he brain scan was clear
.’

‘
Brain scan!
He had a
brain
scan! Oh my God! I have to see him
.’ She tried sitting up again but her head span the second she accelerated her movements past snail pace.

‘
Freya
,
please try and stay calm
.
T
he doctor says you’ve got to rest
.’

‘
Well the doctor doesn’t know me very well does he? You know how much I hate hospitals and what I hate more than hospitals is l
a
ying still. Can
we go home? Where’s my handbag?’ She scanned the room for signs of familiarity and started to peel away the tape holding the drip in position.

‘
Freya
,
come on, don’t make this difficult
. The doctor says you’re dehydrated and you
passed out
.’

‘
I left my bag at the casino
.
I
t h
as my phone in and my purse and…’ she started.

‘
Don
’t worry about the damn bag.
I’ll call Martin
,
the manager and have him find it. Freya
,
you
got so worked up you fainted
.’

He was repeating himself. Not because he thought she hadn’t heard the first time, but to hammer the point home. She’d got worked up over her father and what he had arranged for Mike and she’d blacked out. It wasn’t like that had never happened before.

‘
I know what I d
id
but
I’m fine now. I just want to go home
.’ She finally managed to sit up.

‘
Look, stay in bed
, just
for a minute. I’ll go and tell the doctor you’re awake and see what I can do. Here, have some water
.’ He passed her a plastic cup.

She
took a sip of the cool liquid and watch
ed
Nicholas leave the room. She took a deep breat
h and put her hand to her chest.
I
t sti
ll felt tight and her head was
woolly. She remembered the last time this had happened. She
’
d been on a flight from Athens to London having ended her relationship with Nicholas and having
just
spoken to her father.
He
was the cause of it. Like he was the cause of everything ugly that happened in her life.

Nicholas
came back into
the room
followed by a tall, white-
haired,
doctor. He had a moustache and a smile.
His name badge introduced him as Dr. Mark Stone.

‘
Hello
,
Freya
.
I’m glad you’re awake
.
M
y name is
…’
the doctor began
. He
sat on the edge of Freya’s bed.

‘
Dr. Mark Stone, so I see. Why
’s that name familiar to me?’

‘
Ah well, you
’
re most probably thinking of Dr
. Mark Sloane.
S
ome of my patients say it isn’
t just my name that connects me.
D
o you think I bear a littl
e resemblance to Dick Van Dyke?’ He straightened himself up and pushed his glasses down his nose.

‘
Diagnosis Murder
!
O
f course
!’

‘
I’m
afraid
Freya
’
s a bit of a TV addict
,
Doc
.’ N
icholas informed
.

‘
Well for that I have no cure. Say
,
Nick, could you get Freya another cup of water while I talk privately with her for a moment
?’
Dr
.
Stone suggested.