Trusting a Stranger (20 page)

The rest of the trip home proceeded in silence. Ethan drove them into his garage and carried Katy out of the car.

Katy was asleep and he carried her into the house and up towards the bedroom that had been waiting for her. Hayley followed.

As Katy's head was laid on her pillow she looked up at the two of them and smiled.

‘We're home safely, Daddy?' she asked.

Ethan brushed his lips against the little girl's head. ‘We're perfectly safe,' he said. ‘This place is a vault. I promise.'

Closing the door behind him, he turned to Hayley. ‘She loves having a woman around. I'm going to go tidy up,' he said. ‘Shall I walk you to your room or…'

She smiled at him. ‘I remember where it is.'

Just one floor up. Ethan nodded at her and walked away.

Hayley found the room untouched since she last left it. The towel she had used on that first night was still hanging crookedly over the rail, the bathrobe she had been wearing still messily draped over the side of the bed. She had been through so much over the past couple of days that these simple details seemed somehow surprising.

She stood at the window and looked out again at the Tuscan countryside through which she had walked on her way to Ethan's. She loved the area here. It was the kind of place where anyone would love to make a home. Where she would love to live herself, if there were any way of earning a living here. Perhaps as a photographer she needed the sort of wealthy patron that Renaissance painters had found?

She had to stop fantasising. This was reality. Her time here was limited. Once again, she thought of her first arrival here. On that day, she had thought she was in for a simple game of pretence. She had wondered if she would be brave enough to see it through.

How hard it was to realise that was just four days ago! It could have been another lifetime. Since then, Hayley's life had been threatened, she had been forced to run from mortal danger, she had been lied to and trapped by an evil man, and she had helped rescue a child from his clutches. And she had come to know and be intrigued by Ethan MacDonald; she had fallen in love.

She had what? She just meant she loved the way that he loved Katy. Didn't she?

Didn't she?

Hayley touched her fingers against her throat, shocked at the direction her own thoughts had turned. She was cynical Hayley Wolfe, the wedding photographer who had sworn that she would never have a wedding herself. Ethan MacDonald was a man who might never be able to come home, a man who had a daughter that deserved someone so much better than her, that deserved someone who would know how to be a mother.

And what else? How much worse could this be? Had she been careless with Ethan's emotions as well as her own? Had she allowed him to fall in love with her, despite knowing that she could never be a part of his life?

Hayley thought back through all of their encounters, trying to work out if she had been sufficiently honest about her attitude towards relationships. She was sure she had. She was sure that every time their conversations had veered near the emotional, she had made her own beliefs very, very clear. She had never married and never would. She could never be a mother because she could not risk inflicting herself on anyone else. She could not bear to be hurt the way her own mother had hurt her.

She couldn't be a mother now, she couldn't be a mother tomorrow, she could never be a mother.

But what was Hayley to make of Katy? Now she was being honest with herself about her feelings for Ethan, what was she to make of her reaction to his daughter? She remembered everything about the little girl in exquisite detail. Mostly, she thought of the way that Katy's hand had slid so easily into hers, the knowing way she had asked Hayley about being Daddy's girlfriend, the way Katy had looked at her games console photos and remarked, so casually, that they looked like a family.

Of course Katy would think like that. There could be nothing in the world that she would want more than a family. Hayley knew this painful truth so well! It was exactly the way she had felt when she had been a motherless child.

In that awful moment, Hayley realised that in staying here she wasn't only risking her own heart and Ethan's, but Katy's too. She had to leave. She had no choice. It didn't matter that she was safe from Tomasi here, now that she knew that Ethan and his precious child were physically safe, for the time being, she had to get out of here.

Yes, she would be risking her own safety. But danger was something she had to face sooner or later anyway. It was the result of her own silly decision to go along with Tomasi's plan for her photographs. In her heart of hearts, Hayley realised she had always known Tomasi was being dishonest with her, even when he'd been backtracking from his first dishonesty. It had been his offer of money that made the scheme so tempting.

Oh, she had learned a hard lesson. Her father might have needed money desperately, but he loved her and needed her more, and would hate to know she was in trouble. He would never have consented to this himself. Her safety would always be his primary concern, just as Katy's safety meant everything to Ethan. Because that was what fathers were like.

What Hayley needed now was to make sure that Katy was never hurt again. She needed to get out of here.

***

The new mobile phone buzzed in his pocket as he closed Katy's door and began, wearily, to head downstairs. There was only one person he had given this new number to. Ethan's mood lifted instantly.

‘Ryan?' he said, pressing the green button.

‘Ethan, it's Pearl,' his sister said, instead. Her voice had the flat tone he recognised as the calmness she tended to sink into after she had been hysterical.

‘Ah,' said Ethan.

It was wrong of him to wish that Pearl wasn't calling now. He had promised he would always be available to her. He was her only family.

‘I pressed call-back,' Pearl explained. ‘You said to let you know when I got to your place. Well, I'm here. Is there someone who can let me in?'

‘You made it already?' asked Ethan sceptically. He and Hayley had made the journey very quickly because he sped most of the way with only a couple of very short stops.

‘I was half way here when I called you,' Pearl explained.

‘How were you travelling?'

‘Is this going to be some kind of an inquisition? I need somewhere to sleep, Ethan, while I detox. Clinics aren't any good for me. I want to be in the villa. I love that place. I remember being there when I was a child.'

‘How were you travelling?' Ethan repeated.

If Pearl was evasive one more time, he would have to conclude she had some reason for not wanting to tell him the truth and disconnect. Could his sister have brought trouble with her, again? She had obviously been involved in the Tomasi and Vasilovich plot. Although she had helped Ethan in the end, she could have let him know far earlier what was going on. She had probably been too stoned to realise what Tomasi planned. At least Katy's presence had changed that. He desperately hoped that Pearl wasn't bringing more trouble now.

‘I don't want to tell you,' Pearl said.

She was his sister; they had been together through most of their childhood. Perhaps she almost could read his mind. Ethan decided to give her a moment or two to explain, after all, before disconnecting.

‘It's embarrassing,' she said at last.

‘Does it have anything to do with Alvaro Tomasi?'

‘Ethan! Of course not. I know better than to make the same mistake twice. And I said it was embarrassing. Not stupid. Not bloody evil.'

‘So how did you get here?'

‘I hitched a lift with a truck driver.'

She must have heard his rapid intake of breath.

‘No,' she said. ‘He didn't try to molest me. Not every man is an animal. Did you say “here”? Are you inside the villa? Let me in!'

Ethan walked towards the front door.

‘I'm coming outside. I'm going to pat you down,' he said. ‘I swear, Pearl, if you're bugged —'

‘Hurry up! I'm suffering out here. I need to lie down, I need water—'

He swung the door open. Pearl stood there before him. She was thinner than ever and seemed to have lost weight even in the past two days. Her hair was stuck to her head and apparently hadn't been washed. He remembered that she had been wearing a scarf over it when they first saw her in Naples. Back then, she must have been coming down from a drug-induced high. She would have been suffering for a few days by now.

She fell into his arms. Through her thin dress, he could tell that there were no wires. No one shot at him, as he had feared, when he opened the door.

He pulled her through and locked it behind him again.

‘I've stopped with the drugs,' Pearl said. ‘This time, I absolutely swear. When I realised that Katy was in danger because of what I had done, I knew I'd never forgive myself. It's time for me to grow up.'

She fell into his arms again and slipped halfway to the floor. There were footsteps behind him as well and Ethan turned to see Hayley coming down the stairs. She was holding her bag, and looking very determined, until she saw the brother and sister in the foyer before her.

‘Let me help you!' Hayley cried, running towards them and looping one of Pearl's flaccid arms around her shoulder.

Ethan realised that, although small, Hayley was very strong. She seemed to take half his sister's weight as, together, they guided the nearly-unconscious woman into his sitting room.

They laid her out on one of the sofas, and Ethan retrieved a wool throw from one of the cupboards, draping it softly over her.

‘She should be in bed,' he said.

Hayley nodded. ‘But she does look comfortable there,' she said. ‘Perhaps she can rest here for a few minutes. Gather some strength.'

‘Will you look after her for a while?' Ethan asked, standing. ‘I have to make a phone call.'

His boss still hadn't returned the call he had made from his new mobile phone. But if Ethan called from his home phone, surely the caller ID that would show up at Ryan's end would register with Ryan as something important? He recalled something David, his partner, once suggested. That Ryan was somewhat jealous of the way the company had not just continued along but actually prospered under Ethan's leadership.

This time, Ryan answered the phone first ring. ‘Yes?' he said.

‘Ethan MacDonald here. I've been waiting for your call.'

‘Waiting?' repeated Ryan, obviously confused. ‘I have no message of a call from you.'

‘I made it from a new mobile phone,' Ethan said, and waited while his boss explained, once again, the importance of keeping their mobile phones for business purposes.

‘It was an emergency,' Ethan began.

‘You still haven't worked out the business with Alvaro Tomasi?' Ryan guessed.

Ethan sighed. He knew his boss wanted him back at work as soon as possible. The truth was that Ryan had been very generous in letting him have so much time off, even if unpaid — Ethan didn't need the money, fortunately — and in holding his job open until he came back.

‘Things have taken a bit of a bad turn, actually,' Ethan said, and briefly explained what had been going on over the past few days.

Ryan made a couple of shocked sounds on the other end of the line.

‘Is there anything I can do to help?' he asked, when Ethan got to the end of his story.

‘That's why I called,' Ethan began. ‘Thing is, we're more or less surrounded at the moment.'

‘State of siege,' Ryan surmised.

‘Yes, I suppose it is a siege. I've checked my cameras and had a look at all the roads in and out. Tomasi has blocked everything.'

‘He's an expert at this sort of thing.' Ryan seemed thoughtful. ‘Any chance you can just wait it out? Tomasi will have other things he has to do eventually. An open attack seems unlikely.'

‘But it's possible. And I can't risk it. Katy is with me,' Ethan said.

Ryan let out a long, low breath. He must understand now why the situation had become so critical.

‘I think I'm safe here for a little while,' Ethan said. ‘But, now that Tomasi is sure about where she is, that safety isn't going to last.'

‘In a couple of days you'll need food,' Ryan said.

‘Exactly. Also, my sister is here. Remember I told you Tomasi had her hooked on drugs? She's trying to dry out. I have to help her. But she's got an uphill battle ahead.'

‘You can't book her into rehab?'

‘Not this time. Not until Tomasi is out of the way.'

‘What will you do instead?'

‘I'll have to hire a private nurse.'

‘Have a stranger in the villa, you mean?'

‘That's just it.' Ethan banged his fist against the wall in frustration. ‘There's no one I can trust. The Tomasis have spies everywhere. And I don't know who's on Alvaro's side.

‘I think I can see where this is going. You want me to send a helicopter, get you out of there?'

‘Exactly!'

It was a big ask. The company they worked for had access to several types of aircraft, most often used for transferring important clients around various parts of the American east coast — not Italy. But Ethan knew that if anyone could arrange this, it was Ryan.

‘Give me twenty four hours, I'll have everyone onto it,' Ryan said.

Ethan breathed a sigh of relief. It was clear that Pearl would need attention during that time. But as long as Hayley was around, Ethan would have the help he needed with Katy. The two of them were getting on like a house on fire.

A house on fire.

He recalled the expression that Ryan had used a few moments ago. They were living in a state of siege. Ethan wished the image of a house on fire had never occurred to him.

The most important thing, he realised now, was making sure that none of Tomasi's men got close enough to the house to be able to burn them out. More than ever, he was glad that Hayley was with him. He could look after her here, until Alvaro was gone. And if he really was losing the support of the rest of the Tomasis, then maybe it was just one crazed man and his paid henchmen they had to get rid of. Ethan had enough experience with criminals to know that, unlike family members, guards and hired hitmen that Alvaro had to pay would lose interest as soon as Alvaro was dead and the cheques stopped coming.