‘Oh myGod.’ The speaker has child-woman features and giant sunglasses pushed up into streaky-blonde hair. ‘Thehat,’ she says, staring at Oxana. ‘I can’t…’ With a last disbelieving gawp at Oxana she grabs Defne’s hand and drags her into theMedusa’s interior.
‘Buse Çetinkaya. My daughter’s friend,’ Tahir Yilmaz murmurs. ‘As you can see, she’s quite…’
‘High-spirited?’ Oxana suggests.
‘Something like that.’
‘All aboard?’ the captain asks Yilmaz.
‘Yes, that’s everyone, I think. Emir’s joining us as soon as he can get away. Tomorrow, with any luck.’
‘Excellent. We’ll prepare to cast off, then. I hope you’re a good sailor, Miss Vorontsova.’
‘I hope so too, Captain Özdemir, I’ve never had the chance to find out.’
A young crew member carrying a bulging Fendi suitcase catches Defne’s eye. ‘Can I show you to your cabin, mademoiselle?’
She glances at him, taking in the sun-bleached hair, the tan and the smile. ‘Yes,’ she says. ‘Yes. You absolutely can.’
20
It’s just after 1p.m., and they’ve been walking for the best part of two hours when Eve gets the notification that Philippa has called her.
She rings back immediately. ‘Sorry, we’ve been out of network range. Is everything OK?’
‘Not really.’ Philippa’s voice is low and tremulous. ‘Tom’s been stabbed. He’s in hospital. Intensive care.’
‘Oh my God. What happened?’
‘I… I can’t really explain on the phone, but?—’
‘Tell me where you are. I’ll get there as soon as I can.’
‘Thank you. I wouldn’t have bothered you, but?—’
‘Philippa, just tell me where you are.’
‘Salisbury District Hospital ICU.’
‘Got it. Bye.’
Eve explains the situation to Jack.
He frowns and stands in thought. ‘It’ll take us the best part of two hours to get everyone back to the van. So… what I’m going to do is ring a friend of mine and ask him to pick you up.’
‘Where from?’
‘From near here. See that stand of trees to the left of the church spire over there? Keep going left and there’s a group of buildings. That’s Hurst Farm. It’s about half a click away. You should be able to walk there in ten minutes, easy, but first let me check if…’ He pulls out a phone. ‘Hi, Will, yeah, it’s Jack, bit of an emergency…’
Will Palmer and his Land Rover are waiting outside the farm by the time Eve gets there. He’s a big, cheery guy who works for the local authority. ‘Glad of a break, to be honest,’ he tells her, as he steers the Land Rover up the rutted track to the road. ‘Environmental surveys are important, but it’s not very exciting work. How do you know Jack?’
‘We were at school together, years ago.’
‘Is that so?’ He glances at her. ‘Well, he’s a good bloke. Deserves better than what life’s given him, if you ask me. Definitely deserved better than that wife of his, and I can say that because Claire’s my cousin.’ He frowns. ‘You’re not the Park girl, are you?’
‘I, er… may have been the Park girl, once upon a time.’
A grin spreads across his face. ‘Well, I’m jiggered. I thought the name Eve rang a bell. Shouldn’t really tell you this, but that man has been carrying a torch for you for years.’