She finally managed to fasten the clasp and sat back, taking deep breaths. She could feel that they were going down, so this was nearly over.
But then she heard the screams begin, and she knew that it wasn’t nearly over. The worst was just beginning.
‘So you’re off to Egypt?’ Hope asked.
‘I thought you said Egypt had been done to death?’ observed Ruggiero from further down the table, where the three of them were breakfasting on the terrace of the villa.
‘It’s just a stop on the way,’ Carlo said. ‘Then Thailand. Then-I forget.’
‘You sound as though it doesn’t matter,’ Hope said, alarmed. ‘But in the past when you started a new job you were always lit up inside. Today-you shrug. You do that too often, as though nothing mattered any more.’
‘You’re being fanciful, Mamma. Of course something matters-my new contract with Mr Forest, which will give me freedom to go anywhere and research anything.’
‘And it will keep you away for a long time-which is what you really want, isn’t it?’ she asked shrewdly.
He almost shrugged again, but stopped himself, conscious of his mother’s all-seeing eyes. It was true that he’d seized the chance of an alliance with the man he’d met in England. Alan Forest could fund his research, freeing him to travel anywhere for as long as he pleased. But he reasoned that any ambitious archaeologist would have done the same, whatever Hope might imply.
‘You’re lucky to be able to run away,’ Ruggiero remarked.
‘I am not running away,’ Carlo said sharply.
‘Like hell you’re not! You even tried to talk Forest out of staying in the Hotel Vallini.’
‘Because there are better hotels in Naples,’ Carlo said indifferently.
Ruggiero’s answer was to make a sound like a chicken clucking.
‘I’m going,’ Carlo said.
‘But you haven’t finished your breakfast,’ Hope protested.
‘I prefer not to listen to the ravings of this person,’ Carlo said coolly, jerking his head in his brother’s direction.
‘I just like a man who’s honest with himself,’ Ruggiero observed. ‘Running to the other side of the world is the reverse of honest.’
‘Now, listen, you two,’ Carlo said, in the voice of a man exasperated beyond endurance. ‘I am not running away. I’m simply not going to spend the rest of my life brooding. It’s over. Finished. Della made her decision and that’s that. And the more I think of it, the more I realise that she was right. Life goes on.’
Ruggiero drew in his breath. He might or might not have been going to cluck again. It was impossible to say since the look Carlo turned on him effectively froze his blood.
‘I’m off,’ Carlo said, draining his cup. ‘We should have signed that contract two days ago, but better late than never.’
‘And after you’ve gone, when will I see you again?’ Hope wanted to know.
‘That’s in the lap of the gods.’ He kissed her cheek and departed.
‘He’s really changed,’ Hope sighed.
‘I’ll say!’ Ruggiero exclaimed with feeling. ‘Another moment and he’d have killed me. You know why this is happening suddenly, don’t you? It’s because he saw her in England.’
‘He never talks about that,’ Hope said sadly. ‘We wouldn’t even know if Evie hadn’t told us.’
‘After that he thought she’d get in touch with him.’
‘He said so?’
‘No, but he jumped every time his phone went. It was never her.’
‘Why didn’t he just call her?’
‘Mamma, don’t you understand him yet? She rejected him. Very finally. He won’t go back to her and beg.’
‘But perhaps she called him when you weren’t there.’
‘No, she never called him.’
‘How can you be sure?’
‘Because he’s going away,’ Ruggiero said.
The sight of Alan Forest gave Carlo a shock. He had one arm in a sling, and a black eye.
‘Were you mugged?’ Carlo asked.
‘No, I was on that plane that crashed at the airport a couple of days ago. I expect you saw it on the news. It was a terrible business. Fifteen people dead, several more expected to die.’
‘But when you called me to say there’d be a delay in the contract you didn’t mention the crash,’ Carlo said. ‘You just said something had come up.’
‘I was out of my mind on sedatives and I just wanted to sleep. They take very good care of you in the Berrotti Hospital. But I’m fine now.’
‘Are you sure?’ Carlo asked worriedly.
‘Believe me, I was one of the lucky ones. But the others-there was even someone I knew-by sight, anyway. That TV producer you talked to at the awards ceremony.’
‘What?’ Carlo’s cup clattered into the saucer.
‘Della somebody-’
‘She was in that crash?’ Carlo asked in a tense voice.
‘I saw them carry her off on a stretcher, and she wasn’t moving. She could be dead by now. Hey! What are you-?’
He was talking to empty air. Carlo had fled.
Afterwards he couldn’t remember how he got to the hospital. He was functioning on automatic, blotting out the hideous truth. For two days she’d been lying within a few miles of him-alone, perhaps dying. And he hadn’t known.
At the hospital he parked the car in a hurry and hurled himself inside.
‘Signora Hadley,’ he said fiercely to the young woman receptionist. ‘Where is she?’
‘Are you a relative, signore?’
‘No, but I-know her very well.’
‘I’m afraid we have strict rules-’
‘For the love of God, tell me she’s alive,’ he said hoarsely. ‘Just say that. Say it!’
‘She’s alive,’ she said, regarding him in alarm. ‘Signore, please-don’t force me to call Security.’
‘No-’ He ran his hand through his hair. ‘There’s no need. I just want to know how badly hurt she is-she was in the crash.’
She relented, taking pity on his haggard face sufficient to say, ‘Yes, she was on the plane, and she was brought here.’
‘And she’s still alive? You said so, didn’t you?’
‘Yes, I did. She’s alive, although I must warn you-Perhaps you’d better talk to her son.’
‘He’s here?’
‘We sent for him at once. If you go up to the second floor, you should find him.’
He was gone before she’d finished talking. As he ran, the receptionist’s words hammered in his head. ‘I must warn you-I must warn you-’
He shut them out. He was afraid.
He saw Sol as soon as he turned into the corridor, standing at the far end, staring out of the window, so that at first he was unaware of Carlo’s approach. Even when he looked up he didn’t seem to recognise the man hurrying towards him, his face harsh and desperate.
‘How is she?’ Carlo demanded.
‘My God, it’s you!’
Carlo took a step towards him. He was closer to losing control than he’d ever been in his life.
‘How is she?’
‘She’s been unconscious since they dragged her off that plane,’ Sol declared in a flat voice. ‘The doctors talk a lot of guff, but we all know what’s going to happen.’
Suddenly his voice shook.
‘She’s dying, and there’s nothing anyone can do.’
