PART THREE
Chapter 47
Gene looks at me the moment Dr Philips leaves, and I nod. It’s now or never.
Dr Warier puts his head around the door a second later. ‘OK,’ he says to us. ‘We’re good to go.’
An orderly wheels June out of the MRI room. Gene, Dr Warier and I follow. By the elevators Dr Warier tells the orderly he can leave us, that he’ll take it from here, and once he’s out of sight, Dr Warier starts pushing the bed down a quiet hallway, through a set of double doors and down a second corridor, until we finally reach an empty ward that’s under some kind of refurbishment, plastic hanging from the ceiling and dust sheets covering the nurses’ station. Dr Warier opens the door to one of the rooms and we push in June and all the machines attached to her, sliding her bed in beside an empty one. There’s an en-suite bathroom, and a TV still plugged into the wall.
Dr Warier busies himself making sure June’s ventilator and IV are working properly and Gene paces nervously. Dr Warier wears a frown the entire time and I know this is going against all his better judgment.
‘Thank you,’ I say.
He gives me a curt nod, not taking his eyes off June, and I marvel at how I got him to go along with this. When he’s done with all the machines, he hands a scrap of paper to Gene. ‘If anything happens, anything at all, you dial this number. It’s my beeper. I’ll come straight away.’
Gene puts the number into his phone.
‘Don’t leave her, Gene, not even for a moment,’ I tell him.
He nods at me, solemn. ‘I won’t.
Dr Warier crosses over to me. ‘OK, your turn,’ he says.
I pull off my sweater and reach for the hospital gown lying on the empty bed.
The doctor and Gene turn their backs as I pull it on. I keep my jeans on, and on second thoughts my shoes too, and then I slip my hand into my bag, checking the gun is still there.
It turns out a gun, bought on the black market, costs a thousand dollars. Once Raul was over the surprise of me asking and understood I only wanted it for personal safety, he sent one of his men to get one and bring it to the bar.
I made him show me how to use it. Now I check that the safety is on before stuffing it and the bag beneath the bedsheet. Everything has taken on an unreal quality as if I’m watching myself from a vast distance.
I nod at Dr Warier and he starts attaching wires to my chest and then linking them to the ECG machine by the bed, which begins beeping loud and fast, out of time with June’s.
‘What’s the time?’ I ask.
Gene looks at his watch. ‘Four p.m.’ He reaches for the TV remote and flicks through the channels until he gets to the local news.
There I am on the screen, almost unrecognizable, so thin and old and tired that at first glance I could be my mother.
Gene cranks up the volume. I watch myself fidgeting on the TV studio sofa, trying not to look directly at the camera.
Chapter 48
11 HOURS AGO
‘Jesus, Ava, this is crazy,’ Gene mutters as Raul and James drive off.
‘Now give me the number.’
Gene glowers at me but I can tell he doesn’t dare argue. He can’t. ‘This is crazy,’ he mutters again as he pulls out his phone.
He scrolls through the contacts list and then reluctantly presses dial and hands it to me. I hand it back to him. ‘You need to set it up. He won’t trust me.’
Gene sighs loudly but puts the phone to his ear. ‘It’s late. He’s probably asleep,’ he grumbles.
It’s nearly five in the morning, it took longer to do business than I thought it would, but I’m betting on the fact Euan, the stringer, picks up the phone whenever it rings if he thinks there might be money involved.
The call connects. ‘It’s me,’ Gene says. He glances at me. ‘I have something might interest you.’ He starts pacing the alley – explaining what we need.
‘Maybe Santa Barbara – whichever news outlet can do it – but it needs to be one that can guarantee secrecy.’
Euan starts asking questions. ‘She needs the money to pay the lawyer for my dad,’ Gene explains. ‘So she’s offering an exclusive to the highest bidder. An interview where she’ll tell all.’
Gene hangs up shortly after.
‘Well?’ I say to him.
‘He’s calling back in five.’
We hurry to the car and get in. Gene glances at me, hope flaring in his eyes.
‘This doesn’t absolve you, Gene,’ I mutter, switching on the engine.
‘I know,’ he says quietly.
When Euan calls back five minutes later it’s with directions to a studio in Santa Barbara – a local TV station. I put the directions into the GPS and start driving. Gene tries to talk to me but I cut him off. ‘I need to concentrate,’ I tell him, thinking of the lies I’m about to tell.
Chapter 49
And here I am now, on screen, telling the lies to an audience of millions.
The presenter, whose immaculate makeup and hair is in marked contrast to my own, sits with her legs crossed and smiles at me. ‘So the doctors say that June is going to make a full recovery?’
I nod. ‘Yes. She’s awake and she’s starting to talk.’
Even I’m blown away by how convincing my smile is, by how true the words sound as they pour out of my mouth. I am indeed an amazing liar.
The presenter beams. ‘That’s wonderful news. What a miracle. And has she been able to remember anything at all about that night? Have the police talked to her yet?’
‘No, not yet. But soon. She’s starting to talk and she remembers . . .’ I glance quickly at the camera. ‘She’s remembering everything.’
I reach forwards and take a sip of water from a
