In Denial (39 page)

Leila was sitting in the chair by the window.

It was a small apartment, comprising a double bedroom and a small box room which could be a single bedroom if the occupant was no bigger than a baby, a through living room with a dining area and a very reasonably sized kitchen. From the living room a door opened onto a small balcony overlooking the hustle and bustle of the street below. Adam had tried to follow the various twists and turns the taxi had taken, and unless he was mistaken, Leila’s apartment was not far from where they had eaten the previous evening at the Colombo Dragon in Granville Circuit. He reckoned they were at the end of Granville Road and high enough up to be able to see some of the activity in the harbour.

‘
Would you like one?’ Leila asked lifting her glass of red wine.

‘
That or something stronger, if you have it,’ Adam said. After his very recent experience he wondered why he wanted something stronger.

Leila uncurled her legs from beneath her and looked at him. He had a white towel wrapped round his waist and was aware she could see the array of purple bruises on his rib cage and stomach.

‘
Are you sure you’re feeling all right,’ she said. ‘Those bruises …’

He looked down. ‘Superficial. As I told you when you found me the only thing that’s really hurting is my pride.’

‘
What actually happened?’ she asked, crossing to the cupboard where she kept a few bottles of spirits.

‘
I went for a walk during which I felt the need to get very drunk. Some tart decided to take advantage of my lack of self control.’ He went over to the window and stood looking through the darkness towards the harbour.

‘
It looks as though she succeeded,’ Leila commented as she poured whisky into a glass. ‘Do you want anything with the whisky?’

‘
No thanks, but can I assume I’m safe with you if I get drunk again?’ He smiled as he watched Leila’s reflection in the window.

There was a sudden silence as Leila weighed up her reply. ‘Depends what you mean by safe,’ she said, without adding he was now in more danger than he had ever been before. ‘After the way you treated me this morning I can perhaps empathise with the tart, as you called her, who mugged you.’ She had taken control of her emotions so she believed she was now the professional again.

‘
I wasn’t mugged by a tart. She must have had an accomplice.’

‘
Are you sure?’

‘
No, but it was probably the barman.’

She gave Adam the whisky and he took a sip. ‘I have no right to be here,’ he said, ‘and you have every right to be bitter. I’m sorry about this morning, but I do have a few stages to go through before I can say I’ve got my act together. You came into my life a little too quickly.’

She sat down. ‘But not so quickly for you not to think of me when you needed help.’

‘
Touché! As I said, I’m very sorry and very appreciative of you being there for me this evening.’

‘
So what happens now?’

‘
What? Right now or -?’

‘
Don’t evade the question. You rejected me for whatever reason this morning and now within twelve hours I’m back in your life. Am I simply a convenient number to call to bail you out of an embarrassing situation or in those short twelve hours have you decided to give me a little more consideration?’

‘
As you said, it’s just a short twelve hours.’ He put his hand on his forehead and screwed up his eyes. ‘Twelve hours,’ he murmured softly. ‘Where did I hear that before? Sorry, I was just remembering something-’

‘
But long enough for you to come running at the first sign of trouble,’ she said, ignoring his sudden distant look which she assumed must be the aftermath of being hit on the head.

‘
I don’t know anybody -’

‘
If you were going to say what I think you were going to say, don’t. I didn’t take you for a bastard and I still don’t.’

Leila had to be careful. She could feel her heart thumping as she looked at the man who might have been able to change her life, so part of her could not believe what she was saying and how she was behaving. The man standing over by the window with one of her towels wrapped round his waist was no longer her future: he was her next victim. Within the next few days he was going to have to die. It was as simple as that. She had no idea why, but as had been pointed out to her, it was the sort of question she should not be asking. Her immediate obedience must never be doubted; the slightest suspicion would lead to only one thing -

Her own death.

She walked across the room and put her hand on Adam’s shoulder, then let her fingers drift slowly down and over the muscles on his back. She felt him shiver in response to her touch.

‘
I think you need your faith restoring in the female of the species,’ she said. Hooking her fingers into the towel she pulled it away.

*  *  *

Gabrielle woke with a start.

‘…
so please return to your seats and fasten your seat belts.’

It seemed only a matter of minutes since her eyes had finally closed but on checking her watch she realised she’d been asleep for nearly four hours.

It was just after twelve-thirty.

She wished she had a window seat. She loved watching the ground getting closer and closer until finally the wheels screeched on the tarmac. She remembered thinking when she was a child that while they were above the clouds she was with God and then He would gently lower her back down to earth. She smiled, wondering if God was watching over her now.

She hoped he was.

‘
Would you fasten your seatbelt, Miss,’ the stewardess said.

‘
Oh, I’m sorry. I was daydreaming. What’s the weather like in Hong Kong?’

‘
Warm and settled,’ the stewardess told her before moving on.

What does warm and settled mean, she wondered?

She closed her eyes, clasped her hands together and mouthed a silent prayer.

*  *  *

‘
Welcome back to the land of the living,’ Leila said, putting a mug of steaming coffee on the bedside table. ‘You’ve been asleep for hours.’

‘
What time is it?’ Adam asked, trying to focus on his surroundings and wondering where he was.

‘
Nearly one o’clock. You were fast asleep when I left this morning and you’d hardly moved when I came back ten minutes ago.’

‘
Left this morning?’ He reached for the mug of coffee.

She sat down on the side of the bed. ‘To go to work, silly, but I’ve taken the afternoon off. My boss owes me a few favours.’

‘
Oh, right.’ It struck Adam that quite a few men seemed to owe Leila favours.

She put her hand on his chest. ‘Thank you for last night. You were something else.’

He looked at her. ‘Was I?’

‘
You made up for a few things, let’s put it that way, but I won’t say any more because I don’t really want to know that you don’t remember much about it.’

‘
Remember? Of course I remember.’

‘
Of
course
you do. Now,’ Leila carried on, ‘I promised to show you the Hong Kong of now, so I suggest you have a shower while I fix some lunch and then we can go on a sight-seeing tour.’

‘
There’s a small matter to do with what I wear. I need some clothes before I go anywhere.’

‘
That’s taken care of,’ she told him, indicating the wardrobe across the room. ‘I bought you a couple of shirts, a pair of shoes - I hope I got the size right - a pair of trousers, a new wallet and a couple of other odds and ends.’

Adam surveyed Leila’s purchases. ‘You really are an absolute star,’ he said. ‘Most men would die to find someone like you.’

‘
Don’t say that, Adam. Please don’t say that.’

*  *  *

Gabrielle pushed her trolley, following the exit signs and some of the other passengers she recognised from her flight. It had all been too easy so far. Inwardly she had hoped there would be some sort of complication with her entry into Hong Kong so that she would have to delay her next decision. She needed more time to think before being thrown into the unknown.

Perhaps she was already in the unknown.

Everything had gone smoothly. The checks were surprisingly superficial. Pushing the trolley out of the main building, she realised Hong Kong International Airport was not really different from any other airport she’d ever been in - multicultural, multilingual and very, very busy.

She joined what she believed was the queue for taxis. She was not willing to risk public transport - to save money she’d tried that in Paris on a number of occasions and rarely did she finish up where she wanted to go.

In front of her in the queue was an elderly couple who looked confident so Gabrielle plucked up the courage to speak to them. ‘Excuse me,’ she asked hesitantly, ‘but do you live in Hong Kong or are you visitors, like me?’

The couple turned round and looked at her. There was a twinkle in the man’s eye as a smile crossed his lips. ‘We live here, young lady,’ he replied. ‘We’re just returning from visiting our daughter in England -’

‘
She doesn’t want to know that, Eric,’ the woman said, butting in. ‘What can we do to help, Miss …?’

‘
Gabrielle, Gabrielle Brooks,’ she told them, holding out her hand.

‘
Miss Brooks,’ the woman repeated. ‘Mr and Mrs Elliott, Elizabeth and Eric Elliott.’

Gabrielle shook their hands. ‘It’s nice to meet you and I’m sorry to interrupt but this is my first time in Hong Kong and I’m afraid I’ve done nothing about a hotel. Can you recommend one?’

The woman, who looked in her late sixties, eyed her quizzically. ‘You’ve come all the way to Hong Kong and you have nowhere to stay?’

‘
No,’ Gabrielle said, smiling. ‘That’s not what I meant. I travelled in a bit of a rush and hadn’t time to book anywhere. I thought it would be easy enough once I got here. But now I realise I haven’t a clue where to ask the taxi driver to take me.’

Eric Elliott, who was probably five or six years older than his wife, was still smiling. ‘You have a choice of many hundreds of hotels, my dear. It depends on what you’re looking for and what you can afford.’

‘
Eric, stop being so personal,’ scolded his wife as they shuffled forward a few paces in the queue. ‘Is your stay going to be a few days or longer?’ she asked Gabrielle.

‘
I’m not too sure. You see, I’m looking for somebody.’

‘
Aren’t we all?’ Gabrielle heard Eric mutter.

Elizabeth Elliott ignored her husband. ‘That doesn’t really help, my dear.’

‘
No, of course it doesn’t,’ Gabrielle said. ‘I’m sorry. I doubt it’ll be only a few days but I hope it’ll be no more than a couple of weeks.’

Elizabeth Elliott narrowed her eyes. She seemed to reach a sudden decision. ‘My dear, we have a spare bedroom and you’re more than welcome to stay with us until you find something more suitable - or the person you’re looking for.’

Eric Elliott shot a glance towards his wife. ‘Er, yes, of course, stay with us, why not?’ he spluttered.

Gabrielle hoped her surprise was not too evident. ‘That’s awfully kind of you but -’

Elizabeth Elliott put a reassuring hand on Gabrielle’s arm. ‘My dear, we’ve just been to visit our darling daughter in England and when we come home we pine for days, sometimes weeks. We miss her so much and of course her family - we have three grandchildren. Our offer is more selfish than you may think and perhaps if you were to accept our offer … well, I’m sure you understand.’

‘
What Elizabeth is trying to say is that having you to stay for as long as you like will give us both something to think about other than ourselves. What do you say?’

They moved forward again and the next taxi would be the Elliott’s.

‘
Well, I … I feel awful … but, oh, it’s so very kind of you.’

‘
Kind and selfish,’ Elizabeth Elliott remarked.

‘
All right,’ Gabrielle told them in a rush, ‘I accept. But only if you let me pay for my keep and help around the house.’

‘
That’s settled then, and only just in time.’

Eric opened the rear door of the taxi for the two women, his eyes resting for just a little too long on Gabrielle’s legs. The taxi driver took the suitcases round to the boot.

‘
I think we’re all going to enjoy your stay,’ he muttered under his breath as he climbed into the front of the taxi and gave the driver an address.

*  *  *