Silent Truths (48 page)

On hearing her own words Mitzi again went very still, for this was as clear an admission as any that the book in some way did reflect real life. ‘So are you saying he killed her because he was made to?’ she said.

At that Ava seemed to break out of the hush and turned to look at her. ‘You’re talking about the book,’ she said.

‘Isn’t it one and the same thing?’

‘No. But they think it is.’

‘Who’s they?’

She shook her head. ‘Never mind. You’re right. I should talk to Georgie. I need to. There might be a message.’

Not sure whether she meant on the machine or from her husband, Mitzi watched her get up and walk into the house. For some reason she wasn’t surprised when Ava wrapped herself in a thin cotton robe before picking up the phone.

‘Georgie? It’s me. How are you?’ she said when Georgie’s voice came down the line.

‘Beth! For heaven’s sake. How are
you
? I’ve been going out of my mind over here. The only reason I know you’re still alive is because I managed to track down your producer, what’s his name? Theo. Are you all right? Oh my God, I think I’m going to cry with relief. Just tell me, are you all right?’

‘I’m better than that,’ Ava laughed. ‘So much better I hardly know where to start. I’m really sorry you’ve been so worried. I kept meaning to call, but the time was always wrong – the middle of the night for you, or during working hours for me and Mitzi. But here I am now, and guess what.’

‘I don’t know, tell me? Have you fallen in love?’

Ava gave a shout of laughter. ‘You’re such a romantic! No, I haven’t fallen in love, except with myself. I’m Ava all the time now. You’re the only one who calls me Beth, and you should see me, Georgie. Even if I say it myself, I look fantastic.’

‘So what’s new? Ava always did. It was only Beth who insisted on making herself dowdy.’

‘Yes, but even Ava’s never been this gorgeous before. She has –
I
have … Georgie, I have
breasts
. You should see them. They’re like … What are they like? A
Playboy
centrefold and some. They’re out of this world.’

‘What do you mean?’ Georgie said, sounding confused and not entirely thrilled. ‘Are you saying you’ve had some kind of surgery?’

Ava laughed. ‘Well, they didn’t grow overnight on their own,’ she said. ‘Of course I’ve had surgery. Everyone does out here. I’m starting to live now, and I love it.’

‘Big breasts and you get a life,’ Georgie said cynically. ‘You’d have hated that once.’

‘Because I didn’t have them,’ Ava laughed. ‘I was jealous, and now I don’t need to be. I’ve also got fuller lips. Not that big, but enough to make me look ten years younger, and all kind of pouty and sexy. It’s amazing the difference it makes. I could –’

‘Beth, I have to tell you,’ Georgie interrupted, ‘I’m not sure I approve of this. I mean colouring your hair and changing the way you dress is one thing, having actual surgery –’

‘Georgie, it’s fine. Honestly. It’s just the way things are out here. It’s another world. It’s hot so people naturally don’t wear many clothes. That
means they want their bodies to look good, and this is a way of doing it.’

‘But you’re not one of them.’

‘I am while I’m here. Now, let’s change the subject. How’s little Blake?’

There was a brief pause before Georgie said, ‘He’s great. Four new teeth and he’s got a girlfriend called Miranda.’ Then reverting straight back to Beth, she said, ‘How’s the script going? Do you think you’ll be there much longer?’

‘It’s hard to say. But there’s a chance we might relocate to Italy. If we do, I hope you’ll join us for a long weekend, at the very least.’

The smile was audible in Georgie’s voice as she said, ‘Try to keep me away. When’s it likely to be?’

‘I don’t know. We’ve got to talk to Theo about it first.’

‘By we, I take it you mean you and Mitzi. So what’s she like?’

‘Not you, but great. We party a lot, which is a kind of subculture here, because most people are in bed by ten. The rest of us keep it going through the early hours …’

‘
Through
the early hours? You’re sounding like an American.’

‘I hope so. Honestly, I can’t stress how much I love it here. The people are so warm and friendly. They all belong to spiritual groups and say happy and positive things to each other. Whether or not they mean them, God only knows, the fact is they say them with a passion and frequency that’s supposed to make it true.’

‘Your agent’s rung here a few times, by the way,’
Georgie said. ‘Apparently you haven’t had time to call him either.’

‘I keep meaning to, but it’s just been so hectic.’

‘I think you should call him.’

‘OK. I will.’

Georgie waited, giving her the chance to say more about that, or to ask about Colin, but once again Ava was gushing about the superior qualities of the LA scene. In the end, Georgie plunged right in and said, ‘What about Colin? Are you interested to hear what’s happening to him?’

There was a beat before Ava said, ‘You don’t have to say it like that. You know I am. You should also know that I’m afraid of it too. I mean, how would you feel if every time something happened a woman was dead, or some bastard child –’

‘All right, point taken and I’m sorry. I suppose I just find it odd that you haven’t bothered to find out anything about him at all.’

‘What has he bothered to find out about me?’ Ava cried.

‘He asks about you every time Bruce sees him. He wants to know if you’re all right. If you’re happy. What’s happening in LA. So what are we supposed to tell him?’

‘That I’ve got big tits, a great house and a fantastic social life.’

Georgie was silent.

‘Well, what do you want me to say?’ Ava implored. ‘He doesn’t want to see me. He won’t write; he doesn’t send any messages. All I get is a letter telling me if he gets out he’s going to live with another woman.’

‘That might be true, but it doesn’t mean he
doesn’t care about you any more.’

‘I don’t want him to care about me. I don’t need his pity. I’ve got my own life now.’

‘Beth …’

‘For God’s sake, Georgie, how much more of this do you think I can take? It’s hard enough having a husband where he is for the murder of a poor young girl, who was some kind of sacrificial lamb –’

‘Some kind of
what
?’ Georgie said.

‘Sacrificial lamb. It’s the way Mitzi described her, and she’s right. That’s what Sophie Long was, a sacrificial lamb.’

‘What are you saying?’ Georgie said. ‘What’s that supposed to mean exactly?’

‘Ask Colin. He’ll be able to explain it.’

‘I’d like to hear it from you.’

‘No. Ask him. Or read the book, then ask Marcus Gatling.’ She laughed brittly. ‘I didn’t tell you about that, did I?’ she said. ‘Would you believe I bumped into dear Marcus and Leonora on the plane coming over here? We had a bit of a scene, actually. The old cod almost had an apoplexy when I told him there was new evidence to say Colin didn’t do it. You should have seen his face. And when I told him his secrets might not be safe with me I thought he was going to explode.’

There was a beat before Georgie said, ‘What secrets?’

Ava laughed. ‘That’s what he’s wondering,’ she responded.

‘Beth, he’s not someone to mess with,’ Georgie warned. ‘You know that, so just steer clear of him, is my advice.’

‘Which I’ll happily take.’

There was another short silence before Georgie said, ‘So
do
you know things about him?’

‘Well, let’s just say I’m pretty certain it was him who had my book stolen from the publisher.’

‘How do you know?’

‘Who else would it be? Certainly not anyone from the press, because what could they do with it? They’d be sued if they printed without permission and I was hardly going to give it, was I?’

‘But why do you say it was Marcus Gatling?’

‘Because men in his position are always paranoid about the things they’ve got to hide.’

‘So what’s he got to hide?’

‘You’d best ask him.’

‘But he thinks, or thought, there might be something in your book that’s likely to what? Expose him in some way?’

‘Evidently.’

‘Is there?’

Ava laughed. ‘Why would I write about him? He hardly cuts a romantic figure, does he? In fact, the only reason his wife’s with him is because of all that power and money. Everyone knows that.’

‘So there’s nothing about him in the book? Nothing that could even be construed as being about him?’

Ava frowned. ‘Why are you asking?’

Georgie took a breath.

Ava’s heart gave a beat of unease. ‘Georgie. What’s going on? Why are you asking all these questions about the book?’

Georgie braced herself, and said, ‘Your agent should be telling you this really, but apparently they’re not going to publish it.’

Ava froze. Then her mind spun into turmoil. They couldn’t do this. They just couldn’t, because without a book there would be no Ava, and without Ava there would be only Beth, and Beth couldn’t cope with all this. ‘But we had a deal!’ she cried. ‘I signed a contract!’

‘Which apparently stipulates that you have to comply with certain editorial demands, and you’ve refused to do so. So on that basis, they’ve cancelled the book.’

Ava could hardly think. The sun was so dazzling she could no longer see.

‘It’s why your agent’s been trying to call,’ Georgie told her.

‘What about the film? They can’t cancel that too. Can they?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘But Theo loves this book. He really wants to make it.’

Georgie was silent.

‘What if I agree to the changes? Will they publish it then?’

‘I don’t know,’ Georgie said again.

Ava was trying not to panic. She’d known she’d be made to pay for that incident on the plane, she knew too that it wasn’t going to end here, but like a fool she’d been trying to convince herself it would. Oh God, if only she hadn’t been drunk she’d never have approached him; he might not even have known she was there. But it was too late now, she’d taunted him with his own nightmares, and here they were coming to haunt her.

‘Does Colin know any of this?’ she demanded suddenly.

‘I’m sure Bruce has told him.’

‘Doesn’t he have any advice? He knows the man better than anyone. What does he say I should do?’

‘I don’t know. Bruce hasn’t told me.’

‘Is he there?’

‘No. He’s in London tonight. But listen, before you call him I think you should know that Colin’s instructed him to proceed with a divorce.’

Ava reeled under the blow. ‘No! He can’t!’ she cried. ‘He doesn’t understand. It’s not supposed to happen like that …’

‘What isn’t?’ Georgie said.

‘Nothing. None of it. Georgie, this is why I didn’t want to talk to you – because every time there’s something else, something that totally devastates me, and I can’t take any more. I want to help him. I need to be there for him.’

‘If you really mean that, then you still can be.’

‘How? Just tell me how. He won’t see me –’

‘Talk to Laurie Forbes, or Elliot Russell.’

‘No! I’m not talking to anyone from the press.’

‘Why?’

‘You know why. I don’t trust them.’

‘They really want to help you. In fact, they’re worried about you.’

‘What do you mean? Have you been talking to them about me? Georgie, you can’t do that. As my friend –’

‘No, I haven’t spoken to them at all. But Bruce has, and he tells me what they’re saying. They’re really keen to talk to you, and if not to you then to me, but I won’t do anything unless you say it’s all right.’

‘It’s not,’ Ava said without hesitation. ‘It’s really
not. Just stay clear of them, Georgie. Don’t talk to any one of them.’

‘But if Colin’s prepared to trust them, why won’t you?’

‘You just don’t understand, Georgie. He’s using them …’

‘What do you mean? How is he using them?’

Not wanting to get into it any more than that, Ava suddenly banged down the phone. Then throwing off her wrap she stalked back out to the pool. ‘I knew I should never have made that call,’ she said shrilly. ‘
I knew it
!’

Mitzi only looked at her, not sure what to say.

Suddenly Ava swung round, eyes glittering, mouth trembling. ‘Where’s Fabio and his star dust?’ she demanded angrily. ‘I’m ready to give it a go.’

Chapter 20

ELLIOT’S PORSCHE WAS
speeding through the rosy early morning sunlight, like a pinball following the winding grey ribbon of road that carved through the dewy fields of Kent. The sun was rising in a vast, golden orb over the horizon, creating one of those magical, invigorating mornings that never failed to instil exuberance, though Laurie was still stifling the occasional yawn after getting up so early.

The anticipation she was feeling, as they drew closer to the south coast, wasn’t unlike how she’d felt as a child on a day trip to the sea, though the seriousness of their purpose today tempered the edges of her excitement and kept her focused. They were heading for a rendezvous with one of Elliot’s most infiltrated government sources, who’d made contact a few days ago from his holiday home in Brittany. As Elliot had been trying to reach him virtually since the day of Ashby’s arrest, the man’s call had created quite a stir in the office, not to mention some high expectation in Elliot. Their
meeting point was a café just outside of Le Touquet, on the northern coast of France. For the occasion Laurie had dressed in a pair of straight black jeans, a white sleeveless sweater and a boxy dog-toothed jacket, which was one of the smartest outfits she owned. She’d also thickened her lashes with mascara, highlighted her cheeks and coated her lips with a subtle caramel frosting. And just to finish it off, she’d replaced her perpetually scruffy topknot with a demure, low-lying ponytail that was trapped into obedience by an extremely sophisticated slide. She didn’t actually want to admit that it was all for Elliot, who’d risen admirably to the occasion when he’d come to pick her up by making no comment at all, so she couldn’t actually allow herself to feel miffed by his neglect, even though she was.

They’d been working on this story for over a month now, seeing each other virtually every day, as they and the rest of the team co-ordinated the information that was coming in with increasing regularity from all over the world. The potential scale of the syndicate’s operations was now growing to such an extent that Elliot’s team was on it full time, as was Tom Maykin and at least a dozen other reporters from Australia to Asia, Brussels to the Bahamas and London to Washington. Neither Elliot nor Laurie had mentioned the fact that she hadn’t returned to the office since her short stay at the Gatlings’ home, but she knew very well that there was no way she could go back now, when the paper’s behaviour towards her and the story would necessarily be included in her and Elliot’s final report. So effectively she was out of a job, but since
it had yet to be made official, and her salary had yet to cease, she’d decided to put it to the back of her mind as something that needed to be dealt with when she had time.