‘But it’s not too late,’ Amos conceded in a milder tone. ‘Now you’re here there are ways I can help.’
‘That’s what I hoped,’ Darius said quietly.
‘You haven’t always taken my advice, but perhaps you’ve got the sense to take it now. And the first problem is how you’re going to deal with Morgan Rancing.’
‘I must tell you-’
‘I’ve heard disturbing rumours about some island he owns off the south coast of England. They say he’ll try to use it to cover his debts, and I’m warning you to have no truck with that. Don’t give it a thought. What you must do-’
‘It’s too late,’ Darius growled. ‘Herringdean is already mine.’
‘What? You agreed to take it?’
‘No, I wasn’t given the chance,’ Darius snapped. ‘Rancing has vanished. Next thing, I received papers that transferred ownership of Herringdean to me. His cellphone is dead, his house is empty. Nobody knows where he is, or if they do they’re not talking. I can either accept the island or go without anything.’
‘But it’ll be more trouble than it’s worth,’ Amos spluttered.
‘I’m inclined to agree with you,’ Darius murmured.
‘So you know something about it?’
‘A little. I need to go back and inspect it further.’
‘And you’re counting on it to pay your debts?’
‘I don’t know. But in the meantime I could do with an investor to make a one-time injection of cash and help me out.’
‘Meaning me?’
‘Well, as you’re always telling me, you’ve survived the credit crunch better than anyone.’
‘Yes, because I knew how to treat money.’
‘Like a prisoner who’s always trying to escape,’ Darius recalled.
‘Exactly. That’s why I came to live here.’
He pushed open the door that led out onto the balcony overlooking the view over the bay that now glittered with lights against the darkness.
‘I talked to a journalist once,’ Amos recalled. ‘She asked me all sorts of tom-fool questions. Why had I chosen to live in Monte Carlo? Was it just the tax relief or was there something else? I brought her out here and became lyrical about the view.’
‘That I would have loved to hear,’ Darius said.
Amos grinned. ‘Yeah, you’d have been proud of me. The silly woman swallowed it hook, line and sinker. Then she wrote some trash about my being a man who appreciated peace and beauty. As though I gave a damn about that stuff.’
‘Some people think it has value,’ Darius murmured.
‘Some people are fools,’ Amos said firmly. ‘I’d be sorry to think you were one of them. You’ve got yourself into a mess and you need me to get you out.’
‘Two firms I did business with went bankrupt, owing me money,’ Darius said grimly. ‘I hardly created the mess myself.’
‘But you made it worse by giving Mary everything she asked for in the divorce settlement.’
‘That was before the crisis. I could afford it then.’
‘But you didn’t leave yourself any room for manoeuvre, no way to claw any of it back. You forgot every lesson I ever taught you. Now you want me to pour good money after bad.’
‘So you won’t help me?’
‘I didn’t say that, but we need to talk further. Not now. Later.’
Darius spoke through gritted teeth. ‘Will my father invest in me, or will he not?’
‘Don’t rush me.’
‘I have to. I need to make my decisions quickly.’
‘All right, here’s a way forward for you to consider. A rich wife, that’s what you need, one who’ll bring you a thumping great dowry.’
‘What the hell are you talking about?’
‘Freya. She’s already my stepdaughter, and I want her properly in the family as my daughter-in-law.’
Darius stared. His ears were buzzing, and somewhere there was the memory of Freya, on the drive from the airport, saying, ‘Your father’s got some really mad ideas. Someone needs to tell him to forget them.’
She’d refused to elaborate, but now he understood.
‘Why not?’ Amos asked genially. ‘You like the girl, you were laughing together at dinner-’
‘Yes, I like her-far too much to do her such an injury, even if she’d agree, which she wouldn’t, thank goodness. Do you really think you could make me crawl to do your bidding? If I have one thing left it’s my independence, and I won’t part with that.’
‘Then you’ll buy it at a high price. Don’t blame me when you go bankrupt.’
Darius gave a cold smile. ‘I’ll remember.’
He turned and walked away, resisting the temptation to slam the door. Within an hour he’d left the house.
CHAPTER TWO
THE storm that swept over Herringdean had been violent, and nobody was surprised when the lifeboat was called out to an emergency. A small crowd had watched the boat plunge down the slipway into the sea, and a larger one gathered to see it return later that night.
Soon the rescued victims had been taken ashore into the waiting ambulance and the crew were free to exhale with relief and remove their life jackets.
Harriet took out her cellphone, dialled and spoke quickly. ‘Is he all right? Good. I’ll be home soon.’
When they had all finished making their report she slipped away and was followed by Walter and Simon, fellow crew members and friends.
‘Hey, Harry,’ Walter called. ‘You sounded worried on the phone. Is someone ill?’
‘No, I was just checking on Phantom. I left my neighbour looking after him. She promised to keep him safe.’
‘Safe? Why suddenly? You never worried before.’
‘I never had cause before. But now I worry. He’s a very powerful man.’
‘Who?’
From her pocket she took a newspaper cutting with a photograph and passed it to Walter.
‘“Darius Falcon,”’ he read. ‘“Giant of commerce, skilled manipulator, the financial world is agog to know if he will avert disaster-”’ He lowered the paper. ‘How does a big shot come to know Phantom?’
‘Because he’s bought the island,’ she said. ‘Rancing had money troubles and he solved them by selling this place.’
Simon swore. ‘And not a word to the people who live here, of course.’
‘Of course. What do we matter to men like that, up there on their lofty perch? If you could have seen him as I did, arrogant and sure of himself-’
‘You’ve met him?’ Simon demanded.
‘He came here a couple of days ago and I saw him on the beach. Phantom made a mess of his suit and he got mad, said he’d make me pay for a new one, and Phantom shouldn’t be allowed out. So tonight, I asked my neighbour to watch over him while I was away, in case…well, just in case.’
‘Hell!’ Walter said. ‘But is he really as bad as you say? If you two had a dust-up he probably just got a bit peeved-’
‘You didn’t see his face. He was more than a bit peeved. Now, I must get home.’
She hurried away, leaving the two men gazing after her, frowning with concern.
‘Surely she’s overreacting?’ Simon mused. ‘A bodyguard for a dog? A bit melodramatic, surely?’
‘She’s been that way for the last year,’ Walter sighed. ‘Ever since her husband died. Remember how good she and Brad were together? The perfect marriage. Now all she has left is his dog.’
‘Hmm,’ Simon grunted. ‘Personally, I never liked Brad.’
‘You say that because you fancied her rotten.’
‘Sure, me and every other man on the island. Let’s go for a drink.’
Harriet’s car made quick time from the harbour to Ellarick, then to the little shop that she owned, and above which she lived. As she looked up the window opened and Phantom’s head appeared, followed by that of a cheerful middle-aged woman. A moment later she was climbing the stairs to throw her arms about the dog.