William’s speedboat arrived at Tortola stacked with the Matlocks’ cases and a neatly packed envelope containing their passports and money from the private safe in their suite. Angela’s jewels were in a small leather case, guarded by one of the boat-boys who handed it separately to William. He arranged for all the luggage to be delivered to the hotel he had booked for Angela. When he slumped into the boat to return to the island, he was in need of a shower, a change of clothes and a good night’s sleep. But he doubted if he’d be getting any sleep for a while. He knew he was going to have to face both Justin and Laura.
Justin strolled into Laura’s room, where he found her lying on the bed.
‘“Why so pale and wan, fond lover?”’ he quoted, throwing himself on the bed beside her. ‘It’s odd, isn’t it? Now that we’ve done it, somehow it’s unsatisfying.’
Laura sighed, and Justin rolled on top of her, tickling her. She tried to move away from him.
‘Diamonds, diamonds, diamonds...’ he said, with a wide grin. He pulled her close and tickled her again. She couldn’t stop him; it was the way it had been ever since they were children. He began mimicking Matlock’s death scene, plunging off the bed on to the floor, swimming on the carpet. He mimed coming up for air, clinging to the sheet as if it was the edge of the boat, wailing as he fell back.
They laughed until they were exhausted, then lay wrapped in each other’s arms. She started to cry and he rocked her back and forth as if she was a baby, making soft sounds to calm her. Then he started to sing. He loved it when she sang with him.
Max had put away the windsurfer, and now strolled to his room to fetch his case. There was an hour to go. He wandered round the house. It was strangely quiet when no one was about.
‘Justin?’ he called. He stood in the large empty hall, and his eyed drifted to a door he’d frequently seen Justin disappear through. The office, he supposed. ‘Justin?’ he called again. No reply.
He entered some sort of control room — it was full of switches and a great panel like you saw in documentaries about rock-stars. Amused, Max sat at the main desk and pressed a button. A monitor overhead flickered and came on. Max discovered he was watching some porn film. But the girl looked familiar. The man had his back to camera and she was sucking him off. God, it couldn’t be? It was! Clarissa Hangerford and Justin!
Max didn’t like being a voyeur. He stabbed at another button; the VCR stopped, and the monitor flicked to what looked like security mode. The screen showed the front hall. Max pressed the button again. His parents’ bedroom! Again. The sauna! This was fun. He wondered whether his own room was included. The dining room, the swimming-pool, the jetty, another bedroom, and another, and another. He flicked again, then flicked back. The last bedroom had people in it: Laura and Justin lying on a big double bed.
‘We did it,’ said Justin, throwing his head back against the pillow. ‘We got every single one of those motherfuckers.’ He turned to face his sister. ‘Tonight, Laura, we’ll dance. I want you to wear that gold dress.’
Laura smiled. She had a faraway look. Max knew it was because she would not be dancing with Justin that night but in his own arms speeding away from this place for ever. ‘It was fun killing him, sweet one, I wish you could have seen how cleverly I did it. I pulled him down into the water, and they all thought I was trying to save him. Really I should get an Oscar.’
Laura faced her brother. First he’d mimed it all, now he seemed to want to go over every detail again. ‘Justin,’ said Laura, ‘you’re not kidding me, are you? He is dead, isn’t he?’
‘Would I lie to you?’
She stroked his head. ‘You lie to everyone else. Maybe you would. You know how much it means to me, and now with Angela and James not here, he might just have gone to join them.’
Max leaned in close to the screen. His heart was beating rapidly.
Justin nodded sombrely. ‘Would I lie to you? Jesus, how can you even think for a second I would lie about something as important as this? For Christ’s sake, he’s dead, and the others are ruined.’ He wrapped Laura tighter in his arms. ‘Oh, sweetness, I’ve missed lying in bed with you, holding you in my arms. Believe me, I never lie to you, you are the centre of my universe.’ He leaned on his elbow, tracing her face with one finger. ‘Just as you’d never lie to me. Right?’
She gave a small smile, as he moved his index finger across her perfect lips.
‘But I’ve been jealous of Max. I admit it. For some stupid reason I thought that maybe you really did care for him. I’m glad I was mistaken,’ said Justin. ‘I understand it now. Max was just part of the scam, wasn’t he? He never meant anything else to you?’
Laura shook her head. ‘Of course not,’ she said, her lips only an inch away from her brother’s. ‘The only man I have ever loved is you.’
They kissed, at first almost innocently, then the kiss became deeper and more prolonged.
Max gasped. His breath felt as if it had been squeezed from his lungs and his heart felt as though it was jumping out of his chest. He ran out of the office, out of the house, out into the oncoming dusk. His body felt as if it was on fire. He hurt inside so much that he couldn’t get the sight of Justin with Laura out of his mind.
William’s stomach churned as the boat crashed over a wave; the sea always got rougher as they headed inshore towards the island. He stretched, then stood up in the boat to admire his paradise as they approached. This evening it looked glorious, with the sun sinking into the horizon and all the outside lights twinkling, making the island appear like a magical mirage. He moved closer to the rails and took deep gulping breaths. It made him feel better: all the anxiety and emotional strain of the day were blown out of him. He was glad to be coming home, and once he’d said that word in his mind, he knew it was his home. This was where he wanted to be more than anywhere else.
He had a future he wanted to live his own way, without any interference or guilt. He knew now that it was linked to Justin, because none of what he saw or felt would have existed without him. Now he acknowledged the effect this man, this wild crazy boy, had over him. Never before had he craved to see someone, or felt his belly churn with anticipation at the prospect of being close to somebody. His heart fluttered and he laughed. He would never have believed it was true.
He could hear Justin’s laugh, see his face in a multitude of expressions. They overlapped and juggled for space in his mind until he felt weak and had to sit down. Like a lovesick boy, he ached to see Justin, no matter what had happened in the past.
But as the boat drew closer to the jetty his confidence began to waver, leaving him with a terrible dread that Justin might not want to remain his friend. After all, hadn’t Justin used him as he had used everyone else? Suddenly he was afraid he would lose Justin. He was unsure whether he could deal with such a loss: Justin was closer to him than anyone else, and no matter what he had done, William would have to confront him with all he had discovered. He fell into contemplation of how he would approach him: he knew he had to be told the truth, no matter what.
When Laura couldn’t find Max in his room she was worried. Then she remembered they’d agreed to meet at Suicide Point. She reprimanded herself for being so stupid. She had made the arrangements, after all. She checked her case, stashed behind some ferns, before starting along the winding path up to the point. She’d thought Justin was never going to leave her room. But he’d suddenly heard a boat coming in, and rushed out. It was either William or the mail-boat arriving, he’d called. She waited ten minutes before she dared leave.