‘I said no police.’
He was puzzled. He’d never heard her speak in that firm tone of voice before.
‘We’ll talk about it later,’ he said and walked out.
Bella bent over Linda, held her hand and kissed her. ‘Linda, it’s Bella. You’re all right. Linda, it’s Bella!’
Linda was crying, without making a sound, just tears rolling down her cheeks.
‘It’s all right, baby, it’s Bella.’
Linda slowly turned her head, opened her eyes and gripped Bella’s hand hard. Bella could have wept herself — Linda’s face was such a mess. She wasn’t sure whether her nose was broken, but her eye was cut and bruised, her cheek and lips swollen. Bella just wanted to hold her, she seemed so fragile.
‘Bella, oh God, Bella... it was him.’
Bella looked at the door. ‘I know,’ she whispered. ‘I know. But it’s all right.’
Linda turned away, closing her eyes again. ‘He wanted Dolly,’ she murmured, barely audible. ‘He wanted Dolly.’
Bella gripped her hand tightly. ‘Don’t talk, Linda, don’t talk. The doctor’s coming, and everything’s gonna be all right. Just lie quiet, please, baby.’
A shudder seemed to run through Linda’s body and into Bella’s. Her eyes jerked open and she clawed at Bella’s arm.
‘I told him, Bella,’ she croaked, her eyes wide with terror. ‘Oh, God help me, I told him.’
Bella couldn’t make out what she was saying. She bent closer. ‘What? What did you say?’
Linda choked, started to cough again, and Bella reached for the bowl, thinking she was going to vomit, but Linda shook her head.
‘Bella, I’ve told him...’
A cold feeling moved up Bella’s spine. ‘Told him what? What have you said, Linda?’
‘The money — I told him where it is, in England... the convent.’
Bella took a deep breath, trying to keep calm, but she could feel the panic rising. ‘Did you tell him where Dolly was, Linda? Do you hear me, Linda? Did you tell him where Dolly was?’
Linda looked up into Bella’s face. Bella had never seen an expression of such anguish. Time seemed to stretch out as she waited for Linda to speak. Then finally she managed a single word.
‘Yes.’
Chapter Two
José Camarana’s ranch was just as Bella had described it: fantastic. Linda was in one of the guest bedrooms — very tasteful, with antique furniture — lying in a large double bed with a massive carved headboard, the drapes on the bed matching the curtains and the ice-blue carpet. Outside the window was the stable yard.
Sighing, she pushed away the large tray with the embroidered napkin and the lace-trimmed tray cloth. The perfectly scrambled eggs, toast and coffee turned her stomach. She picked up a hand mirror and stared at her face. She looked like a prizefighter after a particularly bruising bout. The stitches across her face were clean, but still crusted. Her right eye was all the colors of the rainbow, and her lips were still swollen. She put the mirror down and lay back.
Since she’d been at José’s ranch, all she could think of was that she’d told Harry Rawlins where the money was. She’d betrayed them all. She wasn’t that concerned about Dolly; it was just the fact that she had told him. She knew if she hadn’t told him he’d have killed her, but that didn’t make her feel any less guilty.
She’d told him.
She heard the clatter of horse’s hooves outside. Slipping back the covers, she got out of bed and pulled the curtains aside. José Camarana, riding a black stallion, clattered into the yard. He wore a pale lemon cashmere sweater, riding jodhpurs and shiny brown boots. He really was one of the most handsome men Linda had ever seen and she couldn’t help but stare at him. He got off the horse and flipped the reins to a boy already running from the stables. Then her heart jumped. Following behind him through the stable yard gates was a police car. A police officer with an awful lot of gold stripes on his uniform got out and started chatting with José in a friendly manner. They laughed together with their backs to Linda’s window, then José turned, pointing in Linda’s direction up to the window, and indicated that they should enter the house.
As Linda darted back from the window, Bella walked in.
‘Look, I’ve got ’em, two tickets—’
Linda motioned for her to be quiet and come to the window. Bella looked down in to the yard.
‘It’s the police, Bella! What do you think they want?’
Bella shrugged. ‘I don’t know, Linda.’ She went back to her bag that she’d left on the dressing table. ‘I’ve got two open tickets — we can go as soon as you’re fit.’ Seeing the tray, she sighed. ‘You’ve not touched your food again, Linda.’
Linda still stood at the window. ‘I’m not hungry.’ She was twisting her hands round each other.
Bella was beginning to get irritated. The last five days hadn’t exactly been easy. Doctors had come and gone, and a nurse had been in attendance for two days, at José’s insistence, but he couldn’t understand why they wanted no police involvement. Their villa, after all, had been broken into, and Linda had very nearly been killed. But Bella had eventually convinced him that the best way to deal with the trauma was to try and forget all about it. Linda was in one piece, and that was all that mattered. They had collected all their belongings from the villa and returned to the ranch, and that was that.
‘Do you think José’s telling them something? I mean, what are we going to do, Bella?’
‘What would he be telling them, Linda?’
Linda looked pensive. ‘Well... he has been asking questions, Bella.’
Bella stiffened. ‘What d’you mean? What sort of questions? Has he been asking about me?’
‘No, nothing like that,’ Linda said quickly. ‘About the taxi driver... He wants to know what happened that night!’
Suddenly Bella seemed close to tears. ‘I don’t want to lose him, Linda. I’ve never met anybody like him, and I love him.’
Linda could feel her own tears welling up. ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Bella.’ Then a thought suddenly occurred to her. ‘Do you think Dolly’s got the cable by now?’
Bella zipped up her bag. ‘I don’t know.’
‘Did you send a cable to Shirley?’
‘Yes, I sent a cable to Shirley.’
Bella just wanted to be out of the room now. Linda’s nerves and constant questions — it was all getting too much.
As she opened the door, Linda said, ‘Do you think Dolly would have been able to get to our money, Bella?’
‘I don’t know, Linda. You keep asking me and I keep telling you: I don’t know. All I do know is I sent a cable to the clinic where I think Dolly may be.’
‘But did you send one to the house as well?’
Bella was ready to blow her top. ‘Linda, I don’t know whether Dolly is at the house. She was going to sell the house. Which is why I sent a cable to the clinic. And before you ask, I’ve sent one to Shirley in Los Angeles at the hotel she was going to stay at, but I don’t know if they’ve got them!’
Linda started to cry, the tears streaming down her face. ‘Maybe we’re... all right... Maybe Rawlins is... still in Rio.’
‘And maybe he isn’t. For gawd’s sake, stop crying.’
Linda sniffed. ‘I can’t help it. It’s all my fault. I told him the money’s at the convent. I’m ruining everything!’ She stopped suddenly in mid-flow. ‘Do you think Dolly will be all right, Bella?’
‘Well,’ said Bella nastily, ‘we just have to hope to God he hasn’t got to her, don’t we? If he did that to you, just think what he’d do to Dolly.’
A knock on the door, and they both froze.