The Perfect Location (35 page)

Calypso listened. ‘I don’t know what to say to her. Our whole relationship has been about work. I don’t think the mother–daughter thing exists between us. I don’t know if I can forgive her or trust her.’

‘Maybe you’ll never have the relationship you want with her but it’s worth talking to her once. If she doesn’t get you, then eighty-six her. Who knows, stranger things have happened,’ he said, kissing the top of her head.

‘Maybe,’ said Calypso.

Then reaching up, she pulled him onto the sofa. ‘Let’s make out. I’ll let you get to second base if you’re nice,’ she said coyly.

TG left late that night at Calypso’s insistence. ‘Come on. We can sleep and not do anything,’ he said as she pushed him towards the door.

‘Nope,’ she laughed. ‘I told you. Slow.’

TG stood at his car. ‘Calypso Gable, you are my girl.’

She smiled back at him, tousled and happy from her evening with him.

Next on the checklist of challenges she had to face was Leeza. This one was going to be harder to face than all the others, she realized, and she lay awake all night wondering if the relationship was worth saving.

The air was cold, thought Sapphira as she woke up. Trying to move her arms, she found they were tied behind her back. She was taped to a chair on the roof of Jack’s palazzo. Shaking off the grogginess, she tried to focus in the darkness. She could make out a shape a few feet away from her. ‘Wakey wakey, cunt,’ said a voice in the darkness.

Sapphira was alert. She had gone into her room, she remembered, and the light didn’t work and then she felt arms on her and smelt something unusual as a cloth was put over her face.

‘Who are you?’ she asked forcefully, trying to cover the fear she felt.

‘It’s me, Sapphira. You dumped me right before you killed our child. Remember?’

‘What?’ She was confused. What ex-boyfriend? She frantically racked her brains trying to think.

‘It’s me, Ethan.’ And he stepped into the light that came from the building next door.

Ethan. Jesus Christ!

‘Good to see you,’ she said, trying not to let him see her fear.

‘You too, although I see you all the time, you just never see me,’ he said as he lit a cigarette.

He smoked for a while then walked over and stubbed it out on her shoulder blade. She screamed in pain as the ash burned through her skin. ‘That’s what it must have felt like for our baby.’

‘Jesus, Ethan, I told you I was pregnant. I never heard from you,’ she said, crying from the pain in her shoulder.

‘You told me nothing. You ripped out our little girl and killed her,’ he screamed, his spit landing on her face.

‘I did, I sent you a message on your answering machine. I remember,’ she said, crying.

‘I was in hospital, my parents put me away because I was too powerful. I was becoming too strong and they said I needed help. They said it was all the drugs. But I know they just wanted to be rid of me, like you wanted to rid yourself of our baby.’

‘I don’t know anything about that,’ said Sapphira, weeping. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘You should be sorry. I was away until I went to see you but you were at the hospital, having a fucking abortion. You slut.’ He was calmer now.

Sapphira tried to think of what to say. ‘I wanted you to help me. Our baby was sick, she was really sick, Ethan. She wouldn’t have survived if I’d had her. You have to know that is the truth, please believe me,’ she pleaded.

‘I sent things to your house. I signed it as your boyfriend and you never said thank you,’ he said sadly.

‘I get lots of things sent to me, I don’t get to see them all. If I had known they were from you then I would have called.’ Sapphira was trying to subtly undo the tape he had used on her arms.

‘I loved you, Sapphira. We were good together.’

‘We spent a few nights together, Ethan. Then I never heard from you again.’

‘I went away then. You didn’t wait for me.’ He started to cry.

Fuck, thought Sapphira, he was insane. ‘You have to let me go. There’s someone else staying here, they might hear us. Just let me go and I will never say anything to anyone, I promise,’ she begged.

‘I don’t think so. Alex is tucked up safely in bed with the drugs I slipped into the drink he fixed himself tonight and took up to his room. I saw you kiss him on the boat, before you threw up like a pig. Drunk, I think you were. You’re disgusting.’ He spat at her.

How long had he been in Venice, she wondered. ‘You came to my house in Perugia, didn’t you?’ she demanded.

‘I’ve been in all your houses, Sapphira, all your hotel rooms. I am everywhere, you can never get away from me now. I am the constant reminder of what you did to our child.’ He spoke calmly and was matter-of-fact. ‘Wherever you go, I will be by your side. We will have to work together to make up for this, to atone for what you did to the baby. We will have children together and show the world and God we are prepared to give each other a second chance.’

Sapphira felt sick from fear. What should she do? Agree? Fight back?

Ethan went over to the outdoor table and lit a candle. He took something out of a black bag and hummed to himself while he worked. What the hell was he going to do? Torture her? Make her beg forgiveness from him? She felt as though she was in a dream and tried to shake her head to wake herself.

Ethan walked over with something hidden behind his back. ‘I commend your valiant efforts to get off the gear lately. Well done, can’t have been easy.’

‘How do you know that?’ she asked, worried.

‘Darling, I know everything. If we are going to be together, and I think you will see we are meant to, then we must do everything together.’

He pulled out a syringe from behind his back. ‘I’ll go first, then I’ll do you. Just like the first time, huh?’

Sapphira wanted to close her eyes and wish herself away but as she stared at the syringe, her body begged for the contents to be poured into her veins.

‘No, Ethan, I don’t take it anymore. You can if you want, but I don’t,’ she said firmly, repeating the line her therapists had taught her should she find herself being offered drugs again.

‘Once a drug whore, always a drug whore,’ he said hatefully.

‘No, Ethan, no. I don’t want it.’

‘Yes, you do, you know you want it. I can see it in your eyes. Your body craves it. One hit and we’ll be back where we started and then we can share everything.’

He rolled up his sleeve and plunged the needle into his vein. She watched as he took in the hit. His eyes rolled back and he smiled at her sleepily. ‘Nothing like it, huh, babe?’

He sat for a while on the ground at Sapphira’s taped feet. Then he got up, walked back to his kit and started mixing up a batch for Sapphira, using the same needle he had used on himself. ‘Not the same needle,’ she cried.

‘You know the rules, Sapphira, we share everything now,’ he said seriously.

She started to weep and then scream for help. ‘Help, help! I’m on the roof.’ She tried to bang her feet on the ground. ‘Help me,’ she screamed into the night.

Ethan looked at her. ‘Don’t cry, it will be better soon, I promise,’ he said strangely.

She saw him draw a huge amount of the liquid from the spoon into the syringe. ‘That’s too much, Ethan. I’ve been clean for weeks. I’ll die,’ she cried.

‘Maybe. If you do, then say hello to our child for me.’ He walked towards her, holding the syringe up in the air. ‘How can we be together if you kill me?’ cried Sapphira desperately.

‘I will die also and then we will all be together again, like a family.’ He smiled at her.

Sapphira cried and tried to fight back as he pulled the tape, freeing one of her arms. Flailing at him, he swiftly punched her in the jaw, knocking her over in the chair.

‘Come on, now. Be nice to me, please. This is not how I think we should behave,’ he said, as though he was admonishing a child.

‘Fuck off, you fucking crazy asshole,’ she hissed at him.

‘Fuck you, cunt.’ He kicked her on the side of her arm.

As he leaned down to pull her to an upright position, she saw him sprawl across the ground. On the ground, with only one arm free, Sapphira tried to turn herself to see what had sent Ethan across the ground with such force. Shifting inch by inch, she turned the chair to face where Ethan lay. Alex was standing over him. He lifted Ethan to his feet.

‘Careful, he has a syringe,’ Sapphira heard herself scream.

Ethan was on his feet, trying to kick Alex and stab him with the syringe. Alex stepped back as Ethan lunged at him again. Alex grabbed his hands; the men were pushing against each other.

Sapphira struggled to undo the tape with her one free hand. It was hopeless, it seemed, as she scratched and picked at her other taped arm. Now Ethan punched Alex and he fell to the ground near the edge of the roof. Sapphira watched as he jumped to his feet, his mouth bleeding. Ethan and he faced off against each other, Alex’s eyes blazing in the dim light on the roof. Ethan stood, a frightening look on his face. ‘You can’t rescue the whore, she’s mine,’ he screamed at him as he turned towards Sapphira.

Alex said nothing, instead roaring at him while he ran towards him. He pushed Ethan with such force, he fell on his front, his arms underneath him. Pulling himself up near the edge of the roof, he looked at them both and Sapphira saw the needle sticking out of his neck. He moaned and then fell backwards off the roof, as Sapphira screamed.

Alex ran to the edge and looked over, watching as the man’s body fell into the water below.

‘Oh my God, oh my God,’ Sapphira repeated helplessly.

Alex ran back to her and swiftly undid the tape and released her from its bindings. She curled into a foetal position, weeping loudly. Kneeling on the ground, he held her, wrapping himself around her. ‘Shh, shh, it’s all over now. It’s all finished, he’s gone.’

Finally Sapphira gulped through her tears of fear and pain. ‘He was going to overdose me. He was going to kill me,’ she sobbed.

‘I know, I know. He didn’t though, you’re here with me, safe,’ he murmured as he rocked her like a child in his strong arms. ‘Come on, we’ll go inside, he’s gone.’ Picking Sapphira up effortlessly in his arms, he carried her off the roof and down the stairs to his bedroom. Laying her on the bed, he covered her with the mohair rug on the chair. Taking a glass of water, he sat her up and helped her to drink.

She lay down again, clearly in shock, shaking. ‘I am so cold.’

He fetched a cashmere jumper from his wardrobe and dressed her in it, tucking the rug around her. ‘I’ll get something for the burn on your shoulder. Did he do that to you?’ he asked gently.

She nodded. Alex ran downstairs to Jack’s bathroom and rifled through the cupboards till he found some cotton balls and antiseptic, burn cream and a bandage. The man had everything, literally, thought Alex as he took the stairs three at a time to get back to Sapphira.

She hadn’t moved and was still shaking in his bed. He knelt on the bed and stretched the jumper down to reveal the nasty burn. As he applied the salves, she didn’t flinch. Then he smoothed on the bandage and kissed the top of it. ‘All better,’ he said.

Sapphira lay still, the events of the evening flashing over and over in her mind.

‘Do you want me to call a doctor, the police? You tell me what you want,’ he coaxed gently.

‘Nothing. Just don’t leave me alone,’ she said, her voice shaking.

‘Not a chance.’ He lay next to her and held her hand until exhaustion took over and she slept.

When she awoke, Alex was still lying next to her, his arms protectively over her body. She moved slightly and he woke with a start. ‘Hey,’ he said quietly.

‘Hey,’ she answered him.

‘What can I get you?’ he asked, his face close to hers.

‘Umm … nothing, I think,’ she answered, sore and her shoulder aching.

‘I need a piss, a coffee and a cigarette, in that order,’ he said.

Sapphira laughed a little. ‘Charming.’

‘Then I better ring Jack, I think,’ he said.

‘Yes,’ she said slowly. There was so much to take in and her mind seemed like it was spinning.

Alex got up slowly and stretched. Sapphira sat on the edge of the bed. ‘You okay?’ he asked.

‘I’m okay,’ she replied and stood. Her head spun and she sat down again. ‘A little dizzy, actually.’

‘Okay, well, you stay here and I will bring you coffee and a cigarette.’

Alex walked towards the bathroom. As he closed the door, Sapphira shut her eyes and saw Ethan’s face screaming at her. She felt the tears coming again and tried to stop them flowing but the emotion was too strong and she cried loudly.

Alex rushed out of the bathroom. ‘Oh, honey,’ he said and sat down on the edge of the bed next to her.

‘I’m sorry,’ she repeated.

‘Sorry for what?’ asked Alex, incredulous.

‘Sorry for you having to see that, for you being dragged into my bullshit life. I’m a mess, Alex, a fucking mess and what you saw last night was horrifying. You could have died.’ She buried her face into the pillow.

‘Well, I didn’t die. We’re here now. I’m not saying what you went through was not terrifying but you have to believe it’s over. This moment doesn’t define your past or your future.’ He pleaded with her to understand.

Sapphira pulled herself together on the bed. It was over, she thought. The heroin abuse, Ethan and the baby. It was finished. It was time to start again.

‘I need a coffee,’ she said.

‘Come on then.’ Alex held out his hand.

In the kitchen, Alex and Sapphira lit cigarettes and sat quietly. He knew not to push her. She was still in shock, he thought.

‘I want to tell you what happened to me,’ she said eventually.

‘You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want,’ he said in a gentle tone.

‘I want to,’ she said, stubbing out the cigarette and lighting another. ‘I’m a heroin addict. Jack brought me here to get me clean and he’s done a great job so far. He has been the most significant relationship I’ve ever had. His friendship and belief in me is not like anything I’ve experienced before. Ethan was the father of a child I aborted long ago. The baby was sick, not expected to survive. I tried to tell him but I found out last night he had been put away by his parents, probably as a result of drug psychosis, I imagine. Although I’ll never know for sure now,’ she said ruefully.