Dan crouched down next to her, setting the water glass on the floor.
‘Talk to me, Sarah. Who was that? What just happened?’
He reached over and took her head in his hands, raising it until he could look her in the eyes.
‘Sarah, talk to me. Who was that? What did he say to you?’
She shook her head, closing her eyes and refusing to look at him.
‘Please.’
He let go, gently, willing her to start talking to him.
Sarah took a deep, ragged breath then turned, pulled a wad of toilet tissue off the roller next to her and blew her nose. Holding onto the sodden tissue, she gazed at him, then through him.
‘They’ve killed Hayley.’
Dan sat back on the tiled floor, stunned.
‘I don’t know who it was on the phone,’ continued Sarah. ‘But I can hazard a guess, as I’m sure you can.’
Dan ran his hand over his face. ‘Jesus, Sarah.’
‘Yeah, well he’s not much good right now – never was, never will be,’ Sarah retorted, standing up and flipping the toilet lid. Throwing the tissue in the bowl, she pressed the flush button.
Dan handed the glass of water up to her. ‘Here.’
Sarah took it from him, finishing its contents in two gulps. She handed the glass back to him as he stood up.
‘Sarah, I don’t think Hayley would have wanted you to quit now – we’re too close to finding out what’s really going on,’ he said, following her into the living area. ‘At least we got what we needed. We can follow up those leads up tomorrow, book flights to Singapore and find where that container is.’
Sarah spun round, glaring at him. ‘What did you say?’
He shrugged. ‘Hayley was a journalist too. She’d want to know why this is all happening. We can’t give up now – she wouldn’t have wanted us to.’
Sarah put her hands on her hips, glaring at him. ‘Oh, is that right? Well, when I see her parents back in the UK, I’ll be sure to convey that to them. I’m sure they’ll be really fucking chuffed to know that.’
She snatched up her handbag from the table. ‘You know what, Dan? Sometimes, there’s more to life than just finding out the answers. I just lost a really good friend because I agreed to help you work out what Peter’s research notes said. The same damn notes that got him killed.’
Dan reached out to her and she drew back, snarling.
‘Don’t you dare. How many people have to die, Dan? How many?’ she gulped. ‘Christ, I wish I’d never met you. I wish I’d never agreed to help you.’
She swept past him.
‘Sarah – don’t go – it’s not safe!’ Dan commanded, reaching out to grab her arm.
‘Fuck you,’ she hissed, shrugging off his grip.
He turned and punched the wall in frustration. He felt the rush of air as Sarah stormed out of the room, and closed his eyes as she slammed the door behind her. He rubbed his hand over his face in disbelief, angry with himself. Closing his eyes, he tilted his head back, blinking hard.
‘Dammit,’ he breathed. ‘Fuck.’
He kicked the end of the hotel bed, sending splinters flying over the cheap carpet, and then slumped down on the soft mattress, running his hand through his hair.
Dan nearly gave himself whiplash as the phone rang, making him jump. He stood up, pulling the mobile out of his pocket.
‘Hello?’
The caller sniffed hard.
‘Sarah?’
‘You bastard. You complete and utter inconsiderate idiot…’
He held the phone away from his ear, letting the tirade finish before taking a deep breath. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Sorry?’ choked Sarah, ‘Do you have any idea?’
He closed his eyes. ‘I screwed up.’
‘You certainly did.’
Dan began to pace the room. ‘Sarah, I need you to come back here. We need to move on – it’s getting too dangerous. Delaney has worked out who you are – that has to be why Hayley was killed. It’s a warning to us…’
A sharp knock on the motel room door interrupted him. Dan threw the door open. Sarah stood in the hallway, the phone in her hand.
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Finished?’
She nodded.
‘Feel better?’ He stood aside as she stalked past him into the apartment.
‘Asshole.’
He smiled. At least they were back on familiar territory.
Chapter 24
London, England
Dressed in a grey trouser suit, Philippa strode across the open-plan office, the carpet doing little to silence her step as she hurried to one of the glass-panelled rooms at the rear of the large open space, glancing at the documents in her hand.
She stepped sideways to avoid a harried secretary before approaching the office on the right and peering through the glass wall. The room was in darkness, the light from a presentation on the opposite wall illuminating the rapt faces of the occupants. She straightened, knocked once and stepped into the room, flicking on the lights to a chorus of protests.
‘Hey!
‘Philippa! Turn off the lights!’
Philippa ignored them and strode across to the meeting room table and began to hand out copies of the documents to each delegate.
Closing the presentation, David Ludlow stood and reached over the boardroom-style table for the sheaf of papers Philippa was waving at him. ‘What have you got?’
Philippa pulled out a spare chair and sat down, pulling herself closer to the table with her heels and folded her arms. ‘An old friend of yours just resurfaced.’
David sat down and began to flick through the documents. Following his cue, the four delegates in the room began to read the papers in front of them while Philippa studied David’s face for any trace of emotion.
David threw his copy on the table, clasped his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling, deep in thought.
One of the delegates, a young man fresh out of university with a teenager’s acne problem stopped reading and looked first at Philippa, then David, confused. ‘Sorry, sir, but what exactly are we looking at?’