Page 53 of After the Accident
I told her that it was Dad who’d brought up all those things, not her. I’d never heard her saying that coming back to the island was a good idea. I had these flashes of Dad standing on a table at the bar, Dad bombing the pool, Dad hiring a golf cart and riding it around the village, Dad betting another man that he could eat five pizzas – and then doing it. In all my memories of being on Galanikos, I wasn’t sure I ever remembered Mum particularly enjoying herself.
She took a deep breath and did what she always does when she wants something to disappear: she looked away.
I could have let it go, but I didn’t. I asked her how Dad and Daniel had come together as business partners. I asked if Alan and Dad had been arguing before Alan’s death. She wasn’t answering and I was in the middle of saying something more when she held up a hand. She said: ‘I think your father needs our support right now,’ before raising her book again.
Julius:Fancy hounding an ill woman like that. Your own, ill, mother. Disgraceful.
Emma:Maybe I went too far? I think that was the time something probably changed for good in our relationship and I suppose I only have myself to blame. Her loyalty was, and always had been, to Dad.
I probably sat with her for another minute or so – but I think I realised there was nowhere to go. This was why we’d never had the conversation in the time since I was released.
I said I’d see her at dinner – and then headed away from the pool towards the cottages. I can’t really remember what I was thinking. It had been another of those days where I’d rolled from incident to incident – and I would have been struggling to process everything.
That’s why I was already in my cottage when I realised someone else was there.
Chapter Thirty-Two
THE ASTHMATIC WALRUS
Emma:The front door of the cottage opens immediately into a living room area. There’s a sofa and a television, with the kitchenette at the back. There are sliding doors that mean you can leave the kitchen and head directly onto a small grassy area at the back. It’s where I’d found Daniel skulking around a day or two before.
The first thing I noticed was that those doors were open. I would close the curtains each morning to try to stop the sun making things too hot – but they had been shoved aside, too.
There was a shuffling from the bedroom – and I already knew what I’d see before I saw it.
Daniel was crouched in front of the dresser, typing combinations into the safe that’s built into the largest drawer. He turned briefly to take me in and then spun right back to what he was doing. He didn’t care that I was there: he kept typing numbers into the keypad.
Daniel:None of this happened. This is a pack of lies.
Emma:I think I was probably speechless for a moment. It’s a bit like when you walk into the cinema and someone’s sitting in your reserved seat. You check your ticket and then look at the row number. You might have a look at the row behind and see where the seat numbers match.
I’d almost expected it from him, but it was so brazen and obvious that I was dumbstruck.
I must have said: ‘What are you doing?’ because I remember him replying: ‘What do youthinkI’m doing?’ It was like he was drinking a glass of water and I’d asked what he was up to – because the response was so nonchalant.
Each time he’d put in a number, the safe would beep – so there’d be a quick four beeps, a short break and then four more beeps.
He must have tried four or five more combinations as I watched on. It felt like I was out of my body because I wanted to do something, but I felt frozen.
Daniel:Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? She says I was in her room, trying to get into the safe – and all she did was watch! Nonsense of the highest order.
Emma:After those attempts, he stopped and turned to look at me again. He said: ‘I need the items you took from your parents’ room.’
It wasn’t a gentle request; it was a firm order. He’s the sort of man who’d like to believe he would be a leader of men on the battlefield when, really, he’d be begging his mum to get him out of having to go in the first place. The bone spurs type.
That sort of posturing doesn’t work on me and I told him I didn’t know what he was talking about. He glared back and said: ‘Yes, you do.’ Then he added: ‘I want what you took.’
I could have kept playing, but we both knew how things stood, so I told him there was nothing in my safe. He looked between me and the safe, trying to figure out if it was the truth, before he asked where everything was. I didn’t answer, so he slammed the dresser drawer and marched across the room towards me.
There was a moment where I thought he might try to shove me into the wall, or do something else. I might have taken a step away. Those cottages are quite isolated from the rest of the hotel. It was only us there.
I’m…
…
Look, I’m not saying I’m some prized fighter, or anything stupid like that. I’m clearly not – but, when you’re in prison, you learn a couple of things that can help you. Body position helps a lot more than you might think.
…
