Page 58 of Under A Sicilian Sky
Mitch rolled his eyes. ‘Ugh, I knew that would happen.’
She was, yet again, disappointed with his response. ‘Don’t worry, I told her we’re just acquaintances.’
He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. ‘I’d have said we’re friends.’
She smiled. ‘Are we?’
His eyes twinkled in the light from the overhead bulbs strung around the inlet. ‘I’d like to think so. Wouldn’t you? We’ve been through a lot in a short length of time. The least we can be is friends. Comrades in the battle. Partners in crime.’ He grinned.
She whacked his arm. ‘Let’s stick withfriends, eh?’
‘Deal.’
The two friends walked back to Glentorrin House in companionable silence.
23
Ruby climbed into bed and lay there for a while thinking about the evening she had just spent with her new friends. She longed to have a relationship as trusting and pure as Reid and Jules’. They had told her how they had met when Jules came to check out the place where her mum had grown up, and how Reid had been fighting depression. Jules had helped him after she spotted the signs; she had gone through it too after the loss of her husband. It was refreshing to hear people talk so openly about their experiences and she admired both of them for coming out on the other side even stronger. She was grateful it was something she hadn’t had to deal with, but after the low points since the hacking, she could definitely see how easy it would be to start on the slippery slope.
Mitch had been shocked about Reid’s situation and apologised for not being there. He seemed genuinely upset that he had been too preoccupied with his own life to know his friend was suffering. Of course, Reid patted his shoulder warmly and dismissed his apology, insisting it wasn’t needed, but Ruby saw the effect of the news in Mitch’s eyes. She felt bad for him, and for the years the two friends had lost.
Chewie had lain at her feet most of the night as if he knew she had asked to borrow him for a walk, and she already knew the red furball had captured her heart. They had always had dogs at home when she was growing up and until she met Nero in Sicily she hadn’t realised how much she had missed the calming serenity a dog’s presence created. Tonight had confirmed it. Sadly, having a dog was a no-go with her current lifestyle, especially now she had no one to share the responsibility with while she was away on film sets. The fact made her quite sad. In fact, seeing the little family before her made her realise she was lonely, and that was a stark contrast to how her life appeared to others.
At the end of the evening as they were about to leave, Jules had said she should pop to the museum after closing and she would show her around. Ruby was excited about that and had been grateful for the offer. She looked forward to finding out more about the special place in which she was a guest. After hearing her hosts wax lyrical about Glentorrin, she figured it had a certain magic about it, just like she had thought when she arrived.
Once back in her room, she texted Kitty to tell her all about her evening, then quickly called her mum and dad to say goodnight. Finally, she replied to Philippe, asking him to hug his girls for her and saying how much she missed them all.
* * *
The next morning, Ruby awoke to tapping on her door. She glanced at the clock to see it was only eight thirty. She grabbed her dressing gown and walked to the door, rubbing her tired eyes as she did. She opened it to find Mitch standing there looking anxious.
‘Morning. What’s up?’ she asked with a simultaneous yawn.
‘Hi, sorry to bother you so early. Archie has just been on the phone,’ he whispered.
Ruby’s heart skipped. ‘Oh? Is there news?’
‘Not just yet, but he’s getting close. The hacker used an IP address that was jumping around, or something – he used technical terms – so he’s still tracing it, but at some point, he says the hacker was definitely in New York. Is there anyone you can think of that might have been close to you that could have done it? I mean, the location can’t be a coincidence.’
A wave of nausea washed over her. ‘I went through all this at the time. I couldn’t think of anyone who would do such a thing.’
Mitch pursed his lips and paused as if contemplating his next words carefully. ‘Look, I know this is a horrid thing to ask…’ He sighed and rubbed at his chin.
‘Go on.’
He glanced over his shoulder. ‘You don’t think Valerie could have something to do with it, do you?’ He kept his voice in a hushed tone.
Ruby gasped. ‘No! Why would she? She’s my agent. She’s suffering too because of all this. And like you said, she sees me as a daughter figure.’
‘Aye, aye, I know. But think about it… she was supposed to be sorting it, wasn’t she? Then it turned out she wasn’t. If that doesn’t mark her as a suspect, I don’t know what does.’ He shrugged but eyed her with pity.
Ruby felt the colour drain from her face. ‘She wouldn’t… And anyway, she’s useless with computers. I had to show her how to set up her screensaver, for goodness’ sake. And why would she want to sabotage one of her clients?’
He glanced over his shoulder again. ‘Anyone can pretend they’re crap with computers. It’s much easier to pretend you don’t know stuff than to pretend you do. But as for your other question… I honestly don’t know. Could she have been trying to get rid of you? Is there another actor that she might have wanted to push forward but needed to get you out of the way to do so?’
Ruby felt weak at the knees. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed possible. Valerie had signed Aurora Santos, a beautiful Portuguese American actor, just before the hacking. Ruby had only met her once at an evening soiree Valerie had held to introduce her to everyone. And she was very beautiful; long legs, olive skin, long, sun-kissed golden hair. She was the stuff of every man’s dreams. Perhaps Valerie did want to push her forward? She was getting lots of attention from film companies. But no matter how much she thought about it, Ruby couldn’t let herself believe it was her agent. ‘I feel quite sick, Mitch. I hadn’t imagined it could be Val.’
Mitch reached out and patted her arm awkwardly. ‘Hey, it might not be. It might be that Tyler Harrison prick.’
