relief when she saw that he was holding a rake and a hoe; he was here to work, that was all. The garden that surrounded Los Delfines on all sides was evidently somebody’s pride and joy – perhaps Domingo’s, perhaps the owners’. It was bursting with more colours than Charlie had ever seen together in one place before: flame red, burgundy, purple, lilac, royal blue, orange, yellow, every shade of green. It made most English gardens look anaemic. Charlie’s favourite thing in it was what she thought of as ‘the upside-down lily tree’, from which white lilies hung like little lampshades.
She put down her book and headed for the pool. Not because she wanted to be closer to Simon, but because the heat was blistering and she needed to cool off. She walked down the marble Roman steps into the water. ‘Exactly the right temperature,’ she said. ‘Not cold, but not warm. Like a hot bath someone ran two hours ago.’
Simon didn’t reply.
‘Simon?’ What was he so focused on, that he couldn’t hear her when she was right next to him?
‘Hm? Sorry. What did you say?’
It was hardly worth repeating. It seemed a shame to waste this opportunity; she ought to say something more important while she had his attention. ‘Every time I see Domingo heading in our direction, I panic.’
‘Scared he’s going to try and show us some more light switches?’
‘No, it’s not that, it’s . . . His mobile number’s on the website. That means we’re contactable via him, doesn’t it?’
Simon struggled to sit up in his boat. ‘Are you worried about my mum? She doesn’t know where we are. No one does.’
‘Olivia does.’ Would he be angry that she’d told her sister what was supposed to be their secret? Apparently not. Charlie battled against the urge to ask him if she had his full attention. ‘When I told Liv how much this place cost, she insisted on seeing pictures. I had to show her the website.’
‘She’s not going to tell my mum, is she?’
‘It’s not Kathleen I’m worried about,’ said Charlie. ‘It’s work.’
Simon made a dismissive noise. ‘The Safer Communities Forum can manage without you for fourteen days.’
‘I mean your work. No one cares if I’m not there.’
‘What, the Snowman? After months of looking forward to his Waterhouse sabbatical, as he calls it? He’s hardly going to seek me out. You know the last thing he said to me before I left? “Let’s both make the most of our two weeks off, Waterhouse. I might not be going anywhere more exotic than my office and the canteen, but without your constant plaguing presence wherever I turn, I shall be on holiday in my heart.” ’
‘Believe me, Proust can’t wait for you to get back. He’s counting the days.’
‘Don’t say that,’ Simon warned her. He hated the idea that his DI might feel anything but loathing for him.
‘We left Liv and Gibbs alone together,’ said Charlie. ‘What if Liv got even more pissed than she was already and told Gibbs, and what if . . . ?’ She didn’t want to put it into words, in case that would make it more likely to come true.
‘Gibbs?’ Simon laughed. ‘Gibbs makes no effort to speak to me when I’m sitting next to him. He’s not going to go to the trouble of tracking me down in Spain. Why would he?’
‘All it would take would be for something a bit less mundane than usual to come up at work, and everyone would think, “If only Simon were here, if only we could ask him what he thinks . . .” ’
‘No, they wouldn’t. They’d think, “Thank God Waterhouse isn’t here to over-complicate things.” ’
‘You know that’s not true. Sam Kombothekra doesn’t think like that. And if Gibbs—’
‘For fuck’s sake, Charlie! Olivia isn’t going to tell Gibbs where we are, Gibbs isn’t going to tell Sam, Sam isn’t going to stumble over a problem in the next fortnight that he needs to talk to me about. Okay? Relax.’
He was right; it was unlikely they’d be disturbed by anyone from home. So why couldn’t Charlie shift the anxiety that was taking up space in her lungs, space she needed for breathing?
‘I’m all yours for a fortnight, so count yourself unlucky,’ said Simon. ‘What’s that Mark Twain quote? “I’ve worried about thousands of things in my life, a few of which have actually happened.” Or words to that effect. Look.’ He pointed to the gap between two trees, to a large mountain in