leap for the gun. She saw now that Karen was adapting her own body language to seem as relaxed and as casual as possible, practically inviting Susie to make her move.
She would have a knife hidden in those sleeves. Maybe the gun wasn’t even loaded.
“And what about me?” said Susie. Very deliberately, she sat back in the deck chair, almost reclining, noticing a vexed look pass across Karen’s face. They had both known that Susie was about to go for the gun. They both knew that Susie had changed her mind.
“What about you?” said Karen, her mouth set, knowing how close she’d come to executing her plan.
“Well, I was in the car, too,” said Susie. “Don’t you look at me and wish me dead?”
“You didn’t bite me,” said Karen unconvincingly.
“I don’t believe you,” said Susie. “I think that if you had your way you’d kill me just as you killed Emma, and maybe”—her eyes went to the gun so that Karen could see—“just as cleverly.”
Karen was practically snarling.
“And of course, your husband . . . Dmitry, is it?” continued Susie. “He’ll want to go through with the ransom demand and deliver me safely back in return for the money. Depriving you of the opportunity for further retribution.”
And now Susie knew that she had to be careful not to antagonize the other woman too much. There was every possibility that Karen might simply lose her temper and attack. Be careful now. Tread carefully. “Perhaps you’ve made a mistake,” she said softly, trying to be assertive but not overtly threatening. Thinking, If I can just play this right . . . “Because now I know, don’t I? I mean, you’ve told me everything. And I in turn could tell Dmitry, perhaps? Or one of my guards.”
Breathing heavily, nostrils flared, Karen said, “They’d never believe you.”
“Oh really? Wouldn’t they? Maybe not straightaway, but I’d be sowing the seeds of doubt, wouldn’t I? They might be wondering what was said back there in the car. Why things didn’t go according to plan at the spa. Maybe I’ll tell them that things went south because I recognized you. And why I recognized you.”
“You say a word and I’ll slit your fucking throat.”
Susie smiled. “But you can’t do that, remember? You can’t give yourself away.” She raised her chin, indicating the CCTV camera that watched over them, and for a moment or so the two women simply stared at one another. God knows what Karen was thinking, but she’d played her hand and now her cards lay on the table.
As for Susie? Well, she was hardly in a position of strength. But maybe, just maybe . . .
“I’ve got a proposal for you,” she said.
Karen looked at her carefully. “Go on.”
“I won’t say anything—”
“Like I say, you better fucking not.”
“I won’t say anything if you let me go,” Susie finished.
“I let you go and I’m dead.”
“Oh come on, you’re clever. You can do this. You can work something out.” She paused. “Look, just think about it. Decide what do you want to do. I won’t say anything just yet.”
Karen looked at her, breathing hard. “You think you’ve got the upper hand here, do you?” she said at last.
“Karen, you and I are about as different as two people could be. I’m talking to the woman who killed my daughter. Believe me when I say that I have nothing but hatred and contempt for you. I’d rather make a pact with the Devil himself than with you.
“But what I’m suggesting is for our mutual benefit. Believe me, I wouldn’t be suggesting it otherwise. Let me go, and you can deal with your demons here, I’ll deal with mine, and we’ll both go to our graves knowing that with all this shit going on, at least we did one thing right.”
Karen stood. Smiled. She reached for the gun on the table and for a moment Susie thought she might simply put a bullet in her there and then. Instead she tucked it into the waistband of her trousers.
“There is no deal,” said Karen. “You tell Dmitry all you want. I’ll take my chances. And you and your daughter can both burn in hell.”
She spat on the sandwich, turned on the heel of her black boot, and left.
CHAPTER 50
SHELLEY HAD FOLLOWED Claridge back to the Drakes’ home, Shelley in his Saab, Claridge in an agency Lexus.
“What if the media get hold of all this?” Shelley had asked before they left the hospital. “Back in the day Drake was what you’d call a celebrity.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it too much,” Claridge