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The Ransom

Page 2

by Irena Nieslony


  * * * *

  As Eve left baggage reclaim, she saw David waiting for her. However, he hadn’t seen her, so Eve stopped for a moment just to admire him from a distance. He looked so gorgeous that she felt her heart beating faster and she had a tingling feeling in her stomach. Then all of a sudden, that awful woman came to talk to him.

  How dare she? How dare Joanna talk to my fiancé?

  Eve stormed over to David who didn’t see her until she was standing right next to him. As David started to smile, Eve flung her arms around him.

  “Darling, I’ve missed you so much. It’s good to be home.”

  And then she kissed him. Strangely enough, David seemed a little embarrassed. He never usually minded public shows of affection if they’d been apart for so long. Unfortunately, Eve noticed and wasn’t happy about his attitude.

  Why is he acting like this? Is it because of her?

  David was indeed a little uncomfortable, but not because he cared at all for Joanna, but because someone was so obviously watching them. However, he was also secretly pleased that Eve seemed so happy to be back on Crete. He had been worried that she would become homesick for England during her trip, but it didn’t seem as if she had and he was relieved. It didn’t even cross his mind that she could be jealous of Joanna. After all, he and Eve were engaged to be married, so why should he be interested in another woman? He hardly knew Joanna anyway. They had barely spoken on her last visit which didn’t bother him one bit. He wasn’t interested in other women and he thought Eve knew that.

  “You remember my fiancée, Eve Masters,” David asked Joanna.

  “Oh... yes,” she said, more or less dismissing his remark.

  Why is that woman ignoring me? Eve asked herself. I am getting more than a little fed up of it.

  “You’re Joanna Neonakis, aren’t you?” Eve asked, trying to be pleasant and not show her true feelings. “I’m surprised to see you back here.”

  “I’m here for a month or so, sorting out the paperwork on my husband’s estate. Greek bureaucracy does seem to be very complicated. I hardly got anything done when I was here in June.”

  “I’m not surprised. Everything is complicated here,” David replied.

  “Well, we must be on our way, mustn’t we, darling,” Eve said, putting her hand ever so gently on David’s arm as if to make a point.

  “I’m sure I’ll see you around,” Joanna said, looking pointedly at David.

  “Yes, I expect so,” David replied, taking Eve’s cases.

  Once out of Joanna’s earshot, David spoke to Eve.

  “Well, well, Eve, what was all that about? You aren’t jealous of Joanna are you?”

  He had suddenly realized near the end of the conversation that Joanna was possibly flirting with him and now it suddenly clicked that Eve might, after all, be resentful that Joanna was paying him so much attention. He had no idea why. Didn’t Eve realize that the only woman he wanted was her?

  “Me, jealous of Joanna? Why should I be?” she asked with a tinge of annoyance in her voice.

  “Well,” David remarked. “She did seem to be flirting with me and I know you hate it when other women make a move towards me.”

  “Humph,” Eve retorted. “There was a time when you never noticed that women were flirting with you. I’m sure it’s me who’s made you aware that many women do find you attractive and now you can see which ones do like you. I wish I’d never said anything.”

  Even though she had an exuberant and extrovert personality, Eve had always been insecure in personal relationships and this one was no exception.

  “Eve, darling, don’t doubt yourself so much. After all, I did ask you to marry me.”

  “No you didn’t, David,” Eve admitted for the first time. She had realized a couple of weeks previously that he hadn’t actually asked her, but she had put it out of her mind, pretending it didn’t happen as it did.

  “In a roundabout way I asked you,” Eve said. “When I interrupted you, you could have been planning to ask me something completely different.”

  Eve had never thought he was going to do anything but propose marriage, but now her insecurity was finally getting the better of her.

  “Of course I wasn’t going to ask you anything else,” David lied, feeling it best to hide the truth from Eve.

  If he told her he was just going to ask her to live with him, it might make her even more insecure than she was already.

  “Now, come on, Eve, let’s go home. You have a busy few days coming up so you should rest today.”

  Eve nodded, feeling a little happier. She knew she was being silly, but she did feel her relationship with David did balance on a precipice. She had frightened him so much searching for murderers that she was surprised that he was still with her. However, she needed excitement in her life and could never be a stay-at-home wife. .

  Chapter 3

  The following day, Eve had arranged to take her friend, Jane Phillips, into Chania, their nearest major town, to look for a maid-of-honor dress for her.

  Jane was moving back to England in a few days’ time after having lived on Crete since the previous December. Eve thought she would be desperate to go back after all she had been through, but Jane was sad to be leaving. She had managed to cope with her experiences surprisingly well for such a shy and nervous young woman.

  Jane’s father, John Phillips, who had lived alone on Crete, had been killed the previous summer and when Jane came over to sort out his property, she fell in love with James Anderson who ended up killing his aunt. Then poor Jane had the misfortune to go out with Paul Fowler who also turned out to be a killer, murdering both his sister-in-law and her lover, Yiannis Neonakis. Eve wondered if she could have remained as calm as Jane after such experiences.

  After their shopping expedition, Eve and Jane decided to go to The Black Cat, the local English bar run by Ken and Jan Stewart, a couple in their mid-thirties who had moved from London about five years previously.

  As they entered the bar, Eve stopped dead in her tracks.

  “What is it Eve?” Jane asked.

  “It’s Kevin Fowler. He’s with Joanna Neonakis again,” she whispered.

  Kevin Fowler, Lucy’s husband, had met Joanna on the day of Yiannis’s funeral and they had spent a great deal of time together during the week she was on Crete.

  “I know his marriage was finished long before Paul killed Lucy,” Eve continued, “but Joanna and Yiannis had only recently got married. Or do you think she married him for the money?”

  “Hasn’t she got her own business, Eve?”

  “Yes, but it doesn’t mean it’s successful.”

  “Is Kevin that well off?”

  “I have no idea,” Eve replied. “But I don’t think he’s short of a bob or two.”

  Joanna suddenly glanced at them and Eve felt conspicuous so she headed straight for a table.

  “We’ll sit here,” she told Jane. “What would you like to drink? I fancy a nice cold gin and tonic.”

  Eve had dropped her car off at home and they had walked to the bar. She felt there was nothing like relaxing with a cold G and T on a hot summer’s afternoon after a busy morning shopping. And it had been busy. Eve had been determined to find the perfect dress for Jane which surprised Jane immensely. She knew Eve would want to be the centre of attention, not to mention that bridesmaids normally ended up in awful dresses so that the brides weren’t outshone, so why was Eve trying so hard to make Jane look stunning?

  Eve had, in fact, shocked herself. Despite being quite a self-centered person, Eve felt a great deal of sympathy for Jane. Her friend had been through so much in the past year, but despite being a shy and anxious girl, she had come through all her problems without breaking down. Eve didn’t think she would have coped as well. She thought Jane should also enjoy her wedding day and she wanted to make it a day for her to remember. In addition, Eve had single male friends coming and perhaps one of them might be attracted to her. As far as she knew, none of them were murd
erers!

  As soon as they had got their drinks, Eve spoke.

  “I am going to miss you, Jane.”

  “I’ll miss you too,” Jane replied. “But I need to work again, not only financially, but because I want to; very much. I am starting to get bored.”

  Eve nodded sympathetically, thinking of her days as a showbiz agent. In a way, she wished she hadn’t given it up; the job was in her blood, but then she wouldn’t have met David. Why couldn’t she have both? However, she knew that she couldn’t. David would never move back to England and she knew there would be no way of changing his mind.

  Eve stole another look at Joanna and Kevin. They were laughing and Eve wished they were sitting nearer so she might be able to hear what they were saying.

  “You keep looking at Joanna and Kevin,” Jane said. “Do you think they’re having an affair?”

  “God, no,” Eve exclaimed. “Well, I don’t think their relationship has gone that far yet, but I think they might be heading that way.”

  “He’s so much older than she is.”

  “Yes, he is. Perhaps she’s a serial killer. Perhaps she marries men for their money and then kills them. First Yiannis and now Kevin.”

  The thought had just struck Eve.

  “But she didn’t kill Yiannis, did she? Paul did.”

  “Yes, you’re right about that, but it could be because he got in first. I mean, she didn’t seem upset on the day of her husband’s funeral at all and she was quite flirtatious with Kevin when they came in here.”

  Jane agreed, but inside was thinking that Eve’s mind was working overtime.

  I think Eve wants there to be something wrong with Joanna. She’s getting bored again. I hope it doesn’t cause problems between her and David, not now they’ve decided to get married.

  Eve, on the other hand, was thinking something completely different.

  I won’t tell Jane that I have suspicions that Joanna might be the one who killed James Anderson. I don’t want to remind her about him. I think she truly loved James. It really could have been Joanna who was the mastermind behind the murder. She could have sent James over to kill his aunt so that he would inherit her money, not knowing that Paul was Jennifer Anderson’s illegitimate son and therefore had a claim on her estate. James could have been sending her information about everyone over here so she could decide on her next target.

  “Eve, you seem miles away. Are you alright?”

  “Yes, I’m fine. I was just thinking what a strange year it’s been - since I moved over to Crete I mean. I certainly wouldn’t have expected to be involved in so many murder cases.”

  “Well, I hope you’re not going to get involved in finding out more about Joanna. David wouldn’t be too happy.”

  “Really, Jane, give me more credit,” Eve lied, feeling slightly guilty. “Yes, she does interest me, but I wouldn’t put my marriage on the line for her, especially as she’s already been flirting with David.”

  “Has she?” Jane replied. ‘What an awful woman.”

  “Yes, she is. And she goes to town when I’m there. I think she wants to rile me.”

  “Why on earth does she do that?”

  “I have absolutely no idea. She’s obviously taken a dislike to me. Well, the feeling’s mutual.”

  As they were talking, Kevin and Joanna got up to leave and both Jane and Eve noticed they were holding hands.

  “I wonder what Wayne thinks of all this?” Eve asked. “Both he and Justin weren’t happy that their Dad was hanging around with Joanna.”

  Kevin’s younger son, Justin, had arrived on Crete the day after his mother was killed and Wayne a couple of days later. Kevin eventually discovered that Wayne had lost his job back in England and it was decided that he would try to keep his uncle Paul’s gardening and maintenance business going. If it worked out, he would bring his wife and three children over to live on Crete.

  Eve had to admit that she didn’t see Wayne hanging around much with his father, so perhaps there was a rift between them. Sometimes Wayne would join her and David in The Black Cat for a drink. He seemed to be settling in to life on Crete and the business was doing relatively well so far. Eve had employed him as her gardener now that Paul had been locked up.

  “How’s Justin by the way?” Jane asked.

  Justin was bi-polar, but was doing well on his meds. He and David’s niece, Emma, who came to Crete during the summer to work in a bar, had become quite an item.

  “Oh, Justin and Emma are still seeing each other. It seems pretty serious, even though they are only in their early twenties. They’ve both got a year left at university so anything could happen.”

  Jane nodded in agreement.

  “I’m a bit hungry now,” Eve said. “Do you want anything to eat, Jane?”

  “I wouldn’t mind a toasted sandwich; ham and cheese.”

  “What a good idea. Think I’ll have cheese, tomato and onion in mine.”

  Eve was a vegetarian and had been so for twenty years.

  She went up to the bar to order the food.

  “You don’t look too happy, Ken. Is everything alright?” Eve asked when she reached the bar.

  “Well, not really. We’ve got some hefty bills, including ones from the tax office. Everything has gone up. All these austerity measures are not making it easy to run a business over here.”

  “You don’t think you’re going to have to pack up and go home, do you?”

  “We wanted to stay here forever, but now our future is very uncertain. We don’t want to go, but we may have to, that is if we can sell the bar and our property. I hear it’s difficult with so many people selling up.”

  “You’ve done such a good job with the bar, Ken. It would be very sad if you had to leave.”

  “Thanks Eve. We’re not giving up yet...I’ll give your food order to Jan.”

  Eve went back to her table thinking how awful it was that things kept changing. Ken and Jan were good hosts; one or other of them was always there for breakfasts from ten o’clock onwards and they stayed open all day until the early hours. It was nice to have a place where the English could congregate and discuss things, though there were certain members of the English community Eve would rather not see on a regular basis. As if reading her thoughts, her arch enemy, Betty Jones walked into The Black Cat with her husband, Don.

  From the moment they had met, Betty and Eve had taken an instant dislike to each other. Betty liked to think she was in charge of organizing events for the English community and was a bossy and antagonistic woman. She felt that Eve was trying to usurp her position which was nonsense of course. Eve, who had come from the world of show business, had no interest in taking over and organizing a group of ex-pats. Betty also thought Eve wasn’t good enough for David, but by criticizing her in front of him, she had managed to alienate him. She had become quite upset to lose David as a friend and stupidly blamed Eve.

  When Betty entered the bar, she ignored Eve completely and went to sit down, while Don went up to order drinks. On his way back to his table, he stopped to talk to Eve.

  “Hello Eve, how are you?” he asked

  “I'm fine, thanks. I've just got back from a trip to England.”

  “I expect you enjoyed yourself.”

  “Yes, it was lovely to see friends and to go to the theatre again. How are you?”

  It had become common knowledge that Don and Betty’s marriage was going through a bad patch. Whenever they were together, they either argued or ignored each other. As Jane had gone to the ladies, he decided to confide in Eve.

  “Surviving, Eve,” Don replied. “All I can say is that I’m looking forward to the drama group starting again. Betty says she’s not going to go, thank goodness. I’m so pleased you’ve decided to keep running it.”

  “I’m sorry things aren’t going well between you and Betty,” Eve remarked, not caring if she was being too personal. “Have you thought of leaving her?”

  Don was a little shocked at Eve’s forthright questio
n, but then they had talked bluntly many times and had become good friends.

  “I have thought about it, but financially, I can’t see it working. Our house isn’t that big so if we sold it and shared the profits, we probably wouldn’t have enough to buy a smaller property each. We haven’t much saved and live on our pensions.”

  “I’m sorry,” Eve said. “It must be difficult living like you do.”

  Don nodded and then Eve noticed Betty glaring at her.

  “I think you’d better get back to your table, Don. Your wife is staring at me and her expression isn’t very friendly.”

  Don smiled and went back to join Betty just as Jane came back.

  “What was all that about?” Jane asked Eve.

  “Oh, it was nothing important. I believe Don and Betty’s marriage is on the rocks, but Don doesn’t think there’s any way out.”

  “Poor Don having to put up with Betty. He seems such a nice gentle sort of man.”

  “He is. I expect Betty was nicer when he first met her, but she’s such an old busybody now and takes no interest in her husband. Mind you, I expect he’s glad that she’s not keen on the theatre so he can have a few nights a week away from her.”

  Jane smiled, but inside thought that not many relationships ended up ‘happily ever after’.

  Kevin and Lucy weren’t happy, nor are Don and Betty. I think Annie and Pete are, but who knows. I do hope Eve and David end up getting married, but they have such different personalities and Eve’s recklessness does drive a barrier between them. And me! I keep falling in love with murderers so I think I’ll keep clear of men for a while.

  Eve and Jane stayed in the bar for a little while longer to eat their sandwiches and have another drink. Betty completely ignored Eve for the duration of their stay. Eve was quite annoyed as she had to admit that she enjoyed their quarrels! Eventually Eve and Jane left; Eve looking forward to spending her evening with David. He, as usual, had been working hard on his novel since early morning. Jane went home to carry on packing, wishing in a way that she wasn’t leaving.

 

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