Original Sin

by Tasmina Perry

  CHAPTER SIXTY–SIX

  Jewel Key wasn’t just a house, it was a private island off the Florida coast, one of the dozens of sandy dots of land that made up the beautiful Keys. In denim shorts and a T–shirt, Tess walked round the island’s perimeter, watching the small ferry that linked Jewel Key to the mainland shuttle back and forth to transport crates and boxes of food and champagne. On the tennis courts, workmen were erecting a huge marquee, while an army of gardeners were manicuring the lush grounds to perfection. As she walked, Tess could also see Wendell’s security team sweeping the area to make sure it was locked–down in preparation for the arrival of VIP guests tomorrow. She thought of Jemma and the way she had infiltrated the security team at the Venus party with a smile, but that inevitably led her on to think of Sean Asgill, and she shook her head to clear the image.

  Tess took off her flip–flops and went to sit on an outcrop of rock that jutted into the jade green ocean. It was late afternoon, and the sun was a soft saffron ball sinking low in the pastel sky. She relaxed her shoulders, trying to empty her mind, but it was impossible to unwind. Tess knew she should be happy – the last few months had been a bumpy ride, but she had made it: the wedding would go ahead the day after tomorrow and her job would be done. A barrage of threats from the Billington legal machine had put the lid on the Olivia Martin story being reported further, and Ted Kressler, having received his two–hundred–thousand–dollar cheque, had crawled quietly back under his rock. Even better, Meredith had made noises about giving Tess her bonus and – should she want it – a full–time role on staff once the wedding was over. She’d been a success. So why did she feel such a failure?

  She watched a pelican swoop down from the sky, marvelling that it ever got off the ground with that fat body and ridiculous beak. Tess kept trying to think of other things, but of all the thousands of thoughts churning around her mind, she kept returning to one question. How did Olivia Martin die?

  Hearing a scrabbling sound on the rock behind her, she turned. Her heart lurched as she saw it was Sean Asgill. Him. It was inevitable their paths would cross at the wedding, of course, and Tess had been preparing herself for this moment, rehearsing what she’d say to him, convincing herself that she was a professional and that she could deal with it. But right now, she wasn’t so sure.

  ‘Hey,’ he said, sitting down next to her and sweeping his hand through his dirty blonde hair.

  ‘Hello.’ She managed a weak smile, although her heart was thumping so hard she felt sure he could hear it. Be normal, she said to herself. Make small talk.

  ‘When did you get here?’

  ‘About an hour ago,’ said Sean. ‘I’m staying here. Are you at the hotel?’

  Tess nodded, pointing to the exclusive resort a few hundred metres away on the mainland where tomorrow’s rehearsal dinner was being held. They both watched the pelican land on the water with a splash.

  ‘Marriage, huh?’ said Sean. ‘It’s a big old scary thing.’

  Tess said nothing, biting her tongue.

  ‘Although I guess maybe not if you’re marrying the right person,’ added Sean casually. She looked at him sideways, wanting to scream at his insensitivity, but then reminded herself that he didn’t know she’d found the engagement ring in his bag. Tess wasn’t supposed to know, so she couldn’t complain. Trying to calm herself, she wondered when he was going to propose to Annabel. Maybe he would fly them both down to St Barts after the wedding and do it on New Year’s Eve. Perhaps he’d even do it on the night of the wedding, during the fireworks display, possibly on this very secluded stretch of white beach. Stop it, Tess, she thought angrily, Stop!

  ‘So how are you?’ he asked.

  ‘Busy. It looks like I’ll be staying on in New York after the wedding. Not sure what I’ll do yet, though.’

  A trace of a frown appeared between his brows. ‘Oh. Well, good luck with it all,’ he said lamely.

  She turned away. The lapping ocean reminded her of their time in Maui and yet here they were, only weeks later, talking like virtual strangers.

  ‘You’d better get back to Annabel,’ she said, throwing a pebble into the water.

  ‘What?’

  His surprised tone made her turn back.

  ‘Annabel, your girlfriend. Maybe we can all have a drink later. It would be nice to finally meet her properly.’

  The look on his face was one of genuine puzzlement. ‘I haven’t seen Annabel in a month, Tess.’

  It was her turn to feel confused. ‘What are you talking about? She’s your fiancée, isn’t she? Or about to be.’

  ‘What are you talking about, Tess?’

  She laughed lightly. ‘I know you have to keep it quiet until after Brooke and David’s wedding, but your mother told me that you were going to propose to Annabel. Although you probably should have told me yourself. I do need to know about things like that. It is my job,’ she added a touch sarcastically.

  Sean was shaking his head. ‘I don’t understand,’ he said. ‘Why would she say something like that?’

  Tess stood up and clambered off the rock back onto the pale sand. It was just typical of him to keep up this ridiculous pretence.

  ‘Sean, don’t be so stupid,’ she said with irritation. ‘Meredith called me in Maui and told me that when you came to New York you picked up a ring of hers that you were going to give to Annabel. At first I didn’t believe her, but it was in your bag. A big sapphire and diamond ring.’

  His cheeks had turned pink in anger but she didn’t care if he hated her for snooping through his stuff.

  ‘That ring?’ he said incredulously. ‘Kinda old–fashioned looking?’ He stopped and shook his head. ‘That ring was supposed to be a surprise gift from the family to Brooke for her wedding. ‘Something blue’, you know? Mom gave me the ring to use the stones. I have an amazing jeweller friend in London who has reset the stones into a necklace. I had it with me in Maui because I was going to take it straight home to London.’

  Tess shuddered as adrenaline rushed through her body. Was he telling the truth? She looked into his eyes and saw nothing but confusion.

  ‘Why would Mom say that?’ he said, his expression clouding with disapproval. ‘She knew Annabel and I weren’t together any more.’

  Tess frowned, recalling Meredith’s cool words on the phone that night.

  You’re in Maui? Sean loves it there. I assume he tipped you off? Knowing Sean he probably tried it on with you.

  Meredith had guessed! She had guessed that something had happened between them and had acted quickly to halt it in its tracks. She looked at Sean, his eyes outraged yet anxious, and she knew she believed him about the ring.

  ‘Well, I suppose she doesn’t approve of me and you,’ said Tess, trying to contain her fury at the betrayal. ‘And your mother always gets her way.’

  Sean stepped towards her on the sand and Tess shivered. The sun had dipped below the horizon and it had suddenly become cool.

  ‘Has she got her way, Tess?’

  ‘Well, has it really finished with Annabel? I saw some red–carpet photograph of you with her a week after Maui. ‘

  He nodded and took hold of her fingers. ‘I didn’t lie to you in Maui, Tess. I had finished with Annabel and yes, that photograph was taken at the premiere of her new film after Maui, but Annabel begged me to go with her. The press didn’t know our relationship had finished and I agreed to keep up the pretence just until the publicity for her new film was over. But you left Maui so quickly and made it pretty clear you didn’t want anything to happen between us, I thought you wouldn’t care. I also didn’t want you to know you’d hurt me.’

  ‘I hurt you?’ she gasped, barely daring to believe him.

  He squeezed her fingers more tightly. ‘I know you think I’m incapable of committing to anything, but it’s not true. When we were in Maui, all I was thinking about was how you could come back to London and we could be happy together. Stupid, isn’t it?’

  Tess searched his face, wanting to
believe him, but still too scared to. She could see that the usual mischievous twinkle in his eyes had dimmed into a softer sparkle of hope.

  ‘Is it true?’ she croaked.

  He nodded, then pulled her closer and kissed her, soft lips brushing tenderly against hers, and at that moment, moulding herself to his body, surrounded by the glory of nature, she knew just how well they fitted.

  ‘Don’t leave me again,’ he smiled, stroking her hair, ‘Promise me.’

  She inhaled, her breath shuddering, then laughed. She had spent so long in the wrong relationship, surrounding herself with things she didn’t need – the smart apartments, the high–flying job, the exotic holidays – desperately trying to convince herself it was right; suddenly now, being here with Sean, just felt an enormous, joyous relief.

  ‘I won’t,’ she whispered, ‘Believe me, I won’t.’

  *

  Tess knocked on the door of Meredith’s suite at Jewel Cay. Sean had gone to the airport to pick up William and Paula, and Tess knew there was only a small window of opportunity to confront her. The older woman was standing on the balcony of the grand old house in a long billowing linen dress, white hair swept into a chignon. She moved back into the room, closing the French doors behind her.

  ‘I was expecting you to come,’ she said flatly.

  ‘Really?’ said Tess, determined to keep her cool.

  ‘I saw you on the beach talking to Sean.’ Meredith’s face did not show one trace of guilt or discomfort. Tess knew that her employer was glacial at the best of times, but she wondered if ice really did run through her veins. She must have guessed that Tess would find out the truth about her attempt to derail her relationship with Sean, and yet it did not seem to bother her one jot. And why would it? thought Tess bitterly. I obviously mean nothing to her. She was disposable, just another employee like the gardeners and the maids. As for Sean, she supposed Meredith would think she had acted absolutely and unfailingly in his best interests.

  ‘Yes, we were talking,’ said Tess evenly. ‘And he told me that his proposal to Annabel was complete fabricated nonsense.’

  ‘Ah, the business about the ring,’ said Meredith coolly, gazing back out of the window. ‘I believe I made an understandable mistake.’

  ‘Mistake?’ replied Tess. ‘You knew exactly what the ring was for but you just lied to me, Meredith. You just didn’t want Sean and me to be together.’

  ‘A mother has to do what she has to do, Tess,’ she said simply. ‘I did what I thought was right.’

  A well of fury grew in Tess’s stomach, thinking about the hours of hard work and dedication she had put into protecting Meredith’s plans and ambitions. It hadn’t just been a nine–to–five job – Tess had actually cared about the wellbeing and status of the Asgill family. Well, she was not going to protect her another moment.

  ‘It’s not the only thing you’ve lied to me about, is it?’ said Tess.

  This time the old woman looked back at her. ‘I don’t understand you.’

  Tess steadied herself. She knew she was taking a risk in proceeding; the last thing she wanted to do was jeopardize her relationship with Sean again, and she knew he wouldn’t take too kindly to threats and accusations about his mother, but Tess felt so close to the truth she could not stop herself.

  ‘You and Olivia Martin were having an affair, weren’t you?’ she said in a low, controlled voice.

  Meredith looked at Tess with genuine surprise, then threw her head back and laughed, her tight, white face pinching up into a jigsaw of lines.

  ‘Oh my dear,’ she cried. ‘How ridiculous you are.’

  ‘Am I?’ said Tess. ‘You’ve had discreet “companions” since Howard died; in fact you had them throughout your marriage. But you were in love with Olivia.’

  ‘This is nonsense,’ hissed Meredith, waving her hand dismissively. ‘You know nothing about me.’

  It was at that moment that Tess knew she was right. It was the sort of intuitive bullishness that had got her to the very top of journalism, a charge and passion for her career that she knew she sorely missed.

  ‘I know that you and Olivia were together on Bunny Bartlett’s yacht in Catalina,’ said Tess, ticking off the points on her fingers. ‘I know you were still close just before your wedding. I know you and Olivia were seen arguing at Riverview an hour before she vanished.’

  She paused and looked at Meredith, whose face was now pale and unsmiling. ‘But what I don’t know is if you were involved in Olivia’s disappearance,’ said Tess. ‘If you were, I suggest you tell me right now. You can’t escape the truth forever, Meredith, I think we both know that.’

  Meredith sat down in a wicker chair. Tess could see that her hands on the armrests were trembling as she realized she had been caught out.

  It was a full minute before she spoke.

  ‘I loved Howard, I truly loved him,’ she said, her eyes sparkling with tears. ‘Love isn’t about passion, Tess, whatever you might think. Love is about understanding, and Howard and I understood one another. He was driven and dynamic, everyone who met him knew how successful he was going to be, but we did it together, we were a good team. In Howard I got what I had been taught to want and need. A companion, a wonderful provider, a friend. We had four beautiful children together.’

  ‘But you were never in love with him.’

  She gave the slightest shrug. Her mouth down turned sadly. ‘I never felt those feelings for him. Passion, desire. Things I felt for Olivia,’ she said quietly. Tess felt a rush of conflicting emotions: relief, validation, fear. As much as she wanted to hate Meredith right now for jeopardizing her relationship with Sean, she still didn’t want her to be a murderer. But she had to know.

  ‘Did you kill Olivia Martin?’ said Tess.

  ‘NO!’ shouted Meredith, slamming her hand against the chair. She glared at Tess for a moment, then looked away. ‘But you’re right, Tess, as you always are. I was in love with Olivia.’

  She stood up and walked to the window, eyes searching the darkening horizon.

  ‘I first met Olivia on Bunny’s yacht. She was so beautiful and exciting, so alive. It was a year before Howard and I were married. Olivia and I could only make time to see each other about once a month, but we spoke all the time, wrote letters. And yes, we were still together until the night of her disappearance.’

  Tess moved a little closer.

  ‘Tell me about the night of your wedding – the truth, Meredith. Everything. I need to know what you were quarrelling about.’

  When she turned back, the old woman’s expression was fearful and pained.

  ‘Olivia was drunk. High. It always made her aggressive. She cornered me by the fountain and said we needed to talk. I told her it was my wedding day and begged her to wait, but she wouldn’t, so we agreed to meet in the rose garden a few minutes later.’

  ‘What time was this?’ asked Tess.

  ‘Maybe eleven fifteen,’ she sighed. ‘When we did meet, she looked so hard–faced. She told me she wanted money. Five thousand dollars a month to keep quiet about us.’

  ‘Did you agree?’

  ‘It was a lot of money back then,’ she said with a small, hard laugh. ‘But still, I didn’t want it to come out. I knew very well why Howard married me: respectability. Times were different back then, Tess. A story about Olivia and me would have been a scandal, but it would have been a disaster for a family cosmetics company selling lipsticks and blusher to wholesome Middle America. It seems ridiculous today, but that’s just the way it was.’

  Tess frowned. ‘Surely she was just bluffing, though?’ she asked. ‘She had just as much to lose. Why would Olivia allow a story like that to come about herself?’

  She shrugged her thin shoulders. ‘Olivia’s career was over. She was thirty and there were younger, prettier girls on the scene. Her TV career had failed to launch and she couldn’t have stayed as an Asgill’s girl for much longer. Besides, I was scared. I was young and it was my wedding day. Forgive me if I didn’t t
hink as rationally as you would have liked.’

  Tears glistening on her cheeks, Meredith took a sip of water from a glass standing on the dresser, her hand shaking as she picked it up.

  ‘I told Olivia we’d talk about it after my honeymoon, then she turned around and left while I went back to the party to watch the fireworks. That was the last time I ever saw her … ’ Finally Meredith’s voice cracked and she covered her face, sobbing at the memory of a love lost but never forgotten.

  ‘I believe you,’ said Tess quietly, suddenly feeling as if she was intruding on someone’s grief. Meredith looked up as Tess walked to the door.

  ‘Forgive me about Sean, Tess,’ she said. ‘I was wrong, I know that now.’

  Tess forced a smile. ‘Yes, you were,’ she said. ‘But I’m still going to find out what happened to Olivia.’

  If only she knew how.

  CHAPTER SIXTY–SEVEN

  Brooke was still half asleep when she felt the bed move. She turned her head, squinting through the sun creeping through the long white shutters, and saw David sitting there, smiling at her.

  ‘Are you a sight for sore eyes,’ he said softly, touching her cheek.

  ‘You’re here?’ she said groggily, struggling back on the pillows. It was the 28th of December. David should have arrived the previous night, but he had phoned to tell her he had to fly to Washington en route to attend some urgent meeting about his new show.

  ‘Flew straight back from DC,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry I haven’t seen you all week, baby, but I figured it was better to get all the meetings out of the way so they won’t be disturbing us on honeymoon.’

  ‘Which they will … ’ she said with a slow smile.

  ‘Which they will not,’ he said firmly, sliding over to lie next to her.

  ‘They’d better not,’ she grinned, putting her arms around his neck. ‘I want you all to myself.

  ‘Well here I am,’ he said, kissing her neck and bare shoulders. Brooke giggled, feeling herself relax with the touch of his lips against her skin. After the emotional roller–coaster of the last few days, she had been frantic about how she would feel about David when they finally came face to face. Would her guilt overtake her? Would she baulk at his touch? But as soon as her eyes met his, she felt such an enormous surge of relief and love that the memory of what had happened with Matt just melted away. She pulled him closer and beamed into their kiss. When she finally let him go, David sat up and pulled a piece of paper from the back of his trouser pocket.