Suzy laid the table with a white tablecloth, slipping a festive red runner down the middle. In the centre she placed a large candle which had three wicks, and lit it. She set five places, saddened not to be including one for Richard. She folded the special, linen napkins kept for such occasions and uncorked a bottle of champagne. Stepping back, she took a moment to reflect on the past events. Simon, although he had not been in love with her, had been a wonderful, gentle man and she missed him. Richard, the father who had raised her and had always made her smile, caused a permanent ache in her heart.
But, she thought, gesturing the others to their seats, through great loss she had made great discoveries.
After filling glasses for each of them she held hers aloft.
‘To family.’ The words brought a lump to her throat.
‘To family,’ the others chorused.
She took her seat next to Sevastian, slipping her hand into his.
* * *
A tap on Suzy’s bedroom door early Boxing Day morning woke her. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she padded to the door, stifling a yawn.
‘Suzy,’ Arabella began, ‘sorry to have to lump this on you now but I’ve just found out Simon’s funeral is today. He’s being put to rest in the Prendergast crypt on the family’s estate.’
Shock crumpled Suzy’s knees and she clutched the doorframe for support. ‘What time?’
‘In thirty minutes.’
Snow still lay thickly on the vast Prendergast estate. Suzy, feet warmly ensconced in faux-fur lined knee-high boots, led Arabella from the driveway, past the huge house, through the bare branched gnarled trees of the orchard and up the gentle slope to the Prendergast family crypt.
Mourners, wrapped in warm clothes and heavy coats, formed an arc around the crypt. Suzy’s eyes darted nervously between the figures, worried Stephen would be lurking within their shadows. The gaggle hushed deathly quiet as Suzy and Arabella reached them. Pale-faced and red-nosed from the bite of the cold, the mourners’ eyes glinted suspiciously. Suzy, imagining they still saw the knife which had killed Simon dangling from her fingertips, squared her chin and pushed her way to the front.
‘She’s got a bloody nerve,’ a voice whispered.
‘The police must have reached a decision over who killed him,’ replied another hushed voice, ‘else wouldn’t they still have kept him in the freezer?’
‘She’s probably come to check he’s really dead!’ a third voice rose loudly.
‘Right, that’s enough!’ Suzy clenched her fists at her sides, her face screwing up with the velocity of her shouts. ‘I didn’t kill him!’
Arabella patted her shoulder. ‘It’s okay, dear; no-one thinks you did.’
Suzy’s blazing eyes tore through the crowd. ‘Oh, you all do, don’t you?’
Feet shuffled nervously, eyes flitted to the ground and back up again. Mumblings began to resurface.
‘What was that?’ Suzy yelled. ‘Speak up, I can’t hear and I’m sure you want me to.’
‘You were only after his money!’ A young woman, around the same age as Suzy, shouted. Her mouth disappearing into a defiant line.
Suzy tapped the side of her own head. ‘And how would I have been able to get my hands on it? To do that I would have needed to have married him in the first place but as we didn’t even make it down the aisle it blows your theory clean out of the water, you idiot!’
The young woman rolled her eyes, huffing loudly.
‘Anyone else want to have a pop at me?’ Suzy plonked her hands on her hips. ‘Because, unlike some of you.’ She stared at the young woman. ‘I came here to say goodbye to a kind, gentle man who I happened to hold very dear. I’d suggest if any of you have only come here to cause trouble then now is the time to piss off!’
Murmurs broke out through the crowd again.
‘Well said!’ David Drinkwater drew into view, a black hat partially covering his bandaged head wound. He was leaning heavily on a cane and slowly made his way to Suzy’s side, a rectangular box in the crook of his free arm.
Suzy smiled warmly as he reached her and Arabella. ‘I’m glad to see you up and recovering.’
David nodded. ‘It’s what Nathaniel would have wanted.’
‘Is that him?’ Suzy gestured at the box.
‘I wondered if you could ask the vicar to have Nathaniel’s ashes placed next to Simon’s coffin?’
‘Of course, if that’s what you want.’ Suzy reached out for the box.
David rested his stick against his leg before clasping the box with his son’s ashes to his chest. ‘It’s where he should be.’ His thin fingers had turned white with the pressure he gripped the box with. ‘Here.’ He passed the wooden box to Suzy.
Suzy, holding it carefully, smiled before approaching the vicar and issuing instructions. David’s cheeks were sodden with tears when she returned to him and Arabella. Arabella had her arm around his shaking shoulders, her other hand on his forearm was covered with his and Suzy realised they couldn’t be far apart in age but David’s gauntness make him appear far more fragile.
The brief service passed smoothly without further upsets apart from Suzy’s heartfelt tears and sore eyes. There had been a time when she’d thought Simon was the love of her life and even after the Nathaniel revelation, he still occupied a tender spot in her heart. Suzy just wished she had known of his true feelings as she knew they would have still remained friends. After all the other mourners had departed, Arabella helped David back to his awaiting car and its driver.
‘I feel sorry for him,’ Arabella said to Suzy as they both slipped into Suzy’s small vehicle. ‘He’s such a nice man.’
Suzy smiled to herself without replying, maybe one day she would bring the pair together again; a day in the future when both of their fractured hearts had begun to heal.
* * *
Rodion was standing on the front doorstep, suitcases at his feet, when Suzy pulled her car into her driveway and jumped out.
‘Are you leaving already?’ Her face fell.
Rodion, a grin reaching from ear to ear, shook his head. ‘It is your suitcase. You are flying to Koravkovia.’
‘Wha - what?’ Suzy’s puffy eyes stretched wide.
Rodion grinned. ‘I have arranged it all for you. You and Sevastian will take my private jet. You fly in one hour so you must hurry!’
‘What about Richard’s cremation?’ She turned to Arabella.
Arabella hugged her. ‘I didn’t tell you but it’s all set for next week.’
‘You can fly back.’ Rodion lifted her suitcase from the step and carried it to the small car. ‘Sevastian will arrange it all.’
‘I’m really going?’ Suzy’s eyes shone. She grasped Arabella’s hands. ‘This is so exciting!’
Arabella kissed her. ‘Remember, Suzy you will always be my daughter, blood or not.’
‘I know,’ Suzy replied, hugging Arabella. ‘And you will always be my mum. I love you.’
Tatyana appeared in the doorway and Suzy raced over to her.
‘I’m going to Koravkovia!’ she screamed. ‘Gosh, you don’t mind do you?’
Tatyana hugged her, kissing Suzy on both cheeks. ‘Of course not, my darling. You should see the place our family comes from. You must.’
‘Can’t we all go?’ Suzy asked.
‘No.’ Tatyana shook her head. ‘I need to sort my passport out. A dead woman cannot fly without a passport!’
Suzy clapped a hand to her mouth. ‘How insensitive of me. I didn’t even think you’d need to sort paperwork things out but of course you will.’
Rodion joined Tatyana, slipping an arm around her slim waist. ‘You will be back in a few days and then when you return to Koravkovia we will all follow as soon as we can.’
Sevastian’s square shoulders filled the space behind Suzy’s parents. ‘Come, Suzanna and I must leave.’ He negotiated his way around them. ‘In five and a half hours time we will be in Koravkovia!’
He scooped Suzy into his arms, whir
ling her around the garden, their combined laughter whipping in the cold air.
* * *
Suzy bounced excitedly in her seat. ‘Is that it?’
Sevastian, knowing exactly where they were, reached for Suzy’s hand. ‘Yes, we are here. In a moment we will land, put on your seatbelt.’
Suzy did as was instructed and continued to gaze in awe through the window as they passed above the spire of a baroque cathedral surrounded by the roofs of many tall impressive buildings. Gradually a cleared runway opened beyond and the jet lowered until its wheels connected seamlessly with the smooth tarmac.
‘Is your home far from the airport?’ Suzy asked Sevastian as they made their way down from the jet.
‘I live with Rodion, at his home near the forest.’
Suzy’s jaw dropped as a sleek, and obviously expensive car, swept to meet them. A driver alighted from the vehicle, securing their suitcases in the boot before opening the door for Suzy and Sevastian to slip into the back seats.
‘Champagne?’ Sevastian removed a bottle from a small fridge opposite their seats.
Suzy nodded, eyes glued to the scenery which flashed past the windows. She was onto her second glass of champagne when they left the city behind them and entered a vast whiteness lined with snow-topped trees. The car zoomed effortlessly upwards as the ground began to rise.
‘How much longer?’ Suzy finally asked Sevastian after they had been driving for half an hour.
‘This is your father’s land.’ Sevastian gestured expansively.
‘All of this?’ Suzy’s eyes bulged.
Sevastian laughed. ‘Did he not tell you his worth?’
‘I never thought of asking.’
‘Even after the Vydrina Diamond?’ Sevastian teased.
Suzy felt foolish. ‘It doesn’t matter how much he is worth. I’m just surprised, that’s all.’
Sevastian squeezed her hand. ‘One day this will all be yours.’
Suzy choked on her champagne.
‘You are your father’s only child, Suzanna. His first marriage was not a happy one, for either party. Maybe he will marry Tatyana when she divorces Stephen.’
The enormity hit Suzy as the driver skilfully manoeuvred the car up a winding driveway and stopped outside an impressive, wide sweeping building. She was out of the car when she realised someone was standing in the open doorway to the front of the building.
‘What’s Alyona doing here?’ Suzy instantly recognised the younger woman, who had been responsible for Tatyana’s rescue.
‘I telephoned her before we left and she said she would like to be here to greet you to our country.’
Suzy skipped from the car and raced over to Alyona, flinging her arms around her. ‘How wonderful to see you!’
Alyona held her at arm’s length. ‘And you, Suzanna.’ She kissed her on both cheeks. ‘Sevastian tells me we are to have a celebration tonight in advance of your wedding to him!’
‘Yes!’ Suzy clapped her hands together. ‘That will be wonderful.’
The driver carried the suitcases past them and disappeared inside the building.
‘We start celebrating now!’ Sevastian dropped an arm across Suzy’s shoulders. ‘Come, let us go inside and be warmed. Is Maxim with you, Alyona?’
Alyona nodded. ‘He has started a fire in the back room which looks over the hill.’
The three of them clattered happily towards the back of Rodion’s large house, Suzy appreciating the carved wooden details on the walls. A glow shone from the room Alyona indicated and Suzy entered first, merrily greeting Maxim who straightened from stoking the fire.
* * *
‘I cannot stay longer,’ Maxim hissed to Alyona after Sevastian had led Suzy away for a tour of the property.
‘Don’t be so ridiculous!’ Alyona scolded. ‘You must. It will look strange if you would leave now.’
‘But I cannot pretend to be happy to see her!’
Alyona shushed him.
‘I cannot look her in the eye knowing it was my knife that killed Simon!’ Maxim’s face crumpled. ‘I did not mean to hurt him, he rushed at me and the knife just went inside him!’ He clapped a hand over his mouth. ‘His eyes...they were so surprised and he grabbed me, begging for help but I ran away. I was a coward!’
Alyona gathered him in her arms. ‘Calm yourself. You did not mean to harm him. You were only trying to find my great-grandfather’s ring for me. We must not speak of this again. Do you hear me? You could not have saved him.’
Maxim sobbed.
Alyona shook him. ‘Do you hear me?’
Maxim made an indiscernible noise.
Alyona sighed. ‘You must be strong, Maxim, I cannot lose you. I love you too much.’
* * *
In a room at the opposite end of the corridor Sevastian drew Suzy into his arms, covering her lips with his. ‘Well, my future wife, what should we do now we are all alone?’
Suzy wrapped her arms around his neck. ‘There’s one thing I can think of.’
Sevastian caught her lips with his. ‘I like the way you think, my soon to be Mrs Suzanna Zacharova.’
Suzy groaned before erupting into laughter. ‘I think I may well keep my own surname!’
Sevastian tickled her, pulling her to the floor atop a furred rug. ‘Is this an example of you being in charge?’
Suzy slid out from underneath him, straddled him and eased her sweater off over her head. ‘No, future husband of mine, this is. Now, take off your clothes so I can feel your body against mine.’
Sevastian laughed. ‘You have the passion, Suzanna.’
‘No,’ Suzy amended, a glint in her eye. ‘I have you.’
* * * * *
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Unveiling Lies (Eastcove Lies Book 2) Page 13