Betrayal

by Margaret Bingley

Renato sighed heavily. 'It is difficult. Should you be unable to leave the car, then at the last moment you must tell him what is going to happen. Then he will leave the car very quickly!'

  'Yes, and probably leave me behind.' 'Not if he believes you are pregnant.'

  'By then I doubt if he'll believe a word I say!'

  'Lisa, this has to work. If you play your part properly there is no reason why it shouldn't. Negative thinking is not helpful to our cause. You must believe that you can do it. I believe you can do it, isn't that enough?'

  'Not when I'm the one waiting to be blown to kingdom come! Please, don't make me do this. I don't think I'm up to it and I don't want to leave the children behind.'

  'You think they would be allowed out of the car because you were suffering from morning sickness?'

  'Of course not!'

  'Then it is not possible!'

  'He'll know I'm nervous. He always knew when I was nervous.'

  'It is what he would expect. You are after all the returned wife, despoiled by an Italian gigolo, not knowing what he plans to do with you once you reach home again. Of course you will be nervous.'

  'How can you ask me to do this?' she asked in despair.

  'Because it is the only way. Do you think I want you to go away with him? Can't you imagine what it will be like for me waiting here, knowing nothing? But it has to happen so that we can be truly free of him.'

  'It's not much better than making me sit on that horse!' she said resentfully.

  Renato flinched. 'That was barbaric, he was being sadistic and I felt sick to see it. Do you truly think that what I am asking of you is the same?'

  She shook her head. 'No, but I'm tired of fighting him. We've been so happy these last few days. I can't imagine sitting next to Neal while he plays the loving husband. It was bad enough before, but after what we've had together I don't know if I can bear it.'

  Renato shut his eyes for a moment. 'Very well, if you truly cannot do it I will try and think of something else, but… '

  'I'll do it.' Suddenly she sounded confident. 'Why do you change your mind?'

  'Because you offered to let me off! It wasn't just the thought of being with Neal that terrified me, it was the horrible sensation of being used again.'

  The harsh planes of his face softened. 'I forget that winning your trust will take a long time. Also, I know that what I ask is almost too much but I look ahead and then it is worth it, yes?'

  'Yes,' she agreed. 'We can't build a life for ourselves until he's dead. The only thing is, aren't we just as bad as him? Sitting here talking casually of two murders.'

  'It is necessary,' he said shortly.

  She knew he was right but for the first time since they'd become lovers she turned away from him that night, frightened that he wasn't so very different from her husband after all. Renato knew what was wrong and regretted it but he was careful to remain affectionate, pleased that she still chose to fall asleep at his side rather than return to her own room.

  He understood her fears and accepted that in a way they were justified but he didn't make his living from robbery and blackmail. If murder was more familiar to him than to Lisa, well, he'd been born in a country where the Mafia was an accepted part of life. When it came to removing Neal Gueras from the earth, he felt no compunction at all.

  'Where are the children?' asked Neal, picking up Lisa's small suitcase and looking around him.

  'They're ill.' She was so upset at leaving them that she sounded totally convincing. 'They've both got mumps. I suppose they could come but I thought you might not… '

  'No thank you!' he said quickly. 'I've never had it and I certainly don't want it at my age.'

  'They'll have to come later,' she murmured, her voice shaking. 'Is Alexi bad?'

  'No, but Jessica… '

  'We'd better be going. Where's your ex-lover?'

  'Making a telephone call to Switzerland,' she said bitterly.

  Neal laughed. 'What an insult, finding he preferred gold to your body! I did warn you but you wouldn't listen. I suppose you imagined a Latin lover would make all the difference?'

  'I don't want to talk about it.'

  'I don't suppose you do! Everything all right?' he added as Renato came out of the study, a cordless phone in his hand. He nodded. 'Nothing to say to him, Lisa?' he asked with amusement. 'No fond farewells?'

  'Just take her away,' snapped Renato. 'All I got from her was the return of my money. For the rest, you re welcome to her.'

  'I find her equally unrewarding,' commented Neal, 'but useful on occasions.'

  'Her usefulness to me is over. If you would care to leave now?' Neal pushed Lisa ahead of him and turned round in the doorway.

  'Perhaps you'll stick to your own women from now on!' 'Perhaps I will.'

  'You know, it's almost been worth it to see the look of disenchantment on your face today, Bellini. I hope your father isn't too annoyed that you wasted so much time pursuing her.'

  'Basta!' exclaimed the Italian and Neal left, well content.

  Inside the car, Bishop sat watching as Lisa and her husband approached. She looked fitter than when he'd last seen her and she'd put on weight. That didn't tie in with a disastrous love affair culminating in her return to a husband she disliked. He was also instinctively alarmed by the absence of the children. Somehow they were going to be double-crossed but he couldn't work out where.

  After five minutes, Neal put a hand on his wife's knee. 'I'm looking forward to welcoming you home,' he said menacingly. 'Perhaps the Italian taught you a trick or two to liven things up?' She tried to move her legs away and he laughed. 'Still the ice maiden? What a pity his hot Italian blood didn't prove enough to melt you. Never mind, we've got our whole lives ahead of us. I'm sure I can think of something to make you more responsive.'

  She knew he was deliberately provoking her, hoping for some reaction, preferably tears, but she was too nervous to cry. A quick glance at her watch told her that she didn't have much time and she put a hand to her mouth. 'I'm sorry, I don't feel well,' she gasped.

  'I think you said the same thing to Mike!' 'I feel sick.'

  'Then be sick.'

  'You'll have to ask Bishop to pull up. Neal, I'm pregnant. If you must know, that's why Renato went off me so quickly. He soon realised that I was carrying your child and said he didn't have any intention of bring up a bastard in his household.'

  'He's got more sense than I had! But I'm glad you're still good for something. Pull over here, Bishop, by that gate.'

  Lisa caught a glimpse of Bishop's eyes in the driving mirror. They were fixed on her and smoldering with hatred, presumably because he believed her story and didn't want Neal to have more sons. 'Hurry up!' she begged, so white and with such genuine urgency that Neal's last doubts vanished.

  'I'll go along too,' said Bishop, watching her run towards the field. 'She can't get away from us here!'

  'I'd still prefer to keep her within arm's length.' 'Suit yourself. I'll wait here.'

  Bishop walked briskly down the farm track, put a hand on the five-bar gate and leapt lithely over it. He didn't know why he was following Lisa, he only knew that there was going to be trouble somewhere and this incident could well be connected with it.

  Lisa was being sick as he approached. Her nerves had affected her even more badly than she'd feared and as she retched violently she shivered, but at least she knew that the worst was over and in a few seconds she'd be free.

  The explosion was so-loud that for a moment she went deaf, and when her sense of hearing began to return there was a ringing in her ears. Smoke billowed from the roadside and she saw pieces of metal in the field, propelled over the gate by the force of the explosion.

  Sighing with relief she straightened up and looked straight into Bishop's eyes. 'Well, well!' he said softly. 'Who's a clever girl then?' Any fear that Lisa wouldn't be able to display sufficient shock after the car bomb was ended by Bishop's disastrously unplanned survival. The sight of him standing in front of h
er, eyes narrowed and mouth thin-lipped with rage, was sufficient to start her screaming. She hadn't stopped when the first police car arrived on the scene quickly followed by a fire engine and an ambulance.

  Not that the ambulance was needed. There wasn't enough of Neal Gueras for them to carry away on a stretcher and formal identification was only possible through his dental records.

  'I assume I was meant to have been dispatched with him?' murmured Bishop, under the guise of whispering words of comfort. Lisa shivered at the touch of his hand on her arm.

  'She's in shock, mate,' said an ambulance man. 'She ought to go to hospital.'

  'No!' cried Lisa, terrified of losing touch with Renato.

  'I'll call the family doctor,' Bishop assured him. 'She'll be better off with her family.'

  The police were busy taking notes from passers-by and one unfortunate family whose car had been damaged, causing the wife to go temporarily deaf and reducing their two young children to total panic.

  Lisa was so confused by Bishop's presence that she couldn't concentrate on what the police said to her. They gave up, informing Bishop they'd call at Beckett Lodge later, once the bomb experts had given their opinion. 'Any idea who might be responsible?' the senior officer asked Bishop.

  'None at all.'

  'No business enemies?'

  'Of course he had business enemies! Tell me any self-made millionaire who hasn't.'

  'Not everyone has the kind of enemies who blow you sky-high.' 'Mistaken identity, I imagine.'

  Noting down where the car had been parked overnight and the address from which they'd collected Lisa, the policemen left. After a short wait, Steve arrived with another car and at last Bishop was able to take Lisa away from the charred wreck of the Daimler and the terrible smell of death that hung over the area, as tangible as the smoke that had now cleared.

  She sat shivering in the back as far away from him as possible, wishing she'd brought a cardigan to put on over her light summer dress but most of her clothes had been left behind. Neal hadn't wanted any reminders of her time with the Italian.

  'Are you pregnant?' Bishop's tone was deceptively indifferent. 'No.'

  'Clever!'

  'Not that clever or you'd be dead too.'

  Back at the house, Lisa stared up at the redbrick walls, remembering her first visit and how hard she'd worked to make the girls like her. If she'd known the truth she wouldn't have bothered. How naive she'd been, and what amusement that must have given everyone, especially the man standing at her elbow.

  'Just think, it's all yours!' he said harshly. 'I don't want it.'

  'That 's the difference between us - I do.'

  'Then you should have married Neal, not Louise.'

  'Sharp-tongued to the last. I never knew what he saw in you. We'd better go in, people are watching.'

  Before her eyes had adjusted to the gloom of the hall, Lisa was nearly knocked over as Rebekah came flying into her arms, sobbing loudly. 'They said on the television that Daddy was dead. Is it true?'

  She swallowed hard and put a hand on the child's silky hair. 'I'm afraid it is. He had a car accident.'

  'Your precious stepmother and her lover planted a bomb in the car,' said Bishop, his voice cutting like a knife through the child's distress. Rebekah's eyes widened.

  'Lisa wouldn't kill Daddy. You're a rotten liar!'

  Bishop's hand shot out and hit her round the ear. 'Mind what you say. I'm not the one who tells lies around here. Now go away. Lisa and I have a lot to talk about.'

  Rebekah set her mouth like her father's and drew herself up as tall as possible. 'You do tell lies. You killed Mummy. I saw you.'

  'Run away.' He was suddenly bored with her, anxious to get down to the important business.

  'I'll tell!' she shouted. Lisa tried to quieten her but Bishop held her back.

  'Tell what, Rebekah?'

  'About the spiders. It wasn't a dream at all. You frightened Mummy to death with those horrible tarantulas. They were crawling all over her bed and she was sobbing and trying to keep still. I saw them and I heard you laugh.'

  'I'll deal with you later,' he said menacingly. Lisa's eyes closed as she realised she was powerless to help anyone unless Renato managed to get to her quickly.

  He must have heard what had happened by now. The police would have visited the Muti's house and he'd know that Bishop was alive. If she could only play for time he'd get her away, but how much time could she get?

  'Come into the study,' ordered Bishop. 'I don't want anyone overhearing our little discussion. A sex romp on the floor's one thing, a business discussion quite another!' Sitting in Neal's chair he gestured for her to take the seat opposite him. 'Presumably you've already worked out that your son's going to inherit everything of value,' he said slowly.

  'I hadn't thought about it at all.'

  'I'm inclined to believe that. You've always been stupid about the business. I can assure you that he does, but at less than two years old I don't think he's going to put up much of a fight if I take over as regent, do you?'

  'You can have it all,' said Lisa bitterly. 'I don't want my son growing up to be a high-powered criminal.'

  'I intend to have it all. I've waited a long time for this. Working all the hours God made while Neal chased around after you like a stupid school-boy, making excuses when he didn't turn up at meetings, then watching while you steadily destroyed his lifetime's work. You and your Italian gigolo did me a great favour today. I don't need your permission to take everything because it's mine by right. And that includes you.'

  'You don't need me. You've got a wife who's willing to be the doormat your sexual inclinations seem to crave, and I'm not going to try and take anything that you count as important so I don't see the need for me to be included in this unsavory package.'

  'I want to destroy you, just as you destroyed your husband. That's why you're part of the package. You're the icing on the cake; the ultimate pinnacle of pleasure that I'll achieve when you're on your knees, begging me to let you die.'

  She'd never imagined it possible to see such hatred on another human face as Bishop's reflected then and her hair prickled with fear. 'I'm afraid you can't have me,' she said, but to her annoyance her voice was trembling.

  'Why's that?'

  'Renato won't let you.'

  Bishop laughed. 'You don't believe he's going to come rushing in here like a knight in shining armour and whisk you off to his homeland where you'll live happily ever after, do you? Won't you ever learn, you stupid bitch!

  'Perhaps he does like you. Perhaps he even enjoyed bedding you, although from what I've heard he'd be the first one who did, but even so he won't lift a finger to help you now. He can't. His father's one of the most influential men in P2, and to them business comes first. Peace is what they want—peace to get on with their job, just as we want to get on with ours.'

  'Renato isn't ruled by what his father wants.'

  'Of course he is! If he makes a move against me his Papa will click his fingers and summon him back to Rome, and believe me your lover boy will go.'

  'The Bellinis aren't mixed up in anything crooked. P2 is just another masonic lodge.'

  'Like the Krays were just a couple of businessmen!'

  'You think everyone's the same as you, don't you? Well they're not. He explained about P2 to me and… '

  'He's another crook!' shouted Bishop, losing his temper. 'I suppose you'd have believed him if he'd told you the moon was made of blue cheese. Watch my lips, Lisa. Renato Bellini is a crook. His family have a long history of criminal connections. They were friends of the Calvis. You were part of his game plan. Rattle the Gueras organisation; make out with his wife; get them quarreling among themselves. He was very good at it too. But the bottom line was that he finally swapped you for a van of gold bullion!'

  'He didn't! That was all part of the plan.'

  'Are you sure?' he asked softly. 'Why do you think I didn't stay in my driving seat? I don't usually bother to follow pregn
ant women around. The truth is he'd tipped me off. He didn't want you back.' She stared into his eyes and to her horror found that she was beginning to have doubts. It made a kind of sense. Why had Bishop got out of the car? It wasn't his usual style. And why wasn't Renato here now, helping her?

  All the fears and insecurities from her time with Toby and Neal swept back, and suddenly she couldn't even picture Renato's face clearly. She could still feel the way he touched her, remember the kindness he'd shown as he'd taught her how to love again, but she couldn't visualise his face. It seemed like a bad omen.

  Bishop saw the doubt creeping up on her and smiled to himself. He'd guessed it would be easy to get her distrusting the Italian. Despite Neal's initial adoration and two years of financial security, he knew she hadn't gained in self-confidence. It was almost too easy, but still intensely pleasurable. He continued staring at her until her eyes dropped and she bit hard on her bottom lip to stop herself from crying aloud.

  'Naturally Jessica will have to go away,' he continued brusquely. 'I'm not listening to her tantrums or having scenes in front of guests once I'm in control. I don't think she needs a private home, either. Our national health institutions are wonderfully caring!'

  Lisa's brief moment of despair was banished as his words sunk in. To his amazement, she suddenly launched herself at him, fingers extended as she went for his eyes. His reactions were quick but not quick enough for him totally to evade her, and her long nails made deep scratches down the left side of his face. She was screaming at him now, cursing him with words he'd never imagined she knew, and when she began kicking as well he drew back his right hand and slapped her with an open palm, more in self-defense than anything else since for the moment he wanted her in one piece.

  The blow sent her stumbling away to her right and as she knocked her hip painfully against the window ledge, she saw two men moving stealthily across the gravel drive. Quickly she remained with her back to the window, totally blocking Bishop's view.

  'Don't ever do that again,' he ordered, dabbing at the blood trickling down his face.

  'I hate you!' she spat at him. 'You're despicable, taking out your spite on a handicapped child. No real man would behave like that.' 'Your husband used her too,' he muttered, sitting down again. 'He used her to get you to marry him.'