Emma: Maybe I went too far? I think that was the time something probably changed for good in our relationship and I suppose I only have myself to blame. Her loyalty was, and always had been, to Dad.
I probably sat with her for another minute or so – but I think I realised there was nowhere to go. This was why we’d never had the conversation in the time since I was released.
I said I’d see her at dinner – and then headed away from the pool towards the cottages. I can’t really remember what I was thinking. It had been another of those days where I’d rolled from incident to incident – and I would have been struggling to process everything.
That’s why I was already in my cottage when I realised someone else was there.
Chapter Thirty-Two
THE ASTHMATIC WALRUS
Emma: The front door of the cottage opens immediately into a living room area. There’s a sofa and a television, with the kitchenette at the back. There are sliding doors that mean you can leave the kitchen and head directly onto a small grassy area at the back. It’s where I’d found Daniel skulking around a day or two before.
The first thing I noticed was that those doors were open. I would close the curtains each morning to try to stop the sun making things too hot – but they had been shoved aside, too.
There was a shuffling from the bedroom – and I already knew what I’d see before I saw it.
Daniel was crouched in front of the dresser, typing combinations into the safe that’s built into the largest drawer. He turned briefly to take me in and then spun right back to what he was doing. He didn’t care that I was there: he kept typing numbers into the keypad.
Daniel: None of this happened. This is a pack of lies.
Emma: I think I was probably speechless for a moment. It’s a bit like when you walk into the cinema and someone’s sitting in your reserved seat. You check your ticket and then look at the row number. You might have a look at the row behind and see where the seat numbers match.
I’d almost expected it from him, but it was so brazen and obvious that I was dumbstruck.
I must have said: ‘What are you doing?’ because I remember him replying: ‘What do you think I’m doing?’ It was like he was drinking a glass of water and I’d asked what he was up to – because the response was so nonchalant.
Each time he’d put in a number, the safe would beep – so there’d be a quick four beeps, a short break and then four more beeps.
He must have tried four or five more combinations as I watched on. It felt like I was out of my body because I wanted to do something, but I felt frozen.
Daniel: Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? She says I was in her room, trying to get into the safe – and all she did was watch! Nonsense of the highest order.
Emma: After those attempts, he stopped and turned to look at me again. He said: ‘I need the items you took from your parents’ room.’
It wasn’t a gentle request; it was a firm order. He’s the sort of man who’d like to believe he would be a leader of men on the battlefield when, really, he’d be begging his mum to get him out of having to go in the first place. The bone spurs type.
That sort of posturing doesn’t work on me and I told him I didn’t know what he was talking about. He glared back and said: ‘Yes, you do.’ Then he added: ‘I want what you took.’
I could have kept playing, but we both knew how things stood, so I told him there was nothing in my safe. He looked between me and the safe, trying to figure out if it was the truth, before he asked where everything was. I didn’t answer, so he slammed the dresser drawer and marched across the room towards me.
There was a moment where I thought he might try to shove me into the wall, or do something else. I might have taken a step away. Those cottages are quite isolated from the rest of the hotel. It was only us there.
I’m…
…
Look, I’m not saying I’m some prized fighter, or anything stupid like that. I’m clearly not – but, when you’re in prison, you learn a couple of things that can help you. Body position helps a lot more than you might think.
…
I suppose what I’m saying is that I wasn’t that bothered about him coming towards me. He’s big – but it’s not like it’s lean muscle.
Daniel: Body-shaming fat jibes. Is that what I’m here for?
Emma: He said: ‘Listen, girl, this isn’t about you. It’s about your family and your father.’
I was ready for that, so I replied: ‘I thought I was a disappointment to my parents?’
He bit his lip at that, probably wanting to tell me that I was – but also knowing he wanted something from me.
I decided then that there was no point in holding back any longer and that I might as well try to get some answers. I said: ‘Why has Dad got an ID for a dead man with his face on it?’
That was the end of any pretence we’d been going through. He knew that I had the envelope – and that I’d looked through what was in it. He clenched his teeth and moved so close that I could smell the wine he’d been throwing down his throat all day.
He said: ‘I want that ID and I want that key.’
I replied: ‘I want a lot of things. You can’t always get what you want.’
Daniel: I might have asked this before – but did anyone ever see this key and ID she’s talking about?
Emma: He wanted to know what I’d done with the key, but I suppose he was really asking if I knew what it was for. The only clue was that sheet of paper with ‘Ag Georgios’ and the PO box number.
I didn’t answer, but he must have seen something because he quickly added: ‘You’ve been there, haven’t you?’
That was when he really lost the plot. He’s not the sort who builds slowly up to a rage. He goes right to eleven. He shouted: ‘Where is it?’ or maybe: ‘Where are they?’
I was in the doorway of the bedroom and told him that he wouldn’t find what he wanted in the safe, or the whole of my cottage. I stood aside and told him to keep looking.
He started to seem worried then.
I asked what he and Dad had been arguing about at the airport. Julius had told me there was something about money, but Daniel shook his head and said he didn’t know what I was talking about.
He stood in the bedroom, looking between me and the safe, not knowing what to do. I don’t think he doubted that I was telling the truth about the envelope being somewhere else. That’s when I pointed him towards the back door and told him to get out. I said I’d call security if he didn’t leave.
Daniel shuffled past me, huffing and puffing like an asthmatic walrus. He shoved across the curtain and stood in the doorway at the back of the cottage and then said: ‘I’ll get what I want sooner or later.’
I don’t know what he thought might happen, but I said: ‘You won’t’ – and then he marched out.
It would have made more of an impact if he hadn’t turned the wrong way after leaving. About two seconds after he left, he ended up walking past the doorway for a second time.