‘You still assume it’s all about you?’ Amelia laughed and shook her head. ‘Do you really think you’re the sum total of her destiny? That she has no more potential than to be your soul mate?’
Jonan frowned. ‘No, of course not.’
Amelia kept looking over to the door.
Jonan turned as he heard a creak behind him.
Beth
THE DOOR TO Bill’s old living quarters was closed, but Beth heard voices. She put her hand on the doorknob as quietly as possible and turned it, slowly, hoping nobody would notice. The click was quiet but there. Light streamed through the crack and the voices were louder now. She saw Jonan, as well as Amelia and Roland.
‘What are you saying?’ Jonan’s voice was sharp, hard in a way she had never heard it before.
Beth felt Amelia’s attention on her. Then everyone was staring.
‘What happened to you?’ Amelia asked, eyeing Beth’s dusty face and cobwebbed hair.
‘I tripped, that’s all, down in the cellar. The ground is so uneven. I think I’ve bruised my back.’
‘No sign of Bill?’ Jonan’s voice was casual, but his eyes burned violet as he watched her, his face tilted so Amelia and Roland couldn’t see.
She shook her head. ‘Shall we get going? I could do with a hot bath.’
‘Not so fast.’ Amelia strode over, pulling out a chair. ‘If you’ve hurt yourself sit down, have some whisky.’ She nodded at Roland and he poured an amber shot into a crystal cut glass and held it out to her.
Beth sighed and took the glass. She sipped at it. The neat spirit made her throat burn and her eyes water, but it warmed her from the inside, and she was surprised to find herself starting to feel better.
‘What were you doing in my cellar?’
Beth stared at Amelia. She wasn’t showing any signs of panic. If Beth had been guessing she would have said Amelia had no idea Bill had been down there, but surely that wasn’t possible? She had assumed the order to take Bill had come direct from the top, but now she wondered. She didn’t trust Roland either. Might he have arranged this without telling Amelia? Was there any way she could be innocent? Beth blurred her eyes, trying to get a read on one of them, or both of them. It was hopeless.
‘Stop prying, darling. I know what you’re doing and you have no hope of getting past my defences.’ Amelia stepped closer, her eyes narrowed. ‘Tell me what you were up to. What could possibly have kept you for so long.’
Beth raised her eyebrows. Amelia seemed to be telling the truth. If she hadn’t put Bill there, who had? And did that make Amelia an ally?
They were all watching her and the silence was stretching out between them, ever larger and increasingly hungry.
‘Bill was down there,’ she said, watching Amelia closely for a reaction. ‘He was tied up in a hidden room, hungry, thirsty and weak.’
‘A hidden room?’ Amelia asked, her voice incredulous. She turned to look at Roland. ‘Did you know about that?’
Roland shrugged.
‘You said he was there.’ Amelia turned back to Beth. ‘Where is he now?’
‘Never mind that. I want to know why you had him.’ Beth tilted her chin up, hoping to look defiant.
‘You silly girl.’ Amelia rolled her eyes. ‘Why would I have him? What do you think I am?’
‘Do you really want me to answer that?’ Beth asked.
‘Right, well, you’d better show us this secret room.’ Amelia stepped out of her spiky black stilettos, and slid on some flip flops that were shoved beneath one of the chairs.
‘Did he say who took him?’ Jonan whispered as they followed Amelia out of the room and down the stairs that led them below ground.
‘I didn’t ask. I assumed it was Amelia.’
‘Tying him up in a basement is far too cartoon villain for her. But it does implicate her, so who would want to do that?’
‘It would have to be someone with access to the property,’ Beth said, stepping off the bottom step.
‘That counts out most people,’ Amelia said, pulling a small torch out of her pocket and clicking it on. She peered around. ‘Where is this hidden room?’
Beth led them to the gap and they shuffled through one by one.
Amelia crouched down and lifted the iron ring in the floor. ‘What’s this?’
‘It was tied to Bill’s ankle.’
‘And you, what, just untied it, just like that?’
‘Well, yes.’
‘And were Bill’s hands tied?’
Beth shook her head. ‘Why?’
‘Well, if you managed to untie it, and his hands were free, presumably he could have untied it himself.’
Beth frowned. ‘What are you suggesting?’
‘I’m suggesting that Bill hadn’t been there as long as you assumed, that he probably tied himself up and fully intended to leave before his next bathroom break.’
‘Why would he do that?’ Beth shook her head, but a sense of foreboding had started to thread through her.
Amelia laughed. ‘You’re so sure your precious old man is a harmless victim, aren’t you? How long have you known him exactly?’
An image of Bill slumped on Doriel’s sofa popped into Beth’s mind. ‘What are you suggesting?’
Amelia sighed. ‘Well, darling, it seems we know a bit more about Bill than you do.’
‘How?’
‘Did he tell you I’d just bought this place, or did you make that assumption too? I’ve owned it for years. Always meant to come and do it up, turn it into something spectacular, but there was always a reason I couldn’t. The whole process was fraught with problems and every time I visited, the ghosts became agitated and the whole thing ground to a halt.’ She stood up. ‘Bill is an oddity. I find him interesting. I’ve spent years watching him, but I would never, ever trust him.’
‘You think he was stopping you from doing up the inn?’
Amelia laughed. ‘For those who know how, there are many ways to slow down a project. Bill is… unpredictable. And I know he’s a more accomplished energy worker than he lets on. It seems he isn’t quite so accomplished at framing me. Honestly, a cellar? Could he have been any more obvious?’
‘I’m guessing you don’t like him because he doesn’t fall for your tricks?’ Jonan gave an uneasy laugh.
‘He doesn’t. He never has, but he has come close to rivalling my tricks on any number of occasions, and I don’t admit that easily. He has a way of drawing people in, making sure they trust him, and then…’
‘Then what?’ Beth’s voice was barely more than a whisper. ‘What does he do next?’
‘Oh, don’t listen to me, darling. What do I know? I’m just an empty-headed celebrity.’
‘You’ve never been that,’ Jonan said.
Amelia walked over to the open door that led to the garden. She peered outside then turned back to Jonan, eyes narrowed.
‘Amelia,’ Beth said. ‘What then?’
Amelia shut the door, deepening the darkness in the room. The light from the torch cast strange shadows over her face so the angles stood out in sharp relief. ‘I don’t know. I’m guessing he’s gunning for me. He wants me out. I have no idea where you fit in to this.’ She pointed to the door. ‘Beth, was this open when you arrived?’