Diamond Fire. Anne Mather

‘I forgot.’

      Camilla sighed. ‘You’ve still no idea where they are, then?’ she asked, and he hesitated only a moment before shaking his head. ‘So … what are you going to do?’

      He put down his napkin then, and got up from the table, walking to the edge of the terrace and gazing out towards the ocean. He was silent for so long that Camilla thought he wasn’t going to answer her, but then he turned, with one hand gripping an arch of the pergola, and said flatly, ‘What do you think I should do?’

      ‘Me?’ Camilla said the word around another mouthful of the pancakes. Despite her claims to the contrary, she had known her appetite would not remain dormant and she was embarrassed to discover that she had almost emptied her plate. Putting down her fork, she used her own napkin to dab her mouth, and then shrugged. ‘Well—make enquiries, I suppose.’

      ‘And where would you make those enquiries?’

      ‘Where?’ Camilla called upon her own experiences for an answer. ‘Um … well, do you know if they’re still on the island? Could they be visiting friends, or something——?’

      ‘A woman and a child, answering my wife and daughter’s description, left the island the same day they disappeared,’ he told her bleakly. ‘They flew to Los Angeles, on United Airlines, flight number——’

      ‘You say a woman and a child answering your wife and daughter’s description,’ Camilla interrupted him quickly. ‘Didn’t they use their own names?’

      Alessandro left the pergola and came back to the table. ‘I’m afraid I have to go,’ he said, without answering her. ‘There are some phone calls I want to make, and then I’ll be leaving for my office. You’re welcome to stay here for a couple of days if you’d like to do so. But I suggest you make enquiries about your return flight to London. It isn’t always easy to get a booking at this time of year. April through October is the busiest season, as I guess you found out at the airport.’

      Camilla blinked. ‘At the airport?’ She was confused.

      ‘When you tried to hire a car,’ he explained, and her brows, which were a deeper, dark auburn shade, drew together.

      ‘How do you know about that?’

      Alessandro looked faintly rueful now, as if he regretted having said so much. ‘I … saw you,’ he said. And, as if justifying such a startling statement, he added, ‘Your hair: it’s quite … eye-catching.’

      ‘You mean … you came to meet me? But I thought you said——’

      ‘I didn’t come to meet you,’ retorted Alessandro quellingly. ‘I flew back from Los Angeles on the same flight you did.’

      ‘Los Angeles!’ Camilla stared at him. ‘So … you know where Virginia is!’

      He was beginning to look a little irritable now, but he controlled his temper sufficiently to ask tersely, ‘What makes you say that?’

      Camilla’s neck was beginning to ache with the effort of looking up at him, and, easing back her chair, she got rather jerkily to her feet. ‘Well—you said a woman and a child answering your wife and daughter’s description——’