Perfect Strangers

‘Protect me?’ she said bitterly. ‘You agreed to work for Lana.’

‘I only told her I was going to work for her. She asked me on the plane over to New York when you were asleep. I mean, there was the slight suspicion that she might kick me off the Gulfstream mid-air if I didn’t agree, but mainly I figured I would find out more from the inside.’

‘You could have been killed, Josh. We could have been killed. And I assume it was you who told the Russians to go to the shooting lodge? Why the hell did you do that?’

‘The same reason I gave them a copy of I Capture the Castle,’ he said. ‘I had to. If they thought we’d stiffed them, they’d come and kill us.’

‘But you did stiff them.’

‘Not really. I gave them everything we had: first the clues in the book, then when we got to the lodge, I called Sergei and told him that Lana had worked out where the money was, but that he needed to be careful as the SEC, the FBI and the Met were on her tail. His men would have to be clever if they were to get to Lana first.’

‘And you think that’s going to get us off the hook with Sergei Kaskov? You stitched him up.’

Josh shrugged. ‘My guess is that he’s going to stiff me. I asked him for a finder’s fee for telling him all about Lana, because I knew that’s the kind of back-stabbing double-dealing he’d respect. But now the money’s gone up in smoke, I suspect he’ll stop taking my calls.’

Deep down, Sophie knew she believed him. She had spent plenty of time questioning his motives and his morals, but all along the truth was that Josh McCormack had been constant: he had defended her, supported her, even put his life on the line for her. Even so, she couldn’t get that image out of her mind of him following Lana out of the bedroom in the castle. She had thought her heart had been torn in two, and if she was honest, it still hurt, however much he had meant to protect her.

They sat in silence for a while, watching flycatchers swooping over the water for midges. It was so beautiful, so still there, Sophie couldn’t stay angry.

‘You know, I think there might be something going on between Fox and Ruth Boden,’ she said.

Josh smiled.

‘I spotted that too. Maybe they should check into the shooting lodge when they’ve packed the criminals off. It’s pretty romantic.’

‘Says he!’ she replied. ‘I left you for twenty minutes last night and when I came upstairs you were snoring your head off. Not even my most seductive neck kisses could wake you up.’

‘You’re going to have to show me that trick later.’

He took her hand, and suddenly Sophie felt that everything was going to be okay.

‘Listen, Sophie, I’m sorry, so very sorry if I hurt you at the castle, sorry for keeping you in the dark, I’m even sorry for being distant last night. When I realised there was no way to get to the map co-ordinates that evening, I knew I had a few more hours to work out what to do. I had to cover all the bases, juggle Sergei and Fox . . .’

‘Ssssh,’ she said, putting a finger to his lips. ‘None of that matters any more.’

‘Honestly?’ he said.

‘Honestly.’ She looked out over the loch and smiled. ‘All that matters is that we made it through – together. And just look how beautiful it is out here. Even my dad’s castle was just as I’d always imagined it to be.’

Josh gave her a sideways look.

‘Well I’m glad you like it, because it’s yours.’

‘What?’

He nodded.

‘Remember when we were searching the castle looking for the safe? I found a load of paperwork in the library. The title deeds to the castle were there – and they were in your name.’

Sophie wasn’t sure she could breathe all of a sudden.

‘You are making this up,’ she said uncertainly.

‘Really, Sophie, I swear it’s true. And not just the castle but five thousand acres around it. Oak and pine forests, moorland, even part of the loch.’

‘I own a loch?’ she squeaked.

‘It’s owned through an offshore company which is held in trust for you.’