‘My name is Phil Bettany,’ he gasped. ‘I’m . . . Sasha’s friend.’
‘Is she with you?’ asked Grace.
Phil looked at her anxiously. ‘What, you mean you haven’t see her? She arrived here over an hour ago. I spoke to her – she was in this house.’
Alex shook his head.‘There’s no one else in the house. We assumed she hadn’t got here yet.’
‘Shit,’ whispered Phil, a sinking feeling in his stomach. ‘Who else is on the island?’
‘Just Miles. And that caretaker who met us off the plane,’ said Alex.‘But you haven’t told us what’s going on. Is something wrong?’
‘Listen, I know why you’re here,’ Philip said urgently. ‘Sasha told me all about that night on the beach twenty years ago. Finding the body. Leaving the body, all of it.’
He saw Alex and Grace exchange a troubled glance.
‘But what’s that got to do with us?’ said Alex.
Philip pulled a face. ‘Sasha was told the police got involved after finding a body dug up by the Fairmont Hotels site surveyors. Alex, I told you, I know.’
Grace’s cheeks flushed.‘We are going to speak to the police. We’re going to tell them everything we know. Two officers are coming here tomorrow.’
‘No, they’re not. The police don’t know about any body dug up on Angel Cay. I just spoke to them.’
Alex frowned. ‘That doesn’t necessarily mean anything. It wouldn’t surprise me if only one or two officers knew about this. Miles has his fixers on it, crisis-managing it. He wants to keep this as quiet as he can.’
‘Maybe, but there’s something else,’ said Phil. ‘Sasha said that Michael Marshall, the guy who brought you all here, is the boy you found on the beach.’
‘The dead boy?’ said Alex incredulously.
Phil nodded. ‘That night in 1990, Sasha had sex with him. Apparently this afternoon she found a photo of Marshall and she recognised him. Same face, same tattoo on his hip.’
‘A coincidence, surely?’ said Grace, looking from Philip to Alex. ‘I mean, it has to be, doesn’t it?’
It was clear from their faces that they all felt it wasn’t.
‘You know, I never actually saw that boy’s face,’ said Grace. ‘Just his head facing down into the sand when we found him. All those times I’ve thought of him, it’s just a projection, a guess what he might have looked like. And anyway, I’ve never even met this Michael Marshall.’
‘What about you?’ asked Phil, turning to Alex.
‘I met Michael a couple of times; he helped out when I was in the clinic that time, but he’s never looked familiar. That said, when I saw him in 1990, it was dark, I was drunk, high. It was a long time ago.’ He threw up his hands. ‘I guess it’s possible, but it’s so crazy, isn’t it?’
Philip felt a growing sense of unease. Something weird is going on, Sasha had said. From the pale expressions of Grace and Alex, he knew they felt it too.
‘Let’s go and find Miles,’ said Alex. ‘He disappeared twenty minutes ago. Maybe he went to meet Sasha.’
‘I’ll call the police,’ said Grace, walking over to the phone.
‘Good idea,’ said Phil, following Alex, who was already at the door. ‘And tell them to hurry.’
Miles was frightened. The sky was dark grey and the rain was getting harder. It was hurricane season this time of year in the Bahamas and a storm was definitely on its way. But it wasn’t the weather that was scaring him; it was his chances of living to see it.
‘So you intend to just kill me? Is that your masterplan?’ he shouted over the wind. ‘Why drag yourself up from West Virginia only to have yourself thrown back in jail for my murder?’
‘The police aren’t going to think I killed you, Miles. They’re going to think it was Alex Doyle, Sasha Sinclair and your sister.’
Miles laughed bitterly. ‘Why?’
‘Because they’re the only ones on this island. Carlton, Benny the caretaker, they’re my people.’ He laughed. ‘Carlton’s an ex-mercenary I’ve sometimes used for strong-arm work. I have to say, they’ve really thrown themelves into their roles.And when you’re found dead, Miles, the natural suspects will be your dear friends. All of them have motive. Grace hates you; so does Sasha after that nasty stitch-up with Simon Assad. And there’s bad blood between you and Alex too. His rejection of your Vegas residency plan, the mugging – which I was behind, incidentally. Benny will find your body. He’ll call the police, who will naturally suspect the island’s vengeful house guests. Meanwhile, I’ve got five guests at the Nassau Ashford prepared to vouch that they saw me in the hotel at the time of your murder.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘Which is going to be at roughly six thirty p.m.’