She watched Stefan’s face, still hoping for a denial, but he just stood there, mute.
‘Tell her what else you’ve been up to, Stefan,’ said Alex. His voice was as hard as steel. Lara hardly recognised him, his anger barely contained.
‘He’s been working for Michael Sachs,’ said Alex. ‘Spying, essentially.’
‘Working for Sachs?’ snorted Stefan. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
‘You don’t think my sources are good?’ said Alex, challenging him. Everyone knew Alex Ford’s reputation as one of the best journalists in the business.
‘I was with David Becker at lunchtime. I know you went to him for finance. I know he recommended you to Michael Sachs for corporate intelligence work. And I know you went out of your way to get close to Sandrine Legard, and that’s why
you seduced her, isn’t it? To find out what she knew.’
Lara felt as though she had been punched.
‘Stefan? Is it true?’
‘Lara, you have to understand…’ he began.
‘TELL ME!’ Her yell reverberated around the boat and even in the low light she could tell Stefan had paled. He dropped his head, then nodded.
‘Becker didn’t want to invest in my idea, but a couple of months later he called me and asked if I was interested in some research work for a friend of his. Said it would be well-paid.’
‘So much for your principles.’
‘Principles?’ he snapped. ‘I’m not like you or Eduardo, I don’t have a big family trust fund. You don’t know how it feels to be constantly in debt at the end of every month.’
Lara bristled. Now that was bullshit. Stefan worked for some of the biggest newspapers in the world, he wasn’t exactly a pauper. But she couldn’t allow him to sidetrack her.
‘What did Sachs want you to find out?’ she asked.
Stefan looked towards the door, but both Alex and Lara were in the way. He sighed in defeat.
‘Sachs just wanted to find out how much Sandrine knew about the trafficking scandal connected to ImpactAid. He said Sandrine’s story would damage the charity. Simple. Just information, nothing else. No one gets hurt.’
‘No one gets hurt?’ Lara hissed. ‘Sandrine’s dead, Stefan! And you set her up to be murdered by Michael Sachs!’
‘I didn’t know what sort of man he was!’ shouted Stefan. ‘I didn’t know!’ The last word trailed off into a strangled wail as he slid down into a chair, clasping his hands together on top of his head. ‘I didn’t know.’
No-one spoke. The only sound was the tip-tap of rain beating down on the roof.
‘What information did Sandrine have?’ said Alex, after a moment.
Stefan shook his head.
‘Enough. Photographs of the traffickers, a video Helen had shot of them taking the girls, Helen’s correspondence with Victoria Sachs. Enough to prove what was happening and that ImpactAid had covered it up.’
‘She showed you all this?’ asked Alex.
Stefan nodded.
‘And you sent it all on to Michael Sachs.’
‘Look, the charity was doing valuable work,’ he said defensively. ‘It would have ruined them.’
Lara closed her eyes in dismay. Why had Sandrine chosen Stefan to confide in? Why had she trusted this snake over her? But then I trusted him too. Did our desires really blind us, did hope strap blinkers to our eyes?
‘I didn’t know Sachs was dangerous,’ said Stefan, his voice barely a whisper now. ‘I swear to you.’