Tall Poppies (42 page)

Today their ride around the ranch had ended ten minutes ago, that was how long it took John to catch up with their son.

‘Sorry, Pop.’

Taylor patted the horse’s sweating flank. ‘Boy, I don’t need no shrink to tell me something ain’t right. You’d

better spit it out. I don’t need no zombie round here.’ Jack looked down. ‘It’s Elizabeth.’

‘Elizabeth? Her again? I thought that was all over. You’re upset because she got into that accident? Hell,

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she’ll be OK, her folks have money. You can’t help her

none by vexin’ yourself, kid.’

‘It’s over, but I can’t stop thinking about it. To come

that close and then … she’ll never ski again.’

‘There’s worse things than that.’

‘She wouldn’t see me, you know? Her doctor said no

visitors. I sent flowers, I called, but she never answered.’

‘Dealing with it her own way. Now, Jack.’ John dismounted and started to tether his-beast to a post. ‘I am mighty sorry for a girl who has something like that happen, don’t get me wrong, but last time you spoke you were sayin’ how you were through with her, what a stubborn, ornery bitch she was, how you couldn’t even speak but you were gettin’ into a fight. It’s crazy how

‘ you’re gettin’ riled up. There’s lots of pretty girls right here, and y’all know you got work to do.’ He waved a leathery, suntanned hand around the rolling acres. ‘The stud farm, the hotels and the land, it ain’t going to nobody but you. You gotta start taking an interest.’

‘Pa.’ Jack looked down at him distractedly. ‘I have to

go and find her, tell her how sorry I am. In person. It’s a

skiing thing.’

‘Back to Europe?’ He snorted. ‘Like hell, it’s a skiing

thing. Look, son, go if you have to, bang her again if

that’s what you gotta do—’

Jack frowned thunderously. ‘Don’t talk about her that

way, Pa.’

‘Hey.’ Now John was mad. ‘Y’all have had enough

time for foolin’ around. You want to waste thousands of bucks jettin’ over to dry some chick’s tears, be my guest. But then you get your butt back here.’ He jabbed a finger at the stables behind him. “This is your future, Jack. Texas. Not London. You’d better have that real clear in your mind.’

The car came crunching down the gravel drive to park in

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front of the house. Elizabeth sat at her turret window and watched it come, Tony’s sleek Silver Phantom Rolls-Royce gleaming whitely in the warm spring sun. She was surprised he hadn’t fixed a Dragon company flag to the front. Tony’s monster ego suggested that was just a matter of time.

Now he was actually here, Elizabeth’s calm deserted her. She felt the adrenalin surging through her as she watched Monica glide out and offer her husband that reserved, passionless kiss. There was none of the good, enhancing stress she got before a race, though. This was different, a sour mixture of anger and fear. But she knew she was ready; it couldn’t be postponed.

Elizabeth picked up her folded set of clippings and looked at her reflection. She’d chosen an outfit Tony would hate: black CK jeans and a tight green T-shirt by Donna Karan. With her ankle boots and steel sports Oyster, it was aggressive and sexy. That had always bothered him; now she knew why.

She limped downstairs and walked stiffly across to Tony where he stood ignoring the ecstatic welcome of the dogs.

‘Elizabeth, darling,’ he said, his brow creasing at her new look. ‘It’s a bit too dramatic, wouldn’t you say?’

‘Not really. Look, why don’t you step into the library, and we can have a little talk.’

Tony nodded his head towards Monica, busying herself in the kitchen. ‘I was going to have a spot of tea first. You can wait?’

‘If you like,’ Elizabeth nodded with equal reserve, ‘but I think you’d prefer to hear this now.’

He looked her up and down with that cold assessment that had been so hurtful before, but now just slid off her.

‘As you wish.’ Tony walked across the uneven flagstones to the old library door, pushed the studded wooden door and held it open. Elizabeth walked into hi

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green baize den with a flash of dj vu. This was where they’d had their last confrontation, when she was sixteen years old, over Granny’s will. His victory then had been complete, but that was not going to happen this time.

Tony sat at his desk again, comfortably, and glanced at her. He looked utterly self-possessed. Elizabeth shut the door firmly behind her and sat down herself. He thought she was crushed; her spirit as broken as her leg. At least she would have the element of surprise.

‘You’ve always hated me, Tony. And now I know why.’

His Christian name. His eyebrows arched.

‘Don’t look so surprised.’ Elizabeth smoothed out her list of cuttings and passed them over, seeing Tony’s shock It the old articles. ‘I never knew Mother, but I wish I

had. She had you over six ways till Sunday.’ ‘Nobody had me over.’

‘I look so like her, don’t I? Nothing of you at all, Lord Caerhaven. Or of Jay DeFries, for that matter. But my, how awkward it would have been, for the Robber Baron we ‘know and love.’ Her voice was thick with sarcasm. ‘Whispers at the Athenaeum. Jokes in Private Eye and the House. Tabloid fun at your expense. Of course, it simply wouldn’t do, I see that. You had to take in the little cuckoo.’

‘Well.’ He did a creditable job of hiding the rage. ‘You’ve become a PI, how inventive. You always were an unladylike little tramp, just like Louise—’

‘A tramp? Because she wouldn’t play dumb in the gilded cage like Monica? I can see just why she’d prefer Jay, even without money, or a title. I know I would have.’

‘You cheap little bastard,’ Tony said, with real viciousness.

‘Well, that’s the difference between us. I know you’re a bastard. You don’t know if I am.’

‘You’re no child of mine, Elizabeth. I have sons.’

36z.

‘Lucky you, since we all know just what you think of females. Having been trampled by one of them.’

‘She was a ball-breaking whore,’ Tony snarled.

‘I’ve always thought,’ Elizabeth said slowly, ‘that a man who could have his balls broken by a woman wasn’t much of a man in the first place.’

‘A pity your Mr Taylor didn’t agree with you,’ Tony said.

It was a direct hit. Elizabeth flushed, and the earl made an effort to settle himself. He pushed back into his armchair and looked at her coolly.

‘What do you want? I think I should remind you, you don’t have quite the same cachet you once did. The press think you’re a spoilt, petty little brat. That you threw away a British medal.’

‘I still have the capacity to embarrass you, my dear papa,’ izabeth spat. ‘We both know it. So if you still value your reputation—’

‘To an extent. Don’t think you have a blank cheque. I’d rather take my chances than have you back at Dragon.’

‘I’m sure we can come to an arrangement.’

Tony steepled his fingers. He looked at her like she was something unpleasant he wanted to scrape off the soles of his handmade brogues. ‘Then I repeat, what do you want?’

Elizabeth smiled. ‘Y0u’ll like this one, Tony. I want out. Away from you, away from this freezing old relic, away from that vacuous bimbo in the kitchen, all your hypocrisy and high-class whores. I want enough money to look after myself. In exchange, I will always be Lady Elizabeth. A million pounds, that should do it. You won’t even notice it.’

He shook his head. ‘No guarantee.’

‘You have my word.’

‘Worthless. I might agree to a trust fund. A million,

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paid at intervals over the next five years, conditional on your silence. You sign a contract; if you ever breathe a word, the money is repayable with punitive interest.’

‘Fine with me, old man, but I want something now. My cases are all packed; I don’t want to spend another night under this roof.’

Tony stood up and drummed his fingers on top of the grand piano.

‘Fifty K and Walgrave Road.’ That was a Dragon house, kept furnished for visiting executives, a beautiful mews in a villagey, treelined street tucked away in Earls Court. Elizabeth had stayed there once; it was a little jewel of a house, with a small walled garden out back full of roses and wisteria. The neighbours were an opera inger and a Saudi princeling. ‘There’s a housekeeper who will let you in, the lawyers will bring papers round tomorrow. That’s the first year. It’s worth two hundred grand easy.’

‘Fine,’ Elizabeth said. ‘Go out and tell your chauffeur he has a passenger for town? Tony nodded. ‘So, darling, I suppose this is goodbye.’ ‘I suppose it is, Father,’ Elizabeth replied.

‘You’ll keep that promise or lose everything. You’d better realise that. I don’t know what you think you’re going to do with yourself, but I would strongly advise you to keep away from me.’ He smiled thinly. ‘You’ll find out, Elizabeth - once you’re outside, you stay there. I have a lot of enemies, and they all know the score. They hate me, but they don’t mess with me. I don’t think there’s a soul in London who’s prepared to risk that.’

Elizabeth left the room without replying. At that moment, she wanted revenge worse than anything else in the world. She would endure any humiliation to get it. And Tony’s last bit of pomposity had put a name glowing into her mind.

The woman she’d disliked but respected. A blinkered

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workaholic with a razor-sharp brain, a vicious bitch, maybe, but that was what she needed. Someone who had been close to Tony. Someone who might know a way to bring him down.

Nina Roth.

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Harry Namath slowly pulled off. his white coat and

looked over at Lilly.

‘What?’

‘I said she’s left the company.’ The older woman tried to sound casual, but it didn’t come off.

Harry frowned as she sat there on their lab sofa, fag in ‘one hand, sprawled out against the leather cushions. It was dark outside, three in the morning. They’d just come off a gruelling session of proto-lipid tests. Lilly was injecting her baboons while Harry ran complex computer models. He’d been seeing endless DNA strands revolve aga.inst his eyelids, double-helixes in purple and green spinning into his brain. But the tiredness melted away when she dropped this little bombshell. It was as bracing as a cold British shower. Harry sat up again and stared at Lilly. She looked worse than usual tonight: her skin was pallid and grey from fatigue, and she was ill tempered too.

‘You’re over-reacting. She got us the deal, she’s gone, so what? Those corporate bods Will get another suit to replace her.’

‘She’s a friend of mine, Lil. Why didn’t you tell me?’ ‘I didn’t think she was such a mate of yours.’ This was so obviously a lie that Harry didn’t bother replying. Lilly threw up nicotine-stained hands. ‘OK, fine, but you hadn’t been speaking, you hadn’t seen her …’

‘We were in France working.’ Harry’s voice was cold.

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‘You were bummed out about her after that talk you had with Tony. So I reckoned it was all over.’

Harry pressed a hand to his aching forehead. He could feel the pincer-like claws of a migraine wrapping themselves round his skull. ‘What would you know about that?’

Lilly sat up and glared at him. ‘Tony talked to me too, all right? He told me the score. Little tramp. What would you want to hang out with her for?’

‘Hey, bud, my friendships are my business.’

‘She was bad for you.’

Harry paused. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Lilly sounded really sour. “Bad for me?’

‘That’s right. I told Tony that too. He said he was going to can her, and I said good on him.’

‘Lilly, you have no right to interfere in my private life.’ ‘Oh dbn’t I?’ the dumpy woman said bitterly. ‘When I’m the one who’s been your partner for years! When I’m the one who’s doing the work they want! I’m the biochemist, Harry, they don’t want computers. I could just have taken this whole thing for myself. But I carried you along with me and what happens, you run off with some floozy brunette, some career prostitute who slept her way—’

‘That’s enough!’ Harry shouted, then calmed himself. ‘Lilly, we hardly even socialise.’

‘We’re together enough,’ she muttered.

Harry shook his head again. Lilly. She had a brilliant mind but she was squat, ugl and way too old. Yet somehow she had managed to delude herself that their working together was a relationship. She’d never said a word. Maybe she’d known inside that it wasn’t gonna happen, she didn’t want to spoil the dream. He remembered her disapproving looks at Nina. Harry thought it was the youth; now he thought it was the beauty. He had

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shattered her illusion like ice over a dirty puddle, and

now she was sitting here screaming about betrayal.

It was worse because it struck a chord. Lord Caer

haven had reached into his heart and squeezed a burning fist around it. The words in that laconic English tone were almost more than he could bear: ugly pictures of Nina, screwing Tony, on her back for a promotion. Harry was already halfway in love with her. Making love to her had been incredible, he couldn’t wait to hook up with her again. That memory had been tainted, corrupted with acid. Now he knew why she’d been so jumpy back at Dragon’s office. She didn’t want anybody to tell the boss that his mistress had her own bit on the side.

Harry had tried to shove Nina from his mind.

‘ But he couldn’t forget her. He thought about it every

day. How could she? Was she really that cheap?

Harry decided to get an answer. That didn’t mean anything - just curiosity. He wanted to confront Nina. To say all the things that were burning up his chest.

And now it looked like he wouldn’t have the chance. ‘When was she fired?’ he demanded.

‘How would I know?’ Lilly asked sullenly. ‘A few

weeks back? Who cares?’

Harry turned away from her and started to pace up

and down. He felt almost regretful; he would have been a millionaire in a few years.