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have jewellery,’ she said hurriedly when he didn’t reply. ‘Expensive jewellery. You can have it.’
    Now he was laughing, the bastard. Was he the one who had done that to Inez, to poor harmless Rufio?
    ‘Check your jewellery case, you’ll find I’ve already got it.’
    Christ! Annie looked at Jeanette and nodded at the gun. Her eyes said, Keep watch. Like your life depended on it.
    They’d been inside the finca , probably when she and Jeanette were up finding that horror in the smaller building. Annie watched Jeanette. The hand holding the gun was shaking and she had tucked the knife into her waistband. She was eyeing the outside door as if a troop of marauders were about to burst through it.
    And maybe they were.
    ‘So I’m asking the question,’ said Annie. ‘What is it that you want?’
    ‘Maybe more than you can deliver,’ he said.
    ‘Anything’s possible. All you have to do is ask.’ Annie’s brain was spinning, but she took a deep breath and said it. He wouldn’t like it, but what could she do? ‘Listen, there’s no money here.’
    ‘Don’t kid around with me, sweetheart, I don’t like it.’
    ‘I’m not kidding. There’s no money here.’
    ‘For fuck’s sake!’ he roared. He sounded furious.
    ‘Wait!’ Annie started talking fast. She didn’t want that anger being directed at Layla. ‘Wait. Just because there’s none here doesn’t mean I can’t get any. I can. I can get anything, any amount you want, in London.’
    ‘Fuck it,’ he said savagely.
    Annie flinched.
    ‘Are you bullshitting me?’ he demanded. ‘Because I warn you—’
    ‘No! I’m not feeding you bullshit. This is the truth, you hear me? You’ve been in here, in this finca , didn’t you check? I bet you did. There’s no safe here, nothing. But look. My husband owns clubs in London. He has property there, business there; that’s where the money is. Give me a chance and I’ll get it for you.’
    Silence.
    ‘So tell me,’ said Annie. ‘Tell me what you want, I’ll get straight back there and I’ll get it for you. It’s not a problem.’
    She really was going to vomit in a minute, talking to scum like this, trying to persuade him not to just lose it and hurt Layla, trying to persuade him that she could do it, she could come up with the goods.
    Could she though?
    He was silent again. She was sure he was just going to put the phone down again, leave her dangling in limbo for God alone knew how much longer.
    ‘Come on, talk to me!’ she pleaded desperately. ‘We can do a deal. You know we can do a deal.’
    He was going to put the phone down. There was a silence again, an unnerving silence, and then he said: ‘You can get money there? Straight now, no bullshit? Because I warn you…’
    ‘It’s not bullshit.’
    A silence again. A long, long silence, eating into her soul. Then: ‘Where will you stay there? Give me the address.’
    Annie thought fast. Cursed inwardly. Gave him the address anyway.
    ‘And the phone number.’
    She gave him that too.
    ‘Now tell me what you want. Tell me and I’ll get it sorted, okay?’ said Annie.
    ‘Later. I’ll call you again when you’re back in London.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Go back there, I’ll get in touch.’
    ‘Wait!’ The protest burst out of Annie without thought. Suddenly she knew she couldn’t leave the island, couldn’t leave Max. Couldn’t believe he was dead, and so couldn’t leave, couldn’t accept any of this. And Layla! Layla was here. She felt sick with fear. She might never see her again if she went back to England and left her here, in the hands of these animals. ‘No, wait!’
    ‘No?’ There was no laughter in his voice now. ‘You listen to me, you fucking jumped-up tart. You fly back there tomorrow morning and you don’t ask questions or tell me no because I don’t like that. You got it?’
    Annie took a steadying breath. ‘All right.’
    ‘Good. When I get off this phone, you get on it and book a flight out for you and the girl