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‘When you say you know himhave you ever met his family?’ she asked ‘His wifehis children?’
‘Coain, and knew that this time she would not turn him down
They didn’t go into the bar where the rest of the press were beginning to gather again – they walked past it, across the lobby, threading through little groups of chattering hotel guests, and went into a circular bar with s hush that made Sophie’s stretched nerves quiver with relief She had been on edge for days, knoas ahead of her, and noas over She sat down, sighing deeply as she leaned back against yielding red-velvet cushions She had alotten the TV reporter and when he sat down next to her itup to stare at his face
Her first i man with a hard face, not so very different fro her a few e her i as muscular and tall She didn’t know much about lance told her that he looked expensively dressed: well-pressed dark grey suit, crisp white shirt and a discreet tie If you were in front of a caood, and he did, although the elegance of the suit did not disguise the formidable structure of the body under it
‘What would you like to drink?’ he asked, watching her in his turn, and Sophie felt his curious, probing stare like a needle under her skin It wasn’t safe to relax, she thought; she still needed to be on her guard What was this man after? Why had he co around while the security men questioned her?
Sophie’s h and dry, on the sands of shock and anxiety again She wished she hadn’t coer; she needed to be alone, to think She ought to be working out what to do next She had had one plan and one only, and now she had gone through with it She had started so quite sure ould happen if she did, and she was scared She kept re Don Gowrie’s expression when she asked her question, the way he had swung to stare What had gone through his ht now?
She tried to tell herself she needn’t be scared, he wouldn’t dare do anything to her – but she couldn’t help it, couldn’t stop the jangling of her nerves Maybe she should have gone about this some other way? Maybe she should have written to his wife? But she hadn’t quite dared do that Far too dangerous to put anything on paper She had tried ringing his hohter were ever available and the distant, icily polite voice which answered each ties
‘Can’t you make up your mind what to have?’ the reporter repeated and she blinked
‘Ohyesa glass of white wine, please’
A young Mexican waiter in black skin-tight pants and a close-fitting waistcoast had sauntered over; he was visibly pleased with his own lithe body, walking like a matador, a look of inner attention on his face, the look of afor the roar of a crowd Sophie couldn’t help s for her to throw him a red rose
‘A glass of white wine for the lady, and a whisky for me,’ the reporter said
‘Glass white wine, whisky, certainly, sir,’ the waiter said in a warm, Spanish-accented voice, and sauntered away
‘Sophieyou don’t mind if I call you Sophie? I’m Steve Tell me about yourself,’ the TV reporter said with the practised manner of one as a professional interviewer, and she wished to God she dared talk freely to hih to trust thee, so crowded, yet she knew nobody well enough to talk to the of isolation Since she was very small she had been lonely, she had been cut off froe because of her stepfather’s job; they didn’t trust her, thought she ht spy on them, tell on them Even her mother had no time for her once she had other children Sophie had been driven to talking to the dead because the living ignored her That was crazy, wasn’t it? Or at least not nor to your dead sister because you had no one else to talk to
When she got older she had tried to make friends, but maybe she hoped for too much, needed too much, made it all too important; her need, her air of desperation, had driven people away instead of attracting theue to university, she had only one around for a couple of years in a big group, one of the crowd, but never getting very close to anyone
The men had, it was true, wanted to date her, and didn’t waste et her into bed Sex see better than sex – she wanted to be loved, but that had always eluded her