Page 24

‘Keep smiling at all times, as if we’re having a nice chat. I don’t want Big Brother spotting that we’re talking about anything important.’

Ernesto Garanita nodded discreetly at the prison officer standing by the door.

‘I’m all ears,’ Emilia responded cautiously. ‘Though I’m still not sure what you could possibly offer me, given your current circumstances.’

Her father took a breath, then dived in.

‘I told you I wanted to make amends before I died. And I meant it. Which is why I need you to do something for me.’

Emilia’s expression clouded over and she leaned back in her chair, instinctively retreating from the man who’d abused her good nature so often before.

‘It’s nothing like that, believe me,’ her father blustered.

‘Well, what is it then?’

‘So, you probably know that when I was convicted, I was made to hand over everything,’ he continued quickly. ‘The money, the cars, the drugs …’

‘How could I get forget? We were penniless, homeless, remember?’

‘Well, the truth is,’ her father replied, faltering, ‘that I didn’t give them absolutely everything. I kept a little something back for myself, in case I ever got out of this hole.’

‘I might have known,’ Emilia spat back, outraged. ‘We were living off handouts, begging for food, and you had a stash tucked away all the time?’

‘I couldn’t let them take it all away, could I? Anyway, the point is that the police never found it, they never even knew about it, which means you can have it now, all of it.’

‘So what are we talking?’ Emilia said dryly, gathering her composure. ‘What is this little nest egg?’

‘￡100,000 in gold,’ came his earnest response.

Emilia snorted with laughter, the image too preposterous for words.

‘What do you think this is?’ she replied, smirking. ‘ The Italian Job ?’

‘Laugh if you want to,’ Ernesto replied, coughing away his irritation. ‘But it’s the truth.’

‘And where is this crock of gold?’ Emilia said, failing to suppress a smile. ‘The end of the rainbow? Or maybe it’s in one of the vaults at Gringotts?’

‘Nothing so exciting. It’s at Louisa’s house.’

Immediately, Emilia’s smile faded, anger flaring at the name of one of her father’s mistresses.

‘I see. And how do you know she hasn’t spent it already?’

‘Because she doesn’t know it’s there.’

Emilia stared at her father for a moment, wrongfooted.

‘What do you mean she—’

‘I mean I concealed it in her basement just days before I was arrested,’ Ernesto interrupted impatiently. ‘There was no way I was going to tell her about it. It would have been gone long ago if I had …’

‘No honour amongst thieves, I suppose.’

‘The point is, Emilia, that it’s still there. And it belongs to us. Or more specifically it belongs to you. I have no need of it now, I can’t buy myself out of this one …’

He patted his ribs dolefully, as if revealing his diseased lungs.

‘And I know I can trust you to spend it wisely, set the family up for good.’

‘You’re giving us a hundred grand, just like that?’ Emilia replied, disbelieving.

‘Every penny of it. Honestly, I wish I’d done it years ago. I was never going to get out of here, whatever the lawyers may have promised. But it won’t be easy. Louisa cannot know about this, she would take it from us, from you—’

‘Why don’t you just wait until she’s out the house, then send your “associates” in to get it?’ Emilia asked bitterly.

‘Because Louisa never bloody goes out. She’s a recluse, a hoarder, an alcoholic—’

‘I can see now why you were attracted to her,’ Emilia replied wryly, but her father seemed not to hear.

‘She lives in a rough part of town, hardly steps foot outside her bloody fortress and even if she did, I couldn’t risk getting the old crew involved. If anything went wrong, if she surprised them or something, well, I don’t know what they’d do to her …’

For once, Emilia had no comeback. She didn’t need to be told how callous, how sadistic her father’s associates could be.

‘I want you to have the money, but it can’t be at Louisa’s expense. I owe her that at least.’

‘So what am I supposed to do?’ Emilia demanded, troubled. ‘Burgle her house? Sneak inside in the dead of night?’

‘You’re supposed to use your initiative, Emilia. Isn’t that what you’re good at?’

It was true she’d pulled off much more elaborate stunts than this before, but still she hesitated, fearful that he was tricking her, getting her hopes up only to dash them once more.

The whole thing sounded crazy and yet what possible motive could he have for spinning such a fanciful story, unless it was true?

‘Please, Emilia, you have to trust me on this one,’ her father continued, as if reading her mind. ‘I’m not trying to trick you, this is real. I’ve stuck instructions detailing how to find the gold to the underside of this table.’

He nodded gently towards the battered slab of chipboard between them.

‘When I leave, retrieve the piece of paper, go to her house, find the gold. This is all I can offer you, my last act, your inheritance. Please, my girl …’

His eyes locked on to hers, intense, pleading.

‘… let me do this one last thing for you.’