Not very appetizing, he thought. Obviously a passive-aggressive attack by Agathi on his dietary requirements. But better than nothing, so he took a sandwich.
Then Leo sat in the shade of a pine tree. He ate his lunch while reading his book—An Actor Prepares. He was finding it dull, admittedly. Stanislavski was a lot more heavy going than Leo expected—but he was determined to persevere.
Lana didn’t know this yet, but Leo had just sent off his applications to drama schools in the U.K. and the United States. He hoped she wouldn’t mind—but truthfully, given their talk the other day in London, he wasn’t so sure. He planned to speak to her about it further this weekend. If I ever get the chance, he thought, with Kate and Elliot here, monopolizing her every second.
A distant gunshot suddenly distracted him. Then another.
Leo scowled. Those poor birds, shot for that psycho’s amusement. It angered Leo so much, he was afraid he’d do something drastic.
Maybe he should.
Maybe it was time to make a stand—make a deliberate point. Nothing excessive—something subtle, but effective. But what?
The answer came to him at once.
The guns.
What if Jason found his guns missing—and no one knew where they were? He’d blow a fuse. He’d lose his mind.
Yes, Leo thought, smiling, that’s it. When we get back to the house, I’ll hide the guns somewhere he’ll never find them. That’ll serve him right.
Pleased with his decision, Leo finished his sandwich. Then he padded through the sand, back to the hamper, in search of cherries.
16
Jason was alone at the ruin. He had gone there with a rifle, to practice his aim.
His target was a tin can. It was balanced on one of the ruined columns and, so far, had remained unscathed.
He was relieved to be alone. The mindless chatter of Lana’s friends irritated him at the best of times. And now, when he had so much on his mind, it was almost unbearable.
Just then, a small bird, a wood pigeon, settled on one of the broken columns. It seemed oblivious of Jason standing there. He gripped the gun in his hands. Okay, he said to himself. Focus.
He carefully took aim, and—
“Jason.”
Distracted, he fired—but his aim was off. The bird flew away, unhurt. He turned around, furious.
“I have a gun in my hand, for Christ’s sake! Do not creep up on me like that.”
Kate smiled. “You won’t shoot me, love.”
“Don’t bet on it.” Jason glanced over her shoulder. “Where are the others?”
“We just left the beach. They’re back at the house, showering. No one saw me—if that’s what you mean.”
“What are you doing? Why are you here?”
“Lana invited me.” Kate shrugged.
“You should have said no.”
“I didn’t want to say no. I wanted to see her.”
“Why?”
“She’s my friend.”
“Is she?”
“Yes. You seem to forget that at times.” Kate sat down on a low slab of marble, then lit a cigarette. “We need to talk.”
“What about?”
“Lana.”
“I don’t want to talk about Lana.”
“She knows, Jason.”
“What?” He stared at Kate for a second. “You told her?”
Kate shook her head. “No. But she knows. I can tell.”
Jason studied Kate’s face for a second. To his relief, he decided he didn’t believe her. She was being dramatic, as usual. “You’re imagining it.”
“I’m not.”
There was silence for a second. Jason looked away, playing with the gun in his hands. When he spoke again, his voice had a different tone—suspicion.
“You better not say anything, Kate. I mean it.”
“Is that a threat?” Kate dropped her cigarette and ground it into the earth with her foot. “Darling, how romantic.”
Jason looked into her brilliant, hurt dark eyes—they had a slight shine to them, indicating she’d been drinking. But she wasn’t drunk—not the way she had been last night.
He could also see his own face reflected in Kate’s eyes. His unhappy face. For a second, did Jason consider abandoning his defenses? Did he nearly fall to his knees, bury his head in Kate’s lap—and unburden himself, telling her the truth about the terrible trouble he was in? How his juggling act with other people’s money had collapsed, all the balls tumbling through his fingers—how he needed a massive financial injection, money he didn’t have, but crucially Lana did; and, without it, he would almost certainly be going to jail?