Kiss & Die - Lee Weeks [93]
They set the helicopter down on a stretch of level beach and Mann and Victoria alighted. The pilot switched off the engines. Victoria stripped off, tugging at her jeans and giggling as she nearly fell over. She had on a simple black bikini that drew all the attention to her perfectly toned body. She laughed at him.
He stripped down to his Calvins. The thought of getting into the water was all that mattered to him right now. He longed to feel the sand beneath his feet, the cool water creep over his body. He ran after her as she tried to beat him to the water. He floated on his back, felt the cold water creep over his scalp; he closed his eyes and listened to the dull sound of water filling his ears. He thought of Helen. This would be her idea of heaven. They had come to the beach together many times. Mann dived beneath the water and tried to forget everything just for a while, he wanted to feel his body tired, his mind empty. They stayed in the water for an hour. Victoria talked anything but business. She talked about the scenery, the fish, the shells. She asked him about the things he loved.
‘This is my idea of heaven. In the sea, sun on my face.’
‘Is that what you’d like to be, a Robinson Crusoe? On a desert island, a beach hut?’
‘Yes, absolutely.’
After their swim, they lay on the hot sand. Mann turned on his side and ran a fistful of sand through his fingers. He hadn’t felt so relaxed in ages. But he had to give himself a reality check. He looked across at Victoria. She was sunbathing. Mann could see her freckles coming out. Her strong features softened as she relaxed. Her face looked pretty as it turned pink in the sun. Her hair was wet and loose and splayed out on the towel. She was showing him that she wasn’t Miss Immaculate; she could take the make-up off and get sand in her hair. She was his type of woman.
‘Why is it you look like an angel but you behave like a devil?’ he asked.
She opened one eye, put up her hand to shade her eyes and looked at him. ‘Haven’t you realized yet?’ She lay back down and closed her eyes whilst she talked. ‘I am everything you ever wanted in a woman, a partner, lover. We are the same, you and I. We were caught between two worlds when we were young. We were lied to by our fathers. We have a legacy whether we like it or not. Okay – I might be a little more self-serving than you. We can’t all devote our lives to public service, but I need someone like you in my life to balance me. Of course,’ she sat up and rested on her elbows, ‘it helps that the someone is just as rich as me. I could never settle for anything less.’
‘You play a deadly game, Victoria. Your Outcasts are killing people, not just other gang members. They are running through the Mansions in vigilante groups. They are killing anyone they don’t like the look of. Is that what you had in mind?’
She closed her eyes again. ‘They are the product of society, not me.’
‘Oh, I think they’re your babies. Whether you can control your offspring, the monsters that you have created, I don’t know.’
‘I have been honest with you, Mann. I want to redevelop the Mansions. I told you that. I promised them a place in that redevelopment.’ She sighed and smiled. ‘I can see you’ll take some persuading to trust me.’
‘Yeah. Don’t hold your breath. The more I see the less I trust.’ Mann got up and got dressed. ‘Let’s go. I need to get back to the office.’
Victoria looked momentarily disgruntled but she recovered. ‘Okay, of course, Inspector. Your wish is my command.’
They got back into the helicopter. The pilot circled around the beach area one last time.
‘It’s so beautiful, isn’t it?’
‘Yes,’ Mann answered. ‘Beautiful, remote, unspoilt, and hard to get to.’
‘Yes. The perfect place to build the most expensive beach resort in Asia.’
Mann looked at her incredulously. ‘You’ll never get permission. This is owned by the Park.’
‘It was. I bought it. Well, to put it precisely, we bought it. You and I. If you want, we will keep it as it is. Then you can build yourself a shack on the