Private Lives Part 43

'I'm sure there's plenty to go round. They were practically drooling,' replied Anna.

'Excellent news,' boomed Mike, turning to Sam. 'You back off, pretty boy. I get first pick of the scrubbers, okay?'

Sam laughed. 'How about we get out of here and find a drink?'

'It's a bit mental out front,' said Anna. 'Is there a back way?'

Sam put his hand lightly on the back of Anna's shoulders and led her through the corridors towards the stage door. Already they could hear a rabble in the street behind the theatre. 'Mike! Sam!' came the chant. 'Mike! Sam!'

Anna turned to Sam, her face half frightened, half excited.

'What do we do now?'

Sam slipped his hand into hers, enjoying the feel of her smooth palm. 'When I say run, put your head down and leg it, okay?'

'Just like the old days, eh?' laughed Mike, flinging open the metal door and charging out, arms outstretched like some cult leader meeting his followers. He was immediately swamped by bodies patting him on the back, thrusting programmes at him to sign, holding up mobile phones to get a snap. For a moment Sam thought they had managed to hide in Mike's shadow, but suddenly the night was lit up by flashbulbs, hands were grabbing at his clothes, people were screaming his name. He'd been through this before, of course, only a matter of months ago, even if it seemed like a lifetime. But this was different. In Hollywood, he had been like some exotic creature paraded in front of the fans, something fantastic and unreal. Here the fans weren't just here to worship at the altar of celebrity; they wanted to speak to him, to make a connection, tell him how much they had enjoyed what he did. It was a completely different energy: supportive, encouraging, a sense of a shared experience. Sam wanted to cry with happiness.

'You go on, meet your public,' whispered Anna into his ear. 'I'll get a taxi.'

Sam looked around for her, but he was surrounded. Grinning, he took the proffered pens and began scribbling dedications, posing for pictures.

Then, above the hubbub, he heard a loud whistle and turned. Anna and Mike were standing next to a black cab, waving their arms.

'Come on, you twonk!' shouted Mike. 'I think we all need some booze.'

Muttering apologies to the fans, Sam dashed across the road and jumped inside, laughing. Anna slammed the door as the cabby pulled away at speed.

'Well how about we head on down to the Midnight Mash?' said Mike, pulling a flyer from his back pocket.

'What's that?' asked Anna.

'"Irreverent humour in a crypt",' read Mike in a Christopher Lee-style baritone. 'Probably wall-to-wall goth birds mad for some comedy celebrity lovin'.'

Sam glanced over at Anna nervously.

'I should probably lie low, to be honest,' he said. 'Don't want to undo all the good work we put in tonight.'

'I don't know how you live like this,' said Mike, whistling between his teeth. 'Come on, I've been living on an island for seven years. The ladies have been pining for me. I can't let them down.'

Sam laughed.

'I would love to be your wingman tonight, but I'm in enough trouble as it is. I'm just waiting for my agent to call me and ask why I've gone rogue.'

'Come on, Anna,' whined Mike. 'Tell him he needs to come to the crypt.'

Anna pulled a face. 'I agree with Sam. "Hollywood Heart-throb in Vampire s.e.x Orgy" on the front of News of the World News of the World might be slightly counterproductive at this stage.' might be slightly counterproductive at this stage.'

'Right then, you pair of old fogeys,' said Mike as they pulled up outside the hotel where Mike and Sam were staying. 'Out you get. Mind you don't break your hips playing Scrabble,' he added, flashing Sam a mischievous grin he hoped Anna missed. Once they were standing on the pavement, Mike turned to the driver and cried, 'To the crypt, my good man! Adventure awaits!'

As the lights of the taxi disappeared around the corner, Sam turned to Anna. 'Do you think he's got his confidence back?' he asked.

'I think he'll do fine,' chuckled Anna as a couple walked past, nudging each other.

'Let's get in,' whispered Sam, feeling conspicuous all of a sudden. 'Do you mind if we go up to my room? The hotel bar will be swamped with tourists.'

'Okay, but behave yourself,' said Anna with a wry smile. 'I've heard all about you.'

They rode up silently, glad that the lift was empty. Anna was his lawyer, of course, so Sam could easily claim she was in his suite for a conference. A beautiful lawyer, all on her own? Pull the other one, sunshine A beautiful lawyer, all on her own? Pull the other one, sunshine, his brain mocked. He glanced at their reflection in the lift's mirror they did look good together, he decided as the doors hissed open. Outside the Royal Suite, he fumbled with the key card, finally opening the door and letting Anna inside.

Anna cooed for a few moments as she looked around the elegant s.p.a.ce. While Sam mixed their drinks, she walked over to the window and looked out at the skyline, the castle just visible towering over a city peppered with light.

'Mike's great, isn't he?' she said, gazing through the gla.s.s as if she was looking for him.

Sam surprised himself at how disappointed he felt. 'Oh, I forgot, you were his biggest fan, weren't you?' he said, trying to keep the jealousy out of his voice. He walked across and handed her a tumbler, the ice cubes c.h.i.n.king. 'Should I call him back? He is single, you know.'

She swatted his arm playfully.

'I meant that I liked his work. Not that I fancied him.'

'Don't feel bad. Everyone fancied Mike when we were at college.'

She gave him a sideways look.

'More than they fancied you?' she said sceptically.

He nodded. 'He had that tortured artist thing going. I was the pretty, stuck-up t.w.a.t from the drama department. That's what one ex-girlfriend told me, anyway.'

She laughed, that tinkling bell of a laugh again. For some reason it made him feel sad, and he took a slug of his whisky. They fell into silence, just watching the humped outline of the capital, a sleeping giant.

'You know, in some ways, I feel like I've come full circle.'

'How do you mean?'

He gestured towards the city with his gla.s.s.

'The first time I came to the festival, we were straight out of uni. Mike and I had cobbled two grand together; you know, bar work, some modelling, scrimped and saved to put on a show. We stayed in a little hostel just down there,' he said, pointing beyond the Old Town. 'And you know what? I never thought I'd make it up here to the Royal Suite. Not deep down.'

'And here's me thinking all thespians were crazed egotists.'

'Oh, we are. But we tend to swing between hope and despair: one day we believe we're going to have a star on Hollywood Boulevard, the next we think we should chuck it all in and get a job in Starbucks. But in my more realistic moments, I sort of hoped I might get like a Persil ad or a part as the wacky neighbour in some Channel Four sitcom. You see too many failures and almost-theres to really believe you'll make it to the Oscars.'

'But you did.'

He nodded.

'Past tense.'

'You'll make it back,' said Anna.

'I'm really not sure I want to any more,' said Sam honestly. 'Not after tonight. It felt good, you know? Maybe when you come full circle, it's best to start a new adventure.'

'Perhaps you could go back to the modelling?' she said, her eyes twinkling with mischief.

He laughed. 'You don't want to see those photos.'

'I do,' she teased. 'Go on, give me your best Zoolander face.'

'Only if I can see your Blue Steel.'

Laughing, she sucked her cheeks in, put her hands on her hips and strutted across the carpet as if it were a catwalk.

'Terrible,' he said flatly. 'This is how an expert does it.'

He stuck out his backside, dropped one shoulder and began skipping around the room like a deranged Mick Jagger. Anna doubled up with laughter.

'Stop! Stop! You win!'

They sank back on to the huge sofas, laughing.

'I'm sorry,' said Anna as the giggles subsided. 'I'm your lawyer, I should be more professional.'

'Rubbish. I wish every lawyer was like you.'

Her gaze fluttered away from his and she took a nervous sip of her drink.

'I went to see Amy Hart's family,' she said, a little too quickly.

Sam's heart sank. Was this the real reason behind her visit to Edinburgh? Had she come to discuss her findings rather than to support his debut on the stage? If he was honest, he'd always found Anna's theory of a cover-up a little far-fetched. Nevertheless, he found himself getting drawn in as she spoke, her face becoming more serious as she told him about Amy's missing mobile phone and her best friend Louise who had gone travelling days after Amy's death. It was fascinating, and Sam began thinking what a good movie it would make, before he remembered that Anna's murder investigation was a real one, with an actual dead body.

'I'm convinced Louise knows something,' said Anna. 'If Phil can just call round a few more hotels, maybe he can find her.'

'But she could be anywhere,' said Sam frankly. 'India's a big place to get lost, and from what you're saying, that seems to be her plan.'

'I think she knows something about Amy's death,' said Anna pa.s.sionately.

'Just because she skipped town after she died?'

'And left her dream job and her family ...'

Sam considered it, sipping his whisky.

'You still think this has got something to do with me? The cover-up and all that?'

'Does it matter?'

'Well I am paying for this,' he joked.

'I'm aware of that, boss,' she replied, and when she smiled, Sam felt a sudden stir of longing. What was it about her? She wasn't even his type. She was too sharp, too knowing, too unforgiving of people's failures. Or maybe that is my type, he thought, remembering Jessica. But there was a controlled pa.s.sion about Anna he found strangely attractive. He had seldom met a woman more difficult to work out. He'd spent over a decade in a city where women made 'shallow' a career; they were obsessed with money, fame and their own looks to the exclusion of everything else. But a woman like Anna? Sam suspected that you could spend years in her company and only begin to scratch the surface.

'Listen, I want you to get to the bottom of this, I really do,' he said.

He wasn't lying. He had never met Amy Hart, and could barely even remember what her photograph had looked like. But he knew the type of girl she was: the sort who mixed with powerful men and who suddenly found themselves disposable.

'Thank you, Sam,' Anna said softly. 'Phil thinks the best way to find out more would be for him to travel to India, but that's obviously going to cost money, and his fee is being billed to you.'

Sam looked at her, and all he could think about the next twenty-four hours was that he wanted to spend them with her.

He began to feel another surge of excitement: another adventure, another circle beginning.

'This girl, Louise. She's in Kerala, right?'

Anna shrugged. 'We think.'

'Have you got your pa.s.sport?' he asked urgently.

'Yes.' She frowned. 'I flew up here.'

'Good,' he said, reaching for his phone. 'Then let's go and find her.'

'What?' said Anna, her eyes wide. 'How?'

'On my jet. Well, it's not actually my jet, I've got a share in it,' he said, waggling the phone. 'But I can call the pilot right now and check that it's available.'

'You're joking,' she gasped.

'I'm deadly serious. I think you're right. This Louise is lying low and her mum's telling porkies; why would she hide unless she knows something?'

'But I can't just go to India. I've got to be back in work on Monday.'

He grinned at her, feeling giddy and liberated. The thought that by this time tomorrow he could be on some unknown hotel balcony, sipping c.o.c.ktails with a beautiful, complex woman made him feel like Cary Grant in his own real-life Hitchc.o.c.k movie.

'Okay, it's Friday night,' he said. 'If the jet's fuelled and ready, we'll be in Kerala by tomorrow afternoon at the latest. We fly back on Sunday and you'll be at your desk at nine o'clock Monday telling everyone that you had a nice quiet weekend.'

Anna still looked hesitant.

'I thought you wanted to find out what happened to Amy?'

'I do,' she said pa.s.sionately.

'So let's go.'

'What time would we leave?' she asked, looking more confident about the idea.

'I'll need to speak to the pilot, but we'll get the first slot out of the airport.'

'So like, now now?'

Sam could see this was freaking her out and didn't want to scare her off.