Viper's Nest Read online

  ‘It’s really good of him to be so interested about the twins. Does he know them well?’ Cate asked.

  ‘Just through me, I guess. He helps out lots of my friends who are struggling, by paying for their books or foreign study trips. When Amber and Jade got this opportunity to go down to Mexico, Uncle Jack covered their expenses so that lack of money wouldn’t stop them taking the opportunity of a lifetime.’

  Cate was touched. ‘That’s fantastic, Ritchie,’ she said. ‘You must be so proud of him.’

  Ritchie nodded. ‘He’s the best. He’s looked after my mom – his sister – and me ever since my dad died when I was a kid.’ He smiled. ‘He knows just about everyone there is to know in this city. He can pick up the phone and talk to the top cops, the best lawyers, even the governor of California if he has to. If anyone can find out just what is going on, he can. When we know more, we can make some sort of decision about what to do next. Amber and Jade don’t have much family who can help. Their dad left them years ago and their mum has MS. She’s pretty frail at the best of times and she sounded desperate on the phone when I spoke to her this evening. I gave her my word that I would do everything I could to help them, and I meant it.’

  They sped on, the mountains looming high above them, tall pines casting shadows over the road. The damp smell of the forest mingled with the smell of ocean below them. It was an invigorating mix and suddenly Cate felt alert, awake and ready for action.

  They turned on to a seriously smart residential road. High walls were interrupted only by entrance gates, through which Cate caught glimpses of large villas, tennis courts and huge floodlit swimming pools.

  Ritchie slowed down, turned into a driveway, and stopped by a guardhouse. A CCTV camera rotated and clicked above them, and a smartly uniformed middle-aged man poked his head out of a window hatch.

  ‘What’s your name and who ya visiting?’ He was polite but abrupt, only breaking into a smile when he recognised Ritchie. ‘Hey, Ritchie.’ He waved Ritchie on down the narrow street.

  ‘Wow,’ said Cate. ‘Is it always like this?’

  ‘You ain’t seen nothing.’ Ritchie grinned. ‘There’s an actual cop station at the west end of this street. This is Malibu Colony – wall-to-wall Hollywood royalty. Anyone who is anyone in show business has either had a house, has a house or is hoping to buy a house here. Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Hanks, Sting, Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry . . . and people like that don’t rest easy unless they have a small army watching over them.

  ‘The beach is just behind there,’ Ritchie continued, pointing through a dark garden to his right. ‘If they could, the residents would even stop the public going on it, but there’s a public right of way below the high-tide marks. So instead they installed that guardhouse back there to stop people coming in by the road, and made sure that the local police patrol the beach at all times to keep people away from their front windows.’

  ‘Seems a bit . . . well, paranoid,’ Cate said hesitantly. She didn’t want Ritchie to think that she was being rude about his uncle. ‘I’d hate to live in a place which had to be patrolled night and day.’

  ‘I know what you mean.’ Ritchie nodded thoughtfully. ‘But, in fairness, there are a lot of weirdos out there. And then there are the paparazzi who can make their lives a misery – these stars may be rich, beautiful and famous, but they pretty much have to spend their whole lives looking over their shoulders.’

  ‘How horrible,’ said Cate, remembering the hordes of paparazzi that had besieged Nancy just about every time she had stepped off her yacht. ‘I don’t think I could stand it. And to think that so many people crave fame. Look at The X Factor and all those celebrity reality shows full of people saying they want to be famous. If only they knew the truth of it.’

  ‘Be careful what you wish for, eh?’ Ritchie said. ‘Here we are.’

  In front of them a large pair of wrought-iron gates slowly opened inward on to a terracotta-tiled driveway which cut a wide circle through an endless green lawn. A large, three-storey white building rose up in front of them. Its huge windows were edged with ornate metal balconies which ran right around the house. The top floor had been built in a wave shape, with the crest running away from them and pointing out to the ocean beyond.

  ‘If you think this looks good, you should see the beach side of the house,’ said Ritchie, clearly amused at Cate’s stunned expression. ‘It sits on stilts and the top balcony stretches nearly out to the ocean. There’s a hot tub and a pool up there – of course.’

  As the car engine died away, Cate could hear people laughing and music coming from the house. A member of staff opened the enormous front door to them.

  ‘Ritchie, Cate, great to see you.’ Johnny James, immaculately dressed in a pale suit and blue shirt, was standing in the hall chatting to a group of men in pastel suits who were clutching glasses of what looked like fizzy water. Cate recognised at least two of them as film producers who had created some of the biggest film franchises in the world. Johnny broke away from the men and came over to give his nephew a hug.

  ‘Sorry, this is going on longer than I expected,’ he said. He put out his hand to Cate. ‘Thanks for coming too, Cate. We might well need some extra help, especially if it’s as smart and beautiful as you.’

  Cate felt herself blushing. Thank goodness she had managed a last-minute change out of her jeans and T-shirt. When Ritchie had told her where they were going she had dug out her one glamorous outfit – a pale-green maxi dress, which she was now wearing with her precious LK Bennett wedges that her dad and Monique had bought her for getting great exam results.

  At least she looked as if she was actually meant to be at this party, rather than someone who was just there to do the cleaning up afterwards, she thought as she gazed around at all the gorgeous women wearing designer dresses and sipping carefully at their water.

  Johnny James looked down at his watch, a discreet piece of jewellery that Cate happened to know cost well over thirty thousand pounds – Johnny advertised those very same Oyster watches in all the high-end magazines and had probably got it for free. ‘This will be over in half an hour tops,’ he said. ‘Then I’ll be with you. It’s a bit last minute but I’ve managed to assemble a small advisory team who can at least begin to help us. There’s a cop coming who specialises in kidnap, my lawyer is due any minute and we’ve got a call coming back from a pal who happens to be the editor of the biggest Mexican TV news station. In the meantime, make yourselves at home.’ He smiled at them once more, and then he was back off into the party, shaking hands and kissing cheeks as he went.

  Cate watched, entranced as a thrice-winning Oscar movie star, famed for her glacial attitude to men, melted in his presence, flirting with him like the teenager she no longer was.

  Cate couldn’t play at being cool any longer. ‘Ritchie, this is amazing. A few days ago I was at school in London in my chemistry class trying to figure out molecular structure. Now I’m at Johnny James’s Malibu beach house, partying with the stars. How did that happen?’

  Ritchie smiled ruefully. ‘It must be a bit weird. To me he’s just my Uncle Jack, my mom’s kid brother. Someone who gave me piggybacks and came to watch me play softball. But then I see how people react when they’re around him and it brings it home to me just how famous he really is.’

  While Ritchie grabbed a couple of Cokes from a drinks tray, Cate found herself gaping at a huge Picasso on the wall. She was desperate for a closer look but Ritchie was tugging at her arm.

  ‘Over here,’ he said, steering her through a large glass door and out on to the enormous balcony. ‘There’s something I want to show you.’

  The moon was high and bright, a frosty white jewel glittering in a dark-blue sky, beaming down a path of silvery light across the never-ending ocean. Beneath the balcony, the waves hissed and sucked rhythmically at the flat white sand, sending tiny flumes of froth shimmering towards them.

  ‘It’s stunning,’ said Cate quietly. ‘Absolutely stunning.’ She looked up
at Ritchie. ‘If I lived here, I don’t think I’d need the rest of the house. I’d just camp out on this balcony and stare at the view.’

  Ritchie put his arm around her and gave her a hug. ‘You are one of a kind, Cate,’ he said into the top of her head. ‘Most girls I bring here want to hang out in the Jacuzzi or stare at the celebs. You just want to look at the view.’

  ‘That sounds like our Cate.’

  The deep voice at her shoulder made her jump. It was English, with a northern edge, almost flat-toned.

  She turned slowly and, eyes widening, looked up at that familiar beak nose and huge dark eyes set in a pale face topped with floppy black hair.

  ‘Of all the gin joints in all the towns,’ he said, putting on a fake nineteen-fifties American accent, ‘you walk into mine.’

  ‘Lucas!’ she said, unable to believe her eyes. Then as he smiled down at her she felt her own face breaking into the most enormous grin. ‘It’s so good to see you! This is beyond amazing,’ she said finally.

  Ritchie stared from one to the other. ‘You two know each other?’ he asked. ‘Cate, you know Lucas Black, from Black Noir? Wow!’

  ‘Sure does,’ said Lucas, not taking his eyes off Cate’s face. ‘She’s kind of like my lucky mascot. So I hope you don’t mind me asking, Cate, but what the heck are you doing here?’

  Cate frowned for a second. Before she could say anything, a loud laugh and shrieking emanated from a cloud of frothy bubbles spilling over and out of the largest hot tub that Cate had ever seen.

  ‘Hey, waiter,’ someone was calling in a broad Essex accent to one of the many young men racing around with trays of drinks and canapés. ‘Bring us some more champagne, there’s a good boy. I can’t get out of here. It’s too damn cold. I’m going to have to stay here till the sun comes up.’

  Cate and Lucas grinned at each other before Lucas led them over to the hot tub.

  ‘Look who I’ve just found outside, admiring the view,’ he said to the back of a very blond head.

  Nancy Kyle looked up from the hot tub and let out a scream, which shocked even the jazz band playing in the shadows into temporary silence.

  ‘Cate – babe! I don’t believe it!’

  Ignoring her earlier pronouncement, the supermodel stood up, showing off her long, lean body which was encased in a silver snakeskin bikini. She pulled Cate into a very wet and foamy hug. ‘What are you doing here? I got your text, babe, but I didn’t know you knew Johnny James. You are a dark horse!’

  ‘I don’t,’ Cate said quickly. ‘Not really. But this is Ritchie, his nephew. He’s a friend of a friend and invited me out here.’

  She changed the subject quickly. If she had to go into details it might get tricky. ‘How’s the fashion show going, Nancy? I must say you’re looking pretty relaxed considering there’s less than two weeks to go. I would have thought that you would have been up to your eyes in phone calls and emails and whatever it is you need to do to put together something like that.’

  Lucas smiled. ‘Cate, do you honestly think that Nancy is actually organising the show herself? Right now she’s got about fourteen assistants running their little legs off twenty-four/seven to make sure that everything is ship-shape and perfect for the big night. Nancy just has to rock up a week on Saturday looking absolutely gorgeous and collect all the plaudits for her hard work. Isn’t that right, darling?’

  ‘Delegation, Cate,’ said Nancy, nodding solemnly. ‘That’s the key to success.’

  ‘And she does delegate everything,’ Lucas said dryly. ‘Including writing her books, designing her children’s clothes range, and coming up with recipes for her cookbook. Not to mention the childcare, the shopping, the school run, the cooking, the gardening . . .’ He grinned at Nancy affectionately, taking the sting out of his words.

  ‘Babe!’ Nancy pretended to be shocked. ‘Never the shopping!’ She kissed Lucas on the cheek as she grabbed Cate by the hand, leading her away to a quiet spot on the balcony.

  ‘I didn’t want to say anything in front of Ritchie, but what’s happened to the gorgeous Michel? Ritchie looks pretty comfortable around you. I didn’t have you down as a two-timer.’

  Cate blushed furiously. ‘Nancy!’

  ‘OK, OK, just asking.’ Nancy grinned.

  Cate shook her head, exasperated. Perhaps this was what it was like to have a big sister teasing you. ‘We’ve split up, if you must know.’ Cate tried not to sound too sad. ‘Michel dumped me. And no, Ritchie is definitely not his replacement. In fact, I only met him today.’

  ‘Oh babe!’ Nancy was clearly shocked. ‘You’ve been dumped? What’s it like?’

  Cate laughed out loud then. ‘Thanks, Nancy. You’ve really cheered me up.’

  ‘I have?’ Nancy looked bewildered. ‘Well, whatever. Glad to help. What are you doing in LA, anyway?’

  ‘I’m here to visit Mum. I haven’t seen her for ages. I’m so looking forward to being with her.’

  ‘Sweet,’ said Nancy. ‘Tell you what. Why don’t you invite your mum out with us tomorrow night for dinner? Bring Ritchie too if you like.’

  ‘Nancy, that would be fantastic. But if you don’t mind I think I’ll leave Ritchie out of it. I don’t want you getting the wrong idea again. Or him for that matter. Can I check with Mum and get back to you tomorrow? She’s got a new man and, knowing my mum, he might just take precedence over the daughter she hasn’t seen for over a year! Where were you planning on going by the way?’

  ‘Not sure,’ said Nancy, carelessly. ‘Probably won’t decide until about five o’clock. Text me, babe. You know what I’m like, I might forget. Busy delegating, you see,’

  CHAPTER 6

  Four people were sitting around the table in Johnny’s office in the basement of the house. It was windowless and, with its spartan office furniture and beige walls, it seemed a world away from the luxury just above them.

  ‘Sorry about the dungeon,’ Johnny said apologetically to Cate as he poured them all coffee. ‘I can’t work anywhere with a view, otherwise I spend all my time staring out of the window.’

  He was seated next to Ritchie. On his other side, his lawyer, Ned – a solid-built man with piercing blue eyes under heavy lids – was shuffling quietly through bits of paper.

  There was a knock and a neat-looking young man in a suit and holding a small grey folder came into the room. He nodded at the table and sat down without speaking.

  ‘Dave Osbourne.’ The lawyer waved a hand in his direction. ‘The Los Angeles Police Department sent him. Apparently he’s some sort of overseas crime liaison officer, brought in when an American citizen is a victim of serious crime in Mexico and Central America. His expertise is providing the link between the families and the Mexican authorities, usually in cases of kidnap or murder, and he has the thankless task of trying to persuade the Mexican police to keep the families informed and up to date with developments.’

  Dave cleared his throat and nodded. ‘The US Embassy in Mexico City send their apologies,’ he said. ‘They couldn’t get anyone up here at such short notice. But they asked to be kept informed.’

  There was a pause. Cate could hear the air conditioning humming and felt cold in her summer dress.

  ‘Amber and Jade were staying at El Tajin, in the Veracruz region on the Gulf of Mexico, along with two other archaeology students,’ Ritchie began. ‘They were just coming to the end of working on a dig and were having a great time. Earlier this week Amber texted me to say she had found something really special, but said she couldn’t talk about it yet. To be honest I didn’t take that much notice – she always gets excited about every little scrap of metal or pottery she digs up and usually it turns out to be nothing.’ He gave a quick smile. ‘That’s part of Amber’s charm – her enthusiasm for everything she does.’ There was a pause. ‘That’s all I knew really,’ he continued, ‘until I saw the newsflash on TV. I spoke to their mum who asked if Uncle Jack could step in and do what he could to help find them.’

  ‘Thanks, Ritchie,’
said his uncle, turning to the policeman. ‘Dave?’

  The man from the LAPD shuffled his papers. ‘The head of the dig, a Norwegian called Stefan Vilander, had contacted the professor of archaeology from Mexico City University asking her to fly down and check something out. It was odd though: even though they had worked together for several years – the professor was even grading his PhD – Stefan refused to tell her exactly what it was they had found. He said he didn’t want to risk emails and photographs being forwarded or intercepted and likewise he wouldn’t talk to her further on the phone. He wanted her to see the findings first, without prejudice or warning, and go from there. She had enough respect for him to trust that he wouldn’t call her down on a wild goose chase, but she was on a dig in a remote part of Ethiopia and it took her nearly a week to get back to Mexico. She was due to arrive at the site on Wednesday.’ He stopped and took a sip of water. ‘Apparently by the time the professor turned up, both the security guards and the students were missing,’ continued Osbourne.

  He glanced down at his notes again. ‘The police initially carried out an extensive search of the site, widening it to a ten-kilometre radius into the rainforest around it, sending up army helicopters with thermal imaging devices, and sniffer dogs too.

  He looked around the table. ‘They’ve picked up nothing. There’s been no word from them nor any sighting since. The police don’t even know if the guards were part of the kidnap gang or if they were victims too. What’s more, whatever it was that the students found, well, there was no sign of that, either.’ He shrugged. ‘Maybe the students got excited about nothing, as Ritchie suggested. Whatever the case, that’s about all we know – or have been allowed to know – so far.’

  Johnny turned to his lawyer. Cate wasn’t sure if it was the bright light in the office or worry, but Johnny suddenly looked much older. ‘What’ve you got, Ned?’