TENDER TREACHERY (Mystery Romance): The TENDER Series ~ Book 2 Page 5

  “It’s a good thing you can swim then,” said Leah, pointing at his goggles with a smile.

  “Oh no, they did this survey and fifty-five percent of people who drowned were, like, within three metres of the shore! Just ’cos you can swim normally in a pool on vacation doesn’t mean anythin’ when you’re in a disaster. ’Sides, it’s not drowning that gets you—it’s hypothermia,” he said, nodding knowledgeably.

  He was obviously dying to be asked why. Leah smiled as she humoured him. “Why is that?”

  “Well, the side effects of hypothermia—like your fingers gettin’ numb and stiffening up, and you can’t coordinate your arms and legs. You get really exhausted… Even if you can swim, you get this thing called ‘swimming failure’ and that’s why you drown.”

  Leah gave a mock shudder. “Sounds horrible. But at least Singapore is in the tropics, right? It’s not like falling into the water in Canada.”

  “Oh, no, there’s ‘warm water hypothermia’ too,” said the boy, his eyes wide. “I read about it online. These scuba divers get it, even though they’re diving in tropical seas—’cos the water is always at a lower temperature compared to your body, right? So if you stay in it long enough, it’ll still keep sucking heat right outta your body.”

  “Well…” Leah was sceptical. “I don’t know if I believe that. You can’t believe everything you read online, you know.”

  “It’s true!” the boy said indignantly. “I’m not lying, I—”

  “Neil, are you botherin’ strangers again?” A plump, motherly woman came up to them and put an arm around the boy’s shoulders. She shook her head at Leah. “I’m awful sorry. He just gets—”

  “Oh, no,” said Leah with a smile. “I was enjoying chatting with Neil. He was telling me lots of facts about surviving in water and how they built the pool here.”

  The woman rolled her eyes. “The pool again! He never stops talkin’ about that pool!”

  “It was fascinating stuff, though,” said Leah, not adding that she had felt more uneasy than she wanted to admit when Neil had started talking about the towers swaying. She wasn’t normally bothered by heights, but there was something about being so high up and exposed that made her feel a bit queasy. The last thing she needed was to think about the hotel towers underneath them being unstable.

  “That’s nice of you to say, miss.” The mother beamed at her. “You on vacation in Singapore as well?”

  “No, I… I live here,” said Leah, feeling slightly strange saying those words.

  “Is that right?” The mother smiled again. “How lucky are you. We’re just havin’ the greatest time on vacation here.” She turned to the boy. “Well, come along, Neil. We’ll leave the nice lady to enjoy her time at the pool now.”

  “Bye, Neil,” said Leah with a grin. “I’ll make sure I remember your tips on water survival.”

  “Just remember, if you ever fall in the sea, you gotta haul yourself out onto somethin’ that floats, so you can keep your core body out of the water,” said Neil eagerly. “Remember, it’s the hypothermia that gets you!”

  Leah laughed and promised to remember. She watched as Neil was led away by his mother, then she walked around, her mood sobering as she started looking for Julia.

  The Sky Park was slightly curved, with the inner edge facing the bay and downtown Singapore, and the outer edge facing the sea. Leah paused by the railings for a minute to enjoy the view. In the distance, along the east coast of Singapore, she could just make out a plane coming in to land at Changi Airport. Closer in, the sea was dotted with tankers and trawlers and, to the right, she could see the sprawling shape of Sentosa Island, with the faint silhouette of other islands in the distance. Leah wondered if Angela’s retreat was on one of those.

  Thoughts of Angela led to Toran and then back to Julia. Leah sighed. She couldn’t put it off any longer. She turned back and headed for the pool, descending to the lower deck and scanning the sun loungers. Just as she was about to give up, she spotted Julia, stretched out on one of the loungers next to the Jacuzzi, reading a magazine.

  “Hey,” Leah said softly as she came up next to Julia.

  Her friend glanced up, then broke into a smile. “Leah! I was wondering when you’d get here!” She patted the space next to her on the lounger and gestured to the tall cocktail glass on the table next to her lounger. “Want a drink?”

  Leah shook her head and sat down. Now that she was here, she didn’t quite know how to begin.

  Julia sat up. “Have you got sunscreen on? The UV is really high up here.” She made a tsk-tsk noise as Leah shook her head again. She began rummaging in an Yves Saint Laurent beach bag next to her. “I’ve got a bottle of sunscreen here…”

  “Julia, I’m fine—” Leah started to say.

  “You won’t be saying that when you’re burnt and peeling tomorrow,” warned Julia, pulling a plastic bottle from the bag. She squeezed some cream onto her hands and began applying it liberally to Leah’s face. “Hold still…”

  “Julia, I’m fine! Honestly!” Leah laughed, squirming as her friend fussed around her. The laughter died in her throat, though, as she suddenly remembered Toran’s words. Wasn’t this what he had accused her of—always letting her friend boss her around and treat her like a child?

  She pulled firmly out of Julia’s grasp. “Enough. Enough.”

  “Fine,” said Julia, tossing the bottle back into the bag. “Don’t come crying to me if you look like a boiled lobster tomorrow.” She settled back against the lounger cushions and adjusted her diamanté sunglasses. “So what’s the big drama? You sounded really serious on the phone. What did you want to talk to me about?”

  Leah hesitated. Sitting here with her friend, feeling the old camaraderie between them, she was suddenly afraid to ask the question, afraid to find out the truth. She didn’t want to know that her friend could have betrayed her.

  “How come they allowed us up here?” she asked, stalling for time. “I thought only hotel guests could get access to the pool.”

  Julia gave a dimpled smile. “Arnold’s company keeps a room here in the hotel for overseas visitors. It’s really handy—when no one’s staying here, I get the guest privileges. The room comes with two card keys so I got them to send one down to the concierge for you.”

  “Oh, right. That’s clever,” Leah said, licking her lips and looking out across the pool. The water rippled slightly as it flowed towards the edge, making a seamless line with the sky.

  “Leah, what is it?” Julia looked at her and frowned.

  “Did you lie to me twelve years ago?” Leah burst out.

  “What? What are you talking about?” Julia sat back up.

  “When I was sent to boarding school. You said Toran never replied to any of my messages.”

  “Leah, I—”

  “I want the truth, Julia.” Leah hardened her voice.

  Julia didn’t answer for a second, but Leah saw the truth in her eyes. She drew away in horror. “You did lie to me.”

  “Leah, listen, please—

  “How could you have done that?” Leah cried.

  Several people around them looked up at her raised voice. They stared, openly curious, but Leah didn’t care.

  “How could you have done that to us?” she hissed. “You lied to me, you lied to Toran too; you made us hate each other… We were so happy together. We had something beautiful between us and you destroyed it! You—” Leah took a long shuddering breath. “I thought you were my friend.”

  “I was! I am,” Julia pleaded. “Leah, I thought I was doing the best thing for you. I thought… I don’t know—I just thought Toran wasn’t really good enough for you. I thought you could do a lot better. I could tell that you’d fallen really hard for him and I knew you weren’t the type to just play around and have a good time, so I thought—”

  Leah stared at her friend disbelievingly. “Who were you to decide that? It was none of your damned business!”

  Julia spread her hands. “Well, yo
u were spending so much time with him and I thought—”

  “Toran was right,” said Leah, springing up. “He said you resented losing me as your little pet. You just wanted to control me—”

  “No, Leah, that’s not true!” Julia stood up as well. She put her hands out beseechingly. “I really did think I was doing the best thing for you. Anyway, we were only fourteen! I didn’t think it would matter that much if you guys broke up. I mean, come on, nobody really loves their first crush. It’s never anything serious. It’s just one of those phases you go through—and then you move on, right? I didn’t think you’d be losing that much.”

  Leah stared at her. “You’re right, it might have come to nothing,” she said slowly at last. “We might have broken up anyway. It might not have meant anything in the end… But it was for us to decide. For us to work that out ourselves.” She leaned forwards. “It was none of your business.”

  Julia swallowed and didn’t say anything.

  “And it doesn’t change the fact that you lied to me.” Leah took a step back. Her throat felt tight. “All these years you’ve known the truth… and yet even when I came back to Singapore last time, you never said anything!” She felt something burn at the back of her eyes. “I don’t know how I can ever trust you again.” She turned away.

  “Wait, Leah!” Julia cried, coming after her and putting a hand on her arm.

  Leah shook it off. “There’s nothing more to say, Julia.”

  “No, wait… please, listen… it wasn’t just me,” Julia said. “There was your father as well—”

  “What about my father? He never liked Toran,” said Leah dismissively. “He just took against Toran and his parents for no reason. I guess he thought, like you, that they weren’t rich enough or something—”

  “No, no, it was more than that,” insisted Julia. “It was something else. I’m not sure what, but I remember overhearing my parents talking and…”

  “What?” asked Leah.

  Julia shook her head regretfully. “I don’t remember exactly. It was so long ago and I wasn’t really paying attention at the time. I only caught the end of their conversation. Just something about how they weren’t surprised your father couldn’t bear to see you with Toran… That was also why I thought I was doing the right thing by keeping you guys apart. You’ve got to believe me,” she said, looking at Leah with pleading eyes.

  Leah looked at her coldly. “The time for believing you is long gone, Julia,”

  Her friend flinched.

  “And I was a fool to have ever believed that you were my friend,” said Leah. Then she turned and walked away, leaving Julia standing alone by the edge of the shimmering pool.

  CHAPTER 7

  Leah pushed her way out of the revolving doors at the front of the Marina Bay Sands complex and looked frantically around. She was still reeling from the shock of Julia’s betrayal, but even more than the hurt and disbelief was an urgent need to see Toran. She desperately wanted to get to him, to tell him that he was right, that she believed in him, that they still had a chance…

  She spied a taxi rank to the left of the doors and darted over. Typical for Singapore, everybody was standing in an orderly queue—even the taxis pulling in had to line up in rectangular boxes drawn on the asphalt—and Leah chafed under the delay. She shifted from foot to foot as the line moved slowly forwards, almost tempted to jump the queue—even though that would have been tantamount to robbing a bank in law-abiding Singapore.

  Leah pulled her mobile phone from her bag and brought up Toran's number. She hesitated. Then she put the phone back in her bag. What she wanted to say, needed to be said in person.

  The heat was incredible. It was just past noon and even here in the shade, the humidity felt like a hot, wet towel smothering your face. Leah lifted her hair off the back of her neck, remembering Julia’s jaunty advice for shorter hair and feeling a fresh pang of sadness for the lost friendship.

  The couple in front of her moved off and Leah found herself finally at the front of the queue. A few minutes later, she sank gratefully into the air-conditioned back seat of a taxi.

  “Where would you like to go, miss?” The driver grinned at her in the rear-view mirror.

  Leah leaned forwards and opened her mouth to give Toran’s home address, then she paused. Angela would probably be there and the last thing she wanted to do now was see Toran’s ex again. Besides, he probably wouldn’t be there in the daytime. Where would he be though? Leah frowned, trying to think.

  “Miss?” The driver was looking bewildered now.

  “The Blue Orchid,” said Leah, giving him the name of the boutique hotel in Chinatown that belonged to Toran’s friend, Dieter Wolfe. The hotel where Toran had taken her the last time she was in Singapore and he had rescued her from Warne’s kidnappers… Leah’s cheeks burned suddenly as she remembered what had nearly happened in that opulent hotel room, amongst the silk sheets and embroidered dragon pillows. She pushed the memory away and settled back in her seat, hoping that Dieter would remember her. If anyone could help her find Toran, it was Dieter.

  The boutique hotel looked very different compared to when she was there last. The renovations were complete and it was open now, the tiny lobby humming with activity. Leah weaved her way to the antique black lacquered Chinese cabinet that functioned as a reception desk and asked the girl behind it about Dieter.

  “Do you have an appointment?” asked the receptionist.

  “No—but if you give him my name, I think he’ll see me,” said Leah.

  A moment later, the Irish-German entrepreneur came out from the inner office, his piercing blue eyes lighting up when he saw Leah. He came forwards, a smile on his lean, handsome face.

  “Leah.” He grasped her hand. “It’s good to see you.”

  “Congratulations on the hotel!” said Leah, smiling. “It’s going really well, I see. Another hit for your portfolio.”

  Dieter laughed. “Yes, we are fully booked two months ahead already.” He sobered. “Are you… back in Singapore for another visit?”

  “No, I’m back to stay,” said Leah with a slow smile. This time, it didn’t feel so strange saying it.

  Dieter’s smile matched hers. “And Toran? Does he know?”

  “Yes. I’m… I’m sort of looking for him actually,” said Leah. “Would you have any idea where he is?”

  Dieter looked at her silently for a moment and Leah had a feeling that those keen, blue eyes saw far more than she wanted to let on.

  “Yes, you’re in luck. He stopped in a while ago to say hello because he was in the neighbourhood. He’s having lunch with a contact on Pagoda Street. You might still catch him. It’s only a couple of blocks from here.” Dieter gave her the name of the restaurant.

  “Great! Thank you.” Leah gave his arm a grateful squeeze and turned to go.

  “Leah.” Dieter’s voice stopped her.

  She turned around.

  “I never saw Toran as happy as the last time when you were here.”

  Leah smiled shyly. “I hope I’ll be able to make him happy again.”

  “Good.” Dieter gave a nod. “He’s been hurting for much too long.”

  Leah hurried down the crowded streets of Chinatown, dodging around mobs of tourists and the occasional trishaw rider, past the iconic little shops selling everything from plastic Buddhas to dried seahorses. She had been here several times in her teens and she was relying on memory as she navigated her way past the antique stores and traditional Chinese medicine halls. While many of the names of shops and eateries had changed, the streets still looked familiar with their rows of Peranakan-style shophouses painted gaily in pastel colours, the bright window shutters matching the colourful paper lanterns strung across the streets.

  Leah paused on the corner of Pagoda Street—a street once notorious for its opium smoking dens, but now converted into a pedestrianised mall filled with street vendors peddling Asian trinkets and other tourist souvenirs. The heavy smell of star anise and cinnamon
drifted from a roadside stall selling bak kut teh, Singapore’s famous soup of pork ribs simmered in a broth of herbs and spices.

  She spotted Toran almost at once. He stood a head taller than most people, his broad shoulders dominating the crowd and his lean, muscular body moving with an easy grace. He was coming from the opposite direction, the frown on his face and the unruly dark hair falling over his brow giving him a slightly brooding appearance. People moved automatically out of his way, although many women eyed him covertly as he walked past.

  A baby wailed somewhere nearby and Toran glanced up. Their eyes met through the crowd. Leah caught her breath, reminded of the time when she had first looked across the school classroom and met those brilliant green eyes. As always, they seemed to have the power to tug at something deep inside her. She walked slowly up to him.

  “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.” His tone was neutral, but his eyes were guarded.

  “Dieter told me where I might find you.” Leah wet her lips and hurried on. “I… I spoke to Julia. About what happened twelve years ago, you know, when I was sent to boarding school. About our messages. I… you were right, what you said last night. She took the messages from both of us but she never passed them on.”

  Leah paused, stealing a hopeful look at Toran, but his face remained impassive. She floundered on. “Julia made me think that you’d forgotten me as soon as I’d left, or even worse, that you were just ignoring me and couldn’t even be bothered to write and tell me it was over… and I guess you thought the same about me. She lied to us both.” Leah bit down hard on her lip as her throat suddenly tightened and she felt tears prick her eyes. Angrily, she blinked. She couldn’t believe that she was crying. Not over Julia.

  For the first time, Toran’s green eyes softened slightly. “I’m sorry, Leah.”

  “No, I’m sorry. For… for doubting you; for not believing what you said about Julia; for not seeing that I was being totally manipulated by my friend; for hurting you twelve years ago… for—God, for everything that’s happened!” Leah looked away, blinking even harder.