Page 65 of Tell No One
“Why did you sell them?”
“Because Ahsan told me to if he ever disappeared. Sell them and run. But I wanted to use the money to find him. That’s how I paid the entrance fee for Harborne House. Ahsan has the certification somewhere for the diamonds. Probably in his safe deposit box to which I don’t have access. Without the certificates, selling the diamonds is illegal, so Chason offered very little. But I think Ahsan knew if I’d tried to sell themwiththe certification, I’d have been arrested. I relied on Chason’s caution keeping him quiet.”
“Did you know he was robbed?”
Rafiq dropped his head into his hands. “Fuck.”
“Does he know your address?”
“No. I gave him the address of a hotel where I know the manager. The manager doesn’t know this address either.”
“That doesn’t make you safe.”
Rafiq looked across at the gun. “I can see that.”
“How did you manage to get an invite to the pony party?”
“Before I went to work for Ahsan, I used to work for Hassan Fayad, sometimes as his body double. He had…certain tastes and expected his staff to arrange things for him. He owed me a favour. A big one. I persuaded him to find out what Norbury was up to and he got me an invite to the pony party and let me pretend to be him.”
“You trust him?” Delaney wouldn’t have.
“I had to. But he has to trust me too.”
Rafiq pushed to his feet and Delaney rose to his, still holding the gun on him.
“I just want to show you something in the drawer,” Rafiq said.
“Do it slowly.”
Rafiq pulled open a drawer in the unit under the TV and took out a framed photograph, turning it to show Delaney. “This is us. It was taken last December in Miami.”
Rafiq stood with Ahsan, their arms slung over each other’s shoulder. They were on a beach, looking happy and carefree.
“The boy you bought reminded me of Ahsan.”
“Do you think he might still be alive?” Delaney asked.
“A week ago he was. He’d somehow got access to a mobile phone. He told me he was in Scotland and that he was a pet. That was all he managed to say.” Rafiq bit back a sob. “Only now you’ve told me they plan to kill that boy, I wonder if they’ll kill Ahsan too.”
He began to cry. Tears were hard to fake.
“If Ahsan is dead, I don’t care about anything anymore. Are you here to kill me?”
“No, but I don’t think you’re safe.”
Rafiq dropped back on the couch, hugging the photograph.
“How did Ahsan get access to a phone? How do you know it wasn’t a trap?”
“Because he’d have told me where he was. I’d have gone to him.”
“Do you have a gun?” Delaney asked.
“No.”
“What about the place in Scotland?”
“Just a cottage that Ahsan and I use when we want a break from London. It’s a long-term rental taken up under false details. Our absolute safe place. All my talk at Harborne House and in your car was posturing. I just wanted information, to find out if there was a house in Scotland that Norbury used. I found nothing. I couldn’t even get into the computer. I suspect you did.” He looked up at Delaney. “Are you going to tell me who you are?”
