No reply. Jesus Christ, this is all I need. Daisy wanted to hit something, but the trees could withstand winter up here so they’d do more damage to her than she could do to them. To make up for the lack of violence, Daisy kicked at the pine needles littering the ground. They flew in a random pattern, hissing amongst themselves as they fell back to earth. Feeling better, Daisy kicked another load, and this time her foot hit an object buried beneath the surface. She put the torch light onto it and saw the drab reflection off a patch of gorilla glass.
Josh’s tablet.
“Geordie?” she called out again, this time louder.
“Keep your voice down.” He came up behind her, pushing between interlocking branches.
“I’ve found it,” Daisy said. She pointed the beam down.
“Me too,” he said, kneeling to retrieve the tablet. “Buried?”
“Yeah, and covered by pine needles.”
Geordie nodded, as if unsurprised. “Follow me,” he said.
She tracked him across the sloping ground until he stopped next to one tree and pointed at it. “What d’you think?”
Daisy frowned. The tree looked like all the others around here. Big, old and dark. Geordie gave her a clue by putting his finger on a lighter strip that marred the surface of the trunk. When Daisy looked closer, she saw two more a few fingers widths apart. The damaged bark revealed paler flesh of the sapwood. “What is it?” she asked.
Geordie’s didn’t answer. He pulled a hunting knife from his belt and dug into the wood. Daisy watched as he levered an object out. He caught it and then dropped a small lump of metal into Daisy’s hand. She shone the torch onto it. “A bullet?” she asked.
Using the knife again, Geordie dug at the other two impact points with the same result. A moment later, Daisy stood with three flattened and twisted rounds in the palm of her hand.
“Five point five-six millimetre,” Geordie told her.
“They shot him?” Daisy’s voice rose in horror.
“Well, right now we know they shot at him,” Geordie said. “No more than that.”
“Sweet Jesus.” Daisy couldn’t take her eyes from the bullets.
“We need to find him and Hannah, sharpish.” Geordie sounded pissed, and Daisy knew why.
“They could be dead,” she said.
“Only one way to find out.”
“Oh?” Daisy pocketed the remains of the bullets for evidence. “And how do you propose to do that. You saw the castle when we drove past. It’s the kind of place that could withstand a siege. You’ll never get in there without being spotted.”
“So, we do it the old-fashioned way. Knock on the door and ask.” Geordie seemed to take great pleasure from the way Daisy’s mouth dropped open. “We scrape the war paint off and go back to the B&B. We can dress to impress before we head on over to the castle.”
“Now I know you’re mad,” Daisy said, as Geordie strode off.
“Yeah, but you still love me,” he told her over his shoulder.
***
Two hours later, wearing cream chinos and a too thin jersey, Daisy stood beside Geordie as they waited for someone at the castle to acknowledge their presence. Geordie had already pointed out the silhouettes of guards up on the walls, but neither of those men moved as Geordie sounded the horn on their hire car for the third time.
“I’m starting to get pissed off,” Geordie said.
Daisy shivered, arms folded across her body to keep in some warmth. “How long are you going to give them?”
“We’ve got all day,” Geordie said.
“I might sit in the car.” Daisy pointed up at the clouds spilling over the tops of the mountains that bordered the far shore of the lake.
“No need.”
Daisy saw the massive door that filled the space in the wall swing open. A man stepped through and walked towards them. Geordie didn’t move, but Daisy could sense him examining the newcomer. “What do you think?” she asked, keeping her voice soft.
“Thinks he’s a hard man.” Geordie pushed off the wing of the car and met the guy halfway.
“Can I help you?” the man asked.
“Is this place open for visits?” Geordie asked.
“No. It’s a private residence.” His eyes flicked to Daisy, and she didn’t like the way they slid down her body.
“So why the armed guards?” Geordie asked.
“It’s a private residence,” the man said, again.
Geordie nodded. “What are you?” he asked. “Defence Intelligence or hired gun?”
The man frowned. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Of course you fucking do,” Geordie said. “We’re here for two friends. One female and one male.”
The man smiled, but no warmth reached his eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Geordie sighed, he turned to Daisy and said, “See, that’s the problem when dealing with people who think they have power. They give stupid answers to reasonable questions.” He turned back to the man and told him the first lie of the day. “Right now, there’s an NSA satellite watching us. Some friends at GCHQ asked the Yanks for a bit of help, and like the real allies they are, they offered us one of their Keyhole constellation as support. I don’t give a flying fuck who you are, or what you’re doing here, but I do care about my two friends. I want them back. Sooner rather than later and in one piece.”
“Let’s say there were these two ‘mythical people’ somewhere near here,” the man said. “It could be that we have a secret operation infiltrated by a couple of agents, possibly from a foreign power. It could be they are being interrogated to ascertain their exact nationalities before we hand them over to the relevant authorities.”
“Did he say interrogate?” Geordie asked Daisy.
“I believe he did,” Daisy said.
“Fuck you,” the man said, taking a step closer to Geordie. “You don’t know what kind of shit you’re stepping into here. I suggest you crawl back to whatever hole you came from and stay hidden. It’ll be safer for you.”
Movement at the castle entrance caught Daisy’s attention. Two men and a woman came out. They all carried sub-machine guns. She didn’t need to tell Geordie, he’d seen them already. The man stepped back.
He said, “We’ll think about letting you have your friends back, but in our time and on our terms. Got it?”
“Problem, Miro?” the woman asked, as she stepped alongside the man.
“Not anymore.” He looked at Daisy again. “You can leave this one. I wouldn’t mind interrogating her.”
Daisy saw the muscles in Geordie’s neck tense. The woman saw it too, and her gun swung up to aim at Geordie’s chest.
“Daisy here will chew you up and spit you out if you try anything.”
Miro laughed. “You reckon?”
“Yeah.” Geordie leaned in close. “She’s worth ten of you.”
“She can try,” Miro said. “But with a name like fucking Daisy, she wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“I’m gonna enjoy watching her kill you.” Geordie gave Miro and the woman one final glare before he turned and led Daisy back to the car. “We’ll be back in four hours,” he said as he opened the driver’s door. “Get our people ready for us.”
***
Miro watched the car disappear around a turn in the road with anger in his heart. The visit pissed him off big time. It meant that the fun they were having in the dungeon would have to end, and maybe even this whole gig at the castle. Unless they could arrange an accident, but it would have to be quick. “Do we have anyone in town?” he asked Lois.
“No, all our people are on site. I put a block on visits when we caught the guy.”
They began walking back into the grounds, Miro wishing they’d shot the couple down where they stood. Or at least shot the man. The girl looked hot enough to spend a few hours with. Whips, chains and branding irons would be the perfect accompaniment to go with her Eurasian complexion. He saw Lizzie waiting for the
m.
“Are those people dangerous?” Lizzie asked.
“They could be if they speak to the wrong people.” Miro wanted to go down to the dungeon and take revenge on the prisoners. “I’m going to send a car after them. They need to meet with an accident.”
“Can I do it?” Lizzie asked. “I’m ready now to test myself.”
Miro studied the twelve-year-old. His instructions about her filled him with disbelief at first. But in the months that her recovery progressed she’d shown hints of the talents that Miro’s briefing hinted at. Could she do the kind of things promised? This was a good way to find out. “What would you do?” he asked.
“I think this loch needs a monster to match Loch Ness,” Lizzie said. “A flesh-eating monster. Yes?”
Miro smiled. “Yes,” he said.
***
“No phone signal,” Daisy said.
“Bloody Scotland.” Geordie concentrated on driving. The road clung to the sharp slopes that dropped to the loch and one mistake would send them plunging into the water.
“It should be back as soon as we get close to town.”
“Better be.”
“Did you mean what you said?” Daisy asked.
“About what?” Geordie slowed as the road crested a rise before snaking down closer to the loch again. A steep, rocky drop on the left of the car led to the dark surface.
“About me being worth ten of the guy at the castle?”
“Miro?” Geordie grinned. “Course I did. He thinks he’s hard but only if he’s got the power. He had the look of a guy who needs to control. If anyone threatens him, he’ll break. You’re worth more than ten of him.”
“Thanks,” Daisy said.
Geordie glanced across at her. “You’re welcome, Daisy.”
They shared a smile. Daisy looking sweet and sexy in her chinos and sweater. It clung to the shape of her body in a way that left Geordie a little dry-mouthed. He pulled his eyes back to the road and tried to appear cool and calm when he was anything but.
“At least he admitted they had Hannah and Josh,” Daisy said.
“That’s what worries me.” Geordie checked the rearview mirror, expecting pursuit. “Any signal yet?”
“None. Why does it worry you?”
“The usual rules of the game are deny, deny, deny. Miro didn’t.”
They rose again before cresting another ridge before dropping towards the water side. Geordie rechecked the mirror but saw nothing. His eyes hadn’t chance to return to the road ahead when Daisy screamed.
“Geordie!”
The creature straddled the road, about the size and length of a single-deck bus. Water and weeds ran from its black scales and pooled on the asphalt surface. Four muscular legs supported a torso that glistened in the sunlight. A barbed tail lay behind it, curling off the road and onto the heather. Yellow eyes focussed on the hire car and its mouth opened revealing triple rows of razor-edged teeth.
Geordie took all this in as the Ford Mondeo moved forward at sixty-miles-per-hour. The gap closed in a heartbeat before Geordie’s foot found the brake pedal and smashed it into the floor. Wheels locked up in a terrifying screech and the car fish-tailed as he fought for control. They came to a stop twenty metres short of the creature. Geordie stared into its eyes and swore he saw disappointment that its next meal hadn’t delivered itself into that huge maw.
“Oh, my God,” Daisy breathed out the words.
It came for them, the impact of its webbed feet on the road shaking the car. Geordie found reverse and the Mondeo shot backwards with another squeal of burning rubber. He struggled for control, the slightest touch on the steering wheel made the vehicle jerk from left to right in uncontrollable bursts. Geordie slowed, watching the beast move with incredible speed, almost bounding at them like a hunting dog. “Shit,” he said.
“What?” Daisy clung to her seat, swaying with the erratic motion of the car.
“I put our fucking guns in the boot. We could do with them now.”
“I’ll get them.”
“I’m not stopping, and you’re not getting out.” Geordie blipped the accelerator again to keep them out of reach. He hoped the thing would tire, but saw no sign of that yet.
“I can get them from inside,” Daisy said.
She released her seatbelt and snaked between the driver and passenger seats. Geordie concentrated on keeping the car under control; thankful Daisy only reached the heady height of five-foot-three. He heard her swear as she struggled with the release button on the split rear seat.
“Got it,” she said.
Geordie looked in the mirror again and wished the opportunity to see Daisy on all-fours hadn’t come with a monster chasing them. She pulled out an MP5 and buzzed the back window down. “Give me a shot,” she said.
Geordie dropped the clutch and let the car roll, angling it slightly as Daisy put her head and shoulders out and took aim. She emptied the magazine in a series of short bursts of fire. Geordie saw scales pop and ripple across the creature’s body. It stumbled, letting out a growl of pain as blood spattered onto the road. Geordie thought they’d beaten it. The head dipped, the eyes fluttered. Daisy came back into the car and ejected the magazine.
The head rose. Baleful yellow eyes fixed on the Ford. Geordie brought the clutch back up, and the car shot onto the verge on the inland side of the road. They bounced off it, Daisy screaming as she flew across the back seat and hit the passenger door. Geordie fought the steering wheel for a moment as the pair of wheels on the passenger side dipped over the drop to the loch. They lost traction, the sill of the Mondeo grinding on stone. A dark shape filled the windscreen and Geordie got enough time to shout a warning before a tree trunk sized foreleg swatted the car off the road and into the air.
The vehicle turned once. Geordie saw a sky flecked by white and grey clouds before a view of forbidding waters replaced it. “Brace, brace,” he shouted, locking his forearms on the steering wheel and pressing his feet into the floor. The impact with the loch sent a shockwave through his body. His head hit the roof, and bright lights clouded his eyes. The car bounced, rocked and settled.
Then sank.
Water rushed in through the open rear window. It came with a smell of weed and decay. The cold liquid swept around Geordie and brought him back to reality. He released his seat belt as Daisy clawed her way through between the seats. Geordie put a hand between her breasts and pushed her back. “Stay there,” he snapped. “Get a breath as the water fills the car and go out through the window.”
She stared at him with horror filled eyes. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you fucking can.” Jesus, this water’s cold. “You got halfway out to shoot the monster.”
“What about you?” she asked as the vehicle tilted nose first and sank towards the loch bed. Light vanished, replaced by an all-encompassing gloom. A small, cold hand reached through and touched Geordie. He found it with his, and for a moment they clasped each other like lovers.
“Geordie, I’m scared.”
A sudden influx of water brought the level to the middle of Geordie’s chest. “You go out the window,” he said. “I need to wait for the pressure to equalise so I can open the door.”
The car stopped sinking, the rear end settling down in a slow arc. Air rushed out of the window in a sickening gulp. Geordie heard Daisy take a breath and her hand left his. He turned, able to make out her shape as she fumbled through the window. Reaching up, he found a pocket of air trapped in one corner of the Mondeo. Geordie stuck his face into it, breathed out and then breathed in. He patted his hand across the driver’s door, pulled the handle and miracle of miracles, the door opened.
Out, up, he headed for the surface. He saw Daisy, thin legs kicking; her face turned down searching for him. Even through the silt that hung in the water, he saw the dazzle of her smile. Geordie gave her a thumbs-up. The ice-cold chill might be giving him a fucking heart attack, but the warmth that came down from Daisy made up for it.
Until a thi
ck, slick tentacle wrapped around his chest and pulled him down. Silvery bubbles rushed from his mouth in shock. Another monstrous arm caught hold of his left leg, increasing the speed of his descent. Geordie looked up at the dwindling light from the surface. Daisy screamed his name through the dark water of the loch. She tried to reach him, her limbs flailing to propel her down, but by then Geordie saw nothing but drifting silt and felt nothing but numbing cold.
***
Daisy couldn’t reach him. She fought the paralysing cold and the swirling current, but Geordie vanished, pulled from view by the same creature that pursued them on land, its limbs now morphed into long, flexible arms. Daisy hung in the water, her lungs on fire as they screamed for oxygen. A rush of liquid mud came up to her like a mushroom cloud. She saw in its movement the last hope for Geordie. Her salt water tears merged with the fresh water of the loch.
Light pulled her up to the surface. She broke water with a choking scream, coughing harsh liquid from her throat as she gasped for air. Daisy rolled, water filling her mouth, and came back upright with another sob. She spat her mouth clean and stared across the rippling surface of the loch, praying that Geordie would emerge with his usual cocky grin.
He didn’t.
She drifted, unable to control her arms and legs as hypothermia began to claim her. Daisy blinked, bleary eyed. Shadows danced across her vision. She managed to find a way to stay on her back, taking gulps of air as water ran over her face like breakers on a beach. A kick of a leg, a flap of an arm. Somehow, she stayed afloat. But the daggers that entered her flesh came with spears of ice. She began to shiver, her teeth chattering uncontrollably.
I don’t want to die.
Something tugged her hair, lifting her head and body up from the loch. A rock dug into her back. Other hands caught under her arms and she rose out into fresh air. Water fell from her body and clothing, splashing first into the loch and then onto dry land. Daisy hit the ground hard as her rescuers dropped her. She stared up, not recognising the face that leered down until he spoke and a name surfaced from her memory. Miro.
The Tomb (Scarrett & Kramer Book 3) Page 27
