To Tell the Truth

by Anna Smith

  They got into Besmir’s car and the wheels spun and sprayed up a cloud of dust as Hassan hit the accelerator. Besmir looked back at the corpse then turned around and stared straight ahead in silence as the car sped off.

  Eventually, he glanced at Hassan.

  ‘No going back now, my friend.’

  Hassan’s face broke into a smile, and Besmir took his mobile from his pocket and punched in a number.

  ‘Adrian,’ he said. ‘We have the girl. Follow the directions I told you. We will be waiting for you.’

  CHAPTER 36

  ‘Where the hell is Adrian going?’ Rosie said.

  ‘Fucked if I know.’ Matt looked out of the windscreen at Adrian’s car a couple of hundred yards ahead of them.

  ‘We passed the exit for Tangiers half an hour ago,’ Javier said. ‘We’re going deeper into the countryside this way. What do you think, Rosie? I’m not sure I like this.’

  Javier’s unease made Rosie even more nervous. She looked at him but said nothing. Adrian had saved her life back in Glasgow, not once but twice. She pushed the niggle away that one of these days Adrian’s luck would run out.

  Rosie punched numbers in her mobile.

  ‘Rosie.’ Adrian answered the phone after two rings. ‘You are afraid?’ He sounded as relaxed as ever.

  ‘Well, Adrian, we’re wondering what’s happening.’

  ‘I told you I will look after you. But you must trust me.’

  ‘But Adrian,’ Rosie persisted. ‘Where exactly are we going? And what do you plan to do with Vinny in the boot of the car? I mean he might be dead by now in this heat.’

  ‘So what if he’s dead, Rosie. You think people will miss a piece of shit like that?’

  ‘No. Course not. But if he’s dead, Adrian, he’s dead in my hired car. And we are in Morocco.’

  ‘Just trust me. It’s better you don’t know. I will look after you and your friends. Do not worry.’ He hung up.

  Rosie knew Javier was clocking her. If it came to the crunch and their lives were in danger, Javier would simply turn the car around and take them back to Tangiers. He wouldn’t put it to a vote.

  ‘What did he say?’ Matt tapped Rosie’s shoulder.

  ‘He said to trust him. He knows what he’s doing.’

  ‘What did he say about Vinny in the boot?’ Javier asked.

  ‘He said if he dies people will not miss a piece of shit like that.’

  ‘Terrific.’ Matt sat back. ‘He dies in our hired car, Rosie. I’m guessing Adrian hasn’t seen Midnight Express.’

  They all laughed nervously.

  ‘That was set in Turkey, Matt,’ Rosie said.

  ‘Yeah, I know. Same difference. But I still don’t fancy playing hide the sausage in a Moroccan jail.’

  Rosie giggled despite the nerves in her stomach.

  ‘Rosie, I think your friend Adrian is a nutter,’ Javier said, ‘but he can take care of himself – that much I saw. I get the feeling he is taking us to see the guy Besmir. The one he came out here to find.’

  ‘The kidnapper?’ Matt said. ‘Oh, he sounds like a right nice guy. Fuck me.’

  ‘Listen, Matt, I’m as nervous as you. Imagine having to phone McGuire from the pokey in Tangiers and say “Hey Mick, about that body in the boot … You’ll laugh when I tell you this …”’ Rosie snorted. ‘Christ, I could get hysterical at the thought of it.’

  ‘He is stopping the car,’ Javier said.

  He pulled over behind Adrian and they all got out. Everyone looked at Adrian’s car as they heard the thuds from the boot and Vinny’s muffled shouts.

  ‘I think he said he wants the veal,’ Matt said drily.

  Everyone sniggered, except for Adrian whose face came close to a smile.

  ‘That is funny,’ he said to Matt.

  ‘Adrian.’ Rosie spread her arms out in appeal. ‘I think you should tell us where we’re going. I do trust you, pal. But … er … we seem to be driving to Algeria or somewhere. This is all getting a bit crazy.’

  ‘Okay, Rosie, I will tell you what I can. We are meeting Besmir. The kidnapper.’

  ‘You serious?’

  ‘Yes. Things have changed with him, Rosie. He took the girl, but now he wants to bring her back.’

  A little rocket went up in Rosie’s head, blinding her to everything else. Amy being returned by the kidnapper, and she could be at the heart of the story. Christ! She would just about give her right arm for that.

  ‘He wants to bring her back? What? You mean he’s still got her?’

  ‘It’s complicated, Rosie, but yes. He has the girl now, but he didn’t have her until today.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I cannot explain that. Just trust me. We must go now. We will see Besmir soon, it is arranged. Then we can see what we do. I know he wants to do something else.’

  ‘What else, Adrian? What are you talking about?’

  ‘I cannot tell you now. Please.’ He gave her a look and Rosie knew not to ask any more.

  ‘Okay, Adrian.’ She turned to Javier and Matt. ‘C’mon guys. Let’s go. There’s only one show in town.’

  Rosie’s nausea had lifted. All she could see was the reunion picture of Amy with her parents on the front page of the Post. Nothing else mattered.

  Javier put his arm around Rosie’s shoulders as they went to the car.

  ‘You have that look in your eye, Rosie. I’ve seen it before. It’s reckless. You’re making me nervous.’

  Rosie smiled. ‘How can I be reckless, Javier, when you’re in charge?’

  ‘If I was in charge, Rosita, we’d be having a siesta and wondering where we are going to have dinner.’ He got into the car.

  Rosie and Matt exchanged glances as they opened the car doors.

  ‘We might as well strap ourselves in for this,’ Rosie said.

  As they were about to drive off, Javier’s phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and looked at the number.

  ‘Si. Digame.’ He put the phone to his ear, then turned to Rosie. ‘Excuse me. I must take this call.’ He opened the door and stepped out.

  Rosie wondered why he couldn’t have taken the call in the car. She spoke a little Spanish, but not enough to get the gist of a one-sided of conversation between Spaniards. Javier obviously didn’t want them to hear, but she trusted him. Whatever he was doing, there was a reason for it.

  ‘Everything okay?’ Rosie said, as he got back in the car.

  ‘Yes. It was my friend from the Guarda Civil. They know about the Russian connection, the prostitute and Amy’s grandfather. They know about Daletsky.’

  ‘Christ!’

  ‘Doesn’t surprise me,’ Javier said. ‘To be honest, the only surprise is that this has not come out before. But someone somewhere has perhaps been looking at the whole family background and put it together.’

  ‘Or somebody has talked.’

  Javier shot her a look.

  ‘No, Javier. Of course I don’t mean you. Don’t be so paranoid.’

  ‘Fine. I would be very disappointed if you did. But Rosie, listen to me. This changes things. Because if the Guarda Civil know, then you can be assured that Daletsky knows it has come out why the child was taken. And if he knows, they will be moving to close all the doors.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I mean Daletsky or Leka, or whoever this Besmir guy was working for. They will want him dead now more than ever before.’

  ‘But why? It’s not as if he’s going to walk into a police station and confess.’

  ‘No. But if he is caught he might, to save his own skin.’

  ‘I see what you mean. When did your friend find out?’

  ‘This morning. But that is only when he found out. I do not know how long the Guarda Civil have known, which means I do not know how long anyone else has known. That makes me worry more.’

  Rosie suddenly felt scared again. ‘We have to keep going now, Javier. What else can we do? We might turn back and run slap-bang into whoever is chasing Besm
ir. These guys won’t be asking questions. And if we run into cops, well, we’ve got a guy in the boot of the car.’

  ‘You’re right. Let’s just hope that there’s not a reception party waiting for us when we meet this Besmir.’

  CHAPTER 37

  No cars had passed them in any direction for miles. The road narrowed to a single dusty track and Javier slowly negotiated the hairpin bends around the hillside. They drove in silence.

  Rosie was exhausted. The rush of adrenaline back in Salé had spurred her on, but now the stress and the lack of sleep for the past few nights left her feeling wrecked. She thought of her father back in her flat, imagining him sitting around watching television, bored, wondering where his life had gone now that it was coming to an end. She felt a pang of loneliness for him.

  Ahead of them, Adrian was slowing down. Javier took his foot off the accelerator. ‘I can see a car is stopped beyond Adrian’s,’ he said.

  Rosie shook herself out of her daydream and rolled down the window to catch some air. The fierce heat was like a hairdryer blowing in her face. Adrian pulled into the side the road and got out. They saw him walking towards the car parked about fifty yards in front. Javier stopped, but kept the engine running.

  ‘That must be him. The Besmir guy. I’d better get my camera ready.’ Matt rummaged around in the back.

  ‘You are having a laugh, Matt?’

  ‘No I’m not, Rosie. If the guy who kidnapped Amy Lennon comes out of that car I’m the only guy in the world who’s getting a fucking picture of him.’

  ‘Christ sake, Matt. This is a bit dodgy, pal. Even for a kamikaze merchant like you.’ Rosie half turned to see Matt fixing a long lens to a camera.

  ‘He’ll never see me,’ he grinned back at her. ‘Not in a million years.’

  ‘Relax, Javier,’ Matt said, resting the long lens on Javier’s shoulder. ‘It’ll be over before you know it, and it won’t hurt a bit.’

  The car door opened and a man got out of the passenger seat and walked towards Adrian. Another got out of the driving seat. Two of them, Rosie thought. If it turned nasty and Besmir decided to take Adrian on, he had help. Her mouth was dry as a stick, and she drank a sip of warm water. She breathed a sigh of relief when the man stretched out his hand to Adrian who shook it.

  ‘You fucking beauty,’ Matt whispered. ‘Done and dusted. Snap of the year stamped all over it. One more for luck … That’s it … Magic.’

  ‘When this is all over, Matt, let’s hope we dine out on that picture.’

  Rosie kept her eye on the tall man in conversation with Adrian.

  ‘That must be him. I wonder what they’re saying. The guy is looking over here. Shit, he’s coming up. Get that camera out of the way, Matt. Quick.’

  ‘It’s done, Rosie. Settle petal.’

  Rosie tried a deep breath, but it wouldn’t come, her chest felt tight. Shit.

  ‘Take it easy, Rosita. Say nothing. Just answer any questions, and don’t be smart,’ Javier whispered.

  ‘I’m hardly going to be smart,’ Rosie snapped back. She was tense enough without Javier rubbing her up the wrong way.

  She opened the door and stepped out of the car as Adrian and the man came towards her. The stranger was pale and unshaven with close cropped dark hair, and on the skinny side even for a tall man. His black shirt was open and he was wearing a vest that may even have been white at one time. He gazed straight at Rosie, black eyes under heavy dark eyebrows. He looked haunted, exhausted. Somehow she’d expected a monster, but he looked ordinary. This was the man who had stolen a little child sitting on a beach without a thought for the misery he had caused and the lives he had wrecked. He had no right to look this ordinary.

  ‘This is the man I told you about, Rosie.’

  Adrian didn’t say his name, and Rosie was grateful that he didn’t put his hand out for her to shake, because she couldn’t have done it.

  ‘The girl is in the car,’ Adrian said, saving Rosie from asking.

  Her heartbeat quickened. She was within a few yards of Amy.

  ‘May I see her?’ Rosie directed the question to the man.

  He looked at Adrian.

  ‘Come,’ he said and walked away. ‘But I don’t want to waste time.’

  Rosie walked behind them, knowing Matt would be choking to get out of the car and take a picture. In your dreams, Matt. The driver, a sallow, Moroccan boy who looked no more than twenty-five, smiled with his eyes as Rosie approached. He looked gentle, out of place in this kind of company.

  Besmir opened the door of the car and there she was. Amy. She was alive! Really alive and lying there right in front of Rosie, fast asleep, like any other kid who’d dropped off to sleep in the back seat of their parents’ car. Rosie closed her eyes for a second and blinked to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

  ‘Jesus,’ she whispered. ‘May I … ?’

  She leaned in and studied the sleeping child: her pale face dirty and tear-stained, the thatch of unruly curls tumbling onto her thick, dark eyelashes. She looked peaceful, the way all children should look. She shouldn’t be here in the middle of nowhere, with nobody to comfort her when she woke up confused and frightened. Rosie felt a lump in her throat, wondering how many tears this little girl had shed in these past weeks. She reached out and brushed her finger against the girl’s soft chubby arm, then she stepped back.

  ‘What do you do when she cries for her mother?’ The words were out before she could stop herself.

  He seemed taken aback. ‘I did not hurt her. I want to take her back.’ His voice was deep.

  Rosie bit her lip to stop herself saying any more. She wasn’t afraid of this man.

  ‘Rosie,’ Adrian said taking a step between them. ‘Listen. There is a place near here, the place I told you about, where children are kept in cages. It is close by. We want to go there now. We will need the others to help to get the children out. We will take the three cars.’

  ‘I do not think the woman should come,’ Besmir said. ‘Is better she stays close by with the girl.’

  ‘If you think I am staying out here alone while the rest of you go wherever it is, you’re very wrong.’

  Tense silence.

  ‘Adrian,’ Rosie said. ‘I need a word. It’s important.’

  The man turned his back on them and Rosie and Adrian walked to the car. Javier and Matt got out.

  ‘Javier,’ Rosie said. ‘Tell Adrian what your Guarda Civil man said about the Russian connection.’ She turned to Adrian. ‘I think this is all about to burst, Adrian. You’re probably not the only one sent here to look for Besmir.’

  Adrian listened while Javier told him. He blew air out of pursed lips.

  ‘I must tell Besmir.’

  ‘Adrian,’ Rosie said. ‘Listen to me. I am not staying anywhere by myself. Wherever we’re going, we all go together. Make sure he understands that.’

  ‘Rosie.’ Adrian looked over his shoulder as the sound of Vinny’s kicking started up again. ‘There is another problem. I have already told Besmir. A few minutes ago, I took a call from Leka. He asked me where I was and if I had found Besmir. He sounded suspicious, and I don’t think he believed me when I told him I was close to tracking him down. I have no way of knowing for sure, but I think Leka is looking for both of us now.’

  ‘Christ! What do we do?’

  ‘We go ahead with the plan. But first, I am going to deal with this piece of shit.’ He jerked his head in the direction of the car.

  ‘Vinny? What you going to do?’ Rosie looked around the barren scrubland. ‘You just going to leave him here?’

  ‘Is better not to ask. Come.’

  He walked off in the direction of Besmir’s car.

  Rosie, Javier and Matt looked at each other then started walking behind him in silence.

  ‘You wait here with Hassan,’ Adrian said. ‘Maybe is better you look the other way for a few minutes.’

  Rosie felt hot and light-headed. The Moroccan boy gave her a sympathetic look. Besmir a
nd Adrian walked towards Adrian’s car, where the noise of Vinny’s kicking was growing louder.

  When the boot pinged open everything went eerily quiet, then they heard Vinny’s muffled scream as Adrian and Besmir dragged him out. Rosie felt Javier’s arm around her shoulder as they saw Vinny’s bloodied face, twisted in blind panic as he pleaded and tried to scream. Besmir stuffed a rag from the boot into Vinny’s mouth, and he struggled and kicked while both of them stood him up, his legs buckling. Vinny had wet his trousers. For a second Rosie made eye contact with him, and the primal part of her that wanted retribution for what he’d done was glad to see the naked terror in his eyes.

  ‘Fuck sake,’ Matt said. ‘What’re they going to do with him? Where are they taking him?’ He looked at Hassan.

  ‘Over there.’ He pointed to what looked like an old well made out of mud and stones. ‘It hasn’t been used for a long time. Nobody goes there any more. Is very deep.’

  ‘A well? You mean they’re going to throw him in there?’ Rosie gripped Javier’s arm as they dragged Vinny across the ground.

  ‘Is better you turn away now. If you don’t see then you don’t know.’ Hassan said.

  ‘Turn around, Rosie. Come on,’ Javier said.‘You too, Matt. It is better that we don’t see.’

  The four of them turned away and stood in stunned silence. The sound of Vinny’s agonised whimpering was barely audible now. Rosie pictured the final moments in her mind, Vinny choking on the rag, knowing his fate was sealed. There was no need for her to turn round, but she did because she couldn’t help herself, even though she knew it would be a sight that would haunt her nightmares. She turned just in time to see Adrian bundle Vinny head first over the crumbling lip of the well. The last thing she saw were the soles of Vinny’s sandals as he disappeared. The muffled screams stopped.

  ‘Dios mio, Rosie,’ Javier shook his head. ‘I knew you would look. You are one fucking crazy woman.’

  Rosie couldn’t speak. Besmir shot her a brief look as he walked towards the car and opened the passenger door.

  ‘Come. We must go,’ Adrian said.