by Rowan Casey
“You got it.”
“And he had no objection to you using it for private hire?”
“Nope. All I have to do is make sure that I refuel it when I’m done. Oh, and not to crash it. That would be a bad thing.”
“For both of us,” Matthias added and followed the man up the steps.
The interior was in pristine condition, almost as if none of the seats had ever been used, the carpets freshly hoovered. Matthias almost felt the need to take off his shoes as he entered the passenger area.
“Make yourself comfortable,” the pilot said. “There’s bottled water and juice in the fridge if you’re thirsty, just help yourself. I’d suggest that you stay buckled up, even once we’re in the air. Looks like we may have some turbulence on the way. I’ll take your bag unless there’s anything you need out of it?”
“No it’s fine,” Matthias said, deciding that he had no real interest in reading any more of the book now that he had found the answer he had been looking for. He handed the bag over as the pilot opened a locker and stowed it inside. A glance around confirmed that there was no shortage of storage space and no doubt there was a hold for larger luggage, too. Despite his insistence that he was not about to steal the Stone, no matter what form it was currently in, he was already thinking about how he might be able to secure a getaway and take it with him.
“What happens after we get to Edinburgh? Will you be heading straight back?”
“Not straight away, I’ll have the meter running for a couple of hours in case I need to take you anywhere else. I’ll probably stay in the city overnight unless I get a call to go anywhere else.”
“Sounds like everything has been thought of,” Matthias said.
“I just do as I’m asked.” There was a whir as the staircase was withdrawn to form part of the fuselage before the pilot slammed the door shut. Even though the door was less than the size of a man, its closure changed the quality of the light inside the plane in an instant. A moment later the interior lights increased in intensity until they reached a pleasant glow. Matthias eased himself back into one of the chairs, sinking into its comfort and finding it more luxurious than his armchair back at the apartment in Cardiff. He was going to enjoy this for as long as it lasted.
Only a couple of minutes later the engines roared into life, sending a hum through the plane. It was not long before they were rumbling along the runway and taking to the air. The intercom came to life.
“This is your captain speaking. Kick back and enjoy the ride.”
Matthias soon found his eyes closing as the soft vibration lulled him into a light sleep.
18
Something seemed to change. It took Matthias a moment to realize that it was the sound of the engine that had disappeared. He opened his eyes, surprised to find someone in one of the other seats. The chair was turned to face away from him, so the occupant could look out of the window.
“Who the hell are you?” Matthias demanded but the other passenger did not respond. He tried again and this time the seat began to turn toward him. Matthias felt annoyed more than surprised that there was someone else on board. There was no reason why the pilot could not have secreted someone else in the cabin with him, but why should he have come and invaded his space while he had been asleep. The surprise was nothing compared to the discovery that the man sitting across from him was the individual he had encountered back in the Brecon Beacons.
“What the fuck!” Matthias fumbled at his seatbelt, desperately trying to release it but without success. Even if he could free himself there was nowhere for him to go, no escape. The stranger just started at Mathias, still not speaking. “What the fuck do you want!” He was almost shouting, aware that the pilot should have been able to hear him, unless this was soundproofed so well to ensure that conversations being held in this space could not be overheard.
“I want you to go home,” the man said. “Go home and forget you got involved in this. Just tell the pilot to turn around. The stone is already out of your reach.”
It was a dream, he realized, just a dream. He screwed his eyes closed and counted to ten before he opened the again and found that the man had gone and the seat was back in its original position. A dream. The man had really got inside his head. Matthias rubbed his eyes before checking his watch which seemed to be telling him that they had been in the air for more than an hour. He had not asked how long the flight would take but surely, they must be close to their destination by now.
This time his seatbelt released easily and he made his way to the door at the front of the plane. On a commercial airliner this would have been locked, but he was relived to find that it opened when he turned the handle.
“Everything okay?” he asked, then stopped suddenly as he realized that there were two people in the cockpit. The pilot turned in his seat to face him.
“All good here,” the pilot said, but Matthias had all his attention focused on the copilot’s seat. The skin on his arm turned to gooseflesh and he felt his stomach churning. Even without seeing the face, he knew who was sitting there. He just knew.
“Who the hell is this?” he asked reaching for the back of the chair. He was ready to thump the guy and ask questions later, but that anger was not going to be kept in check for much longer. This had been going on for long enough. The back of the seat shifted as he grabbed it and too late he realized that it was a coat that had been slung over the back of the chair that he had mistaken for a man.
“Are you feeling okay?” the pilot asked. “You’re looking a little pale.”
“Sorry. I must have nodded off and gotten a little confused,” he checked his watch again and found that rather than an hour having passed it had been little more than ten minutes. He had to have fallen asleep almost immediately.
“Must have been some dream.”
“Yeah, I guess it was.”
“Well we’ve got that turbulence ahead of us, so you might want to buckle up. If you’ve changed your mind about sitting up here with me the offer is still open. There’s no one else sitting in the chair.” There was a broad grin on his face, but Matthias declined.
“Thanks, but no thinks. I’ll just settle back down in there and try to stay awake. Though if you’re right, I doubt if I’ll be doing any more sleeping.” He left the pilot in peace to do his job. It was better that way.
The room seemed so empty now, as if there really had been someone there who was no longer in one of the seats. He knew that it was just his mind playing tricks on him again. He had thought he was over it, but clearly, he was wrong. All he could do was put it down to fatigue after so much driving over the last couple of days. Sleeping in different beds every night wasn’t helping. He could get enough rest but there was not enough quality sleep. He needed a couple of nights back in his own bed without his life being controlled by an alarm clock. At least this would all be over soon if the stone really was what Hautdesert said it was; if it really was the Stone of Scone that they had been looking for. The Stone of Destiny.
He settled back into the chair and found himself thinking about how the hell anyone could steal a piece of stone from one of the most secure buildings in the country. He had only seen a picture of the stone, but surely it was too large, and too heavy, for one man to be able to move, even with the aid of a trolley of some description. Even then it would be impossible to get it out of the castle undetected. He should walk away now if he wasn’t going to be part of any attempt to steal it. He had nothing to gain by taking any further part in this, and yet his mind wouldn’t let go. He was treating this like a puzzle that had a solution even though he knew that it had to be impossible.
He secured his seatbelt just as the plane bounced for the first time. The pilot was right, they were in for a bumpy ride.
19
The turbulence only lasted for ten minutes or so, but seemed to take much longer than that to get through, and Matthias was glad when it was over. He had flown often enough to no longer have any fears; but he had always said
he was not afraid of flying, he was only afraid of crashing. There was even a time when he got the occasional laugh from the line but that had been a long time ago. Perhaps the laughter had only been a show of politeness even then.
“Hope you’re okay back there,” the pilot asked over the intercom. “I think we’re through the worst of it. With a little luck we should be landing within the next twenty minutes. I’ll keep you posted if there are any delays.”
Not long after that the plane began to descend, and Matthias could make out the city far below him. Even though it was still only late afternoon there were already lights on in office blocks and factories. He wondered if he was being given the guided tour, the chance to get a view of the city that he would not have been able to get any other way. There, rising from its center, stood the castle he was supposed to be stealing from. A structure that was as imposing now as it must have been when it was first built. This was not going to be easy, in fact it suddenly felt even more difficult than when he had first stepped onto the plane. He hoped that Hautdesert had a plan that was going to make it feasible rather than just leaving him with an impossible task ahead of him. The only thing that had faded, was any doubt he had over whether the Stone of Destiny was the same stone he was looking for. No matter how much he thought that Grimm had managed to suck him into whatever was really going in, he knew he could not walk away. Somehow or other he was going to have to see this through.
The wheels bounced once as they touched the tarmac, and Matthias’ stomach lurched for a moment, before the contact became permanent. He released a breath he had not even realized he had been holding in.
“Just need to sort out a few formalities.” the pilot said when he emerged from the cabin. “Then you’ll be good to go. You need to sort a car out or are you being met?”
“There’s supposed to be a car sorted out for me.”
“Sounds like you really are an important kind of guy.”
“Not so you would notice,” Matthias said.
“You’re kidding me, right? A private plane at short notice doesn’t come cheap. Someone seems to think that you’re pretty special.”
“Some people have more money than sense, and I can assure you that it’s not me.”
“Well, it’s none of my business as long as I get paid, and there’s been enough cash made available for me to hang around here in case you need a ride anywhere else.”
“You’d better keep the meter running then.”
The formalities took even less time than Matthias expected. Maybe it was money that smoothed the way, but he suspected that it had more to do with spending time with the appearance of wealth. It was the way of the world. The pilot was used to moving in that environment and so was Hautdesert. Matthias had spent enough time with people like that to be able to play the part.
20
All it took was a breath. Matthias sucked in the air before he stepped onto the tarmac and pulled back his shoulders. There was no difference between this and walking onto the stage and each stride felt like he was revisiting an old friend. This was his gift; this had to be the reason why he had been chosen to do this. Even without realizing it, he had been using this skill from the moment that he had accepted the cash from Hautdesert. People told him things not just because he asked nicely, but because they liked him, because they thought that he was someone they could trust with their secrets.
“You have a car ready for me,” he said as he approached the car rental desk. It was a statement, not a question. The girl behind the counter smiled and said hello, before asking for his name. “Matthias.”
There was no searching on the computer screen, no rifling through papers. Her file faltered nervously for an instant before reestablishing itself. “Of course,” she said, producing a form and a key. “The car is ready for you. I’ll just show you where it is.”
He followed her outside, unsure of what kind of vehicle Hautdesert would have arranged for him, but going by the girl’s reaction he suspected that he was not about to be saddled with something at the budget end of their range. He was not disappointed. The black Lexus looked as if it had been cleaned and polished only a matter of minutes before his arrival. He had expected to be asked to produce his driving license, but any suggestion was waived away.
“Do you know Mr. Grimm well?” she asked. “I have to admit that I was a little surprised that he should call to make the reservation himself.”
“I wouldn’t say well,” Matthias said. “But we have met.”
She seemed a little disappointed. Perhaps she had been hoping that Matthias would have been able to give her an insight into the man she had spoken to on the phone. He was also a little taken by surprise that Grimm had made the call himself. Maybe he hadn’t. Maybe it had been Hautdesert pretending to be Grimm. Matthias certainly wouldn’t put it past him, but whoever it was had put the girl in his thrall and it was making Matthias doubt that his own performance was having any effect on the girl. He was only important because of someone who was more famous than he was, more charismatic in his own right, and that jarred badly. There was something strangely familiar about the situation, but he had no idea why. He maintained the air of arrogance and accepted the key from her when she held it out for him.
“Just drop it back when you have finished with it. Mr. Grimm has sorted everything out.”
Of course he had. It was another reminder that Matthias was just the hired help. No matter how much he pulled back his shoulders and thrust out his chest to make himself bigger and more important than he really was, he was unable to step out of Grimm’s shadow.
The car felt as light as a feather to handle, compared with the car he had spent far too many hours driving over the last couple of days. He followed the signs for the exit but pulled over before he had left the parking lot. In the rush to get out from under the gaze of the younger woman he had not given a thought to where he was heading, or how he was going to get there. He took a moment to figure out how the satnav worked and soon worked out how to set it to lead him to the castle. He had a feeling that if he just followed the sign for the city center it would be easy enough to find, but the last thing he wanted was to get caught in a maze of one-way streets.
He was just pulling away when he saw a figure standing just a matter of a few feet away; a tall man, his face shrouded in the shadow of a hooded coat. Matthias hit the brake and pulled the car back into the parking slot. He was fed up with feeling intimidated and it was time to put an end to it. Whoever this man was, whatever he was, this had to stop one way or another.
He barely paused long enough to release the seatbelt and climbed out of the car, slamming the door behind him as he marched towards the figure. There was still part of him that was the character he had adopted when he had stepped off the plane; arrogance and adrenaline coursing through his veins.
“I’ve had just about enough of this,” he said when he was a matter of only a few feet from the man. The figure seemed startled by his approach but did not speak at first. “What the fuck is this all about?” Matthias demanded.
“I’m sorry?” The figure pushed his hood back and revealed the mop of unruly blond hair. There was a look of fear in the man’s eyes, his hands rising in defense. Matthias stepped back in surprise, startled that this was the man he was sure had been following him. There was not even a passing resemblance.
“Sorry, my mistake,” Matthias said. “I thought you were someone else.” He could not understand how he could possibly have been mistaken. Even with a hood covering his head the man looked nothing like the stranger he was convinced had been stalking him
A car horn beeped as another vehicle approached and the man waved at the driver. He started to walk towards, pausing only when he opened the passenger side door. “Well whoever you thought I was, I’m glad I’m not him.” The blond man was still staring at Matthias as the car drove away.
Matthias watched the car disappear out of sight before climbing back into the Lexus still a little rocked by his mistake
. He needed to get it out of his head and fast.
21
He had been right about finding the castle. Even as he entered the edges of the city he kept catching glimpses of the imposing structure above and between the buildings he was driving through. The day was fast slipping away, and it would not be long before the last visitors were allowed inside. Matthias didn’t want to draw attention to himself being one of the last in this afternoon and turning up again tomorrow if any of the same staff were on duty. He had no idea how tight security might be, but he was pretty sure that they would be on the look out for anything out of the ordinary.
He found a parking space at the side of the road that gave him a view of the structure set high on the rock. The view from down there was enough to confirm his fears that this was not going to be easy. Even if he could get the stone out of the room where it was displayed, there was no way that he was going to be able to carry it out of there, even with help. He was certainly going to need more than an extra pair of hands to get it away from there. He was going to need a look inside to be sure, but this wasn’t looking any more promising than when he first heard that the object he was looking for was the Stone of Scone.
His phone rang, startling him from his thoughts. He didn’t need to see the screen to know that it would be Hautdesert.
“Checking up on me already?”
“Just calling to let you know that I’ve booked you a hotel for the night.”
“Just the one?”
“I’m rather hoping that you will take care of this matter tomorrow. This is starting to be a matter of even greater urgency.”
“What’s so urgent? This thing has been lying in plain sight for God knows how long. It’s not going anywhere.”
“That’s where you may be wrong I’m afraid. As I said before, you are not the only one looking for this treasure.”
