But who could have taken out Jagrit and his men without a pitched battle in the compound? I ran back down the stairs and checked every room in the place. The living room looked like Sarah could have been in it moments ago, and the kitchen was spotless, except for a single, unwashed mug in the sink.
I went out through the front door and checked the outdoor pool but I wasn’t hopeful. Sarah would have heard my car if she’d been sunbathing and she’d have come round to greet me. There was no sign of her.
I walked towards the only room I hadn’t checked; the indoor pool. If I didn’t find Sarah in there, then someone had managed to do the impossible. They’d killed all of my bodyguards and taken her.
I grabbed the handle and slid the door open. The shades were drawn over the windows and there wasn’t much light in the room but it looked empty.
Then an indistinct shape at the end of the room stirred. When it moved I realised to my intense relief that it was Sarah – but something was wrong.
‘Sarah?’ I called and I walked quickly towards her. She moved then and slowly turned to face me and, as I drew closer, I could tell she had been crying. ‘What is it?’ I asked as I reached her and put my hands on her shoulders. ‘Who has done this? Tell me what happened,’ but she could only shake her head and fresh tears fell.
‘What happened’ I asked again, ‘where’s Jagrit?’
‘Gone,’ she managed, ‘they’ve all gone,’ and she must have seen the panic in my eyes because she added, ‘I’m alright. Nobody hurt me.’
‘I don’t understand,’ I said, ‘where are the bodyguards?’
‘Jagrit and his men had some sort of meeting last night. There was an argument and it got heated. I mean, I don’t know what they were saying but it sounded like they were having a row. This morning Jagrit came to see me and said, “so sorry missy. We have to leave.” I said, “Leave? Leave when?” and he just said “Now, so sorry missy.”’
‘I don’t believe this.’
‘He offered to take me with him into Bangkok but I didn’t think I should leave here without you. I didn’t know what to do. He kept banging on at me about it.’ There was a flash of anger in her eyes, and I got a glimpse of the old Sarah. ‘In the end I said “Jagrit, go fuck yourself, I’m not leaving.”’
‘Have you got any idea why they left?’
‘Well he kept saying they couldn’t work for you anymore,’ she explained. ‘It was something to do with their honour.’
Great, so Jagrit and his men had finally worked out who they were working for and there had been some kind of mini-mutiny. They had left Sarah out here in the middle of nowhere, all on her own.
‘It’s okay,’ I told her, ‘it’s fine,’ but she knew I was lying, ‘pack a couple of bags, do it quickly,’ I said, then corrected myself, ‘I mean, there’s no panic, but let’s not hang about, eh?’ Word of what had been going on back home must have somehow reached Jagrit and they just weren’t prepared to carry on working for a man like me.
‘I’m taking us away from here,’ I told Sarah, and she brightened at that. I knew then that we wouldn’t be coming back. ‘Dry those tears,’ I told her, ‘I know it was frightening, being here all on your own, but you’re safe now.’
‘That’s not why I was crying,’ she told me, ‘I’ve done something really stupid.’
My mind started to race again. ‘It’s alright,’ I lied, ‘just tell me what you’ve done and I will deal with it.’
‘You can’t,’ she said, really sobbing now.
‘Just tell me,’ I urged her gently.
‘I think it’s because I was sick through drinking,’ she explained, as if that would make me understand. I just looked at her and frowned, ‘it didn’t work because I was so sick. I was chucking up for two days but I never gave it a thought, I’m so sorry.’
‘What?’ I was trying hard to understand, but I was no nearer getting it from this explanation. ‘What didn’t work?’ I asked her, ‘tell me.’
‘The pill,’ she said, ‘I’m pregnant.’
It took me an age to convince Sarah I wasn’t angry. She really thought I was going to be furious with her for being so stupid, as she put it, but instead I found myself walking around with a permanent smile on my face.
I had always wanted kids eventually, but there was no hurry because she was so young.
‘You’re sure you’re not angry,’ she kept asking me, ‘you’re sure you want this?’
‘Yes,’ I told her a thousand times, ‘yes, I want this.’
We finished packing and loaded up the car. I locked up the house, then the front gate of the compound and we drove off together; Sarah, me and the ‘bump’, as we had already started to call it, even though she wasn’t showing at all yet.
I felt hopeful for the first time in months. If there was one good thing that could come out of this whole terrible time it was this. Sarah was going to have our baby and that changed everything.
For a moment, when I drove into that empty compound, I thought I’d lost Sarah, but I’ve got her back now and I’m never going to let her down again. It all came back into focus when she told me she was pregnant. It seemed fitting somehow, like a new life could mean a new start for all of us and I just know Sarah will be the best mother in the world. She’ll dote on that child, though she reckons it’ll be me that does the spoiling. She could be right about that. I’m already thinking about one of those big teddies from Hamleys in London, the really soft, expensive ones that are about the size of a five-year-old and Sarah tells me not to be so daft, that the baby will be frightened by it, but she’s smiling when she says it and it’s great to see her looking so happy now. Sarah looks great in fact. Her skin is so clear and there is a real sparkle in her eyes.
I’m going to make everything alright for her and the baby. I really am. I just need a bit more time.
But it will all be okay because Sarah is having our baby, which is a thought that makes me smile and, at the same time, takes my breath away, filling me with a panic I feel so acutely it’s like a physical sensation somewhere deep in my chest. I have to tell myself over and over that it will be alright. I can be strong enough for all of us; for Sarah, for me and our baby. I will stay strong and I won’t make any mistakes.
I hope it’s a girl though. I know it sounds bad but I really do. I mean, who would want to bring a boy into a world like this?
THE END
This ebook edition first published in 2012
First published in 2012
No Exit Press,
an imprint of Oldcastle Books
P O Box 394,
Harpenden, AL5 1XJ
www.noexit.co.uk
All rights reserved
© Howard Linskey, 2012
The right of Howard Linskey to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly
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Table of Contents
Title
About the Author
Critical acclaim for The Drop
Acknowledgements
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
>
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Epilogue
The Damage (David Blake 2) Page 31
