“What happens if the bad guys come back and blow up this house?” Mairi asked as she texted one of her online boyfriends. “Do you guys just get buried alive down here?”
Oh my goodness…
The thought was enough to make Isobel nauseated. She turned to the sofa. “Ryan? Is there another way out of this bunker?”
“Granny flat,” Ryan said, his eyes still glued to the screen and his thumbs hammering at his controller. “Callum doesn’t like it being called a bunker. He thinks it makes him seem like a weirdo hermit. Whereas a granny flat that is hidden under the house and has a steel-reinforced door makes perfect sense to him.”
Mairi grunted, still texting. “Maybe you’ll get a straight answer if you throw him a cookie.”
Yep, they all had Ryan’s number, and they’d only known him a few hours.
“Cookie?” Ryan’s attention was pulled from the game.
“Is there another way out of here?” Isobel picked up a cookie and waved it as she spoke.
He cocked a thumb at the back wall. “That door opens up into a tunnel that leads out to the road. Now gimme the cookie.”
“Yes!” Jack shouted as Isobel threw the cookie at Ryan. “You are dead, dude. Should have kept your mind on the game. Hey, where’d you get the cookie?” He turned to Isobel. “Do I get a cookie?”
With a shake of her head, she tossed one to her son as well, before turning back to her sisters. “We don’t need to worry,” she said, sounding slightly hysterical. “There’s a tunnel.”
“I thought the tunnel was a myth,” Agnes said. “Old man McKay never got council permission to dig one.”
“Obviously he decided to dig it without the permission,” Isobel said. “I wonder how he did it. Do you think he had like a digger or a burrowing machine or something? Or maybe he scooped it out by hand, like he was tunnelling out of jail?”
“Burrowing machine?” Donna said as all three sisters gaped at Isobel.
“What? I’m sure it’s a thing.” Isobel reached for another cookie. “Didn’t they use one to make the Channel Tunnel?”
“I hope the McKay tunnel is structurally sound,” Donna said. “I wouldn’t want you to get trapped in it.”
“Don’t worry. I’m sure Callum thought to check it out and reinforce it if need be.”
“Honey, listen to yourself.” Agnes leaned over the table and covered Isobel’s hands with hers. “I hate to break it to you, but your white knight is a fruit loop.”
“You mean her baby’s father,” Mairi said helpfully.
“Baby?” Ryan said. He’d snuck up on them and picked up the plate of cookies. He stood behind the women, shoulder to shoulder with Jack, working his way through the biscuits. “What baby?”
“Callum knocked up Mum,” Jack said.
“Jack!” Isobel’s cheeks began to heat again. “Go play your video game. Take Ryan with you. There’s no baby. And this is none of your business, either of you.”
Ryan shook his head and looked at Jack, who was the same height as him. “Dude, if you were ten years older, the things I could tell you about Callum.”
“I’m mature for my age,” Jack said. “Feel free to spill. But first we need more cookies and milk.”
Ryan agreed, and they went off to get some.
“Mature my hairy backside,” Mairi muttered. “Damn, I accidentally sent hairy backside to Karl. Must not talk and text…must not talk and text…”
“If she doesn’t talk while she’s texting,” Agnes said, “she’ll never speak.” She thought about it for a second. “I totally agree, Mairi, you must never talk and text.”
“Will you lot stick to the topic for a minute?” Isobel said. “We were talking about leaving. Are you packed?”
“I’ve packed up all my gear,” Agnes said. “I still need to send an email to the university to let them know that I’m moving, and I’ll send my contact details when I know them. Mairi, have you given the rental agency notice yet?”
“Not yet,” Mairi said. “I’ve been busy. I will, though.”
“Mairi, we need to get out of here before Saturday,” Isobel said.
“I know,” Mairi said. “I’ve got a lot on right now. I think someone has hacked my boyfriends’ accounts. I’m getting weird emails, and I’m worried it’ll affect my job.”
“We’ve got three days to get out of here before that loan shark comes looking for thirty-four thousand pounds that none of us have,” Isobel said. “You need to pack and sort out your flat. Worry about your online boyfriends later.”
“Um.” Donna squirmed. “I might have a teeny-tiny problem.”
“What?” Isobel wanted to groan. Just once, she would like something to go smoothly.
“I need to give my boss two weeks’ notice. He won’t accept anything less and says I won’t get a reference if I walk out before then.” Donna’s wide eyes begged them to understand.
They didn’t. Donna wasn’t known as the family doormat for nothing.
“He can’t do that,” Agnes said. “It wasn’t in your employment contract. I know. I read it. Unlike you.”
“I need that reference, and the lord of the manor won’t give me one if I don’t stay two weeks.”
“Does he know you call him that?” Mairi said.
“Are you insane?” Donna said. “He doesn’t know half of what we call him behind his back.”
“Can we focus?” Isobel said, sounding strangely like Callum. “You can’t give two weeks’ notice because we need to leave in a couple of days.”
“I’ll follow you,” Donna said. “You get settled and I’ll be there two weeks later. It isn’t that long.”
Isobel shook her head. “I can’t leave you behind. Everyone knows us here, and Eddie would use you to get to me. He’ll hurt you, Donna. I can’t let him hurt you. Either we all go together or we stay together.”
“If you stay, he’ll hurt you.” Donna shuddered. “I can hide at the manor house. He won’t be able to get to me.”
“Yes, he will.” Isobel knew exactly what Eddie Granger was capable of doing. “We need to get out now. Together. We need to start somewhere where no one knows us and no one can find us.”
“Did you plan to tell me that you’re running away?”
The voice startled everyone, and all eyes turned to the staircase leading to the house above.
Callum stood in the entrance, his feet apart, his arms folded and his jaw set. He was not pleased.
Isobel swallowed hard. “Yes. I planned to tell you.”
“When?” The temperature in the room dropped, and Isobel shivered.
“I don’t know. Soon.” She squirmed.
“Before or after you disappeared?” His voice was deadly calm, and Isobel noticed that the room was suddenly very silent.
“Callum, we can talk about this later. We don’t have any definite plans right now.”
“Sounds definite to me. Donna is giving notice and Mairi is informing their landlord.” His eyes were like lasers burning into her. “You didn’t mention a deadline for the money when you told me about the loan shark hitting you.”
“He hit you?” Jack was off the sofa and charging towards her, as though he could save her from something that had already happened.
“I’m okay,” Isobel said. “It’s nothing.”
“It isn’t nothing.” Callum stood beside Jack. “She could have cracked ribs.”
“Let me see,” Jack demanded. He took a step towards Isobel, and Callum put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
“Isobel!” Donna said. “You didn’t tell us that.”
“I was handling it,” Isobel said. “I’m sure my ribs are fine.”
“The same way you’re sure you aren’t pregnant?” Callum said. “You can’t will things to happen just because you want them to be that way.”
“I am not pregnant. I don’t have broken ribs and I am dealing with everything.” Her voice turned into a hysterical screech. People needed to back off and give her some
space. She was coping with things as best she could. She would be doing a whole lot better if the problems stopped coming at her so damn fast.
There was a thud, and then the door to the bedroom Callum used crashed open. A second later, a wheelchair appeared with a stuffed giraffe sitting in the middle of it. Sophie’s hands could be seen wrapped around the handles, but apart from that, the only other thing anyone could see was the top of her motorcycle helmet.
Callum went very still, and Isobel knew he was mad that someone had been in his bedroom.
“Sophie,” Isobel said, “I told you not to go into Callum’s room. Put that chair back at once.” She looked back at Callum. “I’m sorry. I should have been watching her better.”
“Jaffie likes the pram,” Sophie shouted, muffled through the helmet.
“It isn’t a pram, it’s a wheelchair.” Isobel rushed over to her daughter.
“Peese?” Sophie said.
Isobel hesitated. What harm would there be in letting her play with the wheelchair? Callum had obviously been injured at some point and had needed it, but he didn’t need it now. She looked down at her daughter’s large, pleading eyes, the only part that could be seen thought the helmet, and bit at her bottom lip. Her kids had nothing left—surely Callum would understand if she wanted to play with the chair?
Isobel turned and gave him the same pleading look as her daughter. “I’m sorry she went into your room, but can she play with the chair? I promise to make sure she doesn’t damage it. It’s clear you don’t need it—would it really matter if she used it as a pram for a while?”
A strange look passed between Callum and Ryan.
“I promise not to let her cover it with stickers,” Isobel said.
Ryan stared at Callum, clearly trying to communicate something that was lost on Isobel.
Callum took a deep breath. “There’s something I need to tell you…”
“Callum,” Elle shouted down the stairs. “I need you right now. You need to see this.”
Ryan shook his head, as though telling Callum not to do something.
“I’ll be right up,” Callum shouted. “We’ll talk later,” he said to Isobel, before heading up the stairs.
“Can she use the chair?” Isobel called after him.
“Aye,” he said, but he didn’t sound pleased about it.
“Need cookie,” Sophie shouted as she aimed the chair towards the table.
Isobel looked at Ryan. “Maybe she shouldn’t play with it. Does it have sentimental value for Callum?”
“Something like that,” Ryan said, then followed his boss up the stairs.
CHAPTER 19
“YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD HER,” Ryan said as he stopped beside Callum. “It’s going to be worse when she finds out.”
Callum didn’t say anything, because what could he say? Ryan was right.
They went through the door at the top of the stairs, and Ryan put a hand on Callum’s arm to stop him.
“You need to tell her before she finds out some other way,” Ryan said. “It’s my experience that when you’re missing a body part, or two, women like to know that kind of thing.”
“Do you think I don’t know that?” Callum felt the rage that was always present surge forward, trying to break free.
Ryan was unperturbed. “Look, I know you don’t like to talk about personal stuff, or emotion, or, well, anything, but this is serious. You can’t wait until you’re getting into bed with her again and go, ‘By the way my legs are metal.’” He froze. “Oh, dude, tell me you weren’t just planning to drop your jeans and shout ‘surprise’?”
Callum clenched his fists and fought the urge to lash out. Ryan took a step back. “You want to hit me now, I can see that, but it doesn’t change the fact that you need to come clean with your woman.”
“She isn’t my woman,” Callum said through his teeth.
“She’s carrying your baby, dude. That’s about as attached as you can get.”
“Stop calling me dude. What are you, twelve?”
“I don’t think he’s even that mature,” Rachel said as she came up beside them.
Ryan’s easy-going attitude morphed into something far darker, and he scowled at Rachel. “We’re talking about emotion, Rach. We don’t need you for that. You need to be capable of experiencing some to have an opinion.”
Rachel’s eyes narrowed, and Callum held up his hands to stop them. “What is wrong with the two of you?”
“So many things,” Elle called from behind them. “Now get in here. I have stuff to tell all of you.”
“I’m coming too.” Jack came up from the basement. “You can’t make me stay down there. They’re talking about PMS. I don’t think it’s good for my development to listen to that.”
“Women.” Ryan fist-bumped Jack.
“You can stay,” Callum told Jack. “But the same rules apply. No talking. No telling.”
“Basically, keep your mouth shut,” Jack said. “Yeah, I heard you. Do you have any snacks up here?” He made a beeline for the pantry, Ryan in tow.
Wondering yet again how he’d managed to get from the professionalism of the SAS to this motley crew, Callum headed into the kitchen. The dining table had been claimed by Elle and was covered in computer equipment. Megan sat on the kitchen counter sipping from a mug of coffee. Dimitri stood beside her, leaning against the counter, but ensuring most of his body touched his wife’s. For some reason, seeing them so cosy irritated Callum more than it usually did. And this time it wasn’t purely because their behaviour wasn’t professional. It took a few seconds for him to realise what he was feeling—it was envy. Ashamed and angry with himself, he turned to Elle. “What you got?” he barked.
Elle didn’t seem bothered by his attitude. “I sent photos of the dead guy through to our contact in the government who has access to the face-recognition database that uses Harry’s software.” Harry was the fourth, and now silent, partner in Benson Security. He’d made a fortune developing security software for the government, then married his childhood sweetheart and was now setting up literacy centres in Africa. “It came up blank.”
“Okay,” Callum said. It was to be expected; the database wasn’t exactly extensive. “Is that it?”
She gave him a look of utter disappointment and tapped away at her keyboard then turned the screen towards him. “The search on his fingerprints came up blank too.”
Callum felt a tingle creep up his spine. The atmosphere in the room changed as each of them realised what Elle was saying.
“Did you try the Irish and European databases too?” Ryan said around a mouthful of peanuts.
Jack nodded. “We’re a hub. Easy access to the Atlantic, Ireland and Europe. I don’t know why we don’t have more people here. Apart from the smugglers. Smugglers like to come here.”
Callum shot him a look. “What’d I tell you?”
Jack slapped a hand over his mouth and gave Callum a thumbs-up with the other hand. Ryan handed him the peanuts. “Keep your mouth full. It helps.”
Barely containing a groan, Callum turned back to Elle. “Did you try the other databases?”
“Do I look like an amateur?” Elle said. “Of course I did. He doesn’t exist anywhere.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Ryan said. “He had prison and gang tats. If he has a record, his fingerprints are on file.”
“Exactly, yet there’s no mention of him anywhere,” Elle said.
“What about DNA?” Rachel helped herself to some coffee. “I shouldn’t be drinking this. It will keep me up all night.”
“Cruella, you’re a creature of the night. You don’t need sleep,” Ryan said.
Jack stifled a laugh that turned into a coughing fit when he almost choked on a peanut.
“Cut it out,” Callum snapped at Rachel and Ryan. “Your bickering is getting on my nerves. Whatever is going on with you two, sort it out like adults and keep it out of the business.”
Rachel and Ryan shared a look before both nodded. An u
neasy truce. It was a better result than Callum had expected.
“DNA is going to take a couple of weeks. This isn’t CSI,” Elle said. “We can’t get the results by the end of the show. But, to be honest, I don’t think we’ll get a hit there, either. I think someone has hacked the system and erased this guy.”
“Who could do that?” Rachel asked.
“Governments do it,” Elle said. “I think they did it to that guy David I’ve been trying to track down since we met him in Peru. But, to be honest, a very skilled and connected hacker could do it. Someone like Harry would have access to most databases, and the knowledge to hack into the ones he didn’t.”
“We need to eliminate the government possibility,” Callum said. “I’ll call Lake. See if I can get him to tap into the same network that produced David for us. Maybe someone there will have information on this guy.”
“And if he is a government agent?” Megan said.
“Then we’re in deeper than I thought. You can all kiss goodbye to your freedom for the foreseeable future, because if he is government, there will be people locking us up until they get all the answers they need.” Callum reached for his phone.
“If we’re going to lose our freedom,” Ryan said, “I need a last meal. There must be someone in Campbeltown who delivers out here. Anyone want pizza?”
The rest of the team shook their heads, but Jack held up his hand.
“If it isn’t the government,” Elle said, “it could be a thing this group is doing to stay off the radar. If I had prints from someone else on the team, I could see if their records have been erased too.”
“Unfortunately, we don’t have that. The house blew up taking any prints they might have left behind, with it,” Callum said.
“What about the black box Callum got from the pawnbroker?” Dimitri said. “Couldn’t you lift some prints from that?”
Elle shook her head. “It’s been handled by too many people. There’s no way to get decent prints off it now.”
“It’s a pity Isobel threw away the rest of the stuff in that bag,” Callum said. “We might have lifted a print from something in there.”
Jack cleared his throat and held up his hand. “Permission to speak,” he said with sarcasm.
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