by V Clifford
He snapped his fingers.
Viv said, ‘Becky?’
He continued, ‘Yes, Becky. She okay?’
‘Not sure yet. They were worried about her temperature. She’d been lying for hours in the dampness.’ Mac said, ‘That bump on the head was pretty suspicious. It’s not as if that was her first time in the cave . . . I mean what was she up to?’
Viv interrupted. ‘Now, now, she was doing her best.’
‘She might well have been, but say you guys hadn’t found the cave and she was out there for another night. She’d have been even more in the shit than she is already.’
‘You’d have sent someone out to find her, though, wouldn’t you?’
He shrugged. ‘Doubt it. We’d have thought that she was still waiting for you guys to pitch up. There was no reason for us to think that she’d be hurt. Hypothermia is a killer, make no mistake.’ He shot a glance at Frances. ‘There’s nothing more that we can do. Although I wouldn’t mind having a look inside that cave.’
There was something irritated in his tone and Viv said. ‘Do you believe her story?’
He hesitated and sighed. ‘No reason yet to believe otherwise.’
‘That’ll be a no then,’ Viv countered.
‘No that’ll be a, we have snippets of a story which we, as yet, have no reason not to believe.’
‘But?’
He didn’t respond.
Viv could tell he was holding something back. After her helicopter trip she had more reason to be suspicious than Mac. Since Ruddy had subtly implied to keep her recce to herself, she kept her mouth shut.
‘Right, mind if I tuck into what’s left?’
‘No, no, go ahead,’ was the collective reply.
The room stank of garlic, which was fine when fresh, but Viv dreaded to think what it would be like seeping out of pores the next morning.
‘Where’s Gordon? Already thrown in the towel?’
Frances said, ‘Eh, he’s gone to bed. I think.’
This got Mac’s attention. ‘You only think? Or he has gone to bed?’
Viv said, ‘No idea. He stormed off earlier. But he was going in the direction of the men’s quarters and we’ve not seen him passing.’ She checked with the others. ‘He’d have to pass us to get out? There’s no way out the back. Anyway, who in their right mind would go out in this?’
As she spoke she stared out at the torrential rain and blackness and wondered if Gordon was in his right mind – whatever that might mean. Another rumble of thunder directly above made her think it was worth checking. ‘Anyone want to volunteer to go see that the beast is in his lair?’
‘Why am I getting the sense that all is not well with Gordon?’ Mac said, between bites of bread. Maintaining a persuasive picture of calm.
Davie prised himself out from the bench and said, ‘I’ll check.’ Off he headed to look for Gordon.
Mac glanced at Viv, then at Archie, who had become captivated by his empty mug. ‘Care to fill me in?’
Archie sought out Viv’s eyes, but she shook her head. ‘I’ve got nothing to say. Floor’s all yours.’
Archie remained silent.
Mac said, ‘If there’s anything to report now’s the time . . . No one will be going far. We couldn’t get the minibus down the track. A culvert at the top has collapsed and the water is pouring like a river right down to the shore. Unbelievable. I’ve never seen a flash flood. Could easily have swept the bus into the peat bog. Robbie has taken himself to the nearest village to see if there’s anything we can do to get the culvert fixed. Meantime. Snakes and Ladders or Charades?’
Viv sighed. ‘Shit. I don’t think this lot will be too keen on the Snakes and Ladders idea and I’m guessing Charades have already been happening.’
Mac said, ‘Tell me more.’
‘You’ll find out for yourself.’
‘But I’d like you to tell me.’
Archie stared at Viv, as if willing her not to speak.
Mac turned to Archie. ‘You want to fill me in?’
Archie stood up and climbed out from behind the table. ‘Knackered. Could do with a early night.’
‘Ah, Glen, how have they been behaving?’ Mac said.
The man that had provided the food had come in and now had a name. ‘Oh, no worse than any other group. It hasn’t helped not having power. Here. I’ve brought replacement candles and if anyone wants a hot water bottle . . .’
Viv laughed. ‘Scotland. The only country in the world that has hot water bottles on the menu all year round. I’ll have one.’
Glen pointed to a cupboard. ‘Bottles are in there. I’ve filled up all the flasks. Watch yourself – it’s boiling.’
Viv was about to go and fetch a bottle when a look from Mac made her stop.
He said, ‘You’ll not be needing one quite yet.’
She sat herself down on the opposite bench and said briskly, ‘Right. What’s all this really about?’
‘You know, Viv, I thought I had it covered, but the incident with Becky doesn’t smell like the kind of incident that she thinly described. There’s something that doesn’t add up. How many times do you think she’s been in that cave and never bumped her head?’
Viv shrugged and raised her eyebrows. ‘Plenty, I guess.’
‘You got it. How did you get on with the troops?’
‘Well, I managed to piss two of them off big-time. Frances seems to have thawed but Gordon is a touchy sod. Oh and Archie said something that might be nothing . . .’
‘Spill.’
‘Well, he said something about not dying for Queen and country. I thought that was an odd thing for someone who’d signed the OSA, a declaration that he’d do exactly that. But what was more interesting was the fact that he was nervous that he’d said it, and immediately started to back pedal. Could be nothing.’
‘We managed to sweep all of their consoles back at Fettes. None of them look as if we have anything to worry about. I can’t help thinking that we should have had you in on the sweep instead of sussing them out here when they’re out of their comfort zone.’
‘Now you tell me. Now that I’ve made enemies. I’ve got the feeling that Frances is putting on a fabulous act, and Archie swings between being gentlemanly and a bruiser. He and Gordon have had a couple of scraps. But he’s got to be doing some serious acting too. I can’t believe the amount of bad faith . . . oh forget it.’ She batted her hand to brush the vision away.
‘And Davie?’
‘He’s had a voyage of discovery this weekend. Seems to have enjoyed being pushed physically and he could fairly handle a canoe. Surprised himself, since he’d not been in one since he was at school.’
‘So what happened with Frances?’
‘Well, you already know that.’
‘Humour me.’
‘She got into trouble crossing the bay and I brought her to shore.’
‘Yep, I got that. Nothing more?’
‘No. Nothing more.’ Viv was convinced that whoever the mole might be it wasn’t Frances. Mac had probably based his suspicions on her surreptitious behaviour in the office. Sneaking off to inject herself with insulin was no crime. He had nothing, no reason to suspect she was up to anything else that Viv knew of. Since they’d arrived the ‘incidents’ with Frances had both been insulin-related, and as far as Viv was concerned that was Frances’ secret to tell. Although it was in her interest to tell it sooner rather than later.
‘Look, Mac, unless you’ve got something on her that you’re not willing to share with me I’d say you’re wide of the mark. Sure she has issues but they don’t run to worrying anyone about National Security.’ She snorted. ‘I fucking hate that phrase. It is so meaningless, a generalisation designed to scare people. No evidence equals “National Security”.’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘It’s not a joke, Viv. There’s chatter. There’s something in the offing and our job is to intervene. Stop it from becoming a bigger threat.’
‘In that case you’ll
have to let me have access to their consoles.’
‘I told you they’d been swept.’
‘Yes but you didn’t say by whom or how creatively.’ She nudged his arm and winked. ‘You need someone unorthodox to take a peek. Go on, you know you want me to.’
He sighed. ‘You’ve no idea of the ear-bending I’m getting. When we get back we’ll go straight into HQ.’
She smiled. ‘Now you’re talking. You mean the real HQ, not Fettes?’ She was definitely warming to the idea of snooping around in cyber-space. There was nothing more exciting than breaking into places that were thought to be unreachable. ‘Can you get me clearance or are we under the wire?’
His eyes almost popped out of his head. ‘You are going nowhere near that HQ. And as for clearance! You’re kidding, right?’
‘Okay. Okay. Keep your shirt on.’ She grinned and punched his upper arm. ‘Things are looking more like my kind of thing all of a sudden. I’ve had quite enough babysitting for one weekend.’ She was about to tell him about Gordon’s cliff scare when he walked in. A look of disgust swept over his face as if he’d witnessed some kind of atrocity and not two colleagues sitting chatting in the candlelight.
Viv asked, ‘How are you doing?’
Mac was Gordon’s boss and Viv watched as he tempered his response. ‘Fine, thanks to you. You’ve no doubt filled him in.’ He nodded in Mac’s direction. Borderline insolence. Unlike Viv, Mac was a team player, but he was no lightweight. Viv waited for his reaction.
‘She hasn’t said a word about the weekend apart from the bit when Frances almost killed herself. But I already knew about that. So how about you? You get on okay?’
Viv imagined Gordon flushing, but his face was so sunburned it was difficult to tell. He turned his back to them and filled a mug with water from the flask. He stirred the teabag as if it were a work of art. Eventually he raised his head and glanced at Mac. ‘I didn’t enjoy it much if that’s what you’re asking. I hate swimming, I hate climbing, and I’m not a big fan of canoeing. So all in all it’s been a bit of a nightmare for me.’ He poked his own chest. ‘Me. I’m a dry land creature.’
Viv thought he was certainly right about the ‘creature’ bit. He’d been a proper pain in the butt.
Mac said, ‘You don’t get any sense that you’ve stretched yourself, then?’
‘No I fu . . .’
Viv’s eyes widened. He was seriously pushing his luck. Insubordination was a sackable offence in the NTF, and just because they were away from the office didn’t mean the hierarchy evaporated.
He didn’t finish that particular line. ‘I don’t feel stretched. It’s just been wet and a waste of everyone’s time. The sooner we get back to the city the better. In fact, any idea when that might be?’
‘Well, there is the small matter of the minibus not being able to get down the track until we find someone who can do a temporary repair on the culvert. In the morning, if the rain’s gone off we’ll either find a way of fixing it ourselves or we’ll walk out and catch the bus at the main road.’
Gordon bit his lip, physically and metaphorically. He sighed, shook his head, and left the room.
Chapter Fifteen
Mac turned to Viv. ‘He’s behaving out of character. Although I’ve never seen him away from the office . . . oh no, that’s a lie, I played football with him once. I didn’t make it to the post match booze up, so I haven’t seen him socially. But he’s usually an affable bloke.’
Viv replied, ‘He was helpful when Sal and I had to . . . well you know about that. I mean he was peeved that I could go places that he couldn’t, well at least not in work time. But he let me use his console to . . .’
Mac interrupted by putting up his hand. ‘Best I don’t know.’
‘You think we’ll get home tomorrow?’
‘Don’t see why not, although the track was dodgy. Huge stretches where it’s been washed into the ditch. It wasn’t hard going for me because I was walking down hill. But you lot marching up hill in the morning after so much exercise today . . . I’m not so sure.’
‘You laying down another gauntlet?’
‘No. I’m just saying that there might not be a track left.’
‘On that jolly note I’m going to hit the hay.’ Viv stood and mock saluted him. She gathered up the remaining food and took it to the kitchen. Archie’s bulk loomed before the open fridge. He stared into the dark hole, bare apart from a couple of half empty jars of pickle in the door. Everything else in the room looked soft with candlelight flickering over it. The work surfaces, pots and pans, the deep Belfast sink could all have been part of a movie set.
‘Still peckish?’
He hadn’t heard her come in and looked guilty.
She handed him the tray. ‘Here there’s some bread and stuff left. Tuck in.’
He screwed up his face. ‘If we ever get out of here I’m having steak tartare for two.’
Viv laughed. ‘Did you hear what Mac was saying about the track?’
He shook his head. ‘No, why? What’s happening?’
Viv wasn’t convinced. ‘He doesn’t think we’ll get the bus down or whether we’ll be able to make it to the road. The rain has washed sections of the track into the ditch.’
‘Christ, that’s all we need. I think he underestimates our desire to get out of this place. I’ll be walking come what may.’
Viv thought, we’ll see. ‘Night.’
‘Night.’
Chapter Sixteen
Viv woke the next morning with the sun streaming through the bedroom window. She looked across at Frances tangled in her duvet, only her hair visible. Viv pulled back her own quilt and slipped over to the window. The bay was a more tranquil sight than she could have imagined after the drama of the storm. Wall-to-wall blue sky, the sea like glass, and barely a ripple as tiny waves crept onto the shore. Dark brown seaweed was banked up on the pebbles, evidence that she hadn’t simply dreamt the wild weather. Where had it all come from? She was glad it hadn’t been floating beneath the waves as she swam across the bay, nor when they’d paddled back. She pulled on her kit and squeezed silently out of the room.
She wasn’t the first up. Glen was sitting on one of the wooden chairs, with binoculars up to his eyes.
‘Hope I’m not eating into your precious time?’
‘No, you’re all right. I’m waiting for the urn to heat up. I don’t trust it on its own. I’d rather be out there.’ He pointed to the beach. He handed her the binoculars. ‘Take a look at that.’ He grinned. ‘Go on, go down to the beach and check out what our seals are up to this morning. They love the calm after a storm.’
She wandered down to the shore, taking up a position on a large boulder. She stood in the cool still air staring out into the bay. She caught sight of two seals ducking and diving over each other. She grinned, transfixed at how at home they were in their watery environment. It was like watching ballet. Occasionally both heads would rise and they would stare at each other before continuing their dance. She drew in a long breath and released it slowly, as if allowing herself a guilty pleasure, and relished the silent sea air for the first time this weekend. Eventually the seals swam further out to sea, getting smaller and smaller as Viv watched.
She turned her sights inland. The weather had ravaged the track as Mac had said. To her left near the shore a pile of rubble and sand had washed down leaving huge gouges where the track had been. It wasn’t only the culvert that would stop the minibus getting here.
‘Hi.’
She turned to see Mac standing in the doorway wearing a tee shirt adorned with a faded figure in an impossible yoga posture, and light coloured trousers with pockets everywhere. ‘I can hardly believe we’re in the same place. I see what you mean about the track. No vehicle will be going up that for a while.’
‘You’d be amazed how quickly they’ll fix it with the right machine. Coffee?’ He held up a mug and handed it to her.
‘Ta.’ She sniffed the steaming mug. ‘Is this real?’<
br />
He nodded. ‘Secret stash.’
‘Excellent. It’s unbelievably beautiful when it’s like this. Blue sky as far as the eye can see. Seals in the bay.’ She nodded in the direction of where they’d been. ‘Mind you a weekend’s plenty.’
Mac laughed. ‘I’m grateful that you came.’
‘What, even if it was a total waste of time?’
‘But you wouldn’t have got to see the seals. They have to be worth it.’
‘Maybe. If I had another day I’d be able to do a bit more digging. Meal times are always revealing. Although I haven’t enjoyed being Gordon’s scapegoat.’
‘What exactly has he been up to?’ He laid his mug on the ground and performed the most amazing salute to the sun.
Viv’s jaw dropped. ‘Since when did you start doing yoga?’
‘Six months. Got to get these muscles in shape.’
She shook her head. She’d never seen Mac anything other than super-fit. Perhaps there was a woman involved. She was about to ask but couldn’t. She continued. ‘Gordon’s just lost the plot. His ego’s punctured. I can’t think that it’s anything more than that. And since I came to the rescue for Frances and then him, he’s tarred me as a smart arse. Ungrateful shit. He also thinks that you and I,’ she pointed in disbelief, ‘are an item, but he’s been saying that since the get go. I’ve tried to put him right but he’s persistent and it’s definitely affected the others.’
‘How?’
‘They’re doubtful.’
He nodded. ‘He doth protest too much. I think he’s jealous.’
‘Spare me. No way.’
He finished a few more stretches as Viv looked on, incredulous that he’d become so supple in just six months. ‘The power’s back on so there should be a hearty breakfast. I heard Archie in the kitchen last night foraging for leftovers.’
‘You mean when I took the stuff from the table into the kitchen or later?’
‘No, I mean during the night.’
‘How did you know it was him?’
‘I watched him slink along the corridor. He stopped at the other bedroom doors and listened before tiptoeing downstairs.’