‘Not really,’ said Molly. ‘I’m just trying to think logically.’
‘So what’s the rest of our story?’ said Roddy.
‘Simple,’ said Molly. ‘We tell the truth about Ethan. We moved his body, but so what? And we just say that we’ve been here by the wreckage the whole time.’
Roddy shook his head. ‘Why the fuck would we just sit here and do nothing all that time?’
‘We just did, OK?’ said Molly. ‘When we came to, we searched around this area for Luke for a while, then we thought it best to stay with the vehicle and wait to be rescued. Maybe we thought it wasn’t safe for you to move with your injury, you weren’t up to it, and we didn’t want anyone going off and looking for help alone.’
Roddy nodded. ‘I suppose that makes sense.’ He looked around. ‘So how do we actually get rescued, then?’
Molly looked at the car. The tide was going out, the undercarriage and half the chassis now exposed.
‘We need to start a fire, get some attention.’
She walked down to the car. The boot was above the waterline, so she leaned in and flipped the catch. It popped open downwards and a gush of seawater poured out along with a handful of bits and bobs which floated around in the gently lapping tide. She lifted a petrol canister from the debris in the water, then pushed herself away from the car. She turned to them, opened the canister and sniffed.
‘Bingo. If we pour this over the undercarriage and tyres, strike a match, should make a pretty big smoke signal.’
Roddy pulled a lighter out of his pocket with a groan of pain.
‘Go on then,’ he said offering it. ‘I could do with getting saved. I’m in fucking agony here.’
‘Not so fast,’ said Molly. ‘We have to get rid of the barrel, the gun and the torch first.’
Roddy looked out to sea. ‘Shouldn’t we keep the gun in case those bastards in the speedboat come back?’
Molly put the canister down and searched the horizon. The sky was light in the east now, high feathering clouds striping the sky.
‘They won’t come back,’ she said. ‘It was hours ago we saw them, they can’t still be out on the water. Besides, it’s almost daylight, they wouldn’t risk it. They were probably just checking along the coastline until they ran short of fuel, then headed back to wherever the hell they came from.’ She pulled the gun out from the back of her trousers. ‘And we have to get rid of this, it is a murder weapon, after all.’
She put the gun back, picked up the torch and put it in her pocket, then stood next to the barrel and looked at Adam.
‘Come on then, give me a hand with this thing.’
They headed off in the opposite direction to the one they’d taken Luke’s body, rolling the barrel for several hundred yards until they reached a large rocky outcrop. Molly wiped the handles of the torch and the gun then hurled them both as hard as she could into the sea. They splashed into the surface with the quiet thunks of metal in water.
She turned to look at Adam.
‘So we just roll this into the sea?’ he said, looking at the barrel.
‘I guess so.’
‘It’ll float.’
Molly shrugged. ‘There are no markings on it, there’s nothing to tie it to us or the still.’
‘Won’t there be some of Luke’s blood in there?’
‘The sea will take care of that.’
‘You think?’
‘I honestly have no idea, but it’s our only option.’
They counted to three then heaved the barrel and watched as it tipped into the water below them, landing with a soft splash and bobbing around, bumping into the rocky coastline and slowly filling with water.
Adam rubbed his face and sighed, then looked at Molly. ‘You really think this can work?’
Molly nodded. ‘It can if we stick together.’
They walked back to the car, Adam feeling utterly empty, a lost soul.
Roddy lifted his head slowly as they approached.
‘Sorted?’
They both nodded wearily.
‘I’ve got another question,’ he said. ‘How do we explain that we didn’t light a fire until now?’
Molly considered this for a moment. ‘Who’s to say we didn’t? Maybe we started it last night, but no one was around to see it. We couldn’t send up an inferno because we only had one little petrol canister, we had to ration it because we didn’t know when we were going to be found.’
‘And what makes you think someone is going to see the smoke now and come to the rescue?’
‘Look, I never said the plan was perfect, did I?’ said Molly, running a hand through her hair and down her neck. ‘Do you want to try and get out of here alive or don’t you?’
‘Of course.’
‘Well stop being the smart bastard picking holes in everything and start being helpful for once in your sorry little life.’
Roddy smiled at her. ‘OK, take it easy. I’m just asking the questions the police are going to ask.’
Adam looked up. ‘What do you mean?’
Roddy smiled at him. ‘This all stinks to high fucking heaven. You think they’re not going to give us a grilling?’
‘But we’re just innocent victims of a car crash, right?’ said Adam.
‘Who just happen to be stranded a few walkable miles along the coast from two dead cops and a burnt-out illegal still. In the middle of fucking nowhere. You think they’re going to buy that it’s a coincidence?’
‘But they might not even find the still or the bodies,’ said Adam weakly.
Roddy shook his head. ‘They’ll find them. Or at least we have to assume they will.’
‘Roddy’s right,’ said Molly. ‘We have to presume the worst, be prepared to get interrogated.’
‘The interesting bit,’ said Roddy, ‘is gonna be whether the cops who interview us are in on the bootlegging operation or not.’
Adam put his head in his hands. ‘Jesus Christ, this is never going to end, is it?’
Roddy coughed then smiled as he lay back down on the ground, cradling his shoulder in his hand.
‘It’ll end eventually,’ said Molly. ‘One way or the other.’
35
‘What if no one comes?’ said Adam.
Molly shrugged as she poured more petrol on the Audi’s undercarriage. The flames roared briefly, sending thick black smoke billowing straight up into a pristine sky. The acrid stench of burning fuel and rubber filled their noses. She shoogled the canister and listened. It was half empty already. She put it down next to Roddy, passed out on the ground under Ethan’s coat.
‘Someone will come.’
Adam looked west, the direction of the still. There was no trace of smoke in the sky over there. Were they too far away to see it? Had it burnt out already? Had someone spotted it in the night and called the fire brigade to put it out? Did they even have a fire brigade on Islay?
‘There’s no smoke from the still,’ he said.
‘I know.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘I don’t know.’
Adam looked back at their own smoke signal, reaching lazily upwards into the cold blue.
‘What if no one comes?’
Molly turned to him. ‘I don’t have all the answers, I’m as much in the dark as you are. Stop asking stupid questions.’
Adam looked at her. She seemed close to tears, a wetness in her eyes, but then it could’ve been the petrol fumes. She turned away from his gaze.
Adam looked out to sea, then turned back as he realised Molly was crying – thick, heavy sobs into her hands as her body convulsed with the release of it.
‘It’s OK,’ he said, getting up and trying to put his arm around her. She flinched at his touch and shook him off.
‘It’s not OK,’ she snapped. ‘It’s never going to be OK, what’s happened.’
Adam stared at her back as she composed herself, wiping away tears with the backs of her hands and sniffing. He felt empty and didn’t know what
to say.
‘Look, we’re all just a bit stressed,’ he said.
Molly laughed, a slice of acidic sound. ‘You think?’
They looked at each other, something passing between them, a flicker of what they’d felt back at her place, maybe, a painful reminder of how their lives could’ve been.
‘Sorry,’ he said again.
‘What do you have to be sorry for?’
‘If it wasn’t for me, none of us would be in this mess.’
Molly shook her head. ‘We were unlucky, that’s all.’
It was Adam’s turn to laugh. ‘I think unlucky is an understatement, don’t you?’
‘Maybe.’
He tentatively tried to put his arm round her again. To his surprise, she allowed herself to be held, leaning into him. He smelled her hair, a faint flowery shampoo amongst the bitter smokiness of the fire. It felt so nice holding her, he never wanted to let go. In the middle of the night, back in the still, he could never have imagined being this close to her again. He didn’t want it to end.
She pulled away awkwardly and nodded at Roddy.
‘Better check on numb-gums,’ she said. ‘Make sure he hasn’t OD-ed.’
She knelt and took the wrist of his good arm, felt for his pulse. She nodded. ‘Still with us, but weak. We should think about a Plan B for getting rescued quicker.’
‘Like what?’
Molly shrugged again. ‘Maybe one of us could walk round the coast the other way, see what we can find.’
‘You think that’s a good idea?’
‘I really don’t know.’
‘Wait,’ said Adam. ‘You hear something?’
It was faint, but there was definitely a rattling chug in the air. As he strained to listen it got louder, the sound of a rough diesel engine clanking and rumbling away. It was coming from above, up on the road, although he couldn’t see anything from down here.
Molly ran over and threw some more petrol on the fire, standing back as flames and smoke whooshed into the sky. They both turned, looking desperately along the top of the cliff where the road ran, and screaming. They were shouting and hollering for all they were worth as the engine noise grew louder and louder, then suddenly they saw a rusting tractor pulling up to the edge above them.
They were still yelling and now jumping up and down, waving their arms frantically as an old woman climbed out of the cab and peered down at them. She waved and they waved back.
‘Are you all right?’ Her voice was faint, with a thick island accent.
‘We need help,’ shouted Molly.
‘Anyone injured?’
‘One of us,’ said Molly. ‘We’ve got one dead as well, and one … missing.’
She looked at Adam on that last word.
‘Heavens,’ said the woman. ‘Oh my goodness. Hang on, I’ll get help. Can you wait? I need to go back to the farm to phone the police. That’ll take half an hour, it’s the other side of the Oa.’
Molly laughed. ‘Half an hour is fine, thank you.’
‘Not at all, my dear,’ the woman said. ‘Just hang on, we’ll get you out of there in a jiffy.’
The woman disappeared into the tractor, which revved then crawled away. They listened as the engine noise receded, then looked at each other, grins breaking out on their faces. They quickly hugged each other, then separated clumsily.
‘Thank Christ,’ said Molly, smiling and shaking her head.
‘I know.’ Adam put his head in his hands. ‘I can’t believe it.’
‘Come on,’ said Molly. ‘Let’s tell Roddy we’ve saved his miserable wee life.’
They trudged over and slumped to their knees next to him.
‘Roddy,’ said Adam, shaking him. ‘Come on, Roddy, wake up, we’re saved.’
Roddy didn’t move.
‘Come on, big guy,’ Adam whispered into his ear. ‘Wake up, it’s going to be OK.’
No response.
Adam put two fingers to Roddy’s wrist, waited a moment, then pressed the fingers into his neck.
‘I can’t find a pulse.’
‘What?’ said Molly.
Adam put an ear to Roddy’s mouth and a hand on his chest.
‘Is he breathing?’
Adam shrugged, then grabbed Roddy’s head and shook. ‘Roddy, fucking hell.’
A smile crept over Roddy face as he opened his eyes, taking a while to focus.
‘What are you cunts waking me up for?’ he whispered. ‘I was having a pretty sweet dream about an orgy.’
‘Never mind that shit,’ said Adam, breathing heavily. ‘We’ve been spotted. We’re going to be rescued. Some old dear is away to get help. The smoke signal worked.’
Roddy smiled weakly.
‘Now it’s going to get interesting,’ he said. ‘Pass me that fucking coke.’
36
Two hours later they were chugging along the coast in an RNLI lifeboat heading for Port Ellen. The old lady had phoned the police, a spotty young copper appearing after an hour, assessing the situation and realising he didn’t have any equipment to get them back up the cliff. He called the lifeboat, which had to come from Port Askaig on the other side of the island, so it was almost noon by the time they were lugging Roddy and Ethan onto stretchers and helping Adam and Molly on board, Molly briefly swapping relieved banter with a member of the crew she knew.
They were given hot drinks and blankets, one of the crew injecting Roddy with morphine, another covering Ethan’s body with a sheet, for all the good that would do. The sight of Ethan and Luke’s mangled faces would always live with Adam, always haunt him.
They quickly gave the bare bones of their story to one of the crew, who listened impassively then went to radio it in to the police, contacting the ambulance at the same time to let them know what was coming.
Adam sat sipping from his cup, warming his hands, blanket hugged to his body. He felt strangely in limbo. The ordeal was over, they were rescued, but there was no relief, no possibility to relax. He and Molly still had a shitload of explaining to do. Or did they? Had anyone found Joe and Grant’s bodies? And if they had, would the police suspect a connection?
He watched the coast drift by, rocky cliffs peppered with nests and populated by swooping seabirds. Just as well they hadn’t tried to walk this way, there didn’t seem to be any path along the coast in this direction. Then again, heading the other way had got them into the biggest heap of fucking trouble of their lives. Should’ve stayed put, done the smoke signal thing from the start, then Luke would still be alive. But would anyone have been around to see the smoke? Still, sitting there in the freezing cold for the night would’ve been better than what they’d gone through. Bloody hindsight. He was tearing himself up about it, unable to get the sight of Luke’s missing face out of his head, the sound and smell of the wound, the feel of the cold flesh against his. It was unbearable. But he had to keep it together for all their sakes.
‘You OK?’ said Molly.
He shook his head, then felt her hand on his wrist.
He turned and smiled at her, but it was a weak gesture, a positivity he didn’t feel, and it felt stupid and unconvincing on his face.
Molly looked past him.
‘Here we go,’ she said.
Adam turned to see the low whitewashed rows of Port Ellen.
‘Back to civilisation, eh?’ he said.
Molly laughed under her breath. ‘Don’t know if I’d call it that.’
The boat turned towards the gap in the harbour wall, and they sped through it, Adam spotting the B&B where they were all still checked in. Shit, he would have to take Ethan and Luke’s stuff away. How long would Roddy be in hospital? What if he needed treatment off the island? They didn’t even have a car now, how would they ever get away from here? Maybe the police wouldn’t let them get away.
He saw the ambulance waiting at the dockside, a single police car next to it. An old copper with a paunch stood drinking coffee and chatting to the ambulance driver and another man with a camer
a.
‘Eric,’ said Molly, pointing.
‘Yeah?’ said Adam. ‘Should we tell him what really happened?’
Molly frowned to herself for a few moments. ‘I don’t think so.’
‘I thought you said you trusted him.’
‘I don’t for a minute think he was in on the still operation, but that doesn’t mean we should go blabbing everything to him. Like I said to Roddy, he’s not Jim’ll Fix It, just an old copper who happened to know my dad.’
‘But maybe he can help.’
‘Maybe we won’t need any help. If we could’ve got a hold of him last night, maybe he would’ve come and got us, but we’re rescued now, I don’t know how much help he can be. Let’s just stick to the story. We don’t want to start telling different versions to different people, we’re bound to trip ourselves up that way. Let’s just wait and see what the police have found at the still, if they’ve found anything. If me, you and Roddy stick to our story and don’t fuck it up, we won’t be implicated in anything.’
‘You really think so?’
Molly stared at him. ‘Just stay calm. Don’t start embellishing anything, just stick to the basic facts – we crashed, we found Ethan, we searched for Luke, we couldn’t find him, we lit a fire, we got found in the morning. OK?’
‘OK.’
Their boat pulled in alongside the dock and tied up, Adam and Molly thanking the crew profusely, words they waved away. Eric helped Molly then Adam out of the boat as the ambulance crew took Roddy and Ethan on stretchers into the back of their vehicle. The bloke with the camera began taking pictures of it all.
‘Not now, Dean,’ the policeman said, then turned to Molly. ‘Sounds like you’ve been through the wringer, dear.’
‘Hi, Eric,’ said Molly. ‘Yeah, quite something. Thought we’d never be found. This is Adam, by the way.’
Adam stuck his hand out, but Eric put an arm on his shoulder.
‘Let’s get you in the car,’ he said. ‘I’ll give you a lift to the hospital.’
Adam stopped. ‘Shouldn’t we go in the ambulance?’
Eric looked at him with narrow eyes. ‘You’ll be fine with me.’
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