by Chris Ryan
Alex shrugged. ‘Who knows? We don’t know what it was.’
The TV sound jumped. Tiff was channel-hopping.
‘We’d better not leave her alone,’ said Amber. ‘She might not stay in there. We’ll watch her in shifts.’
‘I’ll do the first,’ sighed Hex. ‘After all, I’ve done it before.’
There was silence. Tiff had turned off the TV. ‘Uh-oh,’ said Amber. ‘The pacifier isn’t working.’
Hex put his hand on the door. His face was grim. ‘Check on me in half an hour.’
Paulo said, ‘Let’s have a look in the Range Rover. I had two pills; one of them might still be in there.’
Li, Amber and Alex joined Paulo outside. Paulo had scoured the entire Range Rover twice.
‘Nothing?’ said Alex.
Paulo shook his head.
‘It’s not in her room,’ said Li.
‘And it’s not in her pockets,’ said Amber. ‘She must have taken them both.’
Paulo straightened up and ran a hand through his hair. ‘That was good evidence. We could have taken that to the police. I shouldn’t have let them out of my sight.’
Li spluttered, ‘None of us thought she’d actually go through your pockets.’
‘We can still go to the police,’ said Amber. ‘A pickup by boat, a slick method of transportation across the moors – all the suspicious stuff you guys saw at night . . . It’s a big operation, transporting big quantities. There must be a factory close by.’
‘Paulo and Li, you’ve seen the strongest evidence,’ said Alex. ‘You come with me.’
Li turned to Amber. ‘Amber, will you be all right here to take over from Hex?’
Amber sighed. ‘It’ll be an experience, I suppose.’
13
TIFF
Tiff was sitting quietly on the floor in the TV room. Hex had done his best to keep the atmosphere calming – the TV was off, the curtains were closed because the sun wouldn’t be going down yet. At first she’d been leaping around like a monkey, excited by every sound, trying to get him into the same mood. Now she was sitting with her back to the cold radiator, looking thoroughly bored, her knees pulled up to her chest. Aside from that she looked fairly normal, except that her pupils were huge black holes and she kept grinding her teeth. And she was rather more talkative than usual.
‘You guys, you just want to stop me doing anything. I should be having fun. You think you can brainwash me to be like other people . . . It’s so boring.’
Hex tuned it out. He was catching up on his e-mails. He had friends in online communities all over the world, some of whom he hadn’t e-mailed for a while. Plenty to be getting on with.
‘Everything is so dull,’ said Tiff. ‘Everything and everybody. Dull, dull, dull.’
Hex was looking at the screen but no longer paying attention to it. He was listening to Tiff in spite of himself. He was thinking about what it was like before he met the others. Bored rigid by school, he was an outsider no one understood. Everything seemed trivial and unchallenging. Then he’d discovered the Internet and had reinvented himself in a virtual world. He had friends – people he’d met online who were interested in the same things. He was e-mailing some of them now. He didn’t know what most of them looked like, how old they were, what their real names were – in the online universe, you chose your own name, you were a person you’d invented.
‘You won’t understand,’ said Tiff. ‘Nobody does.’ She ground her teeth again.
Perhaps he should tell Tiff to go online. Sort her life out that way. His online world had been more real than reality. He’d quite happily have become a pixel, slid into a machine and stayed in virtual reality for eternity. That was until he’d met Amber, Alex, Paulo and Li. Virtual Hex had thought he knew what excitement and danger were. If he made a wrong move on the Internet his machine could be trashed – his virtual world could end. It seemed like high stakes indeed. Now, though, he could pay for mistakes with real injuries, his actual life. Not only that; other people could be hurt, crippled or killed. His four friends, to whom he was closer than he had ever been to anyone, were still alive today because of things he had done. He was alive because of things they had done. Together they’d saved people, brought killers to justice, changed people’s lives. They’d done things that mattered, and that made the real world worth living in.
He looked at the e-mail windows he had open, the friends waiting for a reply. The first was to ScaryHarry. He’d ‘known’ ScaryHarry for years. He was a reformed hacker who designed security systems for banks. Not the kind of security systems that dealt with hold-ups; the kind that kept out other hackers like him. Hex didn’t quite feel able to relate to ScaryHarry right now. He miniaturized the window. Next was johnsmith. Hex knew even less about johnsmith – all lower case – than he did about ScaryHarry. Hex was intrigued by him – johnsmith revelled in enigmatic e-mail exchanges yet had chosen the world’s most deliberately anonymous name. But that would have to wait until later too.
He glanced at the clock in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. Any moment, Amber would take over.
‘Dull,’ said Tiff again. She fidgeted in the pockets of her denim jacket and pulled out a dark tube. She looked at it and shook it, inspecting it minutely. It was her green glow stick from the morning. ‘It’s dead,’ she said. ‘What a pity.’ She flicked it from side to side, trying to start it again.
She looked so genuinely sad. It was such an unexpected sight, after her habitual carping sarcasm that Hex found himself looking at the dark stick too. It reminded him of cramped places, of breathing in dust, of a dead body. ‘Sometimes,’ he said, ‘you think you’re going to die and you don’t. That stops you thinking life is dull.’
It came out before he even thought it. He buried his head in his hands. What was he doing?
‘Wow,’ said Tiff. ‘That is so profound.’
She was stoned out of her head, thought Hex. Tomorrow she wouldn’t remember a word he’d said. He looked at his watch. ‘You need to have a good talk to Amber,’ he said confidently. ‘She’ll understand exactly where you’re coming from.’
The door opened. Right on cue, Amber was here.
Hex was on his feet immediately. ‘See you in a bit,’ he said, and closed the door behind him.
Tiff was talking immediately. ‘I’ve misjudged Hex. He’s a really good listener. He’s so cool. Really deep. No one’s ever listened to me like that before.’
Amber was wary. Tiff laid back, thoughtful? What on earth was that drug she’d taken? Perhaps they were wrong to go to the police if it could tame a hellcat like Tiff.
‘Hex says I need to have a talk to you, woman to woman,’ said Tiff.
Thanks, Hex, thought Amber.
‘OK,’ said the officer, scanning the statement. Alex, Paulo and Li sat on the opposite side of the table from him. ‘You have speculated that there might be a drugs factory somewhere on the estate, that drugs are being made and smuggled out inside freshly killed deer. Do you have any thoughts on where the factory might be?’
They shook their heads.
‘You saw these gamekeepers with carcasses full of small white objects. When you asked the gamekeepers what they were they said they were bits of polystyrene packing material. Is that right?’
Paulo realized how lame the story sounded. They’d decided not to mention that Tiff had taken the pills. There was no proof that that was where she’d got them. Without the evidence, there was nothing to it. ‘Yes,’ said Paulo.
‘I’ve been on shoots before,’ said Alex. ‘No one packs carcasses with polystyrene to make them look pretty.’
The officer shrugged. ‘It’s a top-flight luxury establishment. I’ve had tea up there and they put a doily between the cup and the saucer.’ He continued to read from the statement. ‘You think there is smuggling going on. You saw two gamekeepers, who you cannot identify, loading carcasses into a boat off the Kyle of Tongue. Then you saw a carcass washed up in a cave on Rowan Island.’
>
‘That’s right,’ said Li. She looked at Paulo. This wasn’t going well.
‘It doesn’t sound like much, does it?’ said Alex.
The officer looked at the statement. ‘On the face of it, no. But we’d always rather people came to us with suspicions of any sort – it’s our job to find out whether they’re founded on fact or not. We’ll send an officer up to talk to the laird. From what you’ve said, there might be a bit of minor poaching going on. But I doubt there’s any drug running. We will of course ask to see the packing material but I doubt it’s anything to worry about. The laird’s a prominent figure in the community – he just funded a new computer wing for the local school. Minor members of royalty come on his shoots. I very much doubt he’s up to anything.’ He turned the statement round and indicated a space at the bottom with his pen. ‘If you’d just like to read it and sign here.’
Hex looked up as Paulo, Alex and Li came into the kitchen.
‘Hex, have you found anything?’ asked Alex. He pulled out a chair at the wooden table and sat down opposite him.
As soon as they left the police station Alex had texted Hex and asked him to find whatever information he could about Frank Allen, the laird.
‘Well,’ said Hex, ‘our laird is more barrow boy than Barrow-in-Furness.’
‘What do you mean?’ said Li.
‘He’s not Scottish. He’s from the East End of London and he inherited a lot of money from his father a few years ago, which seems to be when he started the lodge. A number of the Sunday papers have done profiles of him. Before he arrived, Glaickvullin village was tiny, like Tongue. He moved in and did up the castle. First builders came, then farmhands and mechanics. Then, once it was up and running, it was chefs, waitresses, gamekeepers, cleaners, bookkeepers. New shops opened. The local school reopened and he built a computer wing. They were about to close the doctor’s surgery as there weren’t enough people in the village to make it worthwhile. Now there’s a mini hospital there. He’s practically reinvented Glaickvullin.’
Paulo sat down at the table and put his head in his hands. ‘No wonder the police don’t believe us. He’s the local patron saint. Alex, you saw him. What was he like?’
Alex shrugged. ‘Not really a country person. Didn’t fit. But that’s about all I noticed.’
‘I wonder where he got all his money?’ said Li. ‘Does it say?’
‘Property, it seems,’ replied Hex, typing.
Paulo checked his watch and got up. ‘Time for someone to relieve Amber. How’s the patient?’
‘Talkative,’ said Hex. ‘You’ll see.’
Paulo went out and closed the door.
‘We need evidence,’ said Li. ‘How do we get that?’
Alex spoke quietly. ‘There are two places where we’ve seen strange things, the bothy and the moor. We go and do some surveillance. We take the camera. Those guys must be leaving some evidence of what they are really up to, and we’re going to find it. Hex, can you find out any more about our laird and his employees?’
‘Just on that now,’ smiled Hex. He hit SEND. Finally he’d found something he wanted to e-mail ScaryHarry about.
‘Our guys operate at night,’ said Li. ‘We could go out after supper.’
Amber came back into the room and clapped Hex on the back. ‘You’ve made a real friend there, honey.’
Hex looked round in horror. ‘Have I?’
‘Oh yes,’ said Amber. She looked at Li and Alex. ‘What’s the score?’
14
SURVEILLANCE
Hex showed Li the grid reference on his GPS. ‘Here’s where you saw the six-wheelers.’
Li nodded.
It was dark. There was no moon. A chilly wind blew across the open moor. Ever since the rain it had been a lot colder. They were glad of their black fleeces and balaclavas. They had smeared camouflage cream on their faces, necks and wrists so that they could blend seamlessly into the landscape.
Li swept her torch around the area. ‘Where are we going to lay up?’
Hex’s torch found a wiggly trench in the ground. A dry stream bed. ‘Perfect,’ he said, and vaulted in.
He vaulted straight back out.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘It’s full of freezing water,’ he groaned. ‘I’d forgotten about all that rain.’
Li jumped in. The water lapped over her boots. She knelt down and shuddered. ‘Let’s hope we don’t have to wait for long.’
Hex slipped in again, grumbled and ducked down. It was unpleasant but it was good cover. They could see in all directions and if headlights came along they could stay out of sight.
Li shook herself, trying to get warm. ‘Of course, they may not come here again.’
‘They’d better come,’ shivered Hex.
A light burned in the window of the bothy down below, so that it looked like a tiny lantern. Amber and Alex lay on their stomachs watching it, camouflaged like Li and Hex.
Amber was checking the map. ‘Is that it?’ There was always a chance they’d got the wrong bothy in the dark.
Alex checked the grid reference. ‘Yes, that’s the one.’
The two friends switched their torches off. They crept down the hill carefully, working by feel. In the light from the window they could see the six-wheeled ATV – and another vehicle, a normal quad. Did the gamekeepers have guests? In the window they could see three figures. It seemed they did.
Alex stopped and sat down. He took the video camera out of his pack and began filming. ‘This is the perfect hideaway,’ he whispered. ‘Miles from any roads. No one’s going to stumble across it in the night by accident.’
‘Except if they’re in a drug-induced haze.’
Alex knew she was joking but he still couldn’t get the experience out of his mind. ‘It wasn’t a haze,’ he said. ‘It was like being possessed.’
‘Do you think Tiff’s taken the same thing?’
‘No,’ muttered Alex. ‘She’s enjoying it. There’s no way you could enjoy what I had.’
The men were still just standing in the room, talking. ‘Come on,’ growled Alex softly. ‘Stop discussing the football and do something weird, like you did the other night.’
A chink of light appeared about a metre to the left of the window. The door was opening. A figure came out, silhouetted against the golden lamplight. He was tall, heavily built.
‘Ah,’ muttered Alex. ‘We haven’t seen you before. Smile for the camera.’
One of the gamekeepers came out, carrying something large and heavy in his arms. Amber squeezed Alex’s arm. It was a deer carcass.
The other man came out with another deer carcass. They loaded them onto the six-wheeler. The big man got on the quad and started it. The headlights winked on. Instinctively Amber and Alex ducked, but they were well hidden. One of the gamekeepers went to lock the door, then climbed on the ATV behind the other. The two bikes revved and roared away.
‘Is that it?’ said Amber.
Alex lowered the camera and switched it off. ‘We should have given the camera to Hex and Li.’
‘I wonder how Paulo’s getting on with Tiff,’ said Li.
‘I hope he’s braced for some deep, meaningful conversations,’ said Hex. ‘That drug’s made her very introspective.’
The sound of a lone vehicle drifted across the night sky. Immediately they focused on the job. The sound came closer and a waft of exhaust fumes drifted over to them. Li spotted a cluster of headlights, bouncing through the sky.
‘Two vehicles,’ she whispered. ‘There was only one before. They’ve brought a friend.’
The two friends ducked well down in the stream bed. Now they would see what really went on here.
They heard the bikes pull up and the engines stop, but they kept down as low as possible. Their heads were only metres away from the wheels.
The six-wheeler’s lights were still on. One of the gamekeepers walked a short way away from it, shining a torch on the ground. The other unclipped some elastic ropes
securing the carcasses.
The other bike, a normal quad, had a lone rider. He stood up, silhouetted against the six-wheeler’s lights. He was big, very powerfully built, well over six feet tall. Even in silhouette they could see he was dressed differently from the gamekeepers. He wore baggy jeans and a hoodie pulled up so that he looked like he was wearing a shroud. He was powerfully built and the baggy clothes made him look even bigger. City clothes, thought Hex. Not country gear.
When the big man talked, the other two stopped what they were doing and listened attentively. That could only mean one thing.
Li whispered to Hex, ‘Those gamekeepers are really scared of this guy.’
One of them put the torch in his mouth, ghoulishly reddening his face. He knelt down and there was a metallic noise; then his face was obscured by a shadow. The big man waited, his face dark under the hood. What were they doing?
The kneeling gamekeeper pulled something out of the ground and went behind it. Down behind it. Li and Hex heard a sound like feet on metal rungs.
A few moments later there was another sound like an engine starting.
Li gripped Hex’s arm. It was the sound she had heard in the cave.
A light flooded into the sky from deep in the ground, as though someone had turned a spotlight on. It illuminated the cloud above – and the big square trapdoor that the man had opened in the ground. So that’s where he had disappeared.
Li and Hex held their breath. Something was buried under the heather.
They heard feet on rungs again. The second gamekeeper was waiting with one of the deer carcasses. Arms reached out from behind the trapdoor and dug into the carcass. Li and Hex caught a glimpse of something blue, bright royal blue, being pulled out of the split where the carcass had been gutted. A small blue drum, about the size of a rugby ball.
The gamekeeper descended out of sight and the big man followed him down. The other gamekeeper dumped the remaining carcass beside the trapdoor, climbed down a few rungs, eased another blue drum out of the carcass, then disappeared.
The light shone into the night sky. It seemed to beckon: Come closer. Come and look. It seemed wrong to just sit there.