Deadly Code (Rhona MacLeod #3)

by Lin Anderson

  As they neared the shore, Franklin signalled Rhona’s minder over the side to pull them in.

  Rhona wondered who the minder belonged to, Franklin or Maley? She was sure she’d spotted a look pass between him and Joe in the boat, and she suddenly wondered if Franklin realised how alone she was out here.

  The air was thick with the smell of seaweed and the crackle of burning driftwood. The fire was on their left, just above the tangle of the high water line, and the drifting smoke nipped at Rhona’s eyes. Beyond was a clump of whin bushes, then a flat patch of grass, before the land rose more steeply to the single track road that zigzagged across the island.

  Spike was nowhere to be seen.

  ‘Over there.’ Franklin pointed at a cluster of rocks near the fire.

  The minder dragged Rhona over, pushed her down roughly, jerked her hands behind her back and wound a thin wire tightly round her wrists. Then he shoved her knees up and wired her ankles the same way, making sure his fingers ran over her crotch as he did it

  Esther was standing beside Maley, a lamb to the slaughter. He had already twisted her arms behind her back and a thin rope linked her to him. Franklin was peering along the shoreline, searching for the change in the shadow that would be Spike.

  Behind Rhona, the Gaelic whisper was like water on sand.

  ‘A’ bheil thu ’gam thuigsinn?’ His tongue was badly swollen and he spoke slowly and as clearly as he could, willing her to understand.

  ‘Tha. Tha mi ’gad thuigsinn.’

  Yes, she understood him.

  He emerged from the whin bushes. In the dancing light of the fire, Spike looked young and old at the same time. He walked straight over to the American.

  ‘I am Donald MacAulay,’ he announced.

  Franklin stared at him appraisingly, gun in hand. When she spoke, her voice was almost reverent.

  ‘Yes, you are Donald MacAulay.’

  ‘I have what you want.’ Spike gestured at the ruins of the castle. He looked at Maley. ‘What he wants is there too.’

  Maley’s eyes were pinpoints of greed. He made to move off along the beach, but Franklin held up her hand. She wasn’t interested in the contents of the castle, not for the moment. She drew closer to Spike and touched his head, moving it sideways to expose a ReAlba tattoo etched in the pale skin of his neck, just under the hairline.

  ‘He told us you died.’

  Maley was getting impatient and Franklin was too interested in Spike to pick up on the signals being exchanged between him and the minder.

  ‘You will come with me,’ she was saying. ‘You will come to America.’

  ‘No,’ Spike shook his head. ‘You can take my father’s work. It’s all there. That is enough.’

  ‘You are your father’s work.’

  Spike laughed, a desperate sound that tore Esther from Maley.

  Maley jerked at the rope, sending the weeping girl sprawling at his feet.

  Spike’s expression betrayed the depth of his loathing, but he dragged his eyes away from Maley and addressed Franklin again.

  ‘You said if I gave you what you want, Esther and Rhona would go free.’

  She appeared bemused at his insistence.

  ‘The girl and the woman go free when you come with me.’

  ‘Untie them and let them go,’ Spike ordered, ‘then I will go with you.’

  ‘Spike, no!’ Esther was crying.

  ‘Let them go,’ Spike repeated. “Then you have my word I will stay alive. Otherwise I will do everything I can to kill myself.’

  A flicker of fear crossed Franklin’s face. She waved the gun at Maley. ‘Untie them.’

  ‘The girl’s fucking mine,’ Maley insisted. But if he was planning a move, it wasn’t yet. The weasel eyes moved into submission. ‘You promised me the gear.’

  ‘Go and get it,’ Franklin said. ‘Bring everything you find.’

  Maley was happy now.

  ‘What about them?’

  ‘I’ll watch them.’ Franklin told him.

  When Maley and the minder disappeared into the darkness, Spike freed Rhona first.

  ‘Tha i trom,’ he whispered in her ear, with a swift glance at Esther. He pressed Rhona’s hand, willing her to understand. She returned the pressure. If what Spike said was true, it changed everything. He moved towards Esther, untied her wrists, took her hands in his and rubbed the life back into them.

  Franklin had watched his every move, but she hadn’t heard the whispered words. Rhona was sure of that.

  ‘Why take Spike?’ Rhona tried. ‘He doesn’t know anything about his father’s work.’

  ‘You still don’t understand,’ Franklin smiled condescendingly. ‘Donald is his father’s work. The product of an adult male cell and a female egg. A human clone. The perfect Gael.’

  ‘You’re insane.’

  Franklin looked irritated. ‘You’re a scientist, Dr MacLeod. You know what’s really happening in the scientific world while governments argue about what they will allow to happen. MacAulay maintained his attempts at human cloning were unsuccessful. Until recently we believed him.’

  Rhona’s head was reeling. Perhaps there was some truth in what Franklin was saying. She thought about Phillips and the cloak and dagger stuff. If the British government knew about Spike, they would want to get their hands on him as well.

  ‘But you said MacAulay was working on genetic profiling.’

  ‘He was. Maley will bring us what we need to know about that.’

  There was a shout from the direction of the castle and Franklin aimed the gun at Esther.

  ‘Get in the boat,’ she barked at Spike. ‘Get in the boat or I’ll kill her.’

  Mute with terror, Esther clung to Spike, but he extricated himself from her grip. With one tender glance back he braced himself and headed for the dinghy.

  The whin bushes were pushed apart and Maley and the minder appeared, carrying plastic containers.

  Franklin looked relieved. ‘Got it?’

  ‘No problem.’ Maley deposited a container at her feet. ‘The notes.’

  He threw Rhona a look. She saw the calculation behind the self-satisfied expression. He had the gear. Killing her would make his pleasure complete.

  ‘Okay, let’s go.’ Franklin said.

  ‘She knows me,’ Maley whispered to Franklin. ‘They both know me.’

  Franklin thought for a moment The two women were better dead, but she had to make sure Spike came with her.

  Rhona strained to hear her reply.

  ‘I’ll send the dinghy back for you.’

  Maley thought about that. The minder gave him a nod. He would take Franklin and Spike to the yacht. Then he would be back. They would cut the proceeds. It was a good deal. It also gave Maley access to both Rhona and Esther. A contemplative smile creased his unshaven cheek. He was already enjoying the pain he would inflict on the two women.

  The minder followed Franklin to the dinghy.

  Maley motioned Rhona towards Esther. ‘Sit.’ He pointed to a spot next to the fire.

  He sat close to Rhona and told her what he planned to do once Franklin had Spike on board the yacht. He would fuck her in every available orifice. Mouth, ears, anus, cunt. He would fuck her so hard and so deep she would likely die before he slit her throat.

  Esther had descended into a frightened stupor at Maley’s whispered promises and Rhona knew she had heard them before. Rhona felt the anger she had seen on Spike’s face. She could kill Maley and never feel the guilt of it.

  The cold point of a knife pricked the small of her back.

  ‘You know the human body, Dr MacLeod. If this knife goes in here, what organs will it slice through?

  She didn’t answer, although the internal map of her body was clear in her head.

  ‘Esther liked the feel of the blade against her cunt. Made her excited.’

  The tide had lifted the keel of the dinghy, bobbing it in and out four metres from the edge. The minder was already on board. Spike paused, ankle-deep
in water. He glanced back up the beach, unsure.

  ‘Maley won’t harm them,’ Franklin promised him.

  Rhona could see Spike wanted to believe her.

  Maley was breathing heavily. Rhona thought how close the muzzle of the gun was to his genitals. She had seen a body once where the penis had been gnawed off. She visualised what a gunshot at this range would do to Maley.

  One thing for sure. He would never fuck again.

  Esther began mumbling words under her breath like a prayer. The knifepoint left Rhona’s back. She heard Esther’s intake of breath and saw the flash of metal near the thin neck.

  ‘Shut the fuck up.’

  Rhona slid her hand into her pocket. Now was the time, while Maley was looking the other way. Just as her fingers closed around the trigger, a terse order came from the shadows. ‘Get away from them.’ A figure stepped into the firelight.

  ‘Andre!’ A rush of relief swept over Rhona.

  Maley looked up, startled. He licked his lips, contemplating the firearm pointed at his head, then stood up slowly and stepped back.

  ‘Drop the knife,’ Andre ordered.

  A second later, the blade clattered on the pebbles.

  Rhona scrambled to her feet.

  ‘Quick. They’re taking Spike.’ She ran towards the boat, slithering on the seaweed-strewn rocks.

  But Andre wasn’t following.

  Franklin broke into a slow smile. ‘What took you so long?’ she called.

  Rhona stared back at Andre in horror, hoping she was wrong.

  Andre kept his gun on Maley. ‘The boy stays here,’ he shouted.

  ‘What?’ Franklin was obviously taken aback.

  ‘The boy stays here,’ Andre repeated. ‘Rhona, take the girl to the jeep. It’s up behind the castle.’

  Maley glanced from Andre to Franklin, trying to figure out where he stood in all of this.

  ‘Your father was ReAlba,’ Franklin said. ‘MacAulay’s son belongs to ReAlba. You know that.’

  Andre motioned Spike to come back.

  ‘Where are you taking him?’ demanded Rhona.

  Andre ignored the question. ‘Go to the jeep, Rhona, Norman will take you to Mrs MacMurdo’s.’

  The trickle of doubt was becoming a wave. Norman MacLeod was the man staying at her father’s cottage. He had given her a lift on Raasay. Just how many people were involved in this?

  ‘I’m not leaving until I know what’s happening to Spike.’

  ‘Spike is the property of the US government.’ Andre’s voice was calm and icily cold. ‘He’ll be returning with me.’

  ‘You bastard,’ Franklin spat.

  The truth stared Rhona in the face. Andre wasn’t there to help Franklin. He wasn’t there to help Spike. He was an agent of the United States government come to retrieve its property. And she had helped him do that.

  ‘Property? You’re talking about a human being, remember.’

  ‘Would you rather ReAlba had him?’ Andre asked sharply. ‘He’s better off with us.’

  ‘You’re both the same,’ Rhona shot back. ‘To you he’s a specimen, nothing more. What sort of life will he have?’

  Above them, the sound of helicopter blades beat the air. Franklin glanced up as the swinging lights punched through the darkness.

  Rhona prayed it was the coastguard, the police, Phillips … anyone but Andre’s lot come to take Spike away.

  The boy looked resigned to his fate, whatever that might be. Rhona wondered if either Franklin or Andre had noticed how haggard he looked.

  The helicopter dropped on the grass behind them.

  Maley grabbed his chance and scrambled down the beach.

  The minder already had the engine running. Maley splashed through the water and pulled himself over the side of the dinghy. Rhona heard him laugh. No doubt he thought they were stupid bastards, fighting over the kid.

  ‘Kill Maley and I’ll come with you,’ Spike screamed at Andre.

  Andre took aim. ‘Stop or I’ll shoot!’

  Maley didn’t believe him. The propeller cut the water and the dinghy began to move towards the yacht. Maley turned and grinned as the bullet met him between the eyes. His body jerked backwards on impact, hung for a moment, then dropped over the side. The minder let go of the tiller and held up his hands.

  Spike walked towards Andre.

  ‘No, wait! Don’t… I’ll help you,’ Rhona pleaded.

  ‘Go home, Rhona,’ Andre called. ‘There’s nothing you can do.’

  But Franklin wasn’t finished. ‘The boy belongs to ReAlba. Dead or alive.’

  Andre wasn’t quick enough, but Rhona was.

  Her shot thudded into Franklin’s back. Franklin grunted with surprise and slumped forward. The bullet destined for Spike whined off into the bushes. ‘Thanks,’ Andre shouted.

  ‘You’re not taking him.’ Rhona moved into position, the gun pointed this time at Andre. ‘I won’t let you.’

  ‘It’s no use, Rhona.’

  He was right. Two armed men emerged through the bushes, their guns pointed straight at her.

  It was the first light of a northern day and the long thin rays danced across the Inner Sound.

  Spike stared out over the water, a last look, then he turned and climbed into the helicopter.

  ‘Cuimhnich de thuirt mi riut,’ he called to Rhona from the open door. Remember what I said. ‘Tha gaol agam oirre. A ’ bheil thu ’gam thuigsinn?’

  ‘ Tha mi ’gad thuigsinn,’ Rhona said. She understood him perfectly.

  The helicopter rose, heading east out over the water, filling the air with the smell of grass and whin.

  Esther was weeping quietly. Rhona put her arm around the girl’s thin shoulders.

  Now the helicopter was turning, heading northwest. Rhona imagined some US submarine sitting offshore, anticipating the return of its country’s ‘property’.

  Spike must have waited until he was above the sunken boat before he threw himself from the open side of the helicopter. The body fell slowly, swooping the sky, a dark bird against the dawn plunging into the place he said was his father’s grave.

  Chapter 34

  Phillips was trying to ignore the crying baby, standing with his back to the kitchen range. He looks different, Rhona thought, more like a real person out of the grey suit. But older, weary of life. Like Spike.

  ‘I believe the boy spoke to you in Gaelic before he died,’ Phillips began. ‘What did he say?’

  Rhona glanced at Esther, who sat with the baby in her arms, crooning to the puckered face.

  ‘He said he loved Esther. He asked us to look after her.’

  Mrs MacMurdo nodded. ‘The boy shall have his wish.’

  On the other side of the island, the MOD divers were already busy. They would bring up what was left of MacAulay’s body from the drowned boat. They would search for Spike. Maybe they would find him, maybe not. The sea did not always give back what it took.

  Rhona thought about the DNA sample she’d sent to Chrissy. She could give it to Phillips. Let his department compare it to MacAulay. Let them worry if the results showed what they suspected, that Spike was a clone of his father.

  If MacAulay had achieved a human clone, who else out there had already done the same? And did it matter? A human clone would have no soul. That’s what the papers had screamed when the first details of Dolly the cloned sheep were released to the world press. It would be a replica of its donor, with no soul of its own.

  But Spike had a soul. A heart and a soul.

  ‘I believe Spike was ageing rapidly,’ she said to Phillips. ‘His father hated him. He told Spike he was a mistake. An abomination before God. A failed experiment. However Spike was created, or whatever his father did to him once he was born, it was wrong.’

  Behind her Mrs MacMurdo muttered under her breath in Gaelic.

  ‘Dr MacLeod,’ Phillips said. ‘This is a difficult business, with more at stake than a boy’s life. You are an employee of the police service and a public se
rvant. We expect your full co-operation.’

  His face was stone. A public servant without a soul. Maybe the world should be peopled by clones instead of human beings. Clones like Spike.

  ‘It wouldn’t have mattered if Spike had gone with Dr Frith or stayed here,’ Rhona said, ‘He would still have been an experiment to be … monitored.’

  Phillips had had enough moralising for the moment. He lifted his jacket from the back of the chair.

  ‘Now that you have shown us where the laboratory is, you may return to Glasgow,’ he said. ‘I will contact you there.’

  Mrs MacMurdo left the door open after Phillips left, to let God’s own air back into the room.

  ‘What will we do about Esther?’ Rhona asked.

  ‘She and the baby can stay here for the time being.’ Mrs MacMurdo paused. ‘Donald said something to you in the Gaelic?’

  ‘Tha i from,’ Rhona told her.

  ‘Mo chreach,’ Mrs MacMurdo put her hand on her heart. ‘She’s pregnant. By Spike?’

  ‘There must be a chance, and he wanted us to know.’

  A shadow crossed Mrs MacMurdo’s face. ‘If they find out…’

  ‘I won’t be the one to tell them.’

  Early June air ruffled the strip of water between Raasay and the mainland. In the distance the Cuillin sat dark against the sky.

  Rhona wondered what Spike wanted her to do if there was a baby. The natural baby of a clone. The next experiment.

  Nothing, she thought. That’s what he would have wanted me to do. Nothing. He wanted it to be over with him.

  ‘I love her,’ Spike had said. ‘Tha gaol agam oirre.’

  Phillips was not interested in Maley’s cast off girlfriend anyway, or in how Spike had felt. She would give him Spike’s DNA sample. That would keep him happy.

  Rhona closed her eyes and let the Hebridean wind wash her soul.

  ‘Tha mi ‘dol dhachaigh,’ she told the wind. ‘I’m going home.’

  Chapter 35

  Rhona stood outside the flat. The taxi had dropped her at the door, but she didn’t go in just yet. She wanted just to stand there.

  She listened to the sounds of the city.