by Cook, Alan
He grabbed the handle of the bag and jerked it out of the trunk. It flew open and all of his clothes spewed onto the asphalt. He dropped the suitcase and stared at the mess. For a moment he looked as if he were going to cry.
Jason came running up and surveyed the scene. He saw me holding onto the car for support. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” I didn’t want any more violence.
Tom started picking up items of clothing and placing them in the bag. I didn’t see any weapons. He didn’t just throw them in; he put them in place, but not as carefully as they’d been originally packed. Jason reached down to help him and Tom almost screamed.
“Leave me alone.”
Jason backed off, uncertain. “Look, we can explain. This isn’t what it looks like.”
Tom yelled louder. “Leave me alone.”
He was in no mood for explanations. I wondered if his shouts would attract attention. I saw the light of my flashlight, still faithfully shining in the trunk where it had fallen after I spit it out of my mouth when Tom hit me. At least I hadn’t swallowed it. I picked it up.
Tom finished placing his belongings in the suitcase, zipped it, extracted the handle, and picked up his carryon. Jason was standing in the middle of the aisle, so Tom ran in the opposite direction with the suitcase banging along behind him.
Jason made a move as if he were going after him. I grabbed his arm.
“Let him go.”
“But…” He looked at me. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“If you like a girl with one flat breast.” I felt my breast, gingerly. It was sore but my ribs had taken the brunt of the blow from his bag. They ached, and I hoped they weren’t cracked. “I’ll be fine.”
Jason looked after the fleeing Tom. “The farther away we got from the car the more he exhibited signs of hysteria. He must have thought his suitcase was going to be stolen.”
“It’s his control thing.”
“When he started running back I followed him. I tried to warn you but I guess I was too late.”
“It’s my fault. Given his eccentricities, I should have known we’d never get away with this.”
“What do we do now?”
We needed to keep track of him. “We should try to find out where he’s staying.”
“When I first talked to him, he said he was planning to take the Air Link bus into Edinburgh. I had a hard time convincing him to change his plans.”
“He likes everything to be orderly. Did he book a place to stay?”
“Yes, but he didn’t tell me where it is.”
“If it’s close to you, he’ll get off at Waverley Station, same as I did. Maybe we can follow him from there.”
CHAPTER 27
We drove out of the airport and Jason parked along the bus route. We waited for the first Air Link bus to come along and followed the double-decker coach, assuming Tom was aboard. We hoped he wasn’t looking out the back window.
We checked out the people who got off at each stop. No Tom. As we approached Waverley Station, I remembered the bus had to make a right turn just before it made its final stop. We couldn’t follow it because that would put us on the route Tom would probably take when he got off the bus.
Instead, Jason turned left, pulled into a side street, and stopped the car. I extracted the map I’d used to walk to my B&B from my purse and we studied it by the dome light. Jason, who knew the area well, was confident Tom would follow the same route I had.
“I’ll go back to the corner and make sure he got off the bus. Wait here.”
I followed Jason’s progress in the rearview mirror. He tried to remain hidden, but it wasn’t a tragedy if Tom saw him. What could he do? Jason ran back to the car several minutes later and jumped in.
“He’s on the forecast route, heading in this direction. I doubt he’ll notice our car even if he looks this way. It’s in dark shadows. We can’t follow him in the car because traffic is too heavy to allow us to go slowly, and besides, we’d be conspicuous. I think I can follow him on foot, but that would mean leaving you here in the car for as much as half an hour.”
“I’m not staying in the car. I’ll go with you.”
“What about your ankle—and your ribs?”
“I can walk as fast as Tom can with his suitcase.”
Jason argued that two people would be easier to spot than one, but I said so what if he saw us? Jason agreed leaving me alone in the car wasn’t a good idea. We saw Tom pass the corner in the rearview mirror. We got out of the car and walked back to that corner.
There he was, ahead of us, pulling the suitcase in one hand, holding his carryon in the other, which didn’t leave him a hand to hold the map while he read it. That meant he stopped, periodically, and not just to cross streets. We had to stay well behind him.
He had to cross a major street at a crosswalk—one I had also crossed. The locals played tag with the buses and crossed when the crossing light said to wait, but Tom, wisely, decided not to take any risks. This kept us pinned to the wall of a building some distance away, hoping he wouldn’t look around.
After he crossed the street we hurried to the crosswalk, only to find a slew of buses going by. Not only did they prevent us from crossing, they blocked our view of the other side. When we finally got a clear look, Tom had disappeared. Jason, being a local, grabbed my arm and guided me across between vehicles with drivers who didn’t seem to care one way or another whether they hit us.
We hurried to the next corner and looked to the right. Tom wasn’t in sight. I now knew one thing I hadn’t thought to ask Jasmin about.
“He’s not going to my B&B or he’d have gone straight.”
He must have turned right and then turned again. We took the side street to the next intersection and looked both ways. Tom had disappeared. I was dejected.
“This reminds me of when the police and I staked out a store where we thought Tom would try to pick up some money from my grandmother. I spotted him but then he disappeared, just like he did this time. He must have the hypnotic power to cloud men’s minds so they can’t see him like The Shadow did in an old radio show my grandmother likes to listen to on an oldies station.”
Jason wasn’t quite so dramatic. “He’s obviously a slippery character.”
We agreed there was nothing more we could do. We walked back to the car and Jason drove me to my B&B and told me to be careful.
“It’s you who need to be careful. I’m sure he knows where you live.”
“Don’t worry. We’ve got our own moat. I’ll fill it with water and stock it with alligators.”
***
I didn’t sleep on my right side. I didn’t know whether I had cracked ribs, but I’d heard the treatment was the same whether they were cracked or not—do nothing. I discovered it wasn’t a wise idea to sneeze. Memo to self: Don’t use pepper for a few days. At least my poison oak had cleared up and my sprained ankle was feeling better.
I was up early, partly because of my discomfort and partly because my head wasn’t adjusted to the local time. It was Sunday morning and Jasmin wouldn’t be serving breakfast for a while. I came down the long, curving stairway and opened the big front door. I walked out into the predawn drizzle, glad I was wearing jeans and a sweater under my rain top.
I walked to the main road into downtown Edinburgh, because I’d done it before and wouldn’t get lost. Vehicle traffic was light and foot traffic almost nonexistent. After a few minutes I came to the intersection where we’d lost Tom the night before. Without thinking too much, I followed the side street to the intersection where we’d given up.
I picked a direction at random and followed my nose, keeping careful track of my turns so I could retrace my steps. I also had my local map in the rainproof pocket of the North Face. I saw a sign for a B&B ahead. Could that be where Tom was staying? He certainly wouldn’t be staying at a hotel, on his budget.
I walked past the building, a townhouse attached to its neighbors. I’d found many guest houses and hote
ls located in Edinburgh on the Internet. This was probably one of them. Tom, with his technical prowess, could have found it online. I didn’t see any lights coming from inside, but it was still early.
I turned onto another street and continued for a short distance. The clouds lightened slightly and the world became clearly visible. Almost dawn. I was getting hungry. I decided to retrace my steps to Hanover House and get some breakfast. I turned back onto the street with the B&B. A man was walking toward me wearing a raincoat with a hood. The coat and the stride looked familiar. However, it took me a few seconds to realize it was Tom. My first thought was, he couldn’t sleep either.
Then I became frightened. Should I turn around so he wouldn’t recognize me? Too late; he already had. I couldn’t outrun him with my gimpy ankle and bruised ribs. It looked as if he were about to turn around. Was he afraid of me? It was time for a showdown.
“Tom, wait. We need to talk.”
He hesitated, undecided. I stopped a few feet from him with my hands in sight, like cops tell you to do. He stood there, looking down at the ground. I gathered he wasn’t going to say anything, so it was up to me.
“I want to apologize for last night. Jason and I shouldn’t have treated you like that. We…we wanted to see if you were carrying any weapons.”
His face had an astonished look. “Weapons? Why would I…?”
“We thought you might try to kill Jason.” Nothing like laying it on the line.
Now his look was one part astonishment and one part puzzlement. If I trusted my ability to read people, I would have said he was innocent. But I didn’t.
“You thought the Boyds had done your ancestors wrong, which they undoubtedly did. By the way, I’ve got a flash for you. You probably are a Boyd. Your DNA test has been processed. You’re probably descended from the Jason of the nineteenth century.”
He didn’t look completely surprised. Jason had probably told him this last night. He raised his head and looked me in the eye for the first time. “You owe me for a new screen.”
The hubris of that remark got to me. “You owe my grandmother the ten thousand dollars you took from her.”
Now the look on his face was indescribable. I had apparently penetrated his facade. He wouldn’t look me in the eye.
“You can’t prove that.”
That was the equivalent of pleading guilty as far as I was concerned. Besides, his guilt was written all over his face. I decided to press my advantage. “When you get back to Los Angeles, I expect you to repay the money.”
“It took me a long time to get my clothes sorted. Some of them are dirty.”
Talk about a non sequitur. I was almost ready to conclude Tom was harmless, but something told me that would be a dangerous thing to do. Still: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Neutralization by proximity.
“I’m sure you came here to find out more about your cousins.” I glanced at my watch. It was after seven. “Jason and his wife have a new baby, so I doubt they’re sleeping in.”
I took out my cell phone and called Jason’s house. Sarah answered. I apologized for calling so early, but she said she was already up and nursing young Timothy. I asked if Jason was up. She said he was still sleeping. I told her I was with Tom. She showed surprise but not any stronger feeling. I suggested we could all meet somewhere, later, not wanting to take Tom to their house if she was afraid of him. She said we could come to their house at ten. I guessed she felt if I were with Tom he must be safe. I disconnected and relayed the news to Tom. I asked him if he knew the way.
“I’ve got a map.”
Of course he did. In fact, he was holding it in his hand. He was nothing if not organized.
***
Tom got to Jason’s house before I did, because after leaving him and eating breakfast at Hanover House I took another quick walking tour of Edinburgh—alone. I walked along the High Street between the castle and the Palace at Holyrood House where the Royal Family still spent time, taking advantage of the lack of crowds since it was early on a Sunday morning. The brand new parliament building beside it reminded me the human soul is always yearning for a bit more freedom—in this case freedom from the control of England.
I saw the statue of Adam Smith, the great economist whose ideas about capitalism and free enterprise the people of the world would be wise to pay attention to, because they also promote the freedom to live one’s life as one pleases. The rain was intermittent and the wind blew in gusts, but since I was acting like a tourist I didn’t let the weather bother me. My ankle was almost healed and my ribs didn’t hurt as long as I kept my body straight and didn’t sneeze.
When I reached Jason’s house, Tom was practically a member of the family. Well, within certain constraints since he didn’t know what to make of little Timothy and he appeared to be ill at ease in front of Sarah. However, he and Jason were chatting about being officially cousins. I hugged Jason and Sarah, and then decided I’d better not treat Tom differently, so I hugged him too. Jason said he had news.
“I got an email from the other Jason.”
It took both Tom and me a few seconds to sort out who the other Jason was. There was only one possibility.
I said, “Jason, grandfather to Cousin Jason and cousin to all of us.”
“That’s the one.”
“How did he get your email address?”
“He said you gave it to him.”
“Moi?”
Probably so. I’d given him a lot of information about my trip. Jason was obviously bursting to continue.
“He’s coming here. He’s arriving this afternoon.”
Enter the third robber. That line popped into my head. It was from an old book called Beau Geste I’d borrowed from my grandmother’s library when I desperately needed something to read. When the third of three brothers shows up at a French Foreign Legion outpost, all having run away from home, one of the brothers recites that line. I decided it would be better not to say it out loud.
I asked Jason what reason old Jason gave for coming.
“He wants to meet his cousins.”
Strange timing. Although he’d get two cousins for the price of one, plus me who he already knew. Jason went on to say old Jason had booked a room at Hanover House where I was staying. More information I’d apparently given him. Jasmin didn’t tell me he had a reservation, but then I didn’t tell her I was a Boyd.
***
Young Jason stood up, almost not wobbling at all, considering all the beer he’d been drinking, and proposed a toast. “To the Boyds, fighters and survivors.”
Survivors? How many of us were going to survive? Still, almost all of us drank to that: young Jason, old Jason, Tom, Sarah, and me. All except young Timothy who had actually fallen asleep in a pram beside our table at the Guilford Arms pub, pacifier in his mouth, in spite of all the noise we were making.
We’d spent several hours of the day sightseeing on foot, and then young Jason, Tom, and I drove to the airport to pick up old Jason. Returning from the airport, Tom and I rode in the backseat and the Jasons rode in front, the excuse being old Jason had longer legs than Tom. The long-legged people always got to ride in the front seat. I had long legs for a woman, but that wasn’t good enough. Tom, having been relegated to the backseat, didn’t look at me or say very much. He was obviously uncomfortable being around me.
We helped old Jason get checked in at Hanover House where he told us he wanted to invite us all to dinner, in spite of the fact that he was undoubtedly suffering from jet lag. His excuse for doing it tonight was young Jason had to go to work in the morning, tomorrow being Monday. As I watched him, I was wondering whether young Jason would be in any shape to go to work in the morning.
Despite the murders and the scam, tonight we were one happy family. How long would that last?
CHAPTER 28
When I awoke on Monday morning it was almost time for breakfast. I showered quickly and went downstairs, being the first to arrive in the dining room. Jasmin greeted m
e with a hug and brought me breakfast with poached eggs, just the way I liked them. I think she credited me with bringing old Jason to her house.
The person in question appeared while I was drinking my tea, looking his age, which I could understand considering his long flight and the festivities of last night. He sat down at my small table and Jasmin came in from the kitchen and took his order. He drank some black coffee and appeared to revive.
“So, have you found Tom guilty of Jason’s murder?”
Referring to his grandson, of course. We hadn’t been alone to talk yesterday. I decided to bring him up to date.
“The jury is still out on that one. However, regardless of what Tom came here for, I don’t expect him to commit any mayhem while he’s here. My suspicion of what he was planning, which Jason IV and I foiled, is that Tom wasn’t even going to contact Jason, but perhaps stalk him and look for an opportunity to…do something. Now we’re watching every move he makes, which I know is making him uncomfortable, but it’s for sure if he tries anything he won’t get away with it, so I don’t think he will.”
I gave a summary of our activities since I’d been in Edinburgh. I also told old Jason that Timothy had been part of the original syndicate with Jason’s grandson, who had also come to Timothy’s funeral. I said I knew these things because Jason IV (all the Jasons were confusing) told them to me.
Old Jason registered the proper amount of shock at these revelations. He said he didn’t even know his grandson, Jason, had ever been to the UK, let alone that he knew his cousins, which made sense because old Jason had told me he didn’t know his UK cousins existed before I found them and relayed the information to him. He digested everything I said and thought about it.
“What now?”
“I’m going to stick around here as long as Tom does, just to keep an eye on him. That’s a few more days.”
“I’ve got an idea. As far as we know, Tom has never been to the UK before. That’s what he says, anyway. Last night, he expressed a desire to see London, although he didn’t know whether he’d be able to get there on this trip. In any case, Jason has to work. Let’s you and I take Tom on a little tour.”