The Grotto's Secret: A Historical Conspiracy Mystery Thriller

by Paula Wynne

  24

  As she sat upright in the boardroom chair, Kelby’s heart pounded against her ribs. Her body seemed to be suddenly filled with wriggling eels. The shame of Gary’s assumed suicide had caused her years of pain and grief, and shame on her family name. More than that, his passing had caused a gaping hole no-one would ever fill. Although she often spoke to him, as she did her mother, his death still saddened her.

  Now, these people were saying he’d been murdered!

  ‘What are you talking about?’ Her words barely came out as she struggled to breathe.

  Still on his knee beside her, Doctor Robson said, ‘When Marina was researching rizado, she found some unexplained deaths. Like Gary’s.’

  Marina added, ‘They were linked to rizado but each one had,’ she curled her fingers in quote marks, ‘a reason for their death, so there was no further investigation.’ Marina pulled out more notes from her folder and slid them across the table to Kelby. ‘See this man? He’s an experienced diver, but he died at the bottom of the ocean. They said he made fatal errors with his kit.’

  Kelby looked at a printed website story about the diver. His sun-blond tousled hair and piercing green eyes held her gaze.

  ‘This one,’ Doctor Robson tapped his finger over another printed sheet, ‘died on a long run through the Brecon Beacons. He supposedly had a heart attack, but he was perfectly fit and healthy.’

  ‘Roy has five more case studies to show you, but they are depressing enough without knowing your brother is amongst them.’

  ‘How is Gary connected?’

  ‘All these people worked for Mata Gordo.’

  ‘What?’ Kelby gasped.

  Still kneeling beside her, Doctor Robson pointed at the diver. ‘This fella was a young scientist.’ His finger moved to the other story showing an older man in the London Marathon. ‘This chap trained him. They died within months of each other.’

  ‘Gary worked for Mata Gordo!’

  ‘He was their security analyst, wasn’t he?’

  ‘Yes. He’d been injured in Afghanistan and had to be discharged. For ages, he struggled to find something else. I wanted him to work for me, but he refused. Said he wouldn’t let me do any more for him. He would rather work for a security agency than be seen as the “paid brother”.’

  Doctor Robson rose to his feet and returned to his seat opposite her.

  Kelby continued, ‘An associate of mine discovered Mata’s security had been breached a number of times. Gary did a presentation on how bad their systems were. And what they needed to do to fix them, so they hired him.’

  ‘Well, he must have been successful because the trail of deaths halted for a while.’ Marina sighed.

  Kelby slumped back into her seat, exhaling loudly, as though exorcising a demon. ‘Why would he be killed? He didn’t do anything wrong.’

  Roy answered, ‘I think he found out about the other deaths.’

  Kelby stared at the doctor. Confusion hammered inside her head.

  ‘Maybe he found out about them and wanted to report them so they had to quieten him too.’

  Kelby gasped, her hand clutching her mouth. Gary murdered! ‘I couldn’t believe it at the time.’

  ‘He was doing loads of stuff for Help For Heroes to show other soldiers being back in civvy street with a serious injury wasn’t so bad after all. He had even been training to cycle from Land’s End to John o’ Groats.’

  Roy explained to Marina, ‘That’s the whole length of Great Britain from south to north.’

  ‘¡Dios mío! That’s a long way.’

  ‘Yes, he was going to cycle for about two weeks to raise money. Why would he commit to that and then … then …’ Kelby choked up. She pulled herself together. ‘Mata said he had consulted their in-house counsellor. They said he’d been terribly depressed about his injured leg and the issues with his prosthesis.’

  Roy frowned. ‘It doesn’t sound as if he was suffering from depression.’

  ‘He wasn’t!’

  ‘Did you see any signs?’

  ‘No, and neither did his wife. In fact, we saw the opposite.’ She jumped up and marched to a picture frame hanging on the wall. She unhooked it and stepped back to the table. ‘Gary gave me this when my first business failed. I was gutted and thought I wasn’t capable of managing a company.’

  Inside the picture frame a quote by Winston Churchill read: Never, never, never give up.

  Roy frowned at the message and stared up at Kelby, his eyes a mixture of emotion.

  For a moment they looked at the frame. Then Kelby said in a soft voice, ‘Is that the kind of man who would give up?’

  Roy patted Kelby’s arm. ‘You were obviously very close.’

  ‘We were orphaned in our early teens so I had to look after Gary.’

  Marina said, ‘I’m sorry to hear that.’

  ‘It was a long time ago.’

  ‘But it never leaves.’ Roy’s eyes held Kelby’s for a moment.

  Kelby nodded, knowing Roy understood the gaping hole that losing a parent left. Then an abrupt thought shot into her mind. ‘The envelope! How did you know?’ Kelby’s gaze drilled into the doctor’s, silently demanding an answer.

  ‘I didn’t.’

  Marina said, ‘Roy lives by that motto.’

  ‘So did Gary.’ Kelby whispered.

  A warmth crept into Roy’s cheeks. He cleared his throat, tapped the images laid out on the table and asked, ‘Can you see the connections here, Kelby?’

  The pictures of the dead men stared at her. She didn’t answer, but looked into Roy’s eyes.

  ‘Marina realised the deadly value of her find, and when she showed me this, I wanted you to see it.’

  Kelby swallowed the lump in her throat. She couldn’t decide whether to be relieved Gary hadn’t committed suicide or scared about the deadly implications. A sudden coldness clenched the core of her being. ‘Do you know if Mata Gordo did it?’

  ‘We have no idea.’

  ‘So you don’t know who is responsible for Gary’s and these … these deaths?’

  Roy shook his head. ‘No. But they’re linked to rizado. Whoever is doing this is powerful and they’ll do anything to keep their secrets hidden.’

  ‘That sounds a bit paranoid.’

  ‘I know, but we’re in danger.’

  His words hung in the air for a breath-taking moment, then he softened his tone, ‘They’ll stop at nothing to find rizado.’

  25

  A light knock on the door brought Kelby back into the moment. She waved her hand to her office assistant holding a tray of coffee. ‘Come in, Zelda.’

  In a flash, Marina had wrapped the book and hidden it inside her folder. Kelby’s stomach dropped. She wanted to keep the book, but it was their find, not hers.

  Zelda entered and flounced to the boardroom guests. She placed the coffee cups on the table.

  Marina wove a strand of hair around her finger and, glancing nervously at Zelda, she said in a low voice, ‘Ana-María wouldn’t have known what gave rizado such incredible healing power.’ Marina let the strand of hair go. It sprung up into a coil.

  Doctor Robson also dropped his voice to a whisper. ‘Rizado coming onto the market will devastate Big Pharma.’

  Kelby waved Zelda away. ‘Thank you.’

  Behind Kelby’s guests, Zelda busied herself clearing older coffee mugs beside the overhead projector.

  The doctor said, ‘Since the journal was found in Madrid’s archives, it’s been speculated that rizado –’

  ‘Sorry Doctor Robson,’ Kelby interrupted and turned to Zelda, ‘Thank you, Zelda. That will be all.’

  Doctor Robson kept his voice low, ‘It appears rizado aids each component it’s mixed with. Basically, it acts as a ca
talyst. It needs testing, of course, but it’s possible it will enhance any drug’s capabilities and speed up the healing process.’

  Instead of leaving, Zelda cleared her throat and asked, ‘Anyone want milk or sugar?’

  Kelby answered, ‘We’ll sort it out, Zelda.’

  Zelda lifted the tray with the old mugs and clomped back to the door. Roy jumped up to hold the door open for her — Kelby suspected it was to ensure she left. After closing the door, he slipped back into the seat opposite her as he poured the milk for Marina and Kelby.

  ‘Sorry about that, Doctor Robson.’ Her cheeks warmed with embarrassment over Zelda’s eager efficiency.

  Ambling around the table, Doctor Robson placed a coffee in front of her. ‘That’s fine.’

  Back in his seat, the doctor left his coffee black. ‘Call me Roy. Formalities give me a headache too.’

  Kelby smiled. Then the reality of their pitch slammed into her. Gary murdered? Tears in the back of her throat threatened to swell up. She almost knocked her coffee over when her hand went to lift her cup. Despite trying to piece it together, her thoughts were in a jumble.

  Could the book’s secret really change the world?

  26

  Kelby started pacing the boardroom. Her heels tip-tapped across the floor, and she made a mental note to ask Jimmy to get her shoes re-heeled.

  She spun around to face Doctor Robson and Marina and asked, ‘I still don’t know why you came to me. I told you earlier, I’m not into the pharmaceutical sector.’ Kelby rubbed a sudden hive of goose flesh.

  ‘For your brother’s sake, help us locate rizado. If you want to carry it through we’d love to have you on board. If not, it would be great to give us a personal intro to Jon Thompson.’

  For a moment Kelby was puzzled and then said, ‘Of course, Jon’s into that sector. I think he has shares in some kind of health clinic. So this may be right up his street.’

  ‘He’ll see that rizado could affect every drug in the market.’ Roy forced her to lock eyes with him before he continued his summary, ‘The implications this could have on the industry are untold. Globally. The business potential could be enormous. And that’s what makes it so dangerous. The big problem is … can we trust him?’

  ‘I think so. He’s not my favourite producer, but I’m sure he’ll keep this under wraps. What else do you need?’

  ‘Finding rizado is only the start. There’ll have to be studies on how it affects medical treatment, especially in the early stages.’

  ‘One thing’s for sure,’ Kelby smiled, ‘I don’t have access to the sort of money that would be needed.’

  ‘It might even help in preventative medicine. If you’ve ever known anyone chronically ill, you’ll understand what a difference it will make.’

  Kelby kept her eyes on the doctor, but thought of little Annie.

  At that moment her phone beeped.

  Kelby grabbed it, hoping against hope it wasn’t the stalker. Instead, her phone had reminded her about her conference call with Jon. ‘Talk of the devil,’ she said and stood abruptly. ‘I’m sorry Doctor Robson, Marina.’ Tapping her watch, she walked around the boardroom table, ‘I have a conference call.’

  As Roy rose to his full height, he asked, ‘Are you going to help us?’

  ‘I’ll consider what you’ve told me today.’

  ‘When will you decide?’ Marina lifted her precious leather book.

  Kelby stared at it, reminded again of the mystery hiding between the pages. Her breath quickened. She wanted to suggest she kept the girdle book, but it wasn’t her find.

  Marina stepped closer and said with a desperate tone in her voice. ‘Por favor, please, help us to stop the deadly big business people chasing after rizado.’

  Roy stretched beside Marina and again placed his hand on her arm. Each time he did it, the gesture calmed her.

  Kelby’s phone beeped another reminder about her call. ‘Sorry, now I’m late.’ She led them to the boardroom door and held it open for them.

  Roy said, ‘Let’s find it and prove what it can do.’

  Jimmy gave a polite cough behind her. ‘Sorry to disturb you, Kelby, but Mr Thompson is on the line.’

  ‘I’ll be right there.’ As Kelby stepped away, Roy touched her arm to detain her.

  Kelby squirmed. She imagined being alone with him and her heart fluttered.

  ‘If you do get involved there will be huge risks, so please don’t say anything to Mr Thompson until we can work out more details.’ He leaned closer. ‘The note on the plane … I had to tell you about Gary.’ He paused for a moment, and added, ‘And that you are in danger.’

  27

  A thread of suspicion coiled in Teresina’s gut. The Bastardo hadn’t sung to her for more than ten years. Even then, he only sang to her in his toneless voice when he had something on his mind and couldn’t figure out how to spill the beans.

  What was he trying to tell her?

  They’d managed to keep up a veneer of friendliness — at least until the show.

  Recently he had started to get too friendly again. Her showdown with him in Rome would put him back in his place.

  ‘Was that your favourite song, Mamma?’

  ‘Long ago. Not now.’

  Majella’s music crept up a few notches, distracting Teresina’s eyes from the road. The Maserati veered to the right. Teresina eye-balled the steep cliff and yanked the steering.

  ‘I heard that other man singing it.’

  The car careered into another sharp turn.

  ‘Please send a text for me.’ She spun around the bend as the road ascended into the hillside town. Then she swivelled her head to Majella. ‘What man?’ A coil of suspicion unfurled deep inside her.

  Majella lifted her phone to send the text. ‘The one who came from the show.’

  Teresina frowned. ‘I told you not to go near strangers, so how do you know he was singing that?’

  ‘I heard it through my window, Mamma.’

  First the magazine and now that old song. Without a doubt, he was up to something.

  ‘If you heard it how come you know it was a strange man singing?’

  ‘Because Mamma,’ Majella sighed with exasperation, ‘I peeked at the man from the studio.’

  Teresina shook her head. She hadn’t bothered meeting anyone else from the crew. There were so many who came and went, mostly setting up the new products they had to test.

  ‘He had this tiny thing in his hand. Kinda like an iPod. He stuck it onto the car.’

  She hit the brakes and skidded into a sharp right twist in the road. ‘What did he look like?’

  ‘Like a man, Mama.’

  ‘Give me more details than that.’

  ‘I couldn’t see him properly.’

  ‘Majella!’

  Majella huffed. ‘Tall and skinny. And red hair.’

  ‘Oh my God! The Bastardo!’ Teresina grabbed Majella’s hand and shook it. ‘Quick. Find Kelby Wade in my phone. Send her a text. Tell her to call me urgently.’

  ‘Mamma, you can ask me nicely, you know.’

  Teresina ignored her. She thought of the voice singing to her. He had never resorted to violence; it wasn’t his style. But she wouldn’t put it past him to threaten her. She’d seen a different side to him that night and she didn’t want to see it again. The magazine had been a clear threat. The blood spattered across her and Kelby’s faces showed he had become unhinged.

  Teresina raised her voice over Majella’s music. ‘Wait! Send the text later. First, look in my phone for Gabrielle and call her.’

  Within seconds, Majella had connected the call into the dashboard and Teresina panted at Gabrielle, ‘Listen, if something happens to me, send the same letter to Kelby Wade.’

  A voice
boomed through the car speakers, ‘Nothing is going to happen to you. You’re being paranoid.’

  ‘I’m not! He’s up to something.’

  ‘Well, you’ll soon find out when you hand the letter over. Are you on your way to Rome now?’

  ‘No, first we’re visiting Nonna and then we’re heading out.’ Teresina clung to the steering as her beloved Maserati curved into another sharp bend. She didn’t care it took the corner at high speed; she had other things on her mind.

  ‘Listen, chill, okay? Everything is ready for your meeting. You’ll be fine.’

  ‘Thanks, see you later.’

  Even though her lawyer thought she was being paranoid, Teresina couldn’t stop thinking about the voice singing to her. It had been a long, long time since he’d done anything that showed he remembered their affair ten years ago.

  Maybe he’d got tired of the blackmailing. Maybe making him pay for Majella’s tenth birthday party had pushed him over the edge. For ages she had wondered what would be the final straw. But he kept yielding to her demands, so she kept pushing him. They’d always been that way together. Now she wondered if he’d reached his snapping point.

  His voice filled her head, blotting out logic. Her gut churned with dread. She had better warn Kelby. Their lives were in danger. ‘Majella, call Kelby Wade. Do it quickly. Tell her I’ve already left a message. But she must call urgently.’

  Majella tapped into her mother’s phone once again.

  But then the tyre exploded.

  28

  Zelda shoved the loo door shut with her high-heels. Using her longest nail she plonked the loo seat lid down and squatted onto it.

  She rummaged in her handbag and fished out her mobile phone. Pressing a number listed in her favourites, she waited. When someone on the other end answered, she whispered, ‘More news.’

  ‘Go ahead.’

  She twirled a finger around her red, tong-straightened hair and pouted. ‘I want double. This is big-time info.’