Stay Alive (18 page)

He also remembered the moment he and some of the others had rushed over to the two injured boys who lay writhing on the road. They’d been torn apart by the pieces of shrapnel that had been packed into the bomb. The smaller of the two was missing a leg and half an arm, and there was a gaping hole in his throat that smoked and sizzled. As the medic – a guy called Sherman who killed himself two years later – bent down to administer some kind of first aid, the boy had stared up at Scope, his eyes wide with fear and shock, and Scope had had to look away because all he could see was his own daughter lying there in place of the boy, with limbs missing and body burned, bloody and smoking. As the boy succumbed to his terrible injuries, along with his friend, Scope had stood at the side of the road, eyes clamped shut, his whole body shaking as he tried to force the nightmarish images from his mind.

He’d never been able to understand how anyone could hurt innocent kids, and yet he knew there were people out there who were fully prepared to. As he stood amongst the trees now, he wondered if whoever had shot up these canoes had already killed the two he was looking for.

But when he shone his torch round, there was no sign of any other bodies. He tried to work out what had happened here. The shooter had been firing from the other side of the river. Clearly, he’d killed the two adults but, since there was no sign of the children, either the shooter had had accomplices on this side of the river to pick them up, which seemed unlikely since they were a good few miles from the road here, or, more likely, they’d escaped. But if the children were up from London it was unlikely they knew the area. If Scope were them, he’d try and put as much distance between himself and the river as possible. He didn’t know the area that well himself, but he was fairly certain that the path that ran roughly parallel to the river for about twenty miles, and eventually led back into Tayleigh, was a few hundred metres south of him through the trees. If the children had kept in a roughly straight line, they’d have got to it eventually, although they might have missed it, or chosen to make their way further into the forest.

Deciding it was the best place just to start looking for them, and for the men who were hunting them, Scope zipped up his jacket, took a deep breath, and began running through the trees, not sure what the hell he was getting involved with, but determined to see it through.

After all, what else would he be doing tonight?

‘
LOOK, I HAVEN’T
been entirely honest with you,’ said Amanda.

‘No,’ said Jess. ‘I thought not.’

They were standing in the living room of the house where they’d found shelter. Next door, Casey was flat out in the single bedroom. Jess was amazed that she was able to sleep after everything that had happened today, but she was thankful she was. The less she dwelt on the deaths of Tim and Jean, the better. They’d searched the house from top to bottom just in case there was a phone hidden anywhere, but there wasn’t. They had, however, found some women’s clothes in the upstairs bedroom. It was mainly walking gear and Jess was now dressed in a woollen jumper that was at least two sizes too big for her, and which itched, and a pair of waterproof trousers that crinkled when she walked. But at least she was dry now, and with the heating clanking away in the house, she was also warm for the first time since she’d fallen in the river.

They’d kept the lights off so as not to attract attention, and Jess eyed Amanda coolly through the darkness, feeling a flash of anger. She’d always had a hot temper, it was one of her downfalls, and she needed to keep a lid on it now. ‘So what’s really happening? And why are these people after you?’

Amanda sighed. ‘You’ve heard about The Disciple, haven’t you?’

Jess nodded. You’d have to have been living at the bottom of a mineshaft for the last year not to know about The Disciple. ‘Yeah, I’ve heard of him. He’s meant to be on the run, isn’t he?’

‘That’s right.’ She paused. ‘Well, he murdered a couple three weeks ago – a man and his lover who were together in the man’s home.’

‘I heard about that. Didn’t the wife walk in on it?’

‘Yes, she did.’

The truth dawned on Jess then. ‘And the wife was you?’

Amanda smiled grimly. ‘They managed to keep my photo out of the papers. The police wanted me to stay down south until they’d arrested the killer, but I wanted to get as far away from what happened as possible, which is how I ended up here.’

Jess looked at her carefully, still not entirely sure whether to believe her or not. ‘And you think it’s The Disciple chasing us now?’

Amanda shook her head firmly. ‘No. I was ambushed today by three men, and I saw all their faces. A few days ago, I was shown a photo of the Disciple suspect, Leonard Hope, and he definitely wasn’t one of them. And this is where I really was telling the truth. I have no idea who these men are, or why they want me.’

‘Why should I believe you?’

‘Because I’ve got no reason to lie, Jess. Look, I’ve involved you both enough already, and I regret that, I honestly do. Just like I regret what happened to your aunt and uncle. But the point is, it’s me they want, not you and Casey. Without me you’ll be safe, so the best thing is if I leave you here and make my own way back to the nearest town.’

Jess felt a flash of panic at the thought of being left here alone with Casey.

Amanda must have seen the look on her face because she gave Jess a reassuring smile. ‘As soon as I get to civilization, I’ll send the police back here for you, I promise.’

‘How far is it?’

‘About five miles across country. Alone, I could probably make it in an hour and a half, and have help back here in two.’

Jess wasn’t convinced. ‘Don’t you think we should stick together?’

‘It’ll take too long with Casey, and we’ll be too exposed. It’s best if I go alone. They won’t come looking for you here.’ She stepped forward and put a hand on Jess’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. It was a curiously intimate gesture.

Jess thought about it. Amanda was right. Casey would slow them all down if they tried to cross country, but the idea of the two of them stuck here alone and vulnerable in a place they didn’t know, didn’t make her feel much better either.

‘What happens if you don’t make it?’ she asked Amanda.

Amanda took her hand away from Jess’s shoulder and frowned. ‘If I don’t make it, you’re better off staying put, anyway, but I’m pretty sure I will. I don’t think these guys know the area that well. It’s dark now and there’s a lot of country out there. Just keep the lights out and stay hidden. If I send help back, I’ll come with them, and I’ll knock on the door four times in quick succession, then pause. Then one more knock. That way you’ll know it’s me. Don’t let anyone else in, no matter who they say they are. If no one comes out back tonight, it means they’ve got me, which means they won’t be interested in looking for you, but – either way – make sure you wait until daylight before looking for help. Do you understand?’

Jess nodded, knowing there was no point in trying to persuade Amanda to stay with them. ‘I understand.’ She paused a moment before asking the next question. ‘But if they want to get you so badly, why didn’t they just shoot you when you were in the canoe?’

‘Because they want me alive. Don’t ask me why, but whatever the reason is, it’s not a nice one.’ Amanda took a deep breath. ‘I’ve got to go. Look after your little sister, and stay calm. Okay?’

‘Okay.’ Jess watched as Amanda went out through the back door, then bolted it behind her, before retreating into the darkness of the house, suddenly feeling very alone.

THE THREE MEN
made a menacing sight as they moved purposefully down the forest path in a tight line, the two Dobermans that MacLean had brought back with him straining at their leashes. Each of them was armed with a pistol with suppressor attached, while Keogh also carried the Remington .303 rifle he’d used to shoot at the canoeists earlier, and the big cop MacLean was armed with a five-shot automatic shotgun as well, capable of bringing down a horse.

By now, Keogh was even more worried. Not only had he still not heard any word from Mehdi, but they’d been walking for a good half-hour through the forest and there was still no sign of their quarry. MacLean was confident that they’d be coming up from the river on this path, since it was the only one that led directly out of the woods, and that they wouldn’t have made it this far by now, but Keogh wasn’t so sure. Amanda Rowan would be doing her utmost to hide, which meant keeping off obvious paths like this one, and in a forest this size, with all manner of animals living in it, the dogs were going to have a hard time picking up their scent.

The only bonus was that, from what Keogh had heard, MacLean had some experience of hunting people in this kind of terrain, and not in the course of his police work, either. As well as being a copper, MacLean looked after the boss’s country estate in the nearby Cairngorms, and some pretty unpleasant things happened up there. Rumour had it that the boss kept young women imprisoned in the cellars of his manor house, where they were sexually abused, sometimes for weeks on end, before being killed and buried in the grounds. The women were mainly foreign prostitutes working illegally in the country, so they wouldn’t be missed, and Keogh wasn’t sure if it was just the boss himself who abused the girls, or whether his contacts in the criminal and business worlds were also involved. What he did know, however, was that the previous year, one of the women had escaped and been found by a group of hikers up from London, and it had been up to MacLean and his brother to hunt the five of them down before they raised the alarm. They’d done it too, eliminating both the woman fugitive and all the hikers, with the help of their mother (she, apparently, had been the one who’d hanged the last hiker to be murdered, a female teacher from London, in an effort to make her death look like a suicide). Keogh was hoping that MacLean could manage the same thing again tonight, although he also hoped that Amanda had split from the kids. He didn’t want their deaths on what was left of his conscience.

He turned to MacLean. ‘How much further on do you think they’ll be? They’ve had two and a half hours to cover the ground.’

‘They’ll be cold and wet, and there’s a kid with them, so they’ll be slow,’ growled MacLean in his thick Highlands burr. ‘But, even so, we ought to run into them in the next fifteen minutes.’

‘If they came this way.’

MacLean glared at him, his strange, round baby face looking almost demonic in the watery light of the moon. ‘They’ll have come this way. If they’d gone along the river, they’d have been in Tayleigh by now, and I’d have heard about it.’ He patted the phone in his pocket. ‘Don’t worry. Even if they try to hide, the dogs will pick them up. They’re trained to go after people, not animals.’

Keogh looked down at the two wiry-looking Dobermans and was pleased they weren’t after him. ‘Why don’t we let them off the lead now? See what they pick up?’

‘Don’t worry. I trained these two myself. When they get a scent, we’ll know about it.’ Without breaking stride, MacLean examined the map by torchlight. ‘There should be a waterfall coming up soon, and a few hundred yards east from that, there’s a house.’

Keogh tensed. ‘A house? I thought you said this wood was deserted.’

‘It’s the only house in the forest, and you’d have to know how to find it.’

‘Well, if they get there and raise the alarm, we’re finished.’

‘We’d better make sure they don’t get there then,’ said MacLean, as the two dogs stopped and began growling. He turned to Keogh and grinned. ‘What did I tell you? They’ve got the scent.’

AMANDA KNEW SHE
had two options. She could either follow the single-lane track that led up from the house to the Tayleigh Road, or continue along the footpath through the woods.

As she left the house, she chose the footpath because it offered more hiding places and was, in her opinion, a less likely route for her pursuers to take. Amanda was a fit woman and she moved easily through the forest at a run, breathing in the fresh, cold air. Progress was a lot faster without the two girls in tow. In reality she’d had little choice but to take them with her for the first part of the journey, but she was glad they were no longer with her now, knowing they’d be far safer staying in the house.

For her own part, Amanda was terrified. She couldn’t believe she’d been targeted by a highly organized gang who seemed determined to kill her. When she’d found out from DCS Mike Bolt that they’d identified a suspect in the Disciple case, and that he was on the run, she’d been nervous, but not unduly so. There was no reason why he would follow her up here, or even have a clue where she was living. That information, as far as she was aware, was only known to the investigating team, and to one trusted friend whom she’d known for close to twenty years, and who would never betray her. And yet these men had found her, and she could only assume that they were somehow connected to the Disciple case.

The problem was, she couldn’t understand why they wanted her. They obviously thought she knew something, but what? Amanda knew nothing about The Disciple that wasn’t already known to the police.

Unless . . .

It hit her for the first time. A possible motive for her abduction. Something that truly was worth killing for. Amanda felt a coldness enveloping her as the thought took hold, because she knew that if she was right, then this was the end. She was finished.

But how could they know? How could they possibly know?

Amanda stopped running, telling herself to calm down. There was no way anyone could know about
that
. She shut her eyes and took some deep breaths, absorbing the silence of the forest.

And that was when she heard it.

The sound of dogs barking. Big dogs. Hunting dogs, probably. Not the kind of dogs that people took for walks.

And the barking was getting closer.

JESS STOOD IN
the darkness at the foot of the bed, staring down at her sister.