The Grotto's Secret: A Historical Conspiracy Mystery Thriller (19 page)

75

A shiver crept along Kelby’s back as though a droplet of water was meandering down the rocky path between her spine nodules.

‘Has Annie had visions in the past?’

Kelby thought for a moment and said, ‘She has lots of friends, they come and go. I’ve always encouraged her to speak to her dad. It helped me as a kid to get over the loss of my parents.’

‘Yes, talking to their loved ones can be healing for people. It’s good for her to know he’s there.’

The thread between them tightened again.

She smiled at him. ‘So you believe in that?’

‘I haven’t had any experience myself, but lots of my patients have told me similar stories.’ He puffed out his chest. ‘‘Besides, I’ve grown up between two cultures. My Spanish family are religious; the other side are the opposite.’

‘I’m neutral. I feel Gary around me a lot of the time, especially when I’m stressed. But it hasn’t made me run off to a séance or anything weird. I prefer to keep my beliefs and feelings private.’

‘That’s the best way.’

Kelby suddenly recalled Annie’s big secret chat. Goosebumps rose on her skin. ‘Come to think of it, she did tell me something weird …’ Her voice faded as she tried to recall Annie’s words. ‘At the time, I didn’t make a connection, but —’ Kelby looked into his eyes. Her jaw dropped.

‘What?’

‘She told me her friend’s waterfall is a secret place no-one has ever seen.’ Kelby’s fingers pressed against her forehead as she strained to remember Annie’s exact words.

‘That gives me an eerie feeling of déjà vu.’

Kelby stared at him through her fingers. ‘Um. What did Annie say?’ Silence hung in the room for a long moment. Then, Annie’s words floated into Kelby’s mind, slowly like the first drops of snow. ‘Annie said her friend’s waterfall is inside a cave. She gave me a picture of it. Jimmy is getting it framed for me.’

‘A waterfall inside a cave.’ Roy looked thoughtful for a moment. ‘I wonder if …’ He reached out and laid a hand on Kelby’s arm. ‘Could it be?’

‘I don’t know. But Annie said her friend drew a map and hid it inside her book bag. She said her friend’s book bag was old-fashioned, but similar to her own school bag.’

Still reeling from shock, Kelby’s head swayed from side to side in slow motion. ‘I wonder if the rizado map is hidden inside the book!’

Roy took her arm, ‘Come on, there’s only one way to find out.’

Once in the car park, Roy marched her to Jimmy’s car. ‘Jimmy, I’m taking this bruised and battered patient home. She needs rest.’

Jimmy looked up in surprise. ‘What about Hawk?’

‘I’ll call him.’ Kelby opened the back door and retrieved her briefcase and gym bag. At least she could take off her suit and change into something comfier. She came around to Jimmy’s window, his eyes wide. ‘I’ll be at home if you need me.’

‘Grand. Just what the doctor ordered.’

Roy waved at Jimmy as he drove off. He turned to Kelby. ‘Hawk? I thought you didn’t have a hubby.’

‘He’s my security guard.’

‘What?’

‘I should’ve told you. I was having Twitter threats. At first I thought it was a bozo thinking he was clever to frighten me, but after you told me about rizado, his threats got worse.’

‘My God! Kelby, I’m so sorry.’

‘What for? It’s not your fault.’

‘By telling you, this has somehow escalated. Do you trust Jimmy?’

‘With my life.’

‘So, if it’s not him, who?’

‘That’s why Hawk is watching my house.’

‘You’ll be safe with me.’ He stopped her strolling beside him with a hand on her arm. ‘Are you sure you still want to find out if Annie is right about Ana-María’s map? You’ve got a lot going on, and now you’ve seen the risks.’

Kelby exhaled. ‘I’m prepared to take those risks. I need to find out who killed Gary. And why.’

76

Sitting beside Roy in Costa, Kelby listened to the clattering of the pouring rain against the windows. It splattered over the street lantern, making it look like an illuminated shower cubicle on the pavement. Gushing water swept along the streets and cascaded into the gutters.

The ambient sound of pouring rain with water dripping from the roof reminded Kelby of her mother. Adelaide Wade had loved the rain and used to dance in it with Kelby and Gary. It was her mother’s way of teaching her children to accept the miserable weather.

Inside, the day’s bustle had slowed down with only late commuters shrugging off the weather for a coffee or sandwich on their way home.

When checking the chalk boards with brightly coloured coffee and chocolate options, Kelby had been sorely tempted to divert from her regular course of coffee. But in haste she had ordered her favourite Colombian. Now she absentmindedly ran her finger around a coffee stain ring on the wooden table. As her eyes fixed on the leather pouch tucked inside Roy’s open briefcase, she thought Roy’s café macchiato looked too small.

Huddling over the book, they stared at it. After a long moment, Roy lifted the leather pouch but left his briefcase lid open so any nearby coffee drinkers wouldn’t see the contents. ‘Give it a go.’

She looked at him in surprise. ‘But it’s your book.’

‘I know, but you remembered Annie’s secret. Go on, have the honours.’

Kelby’s hand rested on the mottled leather book. After a moment, she held it by the large knot. She lifted the book from inside and gently placed it inside Roy’s briefcase. Next, she lay the girdle bag between them and looked into Roy’s eyes.

He smiled at her, showing his encouragement. They leaned over the bedraggled looking leather skin. Kelby opened it and stretched it from corner to corner. The base, which held the inner book, had been sewn into a watertight wrapper. As before, the book electrified her.

When she’d first touched it, she had felt a slight bump somewhere. The soft inner skin felt creamy under her fingertips. Near the top where the strip of calf pelt joined into the knot, the leather bunched up. Stroking each section with long separate lines, Kelby studied the leather binding. Then her heart skipped a beat.

Her finger caught a tiny ripple. She leaned right over and whispered, ‘Here, take a look.’

Roy’s fingers joined hers, caressing the soft leather. She clutched his hand, guiding it to the small nodule near the handle’s knot. ‘Feel that?’

He nodded, excitement lighting his face.

Kelby tugged the mottled skin closer, tucking it between them. In the dim light, she squinted at the leather, examining it carefully. Suddenly, she gasped and exclaimed, ‘There! Look, there’s some kind of seam sewn into the handle.’

Roy grabbed his phone and pressed a button. In an instant, light shone onto the leather. Kelby held the knot under the beam. Together, they stared at a tiny pouch sewn almost invisibly into the leather flap.

The author’s secret radiated under her fingertips.

77

‘Roy,’ Kelby whispered, ‘this means Annie … Annie …’ Kelby couldn’t find the words.

‘I know.’ His gaze locked with hers.

For a long moment, they stared at each other.

‘How can we unpick it? We can’t risk damaging what’s inside.’

‘Here.’ Roy held up the knife he had used to butter his toasted bun.

‘But that will rip it.’

He ran his thumb along the blade. ‘It’s not nearly sharp enough.’

Kelby delved into her briefcase and rummaged around. After a minute, she exclaimed, ‘Yes!’ Lifting a keyring, she smiled triumphantly at Roy.

His brows puckered as he asked, ‘Keys?’

‘No, silly.’ She held it in the air and pointed at a Swiss army knife dangling on the keyring. ‘This was my dad’s. When he passed away Gary treasured it. Strangely enough, just before he went cycling in Spain, he gave it to me, telling me one day it would come in handy.’

‘Too right he was.’

Kelby dumped the keys beside Roy and ran her fingers along the line of thread. She wriggled it until it loosened enough to see a tiny loop in the stitch. Then, she splayed out her palm to Roy and said, ‘Scalpel.’

‘Pardon?’

‘Scalpel. You know, the army knife.’

‘Ahh, sorry, doctor. I’m new to this.’ His smile lit his face as he fumbled with the army knife, and finally de-tangled it from the keyring. Then, he slapped it into her still outstretched palm. ‘Scalpel.’

Kelby grinned. Using the tip of the knife, she slid it under the loop of thread and severed it. Searching for the next stitch with her fingertips, she repeated the process until there were more loops visible.

‘Phew.’ Kelby exhaled the tension in her chest. ‘This is mind-numbing. I’m so scared I’ll damage what’s inside.’

‘You’re doing a great job. You should’ve been a surgeon.’

After each tiny stitch was loosened, she slit them with the army knife. Eventually, a thin line of broken thread revealed a hidden pocket. ‘Now what?’ She looked at him, his nose close to hers.

‘Go in, Doctor Wade.’ His warm breath brushed her cheeks.

Her fingers ghosted over the soft leather, tracing the line of broken thread. Sticking her index finger into the hole, she poked around inside, careful not to sever any other stitching.

The tip of her finger touched something soft inside, sending an electric shock through her. ‘Roy!’ she cried out. ‘Something’s inside.’

78

With Madre’s scream ringing in her ears, María bolted out of her hiding place, raced to the cottage door and peered inside. Three soldiers sat beside the kitchen table eating the stew she had made earlier.

They had tight hose tucked in calf-high Moorish boots of red Moroccan leather, but one had removed his boots to dry his toes. Despite the warmth from the fire, a cloaked soldier had a blue wrap draped over his shoulders. At his feet, her mother lay crumbled in a heap, naked.

For a split second María’s breathing suspended. Then, she burst inside, shrieking, ‘¡
Dios santo!
God, what have you done to Mama!’

The leather jerkin soldier roared, ‘Who the hell are you?’

María fell at her mother’s feet. A terrible acrid smell, similar to charcoal-burnt bread, caught in her nose.

Her mother’s eyes flashed with determination as she whispered, ‘Keep your promise to me, María. And don’t tell them who you are.’

Streaks of dirt smeared her mother’s face where a cross had been cut into her flesh in the middle of her forehead. Her wimple had gone and in its place her chemise had been wrapped around her head like a turban.

‘Is this your son?’ The leather jerkin soldier jabbed the toe of his boot between Madre’s legs. He swung around and kicked María in the stomach with his heavy boot.

María clutched her sides, her breath knocked out of her. Muscle spasms rocked through her, making her swoon. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly against the ache in her stomach and struggled to catch her breath. After a few minutes she gasped, ‘Why are you doing this?’

‘She is a witch and must be punished.’

‘No! Mama delivers babies. She does nothing else. My father was a respected stonemason in Granada. His skills were requested at Cerro de las Torres, and the Alora Castle on the hill.’

‘
Silencio
!’

‘But you must listen, his skilful trade was also procured for building the Alcazaba in Antequera. And the Alhambra Palace. He was a person of authority. Such a man would not have a witch for a wife.’

‘There are signs of witchcraft here.’ He pointed to her mother’s basket. ‘I see potions and medicina. And there are chickens and pigs outside and even a goat to sacrifice.’

As María wiped the back of her hand across her sweating forehead, Padre’s cap fell off and revealed her long bronzed locks.

‘Ah, hah! A young woman dressed as a man.’ The unbooted soldier sucked the stew’s juices off his fingers and said, ‘So you must be the heretic Ana-María de Carbonela.’

María stared at him. How did they know her name?

Leather jerkin kicked her shins when she didn’t answer. ‘You’re not fit to dress as a man. Only men have the balls to fill breeches. Dressing as  a man will see you burned!’

79

With a precise, yet slow tug, Kelby drew out another piece of calf skin leather, tucked inside like a crumpled, dog-eared business card. She stared at it and then at Roy.

‘Open it!’

Kelby obeyed, lifting the top corners first. The skin had been folded over a few times. Picking at each layer, she opened the leather wad into a square, half the size of a paperback book.

Kelby and Roy stared at it for a moment, then Kelby said, ‘It’s true.’ She shone his torch onto the ancient leather strip covered with inked markings.

Roy threw his arms around her, squeezing her close. Then he took her head in his hands and placed his lips on her forehead, giving her a warm, squashy kiss. ‘You did it, Kelby, you found Ana-María’s map. Now we can find rizado!’

Kelby didn’t move. She wanted to stay awash with the glow of this special moment. Time stood still. The gossamer link wove a web around them, once again uniting them in the book’s enigma.

Suddenly a thrumming vibrated through Kelby’s veins. Feeling overwhelmed by the lure of Roy’s magnetic energy, and the tug of the map’s mystery, Kelby shook herself and pulled back.

She couldn’t explain the curious hold the book had on her. Ana-María’s shadow lingered over the map, pulling Kelby’s attention back to the inked markings.

The tip of her index finger traced across the top of the map and stopped on an arrow beside the word: Antequera. ‘Those look like mountains. And these are probably trees.’ She pointed to little upside down V marks. Shapes of trees were dotted around a central point where a river gushed out and down through the bottom of the map. Above the river, a large dark hole took prime position in the middle of the map.

Suddenly, Roy gripped Kelby’s arm. His steady gaze pierced into her. ‘Kelby, let’s go and find the grotto.’

She stared back, aghast. ‘You have patients to see.’

‘I can work miracles.’

‘Maybe you can, but I have a business to run.’

He smiled mischievously. ‘Okay, okay, I fess up. I’m off for the next two weeks. Marina wanted to see what’s happening with the dig. And I wanted to study the herbal journal. Now’s the perfect chance. We’re flying back in the early hours.’

‘Tomorrow?’ Kelby frowned.

‘I can’t believe the time.’ He tapped his wrist watch. ‘Costa will be closing soon.’

She peered around. The dimly lit coffee shop had emptied and the staff were cleaning up.

‘We’ve been here for hours. Let me buy you a quick bite at the pub over the road, they’ll be open for another hour.’

The more time she spent with him, the less clumsy he became. And the less his eyebrows wiggled.

‘You coming?’

Kelby’s heart fluttered. The thought of being far away from London with this man gave her the jitters.

‘Besides, you’re supposed to be in bed tomorrow. You can pull a sickie, I’m sure the boss won’t mind.’

Her eyes twinkled. ‘I don’t have a flight.’

‘Let me see what I can do. Maybe Marina will sacrifice her seat. She wants you to help her with this.’

‘What about my hubby?’

‘Your hubby?’ His faced dropped.

‘Hawk.’ She tried to hold a straight face, but couldn’t hold back a smile.

‘I’ll tell him I did judo at school. That’ll impress him.’

She chuckled, still not sure if Hawk would buy that, after someone had broken into her house right under his nose.

Roy still stared at her, his eyes questioning.

For a dizzy moment, she had the urge to let off a scream. Instead, with a racing pulse and a half-smile, Kelby said, ‘Okay, Rob Roy. Let’s go and find the grotto.’