He was horrified as her intention sank in. ‘You’re suggesting we burn her?’
‘I think it’s called cremation in the trade,’
‘No, that’s not going to happen!’ he said. ‘That’s so fucking callous and I’m not being a part of any of it.’
‘You’re already a part of it, you idiot. OK, so what’s your answer? Go on, I’m all ears.’
‘Let me think, for Christ’s sake!’
‘Well think faster because we haven’t got the time.’
‘Maybe we could take her and bury her in woods somewhere,’ he said, and even as he said it he realised how outlandish and cruel it all sounded. ‘Or maybe leave her where she’ll be found, looked after properly.’
‘They’ll discover the bullet wound and know she’s been murdered. We have to destroy all evidence that could lead to finding out who she was or leads anyone directly to us. Look, I’ve got to be out of here tonight.’ Her expression softened fractionally at seeing him so upset. ‘It’s not as if she’s going to notice either way.’
‘But I’ll know!’ he stormed. ‘It’s not right, it’s not decent!’
‘Decency doesn’t even come into the equation now. It’s all about survival now, whatever it takes. We have to destroy all evidence, all trails, and that means taking care of Erica’s body.’
‘You intend to torch the entire house?’
She raised a thoughtful brow. ‘It’s due for demolition anyhow. If I remove the bullet beforehand we might just get away with people thinking she was an unknown homeless squatter who had a nasty accident with a primus.’
‘What kind of a mind have you got that allows you to think like this?’ he said, running a hand over his head.
‘An experienced one. Like I said right at the beginning, forget the person you are, the life you had, it doesn’t exist anymore. From here on in everything changes. It’s not only me who’s moved up people’s list. They have you very much in their sights now. I can help you; teach you how to survive, like your mother learned from de Bailleul. But there really is no one else you can safely turn to right now. That comfortable little world simply doesn’t exist for you. Face it, you’ve got me, the crazy redhead, and that’s it. So we can either pull together on this one or we can go our own sweet separate ways here and now. Either way I’m going to help my father, and if I can kick some Doradian arse in the process to make me feel better that suits me fine.’
Gareth peeled back the blanket from Erica’s face. She appeared so calm, finally at peace after so long. He stared at the handgun. ‘Can you teach me how to use this properly?’ he asked.
‘That’s an essential lesson,’ she said.
‘We can’t keep running forever,’ he said. ‘We’ve got to take the fight to them, got to find this Doradus, whoever the bastard is, and put an end to all this.’ He got to his feet and shoved the gun into his jeans’ waistband. ‘Offence is the best form of defence, right? If you’re going to kick some Doradian arse then I want to be right there with you.’
He went over to the army satchel and took out a roll of bandages from its plastic bag. Taking a pair of scissors he bent down to Erica, lifted a strand of shining hair and cut it off. He placed it tenderly into the plastic bag and sealed it, putting it into his pocket. He saw Caroline watching him closely.
‘It’s all I’ll have left of her,’ he said, avoiding her gaze. He gently put the blanket over her face. ‘OK, do what you have to do and let’s get out of here before I change my mind.’
She hung back till he left the room, and she packed the satchel with a few provisions, cleaning away anything that might implicate someone else had shared the room with Erica. She took a knife from the satchel and heaved Erica’s body over, removing the blood-sodden dressing. She plunged the blade into the wound, located the bullet and scraped the tiny piece of lead out.
Finally she unscrewed the black cap of the petrol can, poured a little fuel over the blanket and onto the dry floorboards. Shouldering the satchel she lit a match, holding it briefly over Erica’s body; the flickering light made it appear as if something stirred beneath the blanket, but she knew this to be an illusion. She had to be strong for both their sakes, but Erica’s death had affected her. It brought back so many painful memories of Afghanistan. And she felt like she knew this woman.
She dropped the match casually onto the blanket and waited till the flame began to take hold. She hung about long enough to see the fire spread across the floorboards, black smoke beginning to balloon upwards to the ceiling, before closing the doors and heading out to the car. She threw the satchel into the boot. Gareth was staring vacantly out of the windscreen, his face like a ghost behind the glass, she thought. She nodded to him that it was done and silently went over to the padlocked gates. She opened them wide, checking to see if the coast was clear before dashing back to the car. She gunned the engine.
‘What are our chances?’ he asked evenly.
‘I’ve never been a gambling woman,’ she said. ‘But if we were horses in the Grand National then I wouldn’t fancy our chances at Beech’s Brook.’
‘Well, I’m going to give it my best shot, for Erica’s sake,’ he said.
‘That’s all we can both do,’ she said, reaching into her pocket for gum and finding it empty. She groaned loudly.
‘Brown,’ he said.
‘What?’
He nodded at her hair. ‘Brown would suit you better.’
‘You think so?’
‘Black just isn’t your colour,’ he said.
48
It was just after midnight and the night appeared to press down on the car. Visibility was compounded by the fact that there were no houses, only the barely glimpsed rolling, moor-dominated landscape, and a dense mist had fallen making it all but impossible to make out any detail save for the strip of country road lit up by the car’s headlights. As if the world outside had ceased to exist. Caroline pulled the car to the side of the road.
‘Why are we stopping?’ Gareth asked, snapping out of the drowse he’d succumbed to.
‘We’re on the edge of the village of Elldale,’ she said, taking the handgun from the glove compartment and sliding it into her jacket pocket. ‘I’m going to take it on foot from here.’
He unfastened the seatbelt. ‘I’m coming with you,’ he insisted.
‘No you’re not. It could be dangerous. If I’m not back in three quarters of an hour tops then you get the hell out of here and don’t look back. You’ll find money, ID, the addresses of a couple of safe houses I located that even Pipistrelle doesn’t know about, so you should be safe for a while. That’s all I can do for you.’ She smiled, and it actually contained a little warmth. ‘Don’t look so glum; your mother managed it for four hundred years.’
He reached out and held her arm. ‘I can’t let you go out on your own. You could get hurt.’
‘Anyone would think that you cared,’ she said, peeling his fingers away. ‘You don’t have a say in this, Davies. I’m more likely to get hurt having a bumbling amateur cramping my style. I’ll be just fine. Keep the engine running.’ She checked her watch. ‘Forty-five minutes and then drive the pedal to the floor and put as many miles as you can between this place and that screwed up little head of yours.’ She made as if to open the car door.
‘I didn’t say thank you,’ he said.
‘I wasn’t looking for it.’
‘You saved my life and you tried to save Erica’s. You put your own neck on the line for us.’
She pursed her lips nonchalantly. ‘Maybe when this is all over I’ll see a shrink. Like you say, I must be crazy. You have the gun handy?’ He patted his pocket in response. ‘And you’re sure you know how to use it now?’
‘It was a fast lesson but I’m a fast learner,’ he said.
‘That’s my little soldier,’ she said lightly. ‘Till I get back it’s the only friend you’ve got.’
With that she clambered out of the car, and he slid over to the driver’s seat. It was only a matter of moments
