Simmonds, it's basically down to you.' By now we were in a cloud of smoke. The alarm was going to go off any minute.
'No problems with that, mate,' he said in his very slow, very calm, very calculating way. If you told Euan he'd won the lottery he'd say, 'That's nice,' then go back to stacking his coins or folding his socks.
'How many copies of the disk are there besides the ones you're sending me?'
'I'm not going to tell you, mate. Need-to-know!'
He smiled. He knew I was protecting him.
'One more thing,' I said.
'I don't want to take Kelly with me to the Simmonds meet. He wasn't too pleased with me the last time we spoke. If this turns into a gang fuck, I don't want her caught in the crossfire. You're the only person I can trust her with. It's going to be for only one night, maybe two. Can you do that for me?'
I expected an immediate answer and I got one.
'No problem.' He smiled. He knew I'd let him talk freely with Kelly so they'd get to know each other.
'Will you take her back to Brecon?'
'Yeah. Have you told her I live in Wales?'
'I've told her you live in a sheep pen.'
He threw the butt into the toilet because he knew I hated that smell, too.
I put both my hands on his shoulders.
'This has been a fucking shit week, mate.'
'Don't worry about it. Let's just go back in the room and finish the coffee. Then you just go and sort your shit out with Simmonds and get it over and done with.'
'How was the burger?'
'Fine. I saved Euan some fries.'
I sat on the bed next to her.
'Listen, Kelly, me and Euan have been talking, and because I've got to do some stuff in London, we reckon it's a good idea if you go to the countryside with him and stay at his house. It's only for one night; I'll be back tomorrow. What do you think? Hey, you can even see the floor we laid--remember I talked about it?'
She suspected she wasn't being offered any option, and her face said so.
I said, 'I won't be long, and Euan's house has sheep all around it.'
She looked down at her fingers and mumbled, 'I want to stay with you.'
I said with mock surprise, 'What, don't you want to go?
You'll see all the sheep!'
She was embarrassed. She was too polite to say no in front of Euan.
I said, 'It won't be for long.' Then, like a bastard, I closed the trap.
'You like Euan, don't you?'
She nodded, never losing eye contact with me in case she made it with Euan.
'It's just going to be for one night. I'll be calling you anyway; I'll be able to talk to you.'
She looked very unhappy about it. After all, I'd promised not to leave her again. I caught sight of my mobile and had an idea.
'How about I give you my mobile phone. I'll show you how to use it.' I started playing with the buttons.
'Here you are, you have a go. If I show you how to use it, you can put that under your pillow tonight, all right?'
I looked up at Euan, trying to bring him in.
'Because she'll have her own bedroom, won't she?'
'That's right. She'll have her own bedroom, the one that overlooks the sheep pen.'
I said, 'And I believe there's a TV in her bedroom, isn't there?'
'Yes, there's a TV in there.' He nodded and agreed, wondering where he was going to get one from.
There was an acceptance; she wasn't wild about it, but that was good enough. I switched on the phone, tapped in my PIN number, and handed it over.
'Just plug the charger into the wall when you get there and it'll work,
OK?'
'OK.'
'Then put it underneath your pillow so when it rings you'll be sure to hear it. All right?'
'Whatever.' By now she understood that she definitely had no choice.
Euan said, 'I'll tell you what. We'd better get your teddies organized if we're going to the country. What are their names? Have they ever been on a train before?'
She warmed to him. We went downstairs and got into a taxi to Paddington station. We bought Kelly ice cream, candy, soda, anything to keep her mind off what was happening. She was still deciding what comic to buy as Euan looked at his watch and said, 'Wheels turning soon, mate.'
I went with them along the platform and gave her a big hug at the door of the train car.
'I'll call you tonight, Kelly. I promise.'
As she climbed up. Jenny and Ricky were looking at me from the Virgin Atlantic day sack on her back.
'OK.'
The guard was walking the length of the train, closing the doors. Euan lowered the window so Kelly could wave.
'Nick?' She leaned toward me through the open window and beckoned as if she wanted to whisper something.
'What?' I put my face near hers.
'This.' She threw her arms around my neck, squeezed, and planted a big kiss on my cheek. I was so taken aback I just stood there.
The train started moving.
'I'll see you tomorrow,' Euan called.
'Don't worry about us. We'll be OK.'
As the train slowly disappeared from the platform, I felt the same wrench as I had at the moment I'd seen Pat's body being loaded into the ambulance. But this time I couldn't figure out why. After all, it was for the best and she was in safe hands. Forcing myself to see it as one more problem out of the way, I headed for the pay phones.
I got a very businesslike reply from Vauxhall: 'Extension please?'
'Two-six one-two.'
There was a pause, then a voice I recognized at once.
'Hello, two-six one-two?'
'It's Stone. I've got what you needed.'
'Nick! Where are you?'
I put my finger in my ear as a departure was announced.
'I'm in England.' Not that he needed me to say that when he could hear that the Exeter train was leaving in five minutes.
'Excellent.'
'I'm pretty desperate to see you.'
'Likewise. But I'm tied up here until the early hours.' He paused to think.
'Perhaps we can go for a walk and a talk.
Let's say three-thirty tomorrow morning?'
'Where?'
'I'll walk toward the station. I presume you'll find me.'
'I'll do that.'
I put the phone down with a feeling that at long last the dice were rolling for me. Kelly was safe, Simmonds sounded amenable. With luck I was only hours from sorting out this mess.
Back at the hotel I rented a car so I could pick up Kelly from Brecon after the meeting, and had something to eat. In my head I ran through exactly what I was going to say to Simmonds, and the way I was going to say it. Without a doubt, I had in my possession precisely the sort of evidence Simmonds had asked for. It was a shame I
