The line went dead.
I put down the receiver, grabbed the backpack from my room and went over to the window from where I had a view of the narrow country road that led down to the cottage.
I saw them straight away. Three cars travelling in convoy, two unmarked, the first only twenty seconds from the entrance to the driveway.
I bolted down the stairs and out the back through the open French windows, shutting them quickly behind me to at least make it look like the place was empty. I could already hear the cars pulling onto the gravel at the front of the house.
One thing I’ve learned in life is there’s no such thing as being over-prepared. And when you’re on the run and you stop somewhere, you always need an escape route. And thankfully I had one.
Rather than park the rental car in the driveway where it might have attracted attention from the neighbours, I’d left it next to the narrow lane that ran down the side of the house, making sure it was screened from view by some trees. I’d seen from Google Maps that the lane wound down past a farm for about a mile and a half before joining another road that led back to the main highway.
I ran across the deck to the fence then, as quietly as I could, climbed over it and slipped down the other side, taking a very quick look round. The lane was empty and I jogged down it, keeping to the grassy bank, trying to minimize the noise I made as much as possible, before turning into the trees where the car was parked.
Fishing out my car keys, I unlocked it and got in, throwing down the backpack. I started the engine and pulled away in silence. That was the joy of hybrid cars. They’re powered by electricity until they get to a certain speed and that means you can’t hear them. Driving slowly down the lane to prevent the wheels making too much noise on the stones, I kept my eyes fixed firmly on the rear-view mirror until I’d put a good hundred metres between me and the house. Only then did I begin to pick up speed.
And only then did I start to think about what had just happened. I had no idea how I’d been found. I was 98 per cent certain I’d covered my tracks well enough that I wouldn’t have been followed here, but that wasn’t what was preying on my mind now. Someone had called to warn me to leave. Someone with Brennan’s number and knowledge of the police operation to arrest me.
Who?
And in one of those moments of epiphany, I remembered where I’d heard that voice before.
And now, suddenly, nothing made sense.
44
It was Monday afternoon and Tina had got her phone and car back earlier than expected. She’d just left her cottage where the forensic team had let her in to get some more clothes. She’d seen one of her neighbours, Diane, as she was leaving. Tina didn’t know Diane especially well but they always exchanged pleasantries when they saw each other. But not this time. Diane had turned away rather than speak to her, and it had saddened Tina. This village had always been her sanctuary through thick and thin. Now she was unwelcome here.
At least, she thought, she was welcome at Arley’s. Tonight, Arley’s son Oliver was cooking dinner. Some kind of vegetarian Sri Lankan curry apparently. If Tina hadn’t killed his kidnapper all those years ago, he’d have been dead now, along with his sister, no question about it. Amid everything else, the thought gave her some comfort. ‘Put that one in your pipe and smoke it, Diane,’ she whispered aloud.
Tina had been told by the senior SOCO officer searching her cottage that it could be as long as two days before they were finished. While she was in no hurry to go back in, she didn’t think the police needed to be poking round in there for that long, so she decided to put a call in to Mike and see if he was feeling charitable enough to speed things up for her. She knew he probably wouldn’t but wanted to speak to him anyway. She respected Mike and didn’t like the fact that he was angry with her.
She put the phone on hands-free and called him, wondering if he’d answer, given how things had been left between them.
But he did.
‘So are you finally going to come clean, Tina?’ he said brusquely.
‘If you’re talking about Ray Mason, then I’ve already told you everything I know.’
‘Bullshit. Tina, we’re building a case against you. The sooner you cooperate the better it’ll be for you. I’m serious.’
His tone sounded almost sympathetic, and this worried her. ‘I’m sorry, Mike, I can’t help. But I wanted to know if you could speed SOCO up in my cottage. They’re telling me they won’t be finished until Wednesday.’
As Tina spoke, she slowed to round a sharp bend. Her satnav was taking her on a quiet back road away from the M25 so she was surprised to see a car in front of her going slowly while behind her another one, a black SUV, came up behind her fast.
That was when she knew it was a trap. ‘Shit,’ she said quickly. ‘I think I’m about to be attacked.’
‘What’s going on?’ demanded Bolt, sounding concerned.
The car in front did an emergency stop, partially blocking the road, and immediately two men with scarves pulled up over their faces jumped out and ran over, pointing pistols straight at her. There was no way past them, and no way of reversing either as the SUV behind was blocking her way. Two other men jumped out of it, again with scarves pulled up over their faces. One of them looked like he had a taser.
One of the gunmen
