“Look, we know that Patrick and his cronies will come after us. I’m not just going to get away with this.”
“We aren’t going to get away… We’re in this together sis.”
“Which is why I think we should make sure the girls are safe. We close down and ask them to take a holiday until this blows over.”
“And you think it will ‘blow over’ as you say?”
“Adam, I think I’m in deep trouble. No, I know I am. I wish you weren’t here but I am so glad you are. I made a really stupid mistake and now I have to live with the consequences, even if it means dying. These are some very dangerous people. If I could turn back time…”
“Sis, if we could do that we would all do a lot of things differently. What’s happened has happened. We have to do the best we can to get through this.”
***
I sat Judith and Emily in the tack room and told them that we were closing. Emily had screamed abuse before bursting into tears, Judith had just looked sad. I sighed and started to tell them the reasons why. The looks of disbelief were cut short when I started to show them the archived news articles on my phone. I looked up at the two, young, shell shocked girls. “Now you understand. It’s just not safe here.”
“We’re not leaving you!” Emily was defiant. Judith just shook her head.
“We are…” Judith stood up. “Look, when you get through this. If you…” She stopped.
“I’ll call you. I’ll need you back. This is just a short holiday, I’m not sacking you. Here…” I handed each girl an envelope, four weeks wages and then some, in cash. “Take a break, go far away and then when this is all done…”
Emily flung herself at me. For all her bravado and bluster she was just a frightened young girl, she hugged me and sobbed, telling me she didn’t want to leave.
“I admire you… Both.” I embraced them. “But you have your life ahead of you. I would never forgive myself if you were hurt.”
We did the stables together and the girls made up hay nets before going to the flat and packing their bags. I promised I would see them again soon, not a promise I really had any right making. I drove them both into Grange to the station where they would go their separate ways.
It felt lonely at the yard, the horses were turned out in the fields, Adam was busy working. I looked around, I had been happy, it was typical that it wouldn’t last.
***
“So?” Adam took my hand. We were sitting at the kitchen table again, I had a dish of pasta in front of me but it had long since gone cold, my appetite lost.
“So what?” I looked up. “I don’t know what to do.”
“So we sit here like sitting ducks waiting for them to come and take us?”
“What do you suggest we do then?”
“We prepare…”
***
Adam had been out of most of the morning. He came back in muddy with scratches up his arms. I queried what he had been doing and he told me that he had made it more difficult for people to get to us, digging a deep ditch through the driveway at its narrowest point in the forest, he had also set tripwires, a hang off from befriending an old Welsh gamekeeper who had shown him how to make effective traps which would delay people attempting to arrive unannounced.
I had scoffed at the idea but agreed that he was right, we couldn’t just sit and wait for potential disaster and a collection of angry gangsters to just walk in on us. I had tried to keep myself busy, but I knew that it was only a matter of time.
I jumped as my phone buzzed, I picked it up and answered. “Hello?”
“Hi there Amanda, its DI Anderson… Dan… I’m struggling to get to you…”
I had called Dan earlier, even though he was off-duty he had said that he would gladly visit and see if there was anything he could do to help. I had walked down the drive and seen him on the other side of a deep moat which Adam had dug across the drive. “Oh crap! I think my brother got a bit over-excited here…” I found a ladder laid with boards on our side of the ditch and dropped it over. Dan gingerly stepped across.
“Inventive!” He smiled. Wearing jeans and country boots with a tidy shirt, I resisted staring at him but could not resist taking in his chiselled features and well-built body. I tutted to myself, ‘concentrate girl, think of the matter in hand’.
“He wants to be sure we are not attacked too easily. ”
“It’s a good idea. I have some kit which may help you. Some CCTV cameras which will allow us to see anything that does happen.”
It was good to have something to do, we spent the rest of the afternoon fitting the various battery-operated cameras so that they would cover the entrance and most of the yard. Holding the bottom of the ladder left me long, lingering moments looking at the handsome DI’s rear in his tight jeans. I was struggling to concentrate but knew that I needed to keep my mind on the job.
“Like what you see?”
“Oh God yes…” I muttered huskily, before realising that Dan was holding out a tablet which was showing images from the cameras. I blushed deeply which caused him to laugh heartily. “Sorry… I was…” I stuttered.
“Maybe, when this is all resolved I can take you for a drink?”
“That is very optimistic of you, perhaps I should just make you a cup of tea now, just in case?” I couldn’t help myself crying, his embrace was so comforting. He led me to the farmhouse and made me a tea in a chipped mug.
“I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Please Dan, don’t make promises
