Hidden ( CSI Reilly Steel #3) (26 page)

The two detectives followed along as Reilly pointed out the locations.

‘I started within a five-mile radius of the accident, where you had the locals canvass for information the first day,’ she explained.  ‘Like we said, Sarah was barefoot, so she couldn’t realistically have traveled far.’

‘
Assuming she did indeed walk to the location.’

‘
Well, let’s just say for a second that she did walk, irrespective of whether she’ escaped or, like Conn, had been cast out. Her feet were not badly damaged yet her clothing was still wet – not from the drizzle, but from swimming through a water source, hence the algae in her clothes and hair.’ Reilly zoomed into a specific area on the map. ‘So I concentrated on lakes – big enough that you’d have to actually swim across it – which were also close to fertile land, possibly farmland, given what Conn told you about them growing vegetables and raising chickens.’ She zeroed in on the area a little more. ‘This place struck me first.’

‘
Glen of the Two Lakes,’ Chris mused, as he looked at the screen.

‘
What?’

‘
That’s what Glendalough means in English,’ he explained. ‘We used to go there on school trips for geography class. Don’t you remember learning about U-shaped valleys?’ he continued to Kennedy. ‘That place is one of the best examples in the country.  Like you said, steep cliffs and a lake, and not only that but the Glendalough area is also teeming with history.’ 

‘
So if our guy has a real obsession with Celtic history and mythology, this area would be right up his street.’  

‘
Far from private, though,’ Kennedy pointed out. ‘Up there you’re more likely to encounter a busload of tourists than some kidnapper who is trying to keep kids hidden away.’

‘
I thought that too.’ Reilly moved the screen again to show a wider cross- section of the surrounding landscape. ‘There are other lakes nearby. Sarah’s feet may not have been badly damaged  if, say, she traveled over land like this…’ She circled her finger around some brown and green parts on the screen which indicated grassy areas.

‘
Then she may well have traveled further than we had considered,’ Chris said.

‘
Exactly. These lakes are not too isolated, they’re all good-sized, have farmable land close by, and yet are all somewhat remote.’ She clicked on a map icon that switched the screen from the satellite image to a more traditional map which made viewing surrounding roads, rivers and lakes easier.

‘
So from east to west we have the Roundwood reservoir, Lough Dan, Lough Tay, then the Glendalough lakes before finally the Blessington lakes to the west.’ She used her pen to point to several areas on the map where the lakes were located.

‘
OK, so which of these do you think is most likely?’ Chris asked, guessing that she had no doubt already considered them all.

‘
Well, if it were me, and I wanted to keep away from outsiders and at the same time make it difficult for anyone to escape, I’d choose here,’ Reilly said, pointing to a secluded valley surounded by forest and a sheer, unclimbable cliff-face, bordered by a large glacial lake. ‘It’s surrounded by steep rocky slopes, woodland and more interestingly …’ She zoomed in a particular area. ‘…what looks like a patch of strand.’

Chris stood
back. ‘Or as Conn called it, a beach.’

‘
Exactly.’

‘And not just a beach but plenty of rocks and boulders to use to make offerings to this “Balor” fella.’ Kennedy indicated the visibly rocky western shore of the lake. ‘Good work, Miss Baywatch. We’ll make a detective out of you yet.’

‘
Cheers,’ she replied drily.

‘Those fields pretty much front onto the lake,’ Chris observed. ‘Farmland?’

‘
Possibly.’

He peered closer at the satellite image
. ‘It’s difficult to make out, but it looks like there’s a fence or stone wall on this side…’  He traced an outline round the northern end of the property.

‘That’s quite a lot of land,’ said Kennedy finally. ‘You’d need a few quid to be able to afford a spread like that.’

‘Could be a family-owned place, or maybe this guy gets more than protection for all those sculptures Conn was talking about.’

Chris
took out his phone. ‘I’ll ring the station and get someone chase Land Registry to find out who the owner of that place is.’

Kennedy nodded.
‘Better check with the locals in that neck of the woods too – see if they know anything about who lives there.’

He sat back down.

Reilly stared at them both for a moment. ‘And that’s it? We just wait?’

‘
Well, what do you suggest?’ Chris replied. ‘We can’t just call the cavalry and go charging up there. You know as well as I do that our hands are tied until we get a better sense of what we’re dealing with. We can maybe have a look around sure, but—’

‘
Hey, I’m all for protocol, and I know what happens when procedures aren’t followed, but this is different surely. We can’t just sit on our hands when we know there may well be other children being held there.’

‘Like Chris said, we’ll go and check it out, have a scoot around the area,’ Kennedy told her. ‘In the meantime, it’s not like the kids are in immediate danger, seeing as Conn seemed to have nothing but good things to say about the place,’

‘
We’ll just have to tread carefully on this one, Reilly,’ Chris reassured her. ‘First, let us check it out, see how the land lies.’

‘
Fine,’ she concurred. ‘But if you’re going up there to check it out, I’m coming with you.’

Chapter 25

I sat by the water yesterday, simply watching them play.  Their laughter rang out, clear as a bell, carried by the wind across the fields from a distant church.  Their joy was untempered, unrestrained, no thought of tomorrow, no cares for what might happen in the future – they live in the here and now, in the eternal beauty of youth.

The days have been difficult since
she left us, but they are strong, my little swans, they are slowly recovering, finding their security again in the daily rhythm of life, the tending of the animals, the preparing of the food, the games and songs and laughter that fill their days.

Today the sun shone, the world smiled upon us, and the children played.  What else would they
do?  What else should they do? Childhood is for playing, for laughing, and that is what they do.

We have created between us a place that is everything they need and nothing more.  What better description of paradise could you find?

The nights are harder, though – the young ones miss her the most, she was always there, always calm, always the comforting presence when they woke in the night with dreams of dark terror haunting them.  At night they fall asleep remembering her, and fear rushes into the void that she left.

She haunts my dreams too
: her radiance, her aura of beauty.  I offered her love, safety, security, eternal youth and beauty.  What more could she have wanted?

Kennedy drove hard around another corner on the country roads of Wicklow, picking up speed on a short downhill as the road snaked its way up along the course of one of many streams and rivers.

They had decided to travel on the N81 which would take them past the Blessington Lakes, and onwards through the Wicklow Gap passing Glendalough on the way.

Reilly sat in the back, gazing at the passing scenery. As they drove through the Wicklow Gap she was struck by the isolation of the area – dense forests had given way to heather-blanketed boglands, interspersed with varying sized boulders of granite – perfect for offerings to Balor. With Conn’s mention of his captor’s profession in mind, she took note of various rough-hewn Celtic crosses dotted along certain parts of the landscape.

As the car swept around another corner, a stunning panorama opened up. To the right
, a large waterfall plunged toward the valley floor, exposing the earth’s granite heart, while the mountain seemed to soar into the heavens, and Reilly was reminded of Tolkien’s portrayal of Middle Earth in
The Lord of the Rings
.

Yes, this was indeed a suitable landscape in which to re-enact a mystical fairytale.

Kennedy continued to drive as fast as the narrow roads would allow, seemingly oblivious to the surroundings.

‘
Trying to impress me with your macho cop driving skills?’ Reilly teased.

‘Tell me again why she’s here,’ he said to Chris, feigning annoyance. ‘Shouldn’t you be staring into a microscope in your lovely white coat, and leaving the real detective work to the professionals?’

‘
Well, seeing that it was
my
real detective work that got us this far, I thought I’d come along for the ride, make sure you don’t arrive here like a bull in a china shop.’

‘
Yes, subtlety is not his forte,’ Chris said, joining in.

‘
Thanks, mate, you’re supposed to be on my side,’ Kennedy shot back. ‘Then again I should have known better with you two. I keep saying to Josie we could do with a good day out. When are you two kids going to stop pretending you weren’t made for each other? I don’t think I can handle the tension any longer, and Josie wants a new hat.’

‘
Very funny, smart arse,’ Chris shot back, while Reilly shook her head and stared uncomfortably out of the window. ‘You’re like a teenager sometimes.’

‘
That’s what Josie says.’ Kennedy strained his neck to wink at Reilly in the mirror.

‘Speaking of the lovely Josie, how is she doing these days?’ Reilly had picked up on Josie’s health issues via the usual office gossip channels. Another detail Chris obviously hadn’t seen fit to share with her.

Kennedy’s face clouded.
‘She’s OK. Doctor’s sending her for some more tests,’ he said, and by his expression Reilly knew it was a difficult subject and immediately wished she hadn’t brought it up.

‘
Well, give her my best, won’t you? I haven’t seen her since … Christmas drinks last year, I think it was,’ she said, amazed at how quickly the time had passed.

‘
Yeah, it’s been a while, and I’ll tell her you were asking for her. Will I also tell her to buy a hat?’ he added, mischievously lightening the mood as he always did when things turned difficult. They drove on past the sugarloaf mountain and turned off at the village of Roundwood, which, according to the sign, was Wicklow’s highest village in terms of altitude. Chris told Reilly about a house the drug squad had raided there a while back in which they’d found eighty grand’s worth of cannabis plants, leading to the inevitable newspaper headline ‘
The Highest Village in Ireland.’
 

A few miles later
the road narrowed and they approched a junction. ‘OK, which way from here?’ Kennedy asked.

Reilly checked
their GPS location on her iPhone.

‘
Go right. According to the map there’s a forestry road just up here. We might be able to park the car and go on foot from there.’ She pointed up the hill towards a thick pine forest.

‘
What’s all this about walking? You know I don’t do walking.’

‘
We know,’ Chris replied drolly. ‘Calm down, we’ll get out at the foresty road and have a look around. You stay in the car and keep in touch with base and see if they’ve come up with anything from the Land Registry,’ he said as the car bounced along the pot-holed surface.

‘Sounds fair.’

              When they reached the entrance to the road, Reilly got out of the car and stretched. Then she reached back into the car, pulled out her kitbag and slung it over her shoulder. She wore a dark blue North Face jacket and chunky hiking boots. 

Chris was wearing his usual leather jacket and T-shirt
. He shivered.  ‘I feel under-dressed.’

Reilly pointed towards the stile they had to climb
over to get onto the forest path. ‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you; there are only two kinds of weather in the mountains – raining or about to rain.’

As if to validate her point, it began to drizzle, light drops splashing onto the damp grass. Reilly
paused halfway over they stile, and looked back at him. ‘You can always wait in the car with Kennedy, you know…’

He
looked back at the car where his partner was already lighting a cigarette, then peered up at the rain clouds. ‘Actually, I think I’d rather get soaked to the skin.’

‘
You may well get your wish.’ She climbed easily over the stile and followed the worn path across the field; Chris fell into step beside her.