The House on the Shore (31 page)

Luke drummed his fingers
impatiently
on the desk while
Jason
accessed his computer.

“
There’s n
othing listed for them either.
”

Crestfallen, Anna looked at Luke.
“
I don
’
t know what else to suggest.
”

“
Try looking under the holding company,
”
Luke replied.

Anna turned to the clerk.
“
Is there anything listed for Grant Holdings
,
or Killilan Holdings?
”

“
No, sorry.
”

“
T
hanks for your trouble
, Jason,”
Luke
said
and
slipp
ed
a £20 note across the desk.

Jason grinned.
“Thanks.
Sorry I couldn’t help.
I’d have a word with your architect if I were you.
And thanks for not telling Mr
. Jeffries
.”

“It will be our secret,” Luke said.
“
Come on
,
Anna.
”
He caught her hand in his.
“
There
’
s just enough time for us to go to the boatyard
to
see if the
pump
for the
auto
pilot
came
.
After that, we
’ll get something to eat.”
He held open the door for her.

“
I felt sure we
’
d find something,
”
Anna said as they left the building.

“
I know you did.
I don
’
t think you have any other choice now
other than
to contact the police.
”

“
But I don
’
t see what they can do.
”

“P
ut
it this way,
”
he said pulling Anna to a halt.
“It wil
l become a
matter of record, and if anything else happens, they
’
ll have to take you seriously.
”

It was nearly
midnight
when
they
arrived back at Morag
’
s cottage.
A solitary light showed through a gap in the curtains.
They
found her
in the kitchen drinking cocoa.

“
I thought I heard a vehicle.
Y
ou must be fair worn out.
The kettle
’
s just boiled
.
I
’
ll make you some tea.
”

“
Thanks
,
Morag, but if it
’
s all the same to you, we
’
ll get on our way.
We only stopped to hand your keys over and pick up my Land Rover.
”

“
Well, if you
’
re sure.
But you must tell me how you got on before you go.
”

Luke put his arm around Anna
’
s shoulders.
“
It was a waste of time
.
No
body’
s applied for planning permission in the last six months.
We tried searching under different names
,
but
there was
nothing
listed
.
W
e
went
to the police and report
ed
the incident with the prowler
and the bogus surveyor
.”

“
And a good thing too.
T
his business with the surveyor got me thinking.
About two months before your grandmother
’
s death she rec
eived a letter from a solicitor
offering to buy Tigh na Cladach.
”

Anna threw up her hands.
“Oh, my God.
I completely forgot!
I had a letter
,
too.
It was from a firm in Glasgow.
I was going to write back and tell them to go to
h
ell, but it clean went out of my mind.
I wonder why Nana never told me.
I
don
’
t recall
finding
anything
among
her papers
after she died.”

“
Perhaps she didn
’
t want to worry you, lass.
Y
ou have to
remember;
her mind did wander towards the end.
M
ore to the point, she loved the croft and would never have agreed to sell it.
It was her dying wish that it should go to you.
”

“
And you think
these letters are significant?
T
hat whoever sen
t the letters
also sent the surveyor?
”
Luke suggested.

“
Aye, I do.
”

“
I
t doesn
’
t make sense,
”
said Anna.
“Why would anyone want to buy Tigh na Cladach?
The land is
barren and rocky
,
and totally unsuitable for farming.
It wouldn
’
t sustain a cow, let alone a flock of sheep.
The house is basic
,
to say the least.
The only person to whom it has any value
,
is me.
”

Luke tapped his chin with his index finger.
“Obviously someone somewhere has a reason for thinking otherwise.
Did you see the letter, Morag?
Can you remember the name of the solicitor?
”

“
Alisha never showed it to me.
I doubt that I would have remembered
,
anyway.
”

“
Not to worry.
I
’
ll write to grandmother
’
s solicitors to see if they know anything.
”

“
You
’
re not angry with me for not telling you earlier
, are you?”

“
Of course
not,
”
Anna replied,
and hugged her friend
.

“
That
’
s a relief.
”
Morag yawned.
“
Did you have time to enquire about the part for the yacht?
”

Luke sighed.
“
Yeah.
Seems it’s
not a make
easy to find
over here.
The boatyard is
having one shipped
from the States.
”

“
Then
you
’
ll be staying with Anna a little longer
?”
Morag smiled.
“
That’s good.
My, my, will you look at the time.
It
’
s well after midnight and we
’
ve work in the morning.
I think you ought to take the lass home
.”
S
he handed Luke the keys to Anna’s Land Rover.

Unable to sleep, Anna crawled out of bed.
Her eyes were dry.
Staring at the clock every twenty minutes will do that to a
person, she chastised herself.

When Luke didn’t wake, she pulled on her dressing gown and crept down the stairs to the kitchen, being careful not to tread on the two sleeping dogs lying in front of the Aga.
Although dawn was only just beginning to creep over the horizon, there was enough light for her to see clearly.
She took
a glass out of the cupboa
rd next to the fridge
and
filled it with
milk.

She thought about the letter from the Glasgow Solicitors.

It had been waiting for her when she arrived at the croft.
She remembered sitting down at the table and reading it, bu
t what had she done after that?

She jerked open the centre drawer of the oak dresser, which doubled as her filing cabinet, and rooted through the disordered contents.
The first thing she found was the guarantee for her iron.
That’s a really big help, she thought, and put it to one side.
There was also the receipt from the garage for the two new tyres on the Land Rover.
Had they really cost that much?
She yawned and dropped it on top of the guarantee.
Hidden underneath the tea towels were some batteries for the torch, a ball of string, and a dog lead, but no letter.
She dumped it all back in
the drawer and slammed it shut.

She leaned against the dresser
and took a sip from her glass.
Luke had arrived the day after she’d received it.
She’d been drafting a reply when sh
e saw him walking up the beach.

She hunke
red down and examined the floor,
b
ut there was no sign of the letter.
If it wasn’t in the dresser or on the table, then it had to be in the sitting room.

Silently, she crossed the hall and opened the door.
The hinges squeaked in protest.
Her
pulse raced
.
Her laptop lay on the table next to the armchair.
She reached to pick it up.

“And just what do you think you’re doing?”

Anna spun round.
The laptop slipped out of her grasp and landed on the chair with a thump.
Luke was standing in the doorway
wearing
nothing but his jeans.
She hadn’t known him long, but she
recognize
d the warning in his voice.

“Nnn…nothing.
You scared me!”

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes with his left hand.
His right hand, out of sight from Anna, tucked the gun he was holding into the waistband of his jeans.

“
I
scared
you
?
I thought the prowler came back.
You’re damned lucky I didn’t run down her
e and smack the crap out of you
.”

Anna swallowed.
“I’m sorry.
I couldn’t sleep.
I thought I’d come down and look for that letter.”

“Anna.
It’s
five in the morning
.
What were you going to do if you found it?
Drive to Inverness and demand to know who their client is?”

“Glasgow!
The solicitors are in Glasgow.”

“Glasgow.
Inverness.
Edinburgh.
Toronto.
Whatever.
What difference does it make?
No one will be there.
I’ll help you look for it in the morning.”
He cupped her chin.

“I suppose you’re right.”

“You know I am.
Now come on, let’s go back to bed.
I’ll give you a back rub to help make you sleep.”

“I’ll let Ensay and Rhona out first, then I’ll be right up.”

Luke let out a sigh.
He opened the
font
door and stepped aside to let the dogs out.

Across the loch a light gl
owed in Sandpiper’s main cabin.

He hadn’t left any lights on.

“What the
h
ell!”
He pushed Anna out of the way.

“That hurt!
” she said, and rubbed her arm.
“
What do you think you’re doing?”