The House on the Shore (48 page)

“That’s amazing.”

“T
hings have changed quite a bit over the years.
It looks like
t
hey’re getti
ng ready to go down and stabiliz
e the vehicle.”

Luke watched from the safety of a rocky outcrop and wondered where Anna
was
.
He became increasingly uneasy.
No longer able to sit and watch, he got up and started pacing about.
She must have returned to the hotel, he reasoned, rather than see her friend pulled twisted and broken from what remained of the Land Rover.
Part of him wanted to go and find her, comfort her, but he knew he had to see Morag safely on her way to hospital.

The minutes became hours.
Somewhere in the distance
,
he heard the thud-thud-thud of a helicopter approaching, the pilot circling, looking for somewhere suitable to land.
It seemed like an eternity before
eight members of the team brought
the stretcher
bearing
Morag
to the top of the gorge.
Luke listened intently as the doctor relayed a list of her injuries by mobile phone to
the hospital, fifty miles away.

“One female casualty.
Approximately forty years of age.
Weak pulse.
Tachycardic…” The list ran on and on.
He was
too stunned to take it all in.

“Casualty?
You said she was alive!”
Luke said, as the doctor stood back to allow the stretcher
to meet the waiting helicopter.

“You’re an American
.
Y
ou may call injured folk something else
,
but
t
hat’s what we say here.
Yes, she’s still alive, but badly injured.
We’ve managed to stabiliz
e her.”

“How bad?”

“Quite extensive I’m afraid.
Fortunately, she was wearing a seatbelt, but she has chest injuries, a broken
collarbone
, broken left and right tibia, and, as you would expect, she’s badly dehydrated.
She’s in considerable pain, but I’ve given he
r something to help with that.”

Luke hung his head.
“Be honest, doctor.
Is she going to make it?”

“Her age and the fact that she appears to be relatively fit are factors in her favour.
However,” he paused and looked away.
“I’ll not lie.
The next twenty-four hours are critical.”

“Can she speak?
Can I talk to her?”

“She’s been drifting in and out of consciousness.
You can try, but no longer than a minute or two, mind you.”

“Morag, can you hear me?
It’s Luke,” he said softly, taking hold of her hand.

Her pain-filled eyes fluttered open.
“Anna—d
anger,” she whispered hoarsely.

“What about Anna?
Morag!”

The doctor brushed him away.
“I’m so
rry, she’s lost consciousness.”

“But
—
”

“Let us get on with our work, man.
We can’t delay getti
ng her to hospital any longer.”

Luke nodded and
backed off, allowing the stretcher party to make their way to the waiting helicopter.
The door closed.
The rotors sped up, the downdraft pushing him into the ground as it lifted off into the haze.
He turned and walked back to where Munro and members of his team were resting.

“Is there any chance you could lower me down so I can have a look at the
vehicle
?”

Munro’s blue eyes stared at Luke.
“Are you
mad
?
You’ve seen for yourself how unstable it is.”

“
Call me crazy.”

“After examining the marks on the road, the police are of the opinion it
the
accident
was
caused by
steering
failure.
”

“Anna took good care of that old piece of junk.
I know.
I drove it a couple of times.”

Munro scratched his beard.
“You think it may have been tampered
with.
”

“
Let’s just say I have a suspicious nature
.”

“All right, laddie,
but
you should be having this conversation with the police, not me.”

“
If I’m right
,
I will
.
Now
,
do I get to go down, or not?”

Munro glanced at his deputy for signs of objection.
“What do you think, Jamie?
Should we let him have a look?”

“I don’t see how it can do any harm, not if he’s careful.
I’ll get him a harness.”

Equipped with safety helmet and gloves, Luke took a deep breath and stepped backwards over the edge of the gorge.
Only the skill of six men and a couple of ropes stood between him and certain death.

Exercising extreme caution, he inched his way under the mangled Land Rover.
Unsure of what he was looking for, he examined each wheel in turn.
The tyres appeared undamaged, except…he pulled off his glove and ran his fingers over the b
rake pipe.
They
were covered in fluid
.

It took several minutes for him to reach the safety of the trees and free himself from the
ropes
.
Mun
ro looked at him questioningly.

“Thanks, Andy.
I saw what I needed to see,” he said, stepping out of the harness.

Without another word, he turned and w
alked towards the waiting dogs.

He’d kept his promise.
He’d found Morag, all right.
Alive.
She might not make it, though
.
He knew he had to tell Anna.

But where was she?

Alistair Grant squatted on the filthy cellar floor in the disused farmhouse, three miles from Killilan House.
He knelt next to Anna’s battered body and felt her wrist for a pulse.

“You’ve hit her too h
ard,” he spat at the other man.

Mac’s eyes narrowed.
“Stop fretting.
I only tapped her on the head.”

“Then why is there so much blood?”
Alistair dabbed ineffectively at the back of Ann
a’s head with his handkerchief.

“I don’t know.
I’m not a bloody doctor.”

“And did
you have to bind and gag her?”

Mac grabbed Grant’s shoulder and spun him round.
“Stop whining, for God’s sake!
I got her out of the way, didn’t I?
It wa
sn’t easy you know, n
ot with the glen crawling with police and searchers.
Besides, you don’t want her waking up and screaming her head off, do you?”

“No, but I didn’t expect you to hurt her so badly.”

“
Hurt
her?
I should have
killed
h
er.”

Alistair flinched.
“Good God,
man!
Isn’t one death enough?”

“If she wakes up and
recognize
s you, the game is up.
Then what?
Think of that while you feel pity for her,” Mac
said
.

“I…I don’t know.”

“Trust me.
I know what I’m doing.
She’s out of the picture for now.”
Mac nudged An
na’s leg.
“See?
No reaction.”

Alistair flinched.

“Well, well,” Mac sneered.
“Look who’s found his heart.
Disgusting.”

“I never wanted her dead
,
you damned fool, only out of the croft.
What happens when she comes round?”

“She won’t, a
t least not yet.
Come on, your Lairdship.
Best get back to the house before anyone misses you.
After all, you need to sign those papers and get my money.
D
on’t do anything
stupid like contact
ing
the police.
You’ll regret it.”

The door slammed be
hind them.

The key turned in the lock.

Anna’s eyes flickered open.
Was this a nightmare?
She struggled uselessly.
Her hands and feet were bound.
Her mou
th was full of something
,
cloth?

She lifted her head,
and agony seized
her brain,
sending
her spiralling into the void.
Occasionally, she thought she heard voices and footsteps.
S
omewhere in the distan
ce, a door slammed—then silence
as
blackness descended once more.

She woke once again, m
ore alert, but
with
no sense of time.
Where was she?
Anna pulled against the ropes
and tried to spit out the rag in her mouth.
With the room spinning around her, she dragged herself across the floor until she felt a wall and thrashed into a sitting position.
Closing her eyes, she swallowed hard, pushing the acid back into her stomach, determined not to vomit.
Everything hurt.
The ropes were too tight.
The pulsating hea
dache bled her dry of strength.

Breathe in
.
Breathe Out
.
Repeat
, she told herself.
Fight the panic
.
You’ll get out of this.
Little by little, her eyes grew used to the d
imness.
Her heart rate slowed.

The dank room was tiny, no more than six feet square.
Weak strands of light filtered in through a tiny frosted window high above her head.
No furniture, no carpet.
Bare concrete.
A cellar?
A pantry perhaps?
A faint scratching sound.
Mice?
Rats?
She shivered.
She didn’t know.
She didn’t care.
She had to stay alive.

***

With Morag safely on her way to hospital, Luke hurried back to the hotel.
He
pushed
open the swing door and ran headlong into a depar
ting guest, carrying a holdall.

“Gee, I’m sorry.
Are you
okay
, buddy?”
h
e asked, and picked up the bag.

“Thank you.
How do you say…it is nothing?
”
Outside
,
a car horn sounded.
The man snatched it out of Luke’s han
d and left the hotel.

Luke stared at the man’s back.
Something about the way he carried himself made the hairs on Luke’s neck stand on end.
He continued to watch as the guy opened the trunk and slung his bag inside.
Lying next to it was a leather rifle case.
Luke was just about to chase after the guy w
hen the bar of the door opened.

He heard a cheer.
Ewan stepped forward out of the crowd and sl
apped him heartily on the back.

“Well done, laddie.
Well done.
Here,” he thrust a pint glass into Luke’s hand.
“Drink this.
You deserve it.
You’re quite the hero.”

The
ice-cold
beer tasted like nectar.
“Thanks, Ewan.
I was lucky, that’s all.
Save your thanks for the guys from the mountain rescue team
.
T
hey’re the ones who deserve it.”

“Aye.
You’re right, but all the same, if you hadn’t spotted those tracks—say
,
where
’s Anna?
Is she not with you?”